The main problem was all the hype surrounding him in the first place. He was never an elite prospect, but so many draft websites had him pegged as the 2014's #1 pick, just because Indiana had a great resurgence his freshman year, it was largely attributed to Zeller, and it has also become unusual for projected lottery picks to return for their sophomore seasons.
With that, his play just became shaky. He made a lot of poor decisions in Big 10 play. He's got a decent mid-range game, but the guy who was billed as a "high bball IQ" player would force the issue a lot offensively and try to get to the rim when he had perfectly makeable shots available to him. There were a lot of times this season where I felt like the pressure was getting to him and his lack of confidence in his own game was showing. There were a lot of situations where a player projected in the "top 3" range would have stepped up and taken over, whereas Zeller would fade into the background.
He also started to get outclassed physically a lot down the stretch. The big game that will probably remain in most people's minds was the last game of the season, against a Syracuse team that wasn't even that big or aggressive compared to what he faced on a daily basis in the Big 10. Not only did he make some poor decisions in crucial moments, but he was constantly out-muscled on the boards and seemed almost timid and afraid to absorb contact.
