a year from now

[Doug Snyder]

Wow .... !!!!! Forget the LeBron bashers.

We have Zeke Marshall bashers in our own midst.

First we have GP1, who has never even seen Zeke play in the flesh declaring that

Zeke is unfit for the NBA. And, others claiming this and that about the kid that he can not cut

the NBA mustard. Get a life. Zeke will play in the NBA if he wants. He has all the tools.

What's more, his maturation is kicking in and he will not be a 218# string bean.

By the end of the 2011-12 season Zeke will be filled out and a literal beast on the court.

Zeke showed his skill set and potential in the MAC Championship game. That was not a fluke.

That was Zeke coming to play. You will see a lot more of the same in the 2011-12 season.

A well known college basketball coach (not on the Akron staff) told me that Zeke will have a nice

career in the NBA. I agree.

Grow up and find something more positive to rattle your heads about.

Slow down...I did not mean to bash Zeke is any way. My point is that it would be foolish for him to go pro after the upcoming season as Zack suggested will happen if we get to the sweet 16. The dicision between him and a Euro in the upcoming draft is what my post was referring to. I believe he will play in the NBA but not sure as to how good he will be. A "rotation" player is one of the top 8 on the roster. That should be consider very succesful IMO.

[Doug Snyder]

Grow up and find something more positive to rattle your heads about.

This seems personal. Why do people on this board feel they should bash (since you like the word) those with differing viewpoints. In this case...you misinterpreted my viewpoint. But even if I did believe Zeke would not make it as a pro, I don't think I should be criticized by you. Make your case why you feel otherwise and keep the personal attacks out.

Grow up and learn to see other viewpoints (what do you think...like being told to grow up??)

I normally think you are a rational poster, So I am going to take this as a knee jerk reaction to something, and someone, you feel strongly about. But I believe you went to far.

[ZippyforPresident]

I seriously doubt Zeke plays in the NBA regardless of how he may get there. If his defense improves, maybe he could make it as a back-up. Keep in mind Zeke averaged less than 10 points per game last season in the MAC....in the MAC. An NBA team would be looking for a better offensive skill set even from a back-up player. We're a long way from talking about Zeke as an NBA player. We've had better players than him over the past few years who haven't sniffed the NBA.

I have not been impressed with Zeke thus far as a Zip. He clearly is not close to being anything that resembles a basketball player. That said, he is still 7 foot tall, athletic as hell, can run, defend and block shots. Some NBA team is going to think they can develop him enough offensively that he can be a defender.

You bring up his stats in the MAC, that is really irrelevent. John Edwards barely played at Can't State and had a short NBA career. Why? Because he was 7 foot tall. People will gamble and make sure he has no game before they never give him a chance.

Zeke is a guaranteed first round pick if he comes out after his senior year. Book it.

You beat me to it. If John Edwards can play in the league Zeke can easily do it. He's twice as talented and athletic as Edwards was. Zeke actually has a really good shooting touch for a big guy. If he continues to develop his stroke and post moves there's no limit to what he's capable of doing. He has an incredibly high ceiling as do many players on this year's roster. We saw some of how dominant Zeke can be on both sides of the ball in his games against Can't State both at the JAR and in the Championship and I think we will get to see a lot more of that in the future. I'm really excited for the upcoming season.

[ZippyforPresident]

I'm not sure when Zeke will be drafted, but I'm pretty sure at least 2 of the 2011-2012 Zips will spend some time in the NBA.

The most exiting part of that statement is, outside of Zeke, I can't be entirely sure of which other player you mean.

[skip-zip]

Wow .... !!!!! Forget the LeBron bashers.

We have Zeke Marshall bashers in our own midst.

First we have GP1, who has never even seen Zeke play in the flesh declaring that

Zeke is unfit for the NBA. And, others claiming this and that about the kid that he can not cut

the NBA mustard. Get a life. Zeke will play in the NBA if he wants. He has all the tools.

What's more, his maturation is kicking in and he will not be a 218# string bean.

By the end of the 2011-12 season Zeke will be filled out and a literal beast on the court.

Zeke showed his skill set and potential in the MAC Championship game. That was not a fluke.

That was Zeke coming to play. You will see a lot more of the same in the 2011-12 season.

A well known college basketball coach (not on the Akron staff) told me that Zeke will have a nice

career in the NBA. I agree.

Grow up and find something more positive to rattle your heads about.

I don't know how having a debate about someone's NBA potential is "bashing". It's a big and improbable step for a MAC level player to become an NBA draft pick. I would say it's probably flattering for a MAC guy to be getting any NBA talk after his sophomore year.

I'm not sure why you state that the MAC title performance was "not a fluke". Right now, it's definitely a fluke. It was one of only a couple of games the entire season where you could say he had an great game. And honestly, it didn't include much scoring. If you want to point to a much better performance, point to the Ken+ home game back in January. And that was 20 or so games ago, and was never repeated.

Could those performances become more frequent at some point? Sure. And for me, I'll be happy if he can just get to good college numbers by the end of his career here. 18 and 10, consistently, is still a very big jump from where he is now. And I'd guess it would take at least those kinds of numbers to even be considered in the draft.

[GoZips]

Grow up and find something more positive to rattle your heads about.

This seems personal. Why do people on this board feel they should bash (since you like the word) those with differing viewpoints. In this case...you misinterpreted my viewpoint. But even if I did believe Zeke would not make it as a pro, I don't think I should be criticized by you. Make your case why you feel otherwise and keep the personal attacks out.

Grow up and learn to see other viewpoints (what do you think...like being told to grow up??)

I normally think you are a rational poster, So I am going to take this as a knee jerk reaction to something, and someone, you feel strongly about. But I believe you went to far.

Doug, I was not refering to you or your posts. I was refering to the entire vein of the posts

in general. People, perhaps you as well, tend to under value Zeke's contributions to the cause.

I am well aware of other people's viewpoints. This is an Akron board and I, for one, do not think

that trashing Zeke unfairly is appropriate. Zeke will deliver.

At this stage of Zeke's development the glaring problem is foul trouble. A fair part of that is

playing in a league where truly big men are uncommon. The game officials seem to have a

quick whistle when it comes to Zeke. Perhaps I am wrong. It sure seems that way.

Zeke faired far better in the MAC championship game and the game against Notre Dame

when it came to fouls. Those two games were far more representative of what he and the

team should expect from game officials. Enough of the ticky-tacky fouls.

Zeke does not have to score like Wilt Chamberlain to be an effective post player. Zeke is

there to shot block, alter attacks on the basket, intimidate and secondarily rebound and score.

A few assists help as well.

I believe that people will be pleasantly surprised by Zeke's play in 2011-12.

[GP1]

First we have GP1, who has never even seen Zeke play in the flesh declaring that

Zeke is unfit for the NBA. And, others claiming this and that about the kid that he can not cut

the NBA mustard. Get a life. Zeke will play in the NBA if he wants. He has all the tools.

What's more, his maturation is kicking in and he will not be a 218# string bean.

You're right, I've never seen him play in person. I always thought what happens on TV is an exact reflection of what goes on in person.

Please tell me how my post was bashing. I didn't say he was a bad player. In fact, he is a very good player. All I said was I didn't think he would make the NBA. The NBA is EXTREMELY difficult to make a living in. Professional sports in general are extremely difficult to make a living in. Lots of really good players, like Zeke, never make it.

Thank you and have a nice day.

[GoZips]

First we have GP1, who has never even seen Zeke play in the flesh declaring that

Zeke is unfit for the NBA. And, others claiming this and that about the kid that he can not cut

the NBA mustard. Get a life. Zeke will play in the NBA if he wants. He has all the tools.

What's more, his maturation is kicking in and he will not be a 218# string bean.

You're right, I've never seen him play in person. I always thought what happens on TV is an exact reflection of what goes on in person.

Please tell me how my post was bashing. I didn't say he was a bad player. In fact, he is a very good player. All I said was I didn't think he would make the NBA. The NBA is EXTREMELY difficult to make a living in. Professional sports in general are extremely difficult to make a living in. Lots of really good players, like Zeke, never make it.

Thank you and have a nice day.

GP1, perhaps you are correct in your assessment of Zeke. After all, Zeke is a long drink of

water through a thin straw. He is clumsy and still often exhibits growing pains. That said; look at

his upside.

Zeke works his tail off. He seems to get along with all of his team mates and exhibits

leadership characteristics. Frankly, Zeke just needs a chance to grow into his full potential.

When men like Billy Donavan of Florida and Bob Huggins, and Shaka Smart tell me that Zeke

has all the tools and that coach Dambrot is doing a great job of nurturing and developing

Zeke's skills I am left in a quandary. Do I accept the posts of casual fans or the face to face

conversations of coaches who have been to the Final Four and one of them WON the NCAA

tournament not once, but twice?

I hate to name drop. But at this point I need some creds. And, I think these coaches substantiate

my views.

Thank you, and a grand day to you as well, Sir.

[akronzips71]

Right now he has not even made all-Mac, and you guys are putting him into the NBA as a Junior.

He has potential to get to the NBA, primarily because of his height.

But he is just not there yet.

Now if he and Nik play up to their potential, there is indeed a shot at a few wins in the dance. One can only hope.

[Doug Snyder]

Grow up and find something more positive to rattle your heads about.

This seems personal. Why do people on this board feel they should bash (since you like the word) those with differing viewpoints. In this case...you misinterpreted my viewpoint. But even if I did believe Zeke would not make it as a pro, I don't think I should be criticized by you. Make your case why you feel otherwise and keep the personal attacks out.

Grow up and learn to see other viewpoints (what do you think...like being told to grow up??)

I normally think you are a rational poster, So I am going to take this as a knee jerk reaction to something, and someone, you feel strongly about. But I believe you went to far.

Doug, I was not refering to you or your posts. I was refering to the entire vein of the posts

in general. People, perhaps you as well, tend to under value Zeke's contributions to the cause.

I am well aware of other people's viewpoints. This is an Akron board and I, for one, do not think

that trashing Zeke unfairly is appropriate. Zeke will deliver.

At this stage of Zeke's development the glaring problem is foul trouble. A fair part of that is

playing in a league where truly big men are uncommon. The game officials seem to have a

quick whistle when it comes to Zeke. Perhaps I am wrong. It sure seems that way.

Zeke faired far better in the MAC championship game and the game against Notre Dame

when it came to fouls. Those two games were far more representative of what he and the

team should expect from game officials. Enough of the ticky-tacky fouls.

Zeke does not have to score like Wilt Chamberlain to be an effective post player. Zeke is

there to shot block, alter attacks on the basket, intimidate and secondarily rebound and score.

A few assists help as well.

I believe that people will be pleasantly surprised by Zeke's play in 2011-12.

Thanks. I have always respected your posts in the past and think you are one of the few that actually add valuable, pertinent information. Many just want to sling snide comments from the peanut gallery. Since I am not in the area often...I rely on what you and many other thoughtful members think and write. Keep on posting.

[skip-zip]

Right now he has not even made all-Mac, and you guys are putting him into the NBA as a Junior.

He has potential to get to the NBA, primarily because of his height.

But he is just not there yet.

Now if he and Nik play up to their potential, there is indeed a shot at a few wins in the dance. One can only hope.

That's pretty much where I stand right now too, and the reason some of these posts prompt me to bring some folks back to reality.

[GoZips]

Right now he has not even made all-Mac, and you guys are putting him into the NBA as a Junior.

Not me. Have never made such an outlandish claim.

Zeke's physical maturation is lagging way, way too much at this point.

Beside's, Zeke as a senior should be an Akron delight.

[GP1]

Frankly, Zeke just needs a chance to grow into his full potential.

When men like Billy Donavan of Florida and Bob Huggins, and Shaka Smart tell me that Zeke

has all the tools and that coach Dambrot is doing a great job of nurturing and developing

Zeke's skills I am left in a quandary. Do I accept the posts of casual fans or the face to face

conversations of coaches who have been to the Final Four and one of them WON the NCAA

tournament not once, but twice?

That's fine if Zeke is still "growing". He had better hurry the Hell up though, he'll be a junior next year. Guys only get four years in college to "grow".

If my opinion doesn't count because I've never seen him play in person, how do any of the coaches count. Do you think any of those coaches would say anything bad about him to someone they don't really know? Coaches don't say anything negative about anything as it relates to players on other teams and even more, fellow coaches.

When anyone talks about Zeke and his potential in the NBA, evaluation of how he does against top level teams and talent will be the most important. If an NBA general manager wants to look at Zeke, which is more likely to happen..."I'm going to review ZM from Akron. Get me the tapes of him against...(pick A or B below)."

A. Central Michigan or some other schlub MAC school.

B. His games against major conference schools in big games.

At this point, the only reference point the GM would have is the game against ND. Here is the box score. Would anyone really need to see the game in person to perform an evaluation? Two nights later, Notre Dame was exposed for being a fraud and didn't even have a very good big men. NBA GMs don't care that a player is a good guy...they don't care that the player is "growing"....they don't care who the guy played for in college....they dont' care what guys like Smart, Huggins or Donavan think. They only care if a player fits into their system and if that player can produce at the EXTREMELY high level of play that takes place in the NBA. NBA games aren't developmental and players aren't expected to be "growing". Losing franchises pick players to "grow" them. The NBA is about performance at a professional level.

I'm a big fan of Zeke, but if we are going to have conversations about any player playing professionally, the conversation needs to change from that of a fan to a brutal view of a person's talents. With Zeke, the Zips WILL win two more MAC Championships and they WILL continue to be the best team in the MAC. The NBA though?......

[Doug Snyder]

Frankly, Zeke just needs a chance to grow into his full potential.

When men like Billy Donavan of Florida and Bob Huggins, and Shaka Smart tell me that Zeke

has all the tools and that coach Dambrot is doing a great job of nurturing and developing

Zeke's skills I am left in a quandary. Do I accept the posts of casual fans or the face to face

conversations of coaches who have been to the Final Four and one of them WON the NCAA

tournament not once, but twice?

That's fine if Zeke is still "growing". He had better hurry the Hell up though, he'll be a junior next year. Guys only get four years in college to "grow".

If my opinion doesn't count because I've never seen him play in person, how do any of the coaches count. Do you think any of those coaches would say anything bad about him to someone they don't really know? Coaches don't say anything negative about anything as it relates to players on other teams and even more, fellow coaches.

When anyone talks about Zeke and his potential in the NBA, evaluation of how he does against top level teams and talent will be the most important. If an NBA general manager wants to look at Zeke, which is more likely to happen..."I'm going to review ZM from Akron. Get me the tapes of him against...(pick A or B below)."

A. Central Michigan or some other schlub MAC school.

B. His games against major conference schools in big games.

At this point, the only reference point the GM would have is the game against ND. Here is the box score. Would anyone really need to see the game in person to perform an evaluation? Two nights later, Notre Dame was exposed for being a fraud and didn't even have a very good big men. NBA GMs don't care that a player is a good guy...they don't care that the player is "growing"....they don't care who the guy played for in college....they dont' care what guys like Smart, Huggins or Donavan think. They only care if a player fits into their system and if that player can produce at the EXTREMELY high level of play that takes place in the NBA. NBA games aren't developmental and players aren't expected to be "growing". Losing franchises pick players to "grow" them. The NBA is about performance at a professional level.

I'm a big fan of Zeke, but if we are going to have conversations about any player playing professionally, the conversation needs to change from that of a fan to a brutal view of a person's talents. With Zeke, the Zips WILL win two more MAC Championships and they WILL continue to be the best team in the MAC. The NBA though?......

How come many teams pick Euros and stash them in Europe for a year or two while they develop. You are probably right...the San Antonio's of the world are bottom feeder organizations.

[GP1]

How come many teams pick Euros and stash them in Europe for a year or two while they develop. You are probably right...the San Antonio's of the world are bottom feeder organizations.

NBA teams typically don't pick Europeans and then keep them in Europe. Europe doesn't have a huge college level like we do in the US where kids who might not be ready for the nba out of high school can go to develop. The American love of college athletics is something most Europeans do not relate to. Many kids play professionally right away in European leagues (some are very good leagues and some can be better than college level in the USA). They can also make a lot of money in those leagues. There are some former Zips doing well in Europe and probably making a better living playing basketball in Europe than they could in our current terrible job market.

If I was a European high school kid and had the potential to play in the NBA, I would stay in Europe where I could be close to family and a culture I was comfortable with until I was ready to move to the USA.

[Roo]

How come many teams pick Euros and stash them in Europe for a year or two while they develop. You are probably right...the San Antonio's of the world are bottom feeder organizations.

NBA teams typically don't pick Europeans and then keep them in Europe.

Uhm...yes they do. Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter, L Scoila, Manu Ginoboli...sp? on those..., come to me right off the top of my head. This has been a common practice since the mid to late 90s.

[Valpo Zip]

At the moment, the easiest comparison to Zeke in the NBA in my mind would be Ryan Hollins. The guy got size, can run, and yeah... That's it. With 2 more years of practice, Zeke should be a better shot blocker and will have a higher fg percentage. Then we will talk.

[skip-zip]

At the moment, the easiest comparison to Zeke in the NBA in my mind would be Ryan Hollins. The guy got size, can run, and yeah... That's it. With 2 more years of practice, Zeke should be a better shot blocker and will have a higher fg percentage. Then we will talk.

That's my question, as I said earlier in this thread. Is "great MAC shot blocker" enough to get any kind of attention whatsoever from the NBA? Because, that's really the only thing of real substance that impresses you about his game going into his 3rd year. I'm still hoping for a dramatic turnaround in some other areas.

[Doug Snyder]

At the moment, the easiest comparison to Zeke in the NBA in my mind would be Ryan Hollins. The guy got size, can run, and yeah... That's it. With 2 more years of practice, Zeke should be a better shot blocker and will have a higher fg percentage. Then we will talk.

That's my question, as I said earlier in this thread. Is "great MAC shot blocker" enough to get any kind of attention whatsoever from the NBA? Because, that's really the only thing of real substance that impresses you about his game going into his 3rd year. I'm still hoping for a dramatic turnaround in some other areas.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft/resul...dkenneth-faried

[skip-zip]

At the moment, the easiest comparison to Zeke in the NBA in my mind would be Ryan Hollins. The guy got size, can run, and yeah... That's it. With 2 more years of practice, Zeke should be a better shot blocker and will have a higher fg percentage. Then we will talk.

That's my question, as I said earlier in this thread. Is "great MAC shot blocker" enough to get any kind of attention whatsoever from the NBA? Because, that's really the only thing of real substance that impresses you about his game going into his 3rd year. I'm still hoping for a dramatic turnaround in some other areas.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft/resul...dkenneth-faried

I'm familiar with this guy. If the point you are making is that this guy was a 1st round pick, and was also a great shot blocker from a weaker conference (like Zeke), you would be right. But, you might be ignoring his averages of 17 pts. and 14 rebounds per game, and he's been a consistent double/double guy for 3 years, and was close to those numbers even as a freshman.

My question again, in response to AdaZip's post.....If he continues to get better and better as a MAC shot blocker, is it enough to get any kind of NBA atttention if the other areas of his game do not improve dramatically?

[ZachTheZip]

I think some of you have missed my original point. Zeke isn't ready for the NBA at this point. But a year from now, he will be. He'll be better than those 19-year-old centers who are taken on pure potential but won't contribute for a few years while they play in the D-league but were first round selections.

Zeke will average a double-double. He has seen the light, and it showed in the MAC tournament where he was named MVP. Trust me, next season the Zeke that showed himself in flashes last season will be the norm, and on occasion he'll take it to an even higher level that the MAC hasn't seen out of a player since maybe Wally Szczerbiak.

[dboze]

I think some of you have missed my original point. Zeke isn't ready for the NBA at this point. But a year from now, he will be. He'll be better than those 19-year-old centers who are taken on pure potential but won't contribute for a few years while they play in the D-league but were first round selections.

Zeke will average a double-double. He has seen the light, and it showed in the MAC tournament where he was named MVP. Trust me, next season the Zeke that showed himself in flashes last season will be the norm, and on occasion he'll take it to an even higher level that the MAC hasn't seen out of a player since maybe Wally Szczerbiak.

I agree Zach. Nik is a prime example of breaking out and moving to the next level in his Junior Year. Nik averaged 5 points a game as a sophomore and had a great Junior season. I also believe that Zeke is hungry for more after reaching the NCAA and will have a break out year.