Zeke and the NBA Draft

[Dave in Green]

@Zipmeister, Greece is in Europe.

[Sergeant Zip]

Tweet by Zeke: "Hard day at work starting to turn heads but not being recognized as much as deserved . Guess gonna have when that buzzer sounds #notready"

[Dave in Green]

"Not being recognized as much as deserved" is something we've all thought at some point in our lives. The curse in today's world is social media like Twitter where we actually go on record stating it. Don't say it. Just do it.

[Dave in Green]

I like Zeke's attitude as he heads off to his first game in Taiwan:

Zeke Marshall‏@Ziggy_Marsh

About to show this team and everyone who doubted back home why my game is a day ahead of the competition #ZMtime

10:51 PM - 29 Oct 13

And I like that the Taipei Times used a photo of Zeke guarding 7-2 Aussie pro Luke Nevill to accompany the story about Zeke's team winning.

Just wish there was a better English translation of how Zeke is actually doing than this:

Which Yulon Height 7 ft (213 cm) 22-year-old Yang will Marshall (Zeke Marshall) was executive coach Jane-Ming Lin said with a smile is a love playing video "otaku." As Taiwan's big 218 cm an Australian ocean will Neville (Luke Nevill) were praised in the distance class and defensive rebounding.

7 feet tall, aged less than 23 years old, Marshall also Straits Cup opener pay out at 7 points, 8 rebounds, executive coach Jane-Ming Lin said after the game, "fairly satisfied, I believe Marshall could slowly into the situation."

Jane-Ming Lin said after the game, "(Marshall) it was a little kid, like an otaku love to play video games, he was still young, but jumping ability is really good."

"Previously we had to tell Marshall have performed poorly packaged home, he also told coaches' tears cried," still young, like a child, I believe he will get better. "Jane-Ming Lin said.

By the way, "otaku" is a Japanese term that refers to people with obsessive interests, which references Zeke's interest in video games.

[akronzips71]

If Zeke can not make it there, playing against people who did NOT get drafted and probably many who never played DI hoops, there is just something wrong.

[Dave in Green]

Luke Nevill is a good measuring stick for Zeke. Nevill is a 27-year-old veteran who has flirted with NBA teams -- including the Cavs -- but fallen just a little short. Zeke will have to outperform Nevill and others like him to get an NBA look.

[zen]

"Not being recognized as much as deserved" is something we've all thought at some point in our lives. The curse in today's world is social media like Twitter where we actually go on record stating it. Don't say it. Just do it.

"Not being recognized as much as deserved" is something that haunts everyone almost always. Lets not get into it too philosophically or even psychologically, but your targeting of this statement as a focus of tragedy is prescient.

We are not owed anything. Go back to square one and win

[Dave in Green]

Another goofy Chinese translation (with another Zeke photo) seems to say that the Chinese coach is just fine with Zeke being a video game-playing otaku because that's "better than nightclub type." The coach also thinks that Zeke's "strength and bouncing are good, in line with the needs of our season."

[Z.I.P.]

By the way, "otaku" is a Japanese term that refers to people with obsessive interests, which references Zeke's interest in video games.

Arigato gozaimashita, Dave! Damn, you should definitely come to the Diamond Head Classic. You could help GoZips order sushi properly!

[Dave in Green]

After winning his first two games as a pro with modest stats, Zeke scored his first professional double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals) today. Even though Zeke's Yulon team lost to one of the stronger teams in the tournament, featuring former NBA PG Bobby Brown, Zeke's coach said "Marshall aggressiveness of this war has unfolded." On Sunday, Zeke will face his biggest challenge to date as he matches up against a 2008 NBA first round draft selection, 6-11 Donte Greene, who was just waived by the Boston Celtics and averaged 39 points per game in his first two games with the Dongguan Leopards. Another choppy Chinese translation here along with another photo of Zeke scoring.

[B4110]

After winning his first two games as a pro with modest stats, Zeke scored his first professional double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals) today. Even though Zeke's Yulon team lost to one of the stronger teams in the tournament, featuring former NBA PG Bobby Brown, Zeke's coach said "Marshall aggressiveness of this war has unfolded." On Sunday, Zeke will face his biggest challenge to date as he matches up against a 2008 NBA first round draft selection, 6-11 Donte Greene, who was just waived by the Boston Celtics and averaged 39 points per game in his first two games with the Dongguan Leopards. Another choppy Chinese translation here along with another photo of Zeke scoring.

Keep working hard ZEKE.

[ZipsBurgh]

I saw on Facebook that Zeke posted a post-game interview, but I'm on my phone so I can't post the link. I'll try and post it when I get home tonight unless someone else wants to grab it and put it here. I think Momma Zeke put some highlights on there as well.

[Dr Z]

I saw on Facebook that Zeke posted a post-game interview, but I'm on my phone so I can't post the link. I'll try and post it when I get home tonight unless someone else wants to grab it and put it here. I think Momma Zeke put some highlights on there as well.

Taiwan!?!? I might have a LONG talk with my agent.

[Dave in Green]

Correction: It's really hard to make sense of the Chinese translations. Further investigation reveals that Donte Greene is on the same team as Bobby Brown, so Zeke's 17-point, 13-rebound, 2-steal performance today came against Greene. It's unfortunate that they don't give enough details to show how much Zeke may have shut down Greene, but Greene certainly didn't shut down Zeke. Here's an alternate translation of what Zeke's coach said about his performance today: "today some hope, Marshall this positive has revealed itself, will look to this Sunday (3) channel Cup."

[Dave in Green]

How smart is the Momager?

How the Chinese Basketball Association Became the Hot Destination for NBA Talent

... This season, the CBA has its biggest and most talented American roster across the board, for one because the league added an 18th team, the Sichuan Blue Whales. In addition to Marbury, who recently signed a three-year deal with the Beijing Ducks, the top imports include Earl Barron, Bobby Brown, Donte Greene, Hamed Haddadi, Ivan Johnson, Darius Johnson-Odom, Johan Petro, Shavlik Randolph, Josh Selby, Sebastian Telfair (Marbury's cousin), Von Wafer, Delonte West and Shelden Williams.

They're all earning between high six figures and $2 million net this season, according to Curtin and Haylett. For the other lesser-known players, the minimum pay is around $350,000 net.

"(The CBA) is getting bigger every year," Brown said before he left for China. "I was keeping up with it when I was in Europe. My boy Pooh Jeter played in it last year, and he said it's better, the market is great, basketball is great, the money is good—and you get to come home earlier than Europe."

Increasingly Attractive Alternative

The salary and the early return to the U.S. are key reasons why the CBA has emerged as the hottest foreign destination for Americans. While nine out of 10 American players would rather live and play in Europe because of the lifestyle and linguistic flexibility, according to Curtin, because the European financial climate has gotten worse due to the suffering global economy in the past five years, it subsequently affected the basketball market.

There were situations in Europe where sponsors dropped off and teams' payrolls became a mess. According to Curtin, only a few European clubs are still doing well, such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and CSKA Moscow. In China, however, most of the CBA teams pay, and pay on time. There's also no salary cap in effect.

The CBA has also become a bigger attraction in NBA circles because in the new collective bargaining agreement, ratified in December 2011, lower salaries for most players became the norm. With the veteran's minimum and mini mid-level exception of $3.18 million arguably becoming the two most demanding and competitive salary levels this past offseason, NBA opportunities grew thinner. And the closest rival contracts were in the CBA.

Then there's the luxury of the CBA season's length, which goes from November to mid-February. Unlike European leagues that run from the fall to usually April, the CBA enables Americans to return to the NBA in the same season for a prorated minimum deal, or showcase their skills in the D-League to get called up.

"For an NBA guy on the borderline, China can be really attractive," Curtin said. "You're making potentially more money, and then you're also able to come back and double dip and play in the NBA, and still keep your name fresh in peoples' memories." ...

[LZIp]

first off-props to Zeke for doing well (and getting that $)

But, I don't know how 'well' that league is doing when in the video clips, there were hardly any fans there. Seems like its just owners with exceptionally deep pockets that are giving the league positive rep rather than actual fan interest. Not sure how long that business model can hold up.

[ZZZips]

Are we confusing the Taiwan based Super Basketball League (SBL) that Zeke has joined with the bigger and more lucrative mainland based China Basketball Association? I am happy that Zeke has found a team for this season but I am almost sure the salaries mentioned in the article are not applicable to the SBL.

How smart is the Momager?

How the Chinese Basketball Association Became the Hot Destination for NBA Talent

... This season, the CBA has its biggest and most talented American roster across the board, for one because the league added an 18th team, the Sichuan Blue Whales. In addition to Marbury, who recently signed a three-year deal with the Beijing Ducks, the top imports include Earl Barron, Bobby Brown, Donte Greene, Hamed Haddadi, Ivan Johnson, Darius Johnson-Odom, Johan Petro, Shavlik Randolph, Josh Selby, Sebastian Telfair (Marbury's cousin), Von Wafer, Delonte West and Shelden Williams.

They're all earning between high six figures and $2 million net this season, according to Curtin and Haylett. For the other lesser-known players, the minimum pay is around $350,000 net.

"(The CBA) is getting bigger every year," Brown said before he left for China. "I was keeping up with it when I was in Europe. My boy Pooh Jeter played in it last year, and he said it's better, the market is great, basketball is great, the money is good—and you get to come home earlier than Europe."

Increasingly Attractive Alternative

The salary and the early return to the U.S. are key reasons why the CBA has emerged as the hottest foreign destination for Americans. While nine out of 10 American players would rather live and play in Europe because of the lifestyle and linguistic flexibility, according to Curtin, because the European financial climate has gotten worse due to the suffering global economy in the past five years, it subsequently affected the basketball market.

There were situations in Europe where sponsors dropped off and teams' payrolls became a mess. According to Curtin, only a few European clubs are still doing well, such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and CSKA Moscow. In China, however, most of the CBA teams pay, and pay on time. There's also no salary cap in effect.

The CBA has also become a bigger attraction in NBA circles because in the new collective bargaining agreement, ratified in December 2011, lower salaries for most players became the norm. With the veteran's minimum and mini mid-level exception of $3.18 million arguably becoming the two most demanding and competitive salary levels this past offseason, NBA opportunities grew thinner. And the closest rival contracts were in the CBA.

Then there's the luxury of the CBA season's length, which goes from November to mid-February. Unlike European leagues that run from the fall to usually April, the CBA enables Americans to return to the NBA in the same season for a prorated minimum deal, or showcase their skills in the D-League to get called up.

"For an NBA guy on the borderline, China can be really attractive," Curtin said. "You're making potentially more money, and then you're also able to come back and double dip and play in the NBA, and still keep your name fresh in peoples' memories." ...

[Dave in Green]

@ZZZips, sorry I wasn't clearer about that. Zeke is playing for a team in Taiwan's SBL and not in the mainland China CBA. Teams from both leagues are currently playing against each other in an annual tournament in Taipei. The coach of the CBA team with NBA players Bobby Brown and Donte Greene referred to Zeke's team as the best in Taiwan. The SBL salaries may be lower than the CBA. But Taiwan has a robust economy like mainland China, and their pro teams may be more economically stable than European teams right now. So while it would be even better if Zeke were playing in the CBA, playing in the SBL is not a bad place to make a decent living while building and showcasing your talents, as Zeke did so well today against a top CBA team.

[Dave in Green]

The bad news is that Zeke's team lost their final tournament game by 3 points.

The good news is that Zeke came close to another double-double with 18 points and 9 rebounds.

The questionable news is trying to interpret what Zeke's coach was trying to say from this rough Chinese translation:

In addition, Yulon foreign revenue will Zeke Marshall 18 points and 9 rebounds, but will not rule out Yulon ocean will find a more suitable, Jane-Ming Lin, said: "He's stable enough to make the team a headache."

[FromdaBurgh]

Hey DIG...the coach is saying that Zeke is going to make the team a HEADACHE for other teams in the league...in other words...the team is going to make some serious noise during the season. They have a BIG who is dropping numbers like 17pt 13 rebounds; 18 pts 9 rebounds...yes sir....Yulon Luxgen is getting ready to be very competitive!

[Dave in Green]

@GameChngr44, I've tried every online translator I can find to translate these Chinese stories, and the translations range from mediocre to abysmal. I'm not sure that we will ever be able to communicate with the Chinese. But I'm sure your sources are better than the online story translations, so I'm glad to hear your translation. I hope you'll post here more often to keep Zeke's fans more up to date.

I've done a little research on the SBL in Taiwan, and learned little bits and pieces from various sources. It seems that Taiwan's SBL was losing many of its best players to the CBL in China because the CBL was more open and paid higher salaries. Up until this season the SBL had salary caps in place that were pretty low, and they also had a height restriction of no players taller than 6-9. This season the SBL eliminated both the height restriction and the salary cap. So now SBL teams can recruit players of any height and pay them whatever they want.

Yulon Luxgen was a major power in the early years of the SBL, winning four championships. But they slowly lost their competitiveness, falling to a final record last season of just 18-18. The Yulon Group is Taiwan's top domestic automobile manufacturer, and has a fair amount of resources at its disposal. If they put a priority on getting the Yulon Luxgen Dinos back on top of the SBL, they can afford to pay good wages for qualified players, including overseas players like Zeke. So I hope they are taking good care of him financially. By the way, in the Chinese translations, players from overseas come out in English as "ocean." That's why you frequently see "ocean" next to Zeke's name in these stories.

[Dave in Green]

News of Zeke from Taiwan went into stealth mode a couple of weeks ago. Now it appears that we may no longer have to rely on poor Chinese translations to follow his progress as he tries to work his way into the NBA:

Source: Dexter Pittman, Austin Freeman, And Zeke Marshall Have Entered NBA D-League Player Pool

[Zipmeister]

Given the number of players who have launched big time professional basketball careers from the SBL Zeke's time spent there was no doubt a smart move.

[Dave in Green]

I guess my slogging around Chinese websites is the only source of information we have on what happened to Zeke in Taiwan. If I get anything wrong, maybe someone closer to the situation will step in and correct me. But here's my best guess from reading lots of poor Chinese translations:

The Yulon Luxgens coach thought that Zeke was like a big kid who loved to play computer games. But he also thought Zeke had potential to help the Luxgens win games. Zeke was making progress and scoring and rebounding at a reasonable rate in exhibition games. Then 2-year NBA veteran center Solomon Alabi (7-1) was waived by the Philadelphia 76ers. The Yulon Luxgens jumped at the chance to grab a player of Zeke's size but with NBA experience and signed Alabi. When he arrived in Taiwan, Alabi's NBA experience helped him prove that he was a more advanced player than Zeke, so Zeke got dumped. After a somewhat slow start in which the Luxgens lost their first two games, Alabi has led the Luxgens to victory in their second two games, averaging 14.5 points and 19 rebounds per game.

Bottom line is that there are a number of fringe NBA bigs like Alabi who are available on the international pro basketball market. Any rookie like Zeke is going to be at a disadvantage to any center who has played even briefly in the NBA. Zeke still has a lot to learn about pro basketball. If he's really serious about playing pro ball he's going to have to work his butt off in whatever gig he can get and try to learn from going up against other players with borderline NBA potential.

[Zipmeister]

I guess my slogging around Chinese websites is the only source of information we have on what happened to Zeke in Taiwan. If I get anything wrong, maybe someone closer to the situation will step in and correct me. But here's my best guess from reading lots of poor Chinese translations:

The Yulon Luxgens coach thought that Zeke was like a big kid who loved to play computer games. But he also thought Zeke had potential to help the Luxgens win games. Zeke was making progress and scoring and rebounding at a reasonable rate in exhibition games. Then 2-year NBA veteran center Solomon Alabi (7-1) was waived by the Philadelphia 76ers. The Yulon Luxgens jumped at the chance to grab a player of Zeke's size but with NBA experience and signed Alabi. When he arrived in Taiwan, Alabi's NBA experience helped him prove that he was a more advanced player than Zeke, so Zeke got dumped. After a somewhat slow start in which the Luxgens lost their first two games, Alabi has led the Luxgens to victory in their second two games, averaging 14.5 points and 19 rebounds per game.

Bottom line is that there are a number of fringe NBA bigs like Alabi who are available on the international pro basketball market. Any rookie like Zeke is going to be at a disadvantage to any center who has played even briefly in the NBA. Zeke still has a lot to learn about pro basketball. If he's really serious about playing pro ball he's going to have to work his butt off in whatever gig he can get and try to learn from going up against other players with borderline NBA potential.

Strike two.

Not a good sign when you get beat out by a guy who has already demonstrated he can't cut it in the NBA.

Again, it appears Zeke went to Taiwan mainly because somebody else wants him to be a professional basketball player.