Zeke Marshall

Zeke Marshall

More Ryan Hollins than DeAndre Jordan, Marshall is tall with a long wingspan, good athleticism, and shot blocking instincts. These are the knowns, the strengths, the calling cards. And everything else is disputable or insufficient. Marshall has put on a little muscle but not nearly enough, and it affects all facets of his game, particularly his man-to-man post defense, defensive rebounding and finishing with anything other than a dunk. The rebounding is perhaps the most pertinent - as Hollins has proven, if you're 7'0, athletic and thin, you don't really need to have much offensive skill, as long as you're prepared to run and have good team mates. But Hollins has also proven that you need to be able to rebound. Hollins has somehow gotten away with this. Marshall won't.

They might be relative minnows, but Akron boast some size. 7'0 centre Zeke Marshall is rail thin and fouls on pretty much every possession, but he's sufficiently mobile to block 2.5 shots per game, and can finish around the basket. The Zips' best player, Nikola Cvetinovic, is a 6'8 forward leading them in scoring and rebounding, but also an aggressive and fundamental defender on the interior. Reserve forward Brett McKnight is build like a tank, and backup centre Mike Bardo is, if nothing else, big. To go with that, Akron offer a good amount of shooting, particularly from specialists Brian McLanahan and Steve McNees, and the whole lineup is predicated upon the multiple defensive schemes they employ.

They should not, however, be an upset threat.