Sunday, December 04, 2011

Taiwan Mobile signs Marcus Fizer

fizer

Taiwan Mobile signed 6-8 forward Marcus Fizer, the second former NBA player in the SBL following Noel Felix of Dacin Tiger, local media reported.

Fizer, out of Iowa State, was the No. 4 pick selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 2000 NBA Draft and went on to play for the Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets between 2000-2006. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2001 and won the NBDL MVP in 2006.

He appeared in 289 career NBA games, making 35 starts and averaging 9.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 1.2 apg, shooting .435 from the floor and .691 from the free throw line in 20.9 mpg

Image-fizerAfter the NBA, Fizer played in Span, Israel and Puerto Rico.

According to the Wikipedia, Fizer was one of the most heavily tattooed players in the NBA. As of March 2006, he had 31 tattoos.

Local media reported that Fizer did not play in the past year to nurse his injury. The 120kg forward was also quoted as saying that he had watched SBL game clips on Youtube before arriving in Taiwan.

Fizer described the SBL as a league playing at a quicker pace and stressing perimeter shooting, which is similar to the European style.

TM head coach Jia Fan said he has been pleased with Fizer’s strong work ethic so far and believed that the US forward would greatly help the team in fighting for a playoff berth.

In related news, Taiwan Beer was said to be unhappy with DeAngelo Collins, the Liberty Times reported.

TB players described Collins as selfish and chided his work ethics. Yen Chia-hua, TB’s head coach, was quoted as saying that he is considering to replace Collins.

Current SBL imports are:
Yulon: Kevin Johnson, Humboldt St.
Dacin: Noel Felix, Fresno St.
TB: DeAngelo Collins, HS
KKL: Rashad Jones-Jennings, UALR
BOT: John Vaudreuil, Minnesota-Duluth
PY: Terence Dials, Ohio St.
TM: Marcus Fizer, Iowa St.

(Photos: Liberty Times)