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Eastern Michigan


ZachTheZip

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Man, what an ugly style of play. I hope the Zips don't get bored to death when facing them. The best way to deal with how they play is to create turnovers in transition (a.k.a. full-court press). EMU holds on to the ball until the last second before taking their shots, so you don't want to allow them to get set on offense. We also need a big shooting night from our wing players.

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In the Pomeroy rankings, EMU has the #322 adjusted offense and the #81 adjusted defense. By comparison, the Zips are currently #58 in offense and #51 on defense. So we're not that far apart on defense. But if the Zips' offense struggles against EMU, it could get ugly.

I fully expect this game to be ugly. The Zips are playing bad basketball right now, and EMU is a lot better defensively than either Miami or Central Michigan, and they have the size to match up against Akron. Plus, they are 4-1 at home in MAC play (0-4 on the road).

This one is not going to be easy, and if the Zips play like they did against CMU or Miami, they will probably lose. However, if they at least put together an average offensive game, EMU is so bad offensively, that the Zips should pull it out.

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One thing in the Zips' favor is that Zeke will be matched up against another 7-foot player with a reasonable level of talent. Da'Shonte Riley is similar to Zeke on defense, but not so much on offense. I was concerned about this matchup going into last season's EMU game. But walking from the parking deck to the JAR, we happened to run into GameChngr44 and family. We mentioned our excitement about Zeke going up against Riley. GameChngr44 told us how much Zeke liked going up against other 7-foot centers, and that he had played against Riley in many AAU games. She said that Zeke had some of his best AAU performances against Riley. Sure enough, Zeke outscored Riley 11-0, outrebounded him 5-1 and outblocked him 4-1. The Zips won, 77-47. While I don't expect the Zips to outscore EMU by 30 points at their place, I do expect Zeke to outperform Riley.

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George Thomas Article EMU

Some good points from the article

They [EMU] also lead the league in defending the 3-point shot, allowing just 29.4 percent from beyond the arc

The Eagles are 0-10 on the road this season, but 11-2 at home at the Convocation Center. And that is what concerns the University of Akron about tonight’s game.

Eagles center Da’Shonte Riley matches Zeke Marshall’s 7-foot stature and forwards Glenn Bryant and Jamell Harris stand 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-9, respectively.

Definitely think we need to beat them down low, I would have to imagine our physicality will get to them

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Da’Shonte Riley is a lazy, worthless stiff. If Zeke has any motivation in him whatsoever, Riley will get eaten alive.

Zips back on track. Roll by 14 tonight.

Yea I was reading another post (maybe GameChngr44) that Zeke has been completely dominating Riley for his whole career, especially last year's game with EMU where we won by 30.

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George Thomas Article EMU

Some good points from the article...

The Eagles are 0-10 on the road this season, but 11-2 at home at the Convocation Center. And that is what concerns the University of Akron about tonight’s game.

This is misleading. Their home wins are against the following:

Rochester (Not D1)

Eastern Illinois (7-18)

IPFW (10-16)

Texas Pan-Am (12-13)

Madonna (Not D1)

Purdue (12-12)

Siena Heights (Not D1)

Central Michigan (9-14)

Miami (OH) (8-14)

Northern Illinois (5-17)

Buffalo (9-15)

That concerns Akron?

And the worst part is EMU lost by 2 to both Ball State and BG and by 4 to WMU. Different endings to those games and they'd be 7-2, on top of the MAC West and with the 3 seed. Man, the MAC stinks this year!

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Man, the MAC stinks this year!
And how! We should be blowing teams like these out of the gym...if this group has post season aspirations. I get all the whining KD is doing nationally to get in the minds of the "right" people at the end of the year if the Zips don't win at the Q. Seriously though, best thing to do is, PUT THE HAMMER DOWN on these cupcakes!!! Play like a top 25 team.
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And how! We should be blowing teams like these out of the gym...if this group has post season aspirations. I get all the whining KD is doing nationally to get in the minds of the "right" people at the end of the year if the Zips don't win at the Q. Seriously though, best thing to do is, PUT THE HAMMER DOWN on these cupcakes!!! Play like a top 25 team.

Dr. Z:

You know I rarely comment here, primarily because of professional reasons, but here I make an exception.

It's unrealistic to expect the Zips to beat teams like EMU by 25 night in and night out, but they should be doing it more than they are. Too often they play to the level of their competition. Close games may serve them well in the end, but a few blowouts go a long way psychologically. Keith downplays that. We shall see what happens.

As for comments before of Riley being a cupcake, that may be the case, but that doesn't negate the overall size of that front court. If the Zips allow them to hang around too long anything can happen. Fans here can also downplay home court advantage, but for the Zips to go in there and think that the Eagles are going to roll over would be a major mistake and the height of arrogance.

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Dr. Z:

You know I rarely comment here, primarily because of professional reasons, but here I make an exception.

It's unrealistic to expect the Zips to beat teams like EMU by 25 night in and night out, but they should be doing it more than they are. Too often they play to the level of their competition. Close games may serve them well in the end, but a few blowouts go a long way psychologically. Keith downplays that. We shall see what happens.

As for comments before of Riley being a cupcake, that may be the case, but that doesn't negate the overall size of that front court. If the Zips allow them to hang around too long anything can happen. Fans here can also downplay home court advantage, but for the Zips to go in there and think that the Eagles are going to roll over would be a major mistake and the height of arrogance.

Thanks George. You're right. We can't keep letting these schools hang around. If we do, sooner later it's going to come up and bite us on the back side.

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