Marshall, the thundering heard

[Balsy]

I think this team will be great in the MAC. It's a young team that's figuring out it's chemistry together. We've got more of a team right now that I can remember seeing as a Zips fan (my experience is only a handful of years). We've got a lot of players capable of taking (and making) the three-ball, and there's a lot more effort to get rebounds. Last year it was a little difficult to watch with the team always forcing the ball to either Treadwell or Diggs.

Kretzer hopefully will show life again when we head to OU, he always seems to have a fire when we play them.

[Dave in Green]

I'm not sure at what the dividing point is between a young team and a veteran team. Looking at the minutes played by class last night suggests that the Zips are somewhere in between:

61 minutes (30.5%) = freshmen

35 minutes (17.5%) = sophomores

61 minutes (30.5%) = juniors

43 minutes (21.5%) = seniors

So, 52% of PT by upperclassmen and 48% by lowerclassmen. That's actually fairly well balanced. Noah is going to skew the figures more toward the freshman class as he will most likely average 30+ minutes per game for the season -- more than any other player on the team.

[zipnetter55]

A few thoughts following the Marshall game:

1. Antino looks lost-a turnover waiting to happen

2 We need scorers-McAdams or Kretzer need to see more minutes-too many times we have to rely on marginal shooters to fire 3s

3.Big Dog is providing nothing-he is either out-of-shape,lazy,or not interested-he looked WAY better last year.

4.When Deji is on the court,we play at an increased tempo at both ends

5.Best 5 at crunch time or playing major minutes-Cheatham, McAdams,Forsyth,Deji,Robothon- next off the bench Kretzer, Gladden,Evans and Aaron Jackson-we are trying to play too many players-Antino and Big Dog fewer minutes until they improve at practice or in limited minute

Final observation-too much dribbling,not enough passing-we are using nearly the entire shot clock to get off a shot-Robo needs to initiate the offense much faster by passing

[LZIp]

if anything, I think Kretzer needs less minutes

[BirdZip]

My favorite part of the Marshall game--we actually ran an inbound play that wasn't just "throw it up high to the big guy". Been a couple years since we did that.

[1981 grad]

I do not know how this team will do in the MAC. This is a very inexperienced team and many of these guys did not play big minutes last year. I believe this could be our worst year in the MAC. If Pat does not have a good game, Big Dog has not been much help off the bench. Kwan also has not been shooting the ball well the last 3 games against division 1 competition. I believe he needs to attack the basket more and stop settling for a 3 ball. He has the length and athleticism to be real good going to the hoop. The good thing is his defense and rebounding have improved the last few games.

I would like to see Kretzer do more on offense. He has not produced offensively this year and I am surprised to see him on the floor at the end of the game.

I like Evans and his defense. I would rather have him in at the end of the game rather than Kretzer.

[clarkwgriswold]

Forsythe can't be in at the end of close games with his free throw shooting.

[Dave in Green]

Forsythe can't be in at the end of close games with his free throw shooting.

Did you also feel the same about Tree not playing at the end of close games? Seriously, if free throw shooting is the primary qualification for being on the floor at the end of close games, then here's your top 5 free throw shooters regardless of size or playing position:

94.4% = Jake

87.2% = Deji

78.3% = Kwan

72.2% = Noah

70.0% = Antino

But others have already suggested that Jake needs less minutes and Antino is a turnover waiting to happen. Poor Coach Dambrot isn't going to know whose advice to take. Anyway, the 2 next best free throw shooters are:

66.7% = Nyles

61.4% = Pat

One compromise at the end of close games is to try to sub in your best free throw shooting ball handlers on offense and your big defenders on defense. But there will be times when you can't sub players every time the ball changes hands and you're going to have players with different skill sets on the floor including some who aren't the greatest free throw shooters.

[Dave in Green]

Following up on free throw shooting in general, it's been remarkably stable in college basketball over the past 50 years. NCAA figures show that the free throw shooting percentage for all players has averaged right around 69% almost every season, never falling lower than 67.1% and never rising as high as 70%. By that measure the Zips' top 5 free throw shooters listed above are all above average. As a team, the Zips are currently shooting 68.8%, which makes them neither good nor bad but just about dead average.

[BirdZip]

Following up on free throw shooting in general, it's been remarkably stable in college basketball over the past 50 years. NCAA figures show that the free throw shooting percentage for all players has averaged right around 69% almost every season, never falling lower than 67.1% and never rising as high as 70%. By that measure the Zips' top 5 free throw shooters listed above are all above average. As a team, the Zips are currently shooting 68.8%, which makes them neither good nor bad but just about dead average.

According to NCAA.com, we're 168th out of 345 D1 teams. Average indeed, but average stinks.