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Who Will Have Biggest Scoring Increase This Year?


phil

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I just read the SI basketball preview and they had their predictions of players who were going to increase their scoring average from last season to this season. Before the season starts, would like to hear some predictions from Zip fans of which Zip player will increase their scoring average the most from last year to this year. Last year there were 3 players who had big jumps in their scoring averages including Kwan, 2.3 to 7.9, Pat, 4.9 to 10 and Deji, 5.2 to 9.9. Which Zip player will have a breakout season this year?

Here are the scoring averages from last year:

Kwan 7.9

Jake 5.6

Reggie 7.0

Isaiah 5.4

Pat 10

Aaron Jackson 2.8

Antino Jackson 6.2

Robotham 9.9

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I am torn between Isaiah and Antino. I think that KD wants to play Pat and Isaiah together and if Big Dog would makes his foul shots he could be a double digit scorer.

However, I am going with Antino. He played strong defense at the end of the year and that will keep him on the court. He looked good in the exhibition game and with Robotham being hurt he will have the opportunity to lead the offense. If he improves from last year I could see him averages 12-14 points per game.

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If I'm allowed to cheat, I'll take Williams as well.

But to stay on topic with returning players, I'm going Antino "Hulk" Jackson. IIRC, he played well last since when Noah went down. I think Noah has the capability to increase his scoring average the most since he is probably the best talent on the team; I just don't think he will be asked to do that. Kwan has that potential too, but I didn't see enough from him last season to expect a breakout year. Jake is a good option as well since he seemed to have a down year last season scoring wise. I also think Aaron Jackson is a candidate, but for next season. I like what I see out of him when he's on the court, but he's sort of buried on the depth chart and I dont recall him getting much run last year. However, as I said above, I'm going with Antino. His minutes will be similar to what they were towards the end of last season while Robo is out/working his way back. Once Robo comes back, I think he will assume a 6th man role and have plenty of opportunities. I think he was playing best or second best on the team at the end of last year, so that average is a bit misleading I think when you look at how little he played earlier in the season. He averaged 11.3 the last 10 games of last year.

Edited by LZip
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hey guys, in my opinion JIMOND IVEY will be one of the leading scorers in the MAC this season. HE played 14 minutes and had 12 points easy, he picked up two fouls early and had to sit most of first half. THIS guy is going to be special!

I agree. I realize Ivey does not fit in to this thread necessarily because he was not with us last year but I think this kid will graduate as one of the most electric/entertaining players EVER!

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I believe that Kwan is the logical choice here. Unlike last season when he was unexpectedly thrust into his role after Tree's meltdown, he's going into this year firmly entrenched into the 4 spot. All of those minutes last season should pay dividends. I'd like to see him more involved in the paint but I truly believe that Kwan can be as good as he wants to be. Our now seasoned point guards should be able to find him in good spots regularly so I'm expecting a nice season out of him.

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Kinda surprised that there aren't any mentions of Reggie. Probably the best pure shooter KD has had at Akron. He's the one guy whose jumpshots you expect to be going in every time they leave his hands. He could very easily be our leading scorer as he as the potential to absolutely fill it up (31 vs CMU). The only things holding him back from being that big time scorer are maybe the minutes situation and the fact that he has a tendency to disappear in some games (6 games with goose eggs last year). But I could still definitely see him as a 12 per night guy this year.

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Kinda surprised that there aren't any mentions of Reggie. Probably the best pure shooter KD has had at Akron. He's the one guy whose jumpshots you expect to be going in every time they leave his hands. He could very easily be our leading scorer as he as the potential to absolutely fill it up (31 vs CMU). The only things holding him back from being that big time scorer are maybe the minutes situation and the fact that he has a tendency to disappear in some games (6 games with goose eggs last year). But I could still definitely see him as a 12 per night guy this year.

I wanted to say Reggie because in many ways I think he is the best shooter in the league but I just don't know if he can score consistently in most of the games throughout the season.

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For the most part, Reggie's scoring is all about the long range jumper. One night he'll have 15, and then disappear for several games.

So many people have mentioned Jake, and my only concern is his back. He isn't as good of a shooter as Reggie, but has the ability to score in many different ways. He's also a front line rebounder when he's in the game, which opens up more opportunities. Plus, he's nearly automatic from the FT Line.

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I was tempted to say Jake as well, but I just don't think he's that type of player to go out and have a score first mindset. There's kind of this notion that Jake is more versatile offensively than Reggie but they shoot just about the same percentage of their shots from three and Jake's actually attempted more 3s than Reggie over their careers. Jake's value mostly just comes from being a great leader, rebounder, and defender rather than a top-notch scorer.

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And don't forget. Best FT shooter on the team, hands down.

We were so fortunate last year in the semi-final game against Buffalo that he was starting and playing extended minutes, because he was on the floor both times we were awarded with 2-shot technicals. In his 30 minutes, he was also the leading scorer, pulled down 4 rebounds, and hit a couple of 3s.

I think these are the kinds of performances we'll see more often from him this year, IF he can be healthy for an entire year.

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I'm going to go with Pat, maybe only a couple points but with all of the newcomers contributing I don't think anyone is going to go way up and he certainly has the skill set and with the plan to share some time with Big Dog instead of just splitting it, I see him gaining a few points.

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I just read the SI basketball preview and they had their predictions of players who were going to increase their scoring average from last season to this season. Before the season starts, would like to hear some predictions from Zip fans of which Zip player will increase their scoring average the most from last year to this year. Last year there were 3 players who had big jumps in their scoring averages including Kwan, 2.3 to 7.9, Pat, 4.9 to 10 and Deji, 5.2 to 9.9. Which Zip player will have a breakout season this year?

Here are the scoring averages from last year:

Kwan 7.9

Jake 5.6

Reggie 7.0

Isaiah 5.4

Pat 10

Aaron Jackson 2.8

Antino Jackson 6.2

Robotham 9.9

Kwan Cheatham Jr. 8.7

Jake Kretzer 10.3

Reggie McAdams 13.3

Isaiah Johnson 11.0

Pat Forsythe 10.0

Aaron Jackson 6.3

Antino Jackson 13.7

Discounting the newcomers, everyone's scoring average is up (except Pat who is dead even). But with a very limited sample set (and the fact he's had to play a lot more minutes than anticipated) Antino is the early leader (Reggie close behind). By the way at the Charleston classic last year before he was really getting any playing time he walked up to me to introduce himself as though he was someone I should know. :) Seemed quite confident, I guess that was the real deal. And even though Hiram only sort of counts when was the last time the Zips started a season 3-0? It hasn't been in the last 15 years.

There's a bit of a buzz about the Zips with their P5 wins they've have taken over the last five years: MIss. St., Penn State, Oregon State, USC (both :)) and Arkansas. Pretty good list. Would be a really big buzz if they could pull of the Villanova upset.

Edited by MDZip
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  • 1 month later...

Just an update through 10 games with scoring improvement:

Antino: 5.5 point improvement

Jake: 3.9 point improvement

Big Dog: 3.7 point improvement

Big Dog was my 2nd choice and may have been my first if he could shoot foul shots. He is shooting 52% from the line and has missed 23 foul shots. He is leading our team in foul shot attempts. He would be averaging double digits if he was a decent at the foul line.

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  • 1 month later...

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