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So now what?


NWAkron

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Started this thread to give all of us a place to vent our feelings on the state of the season and Zips basketball.  Be negative.  Be positive.  Be angry.  Believe or don't believe. 

 

I'm hoping for the best and expecting the worst and want to see the Zips can get some joy back in their game. 

Edited by NWAkron
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People keep saying our record is a mirage, but we're losing now because our offense has regressed. 2-3 weeks ago we weren't shooting the ball 36% from the field. Any team is going to lose more times than not when they shoot that poorly. Hell we would have gotten smoked earlier in the season shooting that badly, but we have gotten a little better defensively since.

 

What is going to be key is getting Kwan back to playing how he was for the first 20-25 games of the season. Kwan is vital to our success and if he goes 2/10 shooting in Cleveland, we will likely lose. If the pieces do come back together and we start resembling the offense we had earlier in the season, I don't see us losing in Cleveland.

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I have a cold, so my crystal balls are a bit foggy.

 

I have a fever, so I may be hallucinating.

 

I found myself really emotionally invested in the Kent game and the loss left me feeling cranky and irritable, much like older people must feel the night before a colonoscopy. Maybe the team felt the same way or maybe they have just forgotten how to score.

 

I do know it's very frustrating, for both the players and the fans.

 

Perhaps a bowl of chicken soup for all of us. Hey, it couldn't hurt..  ;)

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1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

People keep saying our record is a mirage, but we're losing now because our offense has regressed. 2-3 weeks ago we weren't shooting the ball 36% from the field. Any team is going to lose more times than not when they shoot that poorly.

 

Add the 36% to the 14 turnovers, and you've had a bad offensive night.  So yes, you're right that most teams will lose a game like that.

 

The offense has struggled more lately, which makes the fantastic game at EMU an even greater mystery.  But I can tell you that a team full of good shooters does not suddenly become bad shooters.  The problem is a little deeper in there somewhere, and hopefully our coaches can make the corrections to get our offense rolling more consistently again.  

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You know something? Had you told us at the beginning of the season that we'd be sitting at 12-3 with a full 2 game lead in the MAC, we would've given anything for that. And you know something not only are we going to Buffalo ZN.O, we're going to Akron and Kent and then we're going to Cleveland to punch our ticket to the NCAAT BYAAAA!!!...We will not give up.

 

byah_by_dimmub.jpg

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3 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

You know something? Had you told us at the beginning of the season that we'd be sitting at 12-3 with a full 2 game lead in the MAC, we would've given anything for that. And you know something not only are we going to Buffalo ZN.O, we're going to Akron and Kent and then we're going to Cleveland to punch our ticket to the NCAAT BYAAAA!!!...We will not give up.

 

A little pep talk is needed here today I guess.  But a little perspective is appropriate as well.  

 

12-3 with a 2 game lead with 3 games to play puts you in a pretty coveted position.  True.  But if these 3 games go the wrong way, it turns into a catastrophe.  If they go the right way, we improve over last year with a team that lost 3 very productive seniors.  That would be fantastic.  But I don't think any of us can predict what will happen in these 3 games now.  

 

  

 

 

 

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57 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

You know something? Had you told us at the beginning of the season that we'd be sitting at 12-3 with a full 2 game lead in the MAC, we would've given anything for that. And you know something not only are we going to Buffalo ZN.O, we're going to Akron and Kent and then we're going to Cleveland to punch our ticket to the NCAAT BYAAAA!!!...We will not give up.

 

 

 

OK, I've calmed down now and I'm more rational.  This is all Kreed's fault.

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What I saw last night was a team sleepwalking and just going through the motions.  Akron had beaten BG 17 times in a row and in that streak, some less talented Akron teams than this one had beaten some more talented BG teams than that one last night.  BG truly sucks.  They are a ragtag bunch of losers.  So, I am chalking last night up to disinterest, which brings me to my next point. . .

 

Where's the Senior leadership?

 

These 2 guys could have gone anywhere in the country and wanted to play their Senior year at Akron to take care of some unfinished business.

 

Where's the leadership coming from these two guys?

 

The number of half-hearted, lazy, unfocused passes that were committed last night was a perfect time for our two 6'10" big men to be up someone's ass with a size 18 sneaker.  Instead, I saw very poor body language out of those two last night with Kwan bordering on full-blown crybaby reactions.

 

Also, as the season has worn on, Big Dog has become an absolute liability on defense.  Any player he is defending with any quickness blows right past him for an easy basket.  I love the guy, but the book is out on his defense.

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8 minutes ago, K92 said:

Also, as the season has worn on, Big Dog has become an absolute liability on defense.  Any player he is defending with any quickness blows right past him for an easy basket.  I love the guy, but the book is out on his defense.

 

I love our coaches, but there's so much more that can be done in this particular situation.  Besides the offense/defense switch at the end of games, they could also be strategically attempting to switch him in right before our own offensive possessions, and out right before our opponent's offensive possessions, whenever possible, during all of his rotations throughout the entire course of a game.  

 

It also saves him numerous trips up the floor in a game, and that might help a lot with the late-season fatigue that everyone is seeing with him.  

Edited by skip-zip
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Here's how I look at it, I like these guys and I want them to do well and I want them to represent the University well but for crying out loud (seems like a very appropriate idiom right now) its a college basketball team/game. It has no real effect on your life other than entertainment. Yep I get upset with them sometimes too and maybe they are not playing very well right now but give these guys a break. It's a long season and you're not going to be at the top of your game every game. I hate calling out individual players for any reason (especially since none of us expert commentators can do anything of what they do - even if I was 6'10"). We have had an unprecedented run of success in Akron basketball over the last decade or so, I think any team in the league would trade places with us. So we haven't won an NCAA tournament game and might miss it this year even though it started off very promising - boo-hoo - its tough to win in the NCAA tournament period and especially out of the MAC. So the MAC has had a couple good runs over the last 15 years, what about the other 13? I've been to all three of the NCAA tournament games in this century and had a great time, its fun being part of it (well maybe not so much the VCU game ;-)). Would it have been more fun if we won? Sure but that's not why I go. There are 12 teams in our conference alone who are fighting for the top and under Keith the Zips have been consistently the best team in conference. It make it interesting every single year as opposed to what we lived in the 90's when it almost never mattered. /rant

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14 minutes ago, MDZip said:

Here's how I look at it, I like these guys and I want them to do well and I want them to represent the University well but for crying out loud (seems like a very appropriate idiom right now) its a college basketball team/game. It has no real effect on your life other than entertainment. Yep I get upset with them sometimes too and maybe they are not playing very well right now but give these guys a break. It's a long season and you're not going to be at the top of your game every game.

 

I like your post, but you aren't going to get me to take these games less seriously.  Sorry.  I just can't do it.  I'm too invested in Akron Athletics, emotionally and otherwise.  B)

 

But on your other point, I have always been someone who emphatically reminds everyone on this site that college athletes often do not perform like you want.  They're kids, for God's sake.  But, the problem right now with Akron, like every highly successful program, is that the bar is now set really, really high.  If it weren't for that, you wouldn't be seeing the posts you're seeing today.  If this was Keith's first team, everyone would be rejoicing in our season right now.  But it's not 2004 anymore.  Everyone expects so much more.  

 

Oh, by the way, we've now played in 4 D-1 NCAA Tournaments in this Century.  Are you forgetting about 1986?  

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4 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

Oh, by the way, we've now played in 4 D-1 NCAA Tournaments in this Century.  Are you forgetting about 1986?  

Nope, didn't forget (but I didn't make that one sadly), but we're old, that was in the previous century :-) I'm obviously pretty invested too since I will go to as many Zips events as I can make but I just try to keep it all in the proper perspective (which also doesn't mean I'm always successful :-)) 

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3 minutes ago, MDZip said:

Nope, didn't forget (but I didn't make that one sadly), but we're old, that was in the previous century :-) I'm obviously pretty invested too since I will go to as many Zips events as I can make but I just try to keep it all in the proper perspective (which also doesn't mean I'm always successful :-)) 

 

For what it's worth, I wish losses didn't affect me as much as they do.  I can't help it.  

 

Yes, 1986 does feel like the last century.  I was still in school at Akron, and Buchtel Avenue was even still a 4-lane one-way thoroughfare.  Ah, the memories.    .  

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