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Game 17—@Eastern Michigan


Let'sGoZips94

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Eastern plays the Syracuse zone with Thompson being the key leader on their team.

 

They are a three-headed monster between 6'10" junior forward James Thompson IV (15.8 ppg; can't believe he's only a junior), 6'9" junior forward Elijah Minnie (17.5 ppg), and 6'2" junior guard Paul Jackson (15.4 ppg). 

 

Very up and down season for the Eagles thus far, with a blow out win at South Florida and a 3 point loss to North Florida. 

 

Hopefully Sayles is healthy and able to play for this game, but I'm not confident with how he was walking around towards the end of the BG game. We would miss him tremendously. We're going to need to make our shots because we'll be undersized and they play a zone.

 

Let's get the road monkey off our back, and improve to 2-3 in the MAC. Go Zips!

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The Zips have a few negatives going into this game.  They have struggled on the road.  They have also struggled against the zone.  You can penetrate a zone with quick passing and quick moves after you are able to penetrate the zone.  Unfortunately, with our young team, once we penetrate the zone we have had difficulty finishing and if you hesitate you are done once you are in the paint.  

 

The positive is that the win against Bowling Green has given this team confidence that they can compete in the MAC.  They have played 4 games in the MAC and two were competitive that could have gone either way.  I heard Cotten on the radio and he indicated that he felt confident on the floor and had no hesitation shooting the winning shot.  If he can continue his great play it would allow Duvivier to play the 2 guard, his more natural position.  We won on Sat. with Utomi going 1-8 from the 3 ball.  We need him to play better, especially against the zone where he should get open looks.  

Edited by 1981 grad
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15 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

The Zips have a few negatives going into this game.  They have struggled on the road.  They have also struggled against the zone.  You can penetrate a zone with quick passing and quick moves after you are able to penetrate the zone.  Unfortunately, with our young team, once we penetrate the zone we have had difficulty finishing and if you hesitate you are done once you are in the paint.  

 

The positive is that the win against Bowling Green has given this team confidence that they can compete in the MAC.  They have played 4 games in the MAC and two were competitive that could have gone either way.  I heard Cotten on the radio and he indicated that he felt confident on the floor and had no hesitation shooting the winning shot.  If he can continue his great play it would allow Duvivier to play the 2 guard, his more natural position.  We won on Sat. with Utomi going 1-8 from the 3 ball.  We need him to play better, especially against the zone where he should get open looks.  

 

I would love to see Malcolm and Vershon on the floor together more often, even in the starting lineup.  I like Parrish's length and athleticism, but his turnovers and defensive lapses drive me crazy.  Not Nick Harney level crazy, but freshman lapse crazy.

 

This game concerns me, especially their size with Sayles likely out.  I think we're going to see Koste-lack of playing time transition to Koste-lack of rest.

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This is a tough game, but winnable. EMU seems to be the exact same type of team that they have been for a few seasons now: incredibly athletic and skilled, with no team chemistry and a lackluster coach. There is no excuse for a team as talented as EMU to be 1-3 in conference play.

 

James Thompson might be the best player in the MAC and he seems to have matured a bit; I only see one technical on the season after averaging about 300 the past couple of seasons. They have a really good transfer from Robert Morris in Elijah Minnie, he is another big man that the Zips will have to find a way to contain. Outside of those two, Tim Bond, a MAC all-defense team member last season, is a great player as well.

 

Looking at their roster, somehow they are actually younger than the Zips. They have 8 freshman this season and only one senior (Bond). 

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I know we have yet to officially get the road-monkey off our back, but the refs kind of just treated the Zips as the visiting team on their own home court and they still prevailed. The Zips impressively took a huge step forward with mental toughness. I am hoping going forward, regardless of who is on the court the Zips start to gain more and more confidence and swagger and push through adversity with consistent effort. That way Angry Groce is free to direct his ire at lousy calls instead of his own team.

 

Small Angry Groce.jpg

 

 

Edited by Illini Zip
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31 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

I know we have yet to officially get the road-monkey off our back, but the refs kind of just treated the Zips as the visiting team on their own home court and they still prevailed. The Zips impressively took a huge step forward with mental toughness. I am hoping going forward, regardless of who is on the court the Zips start to gain more and more confidence and swagger and push through adversity with consistent effort. That way Angry Groce is free to direct his ire at lousy calls instead of his own team.

 

Small Angry Groce.jpg

 

 

 

You're new to being a Zips fan, so I wanted to give you a heads up: this happens a lot. MAC refs BLOW and are probably some of the most inconsistent referees in all of basketball. There used to be a lot of griping on this board when it came to the refereeing. Poor officiating has become so incredibly common, we've shut up for the most part. Whenever you hear about the refs on this board in a negative way, you KNOW it's bad. 

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16 minutes ago, lilroodude said:

 

You're new to being a Zips fan, so I wanted to give you a heads up: this happens a lot. MAC refs BLOW and are probably some of the most inconsistent referees in all of basketball. There used to be a lot of griping on this board when it came to the refereeing. Poor officiating has become so incredibly common, we've shut up for the most part. Whenever you hear about the refs on this board in a negative way, you KNOW it's bad. 

 

I appreciate the warning lilroodude. I too will learn to live with the inevitable and will be sure to double-up my blood pressure meds before tip off.     :D

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1 hour ago, lilroodude said:

 

You're new to being a Zips fan, so I wanted to give you a heads up: this happens a lot. MAC refs BLOW and are probably some of the most inconsistent referees in all of basketball. There used to be a lot of griping on this board when it came to the refereeing. Poor officiating has become so incredibly common, we've shut up for the most part. Whenever you hear about the refs on this board in a negative way, you KNOW it's bad. 

Watching the end of the BG game on espn3 was just painful. I think 8 out of the last 10 possessions had fouls called.  Of course, BG had to wonder why they all of a sudden didn't get the calls when KLac barged into the lane for that put back and bodies flew all over each other after the deliberately missed free throw.

 

Back on topic, Eastern is always an enigma.  They have all this talent and a former coach of the year but always crash and burn in the tournament and the regular season.

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23 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

I wafterld love to see Malcolm and Vershon on the floor together more often,iteven in the starting lineup.  I like Parrish's length and athleticism, but his turnovers and defensive lapses drive me crazy.  Not Nick Harney level crazy, but freshman lapse crazy.

 

This game concerns me, especially their size with Sayles likely out.  I think we're going to see Koste-lack of playing time transition to Koste-lack of rest.

Only IF he can stop the tickey-tack fouling. I fear he could foul out after little time on the floor. Hope he can turn that trend around. He needs the playing time! And the team needs It too.

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2 minutes ago, zipfan84 said:

Only IF he can stop the tickey-tack fouling. I fear he could foul out after little time on the floor. Hope he can turn that trend around. He needs the playing time! And the team needs It too.

He does need to foul less, but some of the calls seem to be a joke, especially last game.

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15 minutes ago, LZIp said:

He does need to foul less, but some of the calls seem to be a joke, especially last game.

 

While he's had some joke calls go against him in the past, he puts himself in poor positions. If he's in positions to foul 80% of the time, he's not going to get the benefit of the doubt as much the other 20%, right or wrong. If you look at this last game, there were a few times he was straight up when contesting, but a majority of the time he would come over top of the defender or briefly leave his feet.

 

It's frustrating because I think Mark can develop into a very solid player. He has the athleticism and physical ability to be a threat at this level, it's just getting him comfortable and up to speed. This EMU game could be HUGE for his development because he'll be going against Thompson. It'll be interesting to see if he can play up to Thompson's level, and if the energy and emotion that Kostelac brings to the floor can rattle Thompson, who is prone to get T'd up as previously mentioned.

 

I still for the life of me can't figure out how Mark wasn't called for a foul on his put-back late in the BG game, but I'm not complaining. B)

Edited by Let'sGoZips94
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23 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

While he's had some joke calls go against him in the past, he puts himself in poor positions. If he's in positions to foul 80% of the time, he's not going to get the benefit of the doubt as much the other 20%, right or wrong. If you look at this last game, there were a few times he was straight up when contesting, but a majority of the time he would come over top of the defender or briefly leave his feet.

 

It's frustrating because I think Mark can develop into a very solid player. He has the athleticism and physical ability to be a threat at this level, it's just getting him comfortable and up to speed. This EMU game could be HUGE for his development because he'll be going against Thompson. It'll be interesting to see if he can play up to Thompson's level, and if the energy and emotion that Kostelac brings to the floor can rattle Thompson, who is prone to get T'd up as previously mentioned.

 

I still for the life of me can't figure out how Mark wasn't called for a foul on his put-back late in the BG game, but I'm not complaining. B)

I personally think he can be a beast with his size and athleticism. A red-shirt year this year would have benefited him and I think he could be a candidate for one next year (even though he might not like it). More time learning, getting acclimated, and working on his figure could do wonders for him down the road.

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1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

I still for the life of me can't figure out how Mark wasn't called for a foul on his put-back late in the BG game, but I'm not complaining. B)

There were a lot of inconsistent calls and maybe he impressed the refs with his move and they rewarded him :thumb:

Edited by NWAkron
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16 minutes ago, LZIp said:

I personally think he can be a beast with his size and athleticism. A red-shirt year this year would have benefited him and I think he could be a candidate for one next year (even though he might not like it). More time learning, getting acclimated, and working on his figure could do wonders for him down the road.

 

I agree, a red-shirt year would have benefited Kostalac a great deal, but I don't think I have ever seen a player red-shirt after his Freshman year. Medical red-shirts and transfers are the obvious exceptions to the rule. Talking about someone 6'-11" having a figure is quite funny to me.  :)

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Just now, Illini Zip said:

 

I agree, a red-shirt year would have benefited Kostalac a great deal, but I don't think I have ever seen a player red-shirt after his Freshman year. Medical red-shirts and transfers are the obvious exceptions to the rule.

I think it almost has to happen to 1 or 2 guys. There are no incoming freshman next year that I'm aware of. Seems it will be 1 max if any since Poles took 1 of the 2 departing-senior schollies. There are going to be guys who played this year who will be on the end of the bench with 4 new and talented players coming into the mix.

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1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

Kostalac needs to not leave his feet while playing D. I'd recommend he not try so much to block shots; just put his arms straight up & make them shoot over you.

 

Amen, you and Let'sGoZips94 are all over it!! I would just add that Kostalac has to trust that once he beats his guy to the spot, walls off and stops the dribble drive that his teammates are going to drop down and help double or triple team.

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3 minutes ago, LZIp said:

I think it almost has to happen to 1 or 2 guys. There are no incoming freshman next year that I'm aware of. Seems it will be 1 max if any since Poles took 1 of the 2 departing-senior schollies. There are going to be guys who played this year who will be on the end of the bench with 4 new and talented players coming into the mix.

 

I believe you are talking about class balance. I have noticed that it's out of whack too. I'm not sure what Groce has in mind there, other than there might be some natural attrition. Sometimes these things just work themselves out in time.

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21 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

Kostalac needs to not leave his feet while playing D. I'd recommend he not try so much to block shots; just put his arms straight up & make them shoot over you.

 

He leans forward. Watch his hips. His legs are straight, but his upper body is bent at the hips, towards the man he is guarding. Many big guys develop that lean in high school, so it becomes problematic with college refs (even Larry, Moe and Curly from Sat).

 

He will learn, he's a smart guy.

 

 

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It will be interesting to see if we are any better against the zone tonight.  I think frosh have a tough time playing against a zone and we are loaded with frosh.  I think we will see a lot of 3 point shots if we cannot penetrate.  It would be great if Utomi can find his range from the 3 point range.  With Duvivier, Cotton, Jimond and Utomi we have guys can shoot the 3.  I would love to see Cotton have 3 great games in a row, especially a great game on the road.  Let us hope that his confidence continues to grow.

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