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Game 13- UMass


clarkwgriswold

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The Zips get a nine day break for Christmas before the Minutemen of UMass visit the JAR on the 30th.  UMass beat Maine on the 20th to snap a 6 game win streak and get to .500 at 6-6.  From what I've read, UMass is very young, with their top talent being freshmen.  They only returned 5 players for this season.  They are coming off of an 11-21 season.   The following Boston Globe article about them describes this game as a "dangerous trip to Akron."  

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/colleges/2019/12/17/umass-has-lost-six-straight-but-minutemen-are/zUTjLnVquKOkqFgAh6l0UI/story.html

 

Here's area couple of preseason previews-

 

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/mccall-feeling-different-energy-level-in-his-umass-basketball-program,586651

 

https://atlantic10.com/news/2019/10/28/211815182.aspx

 

This is obviously not the UMass of Marcus Camby and John Calipari, but a win over an A-10 opponent would be nice coming into MAC play.

 

 

Edited by clarkwgriswold
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Taking a look at the UMass roster and stats, three of their top four scorers are freshman.  6'4" Freshman guard T.J. Weeks leads all scorers at 14.7 ppg.  6'9" freshman center Tre Mitchell leads rebounding at 6.3 rpg and is second in scoring at 14.2 ppg.  6'3" freshman  guard Sean East averages 10.4 ppg and leads the team in assists at 5 apg.  Overall, the team has 7 freshman and 2 sophomores.  Assuming they can hold onto them, things are looking up in Amherst.

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Merry Christmas Zips Nation! Years ago there were lots of Christmas greetings posted, but this year has been tough, especially with soccer and football being down. The greetings are few which reflects how beat up we have become. Yet take heart. We will get thru this and emerge the better for it. This is still one of the best college sports websites in the country and I enjoy the effort you make to keep us up to speed on all things Zip.

 

I wish you  and your families a blessed, safe, and joyful Christmas.

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This is a winnable game for either team. Yes we have some young talent but imho the coaching staff has some x's and o's issues. We were doing well at home against Virginia with an aggressive trap. Took the Virginia coach 6-7 minutes to adjust and lead to numerous easy buckets. Our coach staff did not adjust during the 8,12,16 and halftime time outs. You could argue they barely adjusted. The other issue that happens over and over is opponents inbounding under their basket and getting easy points.

 

We'd be an average team in the MAC and this game is up for grabs. Be a good sign for either team heading into conference play. A successful year in my eyes is a 500 season and limited use of trapping. More man to man half court defense.

 

Regardless of the out come on the 30th, hope we continue to play in both Football and Basketball.

Edited by Steve1981
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Regarding your game with Akron: the good news  is you will  not have to attend to one personal hygiene item as your rear end will be freshly waxed.

 

I predict a game flow similar to your game with UVA.

 

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game?gameId=401168212

 

 

4 hours ago, Steve1981 said:

This is a winnable game for either team. Yes we have some young talent but imho the coaching staff has some x's and o's issues. We were doing well at home against Virginia with an aggressive trap. Took the Virginia coach 6-7 minutes to adjust and lead to numerous easy buckets. Our coach staff did not adjust during the 8,12,16 and halftime time outs. You could argue they barely adjusted. The other issue that happens over and over is opponents inbounding under their basket and getting easy points.

 

We'd be an average team in the MAC and this game is up for grabs. Be a good sign for either team heading into conference play. A successful year in my eyes is a 500 season and limited use of trapping. More man to man half court defense.

 

Regardless of the out come on the 30th, hope we continue to play in both Football and Basketball.

 

Edited by Zipmeister
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Sean East has come a long way, especially after Buggs went down with season ending injury. Chatman, who played for 12 minutes has left the team. Weeks has been out for a while, but is better in ways than his dad. Looks like you guys don't have TV so will probably go out and see the scores later. 

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Here is the link to the Akron thread. Remember most of the posters there think UMass is too good for the MAC and think football should be downgraded or dropped. Also note that the OT loss to Yale had an attendance of 2,212.  (No one asked me and in the minority, but wanted to go all sports in the MAC when we had a chance. Bad timing as the A10 was at it's peak with 6 NCAA bids and the CFP made the money a no brainier for the ultimatum. Off my soap box apologies but most probable don't go the csnbbs MAC board.)

 

https://www.umasshoops.com/newboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16279

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5 hours ago, Steve1981 said:

Here is the link to the Akron thread. Remember most of the posters there think UMass is too good for the MAC and think football should be downgraded or dropped. Also note that the OT loss to Yale had an attendance of 2,212.  (No one asked me and in the minority, but wanted to go all sports in the MAC when we had a chance. Bad timing as the A10 was at it's peak with 6 NCAA bids and the CFP made the money a no brainier for the ultimatum. Off my soap box apologies but most probable don't go the csnbbs MAC board.)

 

https://www.umasshoops.com/newboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16279

 

What ultimatum?

Is this some disguised reference to a Jason Bourne movie?

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5 hours ago, Steve1981 said:

Here is the link to the Akron thread. Remember most of the posters there think UMass is too good for the MAC and think football should be downgraded or dropped. Also note that the OT loss to Yale had an attendance of 2,212.  (No one asked me and in the minority, but wanted to go all sports in the MAC when we had a chance. Bad timing as the A10 was at it's peak with 6 NCAA bids and the CFP made the money a no brainier for the ultimatum. Off my soap box apologies but most probable don't go the csnbbs MAC board.)

 

https://www.umasshoops.com/newboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16279

 

What ultimatum?

Is this some disguised reference to a Jason Bourne movie?

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The games against Virginia and Yale caught my attention. Everybody knows how good Virginia and their defense is and they hung in there pretty well.  Also , losing in OT to Yale impresses me. I've seen Yale play 3-4 times this season and they are very, very good, not your average Ivy program. They play at NC tonight and have a  reasonable shot of taking down the Tar Heels.

 

 Looks like UMass can play at any tempo so hope we see an entertaining up and down the floor type contest. 

 

Akron 75

UMass 70

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It will be interesting to see the players tonight.  Who and how much and effective they paly. If TJ Weeks is still out but Dibaji Walker has been cleared to play by NCAA, source told @Stadium. Cleveland State transfer expected to play tonight against Akron.

 

per Jeff Goodman
‏Verified account
@GoodmanHoops

 

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Edited by Steve1981
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