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I thought that after the first half when we shot the 3 ball well and still were losing by three points that we were going to be in trouble. We lost the game on the boards where we were outrebounded, at the foul line where they shot twice as many foul shots, and on defense where they penetrated the middle coming around the screens. I still think that KD needs to do something about this teams love affair with the 3 ball. Now even Pat is shooting the 3 ball. I can't wait to see big dog launch a 3. We are not a good 3 point shooting team and only shot about 30% from the 3 line last night. Although there were complaints about the refs, this team is not going to draw fouls when we settle for the outside shot about half the times we run our offense. The good news is that we only had 10 turnovers and big dog and Pat looked good when we got them the ball. Evans also had a good game. With a young team, any games on the road will be a struggle. Hopefully, we can return to form at home next week.

Let's get this out of the way up front: The Zips came into this game as underdogs for a reason. Toledo has a talented, well-balanced team led by veterans. Brown, Weatherspoon and Drummond are all seniors and Boothe is a junior. They played like talented veterans with their backs to the wall after being upset in their conference season opener. This was as much a statement game for them as WMU was for the Zips. With all of that, the Zips played them even for the first half in a tough road game even with an 11-6 disadvantage in personals over the first 20 minutes. I think the game would have been closer had Kwan not been hurt. On a successful shot block by Kwan, he was clobbered by a Toledo player (no foul called) and sustained a serious hip pointer that sent him to the bench and required ice. He wasn't able to play the rest of the first half, and was only able to limp through the first 3 minutes of the second half for a total of 9 minutes. His absence on the floor for the other 20 minutes he'd normally play left a hole the Zips couldn't plug in scoring, rebounding and defense. Kwan started the game defending Weatherspoon, and Kwan's length and quickness was effective in holding him in check. When guarded by a healthy Kwan, Weatherspoon scored 1 point on a free throw (the foul was not on Kwan). After Kwan was hurt Weatherspoon scored 16. The other Zips who tried to cover Weatherspoon in Kwan's absence didn't have the length, athleticism and experience to keep him in check. As Weatherspoon became more effective it opened up the floor for other Toledo players. Having a healthy Kwan guarding Weatherspoon the whole game may not have resulted in a Zips win, but it would have been closer. It wasn't all bad news for the Zips. The Zips' center combination of Pat/Big Dog outperformed the Rockets' Boothe/Garber combo, outscoring them 14-11 and outrebounding them 11-7. The Zips have an advantage at center over every other team in the MAC, including Toledo. And the margin of victory would have been greater if the Zips hadn't outperformed their season average free throw shooting by hitting a commendable 87% (13-15). Considering all of the above, I expect the younger Zips to continue improving and have a solid chance of beating Toledo when they meet again Feb. 18 at the JAR.

If it were on topic, I might. I might even click on a link if you provided it. Maybe you should start a new post about it. Should go over well on a ZN board. Maybe take it over to the Ken+ board, you'll get more reaction there...but probably not.

It appears the refs were calling a tight game tonight. Something the Zips could have taken advantage of like Toledo did. Aggressive defense and neglecting getting the ball to the paint is a formula for disaster when that is happening. The starting PG, SG, and backup PG/SG were top 3 in the team in shots taken. All 3 are perimeter players. What else do we expect? Our starting center and slashing guard led the team in FTs. Coincidence? It's the nature of the beast. I bet OU was pretty low in the conference on FT attempts during the Cooper years. Basically, get used to it if this is going to be our new identity.

Gonna be a LONG year.

I would love to see them in the MAC because they need a replacement for Akron leaving.