zipnetter51

Anyone have any information on the status of Forsythe and Kretzer for the Cant game?. Opening line has the Zips a 3 pt favorite

Some observations from the game: 1. Kwan has finally accepted his role-rebounding and D,however he has a tendency to push off going for rebounds-can't commit 2 fouls in the first 2 minutes when your team is shorthanded inside. 2. This is the 3rd straight game that Reggie has scored 0 pts in the first half and then in double figures in the 2nd half-we need to figure out how to get him shots earlier in the game-more passing and less dribbling. 3. Big Dog is definitely our top player-he keeps getting better and comes up with new moves inside including driving from the key to the hoop. 4. Jake appeared to reinjure his back late in the game-he hobbled off-any word on his status? 5. This team lives and dies by the 3 ball-when we are hitting we can beat most anybody,but when our shots are not falling, we don't seem to have much other offense to fall back on. 6. We have a much better and deeper team than Cant,BUT we have to rebound and box out as they are strong on the boards.

Very enjoyable game-plenty of good seats available 20-30 minutes before the game just outside the JAR. Here are my observations from watching in person 1. Our guards are smallish and can't seem to prevent the dribble drive. Antino could not stop his man from driving and was consistently beaten and our bigs had to pick up the driver,leading to easy baskets by their inside players. 2. I have been posting all year that Kwan is a liability-he shoots a terrible % on 3s,doesn't drive to the hoop,does not rebound nearly enough for his size, and is VERY turnover prone, Gheck tonite's box score (minutes played vs points, rebounds and turnovers) We won in the second half partly because KD took him out and left him on the bench. IT'S TIME-he either plays inside and fights on the boards or he sits. 3. Very few MAC teams can stop BigDog-keep feeding him the ball and let him go to the hoop-he is very skilled inside 4. I have been harping for 2 years that Reggie is underused-he needs more plays designed to free him up-he is much more than a stationery 3 pt shooter. 5.KD wisely started Jake and put him on Raven Lee and he did a great job holding their top scorer down 6.Our best line-up and the one needed at crunch time is Reggie,Jake,BigDog,Robo and Pat-why not play one guard? Antino can sub for Robo or play them together against teams whose guards are not good penetrators. I would give Aaron some of Kwan's minutes-he can't do any worse and he is quicker and hustles and neither one can make free throws,so what's to lose? Also would like to see a few more minutes for Ivey-if our other guards can't stop the drivers,give him a shot.

Enjoyed many of the observations.but we won that game for one reason only-3 point shots. We made 9 3s,they made 2-that's a 21 pt differential and that my fellow fans is how we overcame all of the deficiencies mentioned. As I stated in previous posts, this team will live or die by it's 3s. If we are on, we could probably beat most teams ranked above us-when we are off, we become very beatable because we don't drive to the hoop, don't have cutters or backdoors and don't have overall team speed among or first 7. I have stated before that Kwan has not improved-sure he hits an occasional 3 and once in a while a tip-in,but he has some horrible looking misses and just doesn't battle on the boards-he is a nice young man, but he simply isn't an inside presence-he did have one nice drive last night and we need to see much more of that. After the first 15 minutes, Western adjusted and began doubling BigDog and limited his shot opportunities,but he kept trying to beat the double-he needs to look to find the open man-someone has to be open. I still believe we will be favored in every remaining conference game and IF they get by these next 2 on the road, we could very possibly run the table. Lastly, Cant is NOT on a par with us talent-wise. I have watched then twice in person and other than Jimmy Hall, they do not have a player who could crack our top 7. We should beat them easily.

E.A. must be dreaming-EMU rated #1 in the MAC.Talk about a weak non-conference schedule-here are their wins: Vermont,Sienna Heights,Marygrove College,Madonna(didn't know she played hoops), Omaha,Rochester College,Coppin State,Detroit. And some of you still complain about our OCC. By season's end those 2 wins over UCSB and Iona will look much better-those 2 as I previously stated would be in the upper 1/3 of the MAC. Also E.A. fails to rate CMU in his top 5-they are easily better than Cant or Buffalo. I watched Cant twice and am not impressed-middle of the pack in the MAC at best. Zips over Buffalo by 9 or more.

Clarkg posted that Lipscomb was awful-we must be watching different games-on offense they were quick,disciplined,and could shoot the 3-if not Big Dog,we get beat. Aaron J had a nice game and is improving. In fact, we were better with him in and Kwan out. I know I have mentioned it previously,but Kwan has not improved-if anything, he has regressed. He plays soft,gets muscled out by smaller players and is turnover prone. I watched in pre game warmups and he was just practicing shooting3s-we have plenty of 3 pt shooters-he needs work on tip-ins and layups and quit trying to be so fancy. Boy do we ever miss Jake's grit and rebounding-hope he will be ready for Buffalo. I too see some Deji in Ivey,but I believe he will develop faster.

I started tis whole 30 win discussion In a prior post-what I said is that the zips will be favored in every remaining game and I believe they will. That being said,when you look at our wins over Iona (26 win team last season and UCSB(a19 win team with virtually their whole team returning) running the table doesn't seem so implausible. I believe that both of those teams would easily be in the upper half of the MAC and we beat both by 14 pts on a neutral court. So keep believing-sometimes dreams do come true.

I see we are #49 on KenPom,one spot ahead of Ohio State. Looking at the remaining schedule, we will be favored in every remaining game. The toughest two may be at O.U. and at CMU- we could very possibly run the table. If so, would we still be shut out of the Big Dance if we fail to win the MAC tournament? Against Iona, our first 4 shots were all 3s- 3 of them by Kwan, all misses. I know we live and die by the 3s,but would much rather have Reggie,Jake or our guards shooting them than a 6'10 forward,who still thinks he is a guard-please K.D. tell him to get his butt inside, get rebounds,play D and score inside. Since we seem to be getting little or nothing from Aaron Jackson,why not try Daniel-haven't we already blown his redshirt?

Watched the game-K.D. in his post-game comments was spot on. "Reggie is a 41% shooter from the 3 pt. line,so we need to get him the ball"-we need to set screens and to let him drive to the hoop on occasion which will force the defender to back off of him Big Dog is coming on strong-impossible to stop when he backs the defender down BUT he is dragging after 5-6 minutes and is slow to get back on D-playing 15-20 lbs lighter would make a huge difference. Kwan should be used as the backup for Pat and Isiah-he should be told to rebound,defend and play INSIDE and stop hoisting up 3s,we have more than enough 3 pt shooters. Again K.D. is spot on- with Robo at the point,we are more deliberate and less error prone and seem to work our plays better,with Antino,we are much quicker,better in transition,but more error pone. It will take time for these 2 to learn to play together effectively Josh is improving rapidly and Ivey needs time to learn how to utilize his athleticism-he could be the "wild-card" for us. Would like to see Daniel get some minutes(perhaps vs Bethune Cookman??)-sounds like he can drive to the hoop and is a scorer-hope he gets a chance,he just might be a game changer.

Agree with Capt K- our best lineup played the last 5 minutes. Stan Van Gundy featured a 4-1 offense-A big in the middle who would get single coverage-your 2 best shooters on the wings(Reggie and Jake) and 2 guards who can either penetrate or dish (or both) -probably Noah and Antino, but I wouldn't rule out Ivy or Josh,especially with Noah still limited, and do away with the power forward. I fail to see how Kwan helps much-he won't or can't play inside(not tough enough and doesn't rebound well and on defense he tends to reach and foul. I have watched him for 3 yrs and I just don't see him deserving of major time-I would tell him he must play inside,must defend and MUST rebound and stop trying to play like a guard. If that fails,try Daniel and Aaron,who are much more athletic. If your guards are getting beat on D by quicker guards,insert Ivy,Aaron or Josh. Does anyone know why Pat,who was dominating the game sat on the bench for most of the last 15 minutes?-was he hurt?

First impressions-it was a tale of 2 halves-overall Bminus Individual observations as follows: Antino-electric and lightening quick-needs to PASS more and dribble less Big Dog-hands os stone-needs to stop bringing the ball down to dribble and needs to FINISH at the rim Kwan-6'10 and wants to play shooting guard-don't see much improvement-needs to learn to play inside and utilize his size Reggie-can do so much more-could be our leading scorer-needs to play MORE minutes -was best player on the court Jake- smart, hustles, makes very few mistakes and can shoot it-also needs more minutes Pat- seems improved-has some nice post moves-is stronger-but fouls WAY too much Josh W-calm,shows leadership skills,but needs experience-will be a 4 yr starter-can drive to the hoop-shaky 2nd half Jamond-extremely athletic and quick-still raw,but WOW-could be an elite scorer and CAN get to the hoop Aaron J. very athletic,but didn't see enough to form a reasonable opinion Can't is mediocre at best-middle of the pack in the MAC