Dave in Green

Sometimes it gets a little too serious here, so I think it's good when we can all get a laugh out of something.

Skip, the difference is that I have to work hard at my creative writing while yours seems to flow so naturally.

Oh I'm well aware of the legend of the coming apocalypse where the forces of the ultra super neo libs are destined to face off against the forces of the ultra super neo cons in the final battle for the salvation of the universe. It is writ that it will take place in the holy city of Cowlumbus where billions of flaming buckeyes will rain from the heavens and consume the heathens in the very fires of purgatory. Salvation shall come only for rational moderates who keep faith with the best from the right heavens and the left heavens while rejecting the extremes from both as the work of the devil.

There are many thousands of different religions and subsets of religions, and many millions of different interpretations of various aspects of those religions. It would be utter chaos if every business claiming any remote religious connection was free to refuse service to any class of people they happened to believe conflicted with their religious beliefs in any way. The reasonable solution is that any business open to the public should be prohibited by law from discriminating for religious reasons against any targeted group of legitimate citizens. Separation of church and business is just as valid as separation of church and state. Religion should be a private matter between each individual and whoever they believe to be their maker.

It doesn't even take a lot of knowledge about soccer to recognize what a great accomplishment this was. I'm extremely impressed.

MSU actually averaged more personal fouls per game this season than the Zips. The Zips were #218 in the country and MSU was #223. One of the pre-game analysis stories I read warned that MSU fouls a lot and could have a problem against Duke if any of their key players got in foul trouble. In the end MSU's poor field goal shooting and inability to slow Duke's shooters did more damage to them than getting 10 more personal fouls (28-18).

I would have guessed the average number of transfers among all colleges to be somewhere between 1 and 2 per season. That 2.6 average shows how sheltered Zips fans have been until just the last few seasons. I'd still consider predicting a minimum of 4 transfers from UA to be a stretch. I could imagine more players talking about transferring than actually doing it.

I could see predicting 1 or 2 transfers almost any year from just about any college team these days. But a minimum of 4 transfers would be a bit extreme for any program.

I'm really getting excited about Mr. Agba. The more we learn about him the more he sounds like the closest thing to Tree's talent level the Zips have seen in a long time. Even though he's a late bloomer, he seems to already be at least borderline high-major talent. I really like that he's having a chance to go up against high-level bigs headed for high-major schools and holding his own. Looking over a players to watch list from the tournament you can get an idea of the quality of players Peter and Greensboro Day faced by comparing their roster to Monteverde's roster and looking at the colleges each team's players are committed to: Greensboro Day (NC) Players to watch: Peter Agba (6’6, Sr., PF/Akron) Darius Moore (5’11, Sr., PG/Abilene Christian) Montverde Academy (FL) Players to watch: Ben Simmons (6’9, Sr., PF/LSU) Noah Dickerson (6’8, Sr., PF/Florida) Doral Moore (6’11, Sr., C/Wake Forest) Marquez Letcher-Ellis (6’7, Sr., PF/Rice) Jean Marc Christ Koumadje (7’4, Sr., C/Florida State)

Now that we know that he's going to be the receivers coach at UB, I have to repeat posting this link that's worth a read.

There were some twitter references to Peter's age by USA Today's Cam Smith and others: This story describes how Peter did defensively against the #1 HS player in the country, 6-10 Ben Simmons:

There's no curse. The Zips have gained as much or more than they've lost -- Pat Forsythe, Quincy Diggs, Brian Walsh, Nick Dials, etc. Transferring is a way of life in college basketball these days, so might as well get used to it. Take a look through the list of more than 400 known transfers on VerbalCommits.com. Toledo has 3 players on that list; Miami, Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois each have 2; Buffalo, Central Michigan, Ohio and Bowling Green each have 1, etc.

Never let a mistake or two get in the way of a strong opinion.

Done deal. Shaka Smart agrees to Texas job

I didn't get to see the game, but Greensboro Day lost 50-34 to powerhouse Monteverde Academy, which has won 7 straight games in this tournament over the last couple of years. Monteverde is loaded with D-I recruits. Brief story is here.

I really thought that BJ had a high ceiling with the Zips, that he made clear progress from the beginning to the end of the season, and that he would have done much better if he hadn't been injured. But the reality of college basketball today is that more and more players are transferring for a variety of reasons. It's a shame that he'll have to sit out a year at another D-I school and, due to his redshirt season, have only two seasons of eligibility left. I suppose there's at least a glimmer of hope that his injury has him down right now and that he'll rethink this and end up returning to the Zips next season. If not, he's creating a big opening for Peter Agba to step in and get significant minutes as a true freshman. That would change the chemistry of the team as BJ is more of a slashing wing and Peter is more of a power forward who lives in the paint. The Zips would need to find someone else who can drive the lane and finish at the rim -- maybe Jimond or Josh?

Shaka Smart has no idea what he's getting into at Texas

No, seriously, Bowling Green should hire Ohio State's Jeff Boals

Apparently the MAC's decision to speak out on the Indiana situation was driven by its member schools. John Dunn, president of WMU and also of the MAC presidents' council, urged MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher to take a position on going to Indiana in light of the state's recently passed religious freedom law. Link

Here's the financial situation at UT that Coach Smart would have to work with:

Thanks for bringing up the libertarian viewpoint, which further illustrates the diversity of thought throughout the total population on many different issues that needs to be taken into consideration for government to properly represent all of its citizens. Are Libertarians Liberal or Conservative?

The Zips "Texas Pipeline' would grow stronger with Coach Smart at UT as he'd surely share information with his good friend Coach Dambrot on any area HS recruits that fell just short of UT-level talent.

Smells good to me. Perfect compromise.

Conservative BS stinks just as badly as liberal BS. We have to cut through all the BS from the far left and the far right to get to something resembling rational thought. People with differences can work together and compromise to get things done. It's been done in the past and it will be done in the future.

As important as it is not to overlook the best local recruits, in recent years the Zips have been doing more national recruiting. Last season two of the three commits were from outside Ohio (Texas and Nevada), and it's the same this season with two of the three commits from North Carolina and Texas. So while we may be familiar with Ohio HS players, the Zips coaching staff is measuring them against HS players from across the country when deciding who to offer.