Dave in Green

Labels, labels, labels. I've worn them all at some point in my life -- liberal, conservative, democrat, republican, libertarian. I tried them all and none of them really fit, because the closer I got to each political ideology, the more apparent the warts on each one. The political ideology that eventually made the most sense to me was one based on the concept of checks and balances. That is, since all humans and all human endeavors are inherently flawed, each must be counterbalanced by others with opposing views to prevent one ideology from gaining too much control for too long and inflicting their various flaws on society for extended periods. So I'll spend the rest of my years as a moderate independent, voting the assorted b*st*rds in and out of office frequently. In an imperfect world filled with imperfect people and their imperfect belief systems, the closest we can get to perfection is to try our best to keep the various flaws in some kind of balance.

Heard through the grapevine that UA's full ticket allocation is less than 400 total. Hard to believe so few tickets allocated for such a large facility. But, if true, after the players' families receive their tickets and the high rollers get theirs on the basis of monetary contributions, there will not likely be any left for the common folk. I found the following posting from the Gonzaga website concerning last year's ticket allocation: Tickets for the NCAA Tournament are distributed in two ways. Each participating institution is allocated 550 tickets for the each first and second round session in which it plays, 1,250 tickets for the third and fourth rounds and 3,500 tickets for the Final Four. The remaining tickets are sold by the host institution for each location. Typically, the host institution will sell out of these tickets far in advance of the tournament pairings being set. If a tournament location is sold out, participating institutions are limited to their allotment of seats and no additional seats will be made available for public sale.

All kidding aside, there's no reason for Zips fans to be trading insults with each other over this issue. GoZips was only exaggerating slightly when he said the Zips have no chance. Even though ND is a #2 seed, many knowledgeable people think they are a legitimate #1 seed with a good shot at reaching the Final Four. Realistically, the odds against beating ND are much higher than they were when the Zips played Gonzaga. It's fair to say the Zips have virtually no chance of beating such a strong team. Should the Zips pull off a miracle, it's also fair to say that such an upset win would be cited in NCAA basketball discussions for decades.

Looks like the Serb knew who he wanted the Zips to draw in the tourney.

I hope that all of those who believe the Zips have NO chance of winning stay home and not use up the scarce tickets that will be available. Tickets should only go to Zips fans who will go there believing the Zips have SOME chance of winning, however small.

Do not fall for the myth that ND is a one-player team! Hansbrough may get all the headlines, but this is a strong overall team. All the starters are seniors, and Hansbrough is the shorty at "only" 6-3. The other four starters are 6-7, 6-8, 6-8 and 6-8. There will be some nightmare matchups for the shorter Zips guards. Zeke will be the only Zips player with a height advantage. ND is the only team in the Big East that was undefeated at home, and the Big East is probably just a bit tougher than the MAC. One of the few things in the Zips favor is that ND plays a style that's similar to Miami's of running the clock down on most plays and taking last-second shots. So the Zips do have experience facing that style of offense. Problem is, ND is a lot better than Miami. Almost half of ND's games this season have been against top 25 teams. They're experienced and they're really good in the fundamentals. If the Zips play their best possible game and ND has an off game, the Zips have a chance. The Zips can't control whether or not ND has an off game, so they just have to focus on playing their very best game and hoping for a few breaks. They played Gonzaga even for 30 minutes in Portland, and have to find a way to do the same for 40 minutes against ND in Chicago. Hilltopper and I will be in Chicago making as much noise as we can against what might be expected to be a huge turnout of ND fans, so the situation is going to be similar to the one we faced against Gonzaga and its huge turnout of local fans in Portland.

Don't know if that's an EA typo or an editor's erroneous edit, but what he meant to write was: Akron will lose four seniors from its top nine players, and possibly a fifth if junior Nik Cvetinovic opts to graduate and return to his native Serbia. He's got a point. The Zips had a 9-player rotation this season. They definitely lose 4 and probably 5 of those 9 players. That's a serious problem. Assuming KD will want to run a 9-player rotation next year, that means that at least 44% and probably 56% of its experienced players will be missing, and the team will have to rely on the quick development of probably more than half of their rotation next season. We fans may think, or at least hope, that the incoming players have as much or more potential than those who are leaving. But that's all unproven at this point. Sports writers have a right to be skeptical about this, as well as being skeptical about just how much the returning veterans may improve over this season. Honestly, I'd rather have the sports writers underestimate how good the Zips might be next season than overestimate and then come down hard on them when they don't live up to expectations.

Players without a coach are nothing more than an undisciplined playground team and a coach without players is nothing more than a story teller. The Zips won as a well-coached team of players who played to the best of their abilities. Not just throughout the championship game, but throughout the whole season, the Zips' team performance was a combination of coaching decisions, individual player performance, and team chemistry. There's plenty of credit to be shared.

Everyone breaks the law every day, even if it's only driving 1 mph over the speed limit for 1 second. When it comes to law breaking and cheating in sports, what really matters is the degree of the infraction. First degree murder is way more serious than going 1 mph over the speed limit, and some forms of cheating in sports are way more serious than others. All I ever want to see in any of these cases is the fairest and most objective examination of the facts by impartial investigators to determine the relative seriousness of a transgression, fair and balanced application of the law to determine the appropriate punishment, and swift and just application of the appropriate punishment. We don't always get it, but that's what we should aspire to.

I guess we posted the same thoughts about the refs at the same time. If your post had been up before I started mine, I would have just added my thoughts to yours.

Let's get this one out of the way quickly. The officiating tonight was about as good as it gets in the MAC. They let the players play, and the players generally played a good, clean game. Any missed or apparently bad calls were minimal and evenly divided. This was a game between two teams without the refs getting in the way. If the officiating in every Zips game were like this, there'd never be another complaint from me about the refs. Special kudos to Bo Borowski, who never once called attention to himself. A championship officiating performance for a championship game.

I said in the car on the way home from the Q that if that game had been played by 2 teams that I didn't even care about, I would remember it as a great basketball game. The fact that it was UA over Can't is just beyond belief. We don't get to see many games like this in our lifetimes, and it's one to remember and savor over the years.

OK, with the MAC tournament out of the way, I'm ready to start thinking about whether or not UA should keep KD. Right now I'm leaning toward giving KD another year to try to prove himself worthy of the head coaching position.

Good choice!

Ref complaints on ZN.O have been way down this season. I agree it's fair to mention the refs when something stands out, but not to be obsessed over them. They have a closer view of the action than fans do. They have a better knowledge of the rules than fans do. Of course they're still human and they still make mistakes. But the mistakes tend to even out over the course of a game. Win or lose tonight, no complaints from me about the refs unless something obvious to everyone has profound influence on the game's outcome. Even though I think refs in general have a perception problem with Zeke, part of the problem is Zeke's. If he learns to see what he does the same way the refs see what he does, he should be able to modify his moves to the point that he will get more favorable calls. Zeke just needs to play tonight the way he played against Can't at the JAR, where he did a great job guarding the Flushes' bigs yet only had 3 personals in 30 minutes.

I just hope that the Zips players don't feel as tired as I do this morning. It's pretty darned stressful to watch your team two nights in a row run up big leads and then helplessly watch while the other team slowly eats that lead away as you fear your team is collapsing and the season coming to an end. But here we are again getting ready to head back to the Q with the Zips playing in the championship game for a 5th straight season. It seems that the Zips players are taking turns having big games. Q was pretty amazing, with his best game ever. Someone is always stepping forward to make the big play. This has developed into a team with a lot of heart. I really don't know what else to say other than Go Zips!

UA should not pay a penny to play in one of the lesser tournaments unless the Zips players really, really want it. Watching them appear to play without being totally engaged in last season's CBI game at the JAR is one of the most disappointing memories I have of Zips basketball. The Zips coaching staff must do a thorough job of scouting the opponents, and the Zips players must execute a good game plan. The only way I'm happy watching the Zips play in the CBA or CIT is if they come out with fire in their eyes.

KD saw exactly what Hilltopper and I saw and discussed last night. Opposing players jump into Zeke, who stands there with his arms straight up in the air. The refs call fouls on Zeke way too often when Zeke is not the one initiating the contact. Add these to the 1 or 2 silly fouls Zeke makes in most games, and he is in perpetual foul trouble. Zeke can learn to control the silly fouls. He can't control the refs. The Zips coaching staff really needs to address this issue with the MAC. I'd put together a video compilation of every foul called on Zeke, send it to the MAC, and ask that it be reviewed by the head of officiating. This really needs to be addressed before next season. If Zeke cuts his silly fouls in half and the MAC officials cut their silly foul calls on Zeke in half, Zeke will end up on the floor at the end of almost every game in his junior and senior seasons.

I don't want to start looking past WMU right now. I think they're good enough that if they're on and the Zips are even a little off, they could do to the Zips what BSU did to the Bobkitties. I will say that Can't looked extremely focused and totally in control last night against Buffalo, a team that had previously destroyed the Flushes in Buffalo and played them close at Can't. The Flushes were both energetic and disciplined, took control of the game from the start, and never let Buffalo get back into the game. So while the Zips may match up a little better against Can't than OU, the Can't I saw at the Q last night would be tough for any MAC team to beat.

Back from the Q. The joy of watching the Zips pull one out was tempered by watching Can't whip Buffalo. But the important thing is looking forward to another trip to the Q. Once again the Zips were not great, but just good enough to win. Don't know if it came across to those watching on TV, but live at the Q it appeared that Mavunga was jumping into Zips players and getting consistently favorable calls from the refs. I don't know if there's any way to overcome the refs, so I wouldn't blame the Zips too much for getting into foul trouble. The refs played a major role in what happened to the Zips front line. Sure some of the fouls were legit. But a large number of them were minor to non-existent. We had a good angle on one of Zeke's first half fouls, and he literally had no physical contact with whoever it was he was alleged to have fouled. The good news is that Miami eventually tired out before the Zips. Mavunga was on the floor all 50 minutes. Toward the end, he was not very effective. He passed up clear shots at the basket as if he was too weak to jump, and his free throws were falling short. He was one physically exhausted player. This is exactly the kind of game where the Zips deep bench pays off. McNees, Roberts and Nitro were the only 3 Zips who played more than 30 minutes. So while they may be a step slow in the semifinal game, other players only played a few minutes more than their averages. Zeke and the Serb should be pretty fresh after playing fewer than normal minutes. So while you never wish for a double OT game when you have a tournament game the next day, the Zips shouldn't be totally exhausted. While WMU may be a little fresher, I think the Zips will be able to bounce back and not let the extra PT tonight be a major handicap.

In looking at the further evidence that was released today that wasn't in the initial report, they did do their research...I was certainly wrong on that. I stand by my opinion that Tressel/OSU should have been given longer than 3 hours to respond before the story was published...that's just one of those unwritten journalism rules. Nonetheless, I was wrong about the work they did in uncovering this...seems as if they did their homework. When a news organization is sitting on top of a story that's about to break, they are only obliged to give someone enough time to respond before their own deadline. You don't hold a story waiting for a call that might not come when other news organizations are out there trying to scoop you. In today's environment, where everyone is linked together with real-time instantaneous communication, three hours is a reasonable time to respond to a request for comment on a breaking story. I can see what you're saying...while that was always the unwritten rule, times have indeed changed...I might be a bit too old fashioned lol I understand. I started out as a cub newspaper reporter straight out of college more than 40 years ago. No internet, no electronic social networks, no cell phones, etc. We had steno pads, pencils and manual typewriters, and burned a lot of shoe leather. The tools of reporting may have changed, and the speed of spreading news may have accelerated. But underneath all that, good reporting is still good reporting and bad reporting is still bad reporting. There's still nothing better to me than to see a good reporter go through the hard work and research required to produce a great investigative news story that is truly fair and balanced. It makes me nauseous when I see hack propaganda trumpeted as real news. When you think about other news stories that drag out over time with continuing questions about what really happened, it's truly breathtaking how quickly the truth came gushing out immediately after Yahoo! Sports released this story.

In looking at the further evidence that was released today that wasn't in the initial report, they did do their research...I was certainly wrong on that. I stand by my opinion that Tressel/OSU should have been given longer than 3 hours to respond before the story was published...that's just one of those unwritten journalism rules. Nonetheless, I was wrong about the work they did in uncovering this...seems as if they did their homework. When a news organization is sitting on top of a story that's about to break, they are only obliged to give someone enough time to respond before their own deadline. You don't hold a story waiting for a call that might not come when other news organizations are out there trying to scoop you. In today's environment, where everyone is linked together with real-time instantaneous communication, three hours is a reasonable time to respond to a request for comment on a breaking story.

The Yahoo! Sports story was the result of a two-month investigation. The story quotes an unidentified source on key issues, but does not say that was the only source. Yahoo! Sports obviously did their homework in a very professional manner, as evidenced by the fact that they nailed the facts before anyone else. Every sports news organization in America will vouch for the fact that Yahoo! Sports did exactly what a good news organization is supposed to do.

I wasn't trying to say the Zips play great zone defense, only that against certain teams at certain times the Zips' zone is more effective than the Zips' man coverage. They're going to have to improve on both to have a good shot at winning the MAC tournament.

This is always an interesting off-season topic of discussion. But since the Zips are in the midst of competing for a MAC tournament championship, I'm going to keep my focus on supporting the Zips players and coaches and refrain from commenting on this subject until after the season is over.