Dave in Green

I've attended all of the Zips home games, and closely followed every road game. I knew the Zips were playing EMU tonight. But for some reason I didn't follow the game at all. I had no idea what happened until I just checked this thread. Guess I saved myself the agony of watching the Zips blow yet another game against an inferior team. Will someone please wake me up when the MAC tournament begins, and these Zips get their last chance to prove they can rise to the occasion?

I generally don't consider the loss of a recruit to a lower level school to be much of a loss. In many cases, marginal DI players may decide they'd be better off in a prominent role at a lower level school than a minor role at a higher level school. Don't know if that's the case with this player choosing YSU over UA. But we'll see how well he does over the coming years, as well as how other UA recruits playing his position work out for the Zips.

I like this attitude a lot: But he still hasn't given up on his childhood dream of one day playing in the NFL. "That's what I am here for," said Moore. "I'm never going to let a dream die because I have hit a few bumps in the road. One thing I can say is everywhere I have played, we've won. If I can turn this around, which is my plan, you just never know. All I need is just one shot."

The Detroit area was spared, only getting about 4-6 inches. So people should have no problem getting to the game, and the Zips should have no problem getting home afterward.

Here's what's going on: Techie Buzz

Wow. They're predicting 12 inches of snow in the Detroit area, which would make it the second worst snowstorm in the area since 1929. Add 30 mph winds, and the snow drifting is going to be awful. I lived for many years about 25 miles north of EMU, and I can tell you from past experience that it is going to be one big mess up there.

Pretty depressing snapshot in time to see that the Zips would end up playing in the first round on the road at the home of a MAC West team that already beat the Zips there. Hope someone posts this in the Zips locker room to help wake them up.

Sometimes you can think your way out of making a free throw. I always wondered if some players might be better off trying a quick turnaround jumpshot on their free throws. Bardo did the next best thing by shooting the instant he received the ball from the ref. Whatever works is good.

Skip, I agree with you about Rico still needing work, and the benefits of starting a pair of senior guards who've been there and done that. Rico impressed us all from day one with the new dimension he brought to the Zips. There's no doubt that he's going to get better and better as the season and his Zips career move forward. But he still has his share of weaknesses, as all players do, and it may benefit him to enter the game after seeing how the other team is playing and have more of an idea of what to expect when he subs in. Also, McNees and Roberts are more predictable to other MAC teams, which may make other teams more comfortable facing them. When Rico comes off the bench, he changes the tone of the Zips game quite a bit, which forces the other team out of its comfort zone. That's a nice situation, comparable to having an instant offense player come off the bench and put immediate shooting pressure on another team. Rico does it with dazzling footwork and unpredictable drives and passes. In any case, not starting as a freshman should not be a big deal for Rico. Odds are that Rico will make major contributions off the bench in his freshman season, and be the starting PG for the rest of his career.

Fast break specialists can be a mixed bag on scoring vs. turnovers. On the one hand, Q has shown the ability to grab the ball on the defensive end, motor quickly up court, and either finish at the hoop himself or feed another Zips player motoring along with him. This is something the Zips have lacked, and is a positive development that will result in more fast break points. The downside is that when Q tries to weave his way through traffic, he's vulnerable to a quick defender coming up from behind and picking his pocket. He takes big, long strides with big, long dribbles. This is a plus when there aren't multiple defenders to slow him down a little, as he has the ability to break down a single defender in front of him without losing speed. It's not so good when he's delayed enough that a player can catch him from behind. Overall I hope Q continues to do exactly what he's doing, with the addition that he develops that little alarm bell in the back of his head that goes off when he gets into a situation where a defender is likely to be sneaking up on him from behind.

Coimbra was a clumsy animal tonight. Fouled out with only 11 minutes of PT, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 block. The other coaches need to keep an eye on him and register any concerns they might have with the MAC. He fouls very deliberately and very hard. Bardo went up for a shot under the bucket, Coimbra blasted him in the center of the back, and Bardo went down flat on his face. I've never seen anyone take Bardo down that hard. Seriously, this guy is a menace to the MAC. We don't need any other players' seasons to end from injuries like Coimbra inflicted on Ballard.

What I really liked tonight was Zeke's attitude. He wasn't constantly beating himself up for the slightest mistake. He just moved on, stayed focused, and had a nice overall game. Big props to the Zips defense for holding Trey Ziegler to 4-19 from the field. I think that's the first quality shooting guard who hasn't gone off against the Zips all season. Ziegler looked like he has a lot of potential to tear up the MAC, but just couldn't get it going tonight. The Serb (10 rebounds) and Bardo (6) did a nice job of controlling the boards. B. McKnight remains in his shooting funk, but at least tonight he didn't keep shooting and instead let others take over. Overall I thought the Zips passing generally looked crisper and better executed. There were only a few possessions in the final 10 minutes when the Zips seemed to go into prevent mode to protect their lead that they started screwing up and allowing CMU to get back into it. But then they became aggressive again, scored some quality baskets, and put the game away. The Zips are a better overall team when they remain consistently aggressive. No Zips player had a real stinky game, which one would certainly hope would be the case against a weaker team like CMU. Now I'd like to see the Zips look as good as they did tonight against the stronger MAC teams.

KD's 1995 CMU wrongful termination appeal decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals is online for all to read. It paints a completely different picture from the current alleged situation at CMU. KD had asked players if they thought it was OK for him to use a certain term in a positive motivational manner while addressing them. He used the word after players told him it was OK, then one player reported KD to CMU's affirmative action officer. The players were generally on KD's side, and most of his players initially joined him in his wrongful termination suit. I was living in Michigan at the time, and followed this case pretty closely. From the first screaming headlines, I initially thought KD must be some kind of crazy man for saying what he did. After more details came out, including players saying they supported KD, I realized that he was a good man who made an error in judgment that resulted in him being screwed on a technicality. I never imagined at the time that more than a decade later I'd be cheering on KD's teams at UA. More than 15 years ago in Michigan I thought that KD was a good coach and a good man who cared a lot about his players, and I haven't seen anything since to convince me otherwise. Reading the court document only reinforces my high regard for KD. The court document is worth reading in full for anyone who has any question about what happened to KD at CMU.

I'd like to see the video, too. From the description, my first reaction was how in the heck did this guy not end up at Can't?

I agree that the donor is almost completely to blame for the character of the letter that was intended to be public. The donor apparently didn't realize that publicly stating what you privately feel often results in turning public opinion against yourself rather than your target. That does not necessarily mean that it was almost completely the donor's fault that he arrived at the point that resulted in his ill-advised public letter. The primary question remains who was to blame for the situation reaching this point? Exactly what did UConn promise the donor in return for his extremely generous financial contribution to UConn's football program, and did they deliver on what they committed to? In any case, different people have different standards on data required to pass judgment. There's insufficient data for me to judge whether the donor was almost completely or even almost equally to blame for the situation reaching the critical mass that resulted in the ill-advised public letter. Situations like this also bring to mind different biblical passages to different people. The one that comes to my mind is: Judge not, that ye be not judged.

The letter is the only solid evidence. Over the top is a pretty good description. I agree the donor could have handled his end of the matter in a more civilized manner. The donor obviously bears at least some degree of responsibility in this. But is the donor mostly or completely to blame for this whole matter, or did the AD and others at UConn contribute a little or a lot to the implosion? Insufficient data.

This made me laugh. You should use this as your tag line. I have been thinking about a new signature line. But not that one. I hope that's the only time I ever have to use that line!

It may look that way at times because Zeke tends to overtly beat himself up on the court after every little incident he perceives as being an error on his part. I think he enjoys playing, but can't stand making mistakes. That attitude may make him more tense and wound up as the game goes on, which only leads to more errors. While some players might benefit from being a little more serious and less loose, Zeke is not one of them. I think Zeke would benefit by learning to quickly let loose of mistakes and adopt the attitude that he's going to make more great plays than mistakes, so the mistakes aren't worth distracting him from making a great play the next time the ball comes his way. After the game, Zeke can talk to the coaches about mistakes he made during the game and how he wants to learn to correct them during training and scrimmages.

I dunno...this year's Zips squad doesn't seem to be capable of blowing out any team...at least one that doesn't rhyme with "schmilliken." You're right. With each passing game, my over-optimism about the potential of this edition of the Zips is harshly mocked by their on-court performance. With the NIU game they've proven once again that they are the weakest Zips team in the last six years. They're not a bad team, but just an average one. We fans have been spoiled to having at least slightly above average basketball teams under KD, so just average seems pretty crappy. Realistically, these Zips are not going to do anything extraordinary this season. The most I'm hoping for now is that they somehow squeak their way back into the MAC tournament championship game for the fifth straight year. They will not blow out any team along the way. But they could get lucky and win a few close ones. I'll reserve my optimism for next season.

A game cannot be accurately analyzed with selective stats. You have to look at all the stats. Whatever Zips stats may have looked decent, you can be sure that there were other stats that more than negated the positive ones. I'd go look at the total game stats right now, but I'd rather just go to bed and forget what I saw tonight.

Insufficient data. All we know at this point is he said, she said. The key point to me is the following item from the ex-player: 1. Burton, in all likelihood, should have been involved (ceremoniously) in the hiring process. And it is undoubtedly the job of the AD to make donors like Burton feel as though their input matters (however untrue that may be). According to Burton, he was totally ignored. When the AD finally called to tell him who they had selected as the new coach, Burton had already heard through other sources. If true, that's not good. Money is critical to big sports programs. Multi-million-dollar donors are rare and need to be nurtured and cherished. Rules need to be set and clearly understood by both sides. If UConn didn't work this out in advance, shame on them. But multi-millionaires can also be incredibily egotistical jerks. For some, the only rules that matter are the ones they set. So was Burton an egotistical jerk who was eventually going to blow up no matter what UConn did, or did someone at UConn screw up and not give Burton the level of respect he deserved as a multi-million-dollar donor? Insufficient data.

I've said in the past that I wouldn't mind seeing the Zips focus less on defense if they could make it up on the offensive end. But the worst case scenario is to lose the focus on defense and not be able to deliver on the offensive end. That's where the Zips are right now. Their defense is inferior to previous years and their offense is about the same. You don't have to be a math major to understand what that adds up to.

ZW may need to expand the "Quit on the Zips HOF" after this game.

Some combination of OU's greatness and UA's lack of greatness allowed the Bobkitties to not just beat the Zips but embarass them on their own home floor. When the Zips lost two more games in a row following the OU loss, I readjusted my assessment of both teams. OU is not as great as they looked against the Zips, and the Zips are underperforming their capabilities as a team. If nothing changes, the Zips would not be able to get past the Bobkitties in this season's MAC tournament. I have my fingers crossed that the Zips will wake up and discover themselves long before the MAC tournament.

This is one of those seasons when Zips fans have to be concerned about every game. When the team plays up to its full capabilities, the Zips are capable of blowing out teams like NIU. Bit when the Zips are off, they're capable of losing to just about anyone. Unfortunately, they've been at least a little bit off in too many of this season's games. Unless the Zips turn a corner and start consistently playing at a level closer to their full capabilities, I'll be holding my breath that they can somehow squeak through games like this one. I'll be yelling at the TV tonight.