Dave in Green

It's funny, but I thought last season's mid-major poll was pretty generous with the Zips, generally ranking them higher than some teams that arguably might be a little better. I guess this is another one of those polls that fans pay attention to when their team is ranked well and ignore when the poll ignores their team.

Based on what I personally witnessed last night, I'm convinced it was Zeke's breakout game. I certainly understand how, for a variety of reasons, others may want to wait to have it verified beyond doubt before they'd agree to that assessment. I'm sure this subject will be revisited.

The reason I said this was Zeke's breakout game is because he was a different player on both offense and defense. When he grabbed rebounds, he was not tentative. He had fire in his eyes. He locked the ball in a death grip and dared anyone to try to take it away from him. When he went to the bucket, he had fire in his eyes. He slammed it down with anger, daring anyone to try to stop him. I've attended every one of Zeke's home games, and this was not the same old Zeke simply playing a little better than usual. This was not just about having slightly better stats than usual. It was about a fundamental change in attitude. You could even hear the change in his tone of voice in the postgame interview on radio. This is the breakout game I've been waiting for from Zeke. It tells me that he finally gets it, and is ready to move to the next level. The next step will be consistently playing at this new level of intensity.

Leave the purple at home just like the red/grey. Find some Zips gear! ..... Since Jackson HS is obviously in no way a competitor of UA, I see no problem whatsoever in having them proudly wearing their school colors to UA games. Note to all Jackson Polar Bears fans: You will have no problem at all attending Zips games in your school colors. Be proud of your state championship basketball team, and feel free to come to the JAR and watch Josh Egner develop from a Jackson HS champion player to a UA champion player. We love your enthusiasm and noise level.

Did anyone else notice the Jackson Polar Bears factor? While Hilltopper and I were marvelling at the size and energy of the crowd, with some fans near the top actually sitting in the aisles, Hilltopper pointed out that there was a lot of purple in the crowd. We realized we had seen that same purple at the JAR last season when we watched the Jackson Polar Bears playing in the HS playoffs. I mentioned on ZN.O back then that it was the loudest, most enthusiastic crowd I'd ever heard in the JAR, and suggested that it would be good to try to market Zips basketball to Jackson fans to come see Josh Egner play. Obviously the draw of Egner's team playing Mark Henniger's team didn't require a lot of marketing. There were a ton of Jackson fans there last night, and they added a level of enthusiasm that Zips crowds can't seem to generate on their own. The bad news is that they got to see Henniger play while Egner sat on the bench. I sure hope that doesn't cause Jackson fans to start attending more Can't home games than UA home games, because they would really make a big difference in home crowds at the JAR. If Egner can develop into a key Zips player who gets lots of PT, I think we can count on having lots of Polar Bears fans show up to help us make more noise. It was interesting to note that Henniger didn't look all that comfortable playing at the MAC level. The Serb and B McKnight worked Henniger over pretty good in the 9 minutes he played, and his shooting was ineffective. Henniger looked no better on the court than Egner has in the games where he's played. But since Can't isn't very deep up front, they pretty much have to give Henniger some minutes. With the Zips being a little deeper up front, thanks to McKnight's return, there's no need for KD to play Egner unless Egner proves that he's capable of playing at a higher level. I just hope that Egner develops sooner rather than later, and I'm sure that Jackson fans would agree.

Just got home. This was Zeke's breakout game. He did everything well -- good shot selection, good rebounding, good D. He beat himself up after missing those last two free throws. But if he hadn't had his best game as a Zip, the Zips would not have won. The Zeke we saw tonight is the Zeke we've all been hoping for. He may not look this good every game, but he's going to get better and better and have more games like this.

Really nice summary, ZW. It can get lengthy when you try to cover everyone. The three regulars in the rotation you didn't mention are the senior combo guards and center. McNees has been mentioned by others, and I agree that his change in role with the arrival of Rico may be what's causing him to play somewhat more tentatively. Hopefully he will get accustomed to his new role as the season goes on and be the clutch player we expect him to be by the time the Zips get to the Q for the MAC tournament. Roberts is his usual quiet, steady self. He isn't always on, but he is more often than not. Even when Roberts has a sub-par game, I always feel confident in him not to make too many glaring errors. I feel more comfortable knowing that Roberts is backing up the starting guards. Bardo deserves a shout out. We all know his limitations. He's a backup center who will never play more than short minutes. But there will be times when the Zips will need him, and it's great to see that he is performing at a higher level this season. He's not a shooter, but he has a great shooting percentage this season on the few shots he's taken. I no longer cringe when he takes the ball to the bucket. He also plays decent defense. These three players plus McKnight give the Zips four veteran seniors in the rotation. Their long experience with the Zips adds a nice counterbalance to all the newer, younger talent on the team. Everyone keeps analyzing this season's Zips team as not as great as some past teams. I'm not entirely sure that's true. I really don't have a good feel for how well they might develop together as a team over the course of the season. Some of the younger players have big upside potential that has yet to be fully realized. Ultimately I believe this team has the potential to come together in a way that could by the end of the season make them at least in the same zip code as some of the best teams the Zips have ever had. That would require all the right things happening, and the odds are against that. But it's still possible that we may end up being really surprised at how well this team performs by the end of the season.

+/- is always available at statsheet.com . As with any stat, +/- doesn't tell the whole story. But it is useful in telling part of the story. Rico's +/- was tied with Zeke for third best among all Zips who played in the ORU game at +4. The Serb had the Zips highest +/- at +15. Roberts was second best for the Zips at +6. McKnight had the Zips lowest +/- rating at -10. Diggs and Bardo tied for second lowest at -1. ORU Game Stats at statsheet.com

In just 18 minutes, Rico had 5 assists, 4 steals and just 1 turnover to go with his 7 points. He's currently ranked 27th in the country in assist rate, and 19th in the country in steal percentage. And he's just getting started as a true freshman. Who knows how good he may get over the next 4 years.

Playing to win puts the focus on winning and keeps you on your toes. Playing not to lose puts the focus on losing and sets you back on your heels. You're more likely to win by staying on your toes than on your heels. Losing stinks, period. But, as a fan, I'd much rather see my team lose while aggressively trying to win than lose by desperately trying not to lose.

We already knew that Zeke needs to stay out of foul trouble in this game. Now we know that Rico also needs to stay out of foul trouble. I'd feel a lot better if the Zips had a frontcourt lockdown defender and rebounding animal. Maybe Egner can develop into that kind of player over time. But for now the Zips are what they are, and all we can hope for is that they play their best game of the season so far. I just want to see the Zips show up with the perfect balance of looseness and intensity, and maintain that attitude throughout the game no matter how far ahead or behind they might be at any point. Oh, and any Zips fan who isn't planning on making a lot of noise should stay home.

He's 27 of 45 from the field for a 60% shooting average. Good show, Steve!

Just to be clear, I'm personally not connecting anyone to anyone else. I'm just trying to summarize thousands of posts made by many different posters with links to hundreds of different stories in an already big and growing scandal. Those who do try to make a connection between Newton and the gambling scandal point out that Newton's father admitted to trying to get $180,000 for his son to play at Mississippi State before his son signed with Auburn, Auburn has a history of serious NCAA violations, some of the people involved in past Auburn violations are still connected to Auburn, and one of them is the wealthy booster who has already been indicted by the FBI for bribing Alabama officials to support gambling in Alabama. So the Cam Newton connection to this case is currently purely hypothetical, and the public won't know for sure unless the case expands. Interstingly enough, a breaking news story today confirms that the case is going to expand, although the exact direction of the expansion has not yet been revealed. Court Papers Indicate Alabama Gambling Probe Growing

I've continued to follow on a daily basis the thread in the LSU sports forum about the Alabama gambling/political corruption/Auburn football/Cam Newton FBI investigation. This is no small challenge, as the thread is now over 11,000 posts and contains a massive amount of data. Much is speculation, but there is also a lot of damning evidence piling up. The New York Times has reportedly had several investigative reporters in Alabama, and is close to breaking a big story. There's speculation that the scope of the investigation is huge, with Cam Newton and Auburn football being only a tiny part of it. The whole thing is deadly serious. Several Alabama political operatives loosely connected to the case have met violent deaths in the past year, including two who allegedly died of "self-inflicted" gunshots to the head and one who was found at the bottom of a golf course pond encased in a large plastic bag (kinda hard to do that last one all by yourself). There's no way I could even begin to cover all the crap that is getting ready to hit the fan. This is going to be a huge national news story. But I thought some of you might be interested in seeing how easy it would be for a wealthy booster who owns gambling casinos to arrange to have football players or corrupt politicians paid off by rigging gambling machines to pay off jackpots when the players or politicians played those machines. Below is a link to a Birmingham News story that ran in March about how a local politician was likely paid off by the owner of a gambling casino. A check of Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford's 2006, 2007 and 2008 Alabama state tax filings shows that the good Mayor claimed earnings of $1.5 million from winning 555 (that's five hundred and fifty five) jackpots at one casino. Go figure the odds on that one. The Birmingham News

Thanks to everyone for the support. I still shake my head in disbelief when I think about what happened. I've been attending sporting events for more than 50 years and have never had anything like that happen. If it has happened to others at the JAR, then that helps explain why the fans are not as noisy as they should be. That's a legitimate problem that UA may have to address. I think that Hilltopper and I did all the right things in neither being intimidated and backing down nor overreacting and escalating the situation. But if it ever happens again, I'm going straight to JAR security, explain the situation, and ask them to come check the tickets of people sitting in reserved seats who are obviously not the season ticket holders. A couple of clarifications. We never use foul language. We usually have younger kids with us, and we try to set a good example for them as well as respecting others around us. We don't make noise all the time, but when the timing is appropriate, we don't hold back. Finally, I should point out that neither of us qualify as retirees. I haven't completely retired yet, Hilltopper is many years away from retirement, and neither of us look grandfatherly.

So far, McKnight is playing consistently, which has been one of the concerns in the past. He's not taking too many shots, another past concern, and he's hitting his shots at a better percentage than previous years. If he continues to play like this, I don't see how anyone could be anything but happy with his return.

Zeke had 4 blocks tonight. I have no idea how Zeke blocked that dunk without fouling. I hope there is good video of that one, because it should have a place of honor on the season highlights video.

Hilltopper and I had a unique experience at tonight's ORU game. We were being our usual vocally expressive selves, loudly cheering for the Zips and reminding the refs when they'd overlooked something or seen something that wasn't there. Late in the game, a young man seated immediately in front of us turned around and told us to "shut the f&*% up." We firmly pointed out that we were at a basketball game cheering for our team, and that it was going to get louder. An older man, who appeared to be the young man's father, turned around and gave us a dirty look. We told him he should go report us to an usher if he thought it was against the rules to cheer for the Zips. At the end of the game, after exchanging dirty looks, we recommended that they find other seats for the next game. Actually, they probably had GA tickets and were sitting in empty reserved seats, as the folks who usually sit in front of us weren't there tonight. So I doubt we'll see them again. On the way out, we stopped and told an usher what had happened, and he just shook his head and laughed at their stupidity. But it did remind me that some of the younger Zips fans on ZN.O were recently complaining that the older folks weren't making enough noise at the JAR. So it was ironic that some punk kid tried to tell a couple of older folks that we were making too much noise.

I thought you were a longtime Zips fan. Tonight looked like many Zips games I've seen over the years. The Zips have a hard time matching up with really quick teams, and every player on the ORU team was quicker than the Zips players defending them. This really showed up on transition defense, where ORU punished the Zips badly for being late getting back on defense. I'll give the Zips credit for playing good D at the very end when getting stops was critical. The Zips were embarassingly soft on the boards, as ORU outrebounded them about 2:1. Fortunately, ORU had about 3 times as many turnovers, which evened things out. But no one has stepped in to fill Jimmy Conyers' shoes on rebounding, and if the Zips can't find someone who really goes after rebounds, they're not going to be able to make up the difference in turnovers in most games. One thing for sure that was proven again tonight is that the Zips are a different team with Rico on the floor. In a way it was good that he fouled out tonight, because it demonstrated how critical it is to have him available at all times when the Zips offense starts to struggle. McNees and Roberts are both seniors who are steady and reliable. But Rico brings an added dimension, and the Zips can't afford to have him foul out. As much as KD wants his players to play tough defense, it can really bite you when the refs go whistle crazy.

I'm hoping to see the Zips bring the kind of intensity into this game that they plan to bring to the Can't game.

Gas prices slowly rose to over $3 per gallon in 2010, and are predicted to go over $4 this year.

Yes, PM moderators to request a change if they don't see your request here. After the change, you'll still sign in with your original username, but it will show your new username on all your posts.

Meatwad, thanks for sharing. Nothing really new in that story, I guess. Since Meyer is currently 46, I doubt he wants to wait 10-15 years for Tressel to retire. The other rumor about Tressel being out soon died real fast, and it would take that rumor coming true to start the second rumor into motion.

Anyone have an ESPN Insider account to check out the latest hot OSU head coaching change rumor? Urban Meyer could succeed Jim Tressel

Generally mature and reasonable reactions on that other forum. I especially like how some of those posters itemized OSU's wins and losses against ranked teams. Citing raw numbers and letting everyone reach their own conclusions is always preferable to having someone tell you you're a dummy if you don't accept their genius conclusions without question.