Dave in Green

Sorry, I'm not used to having anyone agree with me.

Absolutely. Any team that can consistently shoot field goals at a 58.2% rate and 3-pointers at a 56.5% rate will beat a good defensive team every time. I'm sure that Ohio will continue to shoot at the same percentage throughout the tournament and come home with the national championship.

Yes, D.J. Cooper without question is a better college basketball player than LeBron James.

I really believed him when he said he was a kid. I still stand by my comment.

We played Ohio tougher than Georgetown did.

I'm a kid. I'll savor my childhood and hate everyone I want. Right on! We're all born with the inalienable right to choose to be kids our whole lives and continue hating everyone we want until the day we die. Millions do it.

Great, great game. East was a big underdog in their first season in D1. They looked like a bunch of midgets compared with Jackson. But they were quick and aggressive. They poked the ball away, and their guards drove to the basket and scored over the bigger Jackson players. I thought I was at one of the recent Zips games, except for the crowd. It was the biggest JAR crowd of the season behind only the Can't game. And they were noisy. Man, were they noisy. The game went back and forth all night. East even hit a 3/4-court shot as the first half expired. Henniger was the man in the first half, scoring 20 points, all from within a few feet of the bucket. His teammates just lobbed the ball over the shorter East players, and he softly laid it in almost every time. Henniger also runs the court fast, and beats other big men down the court to get easy layups. In the second half, East double-teamed Henniger tightly, and Jackson couldn't get the ball to him. Henniger tried to take one medium-range shot, and it was ugly. He shoots the ball low, almost from his chest, and it's very blockable. He won't have a chance with that one at the next level. Now to Egner. He picked up 2 quick fouls early in the first quarter, and sat a lot. When he was in, he didn't get the ball much on offense. He was used a lot as a decoy for Henniger. He did play good D and had several rebounds, blocks and altered shots. In the second half, when Jackson couldn't get the ball to Henniger, Egner got the ball more often but didn't get a lot of shots off. He swished 5 of 6 free throws and 1 just rimmed out. He has a nice, steady free throw shooting motion, and should help the Zips team average. In the closing minutes, with Jackson trailing and the smell of upset in the air, Egner got out on a fast break and scored on a thunder dunk that put the Jackson crowd in a frenzy. The game went back and forth into the final seconds, with Henniger giving Jackson a 2-point lead with 12 seconds left on a pair of free throws. East called a timeout and then ran a drive to the bucket. The East player had a good look, but the ball bounced around and out as the buzzer sounded and Jackson wins, 58-56. So Jackson escapes the upset and returns to the JAR Saturday. East played a fantastic game and reminded me that underdog teams featuring speedy little guards with quick hands can give fits to the biggest, baddest teams (Georgetown, meet Ohio).

It really didn't happen. The MAC stinks.

There should be no debate here that the Zips could use work on both their offense AND defense. In the end it's all about scoring more points than you allow and having more wins and fewer losses. But given the same number of wins and losses, an exciting, high-scoring offensive team will sell more tickets to Joe Akron than a dull, plodding defensive team.

Suggestions are being made in other threads about changes we'd like to see KD make for next season. How about a thread devoted exclusively to that subject. Let's try to stay focused on productive suggestions for next year's program and not go off on tangents. I'll start off with an unusual suggestion: Do not try to make Josh Egner lose his mohawk or Dakotah Euton shave his beard. Do not treat them like freshmen. Do not jerk them off the floor everytime they make a mistake. From all I can tell, these two guys have great attitudes, and they're both team players and not me-first. They do not need attitude adjustments. They already fit the KD team play philosophy. But let them express themselves a little bit individually, and let that attitude spread among the other players. It's always team first, but not to the exclusion of expressing individuality where it doesn't compromise team play. I want next season's Zips to look different, walk different, talk different and play different. I want them all to have swagger. I want them all to suck it up when there's a bad call and not get distracted whining to the refs. I want them to be wide-eyed and intense at all times. I want them to run, not jog, back to the defensive end every time they score, and not relax and be lulled into thinking that the other team will also play the game at half speed. I want to see crisp, accurate passing and no lame ducks. One thing I hope I never see again in my life is a Zips player carrying on an extended discussion with KD resulting in an out-of-bounds pass or steal. That happens way too often, and makes me want to puke. Teach these guys how to play during practice, and trust them to execute in the game. Don't make them keep looking over their shoulders all game to see what the coach wants and distract them from the flow of the game. If they didn't learn it in practice, change the way you teach them. Tell them to keep their undivided focus on the players and not on the coach. Let them make mistakes and deal with it during timeouts. Another thing I don't want to see from any Zips player is a love-tap foul. The worst thing you can do on defense is to allow an opponent to get an easy bucket, and add a free throw because you touched him without altering the shot. Either do not touch the other player, or touch him in a way that the shot is not likely to go in, but not result in a flagrant foul. This is a teachable skill, and some of the Zips players need remedial lessons. Accept the fact that allowing players to stay on the floor after they make mistakes may cost a win or two early in the season, but result in building more player confidence and team performance at the end of the season when it really counts.

Euton has a big Sweet 16 game: Louisville Courier-Journal Link Lexington Herald-Leader Link

Gahana was the better team. No sense from any of the stories how much Green's play contributed to the final score other than that he scored 11 points. Columbus Dispatch Link

I just got back from Jackson HS where I bought tickets so I wouldn't have to stand in line tonight. I expect a much bigger crowd at the JAR than last night, and am looking forward to watching the man with the mohawk give me good feelings about the future of Zips basketball. I encourage anyone who has not seen Egner perform to do yourself a favor and go see him tonight.

I really think that is a losing attitude that should not be encouraged among Zips fans. If we think our team can't get up for a tournament, we should decline the invitation as other schools did. If we accept the invitation, we should play our guts out. I'm a shades-of-gray kind of guy. But I see this as a pure black-and-white issue.

What's to argue? I pretty much agree with RPI on this one. The MAC is ranked 16th out of 33 D1 conferences, and the Horizon 12th, so the Horizon is a little stronger overall than the MAC. The Zips are one of the top 3 teams in the MAC and WGB is one of the top 3 teams in the Horizon. All of that suggests that the team that played with more intensity and best executed a game plan that played to their team strengths would win, and that's exactly what happened. That's the objective analysis. If you want to factor in the emotional fan component that there are no shades of gray -- my team and conference are great when they win and suck when they lose -- your mileage may vary.

Extremely disappointing performance. I'm not sure how much of the underachieving performance was a result of the coaching and how much falls on the players' shoulders. But together they resulted in a sorry end to a mixed season. There were some good individual performances. But the team as a whole just didn't have it in the end. I don't think it's necessary to try to minimize WGB to try make the Zips look worse than they were. WGB may have been rated slightly behind the Zips on their body of work this season. But they did beat Can't at Can't, which the Zips proved they could not do, and they did beat Wisconsin, which we all know this Zips team could not have done. If the Zips had played with the same level of intensity and urgency as WGB, and if the Zips had run an optimum game plan to their team strengths the way WGB did, I think the Zips could have won even without Humpty. But they didn't. And that's the puzzle that KD has to solve before next season, or things aren't going to get any better. I can see every team in the country with a half-decent backcourt wanting to play the Zips and watch their guards turn into all-stars. This is truly a joke and an embarassment. I cannot imagine this happening with Nate Linhart on the floor. As great a job as Jimmy Conyers has done this year, I think the Zips may have missed the intangibles that Linhart brought to the team more than we could have imagined. I sure hope that one or more of the incoming freshmen can help rekindle that fire. I tried to remain optimistic here even though I had some of the same doubts that others had expressed. There's no telling when a team will wake up and begin performing like champions, as the Zips did at the Q last season. But this year's team obviously did not peak at the right time, and other teams that did peak at the right time blew by them in the last two games. I don't think that anyone ever thought the Zips were going to be a powerhouse this season, and they weren't great but they were in contention in the MAC all the way to the bitter end. The fact that they were the only team that made it all the way to the two games that decided both the MAC regular season and tournament championships is good. But they lost both, which is bad. I was already preparing myself for the Zips to lose to a better team in St. Louis. But they didn't even get there. Losing a home CBI tournament game the way they did just magnifies the frustration from the two previous losses to Can't and Ohio. The Zips started the season slowly, played decently in the middle and then fell apart at the end. They had a decent overall season. But they did not live up to our highest hopes and expectations. The Zips remain on a plateau of winning about two-thirds of their games with an SOS that is almost exactly at the 50th percentile -- somewhat above average results with a dead average schedule. That may be OK for casual UA alumni, who are pleased that their school team is not a total loser. But it's not enough for hardcore basketball fans, whether they be UA alumni or just Akron area sports fans who love basketball but have no ties to UA, like me. While I generally like KD as a coach, I'm ready to see him blow up whatever he's been doing and make significant changes for next season. But that's a discussion for a different thread about the future. This season is done. The Zips had a decent season punctuated by 3 painful losses at the end.

I'm definitely going to this game now. I have a terrible sour taste in my mouth after what I witnessed at the JAR last night. I don't want to spend the whole basketball offseason with that memory. I want to end the season at the JAR with the memory of a great performance by a player who will be in a Zips uniform next season. I don't think that Josh Egner will disappoint me the way the Zips did as a team last night. Egner was at last night's game, and got to see firsthand how badly the Zips team needs someone like him, a tough player with attitude. I'll be there tonight in my regular seat, which will give me a good perspective of what Egner looks like in the same setting where the Zips team as a whole failed to look good last night.

I have seen at least a few fans talking optimistically in this forum about the MAC getting more than one team in the NCAA tournament, so those are the folks who need to be aware of the historical facts in order to be more realistic in their expectations I really think the best reason for the Zips to try to raise SOS and RPI is to become more attractive for high SOS/RPI teams to consider scheduling the Zips. As long as the Zips have a relatively low SOS/RPI, teams from BCS conferences that might be on the bubble for making the NCAA tournament would be reluctant to schedule the Zips, as it would drag down their SOS/RPI and hurt their odds as an at-large entry with the NCAA tournament selection committee. That's why I favor a steady increase in the Zips OOC SOS over the next few years. If the Zips SOS and RPI can be steadily raised, it might actually reach the point where some decent teams would consider home-and-away series with the Zips. That, in turn, would make the Zips more attractive to quality recruits as well as fans. Steadily increasing SOS is like steadily adding weight to a weight-lifting program. I really believe that's the way to build a stronger basketball program.

Pomeroy formula predicts 75% probability the Zips will win, with a projected score of 69-63. Pomeroy Link

Look at Dave in Green with the sarcasm! Sarcasm schmarcasm. I get endless hours of entertainment researching stats at StatSheet.com. Why shouldn't I wish the same for those who want to do the same about scheduling?

Zach, this is an absolutely spectacular find. This will provide endless hours of entertainment for those fans who are focused on having the Zips improve their SOS. It's hard to believe that any D1 basketball scheduling staff would not already be using this or a similar service. You'd think the word would get around fast about this resource among coaching staffs. But you never know. It is intriguing that Western Michigan just popped up on there this morning so soon after this thread was posted!

Skip, I'm all for the Zips going for higher SOS and RPI ratings. I just hate to think that any Zips fans would have unrealistic expectations that this alone could get the Zips or any other MAC team an at-large invitation from the NCAA selection committee. Realistically, we all need to look at the history of high-RPI mid-majors and understand that it will be no different for the Zips. Short of an undefeated season, an RPI of 21 is close to an impossibility in a middle-of-the-road RPI conference like the MAC. But even if the Zips achieved a 21 RPI, we should not expect that the NCAA selection committee would treat UA any differently than they did Missouri State.

Without good cause, it's hard to imagine any true fan of Zips basketball passing up an opportunity to see their team play what might be its final home game of the season. Then again, we did have that "mini-boycott" earlier in the season after the Zips lost one they shouldn't have. I suppose there are different levels of fan passion even among those who have enough interest to post their thoughts on a Zips basketball forum.

Not much coverage, but it did appear in the PD online: Cleveland.com Link

Dave - You are absolutely correct. Those two MAC teams had NO CHANCE of getting in the tourney. NONE. ZERO. NADA. Why? - Because they stunk. Period. Stinky teams have no chance of getting into the NCAA tourney. Miami began the 2004-5 season with wins over Purdue and Xavier. They proceeded to go 16-10 in their remaining regular season games. They were 3-9 away from home. They lost to OU in the 2nd round of the MAC tourney. Miami was 19-11 in 2004-5. But you think, because they had a nice RPI, that they somehow got ripped off by the NCAA selection committee? Come on. If Miami was 22-8, with those big OOC wins, they're dancing. But they followed up those wins with NIT-level play. And that's where they ended up. And despite their gaudy, worthless RPI, they lost to TCU in the 1st round of the NIT. Buffalo? I've watched Buffalo since they entered the MAC. At no time have they had a team worthy of NCAA at-large consideration. Their best teams were lucky to merit the NIT. And the NIT results prove it. I make no claims about the actual strengths of any of these teams. The one and only thing I'm saying is that having an RPI of 50 or better is used by the NCAA selection committee to help qualify BCS conference teams that did not otherwise qualify for the tournament. For a mid-major, having an RPI as high as 21 (see Missouri State) is not enough to get the job done. Actually, when you analyze Missouri State's 2005-2006 season, it was not that spectacular. They had a strong SOS of 66 but finished 22-9 overall and 12-6 in the MVC. What helped them achieve such high SOS and RPI ratings was that a number of MVC teams that season had strong SOS and RPI ratings: 2005-2006 MVC RPI 21 Missouri State (22-9) 25 Northern Iowa (23-10) 27 Wichita State (26-9) 29 Southern Illinois (22-11) 33 Bradley (22-11) 39 Creighton (20-10) 162 Indiana State (13-16) 175 Drake (12-19) 191 Evansville (10-19) 233 Illinois State (9-19) However you cut it, it's an absolutely spectacular performance for any non-BCS conference to have more than half of its teams (6 of 10) in the top 40 RPI, and requires a concerted effort by an entire conference to achieve. It may never be duplicated. This is also one of the best examples of the failure of the RPI system to capture true team strength, and why RPI cannot be used as the exclusive measurement of team strength. It's why RPI and SOS are but 2 of many measuring sticks the NCAA selection committee uses to select teams to fill in the final positions in the 65-team field. If RPI was a perfect measuring stick, you could just take the teams with the top 65 RPI to fill the field. Your points about high-RPI MAC teams not being worthy of competing in the NCAA tournament is absolutely in line with the thinking of the NCAA selection committee -- high RPI and SOS alone are not sufficient to prove that a mid-major deserves being invited over a BCS conference team with a lower RPI.