Dave in Green

I'll be leaving for Cleveland in a few minutes along with Hilltopper to catch the second half of the first game.I think the Zips will be well-prepared for today's game, knowing from the results earlier this season that EMU is not a pushover but a team than can beat them. As long as they shoot a decent percentage from the field, I'm feeling pretty good about a comfortable Zips win today.

Just a guess here, but I don't think there are many Zips fans who would support putting B. McKnight on the All-MAC East team over Conyers.I think the coaches got it right putting Conyers on the official All-MAC team with B. McKnight as an honorable mention.

All the Zips need to do is repeat St. Mary's shooting performance:FG Made-Attempted 29-57 (.509)3P Made-Attempted 10-21 (.476)FT Made-Attempted 13-14 (.929) By the way, the game was close through the first half, but St. Mary's pulled away after halftime by shooting 68 percent from the field in the second half.

What a revelation for Conyers to earn the same honor as the player he backed up for three years. At the beginning of this season there was little hope that anyone could fill Nate Linhart's important role with the Zips. Without Conyers' steady defensive and offensive play this year, the Zips would likely have lost many of those close games that they won. A fitting and well-deserved award for a guy who just kept trying and never gave up.

That's an easy thing to do when your more talented than the other team. It will take more than quotes to beat Ken+ if we get to face them a third time. We must change. We can go in with the same game plan and hope that everything for us goes right, and everything for them goes wrong, OR, we can try something different. I would love to give coach Belichick the two tapes of the previous games and let him come up with something. The mouse can attack the cat all it wants, it ain't gonna beat it. There is a way though, but we have to change. Good luck staff. If we beat Ken+ in the MAC tourney, it will be because of you. I hope the staff is working tirelessly on that right now. I hope we get the opportunity. I got my DVR set.Really? It will take more than quotes? Darn, I really thought I was on to something there. Just keep repeating "keep on attacking" and the wins automatically follow. ;)Seriously, now, whatever plan of attack the coaching staff comes up with, it must be intelligently thought out and aggressively executed. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu offers much useful advice to military leaders that is also applicable to sports:Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards. So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.

"One thing our coaches kept on telling us was, 'Keep on attacking,' no matter how much we were up." (Rodriguez Sherman)Now that's a winning coaching philosophy and a winning player attitude.Imagine if the Flushes had built a lead and then started playing tentatively. It might have opened the door for the Zips to stage a comeback. How many times have we seen the Zips get a lead, start playing tentatively, and fall victim to an opponent's aggressive, attacking comeback?Imagine if the Zips kept attacking all the time, relentlessly, no matter how far ahead or how far behind. Imagine if the Zips went into every game truly believing that the most aggressive, attack-minded team was going to win. Would it motivate them to do to Can't what Can't keeps doing to them?Is this the major difference between the Zips and the Flushes? Are the Flushes simply more confident that when they play aggressively and continually attack that they're going to win, while the Zips are thinking more about trying not to lose?Some Zips fans have expressed hope that they won't have to play the Flushes in the MAC tournament, hoping that another team that's not as good as the Zips will upset the Flushes. I sure hope that no Zips player has that attitude. That's the kind of loser attitude that's likely to get the Zips upset by a lesser team before they even get to the tournament championship game.I want the Zips to really believe that they can beat Can't at the Q, not by just getting lucky but by being more confident and aggressive in attacking every minute of every game. That's the attitude the Zips will need to get past the first round of the NCAA tournament against a better team than Can't, so they might as well start right now or they won't even get that far.

Absolutely true. I lived out in California for 7 years and can vouch for that.We try to reach the best conclusions we can based on the knowledge that's available to us. But each of us has limited knowledge. So we are wiser as a group than we are as individuals. But it requires finding people we can trust for good data. It takes time to earn people's trust, and trust can easily be blown by careless actions. Trust is especially hard to build when BS is the language of the land.Another glass of California wine, waiter.

Sure, it's OK to admit anything you believe in. By RPI averages, the MAC is right square in the middle -- 16th out of 33 D1 conferences. But numbers can be created to show that it's one of the worst or one of the best.Where is reality?

I hate to break this freight train of opinion. But I think we may have reached the point where we have to agree on a definition of "athletic" as it pertains to basketball. Otherwise this discussion could really go around in circles (I know, what else is new?).There are many different defnitions available for "athletic," so agreement may be difficult. Many of the definitions are extremely simplistic, and do not fully define the range of skills required to be proficient in the sport of basketball.We often think of it in simplistic terms of speed or jumping ability. But in basketball it also encompasses such things as hand-eye coordination and other less obvious factors. For purposes of this discussion, I suggest that we use "athletic" to include all of the physical qualities necessary to play the sport at its highest level. In other words, everything outside of the thinking level -- or smarts, or brains, or whatever you want to call that component.If we accept this all-encompassing definition of "athletic" as the sum of all physical attributes that contribute to a superior basketball player, then we have to understand that a perfect physical specimen who's dumb as dirt might not be as big an asset as we might think. Every player is the sum of his physical and mental attributes.Let's be honest up front and admit that the few players who combine the best physical and mental attributes are going to gravitate to the best basketball programs, and everyone else fights over the leftovers. It's up to the coaches of the lesser programs to find the best of the rest, and try to coach players who may be lacking in physical or mental skills to perform at the highest level at which they're capable.Many of the Zips' players have decent levels of athleticism in specific areas and various levels of smarts. But they may be less obvious than the running faster and jumping higher components. So let's try to be fair and honest here in saying that we really don't care if the Zips players do it mostly with athletic ability or mostly with smarts, we just want them to be the best combination we can possibly get at UA.To get even more basic, what we're really looking for here is to have a better combination of athleticism and smarts than Can't. Because, if the Zips can't even be the best team in their own conference, how can we as fans possibly have higher aspirations?At it's most basic level, as Zips fans we're looking for the best possible basketball players we can possibly get, and we're not satisfied that's happening right now because we just got our butts kicked on our home court in the biggest home game of the year.Do we not think that KD is trying to accomplish the same thing? Are there compromises that KD is not willing to make? Would we as fans be willing to make those compromises for the sole purposes of beating Can't and being the best team in the MAC?Crap. I've gone way beyond where I started out to go, and now I have a headache. It's a bitch that every decision in life leads to unintended consequences.

The Zips do have an easier path to the championship game than Can't. I don't know how much that means, given the number of upsets that usually occur at the Q. But when you look at the brackets, you have to like the Zips' branch a lot better than the Flushes' branch.MAC Tournament Championship Bracket

Yep, you can chop up conferences and get all different kinds of numbers. I did that in another thread by dividing the overall MAC RPI into separate East and West just to show the relative strengths of the 2 MAC divisions. But I didn't leave any teams out.By the way, Central Michigan does not have the 4th highest RPI in the MAC. Here's the way the two conferences stack up by today's most recent RPI:43 Can't State93 Buffalo95 Akron131 Ohio139 Miami161 Western Michigan181 Bowling Green 190 Central Michigan209 Eastern Michigan210 Ball State263 Northern Illinois324 Toledo17 Butler94 Wright State 102 Green Bay 125 Milwaukee 154 Cleveland State 166 Detroit 178 Valparaiso 220 Loyola (Chicago) 269 Youngstown State 291 UIC As you can see, going to 6 teams does not make the disparity greater between the MAC and the Horizon. The 5th and 6th highest RPI teams in the MAC are ranked better than the 5th and 6th teams in the Horizon. After the top 4, the gap is reduced. So keeping it to the top 4 is the best case scenario if the goal is to prove that the Horizon is a lot stronger than the MAC. But you'd have to get everyone to agree that the standard for comparing conference strength is to ignore all but the top 4 teams, which I don't think will get many takers.However, I don't think anyone will disagree with your statement that MAC teams need to improve their arenas, improve their fan support, and improve their TV coverage in some way, and attract better players.

So what happens to RPI after Can't destroys the Zips on the Zips' home court?Can't rises a few spots to #43 and the Zips fall a few spots to #95 -- once again, annoyingly behind Buffalo (#93).

Overall conference SOS:.507 Horizon.502 MACOverall conference RPI:.507 Horizon.500 MAC

Players are like snowflakes. No two are exactly alike. There are early bloomers, late bloomers, and all kinds in between. Zeke is a late bloomer. He started playing basketball late and then had a huge growth spurt. He's still learning the game and the limits of his frame. Those most familiar with his situation had the lowest expectations for what he would accomplish in his freshman season. Zeke has huge upside basketball potential if he really wants it and focuses on it. But he's also a smart computer nerd. He could decide that computers mean more to him than basketball.

Going back to the first post, Nick Dials should be the poster boy for transfers. He's recent enough that most everyone here either saw him play or has heard a lot about him. An outstanding player with excellent character. More like that, please.

We all need to hope that Zeke makes the same huge leap in performance between his freshman and sophomore seasons as Justin Greene, who went from 9 minutes and 2 points per game to 28 minutes and 14 points per game. Zeke has to really want it and really work at it to make this happen. If he does, the Zips will be a much different team.

Focused on what? did you see any defense last night?I didn't say the Zips play great defense every game. I just cited the commonly known reality that KD puts a higher priority on defense than offense.Didn't someone put a stat on the board a couple of weeks ago showing how much more UofA is in high scoring games than low scoring games? The Zips played a really good offensive game last year in the MAC Championship and won. Every time they have attempted to win a low scoring game in the Championship they lose. Focus on offense...offense puts pressure on the other team....pressure makes you do things you aren't good at then you lose.There's another positive for at least some fans when the focus is on offense. It's just plain more fun and entertaining for many fans to see a fast-paced shootout than a plodding defensive battle. Even if the Zips were playing against the same teams on their current schedule and had the same won-lost record, they'd draw more Joe Akrons to the JAR if they were averaging 100 points a game and playing just enough defense to hold their opponents to 99 or less.Stifling defense is only good when it results in more wins. All other things being equal, offensive shootouts are more entertaining to casual fans.

Last time we had this discussion (seems like about this time last season), I said I had confidence that KD could find good JUCO players who could meet the character standards that he and UA prefer. I can't see where anyone could have an objection to that, though I've been surprised on this forum before.Maybe give that a chance before throwing the doors wide open to convicted drug dealers, rapists, etc.

Focused on what? did you see any defense last night?I didn't say the Zips play great defense every game. I just cited the commonly known reality that KD puts a higher priority on defense than offense.

I agree that my example of the U.S. Olympic team was not the best. As was pointed out, some of the Olympic teams from other countries make better examples.As far as Henniger and Egner, nothing about their most recent performances surprises me. I think I read somewhere that Henniger had 44 straight games with a double-double. No matter how you cut it, that's amazingly impressive.The key is how both players' attributes will transfer to the next level. Either one could turn out better than the other, or both might end up contributing about the same to their respective teams. As a Zips fan, my hope is that Henniger has peaked and that Egner will grow more when faced with the new challenge of college players who are closer to him in physical abilities. There just aren't any guarantees, so all we can do is look at all the positive and negative data and hope for the best outcome.The Zips could use injections of both reliable shooting and more athleticism, so both Henniger and Egner could have filled a Zips' need. But the Zips should get their reliable shooting injection from Dakotah Euton, who has also recorded many double-doubles in HS. He's about the same size as Henniger, has performed at a higher competitive level than Henniger and can hit outside shots at a high percentage as well as rebounding and scoring close in like Henniger. As far as I know, Henniger rarely takes an outside shot as he always plays close to the bucket. That would be Zeke's role at UA.Given a choice between signing Euton and Henniger or Euton and Egner, I think the Zips made the right choice to try to cover two different needs.

Guess you haven't been reading about Josh Egner in the recruiting forum.

I suggest that you carry a barf bag around with you. Whenever players run faster and jump higher than those they're playing against, and use those abilities to make their opponents appear slow and soft, the "A" word will be used frequently by douche bags and non-douche bags alike.The most "A" team doesn't always win. There are other aspects of the game that can compensate for lack of "A." But all other things being equal, the team with the most "A" will usually win.You are allegedly a writer. How would you grade another writer who uses one adjective? How interesting is it to read? If spoken, how interesting is it to listen to?If all one has to say about K.e.n.t.'s basketball team is "they are athletic...they are more athletic than the Zips...they have great athleticism...etc" then that person obviously has a shallow knowledge of the game.I like reading and listening to people that offer depth and insight. If all you bring to the table is "athletic," you're shallow and pedantic.Writing tip: If you don't write exactly what you mean, there's a high likelihood that you will be misinterpreted. Heck, on this forum, even when you write exactly what you mean there's a high likelihood of being misinterpreted.What you really meant to say was:8.) If I hear some douche bag use only the term "athletic" to describe K.e.n.t. one more time, I'll puke.OK, back to the regularly scheduled stream of insults.

I think that may be one of the hazards of having a coach who is so focused on defense. I personally have no problem with stressing D if it results in winning more games. But obsessing over D to the point that it becomes a detriment to offense is not so good.I don't know if this is what's happening with KD and the Zips, but it's probably worth considering along with all the other possibilities.

I suggest that you carry a barf bag around with you. Whenever players run faster and jump higher than those they're playing against, and use those abilities to make their opponents appear slow and soft, the "A" word will be used frequently by douche bags and non-douche bags alike.The most "A" team doesn't always win. There are other aspects of the game that can compensate for lack of "A." But all other things being equal, the team with the most "A" will usually win.

I wonder is you'll make ZW's "Quit on the Zips HOF"?I'd like to think that I'll make someone's High IQ List for knowing when to quit on a lost game in which there is nothing of value left to be witnessed. ;)That's different from quitting on a team beyond that one game. While I do believe all the ratings that show Can't as a stronger team than the Zips, I've been around long enough to have seen a lot of upsets of higher-ranked teams by lower-ranked teams. I know that the Zips are capable of playing much better than last night and that Can't is capable of playing worse. That's what it will take for the underdog Zips to beat the favored Flushes at the Q.Beyond Can't, the Zips are rated higher than any other team that will be at the Q. Of course a lower-rated team could also upset the Zips. But I will continue to believe that the Zips have a fair chance to repeat as MAC tournament champions until they prove otherwise.I do reserve the right to walk out early on the Zips' last game at the Q if one should play out like last night. After all, I need to score as many IQ bonus points as I can to offset some of the dumb things I've said on this forum.