Dave in Green

I'll repeat what I said in the pre-game thread. The Zips could have beaten Can't if the Zips had played as well as they did against Rhode Island, a more athletic, higher-ranked team than Can't. The Zips led half the game against Rhode Island, were behind by just 2 points with 2 minutes left and lost by 5. But instead of bringing their Rhode Island game last night, they brought their Eastern Michigan game.The Zips are always going to be an underdog against Can't or any other higher-rated team. Nothing novel about that. Lower-rated teams are supposed to lose to higher-rated teams most of the time. The point is that the Zips are fully capable of beating any team at the Q, including Can't. It would be an upset. But the Zips surprised everyone at last year's MAC tournament, and there's no reason it can't happen again. That's why I'll be at the Q.One more game like last night and the season's history for the Zips.

This is the first time I've ever walked out this early in a Zips' game. They could have won tonight if they had brought the home game they played against Rhode Island. Instead, they brought the home game they played against Eastern Michigan. That's not a good thing in the biggest game of the year so far against the best team in the MAC. The NIT consolation prize is now history for the Zips.So now that we know for sure who has the best team in the MAC this season, all that's left is to hope the Zips can pull off another upset miracle in the MAC tournament. One more game like tonight and the season's history for the Zips.

Man am I excited! My last thoughts as I get ready to leave for tonight's game go back to the Rhode Island game. The Zips played RI tough at the JAR, led for about half of the game, trailed by only 2 with 2 minutes left and ended up losing by 5. It was a game the Zips could have won against a more athletic, higher-ranked team.RI is certainly a more athletic team than Can't. RI also has a higher RPI (30) than Can't (46). If the Zips could come so close to beating RI at the JAR, there should be no doubt that they are fully capable of beating Can't.Now let's just go out there and do it!

I did see Jimmal, and he was pretty amazing. Can't find a number on Egner, but I'll keep looking.To put vertical leap in perspective, following is a link to a list of high leapers. Interesting comment on the site is that the average NBA vertical leap is only 28 inches, with MJ the highest at 48 inches. That makes the 60 inches by non-NBA player Kadour Ziani pretty unbelievable. But who knows if they were all measured using the exact same method. After checking out the following link, try a search on Kadour Ziani, who's a professional slam dunker. There are some pretty interesting videos of him in action.Vertical Leap Records

So Buffalo fans will be cheering on the Zips and Miami fans will be pulling for Can't.

The best example I can give you of Egner's vertical is that during warmups for the Green HS game he would amble up to the basket at about half speed, make a leisurely jump, drop the ball in the bucket and slap the backboard with the palm of his hand at least 6 inches above the rim. It was obvious that he had more in reserve.It's funny about all those high numbers you see for vertical leap. They're a lot like published player heights, and don't always stand up in combine testing. For example, the High Major Scoop folks held a top 100 combine last November at Walsh College. Neither Egner nor Henniger were tested. But perhaps the top recruit from the class of 2010 was -- Jared Sullinger (#91 in the pdf document linked to below). His vertical leap was measured at 26.4 inches. The biggest leaper in this group of high potential players was 5-11 Trey Lewis (#108 on the list) at 34.6 inches.It looks like the Zips' Mike Green is on this list (#96). First thing I noticed is that he measures 6-5 and not 6-6. Green's vertical was measured at 25.8 inches, which is roughly mid-pack for this group.High Major Scoop Top 100 Combine ResultsBy the way, here's what High Major Scoop had to say about Egner after he signed with the Zips:Josh crashes harder than 99% of the kids that play basketball and he has a very high motor, a undeniable love for the game and a confidence and a passion that you just don't find in most kids these days. Like every young player he still needs to continue improving his offensive skill set and fundamental handle, but he will make up for that with his ability to defend, jump, rebound and run the lanes.Maybe it isn't so far-fetched to think of Egner as a Tyler Hansbrough type of player in terms of passion and motor, but with better vertical.

No problem. I'm sure I'll make up for remembering that right by getting something wrong in the near future. ;)Not that it really matters that much in the overall scheme of things, but Buffalo's loss finally does drop them behind the Zips in RPI. Zips are now #90 as of this morning, while Buffalo drops to #94.Can't is still the Big Target at #46 (between Marquette and Connecticut) in this morning's revised RPI.

Hey, I said Green HS had a decent team. But with a 14-8 record, you just can't put them in the same class as Jackson and other powers. Congrats to Green for winning a round or two in the state tournament.On the subject of role players in the 2008 U.S. men's Olympic team, it does sound absurd when you name all those great NBA players and say some of them were role players. But that's exactly what the coaching staff said they were going to select. Redd, for example, was brought in exclusively for his 3-point shooting. When you pick a dozen players from the top basketball league in the world, it's hard to think of any of them as role players. But the coaching staff looked at several of them in that light for the specific roles they were selected to play on the Olympic team rather than as all-around great players.

Thanks for the correction. I should have known better than to trust my faulty memory on that one.

If you bleed Orange and Black, you don't want a blow by blow of what the Polar Bears did to the Bulldogs. Green HS has a decent varsity team, but not in the same class as Jackson and other powers. No future Zips players at Green HS, sorry to say.

Toledo is unbelievable. They come from behind to take the lead over NIU midway through the second half, and stay ahead until NIU ties it with 20 seconds left. Then NIU wins it, 60-58, on a field goal with 2 seconds left.

Miami beats Buffalo, 73-62, to tie for 3rd in the MAC East at 9-7. I believe someone said earlier that Miami gets the 4th seed and bye for beating Buffalo twice. Maybe this latest Buffalo loss will finally drop them behind the Zips in RPI.

Central Michigan 37, Eastern Michigan 36 with about 15 minutes left in the game.Miami 33, Buffalo 29 at the half.Ohio 33, Bowling Green 15 at the half.Western Michigan 29, Ball State 27 at the half.Northern Illinois and Toledo just getting started.

Zips-Can't game has been selected as the FanMatch game of the day for Friday as "rated for competitiveness and level of play." It's listed at the top of the page of the Pomeroy ratings. The explanation of FanMatch is worth reading. Be sure to read the whole thing, as the first part is humor and the actual description is in the final paragraph.Pomeroy FanMatch

Interesting game last night for Euton and his Scott County team. He was cold from the field and so were his teammates. Euton was only 3 of 12 from the field for just 7 points, and his two normally high-scoring teammates had only 13 each. So what happened? They played tough D, holding their opponent to just 14 of 38 from the field (MAC West numbers), and moved on in the Kentucky state tournament with a 72-38 crushing of Madison Southern.

Buffalo's OOC conference doesn't look terribly tougher than the Zips' OOC schedule, though Buffalo had four fewer OOC games and the balance of home and away games is dramatically different (note that each of the last OOC games are BracketBusters not scheduled by each school):Buffalo (11 OOC Games; 4 Home, 7 Away 7-4 Record;)Vermont Lost 57-58@Navy Won 63-53@Towson Won 78-69Canisius Lost 71-73Army Won 74-67@Purdue Lost 65-101 @Niagara Won 86-80@Green Bay Won 71-65 @Jacksonville Lost 73-83 Liberty Won 81-64@ St. Peter's Won 77-75Zips (15 OOC Games; 10 Home, 5 Away; 10-5 Record)Austin Peay Lost 77-80 @N.C. State Lost 45-66 @Drake Won 63-59 Howard Won 69-52 Ark.-Pine Bluff Won 68-65 Niagara Won 80-68 @Texas A&M Lost 62-74 Malone University Won 62-30 UNC-Greensboro Won 83-59 St. Francis (Pa.) Won 80-51Ill.-Chicago Won 77-65 Valparaiso Won 77-57 @Wyoming Won 85-76 Rhode Island Lost 63-68@ VCU Lost 53-70By the way, both team's RPIs went up overnight due to results of other teams' games, with Buffalo moving up to 88 and the Zips to 91.

Here's another interesting data point on SOS. As of this moment:Buffalo has an SOS of 116 and the Zips have an SOS of 170.Buffalo has a record of 17-10 and the Zips have a record of 22-8.Buffalo has the 92nd best RPI and the Zips have the 93rd best RPI.Draw your own conclusions.

I think it does help even out the perceived "athleticism gap." Egner is said to play above the rim and Henniger below the rim. It also helps even out the "thugism gap" to replace a certain graduating Can't senior with a preacher's son. But reducing things to too simplistic a level can be misleading. What really matters more is how all the players gel and work together as a team. I think Can't will benefit from having a cool, calm, stable player like Henniger to anchor the team, and the Zips will benefit from adding a more volatile, athletic player. But who benefits most will depend on how quickly each of the new players develops, and how they mesh with the rest of the team.I really think it takes a good balance of solid, stable players with good fundamentals along with highly athletic players to make a good team. The most recent U.S. Olympic basketball team benefitted tremendously by having a good mix of athletic superstars and low-key role players. I believe that's a good model for assembling a winning college basketball team.

This is my favorite matchup of the game, and I hope they play against each other. But Conyers is not smaller than Singletary. Both are listed at 220 lbs, with Conyers at 6-5 and Singletary at 6-4.I will admit that Singletary packs a bigger punch.

Here's the story on that. Some of the oddsmakers (Pomeroy, etc.) show the Zips beating the higher-ranked Can't Friday, thanks to the home court advantage. That would make the Zips the automatic NIT qualifier from the MAC. The reason they didn't previously show a MAC team getting a bid is because they were projecting Can't to win both Friday and in the MAC tournament, and go to the NCAA instead of the NIT.Note that Buffalo is still among the 32 NIT also-rans while Can't is still projected to win the MAC tournament and get the automatic NCAA bid under "Remaining NCAA bids go to the other conference champions (19)" on the NIT-ology.com site.The only scenario I see for two MAC teams to make the NIT is if the Zips win Friday and Can't loses in the MAC tournament to a team other than the Zips. Can't is probably the only MAC team with a high enough rating to earn an at-large bid to the NIT, which could put them in the NIT along with the Zips under this scenario.So the last thing we want to see is two MAC teams in the NIT, because it would be a sure sign that the Zips did not win the MAC tournament and the NCAA tournament bid!

A statistical debate in which I have no skin. I love it!

Following is a little regular season statistical comparison between Egner and Henniger. Keep in mind that Henniger is the focal point of the Jackson offense and plays mostly a few feet from the bucket, while Egner plays mostly on the wing except when Henniger is on the bench. So Henniger gets more close-in, high-percentage shots as well as more opportunities for rebounds:Player .................... Pts .......... FG % ..... RebJosh Egner ............ 13.3 ........ .568 ....... 7.5Mark Henniger ....... 20.6 ........ .620 ...... 8.9Neither player has a high enough number of assists, free throw percentage or 3-point shooting to appear on the list of top players in these categories.In most of the discussions about the abilities of these two players, the following points are generally mentioned:Henniger is more polished, steady and even-tempered, and is a better overall HS performer with good D1 potential.Egner has more raw athleticism, explosiveness and volatility, and has more potential D1 upside if he has good coaching to polish his skills and channel his emotional energy.Kind of ironic that Can't is getting the preacher's son and UA is getting the volatile one. Canton Rep ArticleJackson plays Massillon in a sectional tournament game Friday, March 5, at 6:15 pm at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.Special note: For those who are concerned about properly spelling players' names, even those going to Can't, Henniger is widely misspelled as Henninger. I had picked up the wrong spelling from a bad source, and have now corrected it in all of my previous posts.EDIT: Rebounds were transposed and are now corrected.

I sincerely apologize if I wasn't clear enough in expressing my position to the point that it could be misinterpreted as an attack. I was not trying to make anyone change their position or admit to something they don't believe, and there was certainly no malice intended. I simply tried to say that I thought there was more agreement than disagreement in everyone's positions. I'm pleased that some people understood what I meant and sorry that others didn't.Peace.

Athletic teams have hurt Akron for too long now. This year alone we've seen Rhode Island, VCU, Can't State, and (needless to say) NC State & Texas A&M out-athlete us. After 5 years of KD recruiting, we really need to be getting more explosive athletes to don the Zips' blue & gold. I'm tired of seeing forwards lay the ball up. Get guys in here who abuse the rim when they play. Or how about a 2G who can actually dunk the ball on a fast break?You will like Josh Egner.

I really appreciate hearing the viewpoint of someone who actually refs. I'm sure it isn't an easy job. I don't expect perfection from refs any more than I would from any other person. The frustrating things to me are seeing an apparent change in how fouls are called between the first and second halves, a steady parade of trips to the foul line spoiling the flow of an otherwise enjoyable game, or a close game hinging on questionable judgment calls.The other side of the coin is that we fans often make bad judgment calls. For example, I was always under the impression that there were many more fouls called in the second half of Zips games than in the first half. But when I analyzed first and second half box scores, I found a number of games where there were more fouls called in the first half. And in the games where more fouls were called in the second half, it was typically only three or four more fouls called. That could be explained by deliberate fouls near the end of a game when the team that's behind is trying to get the ball back.Now I'm thinking that we fans just may be more sensitive to fouls called in the second half, because we're worried about our players getting closer to fouling out or the fouls seem to be hurting the Zips from trying to hold a lead or come from behind as the end of the game gets closer.The most important thing is for the refs to try their best not to unnecessarily disrupt the flow of the game and to let the players decide the outcome.