Dave in Green

I'm not going to obsess over the refs' performance other than to say about the only way it could get worse than what I saw today is if the refs were wearing one of the team's uniforms instead of black and white stripes.But a win is a win. I'm not that concerned about scoring droughts. Every team has them. The key point to me is that the Zips had some good looks during the drought and just missed. If they weren't even getting good looks, I'd be worried that another defense could shut them down. Toward the end of the game they were making most of the shots on which they had good looks, so they broke out of the drought at just the right time.That steal and slam by C. McKnight may have been the turning point, and he also delivered at the free throw line in crunch time. Any road win in the MAC, especially the MAC East, is huge, even if it's ugly.

I finally found Euton's averages for the season, and they're just short of a double-double -- 15.8 ppg and 9.8 rpg.His Scott County HS team won its district championship game last night, and has advanced to the regionals.

The MAC is only a one bid conference when no team that does not win the MAC tournament has enough wins against enough strong teams to get the kind of high RPI that might convince the NCAA selection committee that the team is worthy for an at-large bid.The last time a MAC team had a high enough RPI to be considered for an at-large bid was in the 2007-08 season when Can't finished with an RPI of 21. It helped that the MAC was fairly strong that season, with several teams in the top 100 RPI. But Can't had a fairly strong OOC schedule that season, too.If a MAC team were to have an RPI as high as 21 and lose in the championship game of the MAC tournament, that team would be a strong candidate to get an at-large bid.The only way to get such a high RPI is to have a combination of a high enough SOS and a high enough winning percentage.But it is true that the highest RPI team ever to be left out of the NCAA tournament was mid-major Missouri State, which ironically had an RPI of 21. That set off a major controversy.

Amazing stat of the week:After the Zips were ranked 12th in the coaches mid-major top 25 poll and lost to VCU, which was ranked 19th at the time, the Zips remain above both VCU and Can't in this week's poll!The Zips have fallen from 12th to 17th while VCU fell from 19th to 20th and Can't rose from 25th to 22nd based on all game results from the previous week.We complain a lot about the Zips not getting any respect, so it's nice to see that this group of mid-major coaches has more respect for the Zips program than it probably deserves after the decisive loss to VCU.Mid-Major Top 25 Poll

For any other weirdos like me who like to go back through the play-by-play of a Zips game to test your memory of what you saw at the JAR, StatSheet.com has the best presentation I've found. Unlike the ones at GoZips.com and others, the ones on StatSheet.com are color-coded, which makes it much easier to separate the positive plays from the negatives. As far as I know, NCAA basketball play-by-plays use consistent format and language for all games. So the color coding is probably done through programming as opposed to someone going through and manually coloring ever play in every game. Anyway, here's a link to the Zips-Bulls game play-by-play at StatSheet.com for anyone who might be interested:StatSheet.com Link

Dayton had a big, noisy group the last time they played at the JAR. But I can't say what percentage was students.EDIT: Just checked, and that Dayton game was Dec. 6, 2008. Attendance for that early season Saturday game was 4,059. Don't know how many UA students might have been around for either that one or the following Saturday at the JAR (Dec. 13) when the North Carolina A&T game drew only 2,626.

Yeah, I'm just guessing like everyone else here. Different coaches have different philosophies on exactly how to play in this type of situation, so I guess we'll see how KD decides to play it come game time.

From KD's post-Buffalo game quotes:For as much depth as we have, we tire at times.

Point well taken about effort.I really meant a high-percentage field goal shooter with adequate defense, not no defense. A guy who can't score at all has to be a defensive ace to get PT. A consistently great shooter does not need to be a defensive ace, but cannot relax so much on defense that he gives up more points than he makes, or he becomes a net liability.

There's a fine line between being well rested and being rusty from lack of play. I trust that KD knows his players well enough to understand just how long each should play against BG.Generally speaking, I'd say give easy minutes for anyone who is physically hurting, and give more experience to the players who are typically on the floor for fewer minutes than the starters, but who are still good enough players to beat BG. For example, give Steward extra minutes at the point. And definitely focus on the type of play it's going to take to beat Can't and win the tournament.

I like the CBS RPI better than the StatSheet RPI. But they both still rank Buffalo higher than the Zips, so they may both be a few days behind.Stat.Sheet.com RPI

Yep, that's the game. Green scored 25 of those points in the second half. Again, I've seen nothing at all about the kind of defense Green plays.Sometimes I wonder if KD's fixation on defense is because he's never had players who could shoot the lights out in D1. I have to believe that a high-percentage field goal shooter just might break into the Zips lineup without being a defensive ace as long as he doesn't give up more points on the defensive end than he scores on the offensive end.

Just remembered one play I really liked. Nitro had the ball and drove to the basket. The defense collapsed on him and he flipped the ball to Zeke, who nailed an uncontested 8-foot bank shot. Good play for both Nitro and Zeke. I want to see more plays like that!

Excellent. I trust you to ask the right questions and share KD's response here with us. While I appreciate the overall results the conservative KD produces, I've always been fascinated by the combination of a fundamentally conservative approach along with an unpredictable riverboat gambler streak. I'd like to see KD roll the dice just a little more often, and give his players more of a chance to prove themselves. They're all going to make mistakes. But you never know what a player is capable of doing until you give the player a full opportunity to prove himself. Jimmy Conyers is a good case study.You may be on to the key to KD growing from a reliable 20+ game-winning coach against so-so competition to an unpredictable giant-killer coach. Other coaches have found the magic formula with similar talent to what the Zips have now. KD needs to make that last little step out of the comfort zone. He just needs to know that the fans are going to support him in this gamble, win or lose.

Zips now up to 100 RPI, and Can't is way up to 50 RPI, making a really nice, fat target to end the regular season.

Well, either my hearing must be worse than I thought, I haven't been in the right place at the right time to hear it, or I just haven't been paying attention. But I've never actually noticed people deliberately altering the national anthem at a sporting event until last night. Apparently it's not uncommon, along with some who don't stand, or who don't take their hats off, or who talk or text through it. I've seen all that, and I personally think it's all disrespectful. But I suppose you can write all that off to me just being a grumpy old man being overly sensitive about the increasing lack of civility in so many areas. If my dad had ever seen me doing anything like that, I'd have been bruised, bloodied and disowned.

On this team, with this roster, in the current circumstances, I love Steve McNees at the point. He's my guy to run the show.Go Zips!I don't mind being wrong on this one.

Not everyone needs to check with the coach before offering an opinion. You may need to do so, and that is perfectly ok. But don't belittle people with opinions for exercising their free will.Have you ever considered that, by constantly harping on and belaboring your Steve McNees point guard shtick that you grossly exacerbate the very situation you're attempting (in vain) to diffuse? By rambling on and on and on and on...by responding to every minor critique or opinion with a rambling, pointless, passive-aggressive condescending post....do you realize you're fanning the flames of otherwise self-extinguishing embers?You complain about the moderators because they don't have YOUR threshold for what is appropriate or inappropriate. You complain about the Buffalo fans, because they don't meet what YOU consider appropriate behavior.You complain about people who don't share your opinion about a given player. Have you ever considered that you, yourself might be as big a wingnut as those whom you endlessly rail against? Way over-the-top overreaction to a perfectly innocent and sincere post with no malice intended toward anyone. And that's a fact.

On another subject, did anyone else notice that Zeke looked as if he didn't have his normal speed and range of movement? It wasn't that he played badly. In fact he looked good. But he just seemed a half step slow, as if he might have some minor problem in the ankle/knee/leg area. With the experience he's gaining and the skills he's developing, I think we all want to see Zeke playing more minutes. But if he's hurting in any way, it's critical that he not play too many minutes now if rest and recuperation will help his performance in the upcoming tournaments.

I do like that McNees mixed it up a little more last night. Instead of always just dribbling around outside the 3-point line, he made a number of drives. He went all the way for layups, he pulled up for short jumpers and he passed the ball to the open man when the defense moved to block his drive. That's the kind of varied offense that keeps the defense off balance.But for those who continue to question KD's judgment on who to play at the point, I've seen folks on ZN who claim to have close ties to the team. Why can't someone simply ask KD why he doesn't play Hitchens or Steward more at the point than McNees? I'd be curious to know the facts.Seriously. Someone with access please ask KD if he thinks he's given Hitchens and Steward enough opportunity to take over the point, and what it would take for them to move McNees over to shooting guard.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.The Rowdies amplify "...and the hooooome of the Zips" all the time. Why no complaints until Buffalo did it?Maybe it was because the Buffalo folks were closer or louder or both, but I've never really heard the Rowdies doing this. If I had, I would have said something on this forum.I don't believe it's any more appropriate to personalize the country's national anthem than it is to blurt out a personal message during a moment of silence for someone who has passed away.The Rowdies have a great combination of passion and class. I suspect if they thought this through that they would understand how this action would not reflect well on them or anyone else who does it.

As you know, there are no "I love Steve at the point" people on this forum. Some fans who recognize what a great shooting guard McNees can be simply ask that other fans not pile on to McNees for doing the best he can at running the point, which is not great but not bad. McNees is playing the point because his coach doesn't believe that any of the other point guards have stepped up and taken the job away from McNees. I personally like some of the things that happen when Hitchens and Steward are making their slashing attacks. But both of them make errors that McNees does not make. So whoever runs the point is not going to be faultless.Believe me, I would love to see one of the other guards earn the point position away from McNees, if for no other reason than to end the relentless griping by a few "I hate Steve at the point" people on ZN.

+1I've never seen a problem with Buffalo fans, except .....Never mess with the national anthem.Never. No way. No how. No matter how cool you may think it might sound to amplify "home of the brave(s)", most patriotic citizens will rightfully consider it disrespectful of the true meaning and purpose of our national anthem, and think less of the University at Buffalo and its students.

I'd agree that the Zips cannot afford to redshirt 2 of the 3 freshman forwards when they're graduating 2 senior forwards who represent a significant chunk of the Zips frontcourt scoring and rebounding. I'd also agree that Egner and Euton may be the ones who are a little more advanced and prepared for D1 minutes. But then I don't know as much about Green. It will be interesting to see how this plays out next season.

Did anyone else notice that in the last few minutes, when Buffalo had to score quickly to have a chance to win, they couldn't get an open shot and ran as much time off the clock on each possession as the Zips were doing at the other end? That's what you call great D.The Zips controlled this game from beginning to end. Whenever the lead would start to slip, someone stepped up and made a good play. The Zips made some silly mistakes, which all Zips' fans notice and groan about. But Buffalo made more silly mistakes. The Zips flat outplayed the Bulls at both ends of the court, and deserve as much credit for the good they did tonight as the heat they took for playing not so well at Buffalo.