Dave in Green

We're spoiled.

How do they reverse that?

Three fouls on Antino is a whole bunch of not good.

As competent as Malcolm looked against UT, he really looked lost in his brief time against UB's swarming D. It may be up to Nyles to do his best at the point while Antino gets a few breathers.

Malcolm had two quick turnovers. Nyles was the backup to the backup.

How hard is it to realize that UB is trying to steal the ball on every pass?

Twin towers worked pretty well there at the start.

Everything favors UB. But wounded animals can be dangerous. Zips are fighting for their lives here and won't fold and go away quietly. Let's win one for Noah.

Skip, you're selling Northern Iowa way short. They're currently ranked #10 in both the AP and Coaches polls. They destroyed #11 Wichita State 70-54. They're as good or better than any team the Zips ever played in the NCAA tournament. As to whether the Zips might end up in the CBI or CIT tournaments, I think when we analyzed that before that the CBI looked to be a slightly stronger tournament. The Zips would probably need to win a few more games and perform decently in the MAC tournament to qualify. But neither the CBI nor CIT generates much interest among Zips fans. It would mainly be a bonus for the players if they can earn their way into one of those tourneys.

I understand. In my wilder moments I fantasize about Antino in the post and Big Dog at the point.

Hard to argue with GT's conclusion:

Any time, any place. But, seriously, I've said it before and I don't know if it registered with you or not, but Nyles was a combo guard in HS who scored in bunches while also running the point. He had a chance to be a PG at the junior college level during his two seasons at Brevard Community College, and they ended up moving him to shooting guard. The shooting part of Nyles' combo has been superior to the PG part of his combo for the past 3.5+ seasons. But, heck yes, second-guessing Coach Dambrot's every move is definitely fair game on a Zips forum.

Skip, you need to take that line of reasoning straight to Coach Dambrot. Please let me know when you're going to be meeting with him because I want to be there to hear the response.

Apologies for the late update. With the Zips losing some games they should have won, it's time for them to win some games they're expected to lose, starting in Canada: MU 57, Zips 52 (OT) Can't 64, OU 51 UT 97, WMU 87 UB 68, BGSU 56 CMU 83, BSU 60 EMU 73, NIU 65 MAC STANDINGS 10-4 - UT 10-4 - Can't 10-4 - CMU 9-5 - BGSU 8-6 - Zips 8-6 - UB 7-7 - WMU 6-8 - MU 6-8 - EMU 4-10 - OU 4-10 - NIU 2-12 - BSU TUESDAY MATCHUPS: 8-6 Zips @ 8-6 UB 10-4 Can't @ 6-8 MU 4-10 NIU @ 10-4 UT 10-4 CMU @ 6-8 EMU 9-5 BGSU @ 4-10 OU 7-7 WMU @ 2-12 BSU

ZIPSMOM2, I hope you saw that The Hip Zip's comment was tongue in cheek. He was just kidding. I know he understands that parents are fans just like the rest of us except they happen to be a lot closer to one player. Fans can get pretty emotional about sports, as can be seen on this forum every time the Zips lose, so how could we expect parents not to? The attitude you expressed about learning from criticism is really positive. But the parents who may occasionally get a little emotional about the game are just being human. It usually passes quickly, as I understand it already has in this case. Meeting the parents of the Zips players has been as enjoyable for me as meeting the players. You're all wonderful people.

The Zips are extremely fortunate to have a backup PG of Antino's caliber as well as a quality walk-on PG like Malcolm. We just have to be realistic and remember that Antino is a true freshman whose HS team did not play the kind of national schedule that Noah's did. He doesn't have the calm maturity of Noah that has steadied the team, but is more of a streaky player with ups and downs. He's learning on the fly how to lead the team for 30 minutes per game as opposed to being a change of pace backup for 10 minutes per game. Malcolm is also going to be learning on the fly. But after watching his performance against Toledo, I couldn't recall another walk-on player the Zips have had in recent memory who could have done any better.

As Hilltopper just pointed out in another thread, there was a miscommunication with Nyles that has all been straightened out. Nyles is committed (along with Deji) to help provide the senior leadership the team needs through the remainder of the season. If Coach Dambrot thinks that starting Deji and bringing Nyles off the bench would produce better results for the Zips I'm sure he'd try it along with all of the other lineup "tinkering" some have questioned. My best guess is that Nyles will continue to start at the 2 as a steadying force alongside the mercurial Antino, and that Deji and Malcolm will relieve the starting backcourt off the bench.

The Zips have some of the best shooters in the country ... on the rifle team. Maybe Coach Engle could help the Zips basketball players find the target.

Reporters do what their editors assign them to do or they get fired. I second The Hip Zip's compliment to clarkwgriswold. The overall quality of commentary on Zips basketball is going up, and part of that is due to the addition of several new forum members offering thoughtful observations. If true about Nyles, he needs to be mature about it, work it out with the coaching staff in private and act like a senior leader for a Zips team in serious need of senior leadership right now. With Noah out, a high-performing Nyles could be the difference between the team achieving another 21+ win season and tournament bid or falling short of expectations.

So is a player more likely to transfer if he isn't playing as many minutes as he thinks he should be playing or if he isn't playing at all? Because when you play a really short rotation you have a bunch of players who aren't playing at all. They work their butts off in practice and never get a chance to play in games. Is being anchored to the bench more acceptable to a player than sharing moderate minutes with 9 or 10 other other players?

Aside from the 1% miracle that the ACL is not torn, this is a terrible blow for Noah and likely one blow too many for this season's team. I expect them not to give up, to adjust and surprise a few people with how good they can be in the MAC tournament. But a championship run would be a real stretch. The biggest question mark now is Nyles. He played just 4 minutes last night and disappeared from the bench. Is it a physical problem or a head problem? This team needs him badly with Noah down. Does Nyles show up or check out?

Marked.

I come home to this? If this Zips team has good chemistry then team chemistry is overrated.

I rarely miss a home game, but tonight is one of those nights that I have a non-basketball commitment. I feel good about Antino running the point and Malcolm backing him up. With that lineup they came close to beating Toledo and will do better against Miami.

Why We Blame Others