Dave in Green

I've done my share of griping about the refs. But they deserve credit for calling two good semi-final games at the Q last night. All four teams played hard but clean, and the refs did their part by not stopping the games every minute with yet another incidental contact whistle. I saw a few plays I thought were called wrong. But it's hard to argue with a few judgment calls that seemed to be evenly spread. The important thing is to be sparing with the whistle unless it's really deserved, and completely neutral about who gets whistled. And that's what the refs did last night.With all the talk about the refs in this forum, it made me think about who complains the most about the refs? It's certainly not the winning team, because winners are too busy celebrating. No, the people who complain most about the refs are the losers. Maybe their team wasn't playing up to its full potential. But if only those darned refs had gotten a few more calls right, our team could have squeaked one out.Of course the flip side is that there have been other games where the team has squeaked one out because a few of the bad calls went their way. Because, unless you believe in a conspiracy theory that the refs mostly make more bad calls against your team than against all the teams you play, bad officiating evens out over the long run and is not a factor in overall won-lost records.I think that obsessing over bad officiating can be interpreted as a sign of a loser. And that makes me change my mind about how I'm going to react to the refs in the future. I don't plan to stop yelling when I see something I think is a particularly questionable call. I mean, you can't just let the refs think the fans are so dumb they can't see something that at least looks like it could be a bad call.But I'm done yelling myself hoarse over every close call and complaining in this forum after every game. I don't want people thinking that Zips fans are a bunch of losers who try to blame everything on the refs. We fans criticize our team when they're heaving up long shots without setting up plays. But that's pretty much what we're doing when we continuously heave insults at the refs.We like it most when our players take selective, quality shots at the basket, and I think that would be a good philosophy for Zips fans to take with the refs.

Never a doubt. Never a doubt. Those of us in the stands could see it in the players' postures and feel it in our guts. Even when BG made the big run, there was nothing remotely approaching a sense of panic. It just took a brief timeout for the medical team to confer, make a slight adjustment and then go back to their surgical operation on BG, calmly, efficiently, effectively.Players just keep stepping up. C McKnight and Linhart combining for 25 rebounds was almost beyond belief. The Zips own the glass at the Q. The backcourt performance remains phenomenal. McKnees is rightfully getting a lot of the credit. But the player the coaching staff relied on most was a walk-on with no scholarship. Roberts played all but 3 minutes, 5 minutes more than any other Zips player. His performance at both the 1 and 2 positions was rock solid. And McClanahan filled in just enough to give Roberts and McNees a little rest.The players get most of the attention, and rightfully so. Their execution was outstanding. But how about that coaching staff. They devised the game plan that helped the players shred the dreaded 2-3 defense and force BG into man coverage. That worked briefly until the Zips coaching staff called a timeout and immediately adjusted. For everything BG did, the Zips had an answer. And they didn't dream it up on the fly. This coaching staff is championship caliber. They have prepared these players to win, and the preparation can be seen in every play at the Q.The Zips are so fortunate to have KD as head coach, and so are we fans.

So VanDelay reports on its blog that all Zips fans are jerks, and then makes up for it by posting in a Zips fans forum that not all Zips fans are jerks?Well, we already know that here. Did you post the same sentiments on your blog?

We were sitting near some Miami fans who were continuously yelling at the refs, too. Big deal. It's a great American sports tradition: Ya pays your money and ya gets to vent at the refs.Shame on VanDelay for spamming up a game blog by singling out Akron fans for criticism. Let the blogger sit with his dearly beloved fellow Ohio fans next year.Now the Buffalo fans are something special. They ignored the refs and spent their whole game heckling Singletary. Some of the things they said were definitely worthy of being included in a blog.

Congratulations, Zips! I know you probably didn't see my first post. But you played last night exactly the way I envisioned you would play if you had confidence in yourselves, your teammates, your coaching staff and your destiny. From the way you played, I'm sure you must have gotten a similar pep talk from KD. It was truly amazing to see the way you communicated with each other on court, the way you correctly anticipated where each other would be when you threw those great passes, the way you covered each others' backs, and the way you just looked like you all enjoyed being on the court together. You are truly a cohesive team at precisely the most important stage of the season. Whatever happens the rest of the year, I'll always remember the heart and courage and team play you've shown over the course of these past two games.

He looked pretty good in warmups. He didn't have quite the usual spring in his legs, but I couldn't see any obvious limping. The problem with ankle sprains is that all it takes is a little tweak the wrong way to bring back the pain, and that happened early in the game. Fortunately, McNees, Roberts and McClanahan had his back in the backcourt. They were all at their best when needed most.

This article pretty much reinforces everything we already know about Zeke. I can't imagine a better match between Zeke's personal playing philosophy and KD's coaching philosophy. He is going to fit in so well with the Zips, and they are going to be one heck of a cohesive team. But it still boggles the mind to think that someone his age has so much athletic ability, intelligence and maturity all rolled up into a 7-foot frame, and is bringing it all to Akron, Ohio.I think over the course of the next few years, we're going to be seeing more and more national stories like this one. Zeke just seems like he came right out of central casting for the old All American story about the son that any parents would be proud to call their own.

MAC Championship is the real tribute. Team awards are the only real judge. Don't mean a thing if you ain't go that ring!While I'm sure that both players would gladly exchange their individual awards for a team championship, that does not diminish the honors they have earned.

I've been struggling all season to define in the simplest possible terms what it is the Zips need to consistently succeed. Last night's long stretch of frustration and come-from-behind win over Toledo finally crystalized it for me.Confidence. Confidence in yourself and confidence in your teammates. Confidence in the coaching staff and confidence that destiny is on your side.This year's Zips team has appeared to have it at times, but only as if it's a series of lightning bolts that randomly strike from the skies and just as suddenly disappear.No!Once you've found confidence, it's always there. Circumstances change from moment to moment. Things may go from good to bad. But once you've found confidence, the good will always return. Ride out the best run the other guys and fate can throw at you with a wink and a nod to your teammates. Wow, those guys were really lucky there, or wow, we really screwed up there. Doesn't matter.No problem! We're coming back with a vengeance. It may be a minute, or 5 or 10. But we're coming back and we're going to take control. It may be Nate or it may be Humpty. It may be Chris or Brett, Darryl or Steve, Nikola, Jimmy, Mike or anyone on the floor. It doesn't really matter who, because any one of us can be the one to break the run, and the rest of us are going to be there doing whatever it takes.We are a team of destiny that pays no attention to the odds. We believe in ourselves. We believe in each other. We do not fear the worst. We believe in the best. One way or another, we will win.

Coaches more than anyone else understand which opposing players make their lives the most miserable. That's a real tribute to Linhart's whole college career, and B. McKnight's growth as an all-around player over the course of this season. To have the coaches give both awards to the Zips is also a compliment to KD and the entire program.

Don't get me going! ;)First of all, that was a well-written and fair critique of the refs. Thank you for the calm and reasoned analysis.Yes, I know that being a ref is not easy, and I would not want to have that thankless job. Yes, I know that refs are like players in the sense that there are a few great ones and a lot of less-than-great ones. We had one great officiating crew at the JAR this year for the WMU game, and this forum was filled with compliments about the great officiating and how pleasurable it was to watch that game. Unfortunately, that's the exception and not the rule.You'd think the MAC would try to get the best officiating for its premier event. I'm sure the MAC official responsible for officiating is in the stands watching, and seeing the same things fans are seeing. What can he possibly think of the performance he saw last night? I'm a Zips fan, but I saw two out of bounds calls go to the Zips when they should have gone to Toledo. I can't say which team "won" the battle of bad calls, but I can surely say that all the fans and players lost from having to live through that chorus of whistle blowing.Neither Akron nor Toledo is a dirty team. The great majority of the fouls were the result of players playing their hearts out and trying to do the best they could within the rules to win the game. Under those circumstances, the line will occasionally be crossed and whistles rightfully blown. But light, incidental contact is unavoidable. Officials should have the judgment to separate the real from the phantoms.What I expect from a great ref, or even just a fair one, is: When in doubt, don't call a phantom. Unfortunately, it seems the only time some MAC refs follow that philosophy is when there's a body lying at Singletary's feet and they once again missed seeing the cleverly disguised sucker punch.I really don't know the answer to this problem. If great refs are as rare as great players, the MAC is not likely to see many of them. So we're pretty much stuck with a bad situation. All we as fans can do is to try to fairly call out bad officiating when we see it and hope the MAC takes some kind of action to improve their product by holding refs accountable for poor performance. Because, ultimately, if the show stinks, fans will start looking for a better show somewhere else, and the MAC loses along with all of the rest of us.

Skip, I say all of the following with the best of intentions:There's no mystery here. If you cheer mightily for a player to yourself and fill your posts here with mostly criticisms, there's going to be pushback from fans who question your true motives and intent.Do you not see the oddity of posting a lengthy analysis of the game without even acknowledging the biggest hero of all?Do you not see why fans would question whether your season-long criticisms of Hitchens were intended to be constructive when you failed to acknowledge his greatest achievements in your initial post?Do you not see that your initial failure to acknowledge Hitchens' two incredible game-winning plays on a bum ankle will suggest to some that you may have secretly preferred to see him fail to "prove" your continual criticisms? (Freudian slip comes to mind here.)Do you not see that other fans also see the weak points of individual Zips players, but are simply not as shy as you are about giving credit where credit is due?Do you not see how you come across as trying to provoke other fans by focusing on the negatives and downplaying the positives?Whether this is all deliberate provocation or just part of your innate personality, you should be well aware by now that your predominately negative comments will not be well-received on a Zips fan forum, nor should they be.Keep poking a dog with a stick and you will get snapped at.Your choice.

Well, first you have to define exactly what constitutes a "big" game, and good luck at getting a consensus because everyone has their own definition of which ones should be on the list and which should be left off.But, assuming you get a consensus definition, then you put together a list of the games KD has coached that meet the "big" definition, and then you add up the wins and losses in those games.

Hitchens said in a post-game interview that he came down on another player's foot and twisted his ankle. It felt pretty bad, and at first he didn't think he could go back in. But when KD told him he wanted him back on the floor, Hitchens said yes sir and gave the performance of his life. He says he will play Thursday night, but that he definitely will not be at 100%

It was both worse and better to witness at the Q. Worse because the Zips were as flat as they've been all season, and they've had a few ugly flats. KD gave a good explanation in the postgame about why both the Zips and Can't were flat today. They just played their big, emotional rivalry game two days ago, and neither team is used to playing the first day of the tournament after a big emotional game on two days rest.But it was surreal to sit in the Q and watch the Zips play like a high school team. I won't even get into who did what because I'd just as soon forget about it. The biggest spark through the middle of the game was Cventinovich, who made some really nice plays and tried to fire up the rest of the team.Linhart made up for so-so play early by making many big plays in crunch time.The refs were awful, as attested to by the 88 foul shots. Many calls were clearly bad. We could see from the stands when someone clearly did not even touch another player yet was whistled, and the phantom "kicked ball" near the end that almost cost the Zips the game was a travesty.With McNees and Roberts fouled out and Hitchens sitting on the bench with his shoe off, it looked like the end. But he put the shoe back on, went back in the game and literally hobbled around the court like an 80-year-old man. When he nailed the 3 from the corner to tie it, we all about fell on the floor. Then he gutted it out through overtime, hit another critical 3 and triggered a perfect inbounds pass to B. McKnight under the basket for the winning points. That was the better part about being at the Q and witnessing a miracle comeback.Throughout all the bad play and injured ankle, Hitchens had only 2 turnovers. You can talk statistics until you're blue in the face, but Hitchens is just plain and simple a big-time, big-game player. He sparked the near impossible under the worst conditions when it really mattered. For a true freshman from a small high school to accomplish what he did tonight is just plain astonishing. He won't be 100% for the rest of the tournament, so it's going to be up to the rest of the players to come together and be inspired by what was accomplished tonight. They're all going to need to play more of the remaining games with the guts and spirit and enthusiasm that they showed at the end of tonight's game.I am just totally emotionally drained, and the players have to be feeling it a lot more than I do. I don't think KD will be putting them through any hard workouts between now and Thursday night.Wow.

I agree. The 1-game suspension for Tuesday is fair. Time to move on.I agree that the Zips players should not get distracted by Singletary.I do not agree that it's time for fans to move on. We've known for a long time that Singletary is a dirty player, but we never had the evidence. Now we do, and we understand how other players have wound up on the floor at Singletary's feet clutching their midsections.Both the MAC and Can't have gone on official record that they believe this is an "isolated" incident and not part of a pattern. MAC refs have demonstrated that they cannot see Singletary sucker punches even when standing a few feet away with a perfect viewing angle.It's completely appropriate for Zips fans to never forget, and to help keep everyone's attention focused on Singletary as long as he is at Can't to help prevent this from happening again.

it didn't have to be a hard punch. Nate was running in and already moving fast so as long as chris's punch was sturdy he wouldn't have to thow it with great force to inflict a lot of damage.I have to admit that the punch is deceptive. At first I thought it didn't look that bad. It's only when you look at the final view from the corner in slo-mo, and step through it a few times by freezing and restarting, that you begin to appreciate all the fine details.Part of the deception is that Singletary is moving along with Linhart at the same speed. Stepping through frame by frame you will see that as Singletary winds up and balls his fist, he abruptly plants his right foot and his body comes to a halt while Linhart is still flying forward at full speed. Singletary then leverages his now stationary 220 pounds behind his right arm as he chops his fist directly into Linhart's lower ribcage at exactly a 180-degree angle to Linhart's full momentum. It was not a wild swing typical of brawls, but a surgical gutting that would not come natural to the average college basketball player. It would take some practice to get it just right for maximum impact with minimal chance of getting caught. I wonder how many MAC players bear the bruises inflicted by Singletary as he fine-tuned this sucker punch that Can't and the MAC call an "isolated" incident because this is apparently the only one caught on video.The video doesn't lie. Watch it carefully. Watch it often. Step frame through it. Let me know if you agree or disagree with my analysis.

Never, ever underestimate the power of a video posted to YouTube. It is the utlimate weapon against deny, deny, deny.If there had been a videocam focused on Singletary for his entire career, Can't and the MAC would never be able to get away with denying that this is anything but an "isolated" incident.

EA must have actually watched the video now, as he is now describing it as "a closed fist to the gut."EA's Latest

The slo-mo near the end of the video captures everything in exquisite detail. You can even watch it frame-by-frame by quickly double-tapping the space bar on your keyboard, which causes the video to start and stop. Singletary lowers his arm all the way down below his waist with his hand open, clenches his open hand into a fist and drives his arm up in a vicious uppercut to the ribs as Linhart is in the air looking to his right and releasing the pass.If it hadn't been caught on tape, it's possible that no one would have seen it and nothing would have ever been done about it. I think back now to other games where I've seen players mysteriously end up on the floor at Singletary's feet holding their ribs, and no one seemed to know what had happened. Notice how Singletary keeps his arm buried in Linhart's chest after the blow with his hand now open again, which makes it appear to anyone not seeing the full windup and blow that he was just trying to "help" keep Linhart from falling.It may not be possible to prove what was going through Singletary's mind, but the intent of a blindside uppercut to the ribcage is pretty clear. Singletary has long had a reputation as a dirty player, and this video merely confirms what many have long believed. The fact that it took so long to catch him on video may be a testament to his cleverness. The whole incident happened in a fraction of a second, and would be impossible to analyze without the benefit of slo-mo replay.This is one incident that should not be allowed to go away quietly. The MAC and the NCAA should study this video in great detail. Every ref and every coach whose team is scheduled to play Can't State should be made aware of this tactic and be on the lookout for it.There are no longer any excuses for allowing something like this to go on in college basketball.

The Zips did a couple of things better in this game. They brought the ball upcourt more quickly and they didn't run the shot clock down on every possession before having to rush off a poor shot. Both of these improvements will help in the tournament. They also had a good run late in the game, coming from behind and taking the lead. But Can't turned up the pressure and the Zips made a few mistakes that appeared to kill their confidence.Their weak points have been well documented here over the last few months. You would hope they could look at game films, see the mistakes and improve. But for whatever reason they continue to struggle in many of the same areas even after showing brief flushes of being able to do it right.The Zips were predicted to finish 4th in the MAC East in the MAC News Media Association preseason poll, so they neither under-performed or over-performed in the regular season. It was about what was expected, with the usual highs and lows along the way.In the post-season, some teams that did well during the regular season may stumble, and some that stumbled during the regular season may get hot. If the Zips play up to their full potential in 4 straight games, they could win the tournament. I'll be headed to the Q tomorrow hoping for the best, even though the the odds against the Zips will be about the same as they were prior to the start of the season.Bottom line to me is that the Zips are not horrible and they're not great. By virtue of their winning record in the MAC and overall, they are an above average team in a below average conference. They're entertaining to watch, and only rarely get blown out so badly that you want to walk out midway through the second half knowing they have no chance at all to come back. Teams like that can really break your heart when they lose so many close ones they could have won. But it beats the heck out of trying to get up for a team that loses more than it wins.

And the same applies to those who are not supportive of the coach and his professional decisions regarding the playing time of individual players. The following old saying is applicable here: There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.Coach says you can throw the statistics out the window because they don't tell the whole story on Bardo.That works for me.

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I've been following basketball for more than a half century (yeah, I'm older than the average person on this forum). I've seen all manner of flagrant fouls over the years, from forearm shivers to grabbing players around the head and throwing them to the floor. But I have to say this is the first time I've ever seen clear video of someone balling their hand up into a fist, winding up and delivering it with great force to the mid-section of a player in the air focused on putting the ball in the basket.So I would have to say that this is far from an ordinary flagrant foul. This was, at the very least, fighting, albeit a aingle sucker punch, that was quite simply the most egregious physical assault I have ever witnessed in a college basketball game. Singletary is a pretty brawny fellow, and he could have had pretty much the same physical effect on Linhart by standing his ground and applying his forearm to Linhart's gut. That would have been a traditional flagrant foul by NCAA standards.But when you take the time to ball up your fist, wind up and punch someone in the gut, it represents something that goes beyond the typical college flagrant foul. It's one step removed from winding up your leg and deliberately kicking someone in the gonads.Now I'm sure that Mr. Singletary meant no special harm. I'm sure that this all goes back to his upbringing and the environment in which he was raised, in which anything goes in defending your gang turf against other gangs. Kudos to Can't State University for trying to rehabilitate these poor victims of their upbringing and environment. But I suggest that it might be better to try this in a different environment than the public college basketball court. For example, I would prefer to see Can't State University's executives invite Mr. Singletary to their homes to play basketball in their backyards with their children and see if they can break his bad habits outside the public view.I know that no one at Can't State University would want to deprive Mr. Singletary of his God-given right to play in the MAC tournament, as that might hinder his rehabilitation process. But, in this instance, a higher authority comes into play, and that higher authority is the MAC. They have a very special opportunity here to make a clear differentiation between college basketball and gang fighting in back alleys, where anything goes.Make no mistake about it. If the MAC does not deal with this harshly, then GP1 is right. College basketball should be reserved for gangstas who retaliate for brutal attacks with even more brutal counter-attacks, and those who don't like the sight of blood should quit going to college basketball games and take up chess.

Bardo, who averages only about 15 minutes per game, leads the Zips in blocked shots with 17. Linhart, who averages about 30 minutes per game, is second with 15 blocked shots. So Bardo averages more than twice as many blocked shots per minute played as the Zips next best shot blocker.And despite the fact that fans might cringe when he shoots, Bardo has the best field goal average on the team at .489.I'm with KD: Bardo contributes more to the team than shows up in the newspaper box scores. He's a defensive-oriented role player who plays his heart out for 15 minutes per game.