Dave in Green

Miami PG is really good.

Zips not yet ready to take on a team of Miami's caliber. But they're good enough for a 20+ win season.

Another good, noisy Zips crowd today. No major issues with the reffing. Miami is a great passing team. They move the ball around so fast the Zips defense has trouble keeping up. Zips offense started well with attacks from all directions. Miami defense adjusted and took away options. Halftime adjustments needed. NBA scouts in attendance. Pat's performance should be starting to register.

Of course that's the extreme example when physical violence erupts with fans and players. No one wants that. The other extreme is when fans sit quietly in their seats and keep their mouths shut as if they were in a movie theater even when they see what they consider to be an injustice. No one should want that at a sporting event, either. Neither extreme defines the average sports fan. Fans vocally registering their displeasure at the refs is a time-honored tradition of sports. The few fans who cross the line should be reprimanded, but those who don't cross the line shouldn't be discouraged from expressing themselves.

Miami earned its creds by breaking #7 Florida's 33-game home winning streak. I suspect that Big Dog will play more than 10 minutes, as the Zips will need all the minutes they can get out of him and Pat to try to counter Miami's 7-foot center, Tonye Jekiri. Miami's high-scoring guard, 5-11 Angel Rodriguez, will be a tough test for Noah/Antino/Nyles. Maybe Deji gets some minutes guarding Rodriguez. The Zips match up pretty well in size against the Canes but will have to play aggressively without fouling. There's some real potential in this Zips team. But they will have some down games throughout the season just like every other team, and they can't afford that against Miami.

I was kidding about moving the Zips-Can't game back to Tuesday with the Flushes stuck in Buffalo. The NFL handled the Buffalo-Jets game by moving it indoors to Ford Field in Detroit. Wonder which team has better traveling fans?

Smart move. Now put the Zips-Can't game back where it belongs.

A final comment on the bad ref: When was the last time you saw a college ref issue three separate formal warnings to both benches and the fans for complaining about the officiating? Could it have had anything to do with the quality of his officiating? An observation about USC: By minutes played, the top 5 Trojans were 3 freshmen and 2 sophomores and the top 8 were 4 freshmen and 4 sophomores. This is a really, really young team. Coach Enfield wants them to play at frenetic speed 100% of the time on both offense and defense. They were blurs on the floor. It looked like they'd never tried to play that fast before, and they made a lot of mistakes. As they grow more experienced playing at this frenetic pace and make fewer mistakes, they could become more VCU-like. It will be interesting to see how well the young players adapt to Enfield's style of play and how competitive they are by the end of the season. On the Zips side, who'd have guessed that Pat would lead the team with Tree-like minutes (30), Tree-like points (15) and Tree-like rebounds (9)? Opportunity knocked and Pat answered. And Kwan is showing way more confidence knowing he's not going to be pulled after a bad shot. The only nervous time came when rock steady Noah went to the bench with 4 personals. Antino started out shaky and the lead started evaporating as USC ran off 8 straight. Antino didn't fold, but came to life with a trey, a steal, another trey and a driving layup to erase USC's 8-point run and crush the Trojans' hopes. Coach Dambrot was shaking his head about Antino's shot selection, but in the end gave him a big grin and a pat on the back. The Zips will be at their best with Noah averaging 30 minutes per game. But Antino should now have more confidence to back him up, and Nyles has also improved his game for added insurance. Big Dog played only 10 minutes. But during one interesting run he was on the floor at the same time as Pat. As Big Dog gets back into playing shape and gets more minutes, how often will we see him and Pat on the floor together? Is Pat capable of playing quality minutes at the 4? Was that Pat who was holding the ball outside the free throw line, making a dribble drive to the basket and scoring at the rim? Pure Twilight Zone. And exactly who is this RooYahoo who just days ago eerily predicted Pat's rise?

Buffalo's campus is north of Lake Erie and just outside the disaster area, so it's true there's little snow there. But any security people and emergency workers at the game would be serving the public much better by helping those a few miles to the south who need all the help they can get. You can bet this game will be widely criticized for any resources it may take away from those in need.

The ref in question was the one I mentioned earlier. He went from questionable calls against both teams in the first half to mostly against the Zips in the second -- 6 fouls against the Zips to 1 for USC at one point. Here's just one example: A USC player started a wild drive to the bucket and clearly traveled. Both of the officials close to the play started to signal travel. The bad ref who was further away called a foul against the Zips and overrode the other two refs. Everyone could clearly see what was happening and the crowd was protesting louder and louder. I didn't hear what the one Zips fan said so I can't say whether or not it was in bad taste. The bad ref deserved to be called out for bad calls, but there are limits. Most of the catcalls I heard from our section were telling the bad ref to call them the same at both ends. It's something you hear at every basketball arena in the country. People pay to see an evenly officiated game and register their displeasure when they see bad calls against their team. The coaches and players know when they're getting screwed, and they appreciate it when their fans voice their support. There wasn't much of a problem in the first half when questionable calls were going both ways.

Done.

Buffalo is a disaster area. With the additional 2 feet of snow so far today roofs are starting to collapse in homes and businesses. People are being urged to stay off roads. Trying to play a football game tomorrow would be irresponsible and stupid.

A star is gone, a team is born.

Nice arena. Big Zips fan turnout. One ref making obvious (to front row spectators) bad calls to both teams equally, so no problem. Zips very balanced and calm. No drama on court or bench.

Buffalo area is expected to get another 2-3 feet of snow today on top of 5-6 feet already there. How likely is it they'll be ready to host a game this Saturday?

Bryant has averaged right around the midpoint of RPI for the past couple of seasons, i.e. ~180 out of ~360 D-I teams. Zips have been top 100.

Sounds like the Half Buck side of the mouth talking.

Hate to miss a Zips home win, but I'm en route to Charleston. At least my ticket got used by one of those rare souls actually seen at the stadium tonight. Good to see the Zips are back on track going into the big rivalry game. Numbers to remember: UMass 40, Can't 17.

We're planning on leaving around 9. We're also going to the Festival of Lights, but not sure which night. See you in Charleston.

We're right next door at the dumpy Day's Inn. What time are you leaving in the morning?

My wife and I are halfway there in lovely Wytheville, Va., where it's currently 4 whole degrees warmer than Akron. Will be fun to meet everyone there and see some Zips basketball.

I don't. Could be a troll from another school trashing the Zips men's basketball program. Could also be a true Zips fan who's just so focused on the negatives that they ignore all the positives and only post when something's wrong.

Sportsjunkie300 may have only 22 posts, but you can always rely on him (or her) to show up any time a Zips men's basketball player gets in trouble, claim he knows more than anyone imagines and proceed to trash the way the program is run. He was here to question Nick when Nick was having problems, he was here to question Q when Q was having problems, and he was even here when Chauncey had a very minor problem. If a Zips men's basketball player is having any kind of problem, you can always rely on Sportsjunkie300 to show up and try to rub it in. Haven't quite figured out yet what the motive is. But it's well known there are people at UA who want the Zips men's basketball program to fail.

Who needs no steenkin' hearings or courts or any manner of due process as long as LZip is the master of the tea leaves.

One thing that even someone familiar with the law might not fully understand is exactly how accusations of certain violations of the student code of conduct are handled at UA, especially as it applies to student-athletes. It may be that there is a standard operating procedure in place if a student is accused of a specific transgression against another, and it may be different if one or both are scholarship athletes. It's possible that if a student-athlete on scholarship is accused of certain things that there may be an automatic suspension from athletic activities while the accusation is being investigated. If that's the case, then the best we can hope for is that the investigation is performed in both a thorough and timely manner.