Dave in Green

Yep, Zips went inside to Nick for 2 right after a timeout.

Wow, 23-15. Zips can't hit free throws, but the 3s are falling.

Akron ahead 15-13 at 11:43 first half.

Might as well get it said before the game starts. After the Zips' uncharacteristically fast start yesterday, I'm expecting a more typical start in this game. I won't be surprised if the Zips fall behind early and have to fight their way back.

Coach Dambrot voted on the center issue last night by not playing Big Dog more than 2 minutes. Pat is just a lot quicker and more nimble than Big Dog, who tries to compensate by playing smart. It's a major luxury for the Zips to have two quality true centers with such different styles. During the course of the season there will be some opponents who Pat matches up against better and some where Big Dog will have an advantage.

There are 8 teams in the tournament and there are 4 games each day of the tournament, including the final day, Wednesday, Dec. 25. So each team plays each day of the tournament. Obviously the winners of today's 2 semifinal games will be the only undefeated teams going into the final day of the tournament and will meet in the championship game Wednesday. My guess is that the losers in today's 2 semifinal games meet in Game 11 Wednesday, just ahead of the Championship Game 12. It also seems logical that the 2 teams with 2 losses going into Wednesday will meet in Game 9 and that the 2 first round losers who win in today's second round will meet Wednesday in Game 10.

@Quickzips, the full tournament schedule is here.

Reggie began starting at the 3 in the Malone exhibition game, so 6 games including last night. But in some of those games Nyles, Q, Deji and Melo did not play a combined 80 minutes, which means that Reggie was still playing some minutes at the 2. This is the first game that Nyles, Q and Deji handled all 80 guard minutes, and if all of them keep improving at the rate they have been, those three can handle the guard rotation by themselves. Reggie remains an option to backup the 2 and Melo the 1 if needed. This team has a ton of flexibility.

I watched the first half of this game. South Carolina plays an extremely aggressive game. They're loaded with athletes who make up for any lack of skills with high energy, speed and hops. They may have started the season slowly. But their performance against Saint Mary's shows that they will be a tough challenge for the Zips.

It's Nyles, Deji and Q all showing they're able to productively contribute longer minutes. That moves Melo to the bench and Reggie from the 2 to the 3.

It does appear that the 3-guard rotation is Nyles, Q and Deji, as they accounted for all 80 game minutes at guard. Nyles is starting to remind me of Darryl Roberts, but with a higher ceiling. Deji's ceiling is still a mystery. Hopefully he's on the verge of pulling a Jimmy Conyers. Even though some of it was dictated by foul problems, the minutes played tonight is an interesting stat to consider: Treadwell, 34 Evans, 32 Diggs, 31 Kretzer, 25 Forsythe, 23 McAdams, 17 Ibitayo, 16 Harney, 12 Cheatham, 8 Johnson, 2

NBA scout alert: Tree's stats from the last 2 games include 12-18 from the field, 22-28 free throws, 46 points, 23 rebounds, 2 personal fouls.

Two numbers: 13 assists, 7 turnovers.

Playing like a real team.

Zips defense looking pretty darn good right now.

Kwan takes advantage of the foul situation to show his stuff.

Think the starting PG change will be permanent?

@Zipgrad01, it's funny that the odds section of sportsnetwork.com shows the Zips as 2.5 point favorites.

TeamRankings has changed their odds of the Zips winning from 76% to 58.5%.

@skip-zip, I wasn't previously aware of this, but it turns out that the internet is loaded with exercises and tips to develop quicker feet. I guess it's like any other physical activity. Proper training and exercises can result in improvement. Here's a link to just one of many web pages describing drills designed to produce quicker feet.

What numbers are you looking at? Detroit scored a huge 30 points in the first half and a paltry 30 points in the second half.

@Dr Z, just ignore TeamRankings then and rely on another source you can find that's consistently more accurate.

@Dr Z, Ken Pomeroy has said that TeamRankings uses advanced algorithms that he considers to be pretty accurate. Here's what TeamRankings says about How We Rank Teams.

TeamRankings projects the Zips as 76% likely to beat the Beavers.

The original story is still there, but the voting page has been taken down.