Zip Watcher

For Coach Dambrot .. #1: I can't be certain, but it appeared on TV that you were enjoying a diet cola product at the beginning of the win against BG @ Anderson Arena on Saturday. Off the wagon?#2: The defense in spots the past few games has been impressive. Particularly the 2nd halves @ OU and BG. Do you have specific goals on defense regarding FGM or Percentages? For instance, what's a good performance for your defense? Below 40% opponents shooting? 20 FG made?For Coach Kest .. Congrats to your team and staff for Wednesday night and the disposal of that monkey. What's the next milestone you're pushing the team towards?

One can only hope he's as top flight as this guy. ;)Thanks for the updates!Go Zips!

Regarding McClanahan .. I'm thinking if it was motivated by Ronnie's injury .. they'd have burned Sullivan's redshirt, not McClanahan .. that would have allowed McNees to be back to the 2. I think KD is telling it straight that he needs more scoring .. gotta make more shots.

All I could do this week was shake my head at the glass empty people writing this team off after close winnable losses to two of the leagues better teams. Oh ye of little faith- it's early in the MAC season, this team plays good defense and that will keep them in games when the youth lapses are kept in check- If the shooting comes around, anything will be possible as it looks like the East will continue to beat up on each other. It's a wide open league with no one taking the drivers seat right now. Funny, you wouldn't know it from the board but the Zips are a point blank miss by Humpty and traveling call away from 3-0 with ugly defensive wins.Good solid road win tonight with defense. Of course, there's still issues....I'm sure SZ will be happy to point them out and exaggerate their importance but KDs teams always get better as the season goes, I'm expecting no less with this team.Great post Pouch!

Win!The time change doomed our plans today. With the 2 little ones .. 8pm start is way too late. Shame too, since their great grandparents are there.Anderson's cool .. a dump .. but a great throwback gym.My recommendation to you is to go past BW3 and go to Jed's BBQ (just a block west on Wooster .. corner of Wooster & Main). BW3 is everywhere .. but Jed's Fireballs (trust me) are only in NW OH.Have a great time and bring back a win .. need 8!Go Zips! B)

Agreed.

I'm one of the unfortunate souls unable to tune in tonight. Can you say more specifically what was said about Steve Sweich?He said that Steve is a nice kid , but the coach needs to play his best players and Steve isn't one of them. I felt he was pretty blunt about it. So based on who has played when the games count, he is behind a couple of walk ons. My read on the answer, bolstered by being at a couple of practices is different than Hilltopper's.What Keith said was "Steve's a good kid .. has a great attitude (answering part of the question). He's working hard in practice, does what we're asking .. but I have to put my best team on the floor .. and right now .. that doesn't include Steve."I really don't think he inferred anything more than the current state of things .. and from asking him at a practice .. it's things that Steve is working through that will get him on the floor. Let's try not to put finality on a guy who hasn't cracked the lineup in the first 15 games of a 100+ game career. My take ..Go Zips!

Coach Dambrot:- With the depth problems while you wait for Ronnie to get back, it appears the usual strategy of 3 guards / going small is off the table. Is there any thought to going BIG against conference teams, and using Nate, Brett or Jimmy as the 2 guard and posting up smaller guards to get some looks inside that way? Seems like Nate & Jimmy can probably guard most SG's in the conference.Thanks, I'll hang up and listen to your answer.Go Zips! B)

Where's the dead horse guy when we need him?Go Zips! B)

Both McKnights go off. Conyers with a double double.Zips roll 74-59

I'm with most of the replies here: sucked to lose this game, given where they were with a few minutes left in regulation.I told my wife with 2 minutes left, that no matter the outcome, I felt it was a good sign. The Zips played terribly in the beginning of each period, yet there they were, leading the *perceived* league favorite on the road down the stretch. Now how the end unfolded made for disappointment, but I still feel vindicated by the fact that the team was in it the whole way, on the road.The East will be a battle. This was one game that historically you count as a loss .. and our young Zippers almost got it. We're right there. All the home teams won, so they're not really off the pace here.General observations:- Nice to see some heart from the McKnights. REALLY nice. We need this type of effort & performance from both guys each night. It makes us a better team .. they're 2 of our better scorers.- Jimmy continues to play well. A good sign. Kindof like having Ben Wallace go 5-10 from the line late helps the CAVS. Having Jimmy with comfort and confidence helps the Zips big time.- Ronnie being out is hurting us. I hurts us a few ways .. Humpty gets tired .. when he's tired, he gets sloppy. So McNees is spelling him at the point (like Dials last year). We need Steve & Daryl shooting the ball .. not running the point. GET WELL SOON RONNIE.- The team still hasn't played a complete game .. coaching and hard work will help this. My unofficial count had the Zips playing 25 minutes of solid hoops Saturday, along with 20 minutes of ... er .. not so solid hoops.From the box score, a few things stood out:- Zips got murdered on the glass, especially on the defensive glass .. Zips got 22 defensive rebounds. Redskins got 14 offensive rebounds. That means the 'skins got the rebound on over 40% of their missed shots!!! Whoa. Translated into 10 second chance points.- The defense was strong. Held MU to a low percentage .. but the second chances killed them.- Here's the one that blew my mind watching the game, and it showed up in the boxscore: Fast Break Points - Miami 8 - Akron ZERO. For them to have 8 more points running the floor .. and the Zips ZERO tells me that Miami did a great job getting back on D .. and the Zips did a bad job getting rebounds and hitting the outlet guy.- Points in Paint .. this has been discussed .. Miami 34 - Akron 16 .. 10 of Miami's were on putbacks off offensive boards, but even so .. it's an illustration that the Zips have a bit of a doughnut offense at the moment. I believe that the McKnights and Conyers can change that. We're going to score more outside .. it's our strategy this year .. but getting doubled up in the paint hurts.Finally .. considering all these things, and the fact the Zips were in position to win on the road, bodes well for the young Zippers. I agree with earlier posts that the bye is the target .. and I think there's reason for optimism that this team will compete for a bye.Sounds like Ball State had another critical season ending injury over the weekend. I expected them to push for the West title .. lots of bad luck in Muncie I guess.Go Zips!!! B)

It needed to be changed .. the RIP ... er RPI is a little different. Especially where it comes to Miami and Temple's ratings .. doesn't change UA terribly much .. but it makes a win vs. Temple a little better than Niagara.

Fair enough .. so I'm using the Pomeroy rankings .. similar to Sagarin .. et al.Original post edited for clarification.

Ditka steps in to provide low post threat.Zips 138 Sweaters 55

Actually .. can't you have troughs AND have a clean, heated restroom?I've always felt that troughs made for a more efficient men's room .. from a throughput perspective.

This cuts right to the point of my argument. Based on current performance of teams THIS season (and I'm basing this on KenPom RPI .. there are probably differences among other RPI sites), I find that the perception that Can't has played "such a tough OOC schedule" is off base.The flushes have played 5 top 100 teams, 4 top 60 .. and conversely 7 opponents w/ RPI 150 or worse .. counting non D-1 as worse than 150.The Zips have also played 5 top 100 teams, 4 top 60 .. and 7 opponents w/ RPI 150 or worse.I just don't see where UA is any different than the Flushes .. except the Zips have a better RPI win.I figure the East is a dead crapshoot at this point (you know .. with exactly 0 games played .. ). And I certainly don't think the Zips are looking up at the division. I think they're in the pack. Their performance thus far when compared to the rest of the teams indicates as much.Miami getting their PG situation ironed out would scare me. I'm actually glad to catch them early in the first rotation.Getting Ronnie back will be a big help for the Zips. Every team's probably got a wrinkle or 2 to iron out.Should be a fun ride .. 10-6 might earn a bye this season.Go Zips!

now that's setting the bar pretty high... :lol:

Not sure if there's too much time between games or what, but it seems the Zips get worse every day I check in here. I did a little digging to see what SOS / computers are saying and it's a little different:Edit: 9 Jan 09: Wrongly indicated this as RPI when posted. It's Pomeroy's modelHere's the kenpom Pomeroy rankings (Ranking / SOS) as of today for MAC east members:Team Pomeroy SOS1... 64 102... 101 1883... 107 1664... 139 1505... 155 2536... 159 228Team #1 clearly is above the others in both Pomeroy and SOS. It's not Buffalo.The current BEST WIN IN THE MAC is a road victory vs. the #60 RPI team. Guess who? RPI's of 310, 182, 168, respectively .. winning games yes .. impressive? not so different from UA's wins IMHO.I do think that UB and UA are close .. both were competitive against some good teams, and have beaten up some crap teams. But the Bulls aren't out there racking up quality wins that the Zips don't have. They're just not. Both teams have exactly 1 win vs. the top 100. Miami has 2 (#71 Temple and #97 Wright State). RPI's of 236, 272, 292 respectively, with 1 win vs. the top 100 (#83 Tulsa @ Home) Can't has 0 wins vs. the top 100, with a BEST WIN @ #149 Saint Louis and a WORST LOSS vs. #152 Western Carolina @ Home. BGSU is WINLESS vs the top 200, including a loss @ #324 Savannah St.For my money, Miami remains the team to beat in the East (& conference) this year. Even with the Hayes injury, they're a tough out, and they've played a strong schedule to prepare.Then I think that UA & UB are in the mix, based on performances to date. Both teams have lost some games against good competition, and beaten 1 top 100 team, while feasting on the low ranked teams to build a wining record.To say the Zips are looking up a the east is being a bit too critical, IMHO. We're hardest on our own team, I get that .. but they're in the mix with everyone else at this point. No reason whatsoever to believe that they can't play night in and out with the other 5 teams in the east. Saturday should be enlightening.Go Zips .. Snag the Sweaters. B) PS: Here's the link to the MAC rankings @ KenPom .. it's not pretty.

Now the Zips are the worst team in the East? Is that what you mean?

This is becoming a tired discussion. But I will go on record as agreeing with RACER on this .. I don't have the time to pull out quotes, but you don't have to look very far to find evidence that supports both sides, including RACER's .. unfortunately the Dayton thread, which included a lot of it .. was lost in the server hack.Perhaps hoops is judged on a tougher scale than football because at its heart, UA is a basketball school. Go Zips .. snag the sweaters! B) B)

Listening & hanging in Live Chat .. seems like a decent start so far.

Sure, the only thing I've taken issue with is GP1's dismissal of the progress that Dambrot has made here.Glad to hear I'm not alone.Happy New Year Everyone!Go Zips!

This game was won with Defense when it counted.@ the 15:43 mark in the 2nd half, a SFC player made a three to give them a 5 point lead, 50-45.@ the 2 minute mark, SFC had scored a whopping 12 more points in ~14 minutes of play. 12 points in 14 minutes. During that stretch, they were 4 of 21 from the floor (19%). The big serbian shooter was shutout by Jimmy / Nate, and the Zips built a lead they wouldn't relinquish.The offense at times is shaky. But what I like about this team is that it buckles down and defends people. If we're struggling on one end, making the other team struggle more helps get the W. Certainly we hope to see more efficiency offensively .. but the defense is what will help this team compete in conference.In the end, 77 points isn't bad. And for stretches like the one mentioned above, the D was pretty good.I do think it's a sign of a young team that they're not yet stringing these stretches together or putting 2 halves together. That's why I'm glad it's the preseason. A game like this against Miami might well have been a loss. Only a week or so to tighten things up.Another nice game from Jimmy. A nice game even though he wasn't unconscious and did turn it over a few times on the break. He hangs 17 & 8 with a good effort in the flow of the game. With each game his confidence seems to build. It's great that he can contribute on the O side .. since we need him badly on D.Hope to see the McKnight's break out soon. That would help things immensely. I don't think Jimmy's giving up his minutes anytime soon .. but there's plenty to go around.Things look good to me. 7 & 4 with 12 underclassmen. 2 more preseason games. UNCGG is a must win (bad team) in a road situation, and URI would be a big win on the road if they can sort it out. Conyers is at his best against the A-10, so I'm hopeful.The league isn't very good, so even with growing pains .. the East is up for grabs. Buffalo needed a last second OT jumper to beat a 1-11 Pepperdine squad in Hawaii last night. B) B) The future could be now.Go Zips!

Actually, I hope they all get rolled ..

Now who's the dog? ;) Go Zips!