Zip Watcher

I think it's safe to say that today's bad news is a punch in the gut for all Zips hoops fans. It's bad on so many levels .. losing a team MVP / league POY candidate in the stretch run .. seeing Jeremiah lose more time to his knee .. the general struggles of this senior class to find their way to good health for a chance to build further upon last season. Mostly, I'm disapointed for JWood. The guy is already the best big man ever to play at UA in the D1 era .. there's probably not much debate about that. But for him to work as hard as he has to become the player he is, with his great play down the stretch last season and early this season .. it's heartbreaking for him to have to go through this. So we all wish him the best .. a speedy return to good health, and hopefully a half a dozen more games in the Blue & Gold of the Zips before it's all said and done. But in the meantime, where does that leave the Zips? The short answer? It leaves the Zips needing some of next year's contributors to become contributors .. and FAST. KD himself has mentioned in his postgames and pressers that he struggles to mix the new guys in .. it takes him a little time to build up trust in the new talent. We've seen that with McNees, Roberts & B. McKnight. But even to a certain extent .. it's happened a bit w/ CMcK also. Some of it is his TO problem .. but sometimes, it appears hard for KD to just put him out there and play him. Even in the past few games, when we were told pregame that Wood & Middleton were to see limited action .. they ended up playing 20-30 minutes. It's hard to go away from what you trust .. especially when they're warriors. Well .. times change. Chris McKnight just became one of the top 3 options in the Zips offense .. like it or not. Timing isn't too bad, since he's coming off one of his best performances on Wednesday night. But now the Zips & Chris have to find his offensive game more consistently .. I say "find his game" because it's clear that there's more of a face up component to it than JWood. We can NOT seek to squeeze him into Wood's touches and shots .. it won't work. The Zips have to adapt to what Chris can give the team in the flow of the offense and his skills. My guess is that BSU is watching tape of Travis tonight .. because that's maybe more representative of the type of attack that Chris brings. There's a sense of deja vu for me here. It's been discussed in our "next season" thread .. but recall back 37 months ago when JWood originally went down against OU with his ACL. In the second half of that game, Travis really stepped up. I think we may have lost that game .. but in the coming weeks & months, Romeo took it upon himself to improve and try and pick up some of the slack on the glass after Wood went down. Deja vu all over again? Chris had 18 in the game against WMU when Wood played his last 10 minutes for awhile. There's a bunch of folks out there that think Chris is a program builder .. a key component of continuing the climb to the top of the conference & midmajor ranks. I'm certainly one of them .. and always have been. We don't get Chris to come here without the efforts of Romeo and Dru and Jeremiah. But he might have a bigger upside than all of them IN TIME. I think we're going to see some of that in the next several weeks. The good thing here is that he's not going to be relied upon for everything. We still have experienced talented players around him in Dials, Linhart & Middleton. Chris isn't going to be the starting point of everything like Wood was earlier .. but I look for him to grow up fast with the increased minutes. Also: Younger brother Brett and Mike Bardo are now going to HAVE to contribute 15 minutes to the cause consistently. One is an offensive unknown and the other a defensive risk .. but between them, the Zips are going to have to play through the growing pains. I'm comfortable with it .. I think about what else was on the bench 3 seasons ago when Wood went down .. and after Travis, it was pretty thin. We have more options today than last time. All of us that have discussed the front court next season .. and wrung our hands about the loss of Wood going into November now have nothing to worry about for next year. These guys are going to have lots of game & big game experience coming into next year. The question is: how well can they step in and fill the gap right here and right now. And how well can KD & staff adapth the offensive flow to the new rotations. With my blue & gold glasses on, I still see Wood playing at least 4 more games in Zips colors. Now that doesn't require that CMcK lead us to 6 straight wins in his absence. It requires that the young front court players grow up quickly in the next 6 to become solid contributors that when added to JWood @ his return become that alternate post threat we've been looking for all season. I think we know an at large birth isn't coming the Zips way .. the team needs to improve and prepare for the 2nd week in March @ the Q. Nothing more and nothing less. Get ready to win games at the Q. With some effort and good bounces, hopefully they can maintain the bye .. but that margin is pretty thin. Probably need to be 11-5 to secure a bye to the quarters. That means holding serve at home and picking up 2 roadies .. not impossible. The future is now. Sieze the day and all that stuff ... Go Zips! Thoughts?

I think it's safe to say that today's bad news is a punch in the gut for all Zips hoops fans. It's bad on so many levels .. losing a team MVP / league POY candidate in the stretch run .. seeing Jeremiah lose more time to his knee .. the general struggles of this senior class to find their way to good health for a chance to build further upon last season. Mostly, I'm disapointed for JWood. The guy is already the best big man ever to play at UA in the D1 era .. there's probably not much debate about that. But for him to work as hard as he has to become the player he is, with his great play down the stretch last season and early this season .. it's heartbreaking for him to have to go through this.So we all wish him the best .. a speedy return to good health, and hopefully a half a dozen more games in the Blue & Gold of the Zips before it's all said and done.But in the meantime, where does that leave the Zips?The short answer? It leaves the Zips needing some of next year's contributors to become contributors .. and FAST. KD himself has mentioned in his postgames and pressers that he struggles to mix the new guys in .. it takes him a little time to build up trust in the new talent. We've seen that with McNees, Roberts & B. McKnight. But even to a certain extent .. it's happened a bit w/ CMcK also. Some of it is his TO problem .. but sometimes, it appears hard for KD to just put him out there and play him. Even in the past few games, when we were told pregame that Wood & Middleton were to see limited action .. they ended up playing 20-30 minutes. It's hard to go away from what you trust .. especially when they're warriors.Well .. times change.Chris McKnight just became one of the top 3 options in the Zips offense .. like it or not. Timing isn't too bad, since he's coming off one of his best performances on Wednesday night. But now the Zips & Chris have to find his offensive game more consistently .. I say "find his game" because it's clear that there's more of a face up component to it than JWood. We can NOT seek to squeeze him into Wood's touches and shots .. it won't work. The Zips have to adapt to what Chris can give the team in the flow of the offense and his skills.My guess is that BSU is watching tape of Travis tonight .. because that's maybe more representative of the type of attack that Chris brings. There's a sense of deja vu for me here. It's been discussed in our "next season" thread .. but recall back 37 months ago when JWood originally went down against OU with his ACL. In the second half of that game, Travis really stepped up. I think we may have won that game .. but in the coming weeks & months, Romeo took it upon himself to improve and try and pick up some of the slack on the glass after Wood went down.Deja vu all over again?Chris had 18 in the game against WMU when Wood played his last 10 minutes for awhile. There's a bunch of folks out there that think Chris is a program builder .. a key component of continuing the climb to the top of the conference & midmajor ranks. I'm certainly one of them .. and always have been. We don't get Chris to come here without the efforts of Romeo and Dru and Jeremiah. But he might have a bigger upside than all of them IN TIME. I think we're going to see some of that in the next several weeks.The good thing here is that he's not going to be relied upon for everything. We still have experienced talented players around him in Dials, Linhart & Middleton. Chris isn't going to be the starting point of everything like Wood was earlier .. but I look for him to grow up fast with the increased minutes.Also:Younger brother Brett and Mike Bardo are now going to HAVE to contribute 15 minutes to the cause consistently. One is an offensive unknown and the other a defensive risk .. but between them, the Zips are going to have to play through the growing pains. I'm comfortable with it .. I think about what else was on the bench 3 seasons ago when Wood went down .. and after Travis, it was pretty thin. We have more options today than last time.All of us that have discussed the front court next season .. and wrung our hands about the loss of Wood going into November now have nothing to worry about for next year. These guys are going to have lots of game & big game experience coming into next year. The question is: how well can they step in and fill the gap right here and right now. And how well can KD & staff adapth the offensive flow to the new rotations.With my blue & gold glasses on, I still see Wood playing at least 4 more games in Zips colors. Now that doesn't require that CMcK lead us to 6 straight wins in his absence. It requires that the young front court players grow up quickly in the next 6 to become solid contributors that when added to JWood @ his return become that alternate post threat we've been looking for all season.I think we know an at large birth isn't coming the Zips way .. the team needs to improve and prepare for the 2nd week in March @ the Q. Nothing more and nothing less. Get ready to win games at the Q. With some effort and good bounces, hopefully they can maintain the bye .. but that margin is pretty thin. Probably need to be 11-5 to secure a bye to the quarters. That means holding serve at home and picking up 2 roadies .. not impossible.The future is now. Sieze the day and all that stuff ... Go Zips! Thoughts?View the full blog post here.

Three years later, my boy & I feel the same way:

Harvey completing a degree would be the best day in JD's coaching tenure.

So the Byrd fellow goes to HS w/ a certain Zeke Marshall if I read this right.Hmmmm ...

HUGE game for a couple of reasons. #1 - Need to keep pace w/ Can't State & OU just to keep pace.#2 - Would be nice to go on a roll in the next few and steal some of these road games#3 - This game may well determine the seeding / division title & the NIT bid. Should the Zips end up in a 3 way tie w/ Can't State & OU, and have all 3 teams go 1-1 against the other 2, the record against the top teams in the West come into play. Can't State has already beaten WMU. UA needs to follow suit.I say the Zips are snapping out of it .. CM looked pretty quick on Saturday. WMU doesn't have the perimeter athleticism that OU & Can't have .. and shouldn't be able to cause the same disruption.Wood gets 25 touches in the low block during the first 20 seconds of the shot clock tonight.Zips 70-65.Go Zips.

CK, you got inside dirt on that start time?

GZ .. for the benefit of all here .. can you please share a source for this claim?

It's precisely this sentiment that is causing you problems around here. You seem to believe that you're somehow beneath playing the Zips. With the "we got hosed" attitude .. you better well come in here and beat the Zips .. because you're acting like it's an inconvenience.Two other things:The Zips are 21-10 all time in NCAA tournament games. Look it up. We've been D1 for less than 30 years .. but it doesn't mean there isn't history and tradition here. Basketball didn't start when we moved up.And lay off the Governors .. they're welcome friends around these parts. And by the way .. they've provided a bigger upset than VCU in the NCAA .. don't be so quick to dismiss them. Look it up. VCU fans would do well to be considered fans as good as AP's.

Ok .. well I was citing current scoring averages per ESPN. Certainly your roster does look young overall.You can snoop around here and find lots on what the Zips have coming back next year if you like. In fact, we have an incoming frosh from your neck of the woods (statewise anyway .. I have no idea where VES is in respect to VCU). Check the thread in recruiting about Nikola Cvetinovic .. he appears to be having a pretty good senior year.We lost our 2 "best" players last year also .. btw.

At the moment, I wouldn't worry yourselves too much about the Zips next year .. they'll still be pretty good. Besides, VCU will be losing 3 of their top 4 also. I think it's a good matchup. Perhaps we should play this year's game first.Hope you can make it up to the WOODshed for the contest.Go Zips.

What he said.Great post.

I'd guess:PG: McNeesSG: DialsSF: LinhartPF: B. McKnightC: C. McKnightI think three Zips set career highs tonight.

Nice of Tom to give us a plug. I didn't catch that the first read through .. that's pretty cool!

We should probably try to contain Greg Stempin .. he can put up big numbers in a hurry if left unchecked.

Actually .. no .. Chris is a Sophomore .. He played in 31 games as a Freshman

I think in Andy's case, it came down to things like Fees / Books / Stipend that are covered in a full ride case.The guy passed up several offers elsewhere to stay here, and rumor (I stress that RUMOR) was that DHip's wife insisted he be treated the same as he would have at any school he could have gone to.That's my recollection, I could be wrong. I do recall that Andy committed early, which limited the efforts of other schools to recruit him. When we were up at Syracuse watching the Zips in ?2000? .. there was an article in the local fishwrap where Boheem was quoted as saying they would have chased him & offered if it wasn't clear that he wanted to play for his old man.

Ask the coaching staff who won the OU game for the Zips, and then report back.

WOW! A great get. Is this the first new coach hired by Mack for a team sport (other than the golf coach)?Didn't Mack hire Jody Kest?

Who's saying that? I think there's some feeling he will miss this season .. but he seems the heir apparent at the point for the next few years.Do tell if you've got some knowledge that he may yet play this season. He's not yet been listed as a redshirt.

Good thoughts skip .. I think I understand your perspective a bit better.First off, I'm an engineer .. it's in my nature to see the solution first .. so keep that in mind. A couple of thoughts here:- I do think McNees will be ready to do that at the 2-guard spot .. I think he's going to transition to Dial's role .. and give us a shooter from the SG spot that can handle the ball. By your description above re: Travis/Joyce .. Steve is playing those types of minutes now. As freshman, Travis and Joyce only played about 24mpg, per the stats archive at GoZips .... Dot Com.- I also think that CMcKnight will be there. Can't prove it .. but that's what I think.- Conyers is there now .. his contributions are on the defensive end. Having a lockdown defender is a big contribution. He needs to get more comfortable in the offense .. but we're a defense first team, and he's already a solid contributor there.- I think the dynamic of the roster & rotations will change, where we're not looking to have guys log 30-35 minutes. Right now, only Wood and Dials are @ 30mpg .. and barely. So I think that the concept is that we get a little quicker .. press a little more .. and look to have 9 guys playing 20+ minutes, instead of having 3 play 30ish.Lastly, I don't think it will happen by November .. nor does it need to. November / December are for gearing up for the conference run. So there WILL be some rotation uncertainty in Puerto Rico (fingers crossed here) .. but it's January & February that matter .. and by then, I think we'll have figured out who's ready.Again .. I think it's a step back, reload thing. I certainly don't see the Zips coming out of the gate 20-0 (regardless of the schedule). By the end of the year .. they ought to be pretty good.

CMU may have the best player in the conference in Watson .. the Zips need to be careful on the perimeter. They handled him at the Q with a 30 point win .. but this year he has a few more friends.This isn't a walkover.

Look .. we know where the toolshed is .. you can leave the posts over there .. because due to your trolling, and flamebaiting .. you won't be posting on here for awhile.Happy trails.

Not scared at all .. not in the least. Intrigued, but not scared.Do I think we're going to go 14-2 in the conference next year? Probably not .. but we didn't last year, and probably won't this year. I also don't see us going 8-8 .. I split the difference and see 11-5.It might be a step back year, but I don't see it as a complete rebuilding job. More of a reload.Consider that 4 returning players are averaging over 12 minutes a game .. with 2 others (Roberts / Bardo) approaching 10 minutes / game. B. McKnight will see much more time in the next 6 games and may force his way into the rotation (now 4 mpg). We will have returning:1 forward who has pretty much started for 3 years (Linhart).1 swing man who has been an integral defender for a year and a half (Conyers)1 post player who is gradually getting more confident & increased minutes (C. McKnight).1 guard who's averaging about 20 minutes a game and is already one of our better shooters (McNees)I expect that Roberts will end up averaging about 15-20 mpg from here on out, so that will give us 2 guards with legitimate minutes during a contending season under their belt. Bardo will probably not get to 10 minutes, but he'll have been in the program 2 years. B. McKnight will be in the rotation, so I think that he'll end up with Roberts and the other 4 guys above by the end of the year.So that will be 6 guys coming back (7 if you count Mike) that will have played what I consider real minutes on a conference contending team. They're not just playing mop-up time .. they're in the rotations long before games are out of reach. 2 of the guys (JC & NL) are the key defenders on the team NOW .. and they'll be back. One of the guys has become a key backcourt handler in the biggest games (McNees .. even with the Can't State game), and this is year 1 for him. The real key will be whether or not Roberts & BMcK force themselves into the equation this season.Now if you consider that KD likes an 8 or 9 man rotation, that leaves 2 spots for incoming guys to fill and contribute in. From position breakdown:5 - Probably going to be CMcKnight, with Bardo4 - B. McKnight / Conyers some minutes here.3 - Linhart / Conyers2 - McNees (I think he moves in to Dial's role next season)1 - RobertsIncoming guys need to shore up the backcourt and give a little scoring depth at the 4 spot.Who's coming in next year:PG - Steward will have a year in the system & all that potential.PG - Hitchins is on his way to 1st team all stateCG - Sullivan seems to be a tweener .. maybe more of a pointSG - Brooks has played a solid year of mid-major ball and will have a year in the systemSG/SF - McClanahan - big shooting guard, maybe SF?F - Cvetinovic - 6-7 seems to be scoring and rebounding well.C - Parrish - depth at the 5 if he's ready.C - Swiech - heavily recruited .. look for more body change, and a good understanding of the systemNo one thinks that the Guards coming in are going to be Nick Dials or Rashon Brown on day 1 .. that's nonsense. But ask yourself if KD will get 3 contributors (15+ minutes/game) out of the above list of 8 "newcomers" to the active roster. Without ANY of the new guys .. the Zips go 8-8 .. but add in 1 point guard and maybe a shooting swing man to the equation & it might be a different story.I do think the offensive flow might look different w/o Wood. The challenge will be to find the successful rotations without trying to force a guy to play Wood's game. Maybe the inside out game will just look a little different with the McKnights facing up on their man? So we might not be as strong next year inside, but we'll also be a little bit quicker at the perimeter next season .. so we press more and look for a little less of the isolation half-court set success we're having this season.My feeling is that the early season may be rocky .. and that the upside is high.The beauty of it all is that the talent is in good hands. And one other thing .. should next year's team end up near or at the top of the conference with 12 or 13 guys in their 1st / 2nd years .. it's on .. and the ZIps will be getting some separation from the conference.First things first though .. 17 or so games left with this team.

Per the postgame show last night & I think it's the right call:Since it was a double technical (one on each side), it becomes a jump ball scenario, reverting to the possession arrow. Hence, they shoot the PF shots first, then the T's and then Can't got the ball on alternating possession.