Zip Watcher

2 different teams. Both good ones. Zero NCAA births. Go Zips!

Which video did you watch?

There was an Andy Katz article about Bracket Buster jostling, and he kindof had UA as one of the top 3 road teams, likely to get a decent matchup. Not really specific .. but thinks maybe the Zips @ Iona?

Based on where he put the ball and how hard he threw it, I'm going to take PASS for $100, Alex. If so, in that situation of a game, that's pretty scary stuff.

I thought Gilliam did a nice job of taking Thomas out of the game last night. Thomas hurt the Zips a little bit early, but Chauncey did a better job as the game wore on, and I think Thomas had no points after halftime. Go Zips!

Highlights! B) B) Go Zips!

Nerd.

I will beat you with your own crutches big man! Go Zips! B) B)

Hilltopper pulling even with me by correctly picking them all for the mid-week games, including CMU getting a birdie @ Eastern.

I like it too. I think it's going to get better week over week, as everyone gets more comfortable. I expect that once they do this a couple of times w/ Bowden, it will take a leap forward since he's done so much of these (check Bowden's UNA videos on YouTube for an example). The one thing I would change: Use the highlights of specific plays to let KD explain critical parts of the game, or things he thinks the fans might want to know. I get that there's not an ESPN production crew here, and the footage can be limited .. but I think it would be need for one segment to be a "KD's Film Session" .. where highlights, or low lights of the recent games are played, and KD comments on what the Zips were trying to do, what went well .. etc. Might be better than dropping 4 minutes of film on Joe and having him talk over it. Great job guys!

Please stick around. Your opinions and insight are valued here. Go Zips! B)

Fixed it for you.

Zeke made 2 huge defensive plays down the stretch to help secure the win. He did his part. The zips win! Now on to blowing up the 2-3 zone @ bg. Let's see if Louie ever comes out of the zone. Go Zips!

Isn't it actually a theatre?

Nice posts guys, nice win Zips! Great early birdie. Go Zips!! B)

Smoke 'em if you've got 'em? Could explain a lot.

The software appears to have topic ratings, but not on a post by post basis, sorry. Maybe with the coming upgrade, we'll get some of those features. I'll leave the rating system on to see if people use it. Also, it's now impossible to do a multi-level quote .. strips all but the most recent quotes from any replies. Go Zips!

No way this team goes 0-4 vs. OU & Can't State.

Here's what the Marshall Coach Thought. My favorite quote .. maybe not the last time we'll hear this:

Great game from Gilliam .. really helped the zips pull away. Great to get him going. B) Go Zips!

Is there some extra Solstice that I'm not aware of, or has the Meister just returned from Newgrange?

Yeah, that Serb guy really cost us the game. Fg-Fga 3p-3pa Ft-Fta O D Tr Pf Tp As To Bl St Mn 13 CVETINOVIC, Nikola.. * 8-12 1-2 4-6 4 3 7 3 21 4 4 1 1 36 My recollection isn't perfect, but I don't recall any of Serb's turnovers occurring when he was bringing the ball up against the press. Once they cleared out with him with the ball, I think it was pretty reliable. The guy was really laying off of him in that situation. I can think of one or two other guys who gave the ball away on the press way more than Serb.

I want to see what Groce does to counter KD's lineup of Marshall, Cvetinovic and Treadwell / Harney on the court at the same time.

I don't have to respect the point of view if it's pessimistic and foolish, which I think this is. Go Zips! Please explain what is foolish? What I have posted are facts. Skip Zip added points that I hadn't brought up, and he is 100% correct about the raised expectations. Some people call it pessimism, others call it realistic. I'm happy for you that you are content with winning a few MAC titles and losing in the 1st round pf the tourney. My reply related to the following (none of it your post): - We won 26 games 5 years ago against an admittedly soft schedule. We've averaged about 23 (I think) against progressively more difficult schedules as the years have gone on. This season will be no different. I still expect to be sitting right around 20 wins headed in to the MAC tourney. - What I think is foolish is picking that metric by itself as some measure of progress. The Zips have won 2 of the last 3 titles. They've been in the final 5 years running. The game vs. VCU illustrated (pretty clearly in my mind) that the talent level of this roster is at an all time high for the Zips. - How exactly someone can decide in December that we aren't getting to the next level is beyond me. KD started by getting the Zips to the Q. Then by winning some games. Then by winning the Title (2 times) and playing a better game against the #5 overall seed in the NCAA tournament than they did against the #16 or so 2 years prior. - Progress is also being able to stock the roster with high major talent. I've told multiple people here and around that I think the roster now contains 4 guys that will at a minimum have a cup of coffee in the NBA. I firmly believe that. - When you graduate guys who won 97 games over 4 years .. you're not coming back at 100% right out of the gate. It will take weeks / months to put the whole thing together into a well oiled machine and be at your best. I'm willing and able to enjoy the ride and watch this all come together (and it will). - They lost a game in December against a top CAA team. Ok .. we all wanted to see a win. I get that. What I think is pessimistic and foolish is the pure notion that the program and this team is not progressing. And I don't have to respect the point, because I think it's patently false. Happy New Year to EVERYONE. Go Zips! It's going to be a great season! B) B)

Well, the Zips let a good team off the hook @ the JAR. It was an entertaining game for certain. But I can't shake the sense that the Zips really let a good resume win sneak out the back door. Kept some mental notes as it went down, and with apologies to Sergio Leone .. here goes: The Good Nikola carried the Zips for much of the game. The feeling I had watching this was that Nik is really starting to emerge as the clear leader of this team (with AA as well). He really played his tail off tonight. Was pretty efficient with the ball, and hit some clutch baskets. Along w/ Tree, did a pretty good job on Burgess tonight. The Defense. For most of the game, the Zips did a tremendous job of forcing VCU to score in the half-court set. VCU loves to force turnovers and get out on the break. For the game they had 8 fast break points (4 buckets?). That's pretty good. Furthermore, VCU only scored 22 points in the paint. The Zips forced them into making shots .. which is reflected in VCU shooting percentages of 26% on 3's and 39% overall. That's good defense against any team. Against a team like VCU .. great D. The team is starting to find defensive cohesion and identity. I like that a lot. Alex answers the bell. Dude just played 37 minutes 9 days after surgery. Played pretty well too. Had a big +/-, best of the Zips, even though it was clear he wasn't nearly 100%. He didn't have the quickest first step, and his strength wasn't all there. You could see that he was a bit off when he couldn't get some of the early layups to drop. That I think affected his 2nd half as far as going to the hole. He's not going 4-12 very often. Good game by AA. The Bad Couldn't put them away. A big game at the JAR with a lively crowd & a good opponent, and a very winnable game gets away from the Zips. It was clear at half time that this could go 3 ways. The Zips could win close, the Rams could win close .. or the Zips could pull away. One or two more buckets in the middle of the 2nd half, and this game is a 10 point win by the Zips. They just couldn't finish the deal. There were several times in the second half where the D did it's job, but they couldn't finish on the offensive side. This is a young team. We all get that. Tough one to see get away from them. They played hard and put it out there .. but they didn't ultimately finish. This one unfortunately got away. Turnovers. You aren't going to win often against good teams with 20 turnovers vs. only 15 assists. Those turnovers resulted in 25 points for VCU. That's 11 more than the Zips were able to generate. Untimely misses @ the line. When you go to the line 12 fewer times than your opponent in a close game, you've got to make yours. The Zips shot 68% as a team, which isn't really that bad .. but missed some really critical shots at the stripe. 2 front ends in the 2nd half, and one that could have iced the game late in regulation, or at least forced VCU to foul on the ensuing possession. The Ugly Breaking the Press. There are a few things that as a hoops fan I may never understand. #1: Why is it that teams that are pretty good on defense and have some success pressing themselves are almost never good at consistently breaking the press? #2: When you're getting pressed in the back court, doesn't it make it harder to get up the court if you have all 5 of your guys in the back court, and as a result the D has all 5 defenders back there, enabling zone traps? There must be a strategy to it .. but I don't understand these things. I don't understand how hard it is to throw a pass 20 feet to a guy who's 7' tall, can jump really well and isn't being fronted. There were some harrowing moments last night watching the Zips face the press w/ AA on the bench. Stretches of not playing together. Mostly early in the game, but also a bit in the second half when VCU was making their run, the Zips drifted back into one on 5 offense at times. Where one guy would take the ball to the rim against 2 or 3 defenders, and try to make everything happen by himself. Midway through the first half, we saw the Zips settle down and play offense together, and it was a beautiful thing. The lone ranger offense while out of control with the ball? Not so pretty. A Fistful of Talent Once the early nerves settled down for the Zips, it was apparent to me and most of those around me that this was a pretty even matchup. Talent, size, and athleticism were pretty much a wash. This against a top CAA team just off a Final Four trip. That wasn't the case against teams like Nevada, Rhode Island, Dayton in recent years. There was always a little quickness or size deficit that KD needed to scheme creatively to overcome. Not so vs. VCU .. the Zips were right there with them. I think it's been a little while since a MAC school was on par with the top rosters in the A10 or CAA. Great sign IMHO. ... And a few Comments More Gilliam played well when out there. Didn't hit much, but was a part of some of the best runs the Zips put together all game. Foul trouble I think limited his time in the second half, but when he sat down, the Zips led by 10, and he never re-entered the game. Hopefully there's not an injury at play here. I like having Gilliam out here, and think he'll be a critical component of the Zips success this season. I think Walsh & Deji need to be the backup PG's soon. We can't have AA going 30+ all season or he will wear down. So we need 10-15 minutes at the point from other places. Against all but one or two teams in conference it isn't going to be a problem, but against high caliber teams, it will be an issue. My point isn't that Diggs was struggling with the ball (which he did and can do) as much as the belief that Digs is one of our most explosive scorers from the SG or SF spots. He's best slashing from the wing and scoring from outside. Having to use him as the PG for stretches is disrupting one of the best weapons the Zips have. Hopefully they can get to the point where he can play less PG, and KD can count on Deji or Walsh for the minutes that AA sits. The PG depth might be the Zips' Achilles heel? Not referring to the last possession here, but I though the move to having Nikola bringing up the ball against the press was a great one. It really pretty much unplugged the pressure, since Nik was clearly quicker than the big guy guarding him, and so the guy couldn't really pressure him much. Shades of using Linhart the same way against Can't State in the MAC title game 4 years back. I think it was a good move. Well that's what I got for now. These were the thoughts that stuck with me a day after the game. Much more to come as the season progresses. A 1 point loss doesn't change my outlook on this team or this season. Sure would have been a nice win, but we move on to the next. Sincere hopes & wishes for all Zips fans and observers to have a safe Holiday weekend and prosperous New Year. May one of us win the Powerball Lottery in 2012 so we can solve the hoops facilities problems once and for all. B) B) Go Zips!