Quickzips

As I said earlier. See you guys in Cleveland. That is what it comes down to again this year. Just like every year. I can't believe after a decade under Dambrot we still can't figure out how to beat mediocre mid-major programs early in the season. Unacceptable. Might as well sit Abreu for a few games and let him get his ankle back healthy. No need to rush him back for Puerto Rico other than to play in front of his hometown. Not like we are going in there trying to solidify our at-large resume.

CCU +5 with under 3 to go. Zips pissing their pants like they always do in these games early in the year. See you guys in March at the Q. Apparently that is all that matters.

Are we this reliant on Tree and Harney? I understand that is both of our experienced PFs but my god. Jake Kretzer seems like the only guy who got off the bus ready to play tonight, at least on the offensive end.

Zips on the verge of losing their chance at an at-large bid one game in. Digusting. Stop shooting so many damn 3 balls and pound these guys inside.

Zips are too in love with the 3 ball right now. I know we don't have Tree and Harney, but we still have Zeke, Forsythe and a host of guys who can penetrate and score.

Zips are down 2 players and have a gimpy starting PG. Can't count on wearing them down with more players in that circumstance.

Anyone find a working gametracker for this?

Gonna come down to Kretzer and Forsythe then. I could even see us going Gilliam at the 4 in a smaller lineup. This is an absolute joke. I don't blame the NCAA at all on this. The letter of the law says your paperwork has to be in line, our geniuses in the compliance office didn't get it in line. It sucks that Tree and Nick have to pay the price, but what other punishment can you realistically impose in this situation?

What the heck is this all about? Technical difficulty not of their making? I can't even imagine what that entails. Can't be grades or other suspension related issues (those WOULD be of their own making). Can't be injuries (those wouldn't exactly count as "technical difficulties"). Do they have to testify at a court hearing or something? Frankly I'm getting a little fed up with all of the games our guys have been missing over the last 2-3 seasons for non-injury related issues. It is starting to get a little ridiculous.

Few more thoughts: Very puzzled by the absence of Tree throughout this one. Let's hope it is just a minor illness and not something more serious. First time I have ever seen Harney engaged in all facets of the game and the result (albeit against a vastly overmatched opponent) was nothing short of spectacular. If we can get that kind of effort from Harney night in and night out there isn't a team on the schedule that can beat us. Still no sign of Josh Egner. Me thinks the lid is about shut on his Zips career. Shame. He has a lot of physical tools, but just never seemed to have the polish as a basketball player that you need to play in this league. When Harney and Tree arrived at practice the final chapter seems to have been all but written for Josh. I don't know if Malone and Tiffin are just that bad at defending the 3 point arch, but man does it seem like we have a lot of guys who can stroke it from 3. Today it seemed like Justice, McAdams, Deji, Walsh and Kretzer at least were pretty much unconscious from the three point line. Lord I hope the days of watching wild, off-balanced 3's from guys like Brett McClanahan are over with. If, IF we decide to play Pat F and Zeke together on the floor at the same time it is going to be next to impossible for our opponents to get a clean shot off anywhere around the rim. Two very good shot-blockers out there. Dave already mentioned him, but I continue to be very intrigued by what Deji could bring to this team. He has enough ball skills to take on some spot duty at the point. He can make some outside shots. He can make some moves in traffic that will put a lot of pressure on an opponents defense. What I'm most intrigued by though are just the raw physical tools. Those long arms. Those big hops. I really hope we find a way to keep him on the floor for 15-20 minutes a night if for no other reason that to see what happens. Reggie McAdams did a nice job running the point at times tonight. With him, Abreu, Melo and Deji there are 4 guys on this team that can bring the ball up the court and trigger offense. Not to mention Walsh and Gilliam can handle those duties in a pinch. Makes it very difficult for an opposing defense when you have that many good ball-handlers out there. Don't have the stats in front of me, but it appeared that the pressure defense forced a lot more turnovers from Malone tonight. KD mentioned in his postgame of the Tiffin game that he wanted to see us force more turnovers. Felt like he should have been happier with the effort tonight. Can this team really go 11 or 12 deep throughout the course of this season? I admit to being skeptical, but I am seriously wondering who outside of Egner isn't going to get time this year? Every one of these guys has shown through the 2 exhibition games that they can bring something to the table to help the Zips win. Pretty nice problem to have if you are KD.

Much better effort from Blake Justice tonight. Five triples and he has played some decent defense. Looks much smoother and doesn't appear to be forcing things as much as he did against Tiffin.

I feel bad for Zeke. Every time he catches the ball Malone is mugging him with 3 guys and just hacking away at him. To call it defending would be an insult to defense. It is flat out asault.

So far through 2 exhibition games Reggie McAdams has been our best guard. And that isn't to say that the rest of our guards have been playing poorly. Quite the opposite. Reggie has been that good. Very encouraging sign for the young Zips.

I believe 1350 is still on the football game. I expect they will transition to the JAR once the postgame is done from the meltdown at Dix.

Day after thoughts: KD is going to have a tough decision to make with Kretzer. On one hand, the kid has shown enough skills to warrant some run, and he provides a dimension that the Zips are lacking to some extent (combo forward who can crash the boards, shoot from 3 and isn't afraid to do the dirty work). On the other hand, how are you going to find regular enough minutes for him to warrant burning his redshirt? You have six major contributors returning (Alex, Brian, Chauncey, Demetrius, Zeke and Nick). You also have a talented youngster who can give you valuable minutes as the backup PG (which we desperately need). You also have a transfer from a major program who you worked hard to get eligible this season and can gives you a true backup C that almost every team on the schedule can't compete with. Finally you have another talented wing who fills a significant hole vacated by the departed Quincy Diggs. That puts you up to a 9 man rotation. Can you really go to a 10 man rotation (11 if you add Deji)? Others have already mentioned it. Either Tree, Pat F or both have to be on the floor at all times or we will get killed on the boards. Zeke's rebounding issues are well documented and don't really need to be re-hashed, but I am kind of disappointed that Harney still doesn't get it. He's more interested in getting down the floor and scoring than he is securing the ball and you just can't have that with your bigs. Justice was REALLY forcing things last night. He had the look of a guy who knew he was on shaky ground when it comes to getting playing time this year and was desperate to prove he deserved it. Just spit-balling here, but I would like to see us bring Walsh off the bench in the next exhibition on Saturday and let McAdams start. Here is why. As it is, we have 3 newcomers coming off of the bench along with Harney. Now Harney has his good attributes, but he isn't exactly a floor leader out there. Much like Q lead the bench brigade a year ago, I would like to see one of our veterans moved down to the 6th man role to help out the young bench brigade. You likely aren't going to move Alex or Zeke down, and moving Tree down would likely leave you starting Harney and Zeke (see my opinion of those two on the floor together above). Gilliam was not nearly as effective off the bench a year ago as he was as a starter. That leaves Walsh, who I think would be perfectly capable and willing to accept that kind of a role.

Justice was terrible most of the game. Don't expect him to get many minutes. Projected starters (my opinion only): PG Abreu SG Walsh SF Gilliam PF Treadwell C Marshall Projected rotation: PG Betancourt SG/SF McAdams PF Harney C Forsythe I could also see Deji and/or Kretzer getting time. Deji looked a lot smoother and more comfortable out there and his length is a MAJOR benefit for the Zips. Kretzer looked very good as well. Tough kid. Not afraid to mix it up down low and can pull the trigger from 3. Betancourt ran the show quite well and is already an above average defender. Tree picked it right back up where he left off the last 1/3 of last season. Crashes the boards hard, runs the floor and scores at will. Walsh, Gilliam, Marshall all looked solid. About what you would expect from your more veteran players in a meaningless exhibition game. Harney has some serious offensive moves, but we already knew that. Still doesn't seem particularly interested in defense or rebounding which is why Tree is starting. McAdams is going to be a good one. Didn't disappoint those who were talking him up pre-game. Leave him open in the corner at your own risk. Forsythe is going to be a major weapon this year. Solid rebounder, strong, tought, can score and even comes with a pretty good looking free throw stroke. If Egner played at all I didn't see it. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him transfer out at some point. There just aren't minutes for him on the current Zips roster.

Linhart, Gilliam, Forsythe...

I know it is an exhibition game against a crummy opponent, but the one thing I see already, when the Zips have Tree and Pat F. on the floor together it is going to be VERY difficult for our opponents to get any rebounds. Ohh, and Pat F. has a VERY nice free throw stroke for a guy who is 6'11".

Radio broadcast says they don't have the scoreboards working and French and Dunn don't have their monitors working. No surprise that the live stream isn't working either. They better get it together for the real games.

This isn't an entirely accurate statement if I recall. At the time we burnt Nitro's redshirt we had gone into the season expecting to have a 4 guard rotation of Humpty Hitchens, Daryl Roberts, Steve McNees and Ronnie Steward. That was the year that Steward developed compartment syndrome very early on in the year and never returned. The Zips started to go through a dry spell part way through the conference season due in part to the fact that the remaining 3 guards were getting burnt out from playing 35+ minutes a night (check the stats, Humpty, McNees and Roberts all averaged 35+ for that season). The call was made to burn Nitro's redshirt because we needed some depth at guard to spell those guys. Part of the decision was based on the staff's evaluation in practice that he was performing well enough to handle it, but it was largely a move of necessity born out of injury. As an aside, it worked out fairly well for the Zips that year as they ended up winning their first MAC Tourney title. McClanahan also made a pretty key 3 pointer late in regulation of the first round nail-biter against Toledo that year.

I'll bite: MVP: Alex Abreu - Hard to disagree with the choice here. Alex is the straw that stirs the drink for the Zips, and he has improved every year. Most Improved Player: Demetrius Treadwell - The minutes are there at PF for Tree and Harney. Based on the end of the year last year I think Tree is most poised to take advantage. I could well see him flirting with double-double averages throughout the season. Biggest Disappointment: Nick Harney - I hope I'm wrong, but I've never been a fan of Harney's body language, and I think his attitude is going to get the better of him in a season where opportunity is there for him to step up. He will have some big games, but they may be few and far between at times. MAC Tournament Seed - #1. Unless some bizaree scenarios start to play out the top two spots this year will be Akron and OU. I think the Bobcats will struggle at times this year under a new coach with all of the old coach's players giving the Zips the #1 seed in the tournament for the second straight year. Final Result - Zips advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. I don't know if they get there as the MAC Tourney champs or as an at-large, but I think they will get there and when they do they will do some damage. This could well be the year that KD's squad breaks the 30 win mark. Bold MAC prediction: Can't State finishes under .500 for the first time in who knows how long.

The problem for the MAC this year is that the bottom of the league is going to be every bit as bad if not worse than ever before. Teams like CMU, NIU, Ball State and Miami could well end up having sub-300 RPIs. CMU is in complete rebuild mode. NIU has been so bad for so long that I don't know if they will ever be a factor in the league. Ball State is on the verge of having to blow it up and start over. Miami is in complete rebuild mode. Add to that WMU looks poised for their worst season in a long time. Can't is nothing but a bunch of question marks coming off of a disappointing season. BG has pretty well plateaued with Orr. There aren't a lot of truly good programs in this league right now. Not even many average mid-major programs. On the plus side you have two programs in the West (EMU and Toledo) who are stepping it up (even though one of them isn't postseason eligible). Buffalo should also have a pretty good season again although it remains to be seen how good they will be without Watt. While Akron and OU should both be capable of entering the at-large discussion, I wonder if the rest of the league is going to drag both of them down to the point that even 27-28 wins won't get serious at large consideration. On the other hand, with the rest of the conference in the shape it is in a 30 win season isn't out of the realm of possibility for one of these teams.

I hate to do it, but I have to agree with the trol...err...Bubba4three. Until further notice OU is the team to beat this year. That said, these teams have traded off the MAC title the last 4 years, and it is Akron's turn.

The best 8-10 players should get the playing time. If Kretzer and/or McAdams are amongst those guys then they should get playing time. If they are capable of adding something to a team that is deep, talented, experienced and has the expectations of making a run deep into the NCAAs THIS YEAR, then by all means KD should find some playing time for them, but this is not the year to be forcing our young guys into service just to get them some playing time for "next year". If those guys aren't ready, we can't be forcing them into playing time just so that they are ready for "next year". You have the redshirt available for both of them. If they aren't ready, use the redshirt. Q being gone doesn't change that, and neither does the fact that we will be losing Walsh and Gilliam at years end. One way or another we will go into 2013-14 with a lack of experience on the wings. One way or another our 2013-14 SGs and SFs will mostly be underclassmen. 8-10 minutes a night for one of those guys isn't going to change that in any meaningful way.

I'll weigh in on the rosters and rotation issues brought up here. Starters: PG - Abreu SG - Walsh SF - Gilliam PF - Tree C - Zeke Rotation: PG - Betancourt SG - Deji SF/PF - Harney C - Forsythe Egner will not be backing up Tree at PF. When we go big it will be Forsythe. When we go small it will be Harney. I don't expect Josh to see much of any playing time this year again. I still think both McAdams and Kretzer will redshirt. I would love to get a look at what Blake Justice can do, but I think the playing time vacated by Q will go more to Deji as a long athletic defender off of the bench would benefit this team more than another long distance shooter. I wouldn't expect to see a lot of Forsythe and Zeke on the floor together. You just don't see a lot of two C lineups at any level of the game. Even with teams that do have two capable centers on their roster. There is a reason for that. While it would create some matchup problems for your opponent, you leave yourself with just as many matchup problems if not more when you start asking one of your C's to guard an opposing PF. It would be a particular nightmare against a team like OU that is going to go small on you most of the game. If I were an opponent against that type of a lineup I would put a small lineup out there with a quick, athletic 4 and make Zeke or Pat chase him through as many screens as I can set each possession down the floor. As good of athletes as both guys are, you don't want them having to chase a 6'7" combo-forward around he perimeter and through a bunch of screens possession after possession. Even less convinced that you will see Tree, Pat and Zeke on the floor together. I would wager a pretty penny that the only time we MIGHT see that is in an exhibition game. While the size looks like it would be a nightmare to defend, you need to remember that none of those guys are particularly good shooters. Floor spacing would be attrocious in that scenario, and it would be too easy for an opposing defense to pack it in the lane and make one of those guys hit a jump shot. The only way it MAYBE works is if you have two really good 3 point shooters out there that the opposing D has to account for. I suppose we could do it with Abreu and Walsh, but even then I have a hard time seeing it working.