Quickzips

Congrats to Nate Linhart on winning MAC Defensive Player of the Year and Brett McKnight, the MAC's Sixth Man of the Year.

The more I think about it. This team really shouldn't have won more than about 12-15 games this season. We start two true freshman with a third playing significant minutes off the bench. We don't have anything resembling a consistent post game. Our three point shooting is suspect on a good night. Our guards are small. We can become turnover prone. We go through scoring stretches that make the artic circle seem warm. We have a tendency to commit stupid fouls.... You can say it is a testament to how bad the MAC is this year, but even with how bad the conference is, we're still the first team to 20 wins in the league. That says something. I can't help but wonder if some of these close loses this year really should have been blowouts for our opponents. I don't know where this whole thing is going to end. It could come crashing down with a blowout tomorow night at the hands of the Redhawks or it could be a Cinderella ending on Saturday night. I just know I'm along for the ride. At least as long as my poor heart can keep pumping. Can't wait to see what this team has in store next.

I've been listening to French on 1350, if anyone finds an audio clip of this interview I'd love to hear it.

And a special thanks to the MAC for moving these first round games to Tuesday. I'm sure we need to rest after this one.

Anyone mind coming over to my apartment for a little CPR?

Go to www.mac-sports.com and click on the live blog. It's been updating before we hear it on the radio.Thanks, Gametracker is about worthless right now.

Can someone provide some frequent updates for a poor law student stuck in class tonight? Gametracker is slow as hell.

Our start time is based on the finish time of the game before us. Because OU/WMU didn't finish until about 7, we don't start until 7:30, allowing 30 minutes for the former teams to clear benches and the new teams to move in and warm up.

54-48 NIU with 7:31 left. Al Fisher kept the flushes afloat in the first half, but he's cooled in the second. Can't's frontcourt having foul trouble with 4 on big elbow (Sullinger) and 3 on the sloth (Parks).

Guess the Zips aren't the only ones who can fall victim to the streaky NIU team. Golden Felons trailing the Huskies 33-29 with just under 4 minutes to go in the first half.Zips need to be watching this game as a reminder not to take the cupcakes too lightly. That frosting can give you some serious indigestion.

it didn't have to be a hard punch. Nate was running in and already moving fast so as long as chris's punch was sturdy he wouldn't have to thow it with great force to inflict a lot of damage.I have to admit that the punch is deceptive. At first I thought it didn't look that bad. It's only when you look at the final view from the corner in slo-mo, and step through it a few times by freezing and restarting, that you begin to appreciate all the fine details.Part of the deception is that Singletary is moving along with Linhart at the same speed. Stepping through frame by frame you will see that as Singletary winds up and balls his fist, he abruptly plants his right foot and his body comes to a halt while Linhart is still flying forward at full speed. Singletary then leverages his now stationary 220 pounds behind his right arm as he chops his fist directly into Linhart's lower ribcage at exactly a 180-degree angle to Linhart's full momentum. It was not a wild swing typical of brawls, but a surgical gutting that would not come natural to the average college basketball player. It would take some practice to get it just right for maximum impact with minimal chance of getting caught. I wonder how many MAC players bear the bruises inflicted by Singletary as he fine-tuned this sucker punch that Can't and the MAC call an "isolated" incident because this is apparently the only one caught on video.The video doesn't lie. Watch it carefully. Watch it often. Step frame through it. Let me know if you agree or disagree with my analysis.i've watched it enough to know that tomorrow i will be tailgating under lebron (the giant billboard) at 10am, once 2pm hits i will be in the Q and the entire time i will be in Singletary's ear. I hope he sits behind the bench so he's even closer to me because i want him to hear every word.You might be a bit disappointed today. Singletary was given his obligatory one game slap on the wrist. I doubt he's even at the Q today.

Don't some people define insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?Mark my words, Singletary WILL get in trouble again. He'll get in a fight with a teamate, lose his cool on the floor, get pulled over and start fighting with the cops. Something. This kid WILL get in trouble again. After which we can all look forward to Dave Carducci and the Can't faithful clamoring to give Singletary another chance, downplaying the incident and blaming the victim. This will be followed by Geno Ford, Laing Kennedy and the Can't State Administration giving Chris Singletary another one game suspension. Probably for their home opener against some NAIA team. I've seen this movie before. It always ends the same way.

Seriously. This is what passes for discipline at Can't? A suspension for one game that Can't doesn't even need him in? Doesn't this sound exactly like what he got for violating team rules and for blowing that .13? How well did that message get through to Chris?

It's hard to tell, but the first dunk it looks like Zeke ran that fast break from the time line in 2, 2 and a half strides. Sick.

http://www.blogs.dixcdn.com/kentstatesports/?p=49Local Can't State hack and Singletary PR man Dave Carducci actually believes Singletary should be suspended. A GRAND TOTAL OF ONE GAME. Yes because one game suspensions have really gotten Chris Singletary's attention before.What is more amazing to me is the "blame Nate Linhart, he flopped on the play" attitude that Carducci and many of the Can't fans have adopted. I've come to expect a lot of resentment towards Nate by opposing fans who find his scrappy, hustle play annoying, but this is a new low. Even for Can't fans. Nate was in the air in an entirely defenseless position with absolutely no ability to brace himself when Singletary (a pretty strong dude) wound up and punched him right in the solarplexes. You try taking that hit and still being able to breathe, let alone play basketball. But you betcha. Linhart took the flop there. Ridiculous. Carducci is a hack and should be embarrased by this kind of journalism.

According to Rasor's blog it now appears that Chris Singletary will NOT miss any time (other than 39 minutes of today's game) for the flagrant punch he threw to Nate's stomach.This is wrong on so many levels. Singletary has had three, four, maybe five chances at this point (its hard to keep track of with this kid) to prove that he has moved out of the slums of Chicago and is ready to be a civilized human being. Can't has coddled him and coddled him and coddled him. When he blew a .13 after being pulled over early in the morning he sat a grand total of ONE game. One stinking game for putting every motorist on the road that night in jeopardy. He gets arrested for a noise violation and fighting with the cops. He doesn't even get put on probation. Violating team rules, another slap on the wrist one game suspension. Now he goes out of his way to try and injure an opposing teams player and the only punishment is an ejection from one game. How many times will this kid be allowed to show that he has no control over his emotions? Over his life? It wasn't like this incident happend 20 or 30 minutes into the game and it could have been construed as a hard foul. This happened one minute into the game. Singletary wound up, made a fist and laid it right smack into Nate's chest. That my friends is premeditated. If the MAC refuses to take action against Singletary then Geno Ford, Laing Kennedy and the Can't State administration needs to step up and do it themselves. Unfortunatly, as everyone already knows, they won't. Chris will come out with an apology tomorow, Dave Carducci will write a story about how hard Chris' childhood was and how he deserves another chance. The Can't faithful will sing koombaya and it will all be alright. Consider this Zips fan PISSED.

Without a bye this is about as good a seeding as possible. Toledo is a much better draw for us than NIU, who always gives us problems and Miami is vulnerable as well down to their 4th PG. I think the Zips can win at least 2 games up in Cleveland if they can put todays loss behind them and play hard.

Well, now we need some help from OU.

From Rasors blog:This just in from Rick Boyages at the MAC: Singletary is ineligible for the MAC Tournament because of his sucker punch. Serves him right. To quote Joe Dunn, "If he did that on the street, he would have been arrested."

Not a bad first half for the Zips. Fell apart a bit before the half, but the McKnights weren't on the floor for a good deal of the last 4+ minutes with 2 fouls and we still kept the lead. The Singletary ejection obviously hurts Can't. Sad as it is to say, that thug is their glue. Not to mention the fact that it screws with their rotation. It's going to be even bigger down the stretch for them as guys play more minutes than they are used to and they don't have him to take the pressure off. Zips have to get the McKnights back in the game and work the ball down low. Keep pushing the tempo on offense too. We are so much better off when we are pushing the ball up the floor and getting early offense.

Singletary, once a punk, always a punk.The league needs to suspend him from at least the first round of the tourney for that shit. No place for that.

Let's just go beat Can't and let the rest of it play out how it may.

Misconception about Baltimore running the 3-4. They did a few years back during the middle of the Brian Billick era. But they ran out of a 4 man front over the last few years with Ryan as coordinator. They will go to a 3 man front from time to time, but their base defense employs the 4 man front. Pittsburgh runs out of a 3-4 and has for a number of years. Cleveland, the Jets, New England, Dallas and San Diego are among the other teams that run the 3-4 at the pro level. I'm with others on here in not understanding why we aren't running a 4 man front. We've got the bodies to do it, and I think right now it puts our most effective players in the best position possible to make plays with guys like Bain, Henderson, Sewell, etc. Also, most of the kids coming out of high school just don't have much if any experience running it. That was a lot of the problem with the 335. It is just such a radically different scheme and you often don't have the time to be patient and let kids learn how to play out of it.

I'm by no means a fan of the 3-4. I still think the 4-3 is the better scheme for us. But thank god the 3-3-5 looks like it is getting the can. I don't think I could have watched another year of that scheme.

Will OU make a run now after a big blowout win against Miami?Doubtful, if it weren't for the utter collapse of Buffalo the big story in the MAC would be just what the hell is wrong with Miami? It's a rivalry game for OU as well. Everything was primed for OU to have a big game against the Redhawks. I don't think it means that they are now a legit contender for the MACC.Is Buffalo in a complete free fall? (their inability to make baskets has been their nemesis for quite a few games now)All indications are a big fat YES on this one. You don't struggle against the West cupcakes, then go 0-4 going into the last week of the regular season and feel like you are in a good position to win the conference. I've felt all season like Buffalo was vastly overachieving, and I think at this point that is starting to become obvious. They aren't dead and buried yet, but they are fitted for the coffin.Who gets to play the "bad BG" or the "good BG" on any given night?BG is the team I am least looking forward to playing. They have as much talent as anyone in the East and when they put it all together on a given night, watch out. We've had some good luck against them the last few years though, and I'm hoping for that to continue. I would love nothing more than to give them a good drubbing on Sunday and then watch them win out down the stretch though.Did Can't just squander the advantage they gained by going 6-0 against the West?Possibly. Can't as much as anyone else was rolling and in control of their own destiny going into last night. Now they need some help. They are still not out of it yet. Not by a long shot. But they have a much tougher road after last night.Is Miami just too depleted of talent this year, and it's starting to show?The loss of Kenny Hayes is the biggest problem for Miami right now. They have noone who can trigger that offense. Teams are keying in on Bramos and daring the rest of the team to make a play. More often than not they are failing to do so. Also, their trademark defense has gone MIA all of a sudden. That team is going to give Charlie Coles another coronary pretty soon here.Will Can't still possibly benefit from lucky scheduling by having that season-closing game at home against the Zips?It depends on what happens over the next two games. Really still too early to tell at this point.