Quickzips

Ok, after Thur. night I called Quade out for disappearing of late for us. He showed up BIG tonight. So I'm gonna try something here headed into the Can't game.Dials needs to pick up his game. I mean come on. 3 points and 0-2 from the foul line? You have to do better than that.Cedrick has really been an anomoly of late. Those two missed FT's against OU could have cost us the game and he didn't score at all in the first half tonight. If we are gonna have a shot at the postseason we need him to pick up his game.Where was McNees tonight? He really didn't do that much.Daryl Roberts still has a long way to go in his development. I'm worried after the performance by Nick and Ced tonight. Daryl is going to have to step it up bigger and quicker here soon if those two guys aren't shooting good.Conyers can't be getting into foul trouble like that and his offensive game is still a long way away from being of any real benefit to us.Nate didn't do a whole lot tonight either. I'm running out of criticism...breather here...ok I'm backThe McKnight brothers have to learn how to stay out of foul trouble and their shot selection is still questionable at best.Jeremiah taking shots from 10 feet plus is not going to help us at all.One good game from Quade doesn't have me convinced that he's turned a corner. He's had good games before and then come back and disappeared for a couple weeks.Bardo is still way behind the pace of D1 basketball. We really need him to step up and take the pressure off of Wood.Ok, that should about cover it. Now that I've called just about all of the regulars out they should all show up and have career nights vs. Can't.

MVP: Dials-Playing out of position at probably the toughest and most important position in the game and he's doing a spectacular job. Not to mention the defensive effort he brings game in and game out. The kid shut down Pollitz for Miami.Runner Up: Wood-Without him we have ZERO inside presence. Enough said.Surprise of the Year: McNees-Can there be anyone else? Raise your hand if you weren't concerned at the start of the year with our guard depth. If you just raised your hand you're a flat out liar or I've got some good ocean front property in Nebraska to sell you. McNees' quality minutes out there are falt huge for us.Runner up: Roberts-He isn't getting much press yet, but the kid has talent. He was a big part of that win Thursday night and he looks better and better every night. By the time the MAC tournament rolls around we are gonna have a great 4 guard rotation.Defensive MVP: Linhart-He consistently shuts down every teams best outside scoring threat. The effort he turned in at Dayton was particularly impressive against one of the best senior guards in the country.Runner up: Dials-Can't stress that performance against Pollitz inside enough. I can also make a case for ConyersDisappointment of the Year: Quade-He's gone from starting to barely playing 15 minutes a night and he isn't contributing anything. His line against OU showed 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 blocks and a couple of turnovers. Runner up: Chris McKnight-It's hard to really say this, because he has had some good moments and shown potential at times, but I was expecting his progress to be further along by now. He'll get there, but it would be nice if he got there a little quicker.

Go check out the OU board. There are already about 3 threads devoted to Bubba. Same stuff we tried to tell them when he bolted for Athens. Hoisting them up from 25-30 feet with no chance of making them. As far as the game tonight:Watched from home b/c of a mass of hw and an early class tomorow. Ugly game. Ugly game by both teams. We couldn't beat them out of the press all night. It bothered us. No real bad turnovers to speak of, but we couldn't get a good shot to save our lives. I've said it before and I'll say it again. This team lives and dies by the 3 ball. In the first half they weren't falling at all and we looked miserable. Came out to start the 2nd half and we couldn't miss and went on a huge run. To end the game we got cold again and just barely hung on to win it. Incredible putback by Nate for the win. I've been hard on him on the offensive side of the ball, but if you get a chance to see the replay on that one take a close look. He's in mid-air from about 6-8 feet out, has to go way down b/w his hip and his knee and a foot or two behind him to get the ball and still puts it in. VERY nice. Only two real complaints here. First and foremost, where was the FT shooting at the end of the game? I love Ced, but if he continues to miss clutch FT's we are going to have problems. The other complaint, where in the hell is Quade Milum??? He looks totally lost out there and it is apparent to me anyways that KD has lost faith in him. He's gotten more and more tenative as the season goes on. Great kid, great athlete, but I'm afraid he's just to timid and tenative to consistently live up to the mad skills he has. It was ugly, but I'll take it. Keep pace with Can't. Now bring on BG. Can't overlook them thinking about next week at the MACC.

Easy, make him take shots from inside 30 feet. The unfamiliarity of the experience will be so overwhelming that he won't be able to make a shot.

Sounds a little bit like Quade.

You ALMOST have to consider the rebounds that opponents get off of him taking 35 foot shots that he has no chance at making as turnovers. I know they don't techincally count towards that particular statistic, but they might as well. It's funny to watch OU fans starting to turn on Bubba. They're complaining of almost all the same things we warned them about when he left. Ohh, btwBubba has 1 point!

1.) Consensus about his future? He's going to be playing Pro ball somewhere. It is just a matter of where. At this point I personally think someone is going to give him a shot in the NFL. The question in my mind is where exactley does he want to go? Is he content to go into an NFL camp as maybe a 5th round pick at best and get a shot to maybe make the active roster and play special teams and act as a 4th or 5th reciever or (realistically a late round/UDFA type guy isn't going to be starting from day 1 if ever)? Or would he rather go back home and have the opportunity to maybe be a #1 WR in the foreseeable future?2.) Speed never has been and never will be the overwhelming part of Jabari's game. It's his size and his strength that make him a good reciever. He's not going to create a lot of seperation from DB's with his speed, but he will by being bigger and stronger than them. He can make a move in the open field, but he's not exactley going to go Steve Smith style on you. 3.) Jabari's never seemed to be afraid to take a hit. Like I said, he's a big strong guy and he's never really been afraid to use that strength. I don't remember lining him up in the slot a whole lot, so as far as using him in that capacity I couldn't really say, but I wouldn't think it would be a problem for him.Hope this helps. I'm sure other Zips fans will have more to say.

Nice win for the Zips. Great to see us making all our FT's down the stretch. First road team with a win in the MAC. 2-0. Bring on Bubba and the Bobkittens.

If we're gonna keep settling for hoisting up 3's we are going to lose this game.

I'm getting dizzy just listening to French here.

Physical, physical game from the sounds of it. Buffalo turning the ball over a LOT. Zips should look to pull away before the half here. 28-22.

Welp, looks like I'm listening to French.Good ridance to Realplayer, thanks for reminding me why I never downloaded it.

The link is up on Buffalo's page, and I downloaded Realplayer, but it's telling me the link is outdated or inaccruate. Figures.

Tell that to Braylon Edwards. Not that I think Jabari is on the same level as Braylon, but you can be an effective NFL reciever, even a Pro-Bowler by making the circus catches and missing easy ones here and there.The biggest thing that is going to hold Jabari back in the draft at least is his age.How old IS Jabari??Zips fans, watch for my sign in the stands on Saturday: ALLEZ JABARIHe's currently 25 and will be 26 when the 2008 NFL season begins. It may not sound like much, but when teams are expecting to draft 20, 21 and 22 year olds and get 8-10 years out of them, a 25-26 year old throws a monkey wrench in those plans. Teams are gonna ask how long the returns on their investment are really gonna run with Jabari. Sad, but thats the way it is.

Tell that to Braylon Edwards. Not that I think Jabari is on the same level as Braylon, but you can be an effective NFL reciever, even a Pro-Bowler by making the circus catches and missing easy ones here and there.The biggest thing that is going to hold Jabari back in the draft at least is his age.

I couldn't see them giving us the same team back to back years. I mean, we already played them this year anyways, right???

The conference season has just started. Everyone is still on a kick about OOC performances which you can't tell jack from. IMO we are right where we want to be. Despite showing that we are still just as good a team as last year if not better we are still being rated behind at least 3 teams in the conference. I don't wanna be the front runner right now. I wanna be the underdog with the chip on our shoulder. I like it better that way.Give it a few weeks and a few more convincing wins and the Zip train will start rolling.

A poor night from Bubba? Never. Don't you know he is the best shooter in the MAC? He can make any shot from anyplace on the floor. He never has an off night. He was just wasting away not getting enough playing time at Akron. He's a superstar now that he is in Athens. In fact, he might even be an NBA All-Star in a couple of years. I hear Coach K wants to sign him up for the 2008 Olympic team and make him the starting SG.

The question I have now with McNees is what exactley do you do with him???Is it too early to consider inserting him at the starting PG position? Doing so would allow Dials to move back to his more natural 2 guard spot and Cedrick could come off the bench again to be that sparkplug. It seems Cedrick has struggled at times this year in the starting lineup, so maybe the move back to 6th man would benefit him. But do you trust a redshirt freshman with minimal experience to run the point through conference play after just one big game? Or do you keep him coming off the bench and make him into that 6th man that Cedrick was last year? I have to say though. I love seeing all the depth this team has. If I were KD I wouldn't be complaining at all about trying to find playing time for all these guys. It's a nice problem to have.

Wow. First time I've had a chance to see the Zips in person this year. Picked a REALLY good game.Gotta start off with McNees. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much from him this year. I watched the live feed from Dayton and he looked competent enough out there, but I was NEVER expecting anything like that. He still makes some mistakes here and there (the alleyoop pass to Quade that went about 10 ft. over his head) but then again so did Dru Joyce. If he can continue to develop like that...watch out MAC.I kept seeing Dials on Tim Pollitz down low and thinking, ohh god, this isn't good. I figured it was a bad mismatch caused by a mistake on defense. Then I get in the car to head home and here French talking to Dambrot about that and it was actually the plan. I don't know where or how Dambrot came up with that idea, or what the theory behind it was, but it was effective. Pollitz got his opportunities here and there, but he didn't kill us by any stretch of the imagination.Linhart plays lock down defense and it is a huge boost to this team, but every time he takes a shot I cringe. He takes some of the ugliest shots and a lot of them aren't even close to being on target. He did have that big 3 to end Miami's mini run in the 2nd half, but everything else he put up was just a total head scratcher.We REALLY need someone else to step up inside other than Wood. C.McKnight played a few quality minutes tonight, but not nearly enough. Milum was his typical self, a few rebounds here and there but still too skinny and frail to be the banger we need inside. First I had seen of Bardo and I wasn't impressed at all. He looked lost out there and it doesn't look like KD trusts him at all yet. We are gonna need Sweich to step it up next year or we are going to be just plain awful at C. Where was Brett McKnight? He didn't come in until garbage time at the end. Is he one of the first guys getting cut out of this 11 man rotation???Cedrick had a horrible night offensively. It happens. He'll bounce back. At least McNees stepped up.Wood was a beast inside, that reverse dunk was the nail in the coffin, and it happened in the first half. Only complaint I have on him was the FT he took in the second half. He started chatting it up w/ a Miami player just before the ref handed him the ball, then he rushed his shot and boinked it hard off the back iron. Jeremiah is never going to be a great FT shooter, but a little focus would go a long way.Final thought. This team pretty obviously lives and dies by the 3 ball. When Dials, McNees and Cedrick are knocking them down we are darn near unstoppable. Stop our 3 point shooting and we have to rely on Wood who, I hate to say, can't do it all himself.

It's still early, and it is the #3 team in the nation, but OU looks like the same old OU tonight. They've abandoned their bread and butter, their inside game. They are playing no defense (just got done allowing Kansas 3 second chance opportunities on one possession) and they are just settling for late clock 30 footers to try and keep them in the game. It is one thing to schedule these big names, but if you're going to lose to them like it looks like OU is going to lose to Kansas tonight (probably lose by 30 plus at this rate) does it really do anything for you???

It's ok, OU will fold as soon as they get to the meat of the MAC schedule like they do every year under O'Sham.Who needs Bubba???

A couple JUCO WR's and DB's have a visit and the sky is falling? I don't get it?Hell yes we should be bringing in some JUCO WR's. You want to go into 2008 with Fuqua, Williams and Sandilands as #1, #2 and #3? Those JUCO's visiting are some great players. And we need some great players if we're going to have an offense that can move the ball in 2008. Are Freshman really less risky to pursue than JUCO's? Ask David Harvey and Jermaine Lindsay.And, if we can get an experienced DB to soften the blow of Corner and Tate leaving, all the better. In the end, we'll have a least 80% of the 2008 recruiting class entering as Freshman. That's fine.You're missing my point Cap'n. Think about this. Why is it that, without bringing in JUCO's we would be stuck with Fuqua, Williams and Sandilands at WR next year? Why hasn't this staff been able to bring in and retain even one starting caliber WR through normal (high school) means in the four years they've been here? Why doesn't it seem like we have any decent talent outside of these JUCO kids on the board at WR? Look, I know that you're still a JD supporter, and I'm not. And there isn't a darn thing either of us are going to say to change that. But I can't help but wonder just where this is all leading. Today it's a few JUCO WR's and DB's, tomorow half the team is coming in from the JUCO's cause we can't get any talent in any other way. I just think it points to a dangerous trend starting to develop. That's all.

So this is what Zips recruiting has come to?We're hitting the JUCO's harder than ever b/c the cupboard is bare at so many positions.Look, these may all be fine young athletes, stellar citizens, good scholars and excellent football players, but to me the emphasis on JUCO's spells B A D BAD for this program. To me it is just another statement that the recruiting efforts of this regime for the last 4 years has left the cupboard almost entirely bare of talent at key positions and that we are having no luck bringing in players through the normal processes. Say what you guys want to, but long term I don't think this is at all a good sign for this program.

From where I'm sitting (and take this for what it is worth, as I've yet to get the opportunity to see these guys in person yet) there are 3 things, short of the supposed calvary coming in that could help this team.1) Ronnie Steward gets healthy and starts his takeover of the PG position. Dials is doing an admirable job holding down the fort, but it isn't his comfort zone and it isn't allowing him to do the things he does best. We need him to move back to the 2 guard. This would also allow Cedrick to move back into that 6th man role where he is infinitley more valuable to this team. McNees has been servicable thus far, but I'm not entirely comfortable with him starting and he isn't quite the true PG that we need. Ideally Steward would be able to take over the starting PG position by the time we get into the meat of the MAC schedule.2) Conyers takes over the 3 spot for good. I know he's starting right now, but Linhart is still logging just as many minutes and KD seems to still trust him more in crunch time. The problem is that Nate really hasn't done much to earn that trust. At this point, Nate has peaked. He isn't going to get better than what he is. Conyers on the other hand still has a lot of room to get better. On top of that, the team seems to play better all around with him in the game. Let him know that the spot is his for good, let him stop looking over his shoulder at Linhart and let's see what he can do.3) Bardo starts at C. I know he still has a long way to go in his development as a player, but let me explain. Right now, the entire presure of our frontcourt is all on Wood. Bardo starting isn't going to take that pressure off, but it will allow Wood to switch over to his more natural position at PF. Milum is who he is. A tremendous athlete who will never be a consistent basketball player. He needs to go back to coming off the bench. If he's on his game on a praticular night he gets more minutes off the bench, if he's off, those minutes go to McKnight or we play more out of that 3 guard set.Just one man's humble opinion.