Captain Kangaroo

We spent 2 time outs to draw up a lob to a 320 pound guy moving away from the hoop? Another bad inbound pass in crunch time from Robotham. Good news is - if we blow the 1 seed, I won't need to use as many pto hours for our round 1 tournament game.

Big Dog put his arms forward. He wasn't vertical. They'll call it every time.

What's our KenPom rating?

No.

Can Kwan pass the ball? Ever?

The ones from 25 feet are wide-open looks. Wonder why....

I can't believe someone put forth that much effort to write about Troy football. Nice job for sure, but...I couldn't do it.

If the alternative is hoisting a 25 foot three, what would you rather he do? I don't care if Kwan gets hot and cans a couple consecutive 25 footers. I get it...it's a shot he can make. But it is very low percentage, and it is the opponent's dream that the Zips hoist 25 footers when games get tight...because the percentage that we fail is very high. It's not just Kwan...in crunch time the Zips lack poise, and begin chucking bad 3's instead of taking what the defense gives them. That's why we don't blow anyone out. That's why we lost to OU. That's why we lost to Kent.

I think George does a nice job 44% of the time, which is a HUGE improvement from last season...where he submitted a good effort 43% of the time.

Embarassing to not have even known about this guy. Seems to be one of our all-time great Zips NFL success stories? How was he never recognized by UA?

I think it is safe to say from George's last two columns, that he wasn't a statistics major in college. I would also say the statistics don't need to be rehashed to tell the tale of last night's game. Kent simply wanted it more. They hustled down the floor after every missed shot. Their double-teams on Big Dog were lightning quick. They disrupted what the Zips like to do offensively, and we obviously struggled. What a joy it would have been for me to see Hall frustrated, sulking at the end of Kent's bench. Instead it was our all-MAC candidate. If you aren't mentally tough in the Akron-Kent game, you're no help. Thankfully Utomi stepped up, or we'd have been blown out. Who showed up? Ivey was rock-solid yet again. Big Dog played tough. Utomi, of course. And although Dunn Martin (9 minutes) didn't score, he had 4 assists compared to Robotham's 0 in 33 minutes. Robotham continues to offensively rival Carmelo Betancourt. If your point guard that's playing 30+ minutes per night is repeatedly putting up goose eggs in the points column, and not offsetting it with a bucket full of assists, it's a problem. As we entered the arena I said to my friend "The book on Kent is they're tough, aggressive, and they can't shoot." I received a pretty good scouting report. Joe Akron got a good show last night. A riveting game...packed house...electric atmosphere...even if he was underneath the heat lamp on a wooden bleacher he couldn't have complained he didn't get his money's worth. All our goals remain in front of us. Wins against BG and Miami will give us another regular season MAC Championship. But our road, and post-season nemesis Buffalo is getting hot. Kent's dangerous and confident. We need to get our swagger back soon.

Seeing Brett McKnight hugging his late father Phil in the stands is a tear-jerker.

So far I don't see the 1/2 off discount w/ Ohio Lottery Ticket plan?

Even Kent fans realize the RPI is worthless. Speaks volumes...

George uncovers MAJOR defensive improvement stats: "Over the past three games, the Zips have improved their defensive field-goal percentage to 43 percent from more than 44 percent before."

Seeding maybe. Selecting a mid-major for an at-large? Never.

I heard on WWTF that is was the Zips performance against OSU in the NIT last year that sealed the deal.

Is this how a Big Dog deals with Chickens?

That was me! Great memory of that game was Brookhart going ballistic just before halftime because Jacquemain took a half-ending sack on the 5 yard line instead of throwing the ball away. Cost us a then much-needed 3 points. About as hard as I've ever seen a player get chewed-out.

Great pizza in Hartford. I went to see the Zips play UConn back in the Brookhart era. Renchler Field is not the best place I've ever been as far as tailgating goes. A lot of east coast "New York attitude" that can rub some midwesterners the wrong way. The vibe was more "city" than "campus-like", as you'd expect. Nothing like Wisconsin...or even Army (two of my favorite trips to-date). But overall I had a good time.

Give me a home-home with UConn football over a home-home with BG anytime. We'd still play BG frequently enough for me in cross-over games...it's not like they'd be completley off the schedule. Note - UConn football plays in Hartford...a 25 mile drive from Storrs. Just my opinion.

But only against Top-tier MAC programs. If you suck (suck = bottom 75% of the MAC in the previous season) you don't get to play UConn. Top 2 teams get the home game. UConn is 12-12 this year. It's not "slumming" for them to travel to 22-4 Akron for a game.

Bring in UConn football. But every season, the previous year's MAC Men's Basketball Champ gets a home game with UConn. I'd be for it. Maybe Army football would then consider joining, or bring back UMass to make things numerically even.

Who knew Andrew Bogut played in the MAC?