Captain Kangaroo

Did they hit an outrageous 23-foot shot at the halftime buzzer over the outstretched arm of a 6' 9" forward in order to achieve that deficit?

Regarding the ISU game: I think you will see a lot of Forsythe, unless he screws up or gets in foul trouble. And you probably won't see much of Cheatum unless Harney is ineffective. Like he was last night.

I think you need to watch tape from last night's game. There is "Detroit" foot speed, and there is "Oregon State" foot speed. Big Dog couldn't handle the Oregon State quickness. Forsythe could. Tree could. There was a noticeable drop in our interior defensive presence when Big Dog entered. I'm as big a Big Dog fan as the next guy. He has soft hands, and good (different than "quick") footwork. But he is slow. And his vertical is about 2.5 feet less than Forsythe's. With a motivated, aggressive Forsythe the Zips can play with anyone. The same motivated, aggressive Big Dog doesn't have nearly the upside at this point in his career. Especially on defense. Especially against marquee OOC opponents. Could Big Dog have a big offensive day today? Sure, if he makes quick decisions and is aggressive. He will have a big size advantage on any ISU defender. But he's gonna struggle to get up and down the floor.

@Zipmeister Forsythe had a great game. His first great game in a long long time. He was motivated, active, and aggressive. The drop off when Cheatum or Big Dog entered was very apparent. Cheatum lost his man on multiple occasions. Big Dog was too slow to guard anyone. Forsythe played great straight-up defense, and help defense. He was a difference-maker. It will be interesting to see if Big Dog's size can compensate for his foot-speed issues vs a comparatively small, fast Cyclone team. Cheatum just needs reps. If Harney plays in a fog again, it is to Kwan's benefit. Maybe not the Zips benefit in the short term. But getting Kwan up to speed with some increased PT will only help as we get deeper into the season. To beat Iowa State we need Harney to contribute. This should be an up-tempo game, which plays to his strength. Attack the rim, Nick.

One more: 0 Betancourt

Congrats to the staff and team on a marquee OOC win! The Zips were the better team. We actually looked 12 points better than Oregon State. And the funny thing is...we were far from playing our best game. McAdams, Kretzer and Harney were off for a great portion of the night, but Evans, Tree, Ibitayo(!?) and Forsythe (?!) were a force. And we got the ball to our 81% FT shooter when we needed to. No problems with the press(?!) I was very concerned when Ibitayo entered the game with 1 minute remaining. But we never threw him the ball, so his FT shooting didn't come into play. Who'da thunk I'd be hoping Tree would go to the FT line? His FT shooting has really improved. Thank God, because refs in 2014-14 are burning through several whistles per game. The whistle companies have to be making record profits this year? Iowa State is crazy athletic. Looking forward to seeing how we match up against them. And if our guys that had off nights tonight can get back on track tomorrow.

KD's gotta channel Ward Cleaver!

While not a "bowl," the Towson Tigers are in the 1-AA finals vs. NDSU. Former Zips RB coach Reno Ferri is the Tigers RB coach. Their running game features 4 backs who average 5+ yards/carry, including Terrance West, who set the 1-AA all time single season rushing yardage record this season.

They multiply Ibitayo's FT % by 2.39.

Won a prestegious award HS Stats Mr. RHS? Seems like a talented, well-grounded kid. I like him. Edit/Addition: I heard from a Coach that he selected the Zips over Northern Illinois.

I would say our W-L speaks more to the level of our competition. And the fact that the majority of the team is playing very well. If Diggs and Evan were starting, our record would be identical. Giving Betancourt 3 minutes is just enough time for him to get a couple turnovers, and dig us into a hole that, thankfully, we've had sufficient time to rise above. Start him and Ibitayo vs. Iowa State or Oregon State, and the hole may be more difficult to overcome. Against Bethune Cookman, give him his 10 minutes and rest the better players a bit. In Hawaii, 10 minutes of Deji isn't in our best interest. No one suggested McAdams get "serious minutes" at the PG. Except you. But I would contend giving Betancourt's 3-5 minutes to McAdams would save us 2-3 turnovers, and give us some assists and points, rather than the goose eggs we're presently posting. I would give my left nut for pedestrian point guard play like Dials, Middleton, McNees or Roberts offered. It is light years ahead of what we presently have. Hell, right now I'd kill for Ali Kart. Dambrot's played mad scientist a little with the line up thus far, and given a extra long leash for mistakes to some, but the season starts Sunday. I expect the non-producers will start seeing more pine time, and the Top 8-9 guys will log the key minutes. Audition time is over.

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You'd think that teams like UCLA, Arizona, Stanford and Arizona State would fare "ok" if you dropped them in the MAC for a season. But who knows... I guess we'll know for sure when a middle-of-the-PAC Oregon State faces the perennial MAC champ on a neutral court this Sunday night.

I would say - "There's "suck," and then there's "SUCK." Suck is 61.8% from the FT line for a guard. SUCK is 31.8%. And we're in mid-December. It isn't like he's 1-3 on November 13th. I would contend McAdams isn't playing the 1 or 2 because his best attribute is his catch-and-shoot, 3-point ability. Personally, I think he's a much better 1 or 2 than Ibitayo or Betancourt. But KD is trying whatever is possible to not waste McAdams primary strength. If Betancourt moves any closer down the bench towards the orange Igloo cooler, it wouldn't surprise me to see McAdams get a little PT at the point. Hopefully is doesn't come to that scenario, and Evans and Diggs can handle it.

I think 8 serviceable minutes against Bethune-Cookman, and 4-5 minutes against a decent team is what he merits. I agree placing Ibitayo and Betancourt on the court at the same time is, at-best 4-on-5. And often 3-on-5. I'm guessing Iowa State and Oregon State's guards would make them look a lot worse than Detroit's did. And Detroit exposed them pretty badly.

It wasn't to be... Too bad...it was a good opportunity for a marquee MAC win.

Down to 31.8% for Ibitayo. It was interesting when KD put Deji in towards the end of the game, the Detroit players immediately fouled him. When you're losing late, fouling a 31.8% FT shooter is as good as getting a turnover. He did hold his 3-pt percentage steady at 50%. He's proven he can provide 8-or-so serviceable minutes, but not in the final 5 minutes of a game.

Great second half by the Zips tonight. Great first half by Tree to keep us within striking distance. Even down by 9 at the half, I figured we'd win. But by 19?! Off to see how we fare against the big boys...

The reason might be

Oregon State is playing Towson on Sirius radio tonight, if anyone is interested. If no one is interested, they're still on Sirius. I caught the pregame and the Beavers are all looking forward to the Hawaii trip. They expect multiple wins.

That, I'd buy.

Nope. Their undefeated record is as factual as you can get. No illusion.

Quincy - "Wherever you're going, you can get there from the University of Akron" Your first Lot 9 beer as an alumni is on me, in Lot 9 next fall. Maybe a Dixie Blackend Voodoo Lager? Congrats, Q!

So who would be a great pick? A sure-fire pick at #7 that you would be excited and optimistic about?

Interesting...or horrific...to watch tonight will be Ibitayo and CB's free throw shooting. Ibitayo is 33% from the FT line...but 50% from 3-point land. Betancourt is a sizzling 50% from the charity stripe. No wonder they both miss, or pass out of open layups...they're afraid if they get fouled they might go to the line. D1 guards simply cannot shoot 50% or less from the free throw line. Shaq could hit 50%.