Captain Kangaroo

Can B. Alexander be far behind?

NCST was 3-9, in a terrible football conference. One of those three wins was against a 1-AA program.

Of course you wouldn't take offense. You read the post in its entirety and understand the complete message. But there are some who focus only on a tiny, fragmented "sound bite" and ignore the other 98%. Those people are a struggle to enlighten. But we forge onward...

If 1 out of 5 doesn't play D, the whole 5 look bad.

1.) I will always share my weed with you. Say what you want about the Captain, he is a generous, sharing soul. 2.) Anyone who doesn't get a heightened level of concern after losing to OU by 20+ is an idiot. But a single blow out doesn't necessarily mean there's a trend. You only need to look back at last season's OU road loss to see such beatdowns can be quickly forgotten. BG is playing great basketball, and we handled them with relative ease last week (while BG got within 3 late, they never really threatened). Buffalo should be similar...if we've learned from our recent mistakes.

We played two upper-mid major teams, who already had 22+ wins, on the road, and lost. I can't start chugging Drano and worrying that KD has "lost the team." What were those two opponent's home records...something like a combined 31-1 this season? Hipsher lost his team with regularity. It was as much a part of spring as May Day and bock beer. Comparatively, here's been nothing remotely close to team chemistry problems under Dambrot. Chemistry is the least of my concerns. The Zips big problem has been playing "me" ball and not "us" ball. When anyone but Abreu drives the lane, it's a shot. The dribble-penetration-and-pass has been forgotten. The Turnover has replaced it. Likewise, Zeke needs to man-up. He's the difference between the Zips achieving new heights in 2011-12, or being just another nice MAC program. Zeke's had his lunch handed to him at ORU and OU. Buffalo is big enough to give him another lunch if he doesn't come ready to battle. I think some home-cooking on Senior night is just what the Zips need. Akron 75 Buffalo 71

Mississippi State is MUCH better basketball-wise than NC State was, football-wise. Likewise, the Zips hoops team circa 2011-12 is a much better program than the 2006 Zips Football program. Both significant, slightly-below-historical wins for their respective sports. But not comparable.

Can't go wrong with winning breads...mmmm....

What BS! The fix is on.

Well I recall Andy Hipsher won MHZ for three consecutive seasons...then Nick Dials had a stranglehold on it for at least two...after that, I sort of lost track. Without clicking on the link, I'll guess "Diggs" wins for 2012.

He also inferred that the Zips didn't take the game seriously because we sent CJ Oldham out as a Captain prior to tip-off. Which is stupid, since Oldham is the Team Captain. Sometimes Elton gets grumpy. It's tough on those old bones to drive all the way down to Athens...he's gotta take it out on someone.

A while back, Dr. Z posted his version of Peter King's "Ten Things I Think I Think." I'm going to do the same, but I really can't figure out if I'm ripping off Dr. Z or Peter King? 1.) I think I think the Zips gotta quit dropping these marquee regular season games. While I appreciate the increase in schedule strength, and I accept the fact that increased losses are an inevitable result of playing more-difficult teams, WVU, CSU, VCU, ORU, OU...aside from K.e.n.t., those are the marquee, "Proof that the Zips have taken it to another level" games that Joe Akron has had on his watch list. And we've dropped them all. Mississippi State was before Thanksgiving...it's a great win, but to Joe Akron it's a 1-hit wonder. Buffalo and K.e.n.t. are two really difficult upcoming marquee games. The latter being on ESPN2 in prime time. This getting-down-by-double-digits-in-the-first-half-thing has got to stop. It will be very telling to see how the staff, and team responds to last night's beat down. 2.) I think I think the "Harney Badger" signs might need to be mothballed for the short term. Nick's defensive presence lies somewhere between indifferent, and nonexistant. And the book is out on him offensively. If the ball hits Nick's hands, he's taking it to the hole...regardless of which defender has their feet firmly planted in the paint and ready to take the charge. To be fair, Nik and Q can be added to the list of guys who plow into the paint with no intention of doing anything else but shooting. In general, the Zips have way too much ill-advised dribble-penetration and not enough cuts and ball movement. I wonder what the differential between charges given, and charges taken is for Zips games? I'd guess the ratio is 5:1? 3.) I think I think it it a blessing and a curse to have 6' 6" guys driving to the hole. Q and Harney have really long, high dribbles and against smaller guards, they're getting ripped with regularity. 4.) I think I think OU is peaking. For real. Yeah they always play well at home. But beat Buffalo convincingly on the road. And followed it up with an absolute waxing of the Zips. They showed no fear, and a ton of swagger last night. The disappointing thing about it for Zips fans is - Based upon last season, you knew it was coming. You knew OU was going to bring their A-game. You knew the crowd would be big and the bright lights would be on. And it didn't matter. 5.) I think I think Zeke is reacting, rather than imposing his will. OU drove right at Zeke all night, and his 7' 1" frame was rendered completely ineffective. Offensively, it is time our big man began demanding the ball, and taking it to the rack with some authority. No more 12-foot, turnaround hook shots when there's a wide open path to the hoop. Drive and stuff. You can make your free throws big fella, so live in the paint! 6.) I think I think Abreu is our PTP-er. He's played very well in big games. Great energy. Clutch steals. Big shots. Cooper had his number last night, but it wasn't for lack of effort. He had no help, and Cooper's awesome. 7.) I think I think for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. And while Harney's impact has diminished since the BG shot, Tree has asserted himself on both ends of the floor. He's still a step slow on his defensive rotations, but he keeps getting better. And he's "Jeremiah Wood with Hops" on the glass. Just an absolutely violent rebounder. 8.) I think I think the refs are aware of Q's "chippy" on-the-court demeanor. While the OU player did a great job of selling Q's toss to his head as some sort of Nolan Ryan, point-blank rocket...Q shouldn't have even touched the ball. We'd cut the lead to 19-13 at that point, and Abreu's steal had taken a bit of the bravado out of the OU guards...and it lasted all of 2 seconds. 9.) I think I think that I don't know what to think about Elton Alexander's comments in today's PD chiding the Zips for goofing off in the pregame. Alexander wrote of the Zips putting on a slam dunk exhibition for the OU students, inferring that the Zips were too loose, and didn't take the game seriously. Maybe he's right? 10.) I think I think we need more Tree and Gilliam and less McClanahan and Harney. This will meet with disapproval from many who favor Harney's smooth and sexy game over Cventinovic's meat and potatoes, ground-borne style. But Nik gives big time effort every night. On both ends of the court. And he runs the floor better than anyone will admit. We need to ride the Serb harder, from here on out. Just keep him away from the three point line. Ok, Frenchy. Go ahead ... grouse about us ungrateful fans. I still love you.

He reminds me of Jose Davis (Bellaire). For a high school kids, he really throws well on the run.

I've see the student section for those December games. Is two students considered a "section?" The Zips students really haven't done anything to merit getting center court seats at the JAR. And giving the boot to people/companies paying $500/seat, on top of their ticket costs, is something even Wistercil would never consider. The JAR is what it is. Mary Kay and Revlon combined don't have enough lipstick to slater on our 1980's era pig to make it presentable. Oh well...at least what transpires on the court itself is top-shelf quality.

Zips kickers under Ianello typically kicked the ball to approximately the 39 yard line (on average) so I doubt this will affect us much in the short term.

The NIT is for K.e.n.t. You really sell the Zips short. Maybe you're the fan Steve French was talking about?

Define "Sucked." The only fault with the on-campus games was the unfair home-field advantage. The games were great, and well-attended (without looking, I'll say they all sold out).

The remark about the flagship was a tongue-in-cheek reference to a thread from a few days ago (wish I could find it, but I'm no good at using our site's crappy search function). I love the MACC because it is fun to watch any championship game. And it's more football, which is always good. UMass is historically a solid 1-AA program. They now play their home games at Gillette Stadium, which I'm really looking forward to attending. And the MAC is a great defibrillator for any sickly 1-A, or healthy 1-AA program looking to become competitive at the 1-A level. Based upon UCF, Temple and Marshall, it won't be long before UMass starts whipping the MAC "lifers," and moves on to bigger and better things. I like the UMass addition. Who cares if the conference is numerically unbalanced...it isn't rocket science to make it work.

Having the name UMass, they must be the flagship program of Massachusetts, and how can you go wrong adding a flagship? Getsy-to-Hixon isn't the ruination of college football. It's a championship-level football game for the MAC, not EMU vs. K.e.n.t, which is a good thing.

Getsy-to-Hixon. Best moment in Zips football history. MAC championship football game rules. End of story.

Looks like no mechanical bull? My son's not gonna like it.

This very important question needs addressed.

Funny that Steve French complained about the fans before the game....then felt compelled to berate the fans again after the game. That pisses me off. Because the only place fans talk about the Zips is here. And it has been RIDICULOUSLY positive all season. French: "Hey Keith, how does it feel to have fans complain after the Oral Roberts loss?" French: "Well Kieth, the fans really don't appreciate how difficult it is to achieve 20 wins do they?" French: "How difficult is it on the players when fans turn on them after a loss?" I HATE that. We're drawing more fans than ever this season. Filled two buses to West Virginia. The basketball board has been buzzing all season long, with the RAREST of complaints about anything. 4,000+ fans are filing into the JAR on a regular basis, and French is baiting KD to complain about them. Let's all put on our hair shirts and repent for saying Zeke should have had more touches in the Oral Roberts game. The audacity.

Shows what we know.

Good. Because we will have 6 full days between K.e.n.t. and the semifinals. Sit starters against K.e.n.t, an ESPN2 nationally televised game, because it will be a "tough game?" Can you imagine going to Cventinovic, Tree and Zeke and saying "Sorry guys, but I'm gonna shut you down for the remainder of the regular season. We're going to let K.e.n.t. wax us. That way we're fresh for next Friday."