Let'sGoZips94

We played like @clarkwgriswold told the team we were skipping a game to get to Game 22. ? The positive takeaways... - For as bad as we were last night, and for getting out-rebounded by nearly 20, it says something that we only lost by 3 and had a chance to win. We really are back with the top of the pack in the MAC (I'm a poet and I didn't know it). - We shot 90%+ from the line last night, only missing two out of twenty-two. LCJ was 11-11. I love how we focus on the fundamentals of basketball. - LCJ is quickly becoming the best player I've ever seen in a Zips uniform. Overall, it was a bad game. This is the transition season where we start shedding some of the monkeys on our back that have bogged down the program the past couple of seasons. Our road woes are seemingly over, we have good team chemistry, and aside from arguably Liberty, we didn't lose any OOC games we weren't supposed to. Buffalo & Toledo are still 2 monkeys on our back we need to get rid of, but that will come soon enough - I'm confident in that. The little things win in Cleveland, and we're taking our licks now to be the best we can be come March. We're going to have off nights, and we're going to have matchup issues, but I like that we're figuring those out and how to overcome them now rather than in a few weeks or in March. I didn't think Riak was that bad last night. He had a missed alley-oop dunk, and wasn't as strong on the boards as you'd like to see, but I thought our lack of focus on defense as a team put him in some bad positions to help on defense. I think we might have been a bit surprised by Buffalo's athleticism, too. Toledo shot lights out on us; Buffalo out-athleted us, which is the first time that has happened since Louisville/WVU. I trust this staff and this team to learn, adapt, and overcome some of these recent struggles. Participation Trophies are garbage, and that's not what I'm advocating for in this post. But our two conference losses are... - By 10 to a team that put up 99 points on 55%+ shooting from both the field and from 3 - By 3 to the previous King of the Conference when we played our worst game of the season I'm still very optimistic, and I'm excited for Friday. Go Zips, eh?

One of our worst halves this year, and we're still right there in this thing. I'm expecting a chippy 2nd half with a much different shooting percentage.

I didn't like the foul call. The guy came down, leaned a little forward, and initiated the contact.

Blue collar game. Minus that flop by Canada's big man. Pathetic, eh?

Cam Reece has a vendetta against the rim. My goodness does he throw it down hard. Temper the storm. Fight back.

Yes, and he's pretty inconsistent. Think of DJ Cooper in the sense of taking over a game, without the actual scoring part.

And Can't State Still Sucks, eh? Hall of Fame post right here, eh?

@clarkwgriswold secretly went to PCCC, eh?

Staggering, eh? P.S. Every post in a Buffalo-related thread should end in ", eh?" So let it be written, so let it be done, eh?

Their similarities include their size, quickness, quick shot, and competitiveness. Not sure I've seen players in a Zips uni that wanted/want to win as much as Antino and LCJ. The main difference is I think LCJ is overall more intelligent on the basketball court. That kid knows how to be a floor general AND a scorer. Antino was a bit more raw in that department, but part of that might have been the offense he played in.

16 pt game at the half. How have we looked?

I know anything can happen on any given night, but when you watch a game like that last night, it's hard not to see the separation between the Zips and the rest of this league. Yes Toledo beat us, but I think their shooting percentages fall more under the "anything can happen on any given night" category instead of the "we're head & shoulders above the competition" category. That was pretty ugly basketball for 99% of that game, and the only reason 1% was enjoyable was the comeback by Canada to make it a game.

If Rutgers is in the field on Selection Sunday, I won't know what to do. This is their first time ranked since 1979. How about that Dayton/Wright State matchup in Cleveland? That would be fun. This is the longest stretch that I can remember us being considered a 12 seed or better by the Bracketologists. Typically we're in the 13-14 range as just another predicted AQ mid-major conference champ.

These and some of my Jim Thome bobbleheads are the only ones that I still have boxes for due to their value. Base value for any Akron bobblehead is ~$10-20 by the way. Yedlin is one of the more expensive ones, along with Jason Taylor (last sold was $43 + shipping).

You're right, good catch. I thought he came back a game or two after that. That was his 2nd game back. He was all but absent from the box score as well, which may have been why I didn't notice he played that game. But yes, their skid is against pretty abysmal teams and have the cream of the crop coming up.

I highly doubt Nevada fans were whining when their "Transfer U" nickname delivered them high praise nationally, both in the press and in the rankings. Great point Captain on JUCOs/transfers have changed. With how the transfer rules have changed, players that miss on finding the right fit or have their right fit taken away from them (coaching changes) are looking to stay active in the game instead of sitting out a year. PCCC had a reputation during the Christian(?) years of bringing in semi-troubled JUCOs that didn't exactly give their team the best reputation in the public eye, and Dambrot RARELY touched the JUCO/transfer market. So up until these past couple of years, my only experience with JUCOs/transfers was watching Christian's PCCC program, and I had a tainted view. The guys Groce is bringing in has completely changed my opinion, and opened my eyes to the ever-changing landscape in college basketball. These guys are a necessity in keeping mid-majors afloat, especially when the program was left in rough shape. That article irked me, but my hope is that all the hype surrounding Toledo's win over us goes to their heads and they overlook us/others when we get to Cleveland. 188 total points won't be seen at The Rock, nor will these shooting percentages. Defense wins championships, and our band-of-misfit-transfers-who-found-a-fit are 100% bought into the system. We'll see you in Cleveland, University of Detroit Southwest. P.S. The numbers from this game still baffle me. What a fun game to be at. Reminds me of Game 7 of the '16 World Series with Rajai's HR - greatest sports moment that resulted in a loss, but still fun to watch despite the result. My favorite quote from this... “The schedule is really unforgiving. But that’s our conference,” Senderoff said. “Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, and we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We just have to find a way to win.” Clown quote from the Pinky the Clown himself. Let's just disregard the forgiving nature of the schedule with playing a Turner-less BUGS. Also, I'm curious if the secret to holding Toledo to under 45% from the field & beyond the arc is a dimly lit, craphole arena. ?

Ironically enough I ran into him today at Walmart. Great honor for him.

The MAC tinkered with the formatting for several years. IIRC, early in the Dambrot tenure, the top 2 seeds were reserved for the division champions. After realizing it wasn't the 1990s anymore and the West is pretty bad at basketball, they switched to a VERY odd format where the top 2 seeds get BYEs to the semi finals. I believe they determined this gave the top 2 seeds too much of an advantage rest/health wise (Mike Tyson voice: no thit), and that's how we got to where we are at currently.

It's convenient for them to be so close to the Ohio River. Their tears from Groce's departure and the state of the program since sure keep that river flowing. I do hope we come ready to play though. Another double digit win in the southern regions of Ohio would be nice.

Wasn't sure where to put this, but here's an excellent article on X.

22 point loss.

I haven't been impressed with the A10 this year at all minus Dayton. I watched VCU take on St. Joe's last night. St. Joe's had a PG that looked like he belonged in suburb YMCA Rec League. VCU was basically given the game, and didn't want it until the final 5 minutes. Really atrocious basketball.

Because the MAC is constantly one of the least forward-thinking conferences in the NCAA. They are constantly behind the trends instead of getting ahead of them. And yes I'm aware I'm not @zippy5.

The 3 freshman this year - Ali, Tribble, Dawson - all look like they belong in some capacity. Their confidence, game, and ability to process the DI game at DI speed might not all be there yet, but you can see the foundation is solid to build on. It's nice that we have such an upperclassmen-heavy team this year that can help guide and take the pressure off these kids, because the depth they add is nice and necessary. The OOC portion of the schedule is where team chemistry is built and X's & O's are smoothed out, but a team really cuts its teeth during the conference portion and these young players are going to only get better.