Let'sGoZips94

We need a shooter, and we need one NOW. KD made a comment on the post-game show saying that Zeke needs to be more effective around the rim on defense for us to be good. Last time I checked, Zeke was maybe in the paint twice to block shots. The rest of the time, he was around the freaking perimeter. PUT HIS BUTT IN THE PAINT DAMBROT! Quit making excuses. This loss is on KD. I've been saying it for a while now, our offensive game plan has to change. MOVE AWAY FROM THE BALL! Also, our defensive scheme was pathetic. How do you not know that Watt loves that left? He killed us tonight with it. Make them beat you with their weaknesses. Don't blame the refs. Were they pathetic? Yes. However, if you make a few more shots or keep possession a few more times instead of turning the freaking ball over, it's ours for sure. Some questions I have... What happened to the chemistry on this team? They aren't sharing the ball anymore. Why was Gilliam not in the starting lineup? KD made a comment saying he is trying to help his players the best he can. Well the best way to help Diggs is to get him an attitude adjustment because he is either all there or he's not. Oh and tonight was NOT the night to experiment with the lineup. Do we not go over body control? I swear it is a monkey see monkey do type of thing. See player, run over player. GO AROUND HIM OR DISH IT OUT! Goodness. It's not rocket science. What is KD's pucker factor at? I think it's off the charts, but do we have a real number? Big games are his weakness, along with taking care of business. Those are just some of my thoughts. Very disappointing tonight. Can't is either going to be fun, or very very very very VERY interesting/sickening.

So many thoughts have gone through my mind about tonight. 1) Dambrot's teams have never been able to win that big game consistently, especially if it's on national TV (which worries me about this Can't game on Friday). 2) Our style of play is VERY flawed. Stagnant as all get out. No wonder we have no energy. I wouldn't have energy if the entire game I was in a half court, motionless offense. Which leads me into my next thought. 3) Dambrot 2.0? He's more like Dambrot 1.5 in my eyes. Until he learns how to change his system based on the talent and athleticism he has, he will always be v1.5. He started to let the reigns loose this year, but then pulls them back in after decent-mediocre performances. Let the boys play; focus more on their maturity so you can trust them more. 4) We need to find a shooter, and quickly at that. Ohio has that with Kellogg and basically every single one of their guards. 5) Zeke. I need about 20 hands to count how many times a game I see his 7'1 frame out of the paint and around the perimeter. That's on Dambrot. Build him a campfire, pitch a tent, whatever it takes to make him comfortable in the paint because he is way less effective out around the perimeter; he's an NBA draft pick if he's in the paint. 6) How many times are our guys going to pass up shots? There are so many opportunities to shoot the ball and yet we take NONE of them. It's almost like the defender has to be on the moon, if not further away, for us to be comfortable with hoisting a shot. 7) There is not fight on this team. Either we come into a game on fire and stay on fire, or we come into a game flat and give up. I'm not saying they gave up tonight at all, but there's no motivation to comeback from a huge 20 point deficit. Kansas did, so why can't we? Again, this leads me into my next point. 8) Who is the leader? That's all I have to say on that. 9) Coaching. I really think a lot of the problems have to fall on the coaching staff. Yes, they can only do so much. But I don't believe they are doing the best they can. It happens, but it needs fixed. All of this being said, I think we are still the favorites going into the tournament. I have faith in this team. I think we are definitely the best team in the league, despite this horrific, embarrassing loss that we saw tonight. 2 years ago, Porter's team lost to Cleveland State. Shouldn't have happened, but it did. What was the result at the end of the year? An NCAA championship. Now am I saying we 100% should have beaten O-Who? No. But we most definitely should not have gotten blown out. A wake-up call hopefully, this game might have been good for the Zips. Have faith Zips fans. this team is 20-9 with a 12-2 conference record and still 2 games up on everyone else. Just win Wednesday at home, beat Can't, and head into the tourney with a head of steam. Go Zips! Can't Statecks!

Akron, Ohio, Buffalo, and then Can't IF they get that 3 or 4 seed. If not, and they have to play 2 extra games to get to Cleveland, then I'm going to put BGSU in that final four spot. With the Falcons looking good for either 2 home games before Cleveland or a bye into Cleveland, I think they will for sure make the trip to the Q. Can't just sucks. Haha. I really don't see them making it to Cleveland or making it far in Cleveland. That being said, the Zips cannot let their guard down. Always keep those kangaroo fists up.

The reason to scoreboard watch is to root against our rivals.

YES BABY YES! BGSU up 10 with 9:53 to go.

38-32 BGSU at the half against Can't.

Well actually, couldn't EMU catch Can't?

I think it's good that Buffalo won. They need to win out, besides their game against us. I want them along side of us in the semis instead of O-Who and Can't.

You want Can't and O-Who to lose every game possible, including to us, because they are playing for a bye. I don't want to see them in Cleveland before having to play 2 extra games to get there. Beat Buffalo, Can't, and O-Who. Win out. Plus, if we do that, it would mean we have a chance to tie Can't State's '02 record of 17-1 in the MAC. Play hard. Winning breeds winning.

The thing is, even if we lose on Sunday, but when either on Wednesday or next Saturday, we still win the MAC. Bad thing is, O-Who might have found their game. Although, does anyone know if Buffalo played a zone against them or not?

To clarify my post, I do NOT want KD fired. However, he has yet to win those big, season changing games outside of the MAC. I was just suggesting what I felt he should to do accomplish that goal he stated to be more than the MAC.

I think for the MAC, keep things the same. But if KD wants to stick by his original statements and look beyond the MAC, winning more respectable OOC games and even some NCAA tournament games, he's going to have to change his philosophy up. Offensively: MORE MOVEMENT! We might be the most stagnant team to ever have an 11-1 conference record, along with a 19-8 overall record. We are way too athletic to just stand around and wait for an open shot, rather than moving around, setting screens and basket cuts to get that open shot. Defensively: Plant Zeke's butt in the paint and keep him there. Basically play a 4-1 zone. Teams beat us inside by drawing Zeke out to the perimeter, and KD let's it happen. Overall: RUN EVERY TEAM OUT OF THE GYM! 9-10 deep and we play a half court offense with a few fast breaks? Even on defense keep the energy high.

I disagree on one of those examples. It was a phenomenal day for the conference with Can't State losing. Haha. For Akron it was a good day besides the Zips loss.

I believe this was just a perfect storm for ORU. The Zips didn't have a shoot around last night, which lead to the poor shooting performance in my opinion. Having MAC refs is really a disadvantage for the Zips. Those things combined with some poor coaching lead to the loss.

Correction: a secondary MAC EAST team is worthy of an NIT bid this year, regular season champ or not. Haha. MAC West sucks.

I kind of want the NIT bid. That way when we when the MAC Tournament, we can hand the second place "trophy" over and say, "Here, we don't need this."

I think he might be referring to Nik more than McClanahan. Which with Nik I agree. Sit him down more. The guy seems to either be a wash or a negative from night to night. Either he scores/plays good defense, but takes WAY too many shots, fouls, and turns the ball over. Or he doesn't score, wants to score, and hurts this team by taking too many shots, fouling, and turning the ball over. Yesterday was a wash in my opinion, maybe a better game than normal. He played solid defense on Mavunga, scored, but took way too many bad shots and was a hot head. I think he will be an asset come tourney time, but KD needs to control him. He throws others in his dog house for little stuff at times, but never throws Nik in there. The young talent is getting great PT, but I would like to see a few of them get more like Chauncey and Tree, which is starting to happen.

ORU's tallest guy is 6'9. He is 245 lbs, so he is larger than Zeke in that aspect. However, besides that, their other "big" guys aren't very big, just taller. I think the key to this game will be our inside game. Will we use the height difference to our advantage? Or will we settle for jump shots like in years past? Some other keys (no particular order)... 1) Attempt to slow Morrison, but definitely stop Niles, Craion, and Roundtree. Morrison is averaging 20 ppg, but the other three players I mentioned are averaging 12, 11, and 10 (in that order). If you let them go off like that, expect a blow out loss as that would be a combined 53 points between the 4 of them, not including the bench and other role players. 2a) Go at them. Morrison is 6'6 and is one of their better rebounders, so I'm guessing he's aggressive and will foul. Limit his playing time and that is a huge victory in itself. 2b) Make the free throws when at the line! 3) Stay out of foul trouble. We have the height advantage; don't lose it. 4) Rebound. ORU is averaging 74 ppg. I believe a lot of that has to come from second chance opportunities. Don't give them that. 5) Play our game. Tire them out. They are 6 deep with an optional 2-3 more players to throw in if need be. Run the floor well, get out in transition, and keep the pace up. I believe if they accomplish at least 3 of the 5 items listed above, they will win by a minimum of 5. 4 items accomplished or more, it's a double digit win. Just a random thought. Any relation between Roderick Pearson, Jr. and Rian Pearson? Both are from Missouri. Cousins maybe?

That is some well earned respect right there. Hopefully we can go in and spank some felons, embarrassing them on national tv and raising our stock. Plus, it's always fun to beat the Flushes.

If LeBron comes, I'm going to have to ask him to pull the knife from my back that he inserted when he left. Would be great publicity, but I still hate the guy.

In past years I would agree, but with the new format, you kind of have to. With the top 2 seeds automatically going to the semis, as a Zips fan you don't want Can't or OU up there with you. Buffalo is the more dangerous team, but Can't and OU travel better. Best case scenario would be if Eastern somehow took a 3 or 4 seed and BG took the other, giving Akron and Buffalo the auto semi 1 and 2 seeds, while leaving Can't and OU having to win 2 games to get to Cleveland, and 2 more to get to the finals.

How about in honor of Charlie, we play a stretch of play slow and methodical? Only if we are up by a secure amount, though. In all seriousness, assuming this is Charlie's last visit to the JAR as a coach, I'm going to miss seeing him on the sidelines with his paper. What a class act. He has represented the MAC very well.

How many screw ups do I see? In Canadian: EH EH EH EH. In the Seagulls from Finding Nemo: MINE MINE MINE MINE. Wow did this guy butcher the MAC paragraph.

Wow. I did not know that. I believe they are the only MAC East school to have a men's tennis team.

From this it looks like a 24 win season almost certainly gets us into the discussion of an at-large, if not for sure a bid. If we finish the season with 24-25 wins, the projected RPI is in the top 30s-top 20s. I think the Zips are capable of an at-large. With the record we have had AFTER the first half of the season, it is just incredible what this team has accomplished. Their RPI right now is 50, but that doesn't include the NIU game. I think we are among the top mid major programs and definitely in the mix or ahead of some big names. If Bilas truly believes the Zips could be in contention, that is saying something. I respect Bilas and his opinions. I think he is a very well educated analyst who says what he believes, not what ESPN and fans wants to hear. However, I just want to win the darn tournament and have that for sure bid. I have gone through enough heart attacks in my 17 years of living and watching the Zips; I don't need a selection Sunday heart attack to add to the total. Just win the MAC tournament and you're in. Better yet, get a top 2 seed and you only have to win 2 games to repeat as MAC champions. As Larry the Cable Guy would say, "GET 'ER DONE!"