The Hip Zip

LOL..... thanks Keener

First off, I love the idea of this all Ohio doubleheader. It's a great idea but not wild about it being played in the crappiest gym in the MAC. Playing in CSU's Wolstein or the Q would have been much, much better. I watch a lot of Horizon hoops so I am interested in seeing this years edition of the Vikes. They lost a pretty darn good backcourt, Lee and Lewis to graduation but Yates can shoot it. CSU is young and is probably a year or two away from returning into serious contenders in the Horizon. We should have a nice advantage in the paint so hope the offense runs regularly through Pat. Fearless predictions: Zips by 17 and Gary Waters will be the best dressed man in the MAC Center.

I believe that Kwan is the logical choice here. Unlike last season when he was unexpectedly thrust into his role after Tree's meltdown, he's going into this year firmly entrenched into the 4 spot. All of those minutes last season should pay dividends. I'd like to see him more involved in the paint but I truly believe that Kwan can be as good as he wants to be. Our now seasoned point guards should be able to find him in good spots regularly so I'm expecting a nice season out of him.

Youngstown dropped 400+ yards on the Panthers D in week one . I have paid only casual attention to Zip football Dennison left but the OC needs to go NOW. The defense played well but when the inept offense can't stay on the field the D wears down. Don't know who draws it up, who calls the plays, don't care. He or they must go

Thanks for a good chuckle Keener. This is clearly where I check out for the season. May all of your springs and summers be filled with lots of good health and nothing but pars and birdies. Take care everybody, I'll be back in November

Based on what I saw from Maryland last night, I can't help thinking that The Bulls easily could have been along to the sweet 16. Surprised by the N Iowa / 'Ville game. The Panthers were really just never in it. Thug U advances.

Really happy about that, Geno's family is a super bunch of people but he has strayed from that mold of common decency and commitment. My wife is from the Cambridge area and her family was / is friends with the Ford family so I learned a little bit along the way about the Fords. Going forward I hope that the Muskingum job is his only and best option. He's a rat.

You are right Zach. I agree that the MAC made significant progress this year. I think the largest gains were by the usual bottom feeders of the past, There was not a night when somebody could rise up and beat the top teams in the conference. We were pretty much right there with the MVC in terms of conference RPI and that says a lot when they have two real powers in UNI & the Shockers. As far as the Bulls go...... A nice effort after taking a big punch in the gut early on. The Bulls have a lot of fight in them. I think that Bearden is going to be a force in this conference. He reminds me a lot of Jackson, makes those freshman mistakes but just keeps coming at you. Looking forward to the matchups with Bearden and Evans going at it vs. Robo & AJack for the next two / three more years.

If anybody here is privy to the restraints being placed on TW, both financially and otherwise, I would love to hear their arguments. Unfounded speculation and biased opinions are of little value to me.

Hurley's name being dropped in discussions about the opening at Bama. He's on the fast track................... Buffalo is certainly a live dog here.

Some of these selections are so bad.... Sorry Mr George Gervin, Alex Alvarado says you just didn't make the cut at EMU.

I must be going senile because I seem to remember Tarver as being a 2 guard. I'm also thinking that J Wood deserves a spot on that list. And no Bryan Hipsher? C'mon now, this list is totally bogus,.

That is true, Buffalo will be very tough and their guard play will be 2nd to none in this conference, They also have a nice JUCO and a 6'4" shooter from Chicago coming in. IMO, they open up as the team to beat.

I think the tank is empty both physically and mentally so I'm not sure what would be gained. I get the extra practices and all of that but this was a really difficult and trying season on everybody. I'd say let it go but would certainly respect either decision that is made by our players and coaches. As somebody said "torn" is probably the best way to describe the situation but this may be the first season ever where I wouldn't be disappointed at all if we stay home.

This team has exceeded just about all of my expectations. We've become a very mentally tough group as it would have been pretty easy to quit last night Knowing that I may be tagged as easy to please I'd say that anything from here out is gravy for me. Don't get me wrong, I still have an eye on the prize, but I'll call this a pretty darn successful season regardless of what happens tonight. I'd sure still love to be the guys who send that little weenie Hurley packing though........

Yep, we should have a deed on them. It's no wonder Keith speaks so highly of Senderoff

Character, coaching, defense and guts. Don't know if I've ever been more emotionally vested into a game as this one.

Well, I have been both very pleased and surprised with our last two efforts. Antino continues to really improve, Big Dog has been a force and we have received nice numbers from the 3 spot. IMO Those are the 3 things that have made the big difference. To come back out with that tenacity after the Can't game was very impressive to me and has to build confidence. These guys are clicking right now so anything is possible.

via twitter about a half hour ago. Pat Forsythe ‏@pforsythe34 27m27 minutes agoI'm not done yet

I'm afraid of the dreaded "bounce" tonight. We're coming off of a sky high intensity level effort against our biggest rival. Kind of reminds me of the spot we were in about 15 yrs ago when CMU came in here and whipped us by a hoop as a double digit dog. I think that Chris Kaman was just a freshman that year. I still remember Dan Hipsher chasing down the refs at the final buzzer. NIU is to be respected, They, along with BG and CMU, have greatly improved over last season. They are red hot and have taken down two of the top 4 seeds in Cleveland in the last couple of weeks. Anybody quickly penciling this in as an easy win may be in for a shock

I have to believe that Toledo is one of the most under achieving teams I've seen in a long time. They are lazy on defense and have some seriously over inflated egos amongst the starting 5. I think somebody takes them down and maybe early on in the tourney. I don't have the confidence to pick a winner but do think that Buffalo has an edge. The edge being that they get to the FT stripe and actually make them. This very issue may well result in a quick Can't State and Zip exit.

Just further evidence that there is a drastic shortage of quality officials. They earn every dime they make and then some. In most cases I refuse to be critical of them, however there are a few compete hacks like Spencer that have no business being on the floor.

I see a lot of MAC games, not just the Zips and this was one of the best officiated games I've seen in this conference in quite awhile

So proud of these guys. That was as fine of an effort that you will ever see from an undermanned team. One of the best MAC games I've seen in a long, long time. Anybody that complains about that can kiss my a$$

As we near the end of another season I like to look back to see how the so called experts did on their pre - season ratings. This is from the hustle belt: 1Toledo 2Akron 3Western Michigan 4Ohio 5Eastern Michigan 6Buffalo 7Can't State 8Northern Illinois 9Bowling Green 10Central Michigan 11Miami 12Ball State Though I suppose that Toledo may be favored and could win the tourney there are some mighty big swings and misses here.