phil

We played a much better second half. The big difference is this game is that we executed down the stretch. Last year we were losing these close games in conference play. The back screen where Big Dog was wide open was great. Robotham hit some big free throws at the end of the game. Jake had a key rebound and Reggie hit a key three. We won the game shooting only 32% from the three point land and our starting guards were shooting 5 of 20 and 3 for 13 from the 3 point line. Antino played well down the stretch but he is shooting too much and many of those shots are contested step back three ball. Great win. Go Zips.

The color commentator is a former coach and has called out our guards and their defense. He noted that the Buffalo guards are not good 3 point shooters and there is no reason to play them close behind the 3 line. Good points. Glad to see Jimond getting some playing time. Might be our best defensive guard. Glad to see Antino finally make some baskets although the 3 off the front of the rim did not look good.

Watching Antino, not so good. This kid is pressing. Two bad three shots that were not even close. His man just blew by him for a layup and then had a put back for an offensive rebound. He needs to play better.

I just turned on the game and the video is perfect. Even have sound. Can this last all night?

During the game I could tell that KD was upset with the shot selection of Antino and I think he wanted the ball to go to big dog. When you look at the stats, Antino has taken 147 shots this year and is shooting far more than anyone else. (Kwan and Pat are second with 97). He is shooting 34% which is 6th best on the team. He needs to get the ball into our post players who are shooting over 50% or to our 3 point shooters who are shooting over 40%. (Robotham, Kretzer and Reggie). Hopefully, he can find his shot but right now he needs to be an assist man. He played so well at the end of last year I thought he would be shooting about 40% this year.

In the past we always had problems with spacing when we have our 2 big guys in at the same time. I think Big Dog has done so well when Pat is out because nobody is in the lane except him and he is surrounded by perimeter shooters who are making their 3 point shots. We are ranked 33rd in the country in 3 point shooting percentage! Everyone is shooting over 30% except Kwan and Ivey. Last year we were ranked 126. That is a big leap. Pat and Big Dog are both post up players. In the past when we play two post up players it makes it easy to double team and it clogs the middle. That is why Kwan is always at the foul line or at the 3 point line when he is at the 4 spot. It will be interesting to see how much they play together and I think it depends on how well the other forwards are playing on whether they play together.

After watching this game there is a lot to be pessimistic about. Robotham on defense is difficult to watch. He simply gets beat off the dribble and forces Big Dog to cover for him. Tonight they kept on running back doors and getting layups. Antino is better on defense but his shooting tonight was bad. I think he was playing better at the end of last season than he is playing now. He likes to shoot without running any offense. KD yells at him and he says "I know" and then does the same thing. Kwan is very inconstant on offense and his inside game often is missing. Took a three tonight without running any offense. Did not hit iron. Big Dog once again saved us from defeat because he just dominated the paint. The only good thing about missing Pat and Kretzer is that we got to see more Jimond and Aron Jackson. They each contributed but they did not shoot well. Everybody talks about cupcakes but this was a hard fought victory just like South Carolina State. Our offense is based upon great post play in the middle and outside shooting. Looking forward to the season but hope the team plays better than it did tonight. I think we only do as well as our guards and that means playing good defense.

Great summary, so in other words they cannot shoot and cannot defend but they are big. However, it always bothers me when we are playing a school I never heard of and I have no idea where they are located. For those that are similarly challenged Lipscomb is in Nashville Tenn. (great town) and have a record of 4 wins and 10 losses. If you go to their basketball website even their spectators do not look very happy watching them play.

We shot 82% from the foul line and shot twice as many foul shots 32 than South Carolina State. They had no answer for Big Dog. He was unstoppable tonight and made 14 of 16 foul shots. I said before the season that Big Dog would be a consistent double digit scorer if he could shoot foul shots. Aron Jackson also had a nice game scoring 10 in 11 minutes. I agree that we gave up way to many points in the paint. Our guards, Josh, Robotham, and Antino looked a step slow on defense. We need good guard play in the MAC. Antino had a nice drive to the basket. He can be so quick. Kwan seemed to miss several fade away jumpers. Does anyone know if Pat will play on Sat?

I wonder if KD could call Bob Hurley and get a game with Arizona State or call Groce and get a get at Illinois. He knows the MAC coaches who move on to bigger programs. Could he use these contacts to get away games against good competition or would these coaches shy away from a game with Akron?

I heard somewhere that we have to pay these teams to come to Akron. Not sure if that is correct or if that we pay their expenses. Does anybody know if we pay these teams and any idea how much we pay them to play in Akron?

What is the harm about dreaming about an at large big. We have these discussions every season and we hope for the best although the chances of it happening are extremely slim. Early in the season we do it with the Indians and the Browns, so why not the Zips? That being said, KD has built a winning program based upon a good team and a weak out of conference home schedule. Every time the Zips are on TV we hear about the consecutive 20 win seasons. Even ranked teams play against weak competition early in the season. The weak competition gives the Zips an opportunity to win even when they are not playing their best basketball and still trying to figure out the rotation. KD always indicates early in the season in this post game that the Zips are not playing their best ball. The weaker competition gives Robotham an opportunity to play himself into shape. It gives Josh Williams an opportunity to learn that college ball is a lot quicker than high school ball. It gives Aron Jackson and Jimond an opportunity to contribute even when they are the 9th and 10th players on the team. But the weak competition early in the season does nothing to help our chances of getting an at large bid. Other teams build their at large resume by playing against ranked competition during league play. We play in the MAC and now there is no bracketbuster. We will not play a ranked team the rest of the season. Our best chance of getting into the tournament and winning a game in the tournament is to play our best ball at the end of the season, win the MAC, and then upset a team as a 12th or 13th seed in the NCAA tournament.

Although I have never been a big fan of how many 3 pointers we take the past 2 years, we have certainly improved our 3 point shooting. Last year we finished ranked 127th in 3 point percentage, this year we are currently ranked 43rd. Jake would be ranked in the top ten in 3 point percentage but is just short of makes per game to get listed. I hope our hot shooting behind the 3 point line continues.

Reggie's dunk was pretty but nobody came close to boxing him out. The second half they looked tired and we had some nice offensive rebounds. We also had some nice drives to the basket by Kretzer and by Antiono. Jimond and Aron once again did not see the court in the second half.

With Pat out, we are short on Big Guys. The last 2 minutes we played without a center. Kwan is not a center and he is overmatched underneath and is picking up fouls. I think we have Big Dog, Kwan and Jake with 3 fouls each. Jimond and Aron are not giving us anything off the bench and with Pat out we need them. I am sure Jimond is thinking that everyone is shooting the three ball why not me. Because you are the guy we need to drive to the basket and not shoot threes. This is a good game against a team that likes to move with pace. With only one center is not going to be an easy game.

Just an update through 10 games with scoring improvement: Antino: 5.5 point improvement Jake: 3.9 point improvement Big Dog: 3.7 point improvement Big Dog was my 2nd choice and may have been my first if he could shoot foul shots. He is shooting 52% from the line and has missed 23 foul shots. He is leading our team in foul shot attempts. He would be averaging double digits if he was a decent at the foul line.

I have said it before that this team will win when it shoot better than 40% from the 3 line. In this game we shot 47% from the 3 line. Further, our best 3 ball shooter, Reggie, did not score. I cannot remember a game when we had 6 players score in double figures. The box score is weird in that if you exclude Big Dog and Pat, the other players on the team only took 8 shots that were not 3 balls. I remember Kwan hitting the side of the backboard on a two point basket but cannot remember anyone other than our centers taking a shot inside the 3 point line. Basically, we have pivot players and three ball shooters. Robotham was 4 of 5 from the three line. Maybe we can schedule more games in Vegas? I hope we can stay hot from the 3 line or we are going to be in trouble on Wed. KD indicated that our inside game set up our outside game. No doubt that works if you are hitting the 3 ball. We are definitely shooting the 3 ball better this year than last year.

We are using our 2 big men to our advantage. They stopped double teaming our big men in the paint and Pat and Big Dog are doing the job down under. KD did a good job coaching with taking what the Gouchos were giving us. Jimond and Aron Jackson did not look good in the first half and never got back into the game. KD seems has a nice guard rotation using Robotham, Josh, and Antino.

Not a bad stream except I cannot go to full page. I lost the stream every time so I just watching half size. Last game I complimented Kwan for playing inside. So today he only is going to shoot 3 pointers. Missed his first two but just made one to end the half. This is a good game for the Zips and is no cupcake. I don't think we have gotten an offensive board. This team knows how to box out even though they appear smaller. They also are double teaming our big guys giving us 3 point opportunities. We are going to have to earn this game.

It was good seeing Kwan having a great game. KD indicated that he had been in the gym all week and it showed in this game. He made an effort to attack the basket and showed some nice moves in the paint. After making a couple of baskets in the paint, he then made 2 of 3 three pointers. He played with intensity. Not sure why it took him 8 games to realized we need him to attack the basket rather than stand behind the 3 line and take threes. Most importantly, no turnovers. I really enjoyed watching him play tonight and hope to see this type of play in the future.

I was in Boise 2 years ago and was very impressed with the town. Lots of good places to eat and drink and the downtown was vibrant. The campus was very close to downtown and it was a nice campus. My rental car was very cheap, like $10 a day and my room was in a nice hotel and it was cheap. There is skiing about an hour from Boise. They had a minor league hockey team and it was a fun time. I do not think I can make the game but I would not hesitate to go because of the location. I hope this information helps anyone who is thinking about going.

No sound? Anybody else have this problem on the feed?

Thanks, nothing in life is free I guess. I have done this before and I will warn everyone that the 9.95 renews automatically every month. If you buy the feed remember to cancel or they will bill your credit card 9.95 every month!

It says on their twitter feed that it is free tonight. I hope that it is a good feed.

Deji was really good his senior year. I don't remember anyone on this board saying very good shooter his frosh and soph. year. Ivy is just beginning. However, this team really needs an athletic kid to attack the hoop and he seems to be the best candidate. Hopefully, he will lay off the 3 ball. We already have too many guys shooting the 3 ball.