clarkwgriswold

The Zips basketball discussion is on a bye!

I think BG's struggles coincided with Justin Turner's hamstring troubles. 3 of their 5 losses were while he was out and he was still easing back in against PCCC and scored only 4 points.

Never has a coach done less with more...

They've not been very good is one possession half ending situations.

Great game. Would have loved the win, but it's not the end of the world. History tells us these are close games that the home team wins. Get back to work today, finish strong, beat them at the JAR on March 6th and peel them in Cleveland if you get the opportunity.

Our Zips go into a much needed bye week at a very respectable 16-6. After a fast start, the Zips have dropped 3 of their last 5. To their good fortune, it has been a relatively injury free year. LCJ has been outstanding and is clearly a candidate for MAC POY. X has been a welcome and valuable addition. Cheese remains a vital cog and is great when he is aggressive off of the dribble. Banks has been good in spurts and is probably the best perimeter defender. Reece while undersized is the best inside presence. Riak has had his issues but helps guide the defense when he's on the floor. The newbies have seemed to have leveled out. Hopefully, the Zips can build some leads and get them some experience while the above guys get some rest before the tournament. Other than some rest, what do you hope to see the Zips get out of the bye week? I will throw up an EMU thread after the Tuesday games.

Shhhhhhhhhhhh!!!++++!!!!!

Feeling Tyler here.

C'mon Zips.

Anyone headed anywhere to watch the game tonight? I can't bear the thought of paying $20 to see 2/3 of the floor in New Franklin Fieldhouse.

Win with class. Lose with class.

Reminds me of how much some Zips fans whined about Zeke Marshall. "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone..."

I'll take on the role of Captain Obvious here. It's more important who's in at crunch time than who's in at the start of the game. The problem is that when the bench is unproductive, or even worse a liability, the coaches can't commit to using them much as they cost the team points. The only place where a sub doesn't cause a significant dropoff right now is Riak to Reece. Tribble shows promise and tries hard but is a work in progress for an outside game. Ali tries hard and generally makes good decisions but he's obviously still learning and has no shot yet, and as such is a huge dropoff from X. Dawson is lost and a non-factor thus far. Sayles looks like Shaquille O'Neal one possession and Tip O"Neill the next. I think with some minutes under them, at least two of them will be valuable by MAC tournament time.

Speaking of Channel, I sure wish he'd focus on letting his game do his talking. He got a warning last night for jabbering at an opponent.

Oh, I got it. Good call and a good jab!

There was no game 21. We had two 18's and no 21. LOL. I don't share your confidence on Friday. History tells us we beat the Flushes at home and lose to them at the Ravenna Rec Center. Since 2010, there's been only one year where the Zips went 2-0 against them in the regular season and have split every other year. I hope to hell the Zips kill them, but they seem to be rebounding from their slump while the Zips are struggling a little bit. In any event, I think it's another nail biter.

Last night counted as 2!

Just so that we can all take a deep breath and not be concerned that the sky will fall today after the Zips recent woes, I did a little quick count of the Zips records after 21 games since the 2010-2011 season. The records were: 2019-2020- 16-5 2018-2019- 13-8 2017-2018- 10-11 2016-2017- 18-3 2015-2016- 17-4 2014-2015- 16-5 2013-2014- 15-6 2012-2013- 17-4 2011-2012- 14-7 2010-2011- 12-9 The last seven years of Dambrot, which I think we can all agree were very good, the Zips averaged 15.6 wins and 5.4 losses over the first 21 games. They are there now. They are 3 games better than last year and last year was 3 games better than the year before. RELAX.

I hate the Zips losing games, especially ones like last night where they underperform, but let's have a little perspective. Not that long ago, we were debating whether they would be a 20 win team and be competitive in the MAC. They clearly are competitive and should make the 20 win mark. The sky is not falling. They are what we hoped for. I realize this is all easier said than immediately after the game.

Easy there big fella. The criticism was that you used Big Dog and Zeke as your measuring sticks, the two best big men in the history of the program, and the implication quality big men were so readily available, not that the team couldn't use quality bigs. Every team can use quality players. It wasn't that long ago that you stated: "Most improved player - Riak! Very pleased with the way he is playing. I did not think he would ever be a factor, I was wrong." You went on to say "Reece is a beast" as 6 of your 14 points in a post. In reality, neither is as good as you thought then nor are they as bad as you perceive them now immediately after a tough loss. Riak's shortcomings aren't a lack of effort and he does have an impact on defense. Reece is a product in development. As soon as he gets the message that he doesn't always have to leave his man to help and understands the rotations, our interior defense will improve.

What we saw tonight is something we are going to be seeing a lot more of in the future, that is teams that are willing to let their big man leave our big man to go help out on defense. That's going to happen until our big men can show some semblance of offense. An open dunk or lob on occasion does not constitute an offensive game.

The Zips head off to Ravenna Friday night to renew their rivalry with Mr. Pinky and the Golden Flushes. The Flushes come into the game at 15-6, fresh off of a nice comeback win at Toledo. 6th year junior Danny Pippen leads the Flushes with 16 ppg and nearly 7 rpg. PCCC had a little drought losing 3 in a row, but have rebounded with nice wins at Buffalo and Toledo in the last week.

Frustrating damn game. You can't get manhandled and pee away 20 minutes of the game and expect to come away with a win. Kudos to Buffalo for always answering the run. On to PCCC.

Deng fouling out may be a positive.

We were getting too raucous.