clarkwgriswold

I don't think they've updated Tavari's weight and height since he was a freshman. He is a good 6 feet tall and has put on a little weight through the chest and shoulders. Young is a fine freshman. I just hope they can hold onto him.

I don't recall. I'm just hoping he gets better in the next couple of weeks and comes back as the guy we thought he was. He's a great kid. He's taken full advantage of his scholarships by working hard academically and is very personable.

I'd really like to know whether Jojo Harris was playing injured before they sat him down for the last few games. If he's the guy I though could be, a 12 ppg/5 or 6 rpg guy, I think he makes a real difference if and when he comes back healthy. If he was healthy when playing before being out, I'm not sure he's that guy. I like Bowen Hardman when he's hitting shots. When he's not, he doesn't bring much as he's not a good defender nor is he a facilitator or a rebounder. He's a backup and offense off of the bench, not a starter at this point. It's not for a lack of effort.

The 7-4 Zips next head to Princeton on December 30th to face the 9- 4 Tigers in the last game of the OOC season. The Tigers also will not play until the 30th and are coming off of a two-point win at Rutgers. Tigers’ scoring Is led by 6’4 junior guard Lee Xavian at 16.1 ppg. 6’7” junior forward Caden Pierce is second on the team in scoring at 12.1 ppg while leading rebounding at 7.2 rpg. These two are considered by some to be the two best players in the Ivy League. The Tigers were picked to finish first in the Ivy League preseason poll, ahead of Yale.

I think Tavari got some bench time tonight due to the turnovers.

Jackson State looks like the coaches didn't come out after half. Kids taking awful shots, not passing the ball, not calling TOs... Here's hoping it has something to do with the Zips play.

Lots of action and enthusiasm in here tonight.

Looks like Gray got the memo about rebounding.

The Zips get the 0-11 Tigers of Jackson State in the consolation game today. If you get a chance, take a look at their schedule today. It's a real doozy, with Houston, Louisville, Iowa State, Vandy, Xavier and Kentucky. They lost by 2 to common opponent Arkansas State. I expect a Zips win but it won't be the blowout one would expect playing a winless team.

Anybody else notice Skozen's comment last night about appreciating being courtside?

This team needs to get off to better starts at the beginning of halves. All you can do when you are that short on bigs is to try to rebound as a team and they're not doing it. Harris might help some but this team's composition may result in us suffering through this all year. With the exception of a couple of guys, this crew doesn't seem to have the grit and physicality of most Groce teams. Milwaukee and Yale are quality teams. Yale has finished in the top 2 of the Ivy League for 6 straight years and won a tournament game last year. That being said, the Zips shouldn't get manhandled by them as they were for much of the game.

I have to think that the head coaches at the service academies are thinking they have it pretty good these days!

They play Rio Grande tonight so I guess we'll see.

That's outstanding. I love Groce and Nate's headgear.

I suspect all of the major networks are clamoring for the 3-9 Cowboys vs. the 4-8 Zips.

Doug Gottlieb puts his foot in his mouth- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/43047108/doug-gottlieb-green-bay-lose-d-ii-team-u-comment

I thought we could use a thread to discuss things happening around college basketball outside of the MAC.

I suspect that when a Big 10 school agrees to come to you that they control the day and time.

Bryant's not very good, so I hope not.

Good riddance.

...and every team between today and the MAC schedule has a pulse.

Let's see. A kid gets a chance to go from a program that's won 11 games this decade in a poor conference to get paid to play for a program that is regularly in the top 40 in the country in a top 3 or 4 conference. Hmmmmm.

Hardly any crowd.

The Zips head to El Paso for the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational on December 20th and 21st. In the first game of the tournament, the Zips face the 5-5 Yale Bulldogs. The Bulldogs have beaten Vermont, Fairfield, Stony Brook, Quinnipiac and Emerson, while losing to UIC, Purdue, Minnesota, Delaware and Rhode Island. They are led by 6’6” senior guard Poulakidas at 21.1 ppg. 6’7” junior forward Nick Townsend is the Bulldogs second leading scorer at 13.1 ppg while leading rebounding at 6.1 rpg. The other teams in the tournament are Jackson State and UTEP. Jackson State is 0-10 but their schedule has been brutal, with losses to Iowa State, Houston and Kentucky. They lost to common opponent Arkansas State by only two points. UTEP stands at 6-3 with a very pedestrian schedule, but one of the three losses was a 3 point loss to Louisville.

I listened to Groce on the post-game. He indicated that the defensive game plan going in was based upon Milwaukee being a poor three-point shooting team and then they were just on fire. They then made the adjustments at half to counter the threes and were then unable to stop them off of the dribble. He was relatively content with the offense but not at all with the defense. He also criticized the veterans for their approach at the beginning of the game while praising Young and MMK for their play despite their inexperience. He was also unhappy with the offensive rebounding disparity. Milwaukee is a decent team. They'll likely win the Horizon. As I mentioned in the post opening the thread, they were the preseason favorites along with Purdue-Fort Wayne. Their best player, Pratt, is now back. All that being said, the Zips who we consider to be the class of the MAC should not be thumped as they were by them. If the Zips performed like that on their exams we could have a lot of academic ineligibles coming up! Our bigs are not helping. Okonkwo, Lyles and MMK were 5 of 12 from the field, 0 for 1 from the line, had 6 rebounds and 11 points.