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From the Kalamazoo GazetteWMU unfazed by `tail-kicking' at Akron Tuesday, January 30, 2007By Graham Couchgcouch@kalamazoogazette.com 388-7773 There weren't any vicious tongue-lashings at Monday's Western Michigan University men's basketball practice. The players didn't run so many sprints that they spewed their lunches into trash cans. Nor did they sulk about their chances the rest of this season. Saturday's 69-36 whipping at the hands of Akron, the Broncos said, was exactly that. It's no reason, they added, to put down their basketballs and give up the sport. ``When you get absolutely beat bad like we did on Saturday, we've got so many important games coming up, that you really have to have a short memory about it, try to take what you can from the game and move on, almost forget about it,'' said sophomore point guard Michael Redell, who had just two points, two assists and four turnovers against the Mid-American Conference East Division-leading Zips. WMU's first chance to show off its forward thinking comes Wednesday night against visiting Buffalo (9-11, 1-6 MAC). Monday, at a reporter's request, the Broncos (9-11, 4-3) spent most of their time explaining Saturday. ``I've been coaching 20 some odd years now, I mean that's not my first tail-kicking,'' WMU coach Steve Hawkins said. ``It's happened before. I hope I coach another 20 years, and it's going to happen again. I've been on the other end of them, too. ``The problem is, as coaches, it's very easy for you to make a mountain out of a molehill when you lose. If you're not careful, if you haven't gone through it, then you can really cause more damage than good.'' The question then is, did the game at Akron reveal a mountain or a molehill? Saturday, Zips forward Romeo Travis called the Broncos ``very slow'' while analyzing the contest. Monday, the Broncos didn't quite agree with the tortoise and hare comparison in reference to their personnel, though, for one game, they didn't disagree with the take on their pace offensively. Hawkins said the film showed a pretty solid defensive effort by WMU, one that was made worthless by its lack of offense. ``We helped them by being slower than we should have been, by running offense a little more methodical than we should have run (it),'' Hawkins said. Said Redell: ``We kind of held onto (the ball) too long, which caused us to take some tougher shots or some bad shots. They were definitely a quick team, but we were, before that game, the No. 1 team scoring-wise in the MAC. We control what we do on offense. More us than them. ... I'm not going to say they can lock us down. The ball does move through the air.'' As much as anything, Hawkins pointed to the off night by WMU's four best scorers -- Joe Reitz (17.7 points per MAC game before Akron; six at Akron), David Kool (13.7; five), Shawntes Gary (12.5; eight) and Redell (11.7; two). ``In a given game, we've had a guy not play real well and the other three or four have,'' Hawkins said. ``We had a day where all four guys, the main four guys offensively that had been scoring for us, all had bad days.'' A 33-point defeat, however, can leave one of the opinion that the difference in teams was more than a bad afternoon by one of them. If the Broncos see Akron again in the MAC Tournament, do they have enough of an arsenal to defeat the Zips on a semi-neutral court in Cleveland? ``I'd like to have the shot,'' said Hawkins, who pointed to Ohio -- which lost at Ball State Saturday after beating Akron -- as an example of the unpredictable nature of the league. ``Some people would say, `Well, geez, you hope you don't face them again.' That's the very wrong answer. You want another shot. You want another shot at Toledo (too). You want another shot at the teams that beat you. ``The effort that we had given before had been good enough in some of these games to win them. It's not going to be enough at Toledo or at Akron to win a game. That tells us where we're at. So we correct it.'' BRACKETBUSTER TV GAMES ANNOUNCED: As expected, WMU was not among the 28 teams picked for the 14 televised games in next month's ESPN BracketBuster. The Broncos will learn later this week which ``mid-major'' program will be visiting University Arena on Feb. 17. Southern Illinois will play Butler in the marquee matchup. Four MAC teams are slated for TV games that weekend, as well: Toledo (vs. Old Dominion); Akron (vs. Austin Peay); Ohio at New Mexico State; and Can't State at George Mason.

I just looked it up.The attendance at the Cleveland State game we were talking about earlier in '86 was 8,168.And since the Bracketbuster was just announced, the 15th largest crowd at the JAR was against the APU Govs, on Feb. 24, 1986...5,511.

....and at home too!

Can't...they moved them all to Tennessee.

thats funny. Yes, lets just hope we've caught it in time.

Naming the JAR after him was pay back for the money used to build it.It used to be said that Rhodes funded the capital projects at state universities just to name buildings after himself.A side note:Can you imagine if Ball St. named their arena the JAR?The Ball JAR Rim-shot here

Like we've said before...bracketbuster schmacketbuster.the only way we, or any other MAC school goes to the dance is to win the MAC.

Good question Zen.I think I'll be rooting for OU on this one.Number 1. Even though OU beat us on their court, I really don't think they're strong enought to take us and the East. When it comes MAC Tourney time, we should be a higher seed. I'm confident we'll revenge that earlier loss when we play in the JAR.Number 2. All this talk about Toledo amazes me. Many people already are seeding them number 1 for the MAC Tournament when, a. They play in the cream puff west and b. Their non-conf. schedule really wasn't that difficult. I understand they're a good team, however, I can't see how people are describing them as a slam dunk (excuse the pun) as the best in the MAC.

That's the way it was when the JAR opened, and I believe capacity was about 7,000 back then.What really makes it look small time is seeing the wall behind the baskets.If those seats just went right on to the top, it would help.But then you lose the track in the upper deck.If the Ohio General Assembly wouldn't have cut the funds, we would have had the 12,000 theatre seats that was originally planned.

With the exception of Tenn Wesleyan, all of their wins have been in the OVC.Illinios destroyed them 80-35.Other non conference losses were to Dayton, Arkansas St., Memphis and Evansville.They're currently on a ten game winning streak against an OVC that looks down this year.Can't is at George MasonOld Dominion is at ToledoOhio at N. Mexico St.and we get Austin PeayI'll never forget their fans yelling..."let's go Peay, Let's go Peay!"

I was very disappointed the first time I saw the JAR.I had just moved back from Indiana, where the High School gyms and fieldhouses were bigger and nicer.I'm hoping we don't make the same mistake with the new football stadium.

Anybody remember the Zippy who used to stand on his head at mid-court?I'm thinking it was in the late 80's...during the Huggins era.

Good information to know. Thanks.The suit Zippy wore for W. Mich....there were just two worn spots where the two spring, wire thingys are below the belt.Other than that, it still looked pretty good.thanks to all of our Zippys!

I will never forget the smile on my 8 year old's face after getting Zippy's autograph during the Buffalo game the other week.I love it when he walks around and the kid just flock to him. Zippy is beyond cool. Lets get him a new suit every year. It is well worth it!!!

No one is knocking Zippy.Kids love Zippy.I love Zippy.We just said he could use a new suit. That's all.

I was sitting in the upper reserved and thinking the same thing.Why not let people from the GA sections move down to the blue seats?If the person with the ticket shows ups, the people who moved down go back to GA.What's wrong with that? Am I missing someting?I had a great time at the game tonight. A lot of fun...fantastic to see MY school win in such a convincing fashion.Everyone keeps talking about Toledo. I want to see Toledo beat us before they start talking smack.

I agree.I noticed that tonight.How long has Zippy worn that suit?

As one who spent 25 years in radio and television news...don't believe everything you hear!MY 33...what, no longer ABC or do they just have two networks now?I almost had the misfortune of working there. Remember Jack Bowe?

Sweeet!!

Have a gooooood night everybody!!!

How can they be talking on the MACbb that Toledo has a lock for the number one seed????How can they be talking about anybody having a lock on the seedings for the tournament?

Did he say Keith Dambro?

Akron 72NIU 49about 6 and a half minutes left

May not be the hotel Fear...my video is breaking up too.

I've noticed ESPN has been putting up a lot of incorrect scores tonight.They had the K E N T final score 55 to 50 when the actual score was 60 to 54.