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Actually, we may have missed a great opportunity on Saturday night to have him do a live version of "Breaking The Law" during the introduction of the visiting team's starting lineup.

The reason I said this was Zeke's breakout game is because he was a different player on both offense and defense. When he grabbed rebounds, he was not tentative. He had fire in his eyes. He locked the ball in a death grip and dared anyone to try to take it away from him. When he went to the bucket, he had fire in his eyes. He slammed it down with anger, daring anyone to try to stop him. I've attended every one of Zeke's home games, and this was not the same old Zeke simply playing a little better than usual. This was not just about having slightly better stats than usual. It was about a fundamental change in attitude. You could even hear the change in his tone of voice in the postgame interview on radio. This is the breakout game I've been waiting for from Zeke. It tells me that he finally gets it, and is ready to move to the next level. The next step will be consistently playing at this new level of intensity. +1 This absolutely was a "breakout" game for Zeke for all the reasons Dave mentioned. Zeke finally came out with that attitude of, "You know what, I'm bigger, longer and more athletic than any guy you are going to throw at me. I'm going to use those tools to put my stamp on this game." It was never more evident to me than that two hand jam over Manns in the second half. 9.5 times out of 10 when Zeke gets the ball in that position on the block it is either going to be a hook shot, a turnaround jumper, a pass out or some other weak move. Last night, there was none of that. Zeke caught the ball blasted around Manns and threw it down with authority. Having a guy with the physical tools of Zeke is a luxury that no other team in this conference has. If he can bring that kind of intensity every night I don't see very many teams in the MAC that will be beating us. I'm guessing Dave's "he finally gets it", and my "he's come to the realization..." would essentially mean the same thing. Whether we can look back on this as a "breakout game" isn't known because we don't yet know how he performed after this game. But, I think your last statement (in bold) would obviously have a lot to do with that. I guess we might know in another couple of weeks.

Was surprised to see him in there as much as he was. Yes it was disappointing not to have a chance to get Egner involved, but at least he wasn't exposed like his former HS teammate was. Defensively, there is NO way he could stay with either Nik or Brett. And we thought Euton's 3-pt shooting style was a little unorthodox. I know it's early, but I think Egner looks to be the far better prospect for college ball. I shared this once before, but since you brought it up, I'll mention it again. I knew very little about either one of those guys a couple of years go. But, I know some coaches in the area that are very familiar with them. When I heard that one of them was going to Akron, and the other was going to Ken+, I asked for some opinions. In their opinion, Henninger is the better player. But, I hope I end up being right that Egner's skill set appears to be the better fit for us. I agree with the assessment from last night. Henninger appeared to really be a mismatch against our post guys.

Don't see where Steve had a good night offensively. I think he was better on the defensive side. He was 2-7 from the field and 1-2 from the line. If Brett McKnight didn't step up and have a big game, the Zips would have been toast. The starters other than Zeke were a combined 8-30 from the field, a sizzling 25%. Good that the team could overcome that and if the other starters can step their game up just a little, the Zips will be very formidable. You may have forgotten about the 2 key 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 3 assists (team lead), and NO turnovers. Compared to some of what we've seen lately, I'd say that's a very productive night for him.

A few thoughts: 1) The scary thing about Zeke is that even though he had 20 points and 11 rebounds, he missed MANY opportunities to add to those totals. The fact is, he's going to be able to do a lot of things against MAC-level teams because of his size, even if he never becomes a great player. I wouldn't call it a "breakout game", but simply a realization on his part that he's a tough guy for MAC teams to match up against. 2) I wouldn't worry about Abreau, as a few people have suggested. He did a nice job controlling the ball last night, and had his hands full just doing that. Just understand that we've seen him do some creative things against some lower level competition. A lot of that stuff isn't going to happen against teams like Ken+. 3) I'm so happy that McNees and McKnight had good nights offensively. Along with Zeke, I think these two guys producing offensively is what will carry us to our greatest heights, and not just in points. If you noticed, these three guys alone accounted for over HALF of our assists. 4) We had a night where we scored 60+ points against a good defensive team with very little from Nik and McClanahan. I think that's the way it ought to be for our best chance of success (see point #3 and some of my previous posts about who we were relying on early to produce our points).

I'm hearing today that it's going to be on the 18th.

I know Dr. Z. If only we can get to the point where we can reasonably expect 11 other performances just like it. I hope that's not so far away. Reminds me a bit of that year we had an awful team but beat Marshall at home in the "broken leg" game. Or, a few years ago when we almost beat Cincinnati at the Rubber Bowl in the middle of a dismal year.

Steve is a mystery to me right now too. He has the most consistent and solid mechanics from long range as anyone on the team, yet he's not hitting shots. And he appears to pass up some good opportunities to shoot. He's still a very good "QB" out there, but I hope the point totals come roaring back soon. Saturday would be a good time.

First off, I wish him the best. He brought in some guys who gave us an unexpectedly successful couple of years that I will always remember. I always felt like we had a pretty capable guy at the helm when he was here, and had far greater faith in his ability than that of his predecessor or successor. Dr. Z might have a good point. Maybe JD wasn't a "long haul" kind of guy. But lets face it. In the MAC, if JD would have had a 3rd successful season, he likely would have been lured away by a big program. So, maybe it's better to have coaches come in here with a more urgent agenda, and do whatever it takes for us to win right away, because if their success becomes consistent, they're going to be gone anyway.

I'm disappointed too. That probably means it will only last a few minutes, like the Zippy mascot of the year thing. The only positive is that it catches the crowd when they are getting fired up for the game, but a was wishing for a big halftime show. I guess we'll have to wait and see if this other celebration that's being mentioned will materialize later in the month, and if a decent amount of people will be able to attend.

Interesting....thanks. I wonder if this means that the recognition at the OU game is going to be pretty minor?

Good thoughts. I like the weekend game idea myself. But, since Ken+ would already be a near-sellout with the basketball crowd alone, it might just be that the OU game was really the only other option. But, I would have stil loved to see the Ken+ fans have to sit through that.

And that "loaner car" thing was probably just a big misunderstanding or something. Whoever they choose to replace him against us, I just hope it's an absolutely poor decision.

The SuperDraft is on the 13th. Not sure if it is like the NFL draft where the players actually attend. I think I'll check on that ... I watched last year, the players are there. Also, Porter was there too, I think. I guess they are all leaving for Baltimore Thursday morning? I don't know, that seems pretty rushed. I hope the whole team is there Wednesday night. Personally I think they deserve a huge ceremony, not just part of a halftime show, but maybe it will be real nice and I will be wrong about it not being good enough. Read my post from earlier. Wouldn't you rather have the celebration in the JAR where there is a crowd of possibly 4,000+ or so already there for the basketball game? I'm sure some of you may have been dreaming of some sort of downtown ticker tape parade, with people hanging out of downtown office windows yelling and screaming, and players in limos waving to the crowds, and masses of people partying in the streets. I'd wish for that too, but I know anything of that magnitude is far from realistic. A halftime show during a basketball game at the JAR is really the only option.

Attendance of 248 may not sound so bad when you consider that it may be higher than the number of people who were still at the Info at the conclusion of the Buffalo-Akron game this year.

If he plays with abandon, he'll be too much like Humpty. And I don't want him to be like Humpty. I think he could end up being much better than that. Diggs is a no-brainer as far as "athletic" is concerned.

You got me. I often correct people about that myself.

Just basketball? I would say J Ball was a real athlete, he did things on the court I haven't seen since he left. If we extend it to football, D Smith. I have yet to see anybody dominate a game like he did at Ken+. Marcel Boyce...Anthony Buford...Jason Taylor...Eric McLaughlin...Joe Jakubik...Christie Smith...Bill Turner...I'm sure I'm missing about 30 others. Let's not hoist any jersey's to the rafters just yet...a short-handed Oral Roberts abused us in the paint last night. Zeke is 0-2 vs. K.e.n.t. A nice 1st pull (of the requisite 20) on the rafter hoist would be to key the start of a multi-game win streak vs. the F.lashes on Saturday. Thank you. You saved me some typing. But, I guess I should let the youngsters have a little fun. I'm guessing a lot of people on this board weren't even born when I was watching some of those guys play.

Wasn't the Zippy mascot of the year celebration done as a pre-game festivity? If I remember correctly? I remember him being lowered on a cable from the rafters. Maybe our coach could volunteer to do the same, and be lowered while sporting his new hairdo. I expect that this will be a bigger deal than a 2-minute intermission show. And I think halftime is better than pre-game, since more people will be in their seats at that time.

We're a McClanahan Miracle away from having a bad loss to YSU. Buffalo always plays us tough in their house. Right now I worry about them more than [K.e.n.t. - Guyton]. You can include Bethune Cookman in that conversation of games we were lucky to win too, and both were at home. Keith made particular mention in his post-game interview last night about our inconsistent play. Personnel wise, I don't see Ken+ being as strong as the last couple of years. And I hope that proves to be the case on Saturday night.

Is that a misprint? It's a conference basketball game, not an exhibition or a tune-up game against a D-III team. I'd expect something similar to the little presentation when Zippy won mascot of the year. Doing this during a conference basketball game is a good idea since there will already be a crowd of maybe 4,000 people, and the soccer fans should make that larger. It will increase the basketball game attendance, and the two crowds combined will create a great atmosphere for the recognition. A separate celebration wouldn't draw like this, and a good enough draw for a parade is just wishful thinking.

MAX ... I don't agree that iCoach will be gone next year if he doesn't win 5. His back is covered by TW for at least 3 years. I am hoping iCoach can learn and grow into being a good coach. This year he was pathetic. Here I'm not talking about his team, I'm talking about him as a coach. In almost all areas of performance evaluation as a coach I would rate him as unacceptable. Publicly he never threw in the towel so I will give him credit for that. But in two years a lot of growth can take place. Since he will be our coach I hope he seizes the opportunity. In the final analysis, if he loses the team and school we love loses more. BTW, I think we will win only 3 next year. While that is better than 1, it still makes me sick. Our standards must be set higher. Porter, Dambrot, Mitchell and Engle would never try to convince someone that that level of performance is doing things right. This is my biggest issue. I'm afraid that we're going to lower the bar, and poor seasons will be considered acceptable. I want competition for MAC titles to be the standard, and right now.

Could this thread have come an abrupt end after the stellar performance by the Big 11 schools yesterday Some things just speak for themselves. Big 11 is just another wanna-be power conference.

Buckzip, Actually, I think you're finally doing what I have suggested all along. You want to preach about the high and almighty Red and Silver, go to the OSWho board. You want someone to sympathize with OSWho's pathetic 0-9 record against the SEC, go to the OSWho board. You want to find people who forget about their 1-5 record in the last 6 games against Top-5 teams, go to an OSWho board. And if you want to find people who are in complete denial over OSWho's 64th ranked SOS, you can find them there too. On the other hand, if you want to find a group of people who treat the Suckeyes like competition, you will find plenty of that here, and that should be expected.