1981 grad

As a season ticket holder, I am tired of seeing the same teams over and over again. Who wants to watch the same movie 10 times. As a general rule, if I have no idea where the school is located, it is a cupcake: Bluffton?

You are correct in indicating that 3s do not draw fouls. Reggie has played 233 minutes and has only taken 5 foul shots. Kretzer has played 288 minutes and has taken only 18 foul shots making 17. Deji has played 245 minutes and taken 45 foul shots. That is a good reason to have Deji on the floor at the end of the game. We are ranked 256th in foul shots attempted.

Are we proficient at shooting the 3 ball? I looked up the stats for this season and we rank 140th in 3 point shooting percentage. We do not have one player ranked in the top 100 in shooting the 3 ball. And remember we have played some really weak teams and shot a lot of open 3 pointers. However, we are ranked 27th in taking shots behind the 3 line. Coppin State is ranked 2nd in taking 3 point shots so shooting the 3 frequently is not necessarily a recipe for success. I do not have a problem when we shoot a 3 after we run our offense and a player has a wide open 3 or we move the ball well on transition and we shoot a wide open 3. I like Deji's 3 point selection. He takes his time shooting and only shoots the 3 when he is wide open. However, our team loves the 3 ball no matter what the situation. Last night Antino dribbled down the floor, had room and shot a 3 a couple feet behind the 3 line without running any offense and misses badly. DK yanked him and talked to him. However, Kretzer shoots a 3 four feet behind the 3 line, misses badly and he stays in. McAdams first 3 touches were 3 points shots and misses. Antino is thinking why is it ok for them to shoot the 3 and not me. I think the goal of any offense should be a layup or dunk. I believe players should develop their game and that means learning to attack the basket, learning a pick and roll or slip screen, or working for high percentage shots. I believe players who are 3 point specialist never develop their games and never reach their potential. Have Kretzer and McAdams improved their offensive game since their freshman year? I saw the same lack of development with Nitro several years ago. His senior season was his worst season. I think this team has a lot of potential considering our youth. I think Kwan could be a 15-20 point scorer his senior season if he develops his game. He has length, athleticism, a good first step and a good shot. After Lebron lost the championship in Miami, he went to KD and asked him for advice. KD told him you are relying too much on the 3 ball. Develop your inside game and your post moves. Lebron followed his advice and the rest is history. I think that relying on the 3 ball sends the wrong message to our young players and that we should work on penetration and scoring easy baskets even if it may not be our strength at the present time.

I also do not like the obsession with the 3 point shot. I watched the team warm up before the second half. The entire team practiced 3 point shooting. Not one of them stepped inside the 3 point arc. The only exception was big dog who practiced his hook shot. The second half started with 6 straight 3 point shots. We went 0 for 6. None of the shots even hit the inside of the rim. The only good thing was that the bricks led to long rebounds that we were able to snag on a couple of occasions. Kretzer took one 3 pointer 6 feet behind the 3 point arc. It wasn't even close. When KD was asked about the first 6 shots he indicated that they were good shots. Further, since we are hitting about 35% of our 3 point shots, that the percentages will indicate that they will go in. Kretzer and McAdams are getting a lot of minutes and that is their game, shooting the 3 ball. As long as KD thinks this is good, this team will live or die with the 3 point shot. I think it is one thing to shoot a wide open 3 after several passes or in transition when you are wide open but a lot of our 3 pointers are off the dribble when we really haven't attempted to run any offense or try to get a good shot. Considering the Big Dog was finally playing well, I would like to see more of an inside game. I also like how Gladden and Jackson can penetrate. I hope they get more minutes. KD indicated that Gladden got hurt and that is why he did not play more tonight.

I agree with you 100%. I am also a season ticket holder and I am amazed that there is no half time entertainment. At the Marshall game, there were 3000 people in attendance and only one concession stand open. The line was 20 deep at half time. You complained about the giveaways. Does this mean you did not like the Proenza bobblehead?

I do not know how this team will do in the MAC. This is a very inexperienced team and many of these guys did not play big minutes last year. I believe this could be our worst year in the MAC. If Pat does not have a good game, Big Dog has not been much help off the bench. Kwan also has not been shooting the ball well the last 3 games against division 1 competition. I believe he needs to attack the basket more and stop settling for a 3 ball. He has the length and athleticism to be real good going to the hoop. The good thing is his defense and rebounding have improved the last few games. I would like to see Kretzer do more on offense. He has not produced offensively this year and I am surprised to see him on the floor at the end of the game. I like Evans and his defense. I would rather have him in at the end of the game rather than Kretzer.

After watching the first 10 minutes, it was hard to believe this was a division one game. We had only 2 baskets the first 8 minutes. That has happened more than once this season. Gladden really looked good with his start. Nice to see somebody breaking towards the basket and getting some nice rebounds. He has really improved since the tournament. McAdams shot really well from the 3 point line. Kretzer had another poor scoring game. He missed an easy layup. I am really impressed with Evans this year. Playing tough defense and just seems to always be in the right place. Ibi had a great block from behind. When opening I thought we would win if the big guys played well. Pat was a beast on the boards. Made some great shots in a crowd. We looked more aggressive than the Heard and outrebounded them by 10. Stupid coaching decision. Marshall: When we shot foul shots had 2 players all the way down at the other end of the court. Late in the second half Ibi got an offensive rebound because they did not have anyone behind him. No idea what their coach was thinking. Cost them 2 points. Akron: Putting Jackson in the corner. We pass it to him and he gets trapped in the corner. He is not big enough to play the wing and not experience enough to get rid of the ball quickly. Post game. Second post game in the row where could not hear KD. Only in Akron.

Marshall arrives tomorrow. Will this be 3 losses in a row for the Zips and back to back home losses? (I do not count Bluffton as a win since they are division 3). When is the last time we had back to back home losses against division one opponents? Marshall lost to both South Carolina and Penn State. However, they played West Virginia tough and only lost by a few points. They are 4-7 but have played better competition. I believe we can win but everyone must play well. When I looked at the box score at North Dakota I noticed that they only had seven players and only played 5 the majority of the game. However, we still got beat. Not a good sign. We need a big game from our big guys, Pat, Big Dog, and Kwan. If we do not score from the paint I believe things could get ugly. Our outside shooting has been streaky at best. I wonder if B.J. will get a start. Hopefully, we can get a win to prepare us for the MAC that starts next week.

Anyone that thinks a new arena will bring in more fans only has to look at the football stadium to realize that this is "fools gold". The thought back then was that better facilities, better football players, better record, and more people. After producing a terrible football team for 3 straight years with coach I, the football games are scarcely attended. Add a schedule with Tuesday night games, and it is a ghost town. A new arena will not increase attendance. I would bet the last 5 years the attendance was worse with the new stadium than when we played at the rubber bowl. A couple of years ago the basketball team went up to students and asked them to attend the games. The word of mouth brought more students. KD has had a good basketball team on the floor and we have had good attendance the last 7 years. Having a good team will increase attendance. The winning streak a couple of years ago increased our attendance. The best way to increase our attendance is to put a great product on the floor. When you go to the movies, do you have a great time if the movie stinks but the theatre is brand new with state of the are seating? When our soccer team was great, attendance was great. When we became average, the attendance became average. If the team starts stinking, the attendance will stink even though we have great a great soccer field. My renovation for the JAR would be better scoreboard, better sound system and better seating for general admission.

As big as Big Dog is he could throw a mean pick or screen, especially up high. However we never use him that way. He is always down low on the post. Anyway, most of our players have no idea how to use an off the ball screen anyway. It is rare. We use a double screen as part of our set offense but that is to get the ball to a guard who is moving away from the basket. I think we need to be creative to score points this season.

I only saw the 2nd half but it was interesting to see Big Dog struggle and throw up some wild shots 5 feet from the basket. We need him to get in shape and be good or this is going to be a long season. I heard KD on the post game show and he said that we have to start playing inside out and not the other way. That is a good thing to hear because us playing a perimeter game is not going to work. Gladden was also on the post game show and when asked about his talents he indicated that he likes to get to the basket. He is a big body and we can use somebody with some toughness. He looked terrible during the tournament but hopefully will be a contributor when we get into the MAC. KD also indicated that the guys are not in shape. I do not understand that statement. How can guys not be in shape when we are a quarter into the season? He also indicated that the guys are not playing well in practice. So the poor play in the two losses is easier to understand. We looked better in the tournament than we are playing now. Hopefully, they can turn things around.

How do you argue with success? I have watched Akron basketball for 20 years. The last 10 have been far better than the previous 10. Remember, Akron did not even make the NCAA tournament since Higgins was the coach back in the 80s. I have seen a lot of great basketball at the Q with KD as the coach. This year he should have had 2 or 3 seniors that would have made this team very competitive, Alex?, Tree and Harney. I do not believe it was KD's fault that these 3 players did not finish at Akron. Also, numerous other players have transferred to division 2 programs when it was obvious that they did not have division one talent. I do not believe that is unusual in a competitive division one program. We have benefitted from players transferring from other programs when they did not get playing time. I judge success for a MAC team by making the NCAA tournament or even the NIT. By that standard we have had a successful program under KD. I went to Detroit 2 years ago and realized that for us to win a NCAA game we will need an exceptional athletic team that plays well under pressure. There is always hope for the future based on our young team.

It is difficult to win on the road and we are not a very experienced team. The announcers thought this was a big upset but after watching Saturdays game I did not expect to win tonight. I only saw the second half but that was enough. Big Dog keeps missing easy layups at the end really hurt. One time he used his body to get position on the smaller defender and scored. He should have been doing that all night. Pat had his worst game. Ibi had some nice drives at the end of the game. We need him to drive to the basket the entire game. He is our most athletic player. It was interesting that we made our comeback without Kwan or Pat in the lineup. We also lost at the end without Pat or Kwan. Rebounding at the end of the game was another problem. You cannot let the other team rebound a missed foul shot with less than 2 minutes remaining. This team needs to get better and attack the basket and rebound or it may be a very long season.

KD cannot play big dog and Pat at the same time. Pat needs space to work his shot and Big Dog is taking up that space. Glad to see KD sub right after Pat lost the ball.

Not sure why KD had Kretzer in at the end. He did not score the entire game. When we are down one why do Kwan and Kretzer have to shoot 3 pointers. This 3 go to guys last year were Q, Tree and Harney. There was not really a guy on the floor who has the experience to take the last shot and it showed. I would have had Ibi drive to the basket. I think Kwan was 0 for 10 after hitting his first two 3 pointers. This is a young team and a tight game will help our experience. Pat had some really nice baskets near the rim and there were some really nice passes to him. Jackson played very well and had only one turnover that I remember. Middle Tenn really pressured our guards up top and I thought they handled the pressure very well. The refs call some tough offensive fouls against us that hurt.

Thanks for the information. Tree has given so much to this program. It is a shame he will not celebrate senior night with his parents. I believe he has a lot of talent and hopefully he will be able to develop that talent for a professional career if that is his desire. I wish him the best for the future.

For those that know the NCAA rules I have a question. Since Tree was a senior and played a few games this season, has he used up his eligibility or can he come back and play Division one or two basketball. Based on the article, it seems like KD does not want him back but I am curious if he could still play somewhere.

Against decent competition: Miami, 20 minutes 2 rebounds Penn State 27 minutes 3 rebounds S. Carolina 29 minutes 1 rebound Kwan has a great deal of potential. However, he needs to get stronger, learn to box out better, and be more aggressive to be a better rebounder. Without Tree, we really will need him to be a better rebounder when we play better teams.

Kwan is one of the few players to take a 12 foot jump shot. I have no clue why McAdams, Kretzer, Evans and others don't try easier shots but only want to shoot a 3. I think Kwan has improved but not sure he is destined for stardom. He needs to get stronger, rebound better and learn to drive to the basket. I wish he would look at video of the Serb. The Serb would fake a jump shot, get his man off his feet and then drive to the basket and score or dish the ball. I think Kwan could be that type of player. Once players have to play him close to stop him from shooting, he has the type of body and length to get to the basket.

It is amazing how much better Pat is playing with Tree out of the lineup. Tree gets triple teamed down low and the ball movement either stops, turnover, or it gets sent back outside without taking advantage of the triple team. When Pat gets the ball there is no triple team and he has been able to score down low. We definitely miss Trees rebounding and toughness on defense. We need to do a better job with Tree and Pat playing together.

We finally had a good second half. We figured out how to attack the zone by getting the ball to Kwan at the free throw line who fed it to Pat underneath and he was scoring. Reggie finally found his shot and hit some open 3 balls. Pine Bluff could not score in the 2nd half. There coach did not complain the entire game and then went ballistic when Kwan blocked a shot and the ref did not call a foul. Would have love to see a replay. Could not tell if it was a good block. Worst play of the game: Kretzer had an open layup. Instead of taking the ball to the hoop he threw it 2 rows into the stands. He needs to take the ball to the hoop and finish. Best play of the game: Noah had a fast break where he had 2 spin moves and finished for a layup. Deji had a great dunk on a Reggie miss. (Reggie had a contested layup but chose to move away from the basket and take a 5 foot jump shot). Reggie needs to take the ball to the hoop and finish.

In the second half we got away from what we were doing well in the first half, driving to the basket, taking threes when we were open and squared up and feeding the ball to Pat. We also missed some easy shots. Reggie had an alley oop and missed the shot, Evans missed an easy layup. The lack of assists does not bother me if we are getting layups off the dribble. When Pat gets the ball and scores there is no assist but no big deal. I really like how we are keeping the lane open. Penn State played much better the 2nd half and deserved the victory. How about our foul shooting. Simply amazing!!

We are not a second half team. When is the last time we hit a 3. But we still keep shooting from there.

I never thought I would say this: Why didn't Kwon start the 2nd half. Having Reggie and Kretzer in at the same time is hurting us. Would rather start Ibitayo. We are having success driving to the basket. Reggie missed a chippie and the rest were tough shots. Robotham is the man when we need a shot

I am pleasantly surprised how well we are playing. Evans, Robotham, and Ibitayo able to get to the hoop and finish. Something we did not have last year. Kwon is making some difficult shots. Pat is playing the best I have ever seen him play. And Reggie is finally sinking some 3 pointers. Other than some stupid turnovers, we are playing to our potential. We have also seen some great blocks. Hopefully, they keep it up for the second half.