1981 grad

I was also curious why college basketball did not use quarters and found these answers on the internet: James Naismith's original rules of basketball provided for halves instead of quarters. (15 minute halfs) Colleges began playing under that rule. The pros went to quarters to make the game longer so people would feel like they got their moneys worth for paying to watch a game. According to the NCAA record book, college basketball used four 10-minute quarters for three seasons: 1951-52, 52-53, 53-54. and then switched back.

I thought this game was well played even when the Zips were down in the second half. I was disappointed in the way we open the game in that our first 10 shots were all 3 balls. We need to establish an inside game playing the ball through Dog. In the beginning of the 2nd half we had open looks but could not make a basket. I thought Noah and Josh played great defense. Toledo made some nice shots but they were not on dribble penetration. In the first half their center was too quick for Big Dog. I would have liked to see more of Utomi but it was not to be. I thought Kwan had a great game. When we were down by 11 he out muscled a Toledo player and then made a layup and and a 3 point play. Our starters and Josh really played well in the clutch. The team did a great job of getting the ball to Big Dog during our run and Toledo could not stop him. Somebody mentioned that when the crowd is going wild that the contest actually quiet the crowd. It happened tonight. The place was roaring and everybody shut up to watch them collect boxes and find Zippie. Finally, I thought the refs did a great job. Very few whistles tonight until the end of the game. The refs let the guys play and there was a little bumping but it went both ways. The refs called traveling very closely on both teams. Great game to watch with the crowd getting into it. Now we have to beat Kent on Friday. Go Zips!!!

I got to the game as they were playing the National Anthem. I was hoping they would play it during the game.

I was at the game and did not see it. When did they play the Titanic Buzzer Beater?

Besides a win, there are certain things I would like to see tonight from the Zips. I would like to see Utomi have another double figure game. Give him some extended playing time and see what he does with it. Would like him to score from the inside. Defense- KD indicates that this team is going to play better defense. Maybe this will be the game our guards will stop the dribble drive penetration off the high screens. Kwan- I think Kwan has gotten away from his inside game. Would like to see Kwan penetrate and dish or score around the basket. Do not rely only on the 3 ball. Poke and the bench. KD want to play the bench more but indicates we give up offense. Dunn Martin can penetrate and feed the Poke. Love watching the dunks! Need to get solid play from the bench so the starters do not go 30 plus minutes. Big Dogs buzzer beater on the big screen with Titanic Music And yes, a double digit win! Go Zips!

Utomi scored 19 points in 15 minutes last game. If playing time is earned and not given, then Daniel Utomi has earned 20 minutes of playing time next game. With the tournament coming up where we will have to play 3 games in 3 days, it would be nice to know if Utomi can be a consistent player. However, that is not going to happen if you limit him to 10 minutes per game unless he gets hot. Currently, we have 4 guards, Antino, Noah, Josh and Dunn Martin. In the beginning of the season, KD started Josh as a forward. Josh is mainly a 3 point shooter and is shooting 35% on the 3 ball. Utomi, is limited play is shooting 50% from the 3 line. Utomi has gotten to the foul line more times that Josh playing one quarter of the minutes. KD should keep Josh as a 2 guard and Utomi should pick up the extra minutes. (I like to see Josh with Dunn Martin or Antino since they are more aggressive on dribble drive penetration and can create shots for Josh.) We have 4 forwards, Jimond, Kwan, Utomi and Aron Jackson. If Jimond and Kwan were to play around 28 minutes, that would leave 20 minutes for Utomi and about 5 minutes for Aron Jackson. I always liked Aron's hustle game but he is having a bad shooting year from the 3 line at 22%. The last couple of games he has just played 4 minutes. Utomi is not as good a rebounder as Kwan or Jimond but he does have an inside game and would like to see him score more around the basket. He is not a liability on defense. If Utomi can turn into a consistent double digit scorer it gives us a better chance of winning in Cleveland.

I am a season ticket holder and have bought GA tickets numerous times during the season at the window before a game. The first time I bought them and identified myself as a season ticket holder the price was $10. I believe this is a fringe benefit of being a season ticket holder is to buy GA tickets for $10. Great policy since it rewards those people who support the team.

As soon as Dunn Martin comes in we go on a roll. When he went out in the first half our 10 point lead shrunk to 1. Coincidence?

Noah has to keep his man in front of him. As soon as there is a screen set he gets beat. He anticipated the screen and his man just blew right by him again.

Eastern plays the match up zone where once we get the ball into Big Dog it was one on one with their center. Their guards stay out on the perimeter and the forwards stay in the corner. I look for Big Dog to have a Big night tonight. I am hoping to see more Dunn Martin as he has been playing well. If KD theory is that playing time is earned and not given, Dunn Martin should be playing close to 20 minutes. I watched KD's show and he thinks that Josh is going to have a great last part of the season. I hope he is right. It was great that Josh had a couple of drives to the basket last game but mainly he is a 3 point shooter. If he could start shooting the 3 ball above 40% it would really help the team especially against the zone tonight.

I was at that game and remember how loud the Buffalo students were that game and I am surprised there were only 40 students. I remember other Buffalo games where there seemed to be close to 100 Buffalo students and they were always loud. It is great that students have passion for MAC basketball no matter what the school. I think having a full house of passionate students makes for a great college atmosphere. The Kent game is usually a sellout and makes that game great instead of half filled stands that make for a quiet Jar. I have gone to the Kent game at Kent and our students are loud and make a good showing. Looking forward to the Kent games this year and hopefully we will have a big Akron contingent at that game.

Kwan is going through a mid season shooting slump the last 3 games going 8 for 37 from the field and 4 of 22 from the 3 line. He seems to be shooting the ball with confidence but the long distance 3 ball has deserted him. The good news is that his defense is great and he has been a beast on the boards. I am hoping that he can get his shooting eye back as the team plays so much better when he scores in double figures.

Great! Love the music. Now that should be played on the big screen at the next game!!

KD indicated on the post game that was the play if Big Dog had single coverage. Give him the ball and let him take the last shot. Big Dog indicated postgame that he practices that shot all the time in practice and knew it was good as soon as it left his hand.

Does anyone recall the last game that Akron won on a buzzer beater?

I heard Kd on the post game show. On our next to last inbounds play when we were up by 1 he wanted to lob the ball into Big Dog but was persuaded by one of his coaches to get the ball to Kwan. Akron was afraid that if the ball went to Big Dog they would foul him right away. If Kwan was not open then Noah was to call timeout. Instead, Noah threw the ball away. Why can't Kd come up with some inbounds plays that get the ball into our best foul shooter instead of Big Dog and practice those plays so we do not have crucial turnovers. Great clutch shot by Big Dog. Dunn Martin really looks good. I wish Kd would give him more time. Poke also played well. Went 3 for 3 for 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block in 7 minutes. Love watching him dunk the ball and block shots. Brings the crowd to their feet. What was Kwan thinking when he took the long 3 when we still had a lot of clock. Ivy made a great play to get the rebound and then we throw the ball away. This team is struggling when Kwan struggles. We really need him to come out of his shooting slump. Nice to see Josh drive to the basket and score from inside. We shot 21% from 3 point arc. It seems to me that Akron is now taking more and more deep threes where we are several feet behind the 3 line. Not sure but this could be why we are not making the 3 ball. Great game for the Zips. Not sure if we top that but looking forward to the game on Friday.

.

And Hughs picked up 2 fouls in 2 minutes of play! These refs were calling it close. The only bad foul is when he reached in as he came off a screen. Zeke used to pick up these fouls all the time. When our guards keep getting beat off the dribble and he has to protect the rim he will pick up an occasional foul. I am hoping to see more of him tonight.

Lost in Saturday's defeat was how well Poke played when given some significant minutes. He was 3-4 and had a nice moves to the basket. He needs to learn to box out and rebound better. He still gets pushed around under the basket. Dunn Martin had 2 steals in five minutes in the first half and never sees the floor again. He has a difficult time stopping the dribble drive penetration but that goes for every guard on the Zips team. More importantly than using the bench, we need to stop shooting the quick 3 ball. We shot 37 three balls, more than half of out of 66 shots. We need to have players do more than shoot the 3 ball. Even when Big Dog is not in the game we need to run offense that gets us some inside shots. Utomi is a big body and strong with some inside moves. He should do more than shoot 3 balls. It would be nice to blow somebody out and maybe this will be the game. Looking forward to seeing more bench play. Go Zips!

The Zips played poorly on the road and deserved to lose the game yesterday. However, I find it ironic that in our last loss to Gonzaga, we had a questionable call and technical against Big Dog that took him out of the game with 4 fouls. In that game, Big Dog was playing defense and put his hand on the Gonzaga's centers back and he reacted like he had been shoved in the back and nearly fell over. The Gonzaga crowd reacted and the ref under the basket called a foul on Big Dog away from the ball. Big Dog complained, and then was hustled to half court by his team and the ref whistled a ridiculous T while Big Dog was at half court. Big Dog went off the court and it changed the complexion of the game because he was ineffective with 4 fouls and did nothing the rest of the game. Yesterday, the 2nd foul on Big Dog was an offensive foul when the defender held Big Dogs arm as Big Dog was going for position and would not let go. The ref did not make a call and the arms became entangled and Big Dog raised his arm to try to get rid of the defender and the defender fell backward. Ref called double foul? The third foul was at when after the half when Big Dog and an Ohio U player started jawing after the half and as Big Dog was walking away from the player towards the Zips locker room the ref called the T. On the last foul, the slow motion replay shows that the defender was not looking at the ball or Big Dog when the foul was called. Instead, he was looking directly at the ref under the basket. Big Dog's shoulder makes contact with the defender's head as Big Dog is moving toward the ball. The defender is looking at the ref and as soon as Big Dog touches his head it snaps back and he falls over like he had been hit by a freight train, the crowd reacts, and the ref under the basket calls the 4th foul on Big Dog away from the ball and we take him out of the game. (Just like Gonzaga) It is unfortunate that 3 of the 4 fouls against Big Dog were garbage. However, coaches watch tape and I think we will see more of this, especially on the road where refs react to the crowd. The good new is that Poke got plenty of playing time and looked good. We will need him to play well with Hughs injury if we are going to win a tournament game.

The refs did not help but you have to overcome that on the road. Big Dog picked up 3 bogus fouls, a T, a double foul, and a foul away from the basket where the guy put his head into Big Dogs shoulder and jerked his head. Kwan had his first bad shooting game and it hurt us with Big Dog out. Utomi did not contribute at all this game. Poke played well and had a nice turnaround shot around the basket. Dunn Martin had a good first half but did not see him in he 2nd half. Bottom line, this team did not play well enough to win.

Another great game that is going down to the last 3 minutes. Why should we expect anything different.

Another terrible 1st half. There is no way they can play this poorly on the road. Jimond has stopped scoring inside. Utomi has done nothing. Noah turning the ball over. Josh air balls a wide open 3. Kwan is a rebounding machine, Antino is playing great defense, and Dunn Martin has a couple of steals. This game is still winnable with a good second half. The defense has been good. The refs have made some terrible calls. The drive by Antino was a clear continuation, the offensive call on illegal screen by Utomi was worse, and the double foul on Big Dog was absurd. Big Dog is getting killed when he has the ball and no call. It sounds like there may be a T on Big Dog at the end of the half which would be his 3rd. Not sure who these refs are but they are killing us.

I think part of it is conditioning. On numerous occasions late in the game he seems to always miss short indicating he is tired.

I said it in an earlier post in Northern game but the inbound lob to Big Dog late in the game is a mistake. KD needs to come up with another play to a player who can shoot foul shots. (Antino would be on top of my list)