Akron-NC A&T In Game

[johnnyzip84]

Aggies have shot 62% for the 1st half to force a 35-35 tie at the break. Zips' shaky defense against the three is alive once again. We need to close out on their shooters and get some interior offense going to put these guys away.

[bUAkronG]

well? How did we do?

[Hilltopper]

well? How did we do?

Blow out in the 2nd half. 78-61 Zips. Humpty sets a new career high with 23pts.

[Dave in Green]

Zips woke up from finals at halftime, and scored 43-26 in the second half for a 78-61 final. If they'd played the first half like the second, the game would have been a laugher.Humpty scores a new high of 23 points and makes more fabulous moves than freshman mistakes. Conyers is once again everywhere -- smothering on defense, passing wizard and high-percentage shooter on offense and a force on the boards at both ends.I'm beginning to like the way this team plays together a lot more.

[Valpo Zip]

I am a little concerned with the fact that our only way to score seems to be from behind the arc. We don't have any inside offense as chris and Bardo are so soft and weak in the paint.I am glad we are finding a way to win, but soon enough we will face MAC teams with a better scouting report and they will guard us at the arc and there goes our offense down the drain. Was nice to see Zeke at the game on his birthday, good job by the few rowdies wishing him a happy b-day. Note: I can't believe that KD didn't throw Swiech in (not even in garbage time).

[RootforRoo44]

Took a few pictures, got some of Zeke, the balloon hat we made for him, and some of balloon zippy. Enjoy.

[RootforRoo44]

He didn't want to put it on at firstBUT we got him to finallyUA

[GoZips]

Poking around reading the different view points I came across a really good game analysis.Their Point of ViewDon't you think this writer and coach Eaves figured it out? I do. Excellent game summary. No wonderfor once I wasn't p*ssed at the refs.Thanks for the great in game photos. A couple of them are poster quality.Go Zips ... !!!! Go (Happy Birthday) Zeke ... !!!! Go Trevor ... !!!!

[skip-zip]

skhorbotly....you're post is right on the money. It's not so much that a guy like Bardo isn't scoring, it's that the opponents can see that he is not even attempting to score. If an opponent sees that you don't have to worry about the guy in the post, it makes their life a lot easier. And without the threat to score in the post, the inside-out ball movement is less effective in freeing up open shooters. I like your point about the MAC teams. In a couple of weeks we will no longer be playing the Walsh's, Fairleigh Dickinson's, Urbana's, NCA&T's or Eastern Kentucky's anymore. Our league teams will be better than most of the teams we've played thus far, and will be better prepared.You can only have so much success throwing the ball around the perimeter and shooting 3-pointers.

[Quickzips]

My game thoughts morning after:Sat about 2 rows behind Zeke. Wow does he pass the eyeball test. Still filling out that 7'0" frame, but he is every bit of that 7'0". Nice kid. Was very cordial to all the well wishers that came over to greet him. Look forward to seeing him on the court.Humpty's confidence is growing every game out there. That is certainly BAD news for the rest of the conference. He's going to cause some opponents nightmares this year. He just has so much confidence in his own abilities that you can't help but be impressed. It was nice to see him take charge of the team at times tonight. Any time we needed someone to step up and make a play there was Humpty knocking down a 3 or getting out on the fast break off a steal. This kid is going to be a special player for this program.Another very nice game from Conyers. He's still a little jittery on the offensive end at times, and there were times where I thought he had a good shot and passed it up, but he doesn't force things either which is very good. His athleticism is a huge benefit for us. Plays lock down defense (maybe even as good as Nate) and always seems to be in good position to grab rebounds. He's definitley a guy that needs to be getting 20 minutes plus every night.Speaking of forcing things on the offensive end...when is someone going to teach the McKnight brothers to pass out of a double team. Both of them take more ill advised shots in the paint when they draw multiple defenders to them. This is where we really miss Wood. His ability to pass the ball back out of the post when help came was uncanny. Chris and Brett just have that mentality that they have to force the shot up and it leads to too many bad possessions.I was VERY impressed with our ability to fight through A&T's full court pressure. For such a young team I don't think I saw us make one mistake all night against A&T's pressure defense. It was really nice to watch everyone work together like that.A few interesting lineup notes. First was the start at SG going to walkon Eric Coblentz. Roberts and McNees got more minutes, but you have to wonder about how much confidence KD has in those 2 at this point. The other interesting thing was the 3-4 minutes in the 2nd half where we played with 4 forwards (Conyers, Nate and the McKnights) and one guard (either Humpty or McNees). Conyers was playing the 2 guard and did a very nice job. The lineup really seemed to do well together. I expect to see more of that as the season goes on.Overall not much to complain about. We ran into a buzzsaw in the 1st half where A&T couldn't miss a shot if they took everything from half court on their knee's, but the guys hung in there and pulled away in the end.

[GP1]

78 points.....That's what I'm talking about! Much better Zips.

[Dave in Green]

Conyers' confidence should be going up, as KD's confidence in him is obviously going up. Conyers tied old reliable Nate for most minutes played (29), with Humpty next at 28. That's a great sign of confidence from the coach. Not all of what Conyers did shows up in the stats, but some does:* He led the Zips with 6 rebounds, followed by Linhart, Bardo and Brett at 4 each, and the Zips outrebounded the taller Aggies 30-26.* He tied Humpty for most assist with 4.* He hit 3 of 4 from the field.B. Mcknight also deserves some credit. It's obvious that shooting comes easier to him than defending. But from what I saw last night, he was showing more effort to stay with his man on defense than I'd seen in the past. I almost wonder if the greater effort he's putting into defense might be taking a bit away from his shooting focus. If he can get his defense to the point that it satisfies KD, maybe he can refocus on his offense. There's no question he can shoot. But to be a complete offensive player, he also needs to learn when it's better for both himself and the team to pass. When he gets the ball now, other teams know he can be safely double-teamed because he either never looks for or never finds the open man.The team stats for this game were once again mixed. The Zips not only outrebounded a taller team, they had almost twice as many assists (16-9). The Zips had a huge advantage on shots taken (61-38) thanks in part to their small rebounding advantage, but even more to a huge advantage on turnovers.Shooting percentages were not so good for the Zips -- only 60% from the free throw line and 41% from the field. Humpty was 6 of 8 (75%) on 3-pointers, and the rest of the team was only 7 of 28 (25%). The team's 36 3-point attempts compare to only 25 2-point attempts, of which they hit 12 for a decent 48%. But it's important to note that the Aggies' coach focuses his team's defense inside, and plays looser on the perimeter. When a team invites you to take lightly contested 3-pointers, there's nothing wrong with taking what you're given. Humpty had no problem with it, but the rest of the team was cold.The Zips are already a better team than many predicted for such a young one, and they appear to be growing at a good rate. The MAC season will be tough, but the Zips are at least showing the potential to be a contender if things go right.

[gozips19]

i'll also add a few thoughts as this was my first game in person. 1. with all the zeke talk i'll start with props to the rowdies for singing happy b day to the big man during and game. i know he also got a kick out of the banner.2. only cirtique of humpty is that he tries to dribble out of traps too much. when the team calmed down in the second half and worked the ball in the middle to jimmy they were much more effective on o.3. jimmy was the mvp last night! he was the most active player and was a load on the offensive boards. even if he doesn't live up to all the hype i certainly see him as a mike scott type and i'll take that!4. k.d. said earlier in the year that this team will put a few more grey hairs on his head and boy he wasn't kidding! this team can look so good for a 3-4 min. stretch and then look like they've never played the game for the next two. coach was had no voice prior to the game although i heard he let the team have it during half time. if you look up def. of a young team you'd see the zips team photo.5. b mcknight is the teams only low post treat. the teams needs to work on him getting the ball and he really needs to learn how to re post if he isn't getting the ball.6. is c mcknight turning into this years jimmy???? lets hope not this team really needs him.7. eric coblentzl is a grinder! may not be the most athletic guy be gives his all and will contribute to the team.8. really enjoy the effort of this team. they simply wore out nc a&t as the were relentless on d and were the deeper team.9. point 8 really shows just how good of a coach k.d. and his staff is. if he isn't the best in the conference he's right up there. and his his staff did a great job working with the players as they came off the floor. sat right behind the bench and saw all the assistants call for players to sit next to them to go over the game and what they needed to improve or see on the court. props to whole coaching staff.10. had a blast at the game and was pretty happy with the fan turn out considering the circumstances. this team will only get better!

[skip-zip]

gozips19...your point number 2 is an important one. I've brought this up before, and a couple of people choose to get defensive about it, but the numbers speak for themselves. Actually, you are noticing that the problem is that he is trying to dribble OUT of double teams, but the problem is that he is dribbling himself right INTO those double teams, and THEN attempts to maintain his dribble and gets it poked away trying to dribble out. I've been around young basketball players for the past couple of decades, and you really want to see a PGs assist/turnover ratio be somewhere around 3:1, and his ratio is somewhere around 1:3...completely the opposite of where it should be. I'm sure any coach would be concerned by this, and I am sure they're working on it. I'd love to see that get cleaned up sooner rather than later, but oftentimes there's no quick fix when it's a style of play issue. Actually, when Ronnie returns that may help solve some of the problem. Ronnie is very efficient in this area, and will give Humpty the rest he needs so that he is fresher when he is on the floor, and may be able to concentrate more before he gets himself caught in so many of those kinds of situations.

[Deeustin89]

gozips19...your point number 2 is an important one. I've brought this up before, and a couple of people choose to get defensive about it, but the numbers speak for themselves. Actually, you are noticing that the problem is that he is trying to dribble OUT of double teams, but the problem is that he is dribbling himself right INTO those double teams, and THEN attempts to maintain his dribble and gets it poked away trying to dribble out. I've been around young basketball players for the past couple of decades, and you really want to see a PGs assist/turnover ratio be somewhere around 3:1, and his ratio is somewhere around 1:3...completely the opposite of where it should be. I'm sure any coach would be concerned by this, and I am sure they're working on it. I'd love to see that get cleaned up sooner rather than later, but oftentimes there's no quick fix when it's a style of play issue. Actually, when Ronnie returns that may help solve some of the problem. Ronnie is very efficient in this area, and will give Humpty the rest he needs so that he is fresher when he is on the floor, and may be able to concentrate more before he gets himself caught in so many of those kinds of situations.

remember my last post skip? i told ya to start counting anew and throw out the first 8 games. The reason being was because of the difference in confidence/comfortability from early in the year to this point. well so far after one game, the new ratio is 4:3. not near as bad as 1:3, and it will certainly continue to improve. you just have to be patient. and he'll continue to get more comfortable and confidence and make better decisions but the kid plays a more aggressive style than any PG you've ever had here, and it will take an adjustment period. I'll take 3 turnovers 4 assists and 23 points any night of the week if i'm coaching.

[Bleacher Bum]

That balloon Zippy is damn impressive!

[Deeustin89]

That balloon Zippy is damn impressive!

yes whoever made that thing should hire themselves out to kid's birthday parties and county fairs.

[skip-zip]

Deeustin...Once again...I hope you are right, and the problem will eventually be corrected. But even though you state that "I'd take that if I was a coach", I can tell you've never coached. ANY coach, at ANY level who I have EVER been associated with in 30+ years of being involved in basketball would be concerned about a poor assist/turnover ratio from your PG. Now...even if I was just a regular fan....what is the problem you have with someone pointing out a problem area for a particular player? It's part of being a fan. Relax. I'm sure that gozips19 was just doing the same thing, and I don't quite understand why you seem compelled all the time to quickly criticize what amounts to a pretty fair and accurate critique at this point.

[skip-zip]

I want to talk about Jimmy C. for a minute....He came here with some expectations. And we've seen him inserted into the starting lineup many times, including the MAC title game two years ago when Nate had that bad eye injury. I've yet to see anything that indicates that he'll be anything other than a role player. And at times last year, he seemed to be buried at the end of the bench.But....WOW......the last couple of games he's really started to produce.Now, I can't say that if I was his coach that I would have continued to give him more chances to start in hopes that he would suddenly become a big factor, but this could end up being the defining move for KD this season. I hope it continues.Seriously....did anyone...honestly....EVER think we'd see this kind of production from Jimmy?

[Dave in Green]

There's no debate over whether or not freshman players will make freshman mistakes in the early part of their transition to D1 basketball. They all do, and everyone expects it. The mistakes are magnified with a point guard, who typically handles the ball more than any other position and has more leadership responsibilities to get everyone else involved in the offense.It's certainly fair to point out what specific mistakes are being made, and express hope for improvement. But the assumption should be that a good coaching staff working together with a good player will overcome those errors sooner rather than later. How do we know whether or not this is happening? By measuring progress. In some cases it's as simple as putting game numbers on a chart and seeing whether the positive numbers are going up and the negative numbers down or vice versa. So the relevant part of citing the early mistakes is not that they were made, but whether or not they are being steadily reduced.If any freshman's positive numbers were flat or falling and his negative numbers flat or rising, I'd start feeling some concern that he was not a quick learner or the coaching staff was not doing its job. But Humpty's numbers indicate that he is improving game by game in a steadily rising line up the graph. Under these circumstances, there is more good evidence to support optimism than pessimism when trying to project how this situation will continue to evolve.

[RootforRoo44]

That balloon Zippy is damn impressive!

yes whoever made that thing should hire themselves out to kid's birthday parties and county fairs.

No props on Zeke wearing our "UA" balloon hat?

[Zips Win!]

I want to talk about Jimmy C. for a minute....He came here with some expectations. And we've seen him inserted into the starting lineup many times, including the MAC title game two years ago when Nate had that bad eye injury. I've yet to see anything that indicates that he'll be anything other than a role player. And at times last year, he seemed to be buried at the end of the bench.But....WOW......the last couple of games he's really started to produce.Now, I can't say that if I was his coach that I would have continued to give him more chances to start in hopes that he would suddenly become a big factor, but this could end up being the defining move for KD this season. I hope it continues.Seriously....did anyone...honestly....EVER think we'd see this kind of production from Jimmy?

I agree. He had very high expectations coming in and it looks like his perseverance has paid off. He keeps getting alot of minutes and it is paying off.A few other stats were somewhat surprising on Saturday night. Humpty was 6-8 from the 3 point line. If his outside game develops with a deadly three-point shot, look out.Linhart was 3-14 from the field and 1-8 from the three-point line. Memo to Nate: Stop shooting so much.Roberts only had 12 minutes...McNees had 22.36 three-point shots seems a bit much. I wonder what the stategy will be for this team in this area. I mean, just because you are open from 3-point distance, is there a green light to shoot?

[ZipAlumn]

I want to talk about Jimmy C. for a minute....He came here with some expectations. And we've seen him inserted into the starting lineup many times, including the MAC title game two years ago when Nate had that bad eye injury. I've yet to see anything that indicates that he'll be anything other than a role player. And at times last year, he seemed to be buried at the end of the bench.But....WOW......the last couple of games he's really started to produce.Now, I can't say that if I was his coach that I would have continued to give him more chances to start in hopes that he would suddenly become a big factor, but this could end up being the defining move for KD this season. I hope it continues.Seriously....did anyone...honestly....EVER think we'd see this kind of production from Jimmy?

In the same vein regarding regarding perserverance, hard work, and the number of chances a player gets, I am really surprised at the number of "non-scholarship" players KD has on this team. These kids (sometimes "walk-ons") work hard and get little or no rewards for their efforts, yet they continue year after year with no hope of a scholarship. In my day I tried to walk-on and the coach told me that there were "no walk-ons".

[Quickzips]

I've been around young basketball players for the past couple of decades, and you really want to see a PGs assist/turnover ratio be somewhere around 3:1, and his ratio is somewhere around 1:3...completely the opposite of where it should be. I'm sure any coach would be concerned by this, and I am sure they're working on it. I'd love to see that get cleaned up sooner rather than later, but oftentimes there's no quick fix when it's a style of play issue. Actually, when Ronnie returns that may help solve some of the problem. Ronnie is very efficient in this area, and will give Humpty the rest he needs so that he is fresher when he is on the floor, and may be able to concentrate more before he gets himself caught in so many of those kinds of situations.

I was curious about this point that's been brought up a couple of times now so I did a bit of poking around. I'm not really sure where you get this 3:1 assist:TO ratio from. Now I'm not trying to compare your basketball knowledge to mine, I'm still relatively new to the basketball world and you apparently have a lot more experience than I do. But as I poked around a little bit I found a grand total of three NBA PG's who could claim anything close to a 3:1 career assist:TO ration. Those 3 were Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and Jose Calderon. The list of PG's who don't live up to those number includes former league MVP Steve Nash, former NBA finals MVP Tony Parker and an extensive list of pretty good PG's including Deron Williams, Mo Williams, Mike Bibby, Rajon Rondo and Andre Miller. I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement to Humpty's game, but with all of these good pro-PG's failing to achieve that 3:1 mark is it really reasonable to expect at freshman in college who has played in 9 games so far to hit that mark already???

[skip-zip]

Zips win....I have to admit....I'm surprised at any game where McNees would get more minutes than Roberts. I'm not seeing an equal skill set there. I think Roberts should clearly have the most minutes as the 2-guard. Zips win again...In my opinion, I think Nate's problem is that he's feeling the pressure to contribute more in the "points" category....which is something that he hasn't had to do in his previous 3 years here. I hope he adjusts accordingly, and figures a way to balance that new leadership role with his old style of play. Quickzip...please note that our other freshman point guard DOES have a 3:1 assist/turnover ratio. And you are correct that 3:1 is a very good number. A 2:1 ratio is probably a little bit more the "average", if that's what you are looking for as far as statistical data is concerned.Some of us are just pointing out something that appears to be a weakness in his game right now. A 1:3 assist/turnover ratio is really bad. And someone pointed out that it's been improving game-by-game this season, which is not correct. He had his highest turnover number in game 8 against Dayton. Come on folks....regardless of his potential.....is it a travesty for people to point out the things that need improvement? I was a student way back when Eric McLaughlin was our freshman point guard. He had a TREMENDOUS freshman season. Took us all the way to the NCAA Tournament. And I am sure his game needed improvement too.