Big Zip Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 as I watch Ohio make it to the MAC Championship game why it couldn't have been Akron. It's kind of funny -- you read every year how this is this teams first shot at the post season and how we're just happy to be here, but some teams seem to come through in the clutch. Some teams, fans, sports writers etc. seem to like to use the excuse we're young. If you look at OU's top scorers top 5 ar 2 FR, 1 SO, 1 JR, and 1 SR. Akron has 1 FR, 2 SO (excluding Jeremiah), 1 Jr., and 1 SR. OU seems younger than us and they are still playing -- how disappointing. Thinking back to Thursday -- I still wonder what Daryl Peterson did to get in KD's dog house. How can your All-MAC Honorable Mention and leading score play 11 minutes in the most important game of the year? I know this board is a McFadden love fest, but if you are going to play the hot hand -- it wasn't him. Before he made that three pointer late in the game he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. I truly believe 34 minutes to McFadden and 11 minutes to Peterson was the difference in this game. If you were Peterson would you return to Akron next year? I would imagine if he didn't have to sit out another year he might just leave. I know everyone wants to blame the rebounding, but the fact is this team was up and went in to OT getting beat to death on the boards. All they needed was 1 more point in regulation to advance. As has been noted here before their are no big men on their way next year and we can only hope Wood returns to his old form (a tough task indeed) Payne was never the same after his surgery. We need to hope the offense moves around drives to the basket to open the outside and stop people from playing us so tght outside -- otherwise it is going to be tough to get better. My final musing relates to Quade Milum....was 108 minutes worth giving up the guys redshirt season? 9.3% of the season he played 108 of a possible 1160 minutes. Does anyone else think this was a DH recruit -- KD doesn't want taking up a roster spot for longer than he has to? If you really wanted could you have split his 4.7 minutes between Futch, Preston, Myers and Peterson -- 1.2 minutes each? If you remove the Marshall, C. Michigan and OU games his minutes drop to 64. Just dumping my bucket......wondering if anyone agrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 I'll dump a little bucket too: I see there being two distinct topics her: 1.) The season 2.) The tourney game I'll save a season overview for a later date, but sufficive to say, I never dreamt we'd have 19 wins, especially after Wood went down early. The tourney game: I thought the students and community did a great job of showing up on a Thursday afternoon. We had a great crowd...easily double what it was the last time we made it to Cleveland. Also, the pre-game party hosted by The University was top-notch! Stuff like that is usually reserved for "big donors" and influential alumni/faculty. To host such an event for the "average" Zips fans was very classy. If you ever want to know if your support is appreciated...there you have it. As far as "What the game meant"...it was a H-U-G-E opportunity lost. In the basketball world, 20 wins is an order of magnitude above 19 wins. To not get the 20th was crippling. Furthermore, to have a Friday night game in Cleveland would give more students and community members a chance to get to the Gund...to see the"real" tourney atmosphere...to familiarize themselves with the likes of Buffalo and their students...OU and their following...to see how the Zips program should really be supported and to start seeing the MAC for what it is. Instead, there were about 20 of us Zips fans wandering around The Gund wondering "what if?" and watching other teams have all the fun again. We had a chance to take the program up 2 or three notches with a win Thursday...and we didn't come through. As far as the game itself...we had it. I agree with Big Zip...we were a 19 win team this year, playing in our own back yard. Who cares if we were supposed to win 19 or not...we were a 19-win team with essentially a home game. A 19-win team with a 6 point half time lead. A 19 win team with the ball and 11 seconds left in a tie game...and we blew it. Why didn't we get the 5th foul on Rost after he picked up his 4th with ELEVEN minutes remaining!! To me, the refusal to go inside and get Rost out of the game was the killer...he was 40% of their offense and we kept him in the game for the next 16 minutes. Joyce is a solid, if unspectacular player. Joyce with two bad ankles and 25 game minutes logged is not the guy I want launching a 23 footer at the buzzer. Why did we have to settle for a 23 footer with 11 seconds left anyhow? Man... Dambrot rode McFadden too long. He kept waiting...and waiting....and waiting for his shot to come around. Like the previous game vs. EMU, it never came. McFadden is a streaky shooter. His 43% 3-point shooting for the season is deceptive. He'll hit 6-of-7...than go 0-for-7...then hit 5-of-6....it adds up to 43%, but it isn't something you can bank on. McFadden was a warrior...never quit...he's a much better defender and rebounder than Peterson...but when he's off it hurts our offense. Against a weak team like EMU, it didn't matter. Against Western, it was a killer. What was up with that line up of Milum and Myers in the first half? Was anyone surprised to see the following two possessions go "WMU 3-pointer"..."Zips air-ball"? In a game that ended up tied in regulation, it makes you wonder what that decision cost us. I don't see the NIT as a possibility. Can't, Miami, OU and WMU all go ahead of us. Maybe Toledo does too, since they have wins vs. Akron (split), Nevada & Auburn. The MAC isn't getting 6 teams in the NIT. BTW: Yes, Buffalo will kill OU tonight. All that said, WMU is a good team. They are tourney-tested. Reed is a stud...the type of player we all expected Tarver to be...but never was. Rost is tough...Snider is tough...and WMU is well-coached. We lost to a good team @ The Gund in OT, which beats our losses in the Hipsher-era. Yes we did better than I ever dreamed this season, but one more win would have given us soooo much more. And we had it. Damn. BTW: The similarities between the football loss to Miami and the hoops loss to WMU are uncanny. Both teams exceeded season's expectations...both had a shot at a program "breakthrough game" in their last contest...both had halftime leads...I guess you know the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan37 Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Love you Minday morning Quaterbacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Cregg Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 That's not being a Monday Morning "Point Guard", it's being truthful. Fans don't have to be blind positive, they look at it through realistic terms. Akron overachieved, got in position to do something, then flamed out. Season over, game, set, match, moving on to football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zips Win! Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 CK: Excellent stuff. Furthermore, what is it with KD refusing to foul when you have one to give. At the end of the first half vs. Toledo he had a foul to give and they drained a three. He also had one on Thursday in the first half vs. WMU. While it didn't hurt us as they did not score, to me this is a no-brainer: FOUL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZoner Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 BTW: Yes, Buffalo will kill OU tonight. You sure got that right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 BTW: Yes, Buffalo will kill OU tonight. You sure got that right. I think one of those board moderators edited my post! It originally read "Buffalo will kill OU for the first twenty-five minutes." Congrats to OU. Way to finish the season! Make the MAC proud in the tourney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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