Confidence

[Dave in Green]

I've been struggling all season to define in the simplest possible terms what it is the Zips need to consistently succeed. Last night's long stretch of frustration and come-from-behind win over Toledo finally crystalized it for me.Confidence. Confidence in yourself and confidence in your teammates. Confidence in the coaching staff and confidence that destiny is on your side.This year's Zips team has appeared to have it at times, but only as if it's a series of lightning bolts that randomly strike from the skies and just as suddenly disappear.No!Once you've found confidence, it's always there. Circumstances change from moment to moment. Things may go from good to bad. But once you've found confidence, the good will always return. Ride out the best run the other guys and fate can throw at you with a wink and a nod to your teammates. Wow, those guys were really lucky there, or wow, we really screwed up there. Doesn't matter.No problem! We're coming back with a vengeance. It may be a minute, or 5 or 10. But we're coming back and we're going to take control. It may be Nate or it may be Humpty. It may be Chris or Brett, Darryl or Steve, Nikola, Jimmy, Mike or anyone on the floor. It doesn't really matter who, because any one of us can be the one to break the run, and the rest of us are going to be there doing whatever it takes.We are a team of destiny that pays no attention to the odds. We believe in ourselves. We believe in each other. We do not fear the worst. We believe in the best. One way or another, we will win.

[gozips19]

great pep talk coach dave! i too have thought about what the win means. i really think it means little. it could mean a lot if it motivates one player and that is c mcnight. chris is the key to the team winning it all and i'll break down why quickly1. he's the one true variable on this teamyou pretty much know what you'll get out of everyone else but not chris. when he's on, akron is really tough to beat. when he's not, they tend to get pushed around. 2. when chris plays well (see late second half yesterday) the rest of the team steps it up. can't explain it but it happens all the time. during the first portion of yesterdays game or even the k.e.n.t. game his head wasn't in it (doing his best drew gooden impression) and got lost on d and made poor pass after poor pass. but when he's focused it raises the teams level of play.3. besides nate he's the only upperclassmen the team has.simple here. the team looks for him and nate to set the tone and lead by example. when they don't the team goes flat.lets hope chris goes on another terror like he did towards the end of last season or during the win streak this year. if he does akron is dancing!

[Quickzips]

The one thing I think would help us as much as anything on the offensive end of the floor is to push the tempo a little bit more. We seem so much more relaxed and comfortable when we look for early offense. When we try to run out of the half court and slow the tempo down it seems like everyone freezes up and loses confidence. We tend to end up with more bad shots and turnovers.

[skip-zip]

Two points here catch my attention....First, gozips19 talks about C. Mc. being productive. What I believe he is alluding to, and just didn't say it, is that he provides leadership. If there was any real difference between this team and the teams of the previous two years it's that they often lacked someone to depend upon to carry the team, when needed. Chris appeared to be that guy on this team, but unfortunately didn't covet that role as effectively as a Dru, Romeo, Nick, or Jeremiah did. I had really high hopes at the onset of the season that Nate would develop into that guy, but he never really stepped up his contributions enough offensively. And that's not a knock on him. I know how hard it is to suddenly change the role a guy plays on a team when he spent so much time in the program not having to play that role. Quickzips makes a good point as well, as much as I hate to question our fine coaches. But it's true...we seem to be better offensively when we look for opportunities to create open shots earlier in possessions. It was actually comical to hear French and Keith have an exchange in a postgame interview about this very subject a few games ago. It's been sometimes unexplainable to me, but we seem to have the depth right now to be able to play at this faster pace.

[gozips19]

3. besides nate he's the only upperclassmen the team has.simple here. the team looks for him and nate to set the tone and lead by example. when they don't the team goes flat.that was the point is was making here. and i agree skip. he is the leader of this team. he plays well, the team plays well

[Dave in Green]

Congratulations, Zips! I know you probably didn't see my first post. But you played last night exactly the way I envisioned you would play if you had confidence in yourselves, your teammates, your coaching staff and your destiny. From the way you played, I'm sure you must have gotten a similar pep talk from KD. It was truly amazing to see the way you communicated with each other on court, the way you correctly anticipated where each other would be when you threw those great passes, the way you covered each others' backs, and the way you just looked like you all enjoyed being on the court together. You are truly a cohesive team at precisely the most important stage of the season. Whatever happens the rest of the year, I'll always remember the heart and courage and team play you've shown over the course of these past two games.

[Dave in Green]

Never a doubt.