And ZEKE wins that game for us!

[akronzips71]

For those with no video...That last block by Zeke was HUGE. That put the game out of reach!

[MDZip]

First step in legendary status?

[akronzips71]

First step in legendary status?

One can only hope. I posted earlier in the game that KD should keep Zeke in.If only I could predict the lottery...

[RootforRoo44]

First step in legendary status?

One can only hope. I posted earlier in the game that KD should keep Zeke in.If only I could predict the lottery...

I think about 80% of Zips Nation is for keeping Zeke in late in games. Or at least playing him more!

[Valpo Zip]

Any credits for Mcneese? Don't you think his 100% 3FG% had anything with winning us tha game?

[zippy5]

Any credits for Mcneese? Don't you think his 100% 3FG% had anything with winning us tha game?

Uhhhh read the posts tonight...he probably got more props around here than Zeke did.

[akronzips71]

Any credits for Mcneese? Don't you think his 100% 3FG% had anything with winning us tha game?

Uhhhh read the posts tonight...he probably got more props around here than Zeke did.

Mcneese stepped up and played very well.Without that last second block by Zeke we lose or go to overtime.Just saying

[Dave in Green]

Interesting stat on Zeke. After last night's game, Zeke's block percentage (an estimate of the percentage of opponent 2-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while he was on the floor) is 11.1%.That's not just a high percentage, it's a real high percentage. It would rank Zeke 16th in the country among all D1 players except for one minor problem. The national rankings require that a player be on the floor for a minimum 40% of minutes played to qualify. Currently, Zeke has played 39.3% of the Zips total game minutes.The good news is that Zeke's minutes are increasing as the season goes on, so he should reach the 40% minutes played mark before the end of the season. Then he would show up in the top 20 of the national standings for block percentage.To make the top 10, he would have to raise his block percentage from 11.1% to above 12.02%, which is the mark currently held by Dallas Lauderdale of that team in Columbus.Pomeroy National Block Percentage LeadersPomeroy Zips Stats

[johnnyzip84]

Interesting stat on Zeke. After last night's game, Zeke's block percentage (an estimate of the percentage of opponent 2-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while he was on the floor) is 11.1%.That's not just a high percentage, it's a real high percentage. It would rank Zeke 16th in the country among all D1 players except for one minor problem. The national rankings require that a player be on the floor for a minimum 40% of minutes played to qualify. Currently, Zeke has played 39.3% of the Zips total game minutes.The good news is that Zeke's minutes are increasing as the season goes on, so he should reach the 40% minutes played mark before the end of the season. Then he would show up in the top 20 of the national standings for block percentage.To make the top 10, he would have to raise his block percentage from 11.1% to above 12.02%, which is the mark currently held by Dallas Lauderdale of that team in Columbus.Pomeroy National Block Percentage LeadersPomeroy Zips Stats

I'm not sure why it took this long for me to recognize this, but the statistics available on these Pomeroy sites are absolutely mind boggling. I realize it's no doubt automated to some degree, but somebody, somewhere is still doing a lot of work keeping this database up to date. Wow.

[Zip Watcher]

They just need to add +/- numbers.I want to find an enterprising young CS student to automate the gameflows for the zips, based on the freely available play-by-play.Just like this site does for NBA games.It would be an awesome blog to have here at ZN.O. B) GoZips!

[Dave in Green]

Last season when a few posters were dogging Bardo, I manually calculated his +/- numbers. It was pretty time-consuming to do manually even for a single player, so a program that could digest the text file and spit out +/- numbers would be great.By the way, the +/- numbers for Bardo were mostly +, which explains why KD keeps saying that he sees Bardo doing good things that all the fans don't see. But even posting the positive +/- numbers for Bardo didn't seem to change anyone's mind about his performance.Go figure.

[jupitertoo]

Last season when a few posters were dogging Bardo, I manually calculated his +/- numbers. It was pretty time-consuming to do manually even for a single player, so a program that could digest the text file and spit out +/- numbers would be great.By the way, the +/- numbers for Bardo were mostly +, which explains why KD keeps saying that he sees Bardo doing good things that all the fans don't see. But even posting the positive +/- numbers for Bardo didn't seem to change anyone's mind about his performance.Go figure.

Are Zips fans satisfied with Zeke's performance/progress this year? I would assume most thought he would be MAC freshman of the year this year but that appears not to be in the cards. Has he been a little more of a project than expected?

[ZachTheZip]

Last season when a few posters were dogging Bardo, I manually calculated his +/- numbers. It was pretty time-consuming to do manually even for a single player, so a program that could digest the text file and spit out +/- numbers would be great.By the way, the +/- numbers for Bardo were mostly +, which explains why KD keeps saying that he sees Bardo doing good things that all the fans don't see. But even posting the positive +/- numbers for Bardo didn't seem to change anyone's mind about his performance.Go figure.

Are Zips fans satisfied with Zeke's performance/progress this year? I would assume most thought he would be MAC freshman of the year this year but that appears not to be in the cards. Has he been a little more of a project than expected?

Who was expecting him to not be a project? All the scouting sites said he was one and that his ranking was based on sheer potential.He easily leads the MAC in blocked shots despite only playing 20 minutes a game. He has progressed quite a bit since the first game but it's not obvious unless you've seen him from the beginning. I didn't expect all that much from him this year simply because he's the only freshman on a team that returned all but one of the players from a championship team. I believe that he'll really break out next season. Anything he provides this year is just icing on the cake for an already good team.

[Zip Watcher]

The difficulty has been in mixing him in to a nearly intact rotation coming back from a championship. Zeke's strength and weight aren't going to be where they need to be this year, but his defensive game has been solid from day one.I'd say from a pure productivity standpoint, he's at or near where I had hoped. His offense is right about where I'd hoped it would be, and his defense has been good.Off the top of my head, I'd say he's directly impacted the outcome of about 4-6 games, including sealing the deal against CMU with 2 late blocks and a rebound. He was key in the destruction of Miami early in January as well.A freshman that comes into a situation where they can be a key cog in the offense, especially from the guard spot, is going to have a bigger impact in the boxscore. That situation is usually coming into a rebuilding situation or one with little or no depth at his position. Zeke's come into a different situation entirely given how many people are back, including all the post players from a year ago.Big fella is doing just fine. His progress the last 5 weeks has really been good.Go Zips!

[Dave in Green]

I think I had pretty realistic expectations for Zeke based on my understanding of just how difficult it is for a true freshman to adapt from small HS competition level to the longer, tougher D1 season. It's even a tougher transition for a 7-footer, especially one who hasn't been playing basketball all that long, and who suddenly sprouted to 7-feet tall in just a few years. It takes time for everything else to catch up to such a sudden and major height growth spurt.I expected Zeke to be better on defense than offense. But he is not only a good defender, he has also developed some nice offensive moves. He is better coordinated, more agile and quicker than I expected. He moves like a "regular guy" on court, definitely not a "plodder."I never expected Zeke to play long minutes early in the season. I figured KD would try to find that delicate balance with Zeke of enough playing time to develop without too much stress that would wear him out and make him less energetic at the end of the long season. His playing time has slowly increased throughout the season except for the period in which his development was slowed a bit by minor ankle and leg problems that resulted in him playing fewer minutes.Zeke now appears to be completely healthy, and played a full 26 minutes in the last game against CMU -- second highest play time in the game behind McNees' 29 minutes. Zeke looked energetic at the end of the game, and his fierce rebounding and shot blocking were instrumental in winning the game. So there's a lot of cause for enthusiasm that he appears to be peaking at the end of the season when he will be most needed to help the Zips try to duplicate last year's MAC tournament championship and NCAA tournament bid.I'd guess the most optimistic fans may be a little disappointed that Zeke was not dominant from game 1, and that the most pessimistic fans are probably delighted that Zeke has grown to the point of being a starter, and is now starting to take on the role of closer as well.Realistically, Zeke is everything the expert talent evaluators said he'd be. He's a little bit of a project in the sense that most 7-foot true freshmen have a lot to learn to be competitive in D1. But even we amateur talent evaluators can see the progress from game to game. If he keeps improving at this rate, he has the potential to be a real force in the MAC tournament, and could even make an impressive showing in the NCAA tournament should the Zips peak as a team in the MAC tournament as they did last year.It's still not too late for Zeke to develop into the best all-around freshman player in the MAC by the final game of the season.

[Dr Z]

Who thought Zeke would contribute this year and who didn't (October edition)

[Captain Kangaroo]

I was wrong in predicting "Anything Conyers will give us this season is gravy." Conyers senior-year All-MAC performance has been crucial to our success. He carried us for a stretch, and remains arguably our most consistent performer.I was correct in predicting we don't win an NCAA tourney game without Zeke being a major contributor. Without him, should we advance to the Big Dance, we're one-and-done. He's the "X-factor" that gives us a fighting chance.

[GP1]

I was wrong on the going undefeated in the MAC. Coming off of a championship, I thought it could be accomplished...difficult, but possible.I will stand by my statement that Zeke needs to play and a lot. I also stand by the hopping around on one leg comment. It's too good of a comment to back off of.

[Quickzips]

The Zeke Marshall journey Chapter 1 has certainly been a bit of a rocky road. There have been a lot of obstacles in the way for the young man. Not the least of which is the fact that he is still skinny as a rail (not going to change that any time soon, but to ignore the fact that it is an issue would be a dissservice). You also have to consider a lot of different things when analyzing Zeke's season. He has had some knee problems throughout the year that held him back some. Then you have to consider the adjustment period that the players around him are going through. How many of these guys have ever played with a 7 footer before? I think I could cut off all the fingers on my right hand and still use it to count that one. We've seen it quite a few times with passes that a 6'7" 6'8" guy like Linhart, Chris McKnight or Nikola catches with ease but that a guy the size of Zeke struggles to get to. All in all, I think he is doing alright. Not spectacular, not subpar, but alright. He has a lot to work on. His shot selection has still been shaky at times, and despite what others see, he is still rushing shots at times. On defense he is sometimes too intent on blocking shots and gets himself out of position to grab some easy boards, leading to second chance points for our opponents. What encourages me most is that he has learned and adapted in some areas. His free throw shooting in particular has looked much better of late. He's still a project, but I'm glad he's our project. He will make a big impact for the Zips in the coming years.

[Dave in Green]

..... His shot selection has still been shaky at times, and despite what others see, he is still rushing shots at times. .....

Well, yes, we did discuss this and apparently still see it a bit differently, or maybe we just describe it a little differently. How about we take a look at the stats this time:Overall, Zeke is currently shooting field goals at a fair .462 percentage for the season, including conference and non-conference games.If we look only at conference games, which represent the 11 most recent games the Zips have played this season, Zeke's field goal shooting average is a much better .541. That means that Zeke has the Zips second highest field goal shooting percentage in conference play behind only Bardo's .571. But Bardo has only taken 7 field goal attempts in conference play. So, in reality, Zeke is leading all Zips in field goal shooting percentage in MAC play.Yes, I see every player occasionally rushing shots and showing shaky shot selection, including Zeke.Yes, I see that Zeke rushed more shots and showed more shaky shot selection than many of his teammates earlier in the season (non-conference games).No, I no longer see Zeke's rushed shots and shaky shot selection as glaringly greater than many of his teammates, as demonstrated by his .541 shooting percentage over the last 11 games. The most important thing right now is that he is shooting at a consistently high percentage.I think that Zeke will continue to improve in this area as he will in all other areas. But I no longer see it as a special area of concern.

[jupitertoo]

..... His shot selection has still been shaky at times, and despite what others see, he is still rushing shots at times. .....

Well, yes, we did discuss this and apparently still see it a bit differently, or maybe we just describe it a little differently. How about we take a look at the stats this time:Overall, Zeke is currently shooting field goals at a fair .462 percentage for the season, including conference and non-conference games.If we look only at conference games, which represent the 11 most recent games the Zips have played this season, Zeke's field goal shooting average is a much better .541. That means that Zeke has the Zips second highest field goal shooting percentage in conference play behind only Bardo's .571. But Bardo has only taken 7 field goal attempts in conference play. So, in reality, Zeke is leading all Zips in field goal shooting percentage in MAC play.Yes, I see every player occasionally rushing shots and showing shaky shot selection, including Zeke.Yes, I see that Zeke rushed more shots and showed more shaky shot selection than many of his teammates earlier in the season (non-conference games).No, I no longer see Zeke's rushed shots and shaky shot selection as glaringly greater than many of his teammates, as demonstrated by his .541 shooting percentage over the last 11 games. The most important thing right now is that he is shooting at a consistently high percentage.I think that Zeke will continue to improve in this area as he will in all other areas. But I no longer see it as a special area of concern.

Shot selection is an issue for virtually all freshman, regardless of team or level of talent. I would assume that the leader in the FOY derby is DJ Cooper at Ohio, who has logged several double-doubles and come close to triple-doubles on a few occasions, but he too takes some ill-advised shots, including one that arguably cost Ohio a win against Ball State last week.Cooper's stats: 12th in the league in scoring (13.3ppg), #1 in assists and #1 in steals. A very talented kid, but he does take some bad shots from time to time.

[akronzips71]

The FG percentage is misleading.Zeke is SEVEN FEET TALL.Most of his missed shots were DUNKS!!!!He rarely shoots other than layups or dunks.Which is fine. He is SEVEN FEET TALL. He can literally drop the ball into the basket. That is his role for the most part.I am not knocking Zeke. I just think the pct is misleading, since he takes most all of his shots within touching distance (for him) of the bucket. THOSE shots should be 90%+.Seriously, I am most distressed about the several missed dunks I have seen on the video feed. I know he is probably rushing them or slightly out of position, but lets face it, when the 7 footer gets a dunk opportunity, we need 100% of those to go. That improvement alone will win games for us.

[Dave in Green]

The FG percentage is misleading.Zeke is SEVEN FEET TALL.Most of his missed shots were DUNKS!!!!He rarely shoots other than layups or dunks.Which is fine. He is SEVEN FEET TALL. He can literally drop the ball into the basket. That is his role for the most part.I am not knocking Zeke. I just think the pct is misleading, since he takes most all of his shots within touching distance (for him) of the bucket. THOSE shots should be 90%+.Seriously, I am most distressed about the several missed dunks I have seen on the video feed. I know he is probably rushing them or slightly out of position, but lets face it, when the 7 footer gets a dunk opportunity, we need 100% of those to go. That improvement alone will win games for us.

I've been to all the home games and watched the road games on video. Most of Zeke's missed shots have not been dunks, though he did miss a few dunks early in the season. More lately he has been relying on a sweet hook shot and some medium range jumpers in addition to the layups and dunks.You might want to check the stats before jumping to conclusions. The highest field goal percentage of any D1 7-footer in the country is 62.9% by 7-1 Mike Tisdale, University of Illinois. That's not much better than Zeke has shot in MAC play. Being 7-feet tall doesn't mean you get a free pass on close-in shots.D1 Shooting Percentage Leaders