29-5, Zeke 10 points, 9:06 first

[akronzips71]

They should all be like this. Sure wish I could at least hear it.

[Quickzips]

They should all be like this. Sure wish I could at least hear it.

1350 feed is starting to come in, though it is pretty weak at the moment.

[Quickzips]

I guess the Egner question has been answered as Josh just scored the first 2 points of his Zips career, then follows them up with 2 more.

[akronzips71]

I guess the Egner question has been answered as Josh just scored the first 2 points of his Zips career, then follows them up with 2 more.

This is like when we play Penn State in Football. Short of a sudden illness that results in a forfeit, there was never a chance in hell that a D III team with the tallest player at 6.6 was not going to get blown out.

Nevertheless, it is fun!

Now if only they could get Dambrot to do the football recruiting.Because the looks like he got some GOOD players this time.

[Dave in Green]

Zips looked crisp most of the first half, and a little sloppy in the second.

Egner plays, and Euton and Green redshirt. Egner ended up with the same 7-10 from the field as Zeke, and had 2 blocks to Zeke's 4. Egner was the go-to guy while he was on the floor, and he delivered. It will be interesting to see him play against D1 competition.

Zeke's hook is deadly. It was looking good toward the end of last season, and it looks even better now. He continues to play more aggressively and with more confidence.

McKnight looked rusty and didn't show a lot tonight.

Nik was a little disappointing as his temper started flaring, and he eventually got a T.

Nitro was a little off on his 3s tonight, but was again all over the floor on defense and led the team in rebounding with 9.

McNees had a quiet night, taking only two shots and mostly just efficiently running the offense.

Roberts had a better game than he did in the exhibition last week, hitting 4 of 6 treys.

Diggs showed some more brilliant moves dribbling, driving, passing and shooting -- 4-4 from the field. But he also got a little sloppy at times and had 5 turnovers.

Abreu continues to impress with his ball handling and no look passes mostly on target.

Bardo actually hit a short jumper from the lane.

Overall impression is that this is a much different looking team from last year despite many familiar faces. This team is much more entertaining to watch. The bench definitely has more poise and athleticism. Of course they look good against D3 competition. The real test will be against other D1 teams. The odds are against upsetting Dayton in Dayton. But I have a feeling that this year's Zips will look more competitive against tough competition than we've seen in the past.

[Valpo Zip]

I agree with pretty much all what you said DIG.

Egner seems to be the real deal. This guy has the size, the muscles and the athleticism of a D1 starter at any Top 20 program.

He has the athleticism of Quade Milum with the footwork of J-Wood and the toughness of Matt Futch. If he can develop a mid-distance jumper, he will be a total nightmare for oppositions.

Abreu is a nice floor general but he's a huge liabilty on defense. Needs some work there.

Nitro seems to be filling the shoes of Linhart and Conyers. It is too early to tell but he seems to be stepping his effort up.

Diggs has an explosive first step and some NBAish moves. Unfortunately, he needs to work a lot on his ball handling skills and deffense.

Zeke, seems a lot more comfortable and that baby hook shot is almost impossible to deffent against (at least that's what i hope)

Steve and D-rob quiet games, did not exceed expectations but did not disappoint either.

Nik, couldn't keep his promiss for one week. Got emotional again and lost it at the first test.

Bardo, by now, you should know what to expect and that's exactly what you're getting.

[Dr Z]

I'll agree with everything DIG wrote too.

Different looking team. This team looks more exciting to me.

Diggs looks like a player to me. He needs work, but he is exactly what this team needs.

Abreu's passing looked good. He seems "okay", I would have liked to see a little more dribble penetration, but he looks like he has potential to help our team out right away.

I didn't see our pg turn around and dribble the ball backwards from half court to the three point line once (thank gawd), looks like we are in a hurry to get into our offense. Seems like we have more options this year. KD was right, I see an effort to get Zeke the ball. Zeke does look stronger too. Enger showed his hops. He is a high riser for sure. Missed two bunny dunks though. I sat in GA last night and there were a LOT of Enger fans around me. Looked like the same Nic to me. He still has potential to dominate, but he looks like he is thinking too much on the floor. This could all change after watching Tuesday's game, but I am excited to watch this team play. I see more offensive potential this year, and that makes for exciting basketball IMO.

PS I'll give Oldham a mention. I saw him moving people defensively on the floor once, as if he has a good understanding of where to be.

[Quickzips]

Didn't get to the game last night, but listened to as much of it on the radio as 1350 would allow. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts. It seems to me that Zeke is really working at becoming more comfortable in the offense. In the two games this year he has shot 13 of 17 for 32 points while averaging about 24 minutes per night. I expect his minutes to increase against real D-I competition where we will actually need him in the second half. It remains to be seen if the offensive production can maintain as well. If he can give us anything close to those kinds of numbers, and still be a force on the defensive end, it is going to be a very good season for the Zips. Very surprised by the fact that Nitro led us in rebounding again last night. If he can give us that kind of effort on the glass and on the defensive end while knocking down a few shots he might just not be a bust of a recruit after all. KD had some harsh criticism of Abreu and Diggs in the post-game show. Said Alex has to step it up on the defensive end or he will start losing playing time. Said that if Alex doesn't pick his game up on defense the team will run with Roberts as the backup PG and play Nitro more minutes at SG. Quincy needs to pick up his effort in practice. Made the point that he doesn't like playing guys who aren't putting forth good effort in practice. He bit his tounge and did it with Diggs last night, but wasn't too happy about it. I was very surprised that Egner will be playing and Euton redshirting, but KD's reasoning actually made quite a bit of sense. Said we already have a pick and pop kind of forward in Brett McKnight, so getting Egner and his athleticism in there gives us some diversity in how we can play. Also said that all three guys were asked if they wanted to redshirt, Josh was the most emphatic about not wanting to as he felt he could help the team right now. Sounds like Josh is the kind of guy who can morph into a nice leader for this team down the road. I almost wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of him in the Dayton game as we will need some athleticism to match up with Dayton's all everything PF Chris Wright. Very disappointed in Nikola. For all the talk about how he has settled down and wants to take on a leadership role with this team, to go out and get T'd up in the second half of a blowout against at D-III team for no good reason is unacceptable. Looking forward to Tuesday and this big matchup in Dayton. Hopefully this Zips squad can go in there and avenge the heartbreak of the last time we played that arena.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Pulled into the natatorium parking lot last night at 7pm, and my son began complaining of chest pains...he eventually threw up. Turned around and drove back up Route 8.

Son is ok today, but we missed the game. Thanks to all for your observations.

[Dave in Green]

On the subject of how Zeke will shoot against D1 competition, he only had one shot that missed the rim. On that one, it appeared that his defender may have gotten into Zeke and moved him as he was in the air releasing. Zeke tried to make his case with the refs, but they didn't see contact. There's no question that Zeke's defenders will be trying to push him around and throw his shot off.

As for KD's criticism of Abreu and Diggs, it's true that Abreu had trouble staying in front of the players he was defending, and Diggs at times looked like he was playing playground basketball.

On defense, Abreu has an uncanny ability to get his hand on the ball. But it's not without risk as it sometimes puts him out of position to defend when he reaches for the ball and misses.

Diggs is going to make the crowd go crazy with some of his moves to the basket, and he's also going to make the crowd groan when he messes up. He seems to be playing right on the edge, and may need to back off a half step. Diggs is very loose on court and appears to be having a lot of fun. I think KD would like to see Diggs become more businesslike in his approach, starting with practice.

Addressing Egner's leadership role, he was shouting out to his teammates all the time he was on the floor almost like a PG on offense. Egner also appears to me to be like a good PG in the sense that he sees where everyone else is on the floor. While guarding his own man, he's continuously scanning the other players and frequently makes small moves to be in position to switch his D to help out on another player if needed. As Hilltopper and I noted when we saw Egner play several HS games, he is extremely intense and businesslike on the floor. KD has to love Egner's attitude, and Diggs could learn some things from him.

By the way, Egner did not miss two dunks. He missed one under heavy defensive pressure, and the other one that came out was due to a goaltend and he got credit for the basket. Nothing to be alarmed about with Egner's ability to slam.

Egner, Abreu and Diggs really change the character of this team when they're on the floor. They're all exciting, dynamic players. They also have areas of their game that can be improved. If they all improve significantly during the course of the season, they will help make this Zips team a tough matchup for any team on their schedule.

[FOQD]

• Diggs was 4-4 points 8reb. 3asst.2steals 5TO. that's not good. and to many dribbles on the fast break. I can work with that. Very good addition to the team.
  

On the subject of how Zeke will shoot against D1 competition, he only had one shot that missed the rim. On that one, it appeared that his defender may have gotten into Zeke and moved him as he was in the air releasing. Zeke tried to make his case with the refs, but they didn't see contact. There's no question that Zeke's defenders will be trying to push him around and throw his shot off.

As for KD's criticism of Abreu and Diggs, it's true that Abreu had trouble staying in front of the players he was defending, and Diggs at times looked like he was playing playground basketball.

On defense, Abreu has an uncanny ability to get his hand on the ball. But it's not without risk as it sometimes puts him out of position to defend when he reaches for the ball and misses.

Diggs is going to make the crowd go crazy with some of his moves to the basket, and he's also going to make the crowd groan when he messes up. He seems to be playing right on the edge, and may need to back off a half step. Diggs is very loose on court and appears to be having a lot of fun. I think KD would like to see Diggs become more businesslike in his approach, starting with practice.

Addressing Egner's leadership role, he was shouting out to his teammates all the time he was on the floor almost like a PG on offense. Egner also appears to me to be like a good PG in the sense that he sees where everyone else is on the floor. While guarding his own man, he's continuously scanning the other players and frequently makes small moves to be in position to switch his D to help out on another player if needed. As Hilltopper and I noted when we saw Egner play several HS games, he is extremely intense and businesslike on the floor. KD has to love Egner's attitude, and Diggs could learn some things from him.

By the way, Egner did not miss two dunks. He missed one under heavy defensive pressure, and the other one that came out was due to a goaltend and he got credit for the basket. Nothing to be alarmed about with Egner's ability to slam.

Egner, Abreu and Diggs really change the character of this team when they're on the floor. They're all exciting, dynamic players. They also have areas of their game that can be improved. If they all improve significantly during the course of the season, they will help make this Zips team a tough matchup for any team on their schedule.

[RootforRoo44]

I would have to say that McClanahan and Egner impressed BIGTIME. Egner actually looked more than competent defending and was very aggressive with and without the ball. I CANT WAIT to see him get some space for some more big dunks. McClanahan was the same, played good defense and was all over the glass, he grabbed FIVE offensive boards, and picked off two passes (the official stats are wrong, btw the official box score also claims that there were ZERO fast break points in the game...yeah right). If he can shoot well consistently it's going to change the game for the Zips.

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