Brett McKnight

[BirdZip]

ZN.O--> <--Bardo

Poor guy.

[Quickzips]

McKnight has been king of the stat line:

2-9 FG's

1-4 3-pointers

5-6 FT's

20m/g

for some time.

He never has been too interested in playing defense.

I hate to lose a guy who's been through the MAC bus trips for 3 seasons, with 3 MAC Finals under his belt. But if he's got "Senioritis," and he's becoming a bad influence on the younger players...then we're better off without him.

I'm comfortable with Euton and Egner taking his minutes. Bardo? IMO - He watches the opposing centers equally as well whether he's on the court, or off it. Super-quality kid. But basketball-wise...well...what's the opposite of "up-side?"

+1

[Quickzips]

Frontcourt depth shouldn't be a problem. We have Nikola, Zeke, Euton, Egner and Bardo still. Experience certainly isn't what it was, but I think we can work around that. Nikola and Zeke will get the most minutes obviously and I expect both of them to average around 25-30 minutes plus or minus a few either way depending on circumstances. Euton will probably average around 10-15 minutes with Egner taking up 8-10 and Bardo taking up whatever is left. You will probably see a little bit more Bardo unfortunatly until Dakotah and Josh get up to speed, but I wouldn't expect that to last long.

Absolutely. Anyone who thinks this is not the scenario right now is fooling themselves. We're going to be playing without a senior front court player who was maybe going to average anywhere from 20-30 min. per game, and replacing him in the rotation with a new freshman. There's going to be a few guys that are going to have to do more right now, including Mike, and hope that the new guys can develop enough at some point to help pick up some of the load this year.

Brett likely would have seen closer to that 20 minutes per game than 30. The past two years he's only averaged around 20 minutes per game as his conditioning has never been solid enough to support much more. He's had knee and back problems throughout his time here and 30 minutes a night was never going to be much of an option for him. His averages last year were 10 points and 4.5 boards in just under 20 minutes per game. I think the big question here is do you think an improved Nikola and Zeke combined with Euton and Egner can cover those stats and those minutes. If your like me and believe they can then this isn't all that big a deal. If you don't believe that they can't then this is a huge hit.

[skip-zip]

Frontcourt depth shouldn't be a problem. We have Nikola, Zeke, Euton, Egner and Bardo still. Experience certainly isn't what it was, but I think we can work around that. Nikola and Zeke will get the most minutes obviously and I expect both of them to average around 25-30 minutes plus or minus a few either way depending on circumstances. Euton will probably average around 10-15 minutes with Egner taking up 8-10 and Bardo taking up whatever is left. You will probably see a little bit more Bardo unfortunatly until Dakotah and Josh get up to speed, but I wouldn't expect that to last long.

Absolutely. Anyone who thinks this is not the scenario right now is fooling themselves. We're going to be playing without a senior front court player who was maybe going to average anywhere from 20-30 min. per game, and replacing him in the rotation with a new freshman. There's going to be a few guys that are going to have to do more right now, including Mike, and hope that the new guys can develop enough at some point to help pick up some of the load this year.

Brett likely would have seen closer to that 20 minutes per game than 30. The past two years he's only averaged around 20 minutes per game as his conditioning has never been solid enough to support much more. He's had knee and back problems throughout his time here and 30 minutes a night was never going to be much of an option for him. His averages last year were 10 points and 4.5 boards in just under 20 minutes per game. I think the big question here is do you think an improved Nikola and Zeke combined with Euton and Egner can cover those stats and those minutes. If your like me and believe they can then this isn't all that big a deal. If you don't believe that they can't then this is a huge hit.

Boy, I couldn't agree with you more on that point.

Regardless, I think it's tough to try to make anything positive out of losing one of your best players in his senior year. As you said, it all does indeed come down to whether one believes that the other guys can pick up the slack quickly enough. Of course, it CAN happen, but I'm certainly on record as saying that situations where you're forced to COUNT on freshman to fill too big of a role for departed players is not where you want to be.

[Captain Kangaroo]

ZN.O--> <--Bardo

Poor guy.

You're right. We should consider ourselves fortunate to have so much discussion about the #11 guy on the bench. It shows we really don't have any legitimate stuff to grouse about.

[Quickzips]

Frontcourt depth shouldn't be a problem. We have Nikola, Zeke, Euton, Egner and Bardo still. Experience certainly isn't what it was, but I think we can work around that. Nikola and Zeke will get the most minutes obviously and I expect both of them to average around 25-30 minutes plus or minus a few either way depending on circumstances. Euton will probably average around 10-15 minutes with Egner taking up 8-10 and Bardo taking up whatever is left. You will probably see a little bit more Bardo unfortunatly until Dakotah and Josh get up to speed, but I wouldn't expect that to last long.

Absolutely. Anyone who thinks this is not the scenario right now is fooling themselves. We're going to be playing without a senior front court player who was maybe going to average anywhere from 20-30 min. per game, and replacing him in the rotation with a new freshman. There's going to be a few guys that are going to have to do more right now, including Mike, and hope that the new guys can develop enough at some point to help pick up some of the load this year.

Brett likely would have seen closer to that 20 minutes per game than 30. The past two years he's only averaged around 20 minutes per game as his conditioning has never been solid enough to support much more. He's had knee and back problems throughout his time here and 30 minutes a night was never going to be much of an option for him. His averages last year were 10 points and 4.5 boards in just under 20 minutes per game. I think the big question here is do you think an improved Nikola and Zeke combined with Euton and Egner can cover those stats and those minutes. If your like me and believe they can then this isn't all that big a deal. If you don't believe that they can't then this is a huge hit.

Boy, I couldn't agree with you more on that point.

Regardless, I think it's tough to try to make anything positive out of losing one of your best players in his senior year. As you said, it all does indeed come down to whether one believes that the other guys can pick up the slack quickly enough. Of course, it CAN happen, but I'm certainly on record as saying that situations where you're forced to COUNT on freshman to fill too big of a role for departed players is not where you want to be.

I look at it this way. We need to make up for 20 minutes per game, 10 points and 4.5 rebounds to be at least as good as we were last season (on paper at least, spare me the games aren't played on paper argument). Last year Nik and Zeke put up the following numbers.

Nikola: 20 minutes per game, 6.7 points, 4.2 rebounds

Zeke: 17 minutes per game, 5.1 points, 3.9 rebounds

If you assume the worst out of our freshmen and that they will only manage around 2 points and a board a piece in about 5 minutes each per game all season (for comparison Bardo played 9 minutes put up 1.5 points and 1.7 boards per game as a freshman) then we still need to fill in 10 more minutes per game, 6 point and 2 boards. A more experienced Zeke should be able to get pretty close to that on his own and an (allegedly) more under control Nikola can certainly pick up the rest.

[Quickzips]

ZN.O--> <--Bardo

Poor guy.

You're right. We should consider ourselves fortunate to have so much discussion about the #11 guy on the bench. It shows we really don't have any legitimate stuff to grouse about.

Nice reminder of how far we have come as a program under KD. There was a time in Zips hoops history where Bardo would be about our #7 or 8 guy on the bench. The talent and depth is only expected to get better in the coming years with Treadwell, Harney, Walsh, Gilliam, Ibitayo and Justice in the mix.

[Dave in Green]

As I recall, it was rumored right here on ZN.O that McKnight has had a back problem for the last couple of years that requires surgery. But for some reason he was not going to have the surgery until after he graduated and finished playing for the Zips.

I suspect that everyone here supports the notion that it's not a good thing to be unexpectedly forced to replace an experienced, proven senior with an inexperienced, unproven, true freshman after the season has already started.

Some are just focusing on how bad the results might be while others are looking more at what good could potentially come out of it. It's your classic optimist-pessimist discussion. Everyone knows it could go either way, and some are simply laying down their markers on whether the glass is half full or half empty.

[Blue & Gold]

My $0.02. I love B-Mac & his scoring potential. But on most nights he wouldn't be "on" and yet he'd still be a black hole on offense. He was great during the rare occassions he was "on" (i.e., Pitt during his sophomore season). But he usually wasn't.

I like Euton's passing. He seems to already have a higher b-ball IQ than B-Mac, and, since we weren't as athletic as Dayton, I think our quick ball movement & passing to the open shooters really kept us in the game & gave us a chance to win.

I'll bet w/ B-Mac out there (w/ his ball hogging, ill-advised shot selection, non-existent D & lackadaisical rebounding) we would have lost by double-digits v. Dayton.

[hafner4430]

Im sick of everyone picking on Bardo. Hes really not that terrible. Hes come a long way from what he was last year. Hes still never going to be a starter, but if hes the worst player on our team, I think we are in pretty good shape.

[cms133@uakron.edu]

I'm excited about Euton's potential. I don't know if anyone else has said anything about it but looking past the 2? huge 3's that he made, he also got himself a bird in the paint and drew the foul perfectly. That kind of poise and decision making really impressed me from a supposed redshirt freshman. All against a team like Dayton mind you.

[Zipmeister]

Having viewed both Bardo and Euton in person for the first time, I have concluded that one of them isn't nearly as bad nor the other nearly as good as some of you believe.

[Dave in Green]

..... one of them isn't nearly as bad nor the other nearly as good as some of you believe.

Isn't that true of everything?

[Zipmeister]

..... one of them isn't nearly as bad nor the other nearly as good as some of you believe.

Isn't that true of everything?

no.

[Dave in Green]

Sure it is. Someone always believes that anything is neither as good or bad as someone else does. It's one of the immutable laws of human nature that for every belief there are alternate beliefs with differing levels of perceived validity.

[The Hip Zip]

Having viewed both Bardo and Euton in person for the first time, I have concluded that one of them isn't nearly as bad nor the other nearly as good as some of you believe.

Very true.

Actually I can see a little in common as both seem a little stiff and mechanical on the floor. Bardo is fine in the role that is defined for him and in the MAC conference play. Against better, he has no chance of defending a quick low post guy or 3s and 4s driving to the hole. We saw a lot of that at Dayton .Euton obviously has tons more upside, esepecially on the offensive end.

[GP1]

Sure it is. Someone always believes that anything is neither as good or bad as someone else does. It's one of the immutable laws of human nature that for every belief there are alternate beliefs with differing levels of perceived validity.

What about a guy who predicts the exact score of a game? What if ten guys predict the score exactly?

Sometimes things are exactly as they appear.

[GoZips]

GoZips, bearer of bad news. Brett McKnight has played his last game as a Zip.

Brett is not likely to suit up again. The reasons are many and not all of his making.

Enough said.

[Blue & Gold]

GoZips, bearer of bad news. Brett McKnight has played his last game as a Zip.

Brett is not likely to suit up again. The reasons are many and not all of his making.

Enough said.

Bad news indeed. I feel more grief for his parents than anyone. Though we'd never met, I loved those guys; seem like great people and terrific parents.

Does Brett (hopefully) get to keep his scholarship & get his degree?

[Dave in Green]

Sure it is. Someone always believes that anything is neither as good or bad as someone else does. It's one of the immutable laws of human nature that for every belief there are alternate beliefs with differing levels of perceived validity.

What about a guy who predicts the exact score of a game? What if ten guys predict the score exactly?

Sometimes things are exactly as they appear.

Read it again with the highlighted words.

[Dave in Green]

I'm glad to hear that whatever problems Brett may have are not all of his making. Like others here, I have the greatest respect for the McKnight family. I really hope that things work out for the best for him.

As previously discussed, the loss of an experienced senior and important role player will certainly hurt the team in the short run. The best we can hope for is that the increased opportunities for Euton and Egner will help speed their development, and that team performance by the end of the season will not be compromised.

[Quickzips]

Not exactly a big surprise that Brett won't be back in uniform for the Zips. Hope he gets his life figured out. That said, the Zips have already started the process of moving on without him and that process is going to continue. We need a couple of young guys to step up a bit, but we still have plenty of talent to go pretty far in this conference and we are going to be just fine.

[Zip Watcher]

Let's recall that it is still speculation and supposition. As of now, Brett remains on the roster @ GZ.com and the department has suspended him, not removed him from the team. I keep hope alive that Brett will get things straightened out.

Go Zips!

[w00t]

Sure it is. Someone always believes that anything is neither as good or bad as someone else does. It's one of the immutable laws of human nature that for every belief there are alternate beliefs with differing levels of perceived validity.

What about a guy who predicts the exact score of a game? What if ten guys predict the score exactly?

Sometimes things are exactly as they appear.

Read it again with the highlighted words.

You should have highlighted "always", "anything", "immutable", "laws", and "every". Those are some pretty black and white words for someone whose sig reminds our faithful readers of his affinity for shades of gray on a daily basis.

[Blue & Gold]

Sure it is. Someone always believes that anything is neither as good or bad as someone else does. It's one of the immutable laws of human nature that for every belief there are alternate beliefs with differing levels of perceived validity.

What about a guy who predicts the exact score of a game? What if ten guys predict the score exactly?

Sometimes things are exactly as they appear.

Read it again with the highlighted words.

You should have highlighted "always", "anything", "immutable", "laws", and "every". Those are some pretty black and white words for someone whose sig reminds our faithful readers of his affinity for shades of gray on a daily basis.

Lol. Good call, w00t. In this way Dave is indeed a bit of an enigma. He is most definitely our resident expert in regards to sports-related statistical analysis (the realm of black & white), yet his signature insists he is happy with shades of grey. Lol.