Brett McKnight Needed

[2Ball]

After tonights game, the Zips need someone who has the ability to put the ball in the basket. The Zips could have used his 3 of 9 shooting from the field and 5 of 6 from the line tonight.

[ZachTheZip]

Steve McNees needed. What happened to having a McNees who could run the offense while also throwing down threes all game? We could have really used that guy.

We could also have used the McClanahan who could create his own shot, the one who showed up against Dayton and YSU.

[skip-zip]

We don't need Brett. We have Dakotah. We'll be just fine. He has more "up side" than Brett. (I can't believe I was reading some of this in another thread). Of course we miss a senior, who was a point scorer, and has been a go-to guy in many "we need a basket" situations over the last few years. Were a few people on here just in denial?

Steve's lack of shot attempts is a mystery to me. It certainly appears to me that he's more focused on quarterbacking the offense than scoring points this year, but I don't know why either.

[Dr Z]

Steve's lack of shot attempts is a mystery to me.

Too much ball handling. Coach needs to change that.

[Dave in Green]

We don't need Brett. We have Dakotah. We'll be just fine. He has more "up side" than Brett. (I can't believe I was reading some of this in another thread). Of course we miss a senior, who was a point scorer, and has been a go-to guy in many "we need a basket" situations over the last few years. Were a few people on here just in denial? .....

If by chance you're referring me, you're misrepresenting me. I've consistently said that losing Brett would hurt in the short run. In fact, I don't recall anyone saying that things would be better in the short run without Brett. But maybe you can cite something specifically that I'm not recalling.

[skip-zip]

We don't need Brett. We have Dakotah. We'll be just fine. He has more "up side" than Brett. (I can't believe I was reading some of this in another thread). Of course we miss a senior, who was a point scorer, and has been a go-to guy in many "we need a basket" situations over the last few years. Were a few people on here just in denial? .....

If by chance you're referring me, you're misrepresenting me. I've consistently said that losing Brett would hurt in the short run. In fact, I don't recall anyone saying that things would be better in the short run without Brett. But maybe you can cite something specifically that I'm not recalling.

It's all over the "suspension" thread. I don't recall who all said these things, and wasn't calling anyone out.

[Dave in Green]

Skip, I just took the time to go back and read every single post in the "suspension" thread. I could not find a single post by anyone claiming the Zips would be better off in the short run with a raw rookie standing in for an experienced, proven performer like Brett. Most of the comments seemed to agree that Euton might have a bigger upside than McKnight over the long run. Do you not believe that to be true?

[Quickzips]

Skip I'd like you to do something for me. Go back through some NCAA statistics and find for me another team whose "point scorer", "go-to guy", "we need a basket guy" averages only 10 points per game on under 40% shooting. Go ahead, I dare ya to find even one. For all this talk about how great an offensive player Brett McKnight WAS, he really wasn't anything all that special. All he WAS was an undersized, out of shape PF who couldn't consistently finish around the rim and often put his own individual glory ahead of what was best for the team. This team has a lot of issues right now, and not having our monster 10 point per game scorer isn't really all that high on the list.

[Blue & Gold]

This is the guy the Zips needed: Local product. Dropped 42 on Can't last night. Wasn't pursued by the Zips?!

C.J. McCollum Needed

[Quickzips]

Nobody wanted McCollum coming out of high school. Bowling Green offered at one point, but pulled their offer relatively quickly. Other than that it was Lehigh or NAIA ball. Despite McCollum they don't seem to be having much more success than the Zips this year as they are 2-3 with losses to Can't, Penn State and Monmouth.

[Dave in Green]

Brett McKnight was neither a great player nor a total loser. He was somewhere in the middle along with the vast majority of other college players.

One stat I noticed last season was that Brett was ranked 17th nationally among all D1 players in percentage of team shots taken. While he was on the floor, Brett took 33.7 percent of the team's shots. But while he took a larger percentage of his team's shots than all but 16 other players in the country, he wasn't listed anywhere in the top 500 players in terms of effective field goal percentage.

So what the Zips as a team need to do offensively this season to improve their position without Brett is to have a higher effective field goal shooting percentage on the shots that Brett would have taken if he was playing.

Defensively, I thought Brett was putting more effort into defending and rebounding as last season went on. Again, he wasn't great and he wasn't a total loser. But his experience will be missed on defense.

I don't see any single player ready to immediately step in as the 6th man and replace what I think Brett would have brought to the team this season. Euton has a lot to prove before being able to fill Brett's shoes. I think he has the potential to do it at some point in his career, but have no idea how long it will take.

Egner has more physical ability than either McKnight or Euton, and will probably be a better defender. If Egner had a more reliable outside shot, he could also be in the picture to fill Brett's shoes.

But it's all about "what-if" right now. With Brett we knew what we had, both the good and the bad. With the new guys, all we have is potential that has yet to be realized.

[skip-zip]

Brett McKnight was neither a great player nor a total loser. He was somewhere in the middle along with the vast majority of other college players.

One stat I noticed last season was that Brett was ranked 17th nationally among all D1 players in percentage of team shots taken. While he was on the floor, Brett took 33.7 percent of the team's shots. But while he took a larger percentage of his team's shots than all but 16 other players in the country, he wasn't listed anywhere in the top 500 players in terms of effective field goal percentage.

So what the Zips as a team need to do offensively this season to improve their position without Brett is to have a higher effective field goal shooting percentage on the shots that Brett would have taken if he was playing.

Defensively, I thought Brett was putting more effort into defending and rebounding as last season went on. Again, he wasn't great and he wasn't a total loser. But his experience will be missed on defense.

I don't see any single player ready to immediately step in as the 6th man and replace what I think Brett would have brought to the team this season. Euton has a lot to prove before being able to fill Brett's shoes. I think he has the potential to do it at some point in his career, but have no idea how long it will take.

Egner has more physical ability than either McKnight or Euton, and will probably be a better defender. If Egner had a more reliable outside shot, he could also be in the picture to fill Brett's shoes.

But it's all about "what-if" right now. With Brett we knew what we had, both the good and the bad. With the new guys, all we have is potential that has yet to be realized.

Well said, especially on the points I highlighted. You saved me from a lot of typing