Remember the Titans

[Quickzips]

This has me feeling a little better after that nasty taste left in my mouth after CSU. I think we can take out UIC Saturday and hopefully have some confidence going into Minnesota and Temple.

Speaking of big wins, how about Miami beating Xavier late?

Good night for the MAC. CMU gave Temple a challenge too and had the lead at the half before fading late. Little bit of redemption after a pretty ugly start to the OOC season so far.

[Dave in Green]

I feel a lot better after seeing the Zips overcome adversity in the first half to stay close, and then come out in the second half and take control. They really played a full game tonight with effort, intensity and smarts. They seemed to have better teamwork, with fewer instances of one player not knowing what another was doing. They still have a ways to go, but they're definitely looking better.

I'll never forget the expression on the Detroit player's face as he looked incredulously at the ref after he had to deliberately foul McNees three times to get the ref to blow the whistle and stop the clock from running out. I promised myself not to get upset at the refs this year. But this was poster-quality bad officiating. Thank goodness it didn't cost the Zips a W.

[Valpo Zip]

Good win tonight. Nik and Alex came out big. KD has got to play Alex more and play McNeese off the ball.

We still have a lot to work on though. Detroit had a lot of second chance points and the only reason we stayed in this game is because they committed a zillion turnovers. Our bigs must keep improving their overall game and i would like to see much more of Egner and Euton.

PS: did you guys see Bardo's post move? that was sweet

[Dave in Green]

Yikes, East Tennessee State just beat Dayton at Dayton. I thought the Zips playing Dayton close at Dayton was a pretty decent achievement. Maybe the Flyers aren't flying so high this season.

[Quickzips]

One last point before I log off for the night. I will never, NEVER complain about apathetic crowds at the JAR after that anemic group for Detroit. They have a pretty exciting team with a couple big time players and they barely managed more than a golf-clap when their guard had a breakaway dunk in the first half and didn't even seem like they realized there was a game going on most of the time.

[jem101]

One last point before I log off for the night. I will never, NEVER complain about apathetic crowds at the JAR after that anemic group for Detroit. They have a pretty exciting team with a couple big time players and they barely managed more than a golf-clap when their guard had a breakaway dunk in the first half and didn't even seem like they realized there was a game going on most of the time.

I was thinking the same exact thing the whole game. That debate got old over on the other thread and was hijacked, but boy was Detroit's crowd horrible. Maybe everyone was staying home so they didn't miss the tip of the MSU- Duke game. lol

On another non-game related note, the video stream was outstanding even though the announcer was terrible. I wish the MAC could have something similar.

[Zipmeister]

Yikes, East Tennessee State just beat Dayton at Dayton. I thought the Zips playing Dayton close at Dayton was a pretty decent achievement. Maybe the Flyers aren't flying so high this season.

ETSU has gone to the NCAA in each of the last two years. They played almost exclusively a zone defense and the Flyers hoisted up an amazing 38 three point attempts making a whooping 13.

[RootforRoo44]

One last point before I log off for the night. I will never, NEVER complain about apathetic crowds at the JAR after that anemic group for Detroit. They have a pretty exciting team with a couple big time players and they barely managed more than a golf-clap when their guard had a breakaway dunk in the first half and didn't even seem like they realized there was a game going on most of the time.

Well when you're dodging bullets on your trip from the car to the arena nothing seems nearly as exciting!

[tpsjugglerdude]

Detroit out rebounded our Zips by 10. Detroit also had 12 offensive boards. Its impressive that we won by 8 with these stats.

[GoZips]

Good win tonight. Nik and Alex came out big. KD has got to play Alex more and play McNeese off the ball.

We still have a lot to work on though. Detroit had a lot of second chance points and the only reason we stayed in this game is because they committed a zillion turnovers. Our bigs must keep improving their overall game and i would like to see much more of Egner and Euton.

PS: did you guys see Bardo's post move? that was sweet

KD did his part. Steve has to take on the mantle. Four shots from the field and four assists in 28

minutes speaks volumes that Steve still sees himself as the point guard. That spells loss.

Steve, give it up. Abreu is the point guard when he is on the floor. Shoot the ball ... !!!!

The assists are great. The four measly shots sting. Akron needs ten shots and 12-14 floor points

from Steve to be effective. Shoot the ball ... !!!!

[Dr Z]

Detroit out rebounded our Zips by 10. Detroit also had 12 offensive boards. Its impressive that we won by 8 with these stats.

The Titans turned the ball over TWENTY times!

[johnnyzip84]

Yikes, East Tennessee State just beat Dayton at Dayton. I thought the Zips playing Dayton close at Dayton was a pretty decent achievement. Maybe the Flyers aren't flying so high this season.

Dayton was also MAULED over the weekend in Cincy by the Bearcats 68-34. It's a strange game.

You have to wonder if Alex's ankle hadn't been hurt just before the CSU game how much of a difference that may have made against the Vikes. Great effort last night guys! Go Zips!

[meatwad]

One last point before I log off for the night. I will never, NEVER complain about apathetic crowds at the JAR after that anemic group for Detroit. They have a pretty exciting team with a couple big time players and they barely managed more than a golf-clap when their guard had a breakaway dunk in the first half and didn't even seem like they realized there was a game going on most of the time.

Well when you're dodging bullets on your trip from the car to the arena nothing seems nearly as exciting!

Nice one RFR.

[Dr Z]

Maybe the Flyers aren't flying so high this season.

Speaking of flying, did you see your buddy miss another point blank dunk last night? I hope this doesn't become an issue.

[Quickzips]

Few more thoughts this morning.

KD mentioned in the postgame show that the decision to start Alex over Daryl stemmed from two things. First they felt it would get Alex into the flow of the game a little better and second it broke up the new guys a little bit as opposed to having them all coming off of the bench. I would say it worked out quite nicely for the Zips. I expect to see more of that starting lineup as time goes along. Kudos to Daryl for doing what was best for the team, not complaining and putting together a pretty productive night with 13 points, 3 boards, an assist and 3 steals.

We still need to see one or two of the freshman forwards step up a bit. I though Diggs had a decent night as he knocked down a nice 3 in the first half and broke down the Titans D on a couple of occassions off the dribble, but he still is having problems making the correct decisions and finishing plays. Egner's night was up and down as well. He played some pretty good defense but he often looked lost on the offensive end. Even the one shot that he did hit he looked very tenative even taking it. Euton was a non-factor in the 6 minutes of action he saw.

McNees was a little better last night as he took some big shots when we needed him, but I still watched him pass up at least 3 or 4 more shots that we've seen him take in the past. I don't think we need 10-12 shots per night out of him, but we can't have him passing up open looks like he continues to do.

I think the most encouraging thing about the game was the defense the Zips played. They were active in cutting off the passing lanes, they swarmed to the ball and they generally made life difficult for Detroit despite the ridiculous foul situation. Most impressive to me was the way in which they handled Holman. This is a guy who was averaging nearly 70% from the field and leading the NCAA in double doubles coming into last night and the Zips held him to 3 of 10 from the field and only 9 points. They did it primarily by denying him clean entry passes. When he did get the ball he was often out of position to do much of anything with it. Our guys still need some work on keeping guys like him off of the offensive glass, but overall it was a much better effort on the defensive end.

Despite the foul situation I felt Nikola kept his cool relatively well last night. He might have gotten on Egner a little too hard for blowing that dunk in the 2nd half, and he had a little bit of a mix up with McNees at one point, but I never really felt he was in danger of going into meltdown mode. I still hold my breath with him a little bit every time the refs blow the whistle.

Nitro had a relatively quiet night and still managed to put up 11 points and 4 rebounds. He's come a long way.

I wasn't that impressed with McCallum. You can see he has some talent at the offensive end, but his defense is a disaster. When he did put some effort in on the defensive side of the floor he usually picked up a cheap foul. He has a long way to go if he's going to play in the NBA one day. He wasn't their worst man on the floor (that distinction would probably go to Minnerath who was abused on both ends of the court by Nikola all night long) but he wasn't all that good either.

Finally, it was nice to see the Zips keep the offense going for 40 minutes. I don't remember going through the patented Zips extended scoring drought at all last night. They jumped on the Titans early in both halves, and save for a 2 or 3 minute stretch late in the first half they never really gave Detroit much of a chance to get back in it. A big part of it came from playing the kind of defense they did. It allowed us to get out on the break more and set us up for some easier shots. That is the kind of team I think the Zips need to be this year. I don't know as we have the horses to grind it out in a half-court game for 40 minutes every night, but we have guys who are active in the passing lanes and that can give us a lot of cheap baskets on the offensive end if we continue to play that way. I hope KD and the gang recognizes this and looks to play that style a little more.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Great game by the Zips last night. After Abreu's down game, I'd have never thought he'd start against Detroit. Great move by Dambrot. If Roberts can embrace the 6th Man role, he'll fill the void left by McKnight. Until, of course, McKnight returns.

[Dr Z]

Nice thoughts QZ.

I'll add this. I was expecting Eli Holman to be a big factor last night from all his press and fan fare. Looked to me as if Zeke towered over the 6'10" center. Zeke's height alone seem to alter Eli's game. I'm sure Eli does very well against teams without a seven footer. I know a lot of Zip fans like to complain about the refs, but Zeke needs to learn how to defend without picking up ticky tack fouls. In a lot of match ups we will need him defensively at the end of the game. He needs to be available to provide that. I'm lovin his hook. That should be unstoppable in MAC play.

[Quickzips]

Nice thoughts QZ.

I'll add this. I was expecting Eli Holman to be a big factor last night from all his press and fan fare. Looked to me as if Zeke towered over the 6'10" center. Zeke's height alone seem to alter Eli's game. I'm sure Eli does very well against teams without a seven footer. I know a lot of Zip fans like to complain about the refs, but Zeke needs to learn how to defend without picking up ticky tack fouls. In a lot of match ups we will need him defensively at the end of the game. He needs to be available to provide that. I'm lovin his hook. That should be unstoppable in MAC play.

I'm willing to give Zeke a pass on last night. At least 3 of the fouls he picked up were flat out ridiculous. The only two that were legit were the first half foul where he showed on a double team and couldn't get out of the Detroit guard's way and the one with 18 seconds left where he whiffed on a block and drew contact (shouldn't be going for the block in that situation in the first place, but after only getting 17 minutes to that point due to the ridiculous foul situation I can understand wanting to try and be a little aggressive). The other three were flat out bad calls. Twice in the second half he was called simply for laying a hand on the back of Holman as he received an entry pass. If that is a foul the refs can call that 20 times a game on each team every night. No big man in the country would be able to make it out of the first half without fouling out. Bardo picked up at least one of those types of fouls as well. I'm not saying Zeke is a complete player and doesn't need to work on some things, but to blame him for his foul situation last night is unfair. That zebra crew was just flat out horrible. No other way to put it.

[skip-zip]

My thoughts...

1) If Detroit is a possible contender for the Horizon title, I didn't see it. They looked silly at home against an Akron team that is still trying to find itself.

2) A good effort to guard some people totally threw this Detroit team out of sync offensively. That's an incredible amount of turnovers. Do Horizon League teams play poor defense if they think this Detroit team is so good?

3) As Quickzip said, we switched Abreu and Roberts to get the newcomers mixed in a little more with the experienced guys. I think it took a little pressure off of him. He may end up being the best dribble-drive option we have, which could open up more scoring opportunities. But I want to see him start to make a lot better decisions when it comes to deciding to shoot.

4) I'd like to see Egner and Diggs mixed in with the starters a little more too. I think these two guys have the potential to be the biggest contributors this year among the reserves.

5) Darryl definitely adds strength to the bench. I just hope this move doesn't decrease his minutes, because I think we still need him out there to give us the best chances to have a great season.

6) McClanahan is exceeding my expectations right now. But I still see a lot of that same guy who looks panicked, and rushes shots. And I've never liked his potential for consistency from long range with that long (and often unbalanced) shooting motion he has either. I said at the beginning of the season that if we started getting more out of him than 10 min. per game as fill-in player that I'd be happy, and he's certainly doing that.

7) Euton as a suitable replacement for McKnight? Please. If that ever materializes, it's a long way off.

[Dave in Green]

Maybe the Flyers aren't flying so high this season.

Speaking of flying, did you see your buddy miss another point blank dunk last night? I hope this doesn't become an issue.

I'm not worried about a proven HS slammer like Egner missing a couple of his earliest slams as a true freshman college player. I'd compare that to a good free throw shooter like Abreu missing a bunch of his early free throws as a true freshman college player, and a proven HS 3-point shooter like Euton missing a lot of his early college 3-point attempts. I think all three true freshmen will do better in their various specialties as they get more PT and experience at the college level. But there's no doubt that all three will look shaky at times until they get more comfortable with the flow of the college game.

[johnnyzip84]

MERCY! The Titans might have been too tired!

[GoZips]

McNees was a little better last night as he took some big shots when we needed him, but I still watched him pass up at least 3 or 4 more shots that we've seen him take in the past. I don't think we need 10-12 shots per night out of him, but we can't have him passing up open looks like he continues to do.

Quickzips, how many shots do you expect from your shooting guard?

[Quickzips]

McNees was a little better last night as he took some big shots when we needed him, but I still watched him pass up at least 3 or 4 more shots that we've seen him take in the past. I don't think we need 10-12 shots per night out of him, but we can't have him passing up open looks like he continues to do.

Quickzips, how many shots do you expect from your shooting guard?

I think if McNees is efficient enough with the ball 8 or so per night would be about ideal. You have to remember where Steve's shots are coming from. He takes a higher percentage of his shots from 3 than pretty much any player in Zips history. For his career he's taken a total of 502 shots to this point, of those 451 have been 3 point attempts. To me if Steve is getting 12 shots per night that means he is forcing a 3 on about 4 or 5 of them. Those are shots we don't need in this offense. We have other guys who are capable of scoring the ball. We don't need to be a live by the three die by the three kind of team right now.

[Captain Kangaroo]

After the CSU loss, on Frenchy's post game show he made two comments that stuck in my memory --

"Well Zips Fans...you wanted to play a tougher schedule!"

and

"The Horizon League has clearly surpassed the MAC in basketball."

Quote #1 irked me when I first heard it. CSU isn't Duke. And it is a local upper-midmajor that we should be playing annually. But after thinking about it, if you take it in the context that a tougher schedule means we'll going to have to accept a few defeats as trade-offs for what were formerly 40-point blow outs the likes of South Carolina Upstate...I can accept it.

Regarding Quote #2 -- Since Butler made the NCAA Finals last season, I don't think there's any doubt the Horizon is a better hoops conference than the MAC. But overall, it isn't the MVC.

The MAC's dregs hold the conference back, but the top teams of the MAC can easily run with any Horizon team but Butler.

Three NCAA bids for the Horizon is laughable. Two is possible, if CSU upends Butler in the tourney. IMO - Butler and CSU would both represent the Horizon well against just about anyone...but after those two schools...puh-leeze.

Three Horizon CBI bids...that could happen.

[skip-zip]

After the CSU loss, on Frenchy's post game show he made two comments that stuck in my memory --

"Well Zips Fans...you wanted to play a tougher schedule!"

and

"The Horizon League has clearly surpassed the MAC in basketball."

Quote #1 irked me when I first heard it. CSU isn't Duke. And it is a local upper-midmajor that we should be playing annually. But after thinking about it, if you take it in the context that a tougher schedule means we'll going to have to accept a few defeats as trade-offs for what were formerly 40-point blow outs the likes of South Carolina Upstate...I can accept it.

Regarding Quote #2 -- Since Butler made the NCAA Finals last season, I don't think there's any doubt the Horizon is a better hoops conference than the MAC. But overall, it isn't the MVC.

The MAC's dregs hold the conference back, but the top teams of the MAC can easily run with any Horizon team but Butler.

Three NCAA bids for the Horizon is laughable. Two is possible, if CSU upends Butler in the tourney. IMO - Butler and CSU would both represent the Horizon well against just about anyone...but after those two schools...puh-leeze.

Three Horizon CBI bids...that could happen.

I see this possibly happening too. Who would be the third team? Hopefully they don't think it's the team we played last night.