Well I hope EVERYONE was at the Can't game

[Dave in Green]

Four games after what some of us thought was Zeke's breakout game, he has failed to come close to matching that performance. The Zeke I've seen in the last four games is roughly the same Zeke I was used to seeing prior to the Can't game. He continues to develop at a modest pace. But the light really hasn't gone on in his head that what he did to Can't he could do in every game against any team remaining on the Zips schedule.

So I have to admit that I was too optimistic and jumped the gun when I said this was Zeke's breakout game. I just couldn't imagine that he could play the way I saw him play, and then lose that attitude and revert to being more tentative. I still think this is eventually going to happen, hopefully before the end of this season.

I do like the way that KD is holding Zeke out and trying to keep him out of foul trouble until the last few minutes of the game, when he can be a huge impact player at both ends of the court. I really don't have a problem with Zeke not scoring a lot early in the game as long as he's on court at the end of the game and the team is using him as one of the primary offensive options. His hook shot is still virtually unstoppable, and he shoots it at a higher percentage than any other player on the team shoots their best shot. So it's a wonderful offensive option to have in crunch time with the game on the line.

[dboze]

Four games after what some of us thought was Zeke's breakout game, he has failed to come close to matching that performance. The Zeke I've seen in the last four games is roughly the same Zeke I was used to seeing prior to the Can't game. He continues to develop at a modest pace. But the light really hasn't gone on in his head that what he did to Can't he could do in every game against any team remaining on the Zips schedule.

So I have to admit that I was too optimistic and jumped the gun when I said this was Zeke's breakout game. I just couldn't imagine that he could play the way I saw him play, and then lose that attitude and revert to being more tentative. I still think this is eventually going to happen, hopefully before the end of this season.

I do like the way that KD is holding Zeke out and trying to keep him out of foul trouble until the last few minutes of the game, when he can be a huge impact player at both ends of the court. I really don't have a problem with Zeke not scoring a lot early in the game as long as he's on court at the end of the game and the team is using him as one of the primary offensive options. His hook shot is still virtually unstoppable, and he shoots it at a higher percentage than any other player on the team shoots their best shot. So it's a wonderful offensive option to have in crunch time with the game on the line.

Dave, i have to disagree. Zeke got 14 shots in the Can't State game and only averaged 4-5 shot per game since. It's not Zeke, its the fact that the team plays around him. When they DO go to him, e.g. BG game, he scores. Zeke was 4-5 against Buffalo and 2-4 against BG. You can't score when you don't get the ball. He has been on the floor 20+ minutes in every game since so foul trouble is not an excuse for his lack of shot. He played 31 against BG and only had 4 shots. Zeke is open. Our guards don't penetrate and dish. Nik goes 6-15 against Buffalo. A 7-footer should be getting AT LEAST 8 - 12 shots a game. Especially one that shots over 50% from the floor.

[Dave in Green]

Good point on the number of shots Zeke's taken. The rest of the team has not done a great job of getting the ball to Zeke in shooting position. But that's just one aspect of the game. For example, Zeke had 11 rebounds against Can't, and only 18 total in the last four games, which averages out to 4.5 rebounds per game.

Zeke was aggressive and focused against Can't on both offense and defense, and has not repeated that in the four games since.

This is not intended to be critical of Zeke, who's not playing poorly since the Can't game but playing at roughly the same level as before the Can't game. This is just me retracting my overly optimistic assessment that his level of play against Can't represented the kind of breakout game that would have him performing at a similar level more frequently. Until he actually does, the performance against Can't does not qualify as a breakout game. It was only a hint of what Zeke might do when he consistently plays at that higher level.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Could it be that Zeke isn't winning his battles for position? Or that he's not calling for the ball? Or that he's not getting in a point guard's ear and letting him know that he's tired of busting his hump on the offensive end for nothing?

Zeke needs to be more aggressive. It goes against his nature, but it has to happen. He's a skilled 7-footer in a league full of hamburger post men. It's time to pick up the pace.

I saw Zeke play against K.e.n.t. It isn't the same player I've seen the past couple games. I want to see his K.e.n.t. effort more frequently.

[dboze]

Could it be that Zeke isn't winning his battles for position? Or that he's not calling for the ball? Or that he's not getting in a point guard's ear and letting him know that he's tired of busting his hump on the offensive end for nothing?

Zeke needs to be more aggressive. It goes against his nature, but it has to happen. He's a skilled 7-footer in a league full of hamburger post men. It's time to pick up the pace.

I saw Zeke play against K.e.n.t. It isn't the same player I've seen the past couple games. I want to see his K.e.n.t. effort more frequently.

Nope...Zeke is wide open on the pick and rolls and on the blocks with good position. We're too busy shooting 29% and 33% from 3-point land to pass the ball inside to him. Zeke is not the problem. He scores when he gets it. How many times have we lobbed him the ball since Can't? 1 maybe 2 times. Here's the question: How come every 'other' team in the MAC go feed the ball inside except Akron? It was not until the team made an effort to get him involved in the BG game that things started to happen. How come we don't have set plays for our bigs? Can't, Buffalo, and Ohio do. This is the same player BEFORE the Can't game and AFTER the Can't game. As a team, we have to get him involved. We throw it in to him, him throws it back to the 3-point shooter. How many times do we then come back to him? Not many, we're too busy going 7-21 or worse from 3 point land.

This not only applies to Zeke but also Mcknight. During the Can't game we fed him on the block. What happened to that? Both Mcknight (who had 19 at Can't) and Zeke are capable of more. Mcknight has not has a game over 12 points since then. We just played as a team against Can't and relied on our inside game.

[dboze]

Could it be that Zeke isn't winning his battles for position? Or that he's not calling for the ball? Or that he's not getting in a point guard's ear and letting him know that he's tired of busting his hump on the offensive end for nothing?

Zeke needs to be more aggressive. It goes against his nature, but it has to happen. He's a skilled 7-footer in a league full of hamburger post men. It's time to pick up the pace.

I saw Zeke play against K.e.n.t. It isn't the same player I've seen the past couple games. I want to see his K.e.n.t. effort more frequently.

Nope...Zeke is wide open on the pick and rolls and on the blocks with good position. We're too busy shooting 29% and 33% from 3-point land to pass the ball inside to him. Zeke is not the problem. He scores when he gets it. How many times have we lobbed him the ball since Can't? 1 maybe 2 times. Here's the question: How come every 'other' team in the MAC go feed the ball inside except Akron? It was not until the team made an effort to get him involved in the BG game that things started to happen. How come we don't have set plays for our bigs? Can't, Buffalo, and Ohio do. This is the same player BEFORE the Can't game and AFTER the Can't game. As a team, we have to get him involved. We throw it in to him, him throws it back to the 3-point shooter. How many times do we then come back to him? Not many, we're too busy going 7-21 or worse from 3 point land.

This not only applies to Zeke but also Mcknight. During the Can't game we fed him on the block. What happened to that? Both Mcknight (who had 19 at Can't) and Zeke are capable of more. Mcknight has not has a game over 12 points since then. We just played as a team against Can't and relied on our inside game.

As far as the rebounding, he's had a 14-point rebounding game before Can't. My point is that Can't is not his defining game and we have to get him involved. Do I want to see that player at Can't, yes. But I also want to see the player I saw @ Stetson (14-points, 14-rebounds). But getting a player involved in the offense will produce other by-products such as rebounding. I fully agree that he needs to rebound better to get more shots.

I'm just fed up with this team ignoring a 7-footer on the floor that is wide open. We can lob the ball to Nik with 2 people on him but not to Zeke with one.

In the end good dialog....Thanks..Dave...

[The Hip Zip]

Strange, but when the game was on the line against BG Steve was at the point( yeah, the same Steve that everbody wants to bench)and the offense ran straight through Zeke as it should. I recall KD saying very early in the year that they were going to run the offense through Zeke quite a bit but they sure got away from that.

I know that most here don't want to hear it but get prepared for more of Steve at the point. I'll betcha !

[Dave in Green]

..... we're too busy going 7-21 or worse from 3 point land. .....

Actually, 7-21 from 3 point land isn't that bad. Hitting 1 of every 3 treys (.333) is the point equivalent of hitting 1 of every 2 field goals (.500).

As a team, the Zips are currently shooting .425 on 2s and .344 on 3s, which is the equivalent of better than .500 on 2s.

Nothing wrong with taking whatever shot the defense gives you as long as you're making the shots at a good true shooting percentage, which takes into account how many points the shot is worth.