BG Game Saturday - A "Must Win?"

[Zip Watcher]

Everyone needs to decide how they want things to be.

Do you want to see a Freshman "grow through struggles" on the floor with expanded minutes?

Or do you want the best team on the floor to try and win every game and win the league?

Which is it? Because they're NOT the same. And with the current state of the team and conference, I would argue that both of the above are reasonable possibilities.

Complaining during an early conference season slump that things aren't going well starts when games are lost that we may feel could have been won. Using un-proven freshman, or those who have struggled in earlier action to try and slump bust is going to yield more losses. Is the uber-patient Akron fan base willing to sit through (and I mean .. show up and root for) a true rebuilding year where KD transitions from one style of play to another?

Given the already started "warm seat" conversations .. it seems pretty clear that the fanbase doesn't want to observe a transition season.

B)

Go Zips!

[Dr Z]

Or do you want the best team on the floor to try and win every game and win the league?

This is an easy on for me, best team on the floor to win the game we are playing at the time. Is that what coach K is doing?

[Zip_ME87]

Or do you want the best team on the floor to try and win every game and win the league?

In my opinion, we're not seeing that. With all the chaotic substitutions, I don't know what team we're seeing on the floor. Sorry, I like KD (he's certainly much better than Hipsher and Crawford), but he's not above criticism.

[Zip Watcher]

Or do you want the best team on the floor to try and win every game and win the league?

In my opinion, we're not seeing that. With all the chaotic substitutions, I don't know what team we're seeing on the floor. Sorry, I like KD (he's certainly much better than Hipsher and Crawford), but he's not above criticism.

I think that's a fair answer.

My point was that I think some folks aren't considering the trade-offs involved here.

[RowdyZip]

I'm sorry, but the vast majority of these posts are just a little ignorant. Should our coach change his lineups because you think they'd make the team play better? How many of you are Division one head basketball coaches? How'd you like to be a fan of EMU, Toledo, CMU, ETC? Any of those fan bases would kill to have a dedicated alum coaching their team to the consistent success that we've seen over the last 6 years. Ever stop to think maybe the pieces aren't there/ready yet? (Like coach has said since the season started). To expect more out of a MAC program is ignorant. I dont know about you, but I'm not ready to head back to the old 5 to 10 win seasons. Chill out and remember we'll never win every game.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I'm sorry, but the vast majority of these posts are just a little ignorant. Should our coach change his lineups because you think they'd make the team play better? How many of you are Division one head basketball coaches? How'd you like to be a fan of EMU, Toledo, CMU, ETC? Any of those fan bases would kill to have a dedicated alum coaching their team to the consistent success that we've seen over the last 6 years. Ever stop to think maybe the pieces aren't there/ready yet? (Like coach has said since the season started). To expect more out of a MAC program is ignorant. I dont know about you, but I'm not ready to head back to the old 5 to 10 win seasons. Chill out and remember we'll never win every game.

I've never been a fan of the "Have you ever been a D-1 head coach? If not, you don't know basketball" argument. There are several people on this board with a very good basketball IQ who likely never so much as sniffed the water bucket in their high school "career."

Put the ball in the hoop. Stop the other team from putting the ball in the hoop. It is a simple game.

Nor am I a fan of the line: "If Coach "X" isn't here, we will never be successful. Be happy you aren't <insert perennial loser here>." 20 wins is not the be-all-end-all. There are scores of coaches who do it every year. And scores of programs that re-tool with different coaches and still win their 20+/season.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to win championships. There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a magical 2-game deep run in the NCAA tourney.

There's nothing wrong with admiring what Gary Waters has accomplished at CSU, in such a short period.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to beat a BCS "major" program every-so-often.

There's nothing wrong with hating to lose to K.e.n.t more than you beat 'em.

There's nothing wrong with having high "mid-major" standards for your program. You should have them at Akron. It's a 30,000 student University with a long basketball tradition.

I understand that we are in a transition year to a new style of team. But there are no guarantees that next season will be any better. I was geeked about Andy Hipsher...and he won nothing. I was stoked to get Derrick Tarver...and he won nothing. I was excited when Dru Joyce's eligibility expired, thinking we'd open up our offense more...and after 7 seasons he's still the best PG we've had under Dambrot. I was excited about Humpty, who delivered us an NCAA tourney bid... and he got booted off the team after 2 seasons.

We have potential to be really good next season. But potential simply means: you haven't done it. Next season could be worse than this year. It could.

The MAC is very mediocre this year, and the league championship is there for the taking. I've personally lamented that we don't have guys with the skills and intangibles of Dials/Joyce/Middleton....but I don't think that means we can't win the MAC as it consists in 2011.

Fans are frustrated that the team has not played to it's potential. Especially at home. We need to beat BG tomorrow night. Coack K gets paid $300k+ to figure out a way to do it. I think there's nothing wrong with having expectations that he should do it. Or being pretty depressed if he doesn't. It's called being a fan.

[Quickzips]

I'm sorry, but the vast majority of these posts are just a little ignorant. Should our coach change his lineups because you think they'd make the team play better? How many of you are Division one head basketball coaches? How'd you like to be a fan of EMU, Toledo, CMU, ETC? Any of those fan bases would kill to have a dedicated alum coaching their team to the consistent success that we've seen over the last 6 years. Ever stop to think maybe the pieces aren't there/ready yet? (Like coach has said since the season started). To expect more out of a MAC program is ignorant. I dont know about you, but I'm not ready to head back to the old 5 to 10 win seasons. Chill out and remember we'll never win every game.

First off, this is a fan forum. If the fans don't have an opportunity to come on here and debate things like this then this site goes away, and we start to widdle away at a decent chunk of our already meager fanbase. That said, I'll try to provide a few of the changes that I would make if I were coaching this team and why I would make them. I am not a basketball coach, never have been, never will be. I don't play the game either, I am merely a fan, but I have an opinion and I am entitled to express it.

Lineup change #1:

Quincy Diggs is my starting SF. He has the length and athleticism that we need on the wing and is a more capable defender than McClanahan for some of the bigger, more athletic SF we are starting to see.

Lineup change #2:

Brett McClanahan is my starting SG, moving McNees to the bench. Steve is struggling mightily this year, and nothing we have done for him so far seems to be working. IMO he needs to start coming off the bench for a while until his shot starts to come back. McClanahan also provides us some much needed size in the backcourt on the defensive end.

Lineup change #3:

Josh Egner is going to start taking Mike Bardo's minutes in the rotation. I am going to have him playing some PF and some C coming off of the bench. Bardo isn't doing terrible out there this year by his standards, but he has never provided us with much in the minutes he is on the floor and with it being his final year you really aren't developing him for anything down the line. Egner is clearly not ready for big minutes yet, but if he can handle the 8-10 minutes per night that Mike plays and make things a little difficult for opponents with his athleticism on the defensive end I think it would be a positive change.

System change #1:

I am going to extend the defense to full-court, every possession. This team doesn't have the lateral quickness to guard teams for 25-30 seconds in the half-court every time down the floor. What we do have are quite a few guys who are adept at forcing turnovers by poking away the ball, getting in the passing lanes and/or trapping. I may not pressure and trap every possession like there are two minutes left and I'm down by 3 possessions, but I'm not going to just let opponents walk the ball up the court either. We have some depth on this team to be able to keep guys fresh. Let's start using it.

System change #2:

I am going to start pushing the tempo more on the offensive end. I don't want to see the ball walked up the floor anymore. Especially when Abreu is on the court. I'm not going to go Mike D'Antoni, seven-seconds or less style, but I don't want to see the ball just barely making it across the timeline and then getting passed around the perimeter for 20 seconds before forcing up a long 3 anymore.

System change #3:

I'm taking away some guys green lights on the three pointers, starting with Abreu and I'm also probably doing it for Diggs and to a certain extent McKnight. There is no reason for any team to be taking 40% of its shots from beyond the arch. Unless you are just deadly accurate as a team from out there you are only setting yourself up for a lot of missed shots and run-outs the other way off of long rebounds.

Sorry if I have offended anyone by this post. I don't want to sound un-grateful for what we have had with Zips basketball over the course of the KD-era. I just feel that this particular unit is under-performing and that we aren't playing to our strengths in some areas right at the moment.

[RootforRoo44]

+1 on the Bible sized post of QuickZips haha

[ZachTheZip]

Don't forget Euton. We burned his redshirt. We don't know exactly what we have with him, but he did come in as supposedly the most college-ready of our recruits. If McKnight needs a rest or makes some mistakes, Euton provides a serviceable replacement with a similar skill set.

[Dr Z]

Nice posts CK and QZ!

What are your thoughts Z-Pouch?

[RowdyZip]

I'm sorry, but the vast majority of these posts are just a little ignorant. Should our coach change his lineups because you think they'd make the team play better? How many of you are Division one head basketball coaches? How'd you like to be a fan of EMU, Toledo, CMU, ETC? Any of those fan bases would kill to have a dedicated alum coaching their team to the consistent success that we've seen over the last 6 years. Ever stop to think maybe the pieces aren't there/ready yet? (Like coach has said since the season started). To expect more out of a MAC program is ignorant. I dont know about you, but I'm not ready to head back to the old 5 to 10 win seasons. Chill out and remember we'll never win every game.

I've never been a fan of the "Have you ever been a D-1 head coach? If not, you don't know basketball" argument. There are several people on this board with a very good basketball IQ who likely never so much as sniffed the water bucket in their high school "career."

Put the ball in the hoop. Stop the other team from putting the ball in the hoop. It is a simple game.

Nor am I a fan of the line: "If Coach "X" isn't here, we will never be successful. Be happy you aren't <insert perennial loser here>." 20 wins is not the be-all-end-all. There are scores of coaches who do it every year. And scores of programs that re-tool with different coaches and still win their 20+/season.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to win championships. There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a magical 2-game deep run in the NCAA tourney.

There's nothing wrong with admiring what Gary Waters has accomplished at CSU, in such a short period.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to beat a BCS "major" program every-so-often.

There's nothing wrong with hating to lose to K.e.n.t more than you beat 'em.

There's nothing wrong with having high "mid-major" standards for your program. You should have them at Akron. It's a 30,000 student University with a long basketball tradition.

I understand that we are in a transition year to a new style of team. But there are no guarantees that next season will be any better. I was geeked about Andy Hipsher...and he won nothing. I was stoked to get Derrick Tarver...and he won nothing. I was excited when Dru Joyce's eligibility expired, thinking we'd open up our offense more...and after 7 seasons he's still the best PG we've had under Dambrot. I was excited about Humpty, who delivered us an NCAA tourney bid... and he got booted off the team after 2 seasons.

We have potential to be really good next season. But potential simply means: you haven't done it. Next season could be worse than this year. It could.

The MAC is very mediocre this year, and the league championship is there for the taking. I've personally lamented that we don't have guys with the skills and intangibles of Dials/Joyce/Middleton....but I don't think that means we can't win the MAC as it consists in 2011.

Fans are frustrated that the team has not played to it's potential. Especially at home. We need to beat BG tomorrow night. Coack K gets paid $300k+ to figure out a way to do it. I think there's nothing wrong with having expectations that he should do it. Or being pretty depressed if he doesn't. It's called being a fan.

Maybe I overemphasized the wrong point. It is absolutely ok to want to win every game and to want the best for the program, and hell, to criticize the crap out of the coach. (See some of my former posts on the football forum).

My issue is more with those that suggest that coach would even have a slightly-above-room-temperature seat. It just seems that a lot of folks look for reasons to whine here when there are few. How's KD's record against Can't? 5-9, as best I can tell. Good? No. Terrible? Hardly. Still a fairly small sample size when you play two or three times a year.

We've made the MAC Championship game 4 years in a row. How many times previous to Coach Dambrot have we made it to that game? Some people choose instead to focus on the fact that we only won 1 of them. I've only been following the Zips for a short time (10 years) compared to some of you vets, but it wasn't all that long ago when we couldn't even win A GAME in the MAC tournament.

I just think this team, especially with underperforming veteran guards (McNees, Roberts), under-utilized and still behind "breakout level" Marshall, and a bunch of newcomers and unknowns, currently lacks the ability and knowhow to win these big games. Everything is just inconsistent right now, and I don't think much, if any is from coaching. Currently, defense is the biggest glaring weakness. We lack that lockdown defender on the perimeter that we had somewhat consistently over the last several years in Conyers/Linhart and such. Can Abreu step up and be that guy? He certainly has the speed in the half court game, but he's still raw.

The onus, to me, is much more on the players. The MAC is built on the perimeter right now, the league lacks a 7 footer other than Zeke. It should be a big plus for us, instead of a liability. If we continue to not put a hand in the face, perimeter based slashing guards will continue to kill us. You can't tell me it's on coaching for those rotations to be slow. Alright, apologies for the ramble and apologies to those of you who took my previous post personally.

All that said, to compete this year, and I do think we'll get slightly better as the year goes on, tomorrow is a MUST WIN.

[The Hip Zip]

I'm sorry, but the vast majority of these posts are just a little ignorant. Should our coach change his lineups because you think they'd make the team play better? How many of you are Division one head basketball coaches? How'd you like to be a fan of EMU, Toledo, CMU, ETC? Any of those fan bases would kill to have a dedicated alum coaching their team to the consistent success that we've seen over the last 6 years. Ever stop to think maybe the pieces aren't there/ready yet? (Like coach has said since the season started). To expect more out of a MAC program is ignorant. I dont know about you, but I'm not ready to head back to the old 5 to 10 win seasons. Chill out and remember we'll never win every game.

I've never been a fan of the "Have you ever been a D-1 head coach? If not, you don't know basketball" argument. There are several people on this board with a very good basketball IQ who likely never so much as sniffed the water bucket in their high school "career."

Put the ball in the hoop. Stop the other team from putting the ball in the hoop. It is a simple game.

Nor am I a fan of the line: "If Coach "X" isn't here, we will never be successful. Be happy you aren't <insert perennial loser here>." 20 wins is not the be-all-end-all. There are scores of coaches who do it every year. And scores of programs that re-tool with different coaches and still win their 20+/season.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to win championships. There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a magical 2-game deep run in the NCAA tourney.

There's nothing wrong with admiring what Gary Waters has accomplished at CSU, in such a short period.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to beat a BCS "major" program every-so-often.

There's nothing wrong with hating to lose to K.e.n.t more than you beat 'em.

There's nothing wrong with having high "mid-major" standards for your program. You should have them at Akron. It's a 30,000 student University with a long basketball tradition.

I understand that we are in a transition year to a new style of team. But there are no guarantees that next season will be any better. I was geeked about Andy Hipsher...and he won nothing. I was stoked to get Derrick Tarver...and he won nothing. I was excited when Dru Joyce's eligibility expired, thinking we'd open up our offense more...and after 7 seasons he's still the best PG we've had under Dambrot. I was excited about Humpty, who delivered us an NCAA tourney bid... and he got booted off the team after 2 seasons.

We have potential to be really good next season. But potential simply means: you haven't done it. Next season could be worse than this year. It could.

The MAC is very mediocre this year, and the league championship is there for the taking. I've personally lamented that we don't have guys with the skills and intangibles of Dials/Joyce/Middleton....but I don't think that means we can't win the MAC as it consists in 2011.

Fans are frustrated that the team has not played to it's potential. Especially at home. We need to beat BG tomorrow night. Coack K gets paid $300k+ to figure out a way to do it. I think there's nothing wrong with having expectations that he should do it. Or being pretty depressed if he doesn't. It's called being a fan.

Maybe I overemphasized the wrong point. It is absolutely ok to want to win every game and to want the best for the program, and hell, to criticize the crap out of the coach. (See some of my former posts on the football forum).

My issue is more with those that suggest that coach would even have a slightly-above-room-temperature seat. It just seems that a lot of folks look for reasons to whine here when there are few. How's KD's record against Can't? 5-9, as best I can tell. Good? No. Terrible? Hardly. Still a fairly small sample size when you play two or three times a year.

We've made the MAC Championship game 4 years in a row. How many times previous to Coach Dambrot have we made it to that game? Some people choose instead to focus on the fact that we only won 1 of them. I've only been following the Zips for a short time (10 years) compared to some of you vets, but it wasn't all that long ago when we couldn't even win A GAME in the MAC tournament.

I just think this team, especially with underperforming veteran guards (McNees, Roberts), under-utilized and still behind "breakout level" Marshall, and a bunch of newcomers and unknowns, currently lacks the ability and knowhow to win these big games. Everything is just inconsistent right now, and I don't think much, if any is from coaching. Currently, defense is the biggest glaring weakness. We lack that lockdown defender on the perimeter that we had somewhat consistently over the last several years in Conyers/Linhart and such. Can Abreu step up and be that guy? He certainly has the speed in the half court game, but he's still raw.

The onus, to me, is much more on the players. The MAC is built on the perimeter right now, the league lacks a 7 footer other than Zeke. It should be a big plus for us, instead of a liability. If we continue to not put a hand in the face, perimeter based slashing guards will continue to kill us. You can't tell me it's on coaching for those rotations to be slow. Alright, apologies for the ramble and apologies to those of you who took my previous post personally.

All that said, to compete this year, and I do think we'll get slightly better as the year goes on, tomorrow is a MUST WIN.

I typed out a few lines but somehow lost it. Here goes another try.

I do admire the passion of the fans on this forum. We all see things a little differently and thats OK. What I saw in Miami deeply disturbed me. We are soooo slow to the ball 1-5 with the exception of Abreu. When you are a slower team you damn well better have the hustle, desire and the smarts to compete. There was no excuse, not one, to get beat up on the defensive glass like Miami beat us. IMO, there is nothing wrong with our coach, he know's how to win and how to motivate. The problem rests with every one of our players. They must have the desire to compete and excell and I'm just not seeing it now. Chemistry is a big part of it as well. I know that they all pretty much get along well but on the floor they seem unsure of themselves and and tentative at times. This team needs to get a chip on their shoulder and start playing some hard nosed hoops soon.

Zach, I know that you have had it with McNees but have you really watched Nitro on the defensive end?? He has improved, he tries hard and I admire his hustle but he is a liability on defense. He's not quick enough to step out and keep up with the guards and not big enough to guard the 3 in the corner or paint. Alex is our only guard that can defend but his size limits him and he makes freshman mistakes like reaching and getting called for it. I remember someone on here gloating about how we don't miss Humpty at all. I for one wish he was still a Zip. He is a very good "on the ball" defender and he brought emotion and a fire to the team that is now missing.

In short, our defense is about as bad as I've seen going back to the Hipsher years. Our guards are not guarding and our big men are not the fleetest of foot as well. Maybe it's me but Zeke often looks like he doesn't even want to be on the floor at times. C'mon big man, get hungry out there !! I don't know all the answers but I do know that we are all frustrated with the brand of ball that we are currently playing. I still don't buy into the "must win" game in this conference until we hit the Q but share with most opinions that we need to build our confidence moving forward. This conference is up for grabs. It's time to sack up and go get it !!

[Dave in Green]

I admit that my expectations for this season's Zips team were a little high. KD hinted prior to the start of this season that fans probably shouldn't have high expectations for this edition of the team. Most members of the sports media seemed to agree with him, as did some forum members here. I was a little too optimistic, and have readjusted expectations after three straight conference losses.

At this point I choose to believe that KD hasn't suddenly lost his ability to coach, and that he may be doing as good a job as he can with the players he has to work with. It may just be that the Zips miss last season's departing players more than the returning and new players are able to compensate for.

I have to get it in my head that this is truly a rebuilding year. The Zips are in transition into a different style of team that will become more evident next season when it's likely that Rico will be the only Zips player under 6-4 who gets any PT. Rico will have a full year of experience running the Zips offense, Zeke will be a junior and the experienced transfers and grayshirts should add up to a much different Zips team.

Naturally I hope the Zips turn it around quickly and win most of their remaining games. But even if they don't, I'll remain optimistic that they still could get hot for the MAC tournament. If that falls through, then I'll just look at this season as a transition year that was not up to the previous four seasons. It happens to every team.

I'll be there tonight lending my support, as always.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Good overview, Hip Zip.

[RootforRoo44]

Stats,Preview,Prediction from ASN

Zips gotta win tonight to get my predictions back on track. I had 8 in a row before this three game slide.

[MDZip]

Gutty win for the Zips tonight. If the Flushes knock off Miami, Zips will only be a game out of first. And we gave Ohio their only conference win so far and it was at our place. Arrgh.

[Quickzips]

Not the prettiest game the Zips have every played, but the end result is all that really matters when you get a win to stop a 3 game skid. Hope this one gives the Zips a little bit of momentum going in the right direction headed into the Western tour. Major props to Daryl Roberts who almost single-handedly won the game for us at the end.

[johnnyzip84]

Not the prettiest game the Zips have every played, but the end result is all that really matters when you get a win to stop a 3 game skid. Hope this one gives the Zips a little bit of momentum going in the right direction headed into the Western tour. Major props to Daryl Roberts who almost single-handedly won the game for us at the end.

Certainly Daryl deserves a lot of credit, but it was McNees' 3 that had me believing we would win the game. Let's hope this game is exactly the confidence boost that Steve, and the team, needed to start a winning streak of their own.

[tpsjugglerdude]

I actually credit this win to the Dance Team not playing the F-bomb.

[Dave in Green]

The dance team's music was cleaned up and the scoreboard was showing the correct shooting percentages. But the yellow RC car still lost control and the red car maintained its perfect record. So there's still work to be done.

Oh yeah, about the game. The Zips had a decent first half. I thought they had some of their best passing yet this season, though the shots weren't all falling. But still enough to pull to a 7-point halftime lead over a BGSU team that didn't seem capable of being 3-1 in the MAC.

As the second half began, I said to those around me, "Now comes the moment of truth. The Zips have really been bad coming out of halftime."

With 10 minutes left in the second half, the Zips had only scored 3 points. That's 3 points in 10 minutes of playing time. Major catastrophic embarassment.

The Zips finally buckled down on D near the end and began hitting their shots to put BGSU away. But I'm not sure the Zips have ever gone a full quarter only scoring 3 points.

I'm afraid it's destined to be an ugly season. Even when the Zips win, it's not pretty.

On the positive side, there was a big, noisy crowd at the JAR tonight. Whatever happened to bring so many enthusiastic fans to the JAR should be repeated.

[RootforRoo44]

The Zips definitely had their defense down a little better tonight. The O wasn't there but that's alright.

Though one guard for them had a career night, scoring above his average, they still played pretty well. And another thing, Mike Bardo played his ass off in his little amount of minutes. I know people knock on him a lot but he really earns his minutes.

Let's run the table the rest of the way and i'll be happy.

[ZachTheZip]

http://www.zips.ohio.com/2011/01/akron-vs-...n-live-updates/

On what (Dambrot) would do with a $10 million donation: “I’d renovate the JAR. Bring the seats to one level. Get rid of the track. It’s nothing that we can control. Our administration is working to get it better. Just because you have a great facility doesn’t mean you’re going to win. Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois have great facilities. Can't and Akron have ugly facilities. It’s about the people.”

[Dave in Green]

A review of the play-by-play shows that my math was a little fuzzy on the Zips' scoring in the second half. They "only" went the first 8 minutes, 25 seconds of the second half with 3 points. They scored 2 more points with 11:35 left in the second half, and another 2 with 10:05 left. So they actually scored a remarkable 7 points in the "3rd quarter." So no new low-scoring records set.

[GoZips]

http://www.zips.ohio.com/2011/01/akron-vs-...n-live-updates/

On what (Dambrot) would do with a $10 million donation: “I'd renovate the JAR. Bring the seats to one level. Get rid of the track. It’s nothing that we can control. Our administration is working to get it better. Just because you have a great facility doesn't mean you're going to win. Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois have great facilities. Can't and Akron have ugly facilities. It’s about the people.”

Yes indeed. It is about the people.

As I watched the post game interview with KD the interrogator remarked about the large crowd size.

Blistering cold, three losses and still the people came. I missed it. More than a bit under the weather

I lurked close to the throne room all day. At one point I went out and started the car. Did the obligatory

snow removal and then ... my tummy reminded me that venturing even this far from the throne room

could invite disaster. Turned off the engine and beat a quick retreat to the throne. Alas. I watched

the game on TV. Which is something I never do.

It was remarked to me late in the loss to Ohio that the Zips were not playing as a team. Well, the Zips

looked very much like a team against BUGS.

[GoZips]

First off, this is a fan forum. If the fans don't have an opportunity to come on here and debate things like this then this site goes away, and we start to widdle away at a decent chunk of our already meager fanbase. That said, I'll try to provide a few of the changes that I would make if I were coaching this team and why I would make them. I am not a basketball coach, never have been, never will be. I don't play the game either, I am merely a fan, but I have an opinion and I am entitled to express it.

Basically, your post is pretty darn good one. Excellent observations and a passion for the game.

That said, I will take umberance with you on a couple of points.

Lineup change #1:

Quincy Diggs is my starting SF. He has the length and athleticism that we need on the wing and is a more capable defender than McClanahan for some of the bigger, more athletic SF we are starting to see.

Sitting down your leading scorer will not win you games, fans, or team. While Diggs has more "hops"

than McClanahan, Diggs is a turnover in process. Sure, he is a bit quicker at guarding, but, his offense

is non-existent. The current arrangement works best. Leave it be.

Lineup change #2:

Brett McClanahan is my starting SG, moving McNees to the bench. Steve is struggling mightily this year, and nothing we have done for him so far seems to be working. IMO he needs to start coming off the bench for a while until his shot starts to come back. McClanahan also provides us some much needed size in the backcourt on the defensive end.

Sorry, no can do. There are already big issues with Steve. Sitting him down will agrevate them.

Steve's time at the point needs to continue to diminish. Granted, Steve at the point at the end of the

BGSU game was a key factor in the Zip's success. KD is Steve's coach, not his Dad.

Lineup change #3:

Josh Egner is going to start taking Mike Bardo's minutes in the rotation. I am going to have him playing some PF and some C coming off of the bench. Bardo isn't doing terrible out there this year by his standards, but he has never provided us with much in the minutes he is on the floor and with it being his final year you really aren't developing him for anything down the line. Egner is clearly not ready for big minutes yet, but if he can handle the 8-10 minutes per night that Mike plays and make things a little difficult for opponents with his athleticism on the defensive end I think it would be a positive change.

I love Josh Egner's potential and what he has shown thus far. Josh is still a ham fisted true Freshman.

Mike Bardo is a seasoned Senior of limited talent. Mike has five years in KD's system and usually

performs to an acceptable level. Mike has earned his minutes. Josh will get his in due course.

System change #1:

I am going to extend the defense to full-court, every possession. This team doesn't have the lateral quickness to guard teams for 25-30 seconds in the half-court every time down the floor. What we do have are quite a few guys who are adept at forcing turnovers by poking away the ball, getting in the passing lanes and/or trapping. I may not pressure and trap every possession like there are two minutes left and I'm down by 3 possessions, but I'm not going to just let opponents walk the ball up the court either. We have some depth on this team to be able to keep guys fresh. Let's start using it.

Here I completely agree with you. On at least three occasions our opponents had to inbound the ball

with five seconds or less left on their shot clock. All three times they scored. That is pretty sorry

defense. Extending the floor shortens their possession. It would be argued that we lack the guard depth

to run much back court ball pressure. The pressure does not need to be intense ... just present.

It is unnerving to be constantly challenged.

It helped against BGSU that the Zips got in their "grills" better than we have seen most of the season.

Would help, too, if the Zips used the conventional hand up-hand down posture rather than swatting at

balls lauched right over them. The Zips do not communicate on the floor well. This results in the

opposition breaking loose an open man especially off ball screens. McClanahan and McNees are both

often victims

System change #2:

I am going to start pushing the tempo more on the offensive end. I don't want to see the ball walked up the floor anymore. Especially when Abreu is on the court. I'm not going to go Mike D'Antoni, seven-seconds or less style, but I don't want to see the ball just barely making it across the timeline and then getting passed around the perimeter for 20 seconds before forcing up a long 3 anymore.

You have found one of Steve McNees major deficiencies as a point guard. Alex Abreu can push the

ball, especially if he has Darryl Roberts on his wing.

System change #3:

I'm taking away some guys green lights on the three pointers, starting with Abreu and I'm also probably doing it for Diggs and to a certain extent McKnight. There is no reason for any team to be taking 40% of its shots from beyond the arch. Unless you are just deadly accurate as a team from out there you are only setting yourself up for a lot of missed shots and run-outs the other way off of long rebounds.

Have to disagree with you on this point. Stopping the long distant dial ups will result in collapsing

the middle and making Zeke and Nikola's jobs a lot tougher. Brett McKnight is a savvy senior and will

have the green light all season. If McNees would accept the challenge of being the high powered three

ball artist the coaching staff wants a whole lot of other improvements fall in place because it takes

pressure off the other shooters. No one guards Steve because the other teams scouts have learned

that Steve pouts and sulks when he at the two. Time for Steve to man up and be the complete

package he shows all the signs of being.

Sorry if I have offended anyone by this post. I don't want to sound un-grateful for what we have had with Zips basketball over the course of the KD-era. I just feel that this particular unit is under-performing and that we aren't playing to our strengths in some areas right at the moment.

Welcome to any coach's world. You just summed up what all coaches experience all the time.