Irish Present Big Obstacle; 4 Starters are 6'8"

[Dr Z]

Literally speaking, Notre Dame will present a big challenge for the University of Akron in their NCAA Tournament matchup Friday afternoon in Chicago.

The second-seeded Irish (26-6) start four players who stand 6-foot-8 and the fifth starter is 6-3, giving them a decided height advantage at three spots and a standoff at a fourth.

Only at center, with 7-foot Zeke Marshall, does 15th-seeded UA have an edge in height.

Notre Dame, behind 6-3 guard Ben Hansbrough and 6-8 forwards Tim Abromaitis and Carleton Scott, used that size to its advantage to average 76 points per game, which ranks it No. 33 in the nation in scoring offense.

''They have size, and they are really good offensively. They can shoot from four spots,'' said UA coach Keith Dambrot, whose team plays the Irish at 1:40 p.m. Friday at the United Center in Chicago. ''The biggest problem we are going to have will be contesting their shots because they are so big, especially the wings.

''We could be in good position defensively, but they can shoot it right over us.''

That size also will be a factor on the boards, where the Irish are a plus-5.1 rebounds in 32 games, while the Zips are at minus-2.8.

The Zips (23-12) had an obvious deficiency in that area last week in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. But they were able to use their shooting ability and defensive presence to win four games in five days to reach the NCAA Tournament.

''They are a good rebounding team not because they are big inside, but because they are so big overall,'' Dambrot said. ''We are going to have to rebound better.''

Senior guard Darryl Roberts said the Zips will have to do everything right to neutralize the Notre Dame size advantage.

Click Here to Continue Reading

Irish Enter w Chip on Their Shoulder -- Chicago Tribune

[skip-zip]

I said this before, but I'm concerned on two fronts.

1) They can easily shoot over us from the perimeter.

2) They'll have a significant advantage in being able to rebound their own missed shots.

If we're not hitting a lot of shots, not disrupting their offense with a lot of turnovers, and not pushing their guys away from the basket on missed shots, it's going to be very ugly.

[Zip Watcher]

I like this matchup much better than the Gonzaga one two years ago.

Brief thoughts:

• They're not THAT much bigger. Diggs and McClanahan can be guarding shooters .. and if the Zips are pressing the perimeter like they've done to some success the past months .. the shots will be contested.
  
• ND doesn't appear to run the ball much. The Zips will need to push tempo when they can, and try to score some in transition.
  
• ND plays largely zone (based on articles, not 1st hand viewing). The Zips could have some success from outside, especially if they attack it more like the game @ BG than the OU home game.
  
• These Zips have been there before, and won a bunch of do or die games over the past 4 years. They shouldn't get rattled.
  
• Gerry roots for Akron.
  

B) B)

Go Zips!

[Captain Kangaroo]

I worry most about Abreu guarding the perimeter. McNees to a slightly lesser extent.

6' 1" guys shot with confidence over AA this season. He's going to need to get inside the opposing guard's shorts all the way up the court and disrupt their dribble.

[MDZip]

At least the luck of the Irish shouldn't be on their side since we are playing them tomorrow instead of today. A two inch height difference doesn't mean much usually, but you start getting above that and it does create matchup problems.

[zipdiehard]

I'm most concerned with D Rob and AA. This could be a really rough game for them. AA might cause some problems on the other end, as long as our bigs roll to basket when he penetrates. I'm thinking we will see a heavy dose of the three Mc'S in together. You can add Diggs to that mix as well.

[ZachTheZip]

Can we finally see Bardo and Zeke out there at the same time?

[Dave in Green]

I had thought about Zeke and Bardo on the floor at the same time. But if they both sub out at some point, that leaves the Zips short all around. Might be better to have the two big guys sub in and out for each other, and maybe have a few overlapping minutes if the circumstances are right. If all the Zips play as hard as I think they're going to have to play to challenge ND, Zeke and Bardo might both be exhausted for the final minutes if they don't give each other a chance to rest on the bench during the game. Have to be really careful not to get either one of them in foul trouble, as the Serb is the only other Zips player who isn't shorter than most of ND's players.

[akronzips71]

I had thought about Zeke and Bardo on the floor at the same time. But if they both sub out at some point, that leaves the Zips short all around. Might be better to have the two big guys sub in and out for each other, and maybe have a few overlapping minutes if the circumstances are right. If all the Zips play as hard as I think they're going to have to play to challenge ND, Zeke and Bardo might both be exhausted for the final minutes if they don't give each other a chance to rest on the bench during the game. Have to be really careful not to get either one of them in foul trouble, as the Serb is the only other Zips player who isn't shorter than most of ND's players.

It is the NCAAs

You play your ass off and do whatever you can to win.

If that means Zeke and Bardo both play 40 minutes, so be it.There is no tomorrow. From here on, it is one and done.

[Dave in Green]

Thinking a little more about the height situation against ND, their starting lineup actually has at least slightly less of an advantage over the Zips than Gonzaga did 2 years ago:

6-11 Josh Heytvelt

6-11 Austin Daye

6-8 Micah Downs

6-5 Matt Bouldin

6-2 Jeremy Pargo

6-8 Nik Cvetinovic

6-8 Nate Linhart

6-7 Chris McKnight

6-2 Steve McKnees

6-0 Darryl Roberts

Gonzaga had a height advantage at every single position, and yet the Zips played the Zags dead even for 32 minutes.

By the way, all 5 starters from that Zags team are currently playing pro ball somewhere around the world, with Daye in the NBA. Those Zags may have been a slightly lower seed than ND is this year, but they were loaded with height and talent, and the Zips were not at all intimidated.

[Dave in Green]

It is the NCAAs

You play your ass off and do whatever you can to win.

If that means Zeke and Bardo both play 40 minutes, so be it.There is no tomorrow. From here on, it is one and done.

I wouldn't worry so much about an Energizer Bunny like McNees playing close to 40 minutes. But Zeke and Bardo are obviously not physically capable of playing effectively for 40 straight minutes, as we've seen when they've played long stretches in other games and are left bent over, gasping for air. You could keep them on the floor for 40 minutes, but they'd slow down so much from physical exhaustion that they'd get eaten alive.

It's much smarter for a coach to tell his players to give all they have every minute they're on the floor, with the understanding that they'll get subbed out when they start to run out of steam and lose effectiveness.

KD is a smart enough coach to know when his players have reached their effective playing limits and need to be subbed out for a breather.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Honestly, I'm not too worried. The only position they have a true advantage at is PG. Everywhere else, we are as tall, an inch shorter, or taller than them. They are a one man team with Abrimitis being a potential second player. Hansborough is the one to watch, though. If you shut him down or get him in foul trouble, it's anyones' game. If he goes off on us, we're done. Simple as that.

[Lee Adams]

I like this matchup much better than the Gonzaga one two years ago.

Brief thoughts:

• They're not THAT much bigger. Diggs and McClanahan can be guarding shooters .. and if the Zips are pressing the perimeter like they've done to some success the past months .. the shots will be contested.
  
• ND doesn't appear to run the ball much. The Zips will need to push tempo when they can, and try to score some in transition.
  
• ND plays largely zone (based on articles, not 1st hand viewing). The Zips could have some success from outside, especially if they attack it more like the game @ BG than the OU home game.
  
• These Zips have been there before, and won a bunch of do or die games over the past 4 years. They shouldn't get rattled.
  
• Gerry roots for Akron.
  

B) B)

Go Zips!

ND is a tougher team than gonzaga was. They wear teams down with that funky offense they run. And,they have done that against teams in the Big East that are athletically far superior to Akron. This may be one of those games where the score does not reflect the domination of the winning team. Mike Brey does not appaer to be one of those coaches who needs to have his teams run it up.

[skip-zip]

Thinking a little more about the height situation against ND, their starting lineup actually has at least slightly less of an advantage over the Zips than Gonzaga did 2 years ago:

6-11 Josh Heytvelt

6-11 Austin Daye

6-8 Micah Downs

6-5 Matt Bouldin

6-2 Jeremy Pargo

6-8 Nik Cvetinovic

6-8 Nate Linhart

6-7 Chris McKnight

6-2 Steve McKnees

6-0 Darryl Roberts

Gonzaga had a height advantage at every single position, and yet the Zips played the Zags dead even for 32 minutes.

By the way, all 5 starters from that Zags team are currently playing pro ball somewhere around the world, with Daye in the NBA. Those Zags may have been a slightly lower seed than ND is this year, but they were loaded with height and talent, and the Zips were not at all intimidated.

It never looks like a problem while you are making most of your shots.

[Zipmeister]

Literally speaking, Notre Dame will present a big challenge for the University of Akron in their NCAA Tournament matchup Friday afternoon in Chicago.

The second-seeded Irish (26-6) start four players who stand 6-foot-8 and the fifth starter is 6-3, giving them a decided height advantage at three spots and a standoff at a fourth.

Only at center, with 7-foot Zeke Marshall, does 15th-seeded UA have an edge in height.

Notre Dame, behind 6-3 guard Ben Hansbrough and 6-8 forwards Tim Abromaitis and Carleton Scott, used that size to its advantage to average 76 points per game, which ranks it No. 33 in the nation in scoring offense.

''They have size, and they are really good offensively. They can shoot from four spots,'' said UA coach Keith Dambrot, whose team plays the Irish at 1:40 p.m. Friday at the United Center in Chicago. ''The biggest problem we are going to have will be contesting their shots because they are so big, especially the wings.

''We could be in good position defensively, but they can shoot it right over us.''

That size also will be a factor on the boards, where the Irish are a plus-5.1 rebounds in 32 games, while the Zips are at minus-2.8.

The Zips (23-12) had an obvious deficiency in that area last week in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. But they were able to use their shooting ability and defensive presence to win four games in five days to reach the NCAA Tournament.

''They are a good rebounding team not because they are big inside, but because they are so big overall,'' Dambrot said. ''We are going to have to rebound better.''

Senior guard Darryl Roberts said the Zips will have to do everything right to neutralize the Notre Dame size advantage.

Click Here to Continue Reading

Irish Enter w Chip on Their Shoulder -- Chicago Tribune

Good news. If it is true that that photo is 85% of original size, none of those guys are over 8 inches tall.

[xu9697]

Can't remember seeing it often (though I have not seen as many games as many on here), but a 5 of Marshall, Nik, McKnight, Diggs and McNees might be our best hope size, skill and talent-wise. Perhaps using Diggs in sort of a point forward method. Obviously our 9 will play, but down the stretch and/or if their size is bothering us this might be a way to go.

I am less worried about size, though, and more worried about Zeke and Nik staying out of foul trouble...and hoping Nitro and McNees have the great shooting days they are capable of!!!