Canada Game Updates

[johnnyzip84]

In the video of the McGill highlights, KD mentions that Q may have been playing the last few games with a broken wrist. Hopefully he'll have time for this to heal before the season.

[Dave in Green]

Good stats analysis, Quickzips. Stats help fill in some of the gaps, but there are still lots of questions about how they looked playing together. We should be able to tell more after seeing video of Tuesday's game.

Tree's free throw shooting (0-5) obviously stunk. But I remember Rico clanking his first few college free throws, too. I won't worry too much about Tree's free throw shooting unless it looks bad after a number of regular season games.

On the other hand, Tree was 4-5 from the field, and I don't think he was shooting jumpers. All the video highlights of Tree so far show him finishing really strong at the rim. The Zips have been sorely lacking that inside game. So it's not necessarily a terrible tradeoff to have a good finisher who might be a little shaky at the free throw line.

[Blue & Gold]

In the video of the McGill highlights, KD mentions that Q may have been playing the last few games with a broken wrist. Hopefully he'll have time for this to heal before the season.

Watch the video & look @ Q's breakaway. His right wrist is taped, so he goes all the way from half-court solely w/ his left hand & finishes w/ a left-handed layup that's smooth as butter. Impressive.

[Gcc]

Good stats analysis, Quickzips. Stats help fill in some of the gaps, but there are still lots of questions about how they looked playing together. We should be able to tell more after seeing video of Tuesday's game.

Tree's free throw shooting (0-5) obviously stunk. But I remember Rico clanking his first few college free throws, too. I won't worry too much about Tree's free throw shooting unless it looks bad after a number of regular season games.

On the other hand, Tree was 4-5 from the field, and I don't think he was shooting jumpers. All the video highlights of Tree so far show him finishing really strong at the rim. The Zips have been sorely lacking that inside game. So it's not necessarily a terrible tradeoff to have a good finisher who might be a little shaky at the free throw line.

I agree...seemed to work out for Shaq.....one of the top scorers in NBA history!

[Gcc]

The team looks good. The new players have a chance to get used to the college game. They all have areas that need improvement including free throws. If they were perfect they would all be starting for the LAKERS.

[GoZips]

Good stats analysis, Quickzips. Stats help fill in some of the gaps, but there are still lots of questions about how they looked playing together. We should be able to tell more after seeing video of Tuesday's game.

Tree's free throw shooting (0-5) obviously stunk. But I remember Rico clanking his first few college free throws, too. I won't worry too much about Tree's free throw shooting unless it looks bad after a number of regular season games.

On the other hand, Tree was 4-5 from the field, and I don't think he was shooting jumpers. All the video highlights of Tree so far show him finishing really strong at the rim. The Zips have been sorely lacking that inside game. So it's not necessarily a terrible tradeoff to have a good finisher who might be a little shaky at the free throw line.

It is already time to work on Tree's free throw shooting. He was gawd-awful shooting free throws at practice

time after time. I once quipped that Tree could not make a free throw if he was allowed to dunk the ball.

Its all about basics. Tree has no set, practiced form. He willy-wobbles his shots. Some times he gets off

his heels and some times he shoots flat footed. His arm motion is jerky when it should be a smooth stroke.

He rarely finishes with a down snap of his wrist.

All in all, he is a poor free throw shooter. But, take heart, Zeke was nearly a poor a free throw shooter as

Tree is now. The UA coaching staff has made huge improvement in Zeke's free throw shooting.

[Captain Kangaroo]

The team looks good. The new players have a chance to get used to the college game. They all have areas that need improvement including free throws. If they were perfect they would all be starting for the LAKERS.

Perfect? I think you meant Celtics, not Lakers.

[Gcc]

Lol...Exactly!

[Gcc]

Actually the Dallas Mavericks!!!

[Dr Z]

Like the way he says at the end he wants to bring some swagger to the team.

I love these player interviews. Letting the fans get to know the players is a GREAT idea.

Makes me (the fan) involved on a personal level. I like rooting for someone that I know about.

Good interview also, I learned a lot. Good job.

[GoZips]

Excellent interview. Tree already grown past the "you know, you know" stage of interviewing.

Tree gives a good insight to how the kids view themselves, their abilities and their goals.

He has the potential to put four great years in as a Zip. Just do it, Tree.

[BirdZip]

Excellent interview. Tree already grown past the "you know, you know" stage of interviewing.

Tree gives a good insight to how the kids view themselves, their abilities and their goals.

He has the potential to put four great years in as a Zip. Just do it, Tree.

So you're saying that Tree is blossoming? Sorry, had to...

[Dr Z]

I didn't see Nick's video posted on ZN anywhere, I apologize if I missed it somewhere.

Also a nice photo gallery on gozips.com. Looks like the team is having fun together.

[GoZips]

Central Florida report about their three game Canada trip.

UCF Likes To Beat Up On Opponents

[Dave in Green]

Latest to be interviewed in Canada is Chauncey Gilliam. You get the idea that he's really hungry to win after his UMBC team fell apart and lost more than 80% of its games during his sophomore season.

[Doug Snyder]

Latest to be interviewed in Canada is Chauncey Gilliam. You get the idea that he's really hungry to win after his UMBC team fell apart and lost more than 80% of its games during his sophomore season.

After watching the video I am more convinced that ALL the incoming freshman should be redshirted. They obviously learn a lot sitting and watching. Would have been far better for Egner to have redshirted last year too. While Harney and Tree may not have been on the court for practices....but they were able to see the games, the coaching stye and the success of the program. I do not consider them incoming freshman.

[Dr Z]

Chauncey's video was another winner. Love these things. I knew he was a music fan 10 seconds in when I saw his airport express on the table.

[Dave in Green]

Hard to believe that the 6-5 Gilliam is the heaviest player listed on the Zips' current roster at 235 -- 5 lbs. heavier than the Serb at 230.

After those two, Zeke is next, listed at 218. I'm guessing that the roster weights are a little outdated, though, as Zeke looks to be more than 218.

Then you have Tree listed at 210 and Egner and Green at 200 each. Everyone else is listed under 200 lbs.

So the Zips appear to be a bit on the slim side as a team with the departures of B McKnight (245) and Bardo (240). Hopefully they'll make up for lack of bulk with speed and hops.

[Gcc]

Looking over the box score a couple of things stand out:

As pointed out earlier, Tree REALLY has to work on his FT shooting. There is no way you can leave a guy on the floor at the end of a reasonably close game who shoots that poorly from the line. Good thing we aren't exactly hurting for depth at the forward positions. For that matter the entire team needs to work on FT shooting. 12-25 as a team, YUK!

Not only did Gilliam lead us in scoring, he did it with a very efficient 7-10 from the field, 1-1 from 3 and 2-2 from the line. I was concerned that maybe he would be a volume scorer who can get a lot of points, but needs a lot of shots to get there and isn't terribly efficient. From this small sample size that doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm liking what I'm seeing in the videos and in this box score from Egner. I had my concerns that maybe he was just going to be a high energy guy that wasn't particularly skilled. I've seen some nice basketball moves from him in the videos, and this box score looks pretty good for him. 21 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6-8 shooting, 2-2 from the line. Need to cut back on those 3 TO's though.

I was starting to get a little worried about the lack of news about Brian Walsh, but he's starting to show up more in the highlight reels and his box score looks pretty good for only getting 12 minutes.

Zeke with only one rebound in 20 minutes concerns me a bit. I suppose you don't get as many rebounding opportunities when your guys shoot 56% for the game, but the opponent only shot 33%. I know Zeke is more shot blocker than rebounder, but I want to see more of an effort from him on the glass.

I am not as concerned about the lack of assists. I've read on a number of occassions that international scoring is MUCH more difficult to register an assist than it is stateside. I wouldn't put too much stock into the assist numbers.

It is pretty clear that KD is sticking to his guns on wanting to mix and match guys on this trip without a set rotation. All 14 guys registered minutes and 11 of them got to double digits with nobody registering more than Justice's 22. That said, it is difficult to draw a whole lot more out of the box score when you have such a limited sample size from each guy.

Looks like they might be able to leave him in during a reasonably close game. 4-5 from the line. :wave:

[Blue & Gold]

Looking over the box score a couple of things stand out:

As pointed out earlier, Tree REALLY has to work on his FT shooting. There is no way you can leave a guy on the floor at the end of a reasonably close game who shoots that poorly from the line. Good thing we aren't exactly hurting for depth at the forward positions. For that matter the entire team needs to work on FT shooting. 12-25 as a team, YUK!

Not only did Gilliam lead us in scoring, he did it with a very efficient 7-10 from the field, 1-1 from 3 and 2-2 from the line. I was concerned that maybe he would be a volume scorer who can get a lot of points, but needs a lot of shots to get there and isn't terribly efficient. From this small sample size that doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm liking what I'm seeing in the videos and in this box score from Egner. I had my concerns that maybe he was just going to be a high energy guy that wasn't particularly skilled. I've seen some nice basketball moves from him in the videos, and this box score looks pretty good for him. 21 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6-8 shooting, 2-2 from the line. Need to cut back on those 3 TO's though.

I was starting to get a little worried about the lack of news about Brian Walsh, but he's starting to show up more in the highlight reels and his box score looks pretty good for only getting 12 minutes.

Zeke with only one rebound in 20 minutes concerns me a bit. I suppose you don't get as many rebounding opportunities when your guys shoot 56% for the game, but the opponent only shot 33%. I know Zeke is more shot blocker than rebounder, but I want to see more of an effort from him on the glass.

I am not as concerned about the lack of assists. I've read on a number of occassions that international scoring is MUCH more difficult to register an assist than it is stateside. I wouldn't put too much stock into the assist numbers.

It is pretty clear that KD is sticking to his guns on wanting to mix and match guys on this trip without a set rotation. All 14 guys registered minutes and 11 of them got to double digits with nobody registering more than Justice's 22. That said, it is difficult to draw a whole lot more out of the box score when you have such a limited sample size from each guy.

Looks like they might be able to leave him in during a reasonably close game. 4-5 from the line.

That was great to see as it should give Tree a lot of confidence.

[Districtballer]

Good to see the Zips pull it out against a semi-decent opponent. The scores don't really matter, close or not. You guys should see this trip pay dividends by the conference schedule for sure. I'm sure Keith has a lot that he can take from these last couple of days.

[GoZips]

The Canada trip should be deemed a huge success. Players got a lot of extra practice for a key year.

They had an opportunity to play as team mates. Which they sure seemed to do well. Skills were

improved and weaknesses uncovered.

The schedule sequence allowed the kids to mesh as a team prior to playing Carlton which was a

bonafide nasty opponent. The biased officials was just like playing a MAC road game, er, home

game or a MAC game period.

The only thing I saw in the Carlton game that bothered me was Akron's failure to shut down #23.

Scrubb had little trouble penetrating the lane, drawing fouls and generally playing his game.

IMHO I think Scrubb could start for the Zips right now.

Ticked me that Diggs got called for an intentional foul and in the next sequence of plays two

obviously intentional fouls by Carlton were called as a simple foul.

Unfortunately I only got to watch the last 14 minutes of the game due to my business.

I think the announcers were borrowed from the Golden Felon radio team.

[akronzips71]

The Canada trip should be deemed a huge success. Players got a lot of extra practice for a key year.

They had an opportunity to play as team mates. Which they sure seemed to do well. Skills were

improved and weaknesses uncovered.

The schedule sequence allowed the kids to mesh as a team prior to playing Carlton which was a

bonafide nasty opponent. The biased officials was just like playing a MAC road game, er, home

game or a MAC game period.

The only thing I saw in the Carlton game that bothered me was Akron's failure to shut down #23.

Scrubb had little trouble penetrating the lane, drawing fouls and generally playing his game.

IMHO I think Scrubb could start for the Zips right now.

Ticked me that Diggs got called for an intentional foul and in the next sequence of plays two

obviously intentional fouls by Carlton were called as a simple foul.

Unfortunately I only got to watch the last 14 minutes of the game due to my business.

I think the announcers were borrowed from the Golden Felon radio team.

Seeing some of the new guys for the first time, I was very impressed with Gilliam. He is going to be a player for us. And Egner looks like he is coming of age. Nitro is doing what a senior is supposed to do, and I hope he keeps it up.

[Dave in Green]

Gilliam is the closest thing I can imagine to a direct replacement for B McKnight as an instant offense guy. Like B McKnight, he's a little undersized for his position in height, but is the heaviest player on the team (235 lbs. vs B McKnight's 245). The main difference on offense is that Gilliam is more athletic and prefers to take it to the bucket as much as shooting from outside. So in shooting he's much more versatile. It remains to be seen how he will compare to B McKnight on rebounding and defense.

But Gilliam may fit the role of 6th man spark plug off the bench as a direct replacement for B McKnight even better than Q, who GoZips has been advocating as 6th man. Gilliam could also easily be a starter. I think that KD will juggle the starters for awhile to see which combinations produce the best results.

[GoZips]

Gilliam is the closest thing I can imagine to a direct replacement for B McKnight as an instant offense guy. Like B McKnight, he's a little undersized for his position in height, but is the heaviest player on the team (235 lbs. vs B McKnight's 245). The main difference on offense is that Gilliam is more athletic and prefers to take it to the bucket as much as shooting from outside. So in shooting he's much more versatile. It remains to be seen how he will compare to B McKnight on rebounding and defense.

But Gilliam may fit the role of 6th man spark plug off the bench as a direct replacement for B McKnight even better than Q, who GoZips has been advocating as 6th man. Gilliam could also easily be a starter. I think that KD will juggle the starters for awhile to see which combinations produce the best results.

Chauncey brings something Brett McKnight never had. That is, an understanding of how to

play defense. Chauncey loiters down low on weak side help. He will get plenty of rebounds,

and stick backs.

As for my rationale on playing Quincy as the sixth man, Q has the most versatility of any Zip

to play almost all the positions. Thus, he can come in off the bench and play with strength

at three, maybe four positions. I can't see this with Gilliam. This partially due to Diggs

being taller (6'-6"). Although, I admit that Chauncey can play the one, the two and the

three pretty well.

Both Gilliam and Diggs will get a lot of minutes. Go with the hot hand.