Watcher's View: OU Road Game

[Zip Watcher]

OK I think I've settled down enough to post some thoughts on last night's game.Game Thoughts:- Props to OU for hanging in there early and gutting it out at the end. They got it done defensively, plain and simple. A win they needed to have, and they got it. Not pretty offensively, but enough. Nice work.- Quickness of OU was obvious and a strength for the kittens. I don't think however that it was something the Zips couldn't overcome. They just didn't. - Not the best performance by UA in just about any regard. I thought they looked loose and confident on defense early, and the middle of the game, they were solid. At the end, say the last 5-8 minutes, they simply STOPPED attacking the basket. Not too many opportunities presented themselves when the Zips had 5 guys standing on the perimeter while a guard dribbled the ball 40' away from the rim. No real chance at offensive glass in that situation.- Defensively, the first 10 minutes were good, and the remainder looked pretty disorganized, which is unusual for a KD team. OU found it easy in the last 2/3rds of the game to penetrate and dish to Leon inside for easy baskets. Early on, the Zips did a good job on the help and denying the entry, but later on, there wasn't much interference for OU to contend with. Their baskets were often times way too easy.- Late in the game, my cable must have gotten fuzzy because I could swear I saw 3 or 4 possessions of Andre Sims dribbling out the first 25 seconds of the shot clock near the time line. That couldn't have been Dru Joyce .. must have been Sims. Strange thing to be doing when you're trailing in the game.- If everyone is at the perimeter, even when a guy drives and draws a double team, is there anyone there to drop it off to for an open look? Generally not, and that hurt the Zips last night.- Williams had 4 fouls late in the game & was never challenged in the paint on defense. He was never in danger of fouling out. The Zips never went after him.- Zips struggled as a whole with the unforced errors. 16 turnovers are a ton to overcome on the road.- As a whole, I thought the backcourt had a tough night. It won't happen often that all 3 guys struggle. This must then be related to OU & the fact that they did a nice job defending.- Anyone else notice that very little good happened on offense when Linhart wasn't in the game? More on NL below.- You can't convince me that letting Joyce go 1 on 3 and throw up an off-balanced runner was our best offensive option, against zone or man, late in the game. That's pretty much what they did the last 2 minutes of the game. I don't know if it was because no one else was moving away from the ball, or it was the called play, but it was painful to watch.- This was a winnable game on the road. Would have been nice to get this one, but OU wanted it more, and defended to prove it. This was a game the Zips could have won with Defense and Discipline .. and near the end of the game I thought they had neither. These teams appear to be evenly matched. They have vastly different strengths, but as teams, they're pretty close .. final score would back that up.Thoughts on the Coverage:- I guess there's a reason that Bob Donewald isn't coaching in the MAC.- I hope our ONN crew of Phelps & Co. don't come off as bad as these OU guys. They probably do, but I hope not. After the first 15 minutes, my wife insisted we get French & Dunn on and use the DVR to sync them up with the video on ONN. The announcers added nothing of value for me watching the game. Someone in the OZone needs to slip the play by play guy a note that he doesn't need to yell into his mic all the time. The sound guys can help with that.- Video coverage was crappy too. At least 4 steals or baskets were missed because we were looking at the OZone (nice section by the way) or some cheerleader who shouldn't be baring the midriff and should probably not watch the replay of this game.- Generally, it was nice that it was on .. but some times the production work made me wish it wasn't on. Very hard to watch a close game with Larry, Daryll and Daryll screwing around with the Zoom and camera controls.General Team Related Notes:- King Zip said it well, as did KD: Losing Jimmy and JWood for the year set this team back a ton. A little more size in there last night and the Zips could have fouled out Leon, which would have impacted the outcome.- I think that Romeo could be a GREAT MAC player, but right now he's average at best. In some ways, he's taking a step backwords this season. Way too much time is spent telling the refs what calls they're missing. That time could be sent destroying oponents in the paint. I have another rant on how he can be MAC MVP .. maybe I'll post it later.- I like the season Futch is having. I think he's progressing and is having a solid year to followup last season.- Aside from last night, I think Cedric is most improved and the biggest impact carryover guy.- Linhart might be the best basketball player on the team. I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to Nate for lack of confidence after the Denison game. We stuck around to see him and Rybak play extended minutes, and I'll admit that I wasn't optimistic about the frosh class after that game. Nate, you've proved me wrong ... way wrong. By the end of the year, this guy will be one of the keys to the success of this team.- Can't just keeps winning. They must be the best in the league to go and win in Dekalb and Miami. Zips aren't at this point .. we saw that last night. They're a good team that should put up a good fight for a bye. They won't win every game, but they should be in position to do so every night.- Last night's game was probably the toughest game situation of the season (even the rest of the way). I think going to Can't is a little better because of the proximity and having some Zips fans in the place. I have a gut feeling Oxford will be tough, but not like this. The issues will be different against MU. Athleticism probably won't be the biggest problem.- That's all for now .. back on the horse on Thursday to try and keep pace, since I give UB no shot at beating Can't.- Geeze .. just looked at how long this is. If you've read this far, you need a job or hobby. Thanks for reading about mine.

[Valpo Zip]

I do have a job and we share the same hobby zip-watcher but this post is worth the time. Good post.

[OHIO fan]

- I hope our ONN crew of Phelps & Co. don't come off as bad as these OU guys. They probably do, but I hope not. After the first 15 minutes, my wife insisted we get French & Dunn on and use the DVR to sync them up with the video on ONN. The announcers added nothing of value for me watching the game. Someone in the OZone needs to slip the play by play guy a note that he doesn't need to yell into his mic all the time. The sound guys can help with that.

FYI, this was not a crew paid for by Ohio Athletics. Though we supposedly wanted to use our own TV crew, ONN wanted to use their own people to do the game. The normal TV announcer for Ohio games is Keith Morehouse, who in my opinion is quite good.

[Quickzips]

Can't speak for ONN but I was listening to the game in my dorm room (at Akron) and I gotta say that 1350 is horrific. There were times that I couldn't even hear through all of the static. I still don't like Frenchie all that much either. We get down by 2 or 3 early in the second half and he gets that "woe is me" tone to his voice. I know he's been around a lot of crap here in Akron over the years but it gets depressing listening to him.

[OZoner]

Funny you mention Donewald. You know he used to coach WMU, right?

[UADavid]

I still don't like Frenchie all that much either. We get down by 2 or 3 early in the second half and he gets that "woe is me" tone to his voice. I know he's been around a lot of crap here in Akron over the years but it gets depressing listening to him.

I would have to disagree with your assessment of Steve French. He is a true professional who tells it like it is. If we stink, he'll say so. He gives a real sense of the emotion of the game. I think he's actually quite exciting to listen to, especially when we play well. That's part of being a good broadcaster. He and Joe Dunn are very knowlegeable and offer excellent insight into the game and that includes their football broadcasts. Keep on listening, I'm sure he'll grow on you.

[Quickzips]

French is nice to listen too I just don't like how he goes into doom and gloom mode the moment another team scores. It gets a little frustrating to listen too whenever we get down by 1 or 2 and you hear things like "well this one is starting to get out of hand" or "zips are not looking good right now" or "I don't know if they can turn it around". Call me crazy but when you are still in a close game I would like to hear a little more optimism. Guess it is all about preferance though.