UAZip0510 Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 1) This Team Wasn't Expected to Be Good at First Forget Mississippi State for a minute...there's a reason why the coaching staff picked this summer for their "International" trip. Let's break the team down: Marshall - Returning starter Cvetinovic - Returning starter Diggs - Returning rotation player (16 to 29 MPG) McClanahan - Returning starter Abreu - Returning rotation player (19 to 24 MPG) Harney - First year Treadwell - First year Walsh - First year transfer Gilliam - First year transfer Ibitayo - First year Egner - Returning player, first year rotation player Of the eleven Zips in the 2011-2012 rotation, only five of them played regular minutes last season. Five of them did not play college basketball last season. Three of them have never played college basketball before. The coaching staff knew there would be some growing pains early on. They expected the "freshman" mistakes. They knew it would take time for the team to gel. 2) The Road Has Been Difficult The Zips have played six regular season games against D1 opponents. So far, all but one of them have come on the road. Mississippi State - 8-1 (#24 in the country) Valparaiso - 6-2 Duquesne - 6-2 Detroit - 3-6 West Virginia - 4-2 Middle Tennessee - 8-1 That's a combined 35-8...all but one on the road. In the MAC, they are currently 3rd in SOS. WMU - 23rd Ohio - 68th Akron - 70th NIU - 73rd Miami - 80th CMU - 213th Can't - 233rd Buffalo - 241st Ball St. - 254th EMU - 269th BG - 285th Toledo - 321st I know, I know. We want to take that next step...we want to beat the best of the best. Simply put, it just wasn't realistic this early in the season for this particular group. If all goes well, that will be next season 3) Keith Dambrot and This Program Have Been Here Before Last year's Zips were 4-4 around this time last year. We all remember how the season ended. This isn't the football program...I have full confidence in Keith Dambrot. We've had six straight 20+ win seasons. We've reached the MAC Championship game in each of the last five seasons. We've won it two of the last three years. We all know the statistics...but I think it's important sometimes to remember them. I'm sure some of you will say I'm making excuses. I'm sure some will bash me for my optimism. I get it - watching them today, I found myself worrying that this team doesn't have what it takes to win the MAC this year. However, after a few hours passed and my emotions were removed from my assessment, I remembered thinking the same thing last season. We have an outstanding basketball program. We have an outstanding coaching staff. We have incredible, albeit inexperienced talent...the Mississippi State game showed us what this team is capable of. This won't be the last of the growing pains. I expect a loss at Cleveland State, and for us to trip up a few times in the MAC. However, I also expect to at Quicken Loans Arena on March 10th, decked out in Akron gear, ready to watch the Zips compete in their 6th straight conference final...and I expect to be celebrating at the final buzzer once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpsjugglerdude Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 1) This Team Wasn't Expected to Be Good at First Forget Mississippi State for a minute...there's a reason why the coaching staff picked this summer for their "International" trip. Let's break the team down: Marshall - Returning starter Cvetinovic - Returning starter Diggs - Returning rotation player (16 to 29 MPG) McClanahan - Returning starter Abreu - Returning rotation player (19 to 24 MPG) Harney - First year Treadwell - First year Walsh - First year transfer Gilliam - First year transfer Ibitayo - First year Egner - Returning player, first year rotation player Of the eleven Zips in the 2011-2012 rotation, only five of them played regular minutes last season. Five of them did not play college basketball last season. Three of them have never played college basketball before. The coaching staff knew there would be some growing pains early on. They expected the "freshman" mistakes. They knew it would take time for the team to gel. 2) The Road Has Been Difficult The Zips have played six regular season games against D1 opponents. So far, all but one of them have come on the road. Mississippi State - 8-1 (#24 in the country) Valparaiso - 6-2 Duquesne - 6-2 Detroit - 3-6 West Virginia - 4-2 Middle Tennessee - 8-1 That's a combined 35-8...all but one on the road. In the MAC, they are currently 3rd in RPI. WMU - 23rd Ohio - 68th Akron - 70th NIU - 73rd Miami - 80th CMU - 213th Can't - 233rd Buffalo - 241st Ball St. - 254th EMU - 269th BG - 285th Toledo - 321st I know, I know. We want to take that next step...we want to beat the best of the best. Simply put, it just wasn't realistic this early in the season for this particular group. If all goes well, that will be next season 3) Keith Dambrot and This Program Have Been Here Before Last year's Zips were 4-4 around this time last year. We all remember how the season ended. This isn't the football program...I have full confidence in Keith Dambrot. We've had six straight 20+ win seasons. We've reached the MAC Championship game in each of the last five seasons. We've won it two of the last three years. We all know the statistics...but I think it's important sometimes to remember them. I'm sure some of you will say I'm making excuses. I'm sure some will bash me for my optimism. I get it - watching them today, I found myself worrying that this team doesn't have what it takes to win the MAC this year. However, after a few hours passed and my emotions were removed from my assessment, I remembered thinking the same thing last season. We have an outstanding basketball program. We have an outstanding coaching staff. We have incredible, albeit inexperienced talent...the Mississippi State game showed us what this team is capable of. This won't be the last of the growing pains. I expect a loss at Cleveland State, and for us to trip up a few times in the MAC. However, I also expect to at Quicken Loans Arena on March 10th, decked out in Akron gear, ready to watch the Zips compete in their 6th straight conference final...and I expect to be celebrating at the final buzzer once again. Best post in the basketball section in a while. Nice fresh perspective that is realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpsjugglerdude Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Another reason to be optimistic--the Zips are ranked 39th in the nation in field goal percentage at 47.9% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Great post. No reason to over-react at this point. It's still way early and there is a ton of basketball to be played. Some of our fans panicked when we looked like ass in the Charleston Classic and we've pulled together nicely. KD is the kind of coach that will have you playing your best when it matters the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexopats@yahoo.com Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 How refreshing to read something positive. Tired of people giving up on the season after going through a rough patch. This certainly makes me feel better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 I am worried Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 I noticed that we have a pretty good RPI, despite losing several games. Why? Because we played several good teams. I hope this helps convince some people that winning a bunch of games every years against weak opponents accomplishes nothing in terms of raising your national standing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAZipster0305 Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Great post. And yes, unfortunately, the OOC games matter very little, and the MAC games don't matter much either. All that matters is that we play our best in the post-season. Given how rare it is for the MAC to be a two-bid league, this should be our approach every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valpo Zip Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Great post. And yes, unfortunately, the OOC games matter very little, and the MAC games don't matter much either. All that matters is that we play our best in the post-season. Given how rare it is for the MAC to be a two-bid league, this should be our approach every year. Way to think big! Instead of trying to position ourselves for an at-large bid in case we don't win the mac, NO! our approach should be to win only when it matters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyforPresident Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 1) This Team Wasn't Expected to Be Good at First Forget Mississippi State for a minute...there's a reason why the coaching staff picked this summer for their "International" trip. Let's break the team down: Marshall - Returning starter Cvetinovic - Returning starter Diggs - Returning rotation player (16 to 29 MPG) McClanahan - Returning starter Abreu - Returning rotation player (19 to 24 MPG) Harney - First year Treadwell - First year Walsh - First year transfer Gilliam - First year transfer Ibitayo - First year Egner - Returning player, first year rotation player Of the eleven Zips in the 2011-2012 rotation, only five of them played regular minutes last season. Five of them did not play college basketball last season. Three of them have never played college basketball before. The coaching staff knew there would be some growing pains early on. They expected the "freshman" mistakes. They knew it would take time for the team to gel. 2) The Road Has Been Difficult The Zips have played six regular season games against D1 opponents. So far, all but one of them have come on the road. Mississippi State - 8-1 (#24 in the country) Valparaiso - 6-2 Duquesne - 6-2 Detroit - 3-6 West Virginia - 4-2 Middle Tennessee - 8-1 That's a combined 35-8...all but one on the road. In the MAC, they are currently 3rd in RPI. WMU - 23rd Ohio - 68th Akron - 70th NIU - 73rd Miami - 80th CMU - 213th Can't - 233rd Buffalo - 241st Ball St. - 254th EMU - 269th BG - 285th Toledo - 321st I know, I know. We want to take that next step...we want to beat the best of the best. Simply put, it just wasn't realistic this early in the season for this particular group. If all goes well, that will be next season 3) Keith Dambrot and This Program Have Been Here Before Last year's Zips were 4-4 around this time last year. We all remember how the season ended. This isn't the football program...I have full confidence in Keith Dambrot. We've had six straight 20+ win seasons. We've reached the MAC Championship game in each of the last five seasons. We've won it two of the last three years. We all know the statistics...but I think it's important sometimes to remember them. I'm sure some of you will say I'm making excuses. I'm sure some will bash me for my optimism. I get it - watching them today, I found myself worrying that this team doesn't have what it takes to win the MAC this year. However, after a few hours passed and my emotions were removed from my assessment, I remembered thinking the same thing last season. We have an outstanding basketball program. We have an outstanding coaching staff. We have incredible, albeit inexperienced talent...the Mississippi State game showed us what this team is capable of. This won't be the last of the growing pains. I expect a loss at Cleveland State, and for us to trip up a few times in the MAC. However, I also expect to at Quicken Loans Arena on March 10th, decked out in Akron gear, ready to watch the Zips compete in their 6th straight conference final...and I expect to be celebrating at the final buzzer once again. Excellent post, it really helps to put things in perspective. I've been saying the exact same things. I get so tired of sifting through all of the negativity sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyZip Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 I am worried Of course you are, you are one of the worst offenders of Chicken Little Syndrome. We will be fine. We are made up of mostly young kids who will continue to get better. Deep breaths before someone starts the "maybe Dambrot should be on the hot seat" thread like last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gozips22 Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Very good post. But I think we are expecting the Zips to turn the corner very soon to become a team that will win more of these out of conference games. So when they don't look good I guess you can see how some fans think that the sky is falling. On the other hand KD knows how to coach for the tourny that is one thing we know for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 @UAZip0510, great work putting all that data together in one place for the rest of us to consider. The early season losses are hard to take when you look at the talent level on the team, but more understandable when you consider the weak points and circumstances. If they make it to the NCAA tournament, I continue to believe that the Zips' current level of individual talent is more capable of actually upsetting higher-ranked teams than previous Zips teams. But they have to use the rest of the season to come together as a team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAZip0510 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Whoops...just realized I put RPI instead of SOS, which those ranks are. The point remains though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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