Zips Live

[gozips19]

Had some time to kill so I tuned in online to listen to Zips live. KD had some really interesting things to say.

Here's the summary.

The team: Thinks Alex can take the next step (One of the best pg's in the country) but must take care of things outside of basketball ie; diet, and staying out too late.

Would like to see the team find ways to run more. Said would like to see them become more like VCU.

Thinks Rico and Q will be the go to guys next year. Mentioned Zeke needs to eat, sleep, and breath basketball to take the next step. Said it's all between his ears and he needs to live in the gym. Is confident he'll take that step.

Happy with the youngsters. Thinks Harney and Tree had better freshmen years than Rome and Wood.

Would like to see the one of the incoming freshmen become a stretch 4. Said a mid major really needs that to be good.

Wants more consistency and more toughness with defense.

Schedule: Will continue to step up in scheduling. Mentioned Detroit, Marshall, Creighton, CSU, and the trip to PR that includes Providence, Tennessee, and others. Mentioned wants to schedule up to get an at large.

The arena: Mentioned that most successful mid majors are basketball only schools. If they are going to take the next step they need to raise more money and upgrade their arena. Mentioned would like to see 7k basketball only with the ability to expand if they were to get into a bigger conference. Also said he wants a section for the students on the floor even going as far to say he'd like to move some donors out and bring in the students at the JAR.

Conference: Mentioned that he'd like to get into another conference to take the next step. He did say that it may not be big enough to separate them from the other mid majors schools in the state.

Was very happy with the team. 4 players were never in these situations and thinks they'll be a lot better next year.

[Blue & Gold]

Wow, that's a ton of info. Thanks for the summary!

[UAZip0510]

Thanks for the summary!

I love pretty much everything I'm hearing from KD there.

[johnnyzip84]

I listened as well gozips19 and you pretty much nailed it! The one thing I might add is that KD said he was probably looking at recruiting two 5's and a 4 OR two 4's and a 5 for the 2013 class (from a total class of 4 I believe he added).

In summary, he's not happy with the way the season ended, but he's not sad either (recognizing some of the team's accomplishments). I thought that was a fair statement.

[Dave in Green]

..... Said would like to see them become more like VCU. .....

Amen. This is what I said after watching VCU's play against Indiana. Even though VCU narrowly lost, it was the style of play that intrigued me. If KD makes this happen, I'm going to be a happy fan, and I'll bet I'm not alone.

[UAZip0510]

I listened as well gozips19 and you pretty much nailed it! The one thing I might add is that KD said he was probably looking at recruiting two 5's and a 4 OR two 4's and a 5 for the 2013 class (from a total class of 4 I believe he added).

In summary, he's not happy with the way the season ended, but he's not sad either (recognizing some of the team's accomplishments). I thought that was a fair statement.

So good to hear this...that is my biggest worry moving forward post-Zeke.

[skip-zip]

Amen. This is what I said after watching VCU's play against Indiana. Even though VCU narrowly lost, it was the style of play that intrigued me. If KD makes this happen, I'm going to be a happy fan, and I'll bet I'm not alone.

I'll go back to something I said a couple of months ago. Some people were anticipating the 2011-2012 Edition of the Zips to be some kind of reincarnation of UNLVs teams of the 80s. And in the end, the most notable change was just that they were often more prone to mistakes. So, I'm still torn on what direction to take from here.

Keith has seemed to be willing to change. But, is allowing this particular group of guys to play a more undisciplined style of basketball really a good idea for a team that often appeared this year to be desperately in need of more discipline? Or, could allowing a more open style actually eliminate some mistakes by eliminating the pressure to execute called offensive plays?

It'll be interesting to see what actually changes between now and November, and whether it was a good idea. But, I am all for a more entertaining brand of basketball, if it works.

[Dave in Green]

@skip-zip, I don't think it's an either-or on the disciplined or wide-open style of play. I think it's getting the balance right. I think it's a matter of recruiting the right level of athletic players and then schooling them on fundamentals and teaching them a certain level of discipline to use within the context of a wide-open style of play.

If you watch VCU casually, it looks like a helter-skelter style of play. But what I saw within the seeming chaos was that VCU players were always ending up in just the right position to block a passing lane on the defensive end or catch a pass and have an open look on the offensive end.

In other words, there can be an appropriate amount of order within chaos. It's more like a chef's recipe of the right combination of ingredients added at just the right time and simmered for just the right amount of time more than it is a scientific formula.

KD needs to be a master chef, and I think he's making progress in the right direction.

[Class of 82]

@skip-zip, I don't think it's an either-or on the disciplined or wide-open style of play. I think it's getting the balance right. I think it's a matter of recruiting the right level of athletic players and then schooling them on fundamantals and teaching them a certain level of discipline to use within the context of a wide-open style of play.

If you watch VCU casually, it looks like a helter-skelter style of play. But what I saw within the seeming chaos was that VCU players were always ending up in just the right position to block a passing lane on the defensive end or catch a pass and have an open look on the offensive end.

In other words, there can be an appropriate amount of order within chaos. It's more like a chef's recipe of the right combination of ingredients added at just the right time and simmered for just the right amount of time more than it is a scientific formula.

KD needs to be a master chef, and I think he's making progress in the right direction.

Great points, Dave.

I keep going back in my mind to the second half of the K-ent game at the JAR. Great defense forcing turnovers that allowed guys like Gilliam, Harney, Diggs and Abreu to dominate in transition. I think our personnel fits that kind of game really well, so long as the team stays committed and disciplined on the defensive end. And that's a huge "so long as," in my opinion. Time and again this past season, we failed to get back on defense after making baskets in transition. A running style doesn't do you much good if you consistently let the other team get the numbers to run it right back at you. We did that way too often, which I think is why KD didn't really embrace an up-tempo game the way he might like to.

[UAZipster0305]

Nice to hear KD talk about scheduling and playing for an at-large bid. We had that schedule this year, but we were about 3-4 wins away from having a viable at-large resume. Unfortunately, as a mid-major with no NCAA Tourney success, I still think we would have been on the outside looking in.

[Jalapeño Zippy]

I missed it. Did Coach talk about Chauncey at all? I think he can make a huge impact next year.