GP1 Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 Here are a few questions about Akron and the MAC to contemplate and respond to.1. Did the win yesterday give Akron enough momentum to make a legitimate run at the MAC Championship? We talked a lot about momentum last week. My answer would be a definite..................... maybe. If the NFL rule is true, teams that play well late in the season do well in the playoffs holds true for basketball, Akron is on shakey footing. They do need 40 solid minutes every game.2. Will the week off (not having to play Monday) hurt or help Akron? My answer, you play all year to get the days off, it can only help.3. Is Can't still the team to beat, or does Charlie Coles have his team in championship form at the end of the year the way he does every year? My answer, Can't is too athletic and has been there in the past. They are the team to beat. Miami doesn't have enough athletic talent for Coles to do anything with this year. I think this tournament comes down to Can't, Akron and Miami. Even with the Zips lack of momentum, I like their chances against an unimpressive MAC until the finals and I'll take our chances in a winner take all game against Can't. Anything can happen in one game and Akron proved yesterday they can beat them.4. Will KD play Peterson more after the performance Saturday? My answer I'm sorry to say is NO. KD is consumed with defense.5. Who could be an unlikely hero for the Zips in the Tournament? My answer.....Cedric Middleton. Frequently, tournament games come down to one player driving to the basket to win a game. Cedric is the one guy with the speed and quickness to make something happen. I hope it doesn't come down to this though.I'm done, feel free to respond or even add your own questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zff Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 If DP does not play huge mins during the tourny the Dambrot should be fired!!!!DP played decent defense yesterday and if he did not have a huge first half the Zips get killed!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UA Fan Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 The Zips have not yet shown that they can win big MAC tourney games and lately they have not shown they can beat a tough opponent away from the JAR. They certainly have the potential and I certainly hope they will fulfill it but they're going to have to go up there and execute and get 'er done. Whether they can do that is the biggest question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zip37 Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 GP-1-- YOU are too focused on offense-- If you had more of a grasp of the game of basketball you would know defense wins games. In most cases in all sports defense wins! There are exceptions, of course but that is true in the great majority. Webb won with defense, Huggs won with defense, and Laturza was offense. KD wind with defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoZips Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 In answer to your questions and a couple observations of my own, GP1.1. Yesterday's win DID give the Zips the momentum boost that they sorely needed.The past few games were the most difficult of the season. All three losses were on theroad against quality opponents. It is not like they folded against the Little Sisters OfThe Poor (albeit, they are having a great year, just ask Duke).Also, you made a great observation that the kids need to focus and play 40 minutes ofbasketball each game. This seems to be the biggest hold over from the Hipsher era.That the Zips play well in spurts and rarely take command of a game wire to wire.2. Going directly to the "Q" is huge. That extra "play in" game pretty much dooms anyof those eight teams from having the legs to play well enough to beat more restedteams in the championship game. It will be tough enough to win three in three days.3. This is a great question. Miami coach Charlie Coles is a fox in the craftiest sense.This man is the best tournament time coach in the conference. Miami has the bestadvantage of any team facing Cant Skate. That being that beating a team three timesin a given season is nearly an impossible task. Coaches know this and dread facing anopponent they have twice beaten. I predict that Miami, not Cant Skate, will be the teamfrom the top bracket in the Championship game.4. There is a lot of evidence that KD has some sort of personal vendetta against DP.Darned if I know the reason why. Prediction, based on the fact that coaches love to win,KD will start DP in all remaining games. DP will then step up like a man and deliver.5. I am torn on this question. Who will step up? You make an excellent case for Cedwhom I greatly admire. Still, the real, over the long haul this season, guy who hasconsistently delivered is Rob Preston. Most people like to call the MAC a guard's league. I have long disagreed with this idea.To me, teams that win do it with their big men. Thus, I am going to go with RomeoTravis as the man who carries the Zip's into the NCAAs.Finally, After getting four NIT bids last year and doing pretty well with them, I would loveto see the MAC get multiple NIT bids this year. I am hopeful of at least two NIT bids.Knowing that several teams have technically earned an NIT bid the pall of the NCAAtake over of the NIT and the money driven NCAA/ESPN monopoly spells doom. The MAC will only get two NIT bids. Cant gets one as regular season champs. The loserof the Akron vs. Miami championship game gets the other one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liljc Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 I was a bit worried after things went so poorly up at Buffalo. However, after yesterdays huge comeback, I feel like the Zips are on a roll and maybe they have "big mo" on their side. UA Fan is correct in saying that the Zips don't have a good record in the tourney, nor do they usually play well away from home. Sure seems like a nice time to roll out a 6 or 7 game win streak, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipboy Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 Good post.Any of 6-7 teams can win it. Given that teams will need to play 3 consistent games in a row, only Akron, Can't, and Miami have shown that throughout the year. Keys for us are to shoot decent, keep the big guys out of foul trouble, and rebound. I have never felt better about the Zips in a big game, tight game situation. KD said earlier in the year, you win big games with character guys. I think we have that this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 If DP does not play huge mins during the tourny the Dambrot should be fired!!!! WOW, that's a little over the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Morgan Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 2. Will the week off (not having to play Monday) hurt or help Akron? My answer, you play all year to get the days off, it can only helpI've been worried about this since we wrapped up the bye. A week off is good and bad. Sure the rest will help, but my fear is the legs and 'game" will become stale. The regular season calls for play at least every 3-4 days. This will be a 4/5 day layover.I can only assume that KD will account for this and will play these guys hard in practice throug tuesday and mentally prepare from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelegazna Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 2. Will the week off (not having to play Monday) hurt or help Akron? My answer, you play all year to get the days off, it can only helpI've been worried about this since we wrapped up the bye. A week off is good and bad. Sure the rest will help, but my fear is the legs and 'game" will become stale. The regular season calls for play at least every 3-4 days. This will be a 4/5 day layover.I can only assume that KD will account for this and will play these guys hard in practice throug tuesday and mentally prepare from there. Am I missing something? It's 5 days off, not a week. We're playing Saturday, then Thursday. Most of they year we have been playing Saturday, then Wednesday. So this is just one extra day. If anything, I wish they had more time off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 GP-1-- YOU are too focused on offense-- If you had more of a grasp of the game of basketball you would know defense wins games. In most cases in all sports defense wins! There are exceptions, of course but that is true in the great majority. Webb won with defense, Huggs won with defense, and Laturza was offense. KD wind with defense. Are you still surre about this? It looked more like Mike Fratello and Coleman Crawford last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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