Zips - Oklahoma State

[gozips19]

Thanks

Chin up lumberjack! It's a long season. I am sure everyone in the nation is pulliing for Chauncey. I am sure he'll bounce back. Again, I remain bullish on the Zips this year. Very eager to see them with Tree and Harney.

[The Hip Zip]

I have little doubt that we were the better team but just couldn't throw it in the ocean. I know Rico isn't 100% but man, he was bad today. He may have been pressing a little and trying too hard in his home town. Had he just had an average game we win. he'll bounce back and so will the Zips

[The Hip Zip]

What do you want from me? Chauncey didn't look good today and probably played the the worst game I've ever seen. Two very bad plays down the stretch and probably cost UA the game. Funny thing no one will remember the big plays down the stretch before overtime or the first 4 minutes of OT or his knee injury affecting his shot for the last 30 days Nor will anyone remember that Tree and Nick didn't play, Zeke fouled out or Alex big missed layup down the stretch. So for the rest of UA's history and Chauncey's life will forever be remembered of these two major turnovers made to lose this game. Nor will you be around when he call crying frantically wishing that he could just get away. While consoling I have to tell him to endure and press forward remembering this is a long season. Chauncey plays to win and I know he is beating himself up inside and know that people like you hate him and me for being his biggest fan. I really feel for him...You feel better now? I have to love him through this while you add insult to injury...KD coached one of the best games in history and I take total blame for Chauncey being born and have to encounter days like this. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Laughed my ass off when reading this. Lumberjack, you are A OK in my book.

We lost a game yet I'm pretty sure the sun will come up tomorrow.

[skip-zip]

Look for a VCU/George Mason type run if this team gets polished by March like they should...

Final Four? I'd like to own your crystal ball.

[Dr Z]

[jupitertoo]

Laughed my ass off when reading this. Lumberjack, you are A OK in my book.

We lost a game yet I'm pretty sure the sun will come up tomorrow.

Lumberjack, presumably Mr. Gilliam, needs to man up and boycott fan sites like this. There is no possible good in his participation and obviously thin skin.

[Z.I.P.]

Since the game is so early tomorrow morning, guess we have to start this one tonight. I'm not at all confident of a Zips win without some of our key players but I always have hope. Besides, the Zips logo looks nice out on the hotel marquee.

EARLY? I bet no one else got up at 5 a.m. dark to watch such a mish-mash of bad offense and poor strategy by two teams.

Pardon me, I'm going to have to nap through lunch now.

[Dave in Green]

If there are enough data points to make measurements statistically relevant, this is true. One game is not enough data points to do that. I'm sure that thousands of data points would reveal that two point shots are more likely to go in that three point shots. .....

Maybe I'm not being clear enough in making what I thought was an obvious point. First of all, no one, least of all me, is arguing against the fact that over the long run the 2-point shot produces a higher true shooting percentage than the 3-point shot. Everyone understands this. My specific point about this game is that the Zips were shooting a higher percentage on 3-point shots throughout the game, so attempting 2-pointers was not necessarily a higher percentage option for the Zips in this particular game.

The fact that a 3-point shot counts 50% more than a 2-point shot also affects shooting percentages. So hitting 33.3% of your 3s scores as many points as hitting 50% of your 2s. Effective field goal percentage [(FG + 0.5 * 3P) / FGA] takes that into consideration, which is why it's a more accurate overall measure of performance than true field goal percentage. I was just pointing out that the Zips were much more effective on 3-pointers (EFG = 46%) than 2-pointers (EFG = 29.5%) today, and the fact that having 3-pointers comprise 37% of a team's field goal attempts is not out of line with the average of all college teams.

[akronzips71]

CG did not lose the game.

No one is going to remember his play by this time next week.

With a few seconds left, AA meandered down the Court like he had all the time in the world.

This is two games in a row they have an inability to get off a shot at the buzzer.

Zeke gets two fouls in two minutes, PF replaces him and gets three fouls. Give me a break.

EIGHTEEN FAILED FGAs in a row.

CG was the LEAST of the problems today.

[Dave in Green]

In the more than 30 years that I've been following Zips basketball, I've never seen a UA team so decimated with missing or injured key veteran players. Q is gone from the team, Tree and Nick weren't able to play, and Rico and Chauncey were slowed by injuries. That's more than half of the regular veteran rotation that we were expecting to see just a couple of months ago. If the Zips were not as deep a team as they are, they would have been blown out of the arena today.

I swear, if the whole team came down with food poisoning and all the Zips players were laid up in hospital beds recuperating, it wouldn't surprise me to see someone post on here that they all need to suck it up and go beat a higher-ranked team in their hospital gowns.

Anyway, Tree and Nick will make a big difference starting with the next game, and Rico and Chauncey will be back to full strength before long. Then we'll see how this team develops throughout the rest of the season. Despite the disappointing start, this Zips team is still capable of doing big things.

[MDZip]

Here are the field goal numbers from four different players from today's game.

5-14

4-14

2-9

1-10

No one player lost this one. Maddeningly, tantalizingly close to a big win (sigh).

[Zips Win!]

Here are the field goal numbers from four different players from today's game.

5-14

4-14

2-9

1-10

No one player lost this one. Maddeningly, tantalizingly close to a big win (sigh).

You got a lot of ESPN face time. Nice job!

[GoZips]

Okla State folks have their views on the game just as we do. Check them out.

Cowboy View Points

This high major program had a tough battle today. Yeah, they won, so what? Were they missing their #2 and #6 players

due to NCAA hanky-panky? Did their vaunted McDonald's All-American Freshman toast the lowly Zips? Hell no. He sucked.

The Cowboy fans were crapping in their chaps at the end of the game and during OT. Lose to a mid-major? Especially

one they knew little about and feared even less?

The Zips-Cowboy game was the best of the day all things considered.

So, why are Zips fans pissed, upset or generally angry at their own team? The Zips get better each year. Stay with them.

This is not a flash in the pan program. It is built on solid ground with great coaches and continually better players.

Today the Zips stood toe-to-toe with an upper echelon Big 12 team for 45 minutes. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Personally, I am pleased with our Zips. This is going to be a great year. Tomorrow we get Harney and Treadwell back.

Let us see what a 95% complete Zips team looks like. Yeah, Alex is still banged up and so is Chauncey. Those two kids

played their hearts out as did everyone else.

For the brayers ... your Cant Sucks team crapped their pants the other night at home against a so-so Temple team.

[LZIp]

So, why are Zips fans pissed, upset or generally angry at their own team? The Zips get better each year. Stay with them.

This is not a flash in the pan program. It is built on solid ground with great coaches and continually better players.

Today the Zips stood toe-to-toe with an upper echelon Big 12 team for 45 minutes. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Bolded 1) because we should have won the game. Ok St's fans' negligence has nothing to do with how our team performed, or why we should be content with the close loss. We shot 30%...that isnt good no matter which way you want to spin it.

Bolded 2) OK St is NOT an upper echelon Big 12 team. They finished last year 15-18. 3rd worst in the big 12, in fact.

I do think we will be fine with Tree and Harney back, however.

[Dr Z]

Yeah, they won, so what?

So, winners win, losers lose. It hasn't felt good for my alma mater to lose yet, probably won't change anytime soon.

why are Zips fans upset or generally angry at their own team?

Nobody is mad at the "team," they are kids. I am tired of losing games like this, a game we coulda shoulda won against a "named" team. It always seems to come down to a few possessions in these type of games. Ones we could score on if the kids had an X and O guy helping them out. We continue to come up empty in those situations over and over.

Personally, I am pleased with our Zips.

Sorry, I just can't be pleased with losing...ever. These are the games we look back at come March and say, if we just would have, but we didn't.

[MDZip]

You got a lot of ESPN face time. Nice job!

Fortunately, they did not televise my free throw shooting debacle. I volunteered to shoot free throws against an Oklahoma State fan for 30 seconds. I made all of one. He made two.

[Dave in Green]

..... 2) OK St is NOT an upper echelon Big 12 team. They finished last year 15-18. 3rd worst in the big 12, in fact. .....

Last year is history. This season, the Big 12 is ranked by ESPN as the 2nd best conference in the country, and OSU is projected as one of the top teams in the Big 12 with "two McDonald's All-Americans."

ESPN

To everyone reading this: You know, it's possible to be pleased with the Zips team and at the same time not be pleased with losing. We Zips fans are tired of losing in any way, shape or form. But we're fortunate to have a really good basketball team, even though they are going to lose some games for a variety of reasons. There are many reasons why the Zips lost this game, and everyone has a slightly different take on which reasons made the most difference. It's OK to be unhappy with the loss. We all are. But I think we need to separate our unhappiness over the loss with our feelings about the team -- the players and the coaching staff. They're working their butts off and putting up with a lot of pain to make us proud of them. The very least we owe them is to separate our personal sorrow over losing from our support of what they're trying to accomplish and our confidence that they are really trying to do their best.

[johnnyzip84]

Fortunately, they did not televise my free throw shooting debacle. I volunteered to shoot free throws against an Oklahoma State fan for 30 seconds. I made all of one. He made two.

Too bad you didn't get to wrestle the Cowpoke fan instead!

[MDZip]

Too bad you didn't get to wrestle the Cowpoke fan instead!

Probably wouldn't have been good either, he was a heavyweight.

[Blue & Gold]

What do you want from me? Chauncey didn't look good today and probably played the the worst game I've ever seen. Two very bad plays down the stretch and probably cost UA the game. Funny thing no one will remember the big plays down the stretch before overtime or the first 4 minutes of OT or his knee injury affecting his shot for the last 30 days Nor will anyone remember that Tree and Nick didn't play, Zeke fouled out or Alex big missed layup down the stretch. So for the rest of UA's history and Chauncey's life will forever be remembered of these two major turnovers made to lose this game. Nor will you be around when he call crying frantically wishing that he could just get away. While consoling I have to tell him to endure and press forward remembering this is a long season. Chauncey plays to win and I know he is beating himself up inside and know that people like you hate him and me for being his biggest fan. I really feel for him...You feel better now? I have to love him through this while you add insult to injury...KD coached one of the best games in history and I take total blame for Chauncey being born and have to encounter days like this. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

He didn't cost UA the game.

Actually, the whole team looks a bit out of synch save, perhaps, B-Walsh and, surprisingly, J-Kretzer.

Betancourt has really looked like a true freshman in our first two games (John Carol doesn't count.)

McAdams also really struggled today.

I think we all know Zeke is Zeke. Won't dominate or be a threat in the paint, but will get into opponents heads on D. That's good, not great. And that's okay.

We'll get it together.

I've been in a sour mood since the CC loss. However, I'm starting to feel like myself again. We'll get this thing turned around and be a Top 50 team by the end of the year.

(Prediction: we won't get it turned around in Puerto Rico - Tree & Harney are going to be a tad rusty & out of shape -it's surprising how fast you get out of game shape- and the team is going to have to take a few games to learn to play with them.)

[RootforRoo44]

I thought the same thing.

Especially coming out of time outs with the ball. I would like to know the percentage of how many times we come away with no points out of TOs.

100%

[RootforRoo44]

I am extremely proud of the Zips fight tonight. There was a stretch there were they looked lost, but somewhere midway through the second half they really locked down on defense and looked like they knew they should win the game. The ball didn't bounce our way, but our depleted lineup was awesome, and almost beat a decent team.

That being said, the clock management and late-game play-calling is horrendous. Dambrot can't do X's and O's in crunch time...period. There's no more debate necessary on the subject as he's consistently proven that he can't draw up a play after a timeout. I think it's about time he finds somebody who can.

[akronzips71]

I am extremely proud of the Zips fight tonight. There was a stretch there were they looked lost, but somewhere midway through the second half they really locked down on defense and looked like they knew they should win the game. The ball didn't bounce our way, but our depleted lineup was awesome, and almost beat a decent team.

That being said, the clock management and late-game play-calling is horrendous. Dambrot can't do X's and O's in crunch time...period. There's no more debate necessary on the subject as he's consistently proven that he can't draw up a play after a timeout. I think it's about time he finds somebody who can.

I did notice that on that last inbounds OSU had a big just standing under the basket with his arms up jumping up and down, which probably ended any chance of a throw at the hoop for a dunk.

[mes102]

I am extremely proud of the Zips fight tonight. There was a stretch there were they looked lost, but somewhere midway through the second half they really locked down on defense and looked like they knew they should win the game. The ball didn't bounce our way, but our depleted lineup was awesome, and almost beat a decent team.

That being said, the clock management and late-game play-calling is horrendous. Dambrot can't do X's and O's in crunch time...period. There's no more debate necessary on the subject as he's consistently proven that he can't draw up a play after a timeout. I think it's about time he finds somebody who can.

Every chance you can take a shot at Dambrot, you do. It's quite sad to be honest. Just because you have a blog, doesn't mean you know more than the current coaches. I even recall you saying one time at a tailgate you knew more about what soccer decisions need to be made than Porter during 2011 season. Anyways, We win that game if we made more intelligent basketball decisions on the court. Dambrot can't make those decisions for the players, as he's not playing on the court.

I really don't understand why KD is getting so much heat for that OOB play. It's all about execution. You could have the best X's and O's coach in the world, but if your players don't execute at all, it doesn't matter.

With no Treadwell or Harney, and our two bigs picking up 5 quick fouls in the first few minutes of the game, I feel Dambrot coached one of his best games of his career to be honest. It was just basketball instinct/decision-making down the stretch that hurt us...Even with the amount of shots and layups we missed. At full strength and/or an average shooting day, we win this game by 20...

It will get better...People may laugh at me at the moment, but I believe if this team develops like they should, we'll be right in the middle of March Madness...

[OZoner]

That being said, the clock management and late-game play-calling is horrendous. Dambrot can't do X's and O's in crunch time...period. There's no more debate necessary on the subject as he's consistently proven that he can't draw up a play after a timeout. I think it's about time he finds somebody who can.

Exactly! Akron consistently finds a way to score or at least get an open shot at crunch time in Cleveland every year because Dambrot doesn't know what he's doing! Wait...