Princeton Game Thread

[Dave in Green]

No one will be able to complain that the Zips are picking on a small team in this game. Princeton's top 9 players in minutes played measure 6-11, 6-10, 6-9, 6-8, 6-8, 6-7, 6-5, 6-3 and 6-2. They also have a 7-1 player and another pair of 6-11 players on the roster who haven't played. After starting the season with a 57-54 win over Buffalo, the Tigers lost 6 of their next 8, with 1 of the 2 wins over Can't, 62-50. So they're currently 2-0 against the MAC. They're on a 2-game winning streak, with the last win being their best of the season -- 79-67 over #32 RPI Bucknell. But Bucknell's 1 loss prior to that was to Penn State in PSU's first game after their star player, Tim Frazier, had his season-ending injury playing against the Zips in PR.

The Zips are a more talented team than Princeton, and will be playing at home. But there will be times when Princeton will have a taller lineup on the court. Zeke, Tree, Pat and Nick will be challenged. Obviously, Princeton plays the Princeton offense, which the Zips weren't able to overcome in last season's NIT game against Northwestern. Scouting reports say that the Tigers sometimes struggle against the press, so don't be surprised to see the Zips turn up the heat a little. If the Zips have another fast start in this game and don't back off, they should be able to send Princeton back to the Ivy League with another loss.

[wadszip]

No one will be able to complain that the Zips are picking on a small team in this game. Princeton's top 9 players in minutes played measure 6-11, 6-10, 6-9, 6-8, 6-8, 6-7, 6-5, 6-3 and 6-2. They also have a 7-1 player and another pair of 6-11 players on the roster who haven't played. After starting the season with a 57-54 win over Buffalo, the Tigers lost 6 of their next 8, with 1 of the 2 wins over Can't, 62-50. So they're currently 2-0 against the MAC. They're on a 2-game winning streak, with the last win being their best of the season -- 79-67 over #32 RPI Bucknell. But Bucknell's 1 loss prior to that was to Penn State in PSU's first game after their star player, Tim Frazier, had his season-ending injury playing against the Zips in PR.

The Zips are a more talented team than Princeton, and will be playing at home. But there will be times when Princeton will have a taller lineup on the court. Zeke, Tree, Pat and Nick will be challenged. Obviously, Princeton plays the Princeton offense, which the Zips weren't able to overcome in last season's NIT game against Northwestern. Scouting reports say that the Tigers sometimes struggle against the press, so don't be surprised to see the Zips turn up the heat a little. If the Zips have another fast start in this game and don't back off, they should be able to send Princeton back to the Ivy League with another loss.

Good breakdown. This won't be a a cupcake like the last three teams (and yes, Cleveland State at this point is a cupcake), but the Zips should win. Without seeing Princeton, I'm guessing they are a team that tries to use their size as their biggest advantage, which is something they won't have tomorrow. The only size mismatch will be at PG, where Alex will be guarding a player five inches taller. Since Alex plays like he is 6-3, I'm not concerned with that.

Also, it's interesting that this game was picked up after the Marshall return game fell through. Well, Princeton is ranked higher than Marshall in both the Pomeroy rankings (88-167) and RPI (163-217).

[ZachTheZip]

Princeton struggles against full-court pressure, and despite their size they are utterly horrid at rebounding.

[Dr Z]

Akron is an EIGHT point favorite.

[RowdyZip]

Interestingly enough, the line opened at 9.5 and most are around 7.5 right now. Could this be the Zips biggest challenge on my predicted string of double digit victories?

[ZippyRulz]

Why the early start time on a Sunday? Wouldn't 10 p.m. have been better?

[akzipper]

Why the early start time on a Sunday? Wouldn't 10 p.m. have been better?

At least people can't use the Browns as an excuse to miss this game.

[Dave in Green]

..... Also, it's interesting that this game was picked up after the Marshall return game fell through. Well, Princeton is ranked higher than Marshall in both the Pomeroy rankings (88-167) and RPI (163-217).

Who'd have thought that playing Princeton this season would be better for the Zips' SOS than playing Marshall?

The Tiger to watch is Ian Hummer. He's a 6-7, 230 lb power forward who leads Princeton in scoring, rebounding and assists -- pretty unusual for a power forward. NBA DraftExpress rates Hummer as the #71 best senior player in the country, which means he's probably just outside of the NBA draft. By comparison, DraftExpress ranks Zeke #32 and D.J. Cooper #78 among all seniors. So while Hummer is not quite a Doug McDermott, he will present a challenge for the Zips. I'd expect that Tree, Nick and Jake will all spend time guarding Hummer tonight. With all the assists Hummer gets, the Zips (especially Zeke) will have to be careful about double-teaming him when he takes it inside, as he appears to be really good at finding the open man.

[ZippyRulz]

good video feed, in sync with steve & joe's audio

[ZippyRulz]

tree is becoming the go-to guy we've been looking for

[phil]

One more time, Alex has the ball for the last shot in the half or game and dribbles and dribbles and dribbles and takes a terrible shot. When are we going to figure this out!!!

[akzipper]

Zips need to step up the defense now! We are playing okay on offense, but need to make stops.

[akronzips71]

Rebounding please.

[ZippyRulz]

tigers are graceful, they make a lot of amazing running shots

[zipinnc]

good video feed, in sync with steve & joe's audio

What video feed are you watching? MAC sports is choppin' broccoli.

[akzipper]

Well this is a surprise, do not expect to lose this game...

[ZippyRulz]

What video feed are you watching? MAC sports is choppin' broccoli.

the mac-sports video was good for me but the audio was weak and humming a lot

[phil]

great foul shooting by Alex and Zeke won this game. Way to pull out a close game!!

[gozips19]

Have not seen a stretch were Zeke has done such a good job getting position in the paint. He's bending to get low and ceiling off his defender. Looks like the light may be coming on for him on offense. Like the fact that Harney got the start although he still gets lost off the ball on D. We need something from the 2 spot moving forward to become special. If you would have told me Akron only hits two three's for the game I'd tell you they lose by 8. A tough tough win against a gritty, well coached team. Akron is set up to go on a big time winning streak.

[akronzips71]

the mac-sports video was good for me but the audio was weak and humming a lot

The first half the audio was OK, the second half I got the hum. And it was almost in synch with the internet radio feed, which was clean.

[akronzips71]

Have not seen a stretch were Zeke has done such a good job getting position in the paint. He's bending to get low and ceiling off his defender. Looks like the light may be coming on for him on offense. Like the fact that Harney got the start although he still gets lost off the ball on D. We need something from the 2 spot moving forward to become special. If you would have told me Akron only hits two three's for the game I'd tell you they lose by 8. A tough tough win against a gritty, well coached team. Akron is set up to go on a big time winning streak.

Our loss will the the NBA's gain.

The way he is playing right now he is on the way.

For the more or less first time in a Zips uniform, he looks coordinated. He moves to the basket and shoots with authority. THIS is the Zeke we have been waiting to see.

If he did not get into foul trouble and plays 30 minutes, this is a blowout (no offense to Pat F., he is the up and coming Zeke).

[Dave in Green]

That was one intense game. The crowd was bigger than I expected, and they made a lot of noise. Hummer looked as good as advertised early. But the Zips tightened up the D on him, and he ended up hitting only 5-13 from the field. It was a little frustrating at times to see the Tigers slicing into the paint and getting all those easy layups. Zeke had them a little intimidated until his favorite referee decided to take him out of the game with a series of pissy little foul calls. It's been quite awhile since I've seen a ref treat Zeke like they did in his freshman season. It was never more evident how important Pat Forsythe is to this team than it was tonight. Without Pat to fill in for Zeke, the Zips would have been in big trouble. You could see Pat getting a little winded from playing more minutes than he's used to. But he played good D with a couple of blocks, and hit 4-5 of his shots. Zeke was 7-7, so the center position produced 11-12 from the field.

I believe that Zeke and Pat are benefitting greatly from going at each other in practice. Zeke appears to be picking up some of Pat's offensive moves, and Pat seems to be picking up some of Zeke's defensive intensity. Come tournament time, they're going to be an awesome pair of centers for any opponent to go up against. Needless to say, the inbound pass to Zeke with 1 second on the shot clock and the long-range hook was a thing of beauty, and the crowd response was deafening. Zeke's scoring average is up over 13 points per game and climbing. He's doing a great job of increasing his NBA draft value. As a team, the Zips were way off on 3s (2-13), but the inside game continues to be their strong point, as they hit 24-36 2s. I can't wait for the next game, even though it's against lowly Coppin State. Still some fine-tuning to do before taking on the MAC.

[Quickzips]

First game I've had an opportunity to make it too all year and it was a good one.

I'll be honest, I can't remember the last time I've seen the Zips get so little from their wing players and still win the game. Chauncey, Walsh, Deji, McAdams and Kretzer were absolutely invisible out there today. I don't know if it was Princeton's size or what was going on, but to see that kind of a display from our wings was a bit concerning.

As poor as we were on the wings we were every bit as good if not better in the post. Harney, Tree, Zeke and Pat are a tough load for almost anyone to handle right now. Dave already said it, but it bears repeating. The Zips are an entirely different animal this year with Pat F. in the rotation. Teams can't rely on foul trouble from Zeke to open things up for them inside anymore. Pat was a huge factor in the win tonight.

Speaking of Zeke, I feel like I am FINALLY watching the light come on for the big fella. I said it at the beginning of the season. Zeke will have finally arrived when he can start consistently turning a majority of those free throw opportunities into and-ones against quality opponents. He did so tonight. Not only that, but for the first time in his Zips career I felt like the foul trouble didn't have a negative impact on his mental performance. Two years ago, with four fouls there is no way Zeke would have been able to get his head back in the game enough to make that 16 foot jump hook with one second on the shot clock. Tonight he swished it without so much as moving the net.

Abreu is still the straw that stirs the drink for this team. Tonight was probably one of the best all around defensive performances I've seen him turn in to this point. Particularly when you consider that everyone Princeton threw out on the court was a good 4-5 inches taller than him. He seems to really be benefiting from the full court pressure defense that the Zips are running this year. What was most impressive was his ability to step up to the free throw line late in the game when we really needed him and can two crucial ones. He hasn't always been able to do that in his career here. Tonight he called for the ball, got it, and calmly sank them both.

I have some concerns with Harney's conditioning. Nick was completely gassed out there down the stretch. You could sense that KD really wanted to use him more late in the game, but he just had nothing left.

Anyone know what happened to Melo in the second half? He was noticeably absent with Deji playing the backup PG minutes. Did he suffer an injury or was it just a matter of needing more size against a very big Princeton backcourt?

Finally, a note on the atmosphere which I thought was well above average for an OOC game over the holidays. The only complaint I have is with the Rowdies. I know it is Winter break, and that always bodes poorly for student turnout, but even the ones that were there were pathetic. Sitting on their hands at various times throughout the game and generally only getting into the action if there was a free throw attempt by Princeton or the jumbotron was on them during a timeout. As a former member myself, I must say it was pretty embarrasing.

[Valpo Zip]

This team has traditionally been: Live by the three and die by the three. Today, the three couldn't kill the zips.

It is great to see a team that can win on a night when the three is not falling.

Zeke, Pat, and Tree all had a great overall game. Harney had a great "offensive" game.

However, as far as Xs and Os, It still worries me that, in crunch time, when we need a basket, we rarely can get one.

[Dave in Green]

@Quickzips. I'll try to answer a few of your questions from my perspective. First, the wings appeared to be closely covered most of the night. When they shot 3s, they mostly missed. The inside game with the Zips bigs was working well, so they went with it. Makes sense. This is now a multi-dimensional team that adjusts to what the defense is giving. The wings will be effective in other games. Also note that Walsh played short minutes due to a minor but painful injury that has kept him from practicing with the team. That may have thrown the team balance off a bit. He should be back to full strength shortly.

As for Harney's conditioning, the full-court pressure defense is stressing everyone. No more easy trots back up the court from the offensive end to the defensive end. They're playing hard all the time, and they were really working hard tonight to cover all the motion of the Princeton offense. That's why there's so much more subbing going on. Some of the players are handling it better than others. But by the end of the season they should all be more used to it.

Deji has been playing more backup point since the Arkansas-Pine Bluff game, when Melo had 5 turnovers in just 6 minutes. Melo is still adjusting to the speed of the college game, whereas Deji learned his lessons last season. Melo looked better tonight in the 3 minutes he played because the Princeton players weren't as quick. But I think it's going to take some time before Melo is comfortable playing against teams with quicker guards.