Coppin State

[ZachTheZip]

Not much to say about this one, except that the Zips should win. The same formula we've applied in the past several games should work. Just feed the ball inside.

[skip-zip]

I see a team like this on the schedule, and I have flashbacks to Bethune Cookman taking us to Overtime during a holiday contest 2 years ago. I never want to see that happen again with a MEAC team.

Zips by 18

[akronzips71]

I see a team like this on the schedule, and I have flashbacks to Bethune Cookman taking us to Overtime during a holiday contest 2 years ago. I never want to see that happen again with a MEAC team.

Zips by 18

The players need to understand that this is the last tune up before MAC play and they need to take it seriously.

But as I stated earlier, this may be a losing team, but they have lost at least four times to top 100 teams, including #19, so don't take them too lightly. WE could lose to those same teams.

[Dave in Green]

Pomeroy ranks Coppin State about halfway between Texas Southern and UAPB. The Zips beat Texas Southern by 25 and UAPB by 30, so halfway between that would be a 27- or 28-point victory margin. But I agree that the Zips have to take this game seriously. It's the last tuneup before the MAC opener next Wednesday against WMU, and Pomeroy currently ranks the Broncos as the fifth best team in the MAC behind the Zips, OU, Can't and Buffalo. The Zips need to play Coppin State as hard as they plan to play WMU and other MAC teams.

[zippy_ua_00]

The players need to understand that this is the last tune up before MAC play and they need to take it seriously.

But as I stated earlier, this may be a losing team, but they have lost at least four times to top 100 teams, including #19, so don't take them too lightly. WE could lose to those same teams.

Ok so they lost to top 100 teams. We're any close losses? Just because they lose to top 100 teams doesn't mean they are by all means remotely any good. Lots of bad teams lose to top 100 teams. They are scheduled to put wins or fill in their open slots. Very rarely are they used for good competition. So they've played 4 top 100 teams and lost. What about all the lower ranked teams that they managed to get 1 win from. They have one win for a reason.

[LZIp]

who?

I'll be there, but you cant fault people for not wanting to come watch the Zips beat up on yet another team nobody has ever heard of

[Z.I.P.]

who?

I'll be there, but you cant fault people for not wanting to come watch the Zips beat up on yet another team nobody has ever heard of

All I can say to that is anyone who hasn't heard of Fang Mitchell is NOT a college basketball fan. He may be the most iconic character in the game.

[Quickzips]

Foul him on the way to the rim? Harney Badger don't care.

Show him zone? Harney Badger just don't care!

[Zipgrad1990]

I see we still can't hit the 3. We started something like 0-9 and now are about 2-13.

[akronzips71]

I eat my words, they are a cupcake. Lucky for us, that start was just awful.

If we start like that against any team in the MAC we will be blown out before the half.

[Quickzips]

I eat my words, they are a cupcake. Lucky for us, that start was just awful.

If we start like that against any team in the MAC we will be blown out before the half.

Have you seen the rest of the MAC?

[ZachTheZip]

Zeke, Harney, and Kretzer all get double-doubles tonight.

Glad to see Walsh and Kretzer hitting their threes again. The rest of the team needs to stop jacking up shots, especially Chauncey.

Still waiting for our wing players to realize that they have the size and athleticism to penetrate to the hoop. Especially Kretzer and Chauncey. They're too big to only be outside shooters.

[MDZip]

Pomeroy ranks Coppin State about halfway between Texas Southern and UAPB. The Zips beat Texas Southern by 25 and UAPB by 30, so halfway between that would be a 27- or 28-point victory margin. But I agree that the Zips have to take this game seriously. It's the last tuneup before the MAC opener next Wednesday against WMU, and Pomeroy currently ranks the Broncos as the fifth best team in the MAC behind the Zips, OU, Can't and Buffalo. The Zips need to play Coppin State as hard as they plan to play WMU and other MAC teams.

Nice job Dave. See, who says you can't do anything with statistical analysis?

[Zipgrad1990]

Zeke, Harney, and Kretzer all get double-doubles tonight.

Glad to see Walsh and Kretzer hitting their threes again. The rest of the team needs to stop jacking up shots, especially Chauncey.

Still waiting for our wing players to realize that they have the size and athleticism to penetrate to the hoop. Especially Kretzer and Chauncey. They're too big to only be outside shooters.

Chauncey does seem to be in a shooting slump, especially from 3 where I have not seen him make a shot in the last few games I have watched. He should do more penetration to the hoop for a while as that always seems to help get a shooter's mind back so he will again able to hit the three. But as a team with our size I still think we jack up way too many 3's. The team needs to concentrate on the inside game and only shoot 3's when a big passes it back out and the player is WIDE open. Even then a better option is to pass it back in to try to get the higher percentage 2.

[Hilltopper]

Nice job Dave. See, who says you can't do anything with statistical analysis?

Please, his head is big enough already!

[Dave in Green]

I can't take credit for hitting the winning margin because my highly sophisticated calculation didn't include the fact that Coppin State would be playing without its best player, leading scorer and rebounder, Michael Murray. Before tonight Murray had been averaging more than 34 minutes per game. I can find no explanation why he didn't play a minute tonight. But it's likely that the margin would have been smaller than 28 had Murray played.

In any case, this was another ugly game in the sense that teams like Coppin State, Texas Southern and APBU are loaded with quick, athletic players who play swarming defense but are not very big or highly skilled. The Zips won all three of these games by an average of about 28 points, which is roughly the same margin that teams that are higher ranked than the Zips beat these three teams. There were some embarrassing moments as the Eagles stole the ball and forced many turnovers. But they also did the same to teams ranked higher than the Zips. They were so quick that if the Zips got a little lazy or careless with a pass, they lost the ball.

While painful to watch, the good thing about these kind of games is that it helps prepare the Zips for their biggest MAC threat, OU. The Bobkitties play a similar style of swarming defense with lots of quick little guards making lots of steals and creating lots of turnovers. While OU has much more skilled players with higher percentage shooting, the Zips now all have at least some experience dealing with that style of play. This will be especially helpful for the Zips four freshmen, who have never faced OU.

Worst team stat of the night: Tie between 9-33 3-pointers (Walsh was a great 4-6, Kretzer a decent 2-5 and everyone else was shooting with their eyes closed) and 14-25 free throws.

Best team stat of the night: 60 rebounds (the Zips had a total of 61 rebounds in their last two games combined).

Best individual stat of the night: Three double-doubles in one game by Harney (14 points + 11 rebounds), Zeke (13 + 12) and the amazing true freshman Kretzer (14 + 12).

[Zips Win!]

Enough already with the Ibitayo experiment.

Please!

He should be sitting with the fans!

[Dave in Green]

If every player in college basketball stopped shooting 3s when they started missing, no one in college basketball would be shooting 3s. In the three games prior to tonight's game, Brian Walsh hit only 1-6 of his 3-point attempts. Should he have stopped shooting 3s for tonight's game? No, he hit 4-6 tonight. Shooters have to shoot their way out of shooting slumps. The Zips were getting open looks from outside tonight and most of them just weren't knocking them down. It happens.

[Dave in Green]

@Zips Win!, who would you play at backup point guard? Last season's option (Q) is gone from the team. True freshman Melo is taking time to get up to speed. No one else on the team has shown the ability to be a consistently effective backup PG. Nyles Evans doesn't arrive until next season. Deji still has a lot to learn. But he's the best option at the moment.

[LZIp]

@Zips Win!, who would you play at backup point guard? Last season's option (Q) is gone from the team. True freshman Melo is taking time to get up to speed. No one else on the team has shown the ability to be a consistently effective backup PG. Nyles Evans doesn't arrive until next season. Deji still has a lot to learn. But he's the best option at the moment.

Agreed, especially at our weakest position!

Seriously was Coppin State even D1? Not serious, I know they are D 1, but I think I have played against better players at the Rec.

Definitely could have been a better game by us. I think the team needs to get it to these 4 guys: Harney, Zeke, Tree, and Forsythe. Establish them first every game, they are our best overall players. Our shooters then need to build off of that, and there were some good looks later in the game when players were looking opposite after Coppin was packing the paint.

PG play is my biggest concern going into MAC play. Melo and AA each went scoreless tonight, as well as getting beat off the dribble and having the 5'5" 150lb PG shoot 3s in their face all night. You absolutely have to have Ibatayo as the backup right now. He has too much athleticism to not play him.

[Zipmeister]

As our last OOC opponent hops out of town it occurs to me that if we can add a few more Coppin State-like teams to our home schedule for next year the strength of our pre-conference schedule will be as tough as the Columbus Buckeyes.

[LZIp]

As our last OOC opponent hops out of town it occurs to me that if we can add a few more Coppin State-like teams to our home schedule for next year the strength of our pre-conference schedule will be as tough as the Columbus Buckeyes.

Right, because we have clearly played Duke and Kansas caliber teams. The "Columbus Buckeyes" also have the benefit of not playing in a one bid league where their whole season isnt hinged on a few games.

[RootforRoo44]

Enough already with the Ibitayo experiment.

Please!

He should be sitting with the fans!

I like Deji. He fills a good role defensively. He's long, gets good position on his man, and isn't afraid to box his man out. We need more play like that.

[RootforRoo44]

Right, because we have clearly played Duke and Kansas caliber teams. The "Columbus Buckeyes" also have the benefit of not playing in a one bid league where their whole season isnt hinged on a few games.

I think he was talking about the Columbus State FOOTBALL team.

[wadszip]

I can't take credit for hitting the winning margin because my highly sophisticated calculation didn't include the fact that Coppin State would be playing without its best player, leading scorer and rebounder, Michael Murray. Before tonight Murray had been averaging more than 34 minutes per game. I can find no explanation why he didn't play a minute tonight. But it's likely that the margin would have been smaller than 28 had Murray played.

In any case, this was another ugly game in the sense that teams like Coppin State, Texas Southern and APBU are loaded with quick, athletic players who play swarming defense but are not very big or highly skilled. The Zips won all three of these games by an average of about 28 points, which is roughly the same margin that teams that are higher ranked than the Zips beat these three teams. There were some embarrassing moments as the Eagles stole the ball and forced many turnovers. But they also did the same to teams ranked higher than the Zips. They were so quick that if the Zips got a little lazy or careless with a pass, they lost the ball.

While painful to watch, the good thing about these kind of games is that it helps prepare the Zips for their biggest MAC threat, OU. The Bobkitties play a similar style of swarming defense with lots of quick little guards making lots of steals and creating lots of turnovers. While OU has much more skilled players with higher percentage shooting, the Zips now all have at least some experience dealing with that style of play. This will be especially helpful for the Zips four freshmen, who have never faced OU.

Worst team stat of the night: Tie between 9-33 3-pointers (Walsh was a great 4-6, Kretzer a decent 2-5 and everyone else was shooting with their eyes closed) and 14-25 free throws.

Best team stat of the night: 60 rebounds (the Zips had a total of 61 rebounds in their last two games combined).

Best individual stat of the night: Three double-doubles in one game by Harney (14 points + 11 rebounds), Zeke (13 + 12) and the amazing true freshman Kretzer (14 + 12).

The 3-point shooting was way worse than the foul shooting (though I guess you can say after the 0-10 start there, they did hit 9 of their next 23). The foul shooting really wasn't that bad when you consider Tree (a 50 percent shooter) was right on his average (5-10), then a walk-on missed all 4 of his in the final minute. The rest of the team was 9-11, and of those 11, Deji and Harney went 7-8 (two guys who haven't exactly been money from the line so far this year.) As fans, we're just going to have to live with 50 percent from Tree this year (as with the rest of his game, though, this is something that should improve as time goes on), and since he alone attempted 40 percent of the team's total, it really wasn't that bad. If it was 14-25 and say it was Alex, Zeke and Walsh shooting them, then I would be concerned.

With that said, the 3-point shooting is becoming a real concern. If the wings aren't knocking down shots, this team is going to see teams sag down in a 2-3 zone (which Coppin State played a ton of tonight ... hence the 23 attempts). Most of the looks were wide open, a good team knocks down at least 40 percent of those (and Walsh and Kretzer did do that, so I'm mainly pointing the finger at McAdams and Gilliam here). But since those two guys are in the rotation, they are going to have to start hitting those shots if this team wants to reach its full potential.

This was a game where you put the current front line out there along with some of the undersized shooters we've had in the past (Dials, Roberts, McNees, Middleton, etc.) and it would've been a 40-plus point blowout. Those guys, while hampered overall due to size, would knock down open looks. Overall, while I still like what our current bigger wings can do, they have to start hitting the 3s (especially the wide-open ones) at a more consistent basis, and that still goes for Walsh, too. If not, this team will be vulnerable to the zone (got away with it tonight just because Coppin State wasn't any good). The wings have to help out what is truly becoming a high-major front line with they way Zeke, Forsythe, Tree and Harney have all been playing.

P.S. Dave, I'll end with this, and not like it really matters, the Zips were winning this game going away regardless of who did or didn't play on Coppin State's roster. But who knows what Murray would've done (just from looking at his numbers, he appears to be a Tree-like player, only 2 inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter (but with a little more range). Not sure how much he would've helped, especially since that may have meant the Franklin kid (a 30 percent 3-point shooter on the year) wasn't launching 11 and knocking down 6 of them.

Like I said, who knows, I'm just glad the Zips have handled business against the teams they should've beat with ease (Pine Bluff, CSU (without Grady, this CSU team is horrible), Texas Southern and Coppin State) and controlled almost the entire game against a solid Princeton team. There is work to be done, but the Zips seem to be in a lot better shape entering MAC play than they were a year ago, with a better roster to boot.