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Akron vs Ball State


zippy_ua_00

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Top Ten Reasons Akron will defeat Ball State tonight.

1. Majok Majok will be late not knowing which way his uniform goes.

2. Ball State will discover they are still a West Division team.

3. Zips won't get caught looking ahead to Can't State, because they are planning on pounding them this year.

4. Over their last 7 games Ball State has gone WWLLWWL and won't want to mess up the pattern.

5. They haven't won a game in the state of Ohio in over a year (this is actually true).

6. Zeke will block more shots accidentally than the Cardinals will on purpose (Zeke 51 for the year, Cardinals 35).

7. Jonas Stalyga and Luke Avsec will enter the game at the end of the first half.

8. Ball State will not have worked on devising a strategy to defeat a Tree.

9. Double doubles have become the new standard by which "good" games are judged.

10. Zips are better - Zips by 14 - in deference to the Zipmeister.

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This one really shouldn't be that close. The Zips are a better team in almost every facet of the game.

Ball State is ranked below 250 in the nation in almost every major offensive category including points per game (282nd), field goal % (271st) and assists per game (262nd).

They don't have the size to compete with our frontcourt (nobody in the MAC does). Majok is a pretty good player at 6'9", but outside of that they have no size on their roster. Fields at 6'10" only sees 18 minutes per night. Matt Kamieniecki at 6'8" only 15 minutes per night.

The only place where the Zips have shown a little vulnerability (defending the 3) is not a strength for the Cardinals in any way. Their best 3 point shooters only shoot 32% on the season. As a team they are barely over 30%.

The Cardinals also don't do a particularly good job taking care of the ball. They average 15 turnovers per night. Jesse Berry averages 3 per night. Scaife and Majok both average better than 2 per night. Combine this with not having anyone who can really reliably create shots for a teamate (Marcus Posley leads them in assists at 2.9 per night) and Ball State is in trouble.

The only thing to watch out for is Majok getting them second chance points. Dude is a beast on the glass (averaging a double double). He gets better than 3.5 offensive boards per game. As long as Tree, Zeke and Pat F. box out this should be a 15-20 point Zips win (at least).

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Uh, I guess there is one other thing for the Zips to fear -- playing one of your worst games of the season when your opponent is playing their best game of the season. Looking for a bright spot, earlier this season we were complaining about the Zips' free throw shooting. Tonight the Zips were outrebounded and outshot from the field, and won the game by going 23-27 from the free throw line. Every team has off games like this, but the best teams find ways to win. Ball State came in with an effective game plan and executed it about as well as they're capable of executing, and the Zips found a way to win. With this little stinker out of the way, it's time for the Zips to bounce back with a dominating performance against Can't.

It was nice seeing Chauncey in the warmup with a bounce in his step. It was obvious from his brief minutes in the game that he could move quicker and elevate higher than when he was struggling with his knee problem. The Zips are going to need him to be back at full strength for the OU game.

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So Reggie McAdams comes from his break out game at NIU: 6/6 for a perfect 100% FG. He comes in the game for a few minutes, he takes a 3 and hits it, grabs two rebounds and a steal. No turn overs and no missed defensive assignment. What does KD do? let the kid rot on the bench !!! :mad_flame:

Did I miss him getting hurt or something?

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So Reggie McAdams comes from his break out game at NIU: 6/6 for a perfect 100% FG. He comes in the game for a few minutes, he takes a 3 and hits it, grabs two rebounds and a steal. No turn overs and no missed defensive assignment. What does KD do? let the kid rot on the bench !!! :mad_flame:

Did I miss him getting hurt or something?

I was pretty much thinking the same thing. I thought we are supposed to go with the hot hand?

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That was the definition of playing while disinterested. The players just weren't there, mentally.

I feel like this has been the case for the past few games. Very uninspired basketball. Historically though, teams will "look past" games like this. Weak opponent at home when rival Can't is on Saturday. I really hope that is all, and they can play strong next game!

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Only for people who's egos are dependent on how 10 guys in short pants play a game twice a week.

Comical...my ego has nothing to do with 10 guys in short pants who play a game twice a week, but the performance by those guys was pretty poor last night. Glad to see you don't think so -- thanks for your contribution to the conversation. Way to make it about me.

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