MDZip Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 All right, I think we gave it enough time to enjoy the BGSU win. On to the big game. Zips 68 Bobkitties 64. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba4three Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 All right, I think we gave it enough time to enjoy the BGSU win. On to the big game. Zips 68 Bobkitties 64. Ohio-74 Akron-73 Sellout crowd including many wearing green. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Ohio-74 Akron-73 Sellout crowd including many wearing green. Actually, three giant games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Actually, three giant games. Three? The OU/Akron game is one..."The Game Within the Game: akronzips71 vs. The Live Stream" is two...I give up. What's the 3rd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Three? The OU/Akron game is one..."The Game Within the Game: akronzips71 vs. The Live Stream" is two...I give up. What's the 3rd? OU at home OU away OU at Cleveland in the MAC finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeaglet1 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 OU at Cleveland in the MAC finals. If this plays out, it should be one of the best attended games in Cleveland I would think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeaglet1 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Three? The OU/Akron game is one..."The Game Within the Game: akronzips71 vs. The Live Stream" is two...I give up. What's the 3rd? K.e.n.t vs. NIU? Oh wait... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontrealExposloveZippy Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 The JAR may implode on Saturday right around 7pm - sure hope Kansas loses too, it would be a pretty cool accomplishment to own the longest active winning streak in the whole friggin' NCAA (But I shouldn't get ahead of myself) Go Zips!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Good to see that none of the Zips had to play extra long minutes in the BGSU game. They should have plenty of energy and adrenaline left for Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 We beat them at home last year. So, right now I'm at least confident that we can beat them in the JAR, which is a good first step in whittling away at their dominance over us the last few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksu sucks Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 So, right now I'm at least confident Hold on while I jot that down in my personal memoirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadszip Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Might as well get some actual game discussion going. Not that it is any secret, but like I said in another thread a couple of weeks ago, this is going to be a battle of differing strengths ... Akron's size vs. Ohio's guard play. An easy conclusion to draw is that whatever team does better at matching the other's strength is going to win ... IE, if Keely, Baltic, Smith play better than Abreu, Walsh, Chauncey, the Bobcats will be tough to beat. Of course, that is a very simple conclusion to draw. Still, I think that Akron's backcourt has enough talent to hang with OU, they just can't get sloppy with the ball and allow the Bobcats to create turnovers and run-out situations. If they avoid the careless turnovers, they can match OU's backcourt in half-court situations. In the post is where the Zips are going to have a huge advantage. As much as I like Baltic's perimeter game (for a big), he isn't the type that is going to want to bang with somebody like Tree. Same with Keely, while he won't back down against Zeke or Forsythe on the offensive end (and he has great touch around the rim), Zeke and Forsythe's length advantage (no way is Keely 6-9), should disrupt him. Plus, neither Baltic nor Keely are solid rebounders, another big advantage for Akron. In fact, this is a game that Akron should dominate the glass. OU's best rebounder may be Jon Smith, and he's going to be giving up a couple inches to all four of the Zips' "bigs" and even Kretzer, when he is on the floor. Offensively, it will be imperative to establish the low-post early on and see how OU tries to defend it. Regardless of what OU does, Akron has enough all-around talent to exploit OU's defense. Defensively, the biggest thing is not to get caught up in the head games OU likes to play, meaning Alex is going to have to realize that D.J. Cooper is going to make things happen, and not get caught up in Cooper's trash talk. As long as Alex realizes that OU needs Cooper to be the guy for the Bobcats have a chance, and can stay composed and realize that the Zips won't need him to carry the team (though he needs to pull the trigger when he has open opportunities, since he is the best big-situation shooter on the roster), PG is still a battle Akron can win, even if statistics make it appear as a loss. Same with Zeke. While, OU's bigs shouldn't cause him to be taken out of his game, for whatever reason, they have been able to do that in the past. However, Zeke has done a much better job against everybody of picking his spots and staying out of foul trouble this year. That will have to continue. He can't let Keely, Smith or whoever take him out of his game by trying to whatever they can to make that happen. OU's front court is undersized, they have to, and will, resort to anything to try to gain an advantage. If Alex and Zeke play with composure, while the Bobcats still have some advantages on the perimeter, not enough to make up for what they lack inside. I believe OU's recent domination of Akron hasn't been due to having better players, just that they have done a great job winning the mental side of the game. This year, Akron, IMO, has the physical advantage, they just need to also show they can match OU's mental toughness. Do that, and the Zips win. Allow OU to control the mental side, and it's another loss (and then you have to limp down to Athens for another round of it). For all the 16-0 MAC record and being the first mid-major to win a national title talk (granted I'm pointing out Tree here, who I believe is the most mentally tough player on the team, but believe everybody on this roster has those same thoughts), this will be the first test at full strength, playing in a rhythm (no two week or one-week off between games ... ala Creighton and Detroit) for this team to show it has what it takes to back up that line of thought. We'll just have to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyzip84 Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Solid review, wadzip! To take the point about taking care of the ball further, there is one Zip player who has done a Vinny Testeverde impression with 2 or 3 passes each of the last few games. THAT can't happen tomorrow. Honestly, I don't have a good feel for what I expect for a result. I think a lot of people are like that and it's why the matchup is so intriguing. No outcome would really surprise me. I do think if we minimize (no more than 10) turnovers, we'll win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 All right, I think we gave it enough time to enjoy the BGSU win.Not me, I'm almost done enjoying the BG win. That game may go down as the pivotal one of the year IMO. Maybe this afternoon I'll switch gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Zip Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 I understand Dambrodt's love for man-to-man defense but I think it has been part of our problem when playing OU. There big men don't want to play down low so our big man follow them outside which leaves the lane open. I've love to see us try something different tomorrow against OU. I may be the only one but I hate to see Z out guarding Cooper. It drove me nuts in the finals last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 I may be the only one but I hate to see Z out guarding Cooper.I'm guessing your in the majority. I hope to see some zone tomorrow too. I'm dying to see how the staff plans to attack and defend. Hopefully the coaching is as good as it was against BG and KSPU. If that happens and AA plays two good halves, I like our chances. Okay, I guess I switched gears... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdZip Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 I want to see one thing in particular, and I want to see it early. I want to see Cooper picking himself off the floor (slowly) after being knocked down hard when he penetrates the lane. Nothing dirty, just a good hard foul to make him think twice when he does it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Zip Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpsjugglerdude Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 I think the reason Zeke has struggled vs OU in the past is that as soon as he touches the ball there were 2 and sometimes 3 players that swarmed him and gotten easy turnovers. If the Bobcats continue to do this we need to make adjustments, unlike previous years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MACPicks Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Great analysis Wad...I especially liked your mention of the mental aspect. Abreu and Marshall have no doubt been affected mentally in this rivalry. I think you have to give the advantage to the home team in both matchups, and we'll see what happens in Cleveland. It is a shame both teams struggled a bit on the road in OOC or we'd have 2 teams already in great position for an at-large. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 @TPSjugglerdude, one of the many areas where Zeke has improved this season is learning how to cope with a swarm of players collapsing on him when he gets the ball inside. Zeke has learned to avoid holding on to the ball or trying to dribble under these conditions, where it used to get frequently poked away, and has been quicker to either shoot or pass back out to an open man. The result is that his turnover rate has improved 25% from 1.6 per game last season to a current 1.2 per game. By comparison, highly rated centers Jeff Withey of Kansas and Cody Zeller of Indiana are averaging 1.7 and 1.8 turnovers per game respectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadszip Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 @TPSjugglerdude, one of the many areas where Zeke has improved this season is learning how to cope with a swarm of players collapsing on him when he gets the ball inside. Zeke has learned to avoid holding on to the ball or trying to dribble under these conditions, where it used to get frequently poked away, and has been quicker to either shoot or pass back out to an open man. The result is that his turnover rate has improved 25% from 1.6 per game last season to a current 1.2 per game. By comparison, highly rated centers Jeff Withey of Kansas and Cody Zeller of Indiana are averaging 1.7 and 1.8 turnovers per game respectively. Dave is spot-on with that. Zeke is night and day better at reading and reacting to how he is defended. That's also an aspect that Tree has also be good at. However, I could see Pat struggling against OU's swarming defense. He tends to put the ball on the floor too quickly and start making post moves. He'll have to show some patience against OU. All three are going to have to pick their spots on when to put the ball down in the low-block vs. kicking out to the perimeter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadszip Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Great analysis Wad...I especially liked your mention of the mental aspect. Abreu and Marshall have no doubt been affected mentally in this rivalry. I think you have to give the advantage to the home team in both matchups, and we'll see what happens in Cleveland. It is a shame both teams struggled a bit on the road in OOC or we'd have 2 teams already in great position for an at-large. Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 from 1.6 per game last season to a current 1.2 per game Point four should be the difference in this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 We open as four point favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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