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ZachTheZip

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Time to move on. We're only half way through the MAC schedule, and the second half will be more difficult.

CMU is improved compared to last season, but they still have their struggles. They appear to let their opponents dictate the style of play. CMU is a one-man show with senior shooting guard Kyle Randall.

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Time to move on. We're only half way through the MAC schedule, and the second half will be more difficult.

CMU is improved compared to last season, but they still have their struggles. They appear to let their opponents dictate the style of play. CMU is a one-man show with senior shooting guard Kyle Randall.

Don't think the second half is more difficult, unless you are referring to the fact that we play at Buffalo and OU, but the combined record of every team except OU is 20-35 in the MAC. If we can't run the table on all of these games except possibly OU, we don't deserve those ranking points. The MAC is bad this year, the Zips cannot afford a slip up against anyone if there is still any prayer of an at large. We'll see a little bit of this teams mindset against an overmatched opponent at home. The Zips should demolish CMU. Should be lots of playing time for Jonas, Luke and co.

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The Zips biggest challenge at this point is keeping egos in check. Can't afford to get caught sleeping. We still need to work on putting together a complete 40-minute game.

Exactly. Treat every game the same because no one can be overlooked. Let down games have always been a trend of the Zips...

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We're going to learn a lot about this team's maturity tomorrow night. How you handle success often tells a lot more about you than how you handle failure. If this team can continue to stay humble after a big win over OU and a lot of local and even some national attention then the Chippewas don't have a chance. If this team is patting themselves on the back and buying into the press clippings this one could be a nailbiter.

As far as CMU goes my biggest concern is containing Randall who is a crafty little score-first point guard. Those types of players have given the Zips trouble at times in the past. Central has no size to speak of, so as usual the Zips should have the advantage down low. Zeke and Tree ought to have a field day on the glass as nobody on their team averages more than 5 boards per game. They are going to rely a lot on the 3 ball to try and stay in the game (nearly 1/2 of their FGA this season come from the 3 line). I actually wouldn't be completely surprised to see a little of the 1-3-1 extended zone that we saw vs Buffalo. On the flip side I REALLY hope Bo Borowski isn't calling this game. CMU is a pretty good FT shooting team led by Randall (86% on 6 FT's per game). If this thing turns into a FT shooting contest the Zips could be in trouble.

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Exactly. Treat every game the same because no one can be overlooked. Let down games have always been a trend of the Zips...

No kidding - I remember a game from 2008, in the JAR, against an absolutely terrible NIU team who came in and ended up beating the Zips by 10 handing us our first home loss of the year in mid-February. Ever since then I'm always nervous about the "terrible road team" coming into Akron and putting together their best game of the year.

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George Thomas on tonight's CMU game.

I love Coach D's wisdom:

Point guard Alex Abreu, who had a huge game in Saturday’s win over Ohio in what can be viewed as a statement win to take control of the Mid-American Conference, said after the game that the team deserved more recognition outside the region.

Dambrot has little problem with what Abreu said, with a proviso.

“You can’t make the statements you made in the newspaper unless you practice as hard as you can,” he said. “You can say those things if you believe them, but you have to follow through.”

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Was just on CMU's message board and there is absolutely NOTHING about tonight's game there. Not sure how to take all of the silence from the CMU fans!

#Hi...I'm a troller :wave:

CMU Message Board

Technically you're only a lurker (as am I and a number of other ZN.O members), you'd only be a troll if you started posting inflammatory comments. :)

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No kidding - I remember a game from 2008, in the JAR, against an absolutely terrible NIU team who came in and ended up beating the Zips by 10 handing us our first home loss of the year in mid-February. Ever since then I'm always nervous about the "terrible road team" coming into Akron and putting together their best game of the year.

Sure would be embarrassing to lose after all the optimism surrounding the program.

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For me tonight needs to be a blowout. A close win is a loss from a "respect" standpoint.

You have people throwing you a couple of votes now, so now they're really looking to see how you did. Beat CMU by 5 and they may decide to throw that bone somewhere else. Beat CMU by 30 and they probably feel justified in having you there and start to think a little more seriously about you.

Our foot is in the door--we need to storm across the threshold before it gets slammed.

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I watch a lot of Pitt basketball as well. They had their signature win over Cuse saturday. I went and saw them play Seton Hall last night, and it had all the makings of a trap game, just as this CMU has just as much potential for a trap game as well. Let's hope our Zips aren't letting this publicity go to their heads and come out and stomp a bad team.

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Every team in the MAC was already saving its best game for Akron. Upsetting the Zips this season is good for MAC bragging rights. Things became a little more intense when UA took over the nation's longest active winning streak. Upsetting the Zips now is not just good for MAC bragging rights, but for getting recognition in the national media for being the team to end the nation's longest active winning streak. As much fun as playing basketball can be, the Zips need to be deadly serious about demolishing every underdog team that will be deadly serious about trying to embarrass UA with an upset end to the winning streak. There are no more easy games this season.

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For me tonight needs to be a blowout. A close win is a loss from a "respect" standpoint.
I agree. I'll be impressed if our top four players average 30 minutes like they did against OU.

If they don't, I can see us winning by 5, if they do...blowout. Please start the game fast tonight Zips.

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I noticed this statement on the GoZips.com preview about KD's coaching history: He is 9-1 vs. Central Michigan, with all ten meetings coming at Akron.

Is that true -- we've never played in Mt Pleasant under Keith? Hard to imagine, AND I seem to recall his getting a lot of flack from CMU people over what happened to him up there before one game.

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