BGSU Game

[akzipper]

Did the Zips fans storm the court?!

[bUAkronG]

I think the best part of tonight's game was the fact that the Zips finished the game on a 12-1 run in which they went 10-10 from the FT line. Did Zeke miss from the stripe tonight?

[ZachTheZip]

Did the Zips fans storm the court?!

No.

[Blue & Gold]

I'm amped that the crappy JAR was almost sold out. Again.

Was the crowd into the game? Did they seem to have a good time?

I'm always afraid of Joe Akron turning out & then being bored at the game (which is why I stopped inviting friends to the Charlie Coles-led Miami games).

[phil]

Just came back from the Jar and the crowd was very much into the game. Nobody left until the game was well in hand with about 90 seconds left.

Bentacourt had the best game I have seen him play. Good defense, made his foul shots and was able to penetrate and dish the ball for an assist.

In the first 10 minutes Zeke and Tree had difficulty scoring inside. We could not hit anything outside. Walsh has started faking the 3 and taking 14 footers and making those shots. Kreitzer should watch and learn. He did not score tonight. I was hoping to see Walsh more in the first half since he has been playing so well.

Alex only have 2 points with about 5 minutes left. We always seem to struggle when he does not score. He had a great last 5 minutes and I think ended with 10 points.

Look forward to North Dakota. Go Zips!

[roopride]

Good crowd, and I think the crowd enjoyed it. There wehre not many runs either way so for that stand point the crowd did not have the usual high and lows. seemed thagme was at 8 points most of the time. Would drop to 6 and then push to 11 on ocassion.

GO ZIPS>!!!!

[Quickzips]

Very strange game. Zips were in control pretty much the whole way (they never trailed) but somehow it didn't always feel like it.

French and Dunn mentioned it with KD in the postgame, but it bears repeating. Lost in all of the celebration over the winning streak and the hand-wringing over not blowing teams out is the fact that the Zips are playing some very good defensive basketball. As bad as we were offensively to start the game, that first 8 minutes was as good as I've seen the Zips play defense in a long time. BG just couldn't get anything close to a decent look at the basket. I know we all want to see the Zips putting up 80 a night and blowing teams out, but maybe that just isn't in our makeup right now. Maybe we ARE a grind it out defensive team that can win by holding our opponent in the 50s. Really, as long as we keep winning, does it matter that much?

Very refreshing to see the Zips close out a game at the line. I've been saying all year that the Zips poor free throw shooting would cost us a game eventually. Tonight COULD have been that night, but it wasn't. When we needed them Zeke, Abreu and Walsh stepped to the line and calmly knocked down toss after toss after toss. I sure hope that is a sign of things to come.

There was a time not too long ago that if the Zips only hit 2 threes for a game they would have lost by 17. Tonight they hit 2 threes for the game and won by 17. As much as I'd like to see a few more threes from the Zips, I can't complain about this trend. Give me the higher percentage shots all day.

Speaking of threes, I would kind of like to see Harney take the three ball out of his game for a while. He needs to work on that shot a lot more over the offseason if he wants to be taking them consistently in games. Lucky for us he only tries one or two here and there.

On the subject of Harney, I thought he had a very nice game (bad threes aside) tonight. The Zips seemed to recognize the mismatch he had against Luke Kraus, and went to him frequently. He did a nice job working that advantage. I also thought he played some of his best D since the OU game.

Very nice game for Melo tonight. He still has a lot of holes in his game, but when he's given an opportunity to come in and push tempo he is an above average backup PG. We really need more of that from him, as it looks like Abreu is wearing down a little bit. Alex had a better game tonight than the last two, but he still isn't playing at the level we've all grown accustomed too.

While I'm on the topic of our PGs, 7 turnovers tonight. MUCH better than the 20 we had against EMU.

And just to show that I'm not a complete sore loser, Dave, I was fairly impressed with Holmes tonight. He kept BG in the game at times. Still, the rest of that roster is a mess. When Calhoun and Crawford aren't on (which Crawford at least wasn't tonight, and Calhoun was rather pedestrian) they don't stand much of a chance.

[Dave in Green]

The Zips continue to perform at the level required to beat MAC teams. They do it in different ways, and it isn't always pretty. But it was funny to hear everyone around us complaining about the Zips' poor free throw shooting after they went 1-5 early in the game, and then see them nail their next 18 in a row to seal the win and finish 19-23 from the line. Their 2- and 3-point shooting percentages were awful. But they dominated the boards and in other areas to offset the poor field goal shooting.

This is the way these Zips operate. They keep finding different ways to get the job done with different players taking on different roles, like having the 6-8 Harney guarding a 5-10 PG. Near the end of the game we were discussing how miserable we used to be in past seasons toward the end of games when the Zips would just fall apart. This team is mentally tough at the end of games. They always believe they can do something to win, and they've done it 17 times in a row now. Nothing lasts forever, but this sure is a nice, long ride.

With another 2 wins this week and more upset losses by some of their closest competitors in the national rankings, I'm looking forward to seeing the Zips get more votes in the top 25 polls and move up in the mid-major polls. At some point, some bracketologist is going to break the ice and start mentioning the Zips as a potential bubble team. If not this week, maybe the next as long as they keep winning.

Oh, and I can now report firsthand that Richaun Holmes is able to play 28 minutes against the D-I team with the nation's longest winning streak without showing a sign of sucking wind. We also now know that he's fully capable of being BGSU's high scorer (15 points) based on 5-6 from the field and 5-5 free throws. He also led in rebounds (8) and blocks (4), swatting away shots by both Zeke and Pat. So I'll stand by my pre-game scouting report on this guy, and go further to say that it's not only possible but likely that he will be BGSU's best all-around player next season based on my eye test tonight. Please don't shoot the scouting report messenger.

[Big Zip]

I'm looking forward to the bracketbuster. Hoping the Zips come out amped up and make a statement on national television. Looking forward to a sell-out or near sell-out crowd to bring the noise! This is the kind of game that can turn some heads but it has to be a dominate performance.

[Dr Z]

On the subject of Harney, I thought he had a very nice game (bad threes aside) tonight. The Zips seemed to recognize the mismatch he had against Luke Kraus, and went to him frequently. He did a nice job working that advantage. I also thought he played some of his best D since the OU game. stand much of a chance.

Nice post. We are a better team with Harney on the floor, but I also think we are a better team when Nick passes up the three. He does so many things well, everything about his stroke from beyond the arc makes me cringe.

[phil]

You are right about past Zips teams blowing games in the last 2 minutes and this team has thrived in the last few minutes of play.

With about 4 minutes left Bowling Green had the ball, had cut a 12 point lead to 6 and could cut it to 4 when they had 2 terrible possessions. In the first their point guard forced up a 3 from several feet outside the 3 line. The next time down they threw the ball to Brian Walsh and the Zips scored a basket. Bowling Green was done. Our defense has really played well with the game on the line near the end of the game.

[Dave in Green]

..... And just to show that I'm not a complete sore loser, Dave, I was fairly impressed with Holmes tonight. He kept BG in the game at times. Still, the rest of that roster is a mess. When Calhoun and Crawford aren't on (which Crawford at least wasn't tonight, and Calhoun was rather pedestrian) they don't stand much of a chance.

Funny that our posts were made at exactly the same time. You know I always appreciate and respect your analysis. In the case of Holmes, I think I just did a little deeper research on the guy and saw enough in the stats to earn my respect for his potential. I think if you had gone through all the same data I did that you would have arrived at a similar conclusion. I completely agree with you that BGSU will need a lot more than Holmes to be a MAC threat next season.

[skip-zip]

Defense was definitely the story of this game.

Offensively, it was clear for most of the game that we wanted to keep on pushing the ball inside, where Tree and Zeke had terrible shooting nights. Yet, we still kept BG at a clear distance for the majority of the night. Especially, I felt like BG went about half way through the first half before they were ever able to find a good shot. Maybe this will be the trademark of this team as we roll towards the MAC tourney.

[phil]

Just read Elton Alexander's article about the game. Good article but for the following:

"Marshall, Akron's celebrated post man, entered shooting 68.6 percent from the field, but BG's zone defense pestered him into a 4-of-13 night. Going 7-of-7 from the line aided his cause."

I did not see any zone defense tonight. I thought they may play zone because Akron has sturggled against zone but all I saw was man to man. Zeke struggled because he took several fadeaways and jump hooks. In the 2nd half he set up lower in the block and got fouled going to the hoop and had some nice putbacks on offensive rebounds.

[akzipper]

Not sure if it was mentioned but did anyone see KD furious at the end of the first half? All I remember was him sprinting across the floor and yelling at someone. Maybe it was because they gave up the 3 at the buzzer? or Chauncey for yelling into the crowd after he hit the 3?

[akronzips71]

Not sure if it was mentioned but did anyone see KD furious at the end of the first half? All I remember was him sprinting across the floor and yelling at someone. Maybe it was because they gave up the 3 at the buzzer? or Chauncey for yelling into the crowd after he hit the 3?

I am glad you brought that up. BG's offense was totally ineffective in the first half, and they played a slow pace. Giving up that three was criminal. THAT is how we can lose games. Mental errors.

[Blue & Gold]

Not sure if it was mentioned but did anyone see KD furious at the end of the first half? All I remember was him sprinting across the floor and yelling at someone. Maybe it was because they gave up the 3 at the buzzer? or Chauncey for yelling into the crowd after he hit the 3?

I think perhaps Chauncey yelling into the crowd (instead of just getting back on defense) is what led to them hitting the three at the buzzer - on Chauncey's side of the floor. Chauncey can't catch a break right now, but if that was in fact what happened, it's a bad mistake for a senior to make.

Still, I really appreciate Chauncey's fire and wish he was getting more pt right now. We need a healthy Chauncey - with confidence & swagger - to beat OU & Can't.

[Blue & Gold]

George Thomas' game story.

This is the seventh UA senior class that will enjoy a 70-win career. Six of those classes have come under the guidance of Keith Dambrot.

[doublezip]

I saw the KD sprint (I've never seen him move so fast) after the 3 before the buzzer. He ran right up to Walsh and it looked like he was screaming at Brian as far as I could tell. Clearly somebody screwed up and left Kraus wide open and coach was not happy about it.

As far as the end of games, I'm not sure if it is possible but it would be interesting to see the points scored by the Zips and their opponents the last 4 minutes of games. Maybe one of the stat freaks, I mean that in a good way, could find something. But teams just haven't scored anything the last couple minutes games during this streak.

Great crowd last night, good to see people jumping on the bandwagon. 17 and counting...

[zippy5]

DiG was right. Holmes isn't too bad.

[johnnyzip84]

George Thomas' game story.

This is the seventh UA senior class that will enjoy a 70-win career. Six of those classes have come under the guidance of Keith Dambrot.

I thought Frenchy said during the post-game that this senior class had joined the last several in reaching the NINETY win threshold for their UA careers. Since the Zips are one of 8 teams across the country to have won at least 20 games 8 seasons in a row, 90 makes more sense than 70.

[Quickzips]

Funny that our posts were made at exactly the same time. You know I always appreciate and respect your analysis. In the case of Holmes, I think I just did a little deeper research on the guy and saw enough in the stats to earn my respect for his potential. I think if you had gone through all the same data I did that you would have arrived at a similar conclusion. I completely agree with you that BGSU will need a lot more than Holmes to be a MAC threat next season.

Still not sure what you were seeing in the stats headed into the game on Holmes, but I'll take your word that it was there. I stand by my opinion that he will be, at best, a role player for BG. He can score around the basket on put backs and pick and rolls, but I didn't see anything resembling a post up game and he was unwilling to try anything from beyond about 6 feet. He's only a decent rebounder. Not quite on the level of guys like Treadwell and McCrae, but better than someone like Harney, Baltic or his own teammate Calhoun. Shot blocking is his biggest strength (obviously), but as we have seen with Zeke, shot blocking will only get you so far if you don't develop other facets of your game. He has two years to get it done. For BGs sake I hope he does, because they are a BAD team if he has already hit his ceiling.

[Dave in Green]

@Quickzips, it was Holmes' JuCo stats that told me more about what he's capable of doing. Right now he's playing the role for BGSU that Coach Orr wants him to play. From his BGSU stats you'd never imagine him attempting a 3-pointer. Yet his JuCo stats show that he was a 40% 3-point shooter. He was also by far the leading scorer on his JuCo team, which tells me that a scorer's mentality lurks inside that shot-blocking frame. I would not have even mentioned the guy going into last night's game if I didn't believe he had way more game than his BGSU stats to date would indicate, and that he was worth watching.

[Quickzips]

@Quickzips, it was Holmes' JuCo stats that told me more about what he's capable of doing. Right now he's playing the role for BGSU that Coach Orr wants him to play. From his BGSU stats you'd never imagine him attempting a 3-pointer. Yet his JuCo stats show that he was a 40% 3-point shooter. He was also by far the leading scorer on his JuCo team, which tells me that a scorer's mentality lurks inside that shot-blocking frame. I would not have even mentioned the guy going into last night's game if I didn't believe he had way more game than his BGSU stats to date would indicate, and that he was worth watching.

I always have a hard time comparing high school and JUCO stats to DI production. Can't has quite a few guys right now who put up big numbers at the JUCO level who are struggling at this level. Blake Justice was one of the leading scorers in Ohio his senior year and he can't sniff the floor for us. Time will tell what becomes of Holmes. I'm not ready to annoint him a future MAC superstar after one game, but he can play at this level.

[zippy5]

I always have a hard time comparing high school and JUCO stats to DI production. Can't has quite a few guys right now who put up big numbers at the JUCO level who are struggling at this level. Blake Justice was one of the leading scorers in Ohio his senior year and he can't sniff the floor for us. Time will tell what becomes of Holmes. I'm not ready to annoint him a future MAC superstar after one game, but he can play at this level.

I don't know if it's been pointed out, but he was putting up these numbers at a D2 Juco.