Blue & Gold Posted March 17, 2013 Report Posted March 17, 2013 Cooper looked like a lost little kid on the court last night. You could tell in the second half how badly he wanted to get off a few long bombs, and he couldn't even get a clear look from 30 feet out with all the long bodies on him. That's what Cooper would face every night in the NBA, which is why he's never going to get there. Any NBA scouts who were at the Q or watching on TV got a clear demonstration of how Cooper's performance would be affected by playing against NBA-size players. NBA-size players? Check. We got 'em! #ThinkingBigger! Quote
LZIp Posted March 17, 2013 Report Posted March 17, 2013 Never been a fan of Cooper, but he did show some class after the loss last night. Dj cooper @Djcoop5 Congrats to Akron- they over came alot of adversity on an off the court this year. Best of luck in the tourney. I will miss watching Zeke-led Akron and Cooper-led OU face each other. Its been a fun rivalry as of late. Two of the best in conference history. Not sure if he is an NBA player, but I think he will get a shot in summer league. I think he can have a very successful Euro-league career. Quote
Quickzips Posted March 17, 2013 Report Posted March 17, 2013 I've got no sympathy for Cooper, Offutt, Keely, Marshmallow Fluff or the Chin. Their guys had no sympathy for us a year ago, and they wouldn't have had any sympathy for us last night if we had lost. I doubt you would hear very many Ohio fans talking about how bad they felt for us. I'm sure you would have heard plenty about how Akron was over-rated, they were never going to beat OU three times in a season, Abreu was our entire team, Zeke is terrible and our University sucks. Come to think of it, you are already hearing some of those things from the Bobcat fans. This is sports in the 21st century. Like it or hate it, this is the way it is going to be. If you don't like it stay off of the internet message boards. Quote
odhgibo Posted March 17, 2013 Report Posted March 17, 2013 Zips won't double Cooper. They haven't doubled much of anyone all year. The big differences between Akron and Western are length and athleticism. Western has to double to make up for the fact that they are smaller and less athletic. Akron will throw out a bunch of big, long, athletic defenders and try to play Cooper straight up. As in every other OU/Akron matchup this year it really is as simple as OU's perimeter game against Akron's bigs. If OU gets rolling from beyond the arch they will likely win. If Akron can feed the post and get Zeke, Tree and possibly Harney into 12-15+ points they will likely win. @QZ was darn close to dead on with this set of predictions. Not much double teaming, and distributed scoring among the big guys. The Zips did not double team DJ5. Instead, they switched absolutely everything out front. It did not matter who guarded the "big" setting the screen. That defender ended up on Cooper, with the original defender guarding against the bounce pass on the screen and roll (which killed WMU the night before). The strategy got further refined after halftime. In the 2nd half, one of the bigger players (e.g., Tree) initially guarded Cooper and then switched to the screener, i.e., the match up desired in the first place. The whipped cream on the sundae was that the coaching staff somehow figured out who would NOT be setting the initial screen and put Zeke on him, thereby keeping #44 available to help out. The amazing thing to me was that the OU coaches had no plan B. When the dribble drive and the screen-roll were cut off, there was no third option. The weave just kept going (more accurately, going nowhere), and OU got more and more frustrated. The OU fans around me in section 109 cleared out by the 6 minute mark. Quote
UAZip0510 Posted March 17, 2013 Report Posted March 17, 2013 @JSF - Your thoughts on the "Zeke's a Bitch" chant from the OU students? Quote
OZoner Posted March 17, 2013 Report Posted March 17, 2013 @JSF - Your thoughts on the "Zeke's a Bitch" chant from the OU students? Did not like it. Not cool. Would not have allowed it back in my day. Quote
akzipper Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 Your thoughts on the "Zeke's a Bitch" chant from the OU students? I love how they single out Zeke. What has he ever done to anyone? Quote
zippy5 Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 I love how they single out Zeke. What has he ever done to anyone? Beat them. Quote
ksu sucks Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 Beat them. The good news for the rest of the MAC is that Zeke is a senior. The bad news....Tree is a sophomore... Quote
akzipper Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 Beat them. But wait they said he's a "poor man's Ivo Baltic" and "6th or 7th best player in the MAC". He can't be that good! Quote
akronzips71 Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 But wait they said he's a "poor man's Ivo Baltic" and "6th or 7th best player in the MAC". He can't be that good! He should have been, and WAS the POY. Cooper didn't even show up yesterday. Quote
Blue & Gold Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 The good news for the rest of the MAC is that Zeke is a senior. The bad news....Tree is a sophomore... And next year... the MAC will be introduced to the best center in the state of Ohio - 6'9" 280-pound Isaiah "Big Dog" Johnson. Quote
Quickzips Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 But wait they said he's a "poor man's Ivo Baltic" and "6th or 7th best player in the MAC". He can't be that good! I don't think I ever saw him compared unfavorably to Ivo Baltic. That is hilarious if they really did that. Baltic is absolutely horrible. Possibly the worst big man in the conference. He had ZERO points in three games against us this year. For the entire season, he only took a GRAND TOTAL of 13 free throws. How pathetic is that for a big guy? There is a reason I call him marshmallow fluff. He's quite possibly the softest big man the NCAA has seen in 20 years. As much as OU will miss Cooper, they won't miss Baltic at all. Addition by subtraction. Quote
jem101 Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 I don't think I ever saw him compared unfavorably to Ivo Baltic. That is hilarious if they really did that. Baltic is absolutely horrible. Possibly the worst big man in the conference. He had ZERO points in three games against us this year. For the entire season, he only took a GRAND TOTAL of 13 free throws. How pathetic is that for a big guy? There is a reason I call him marshmallow fluff. He's quite possibly the softest big man the NCAA has seen in 20 years. As much as OU will miss Cooper, they won't miss Baltic at all. Addition by subtraction. Was watching the game again today. There was one point where he got past Tree and instead of driving to the rim, he pulled up for an off balance jump shot. The announcer said, "Baltic inexplicably pulls up for the shot" or something to that effect. Unbelievable from a big man. On a side note, Baltic came back onto the floor to shake hands with some Zips after we cut down the nets. Very classy move by him. Quote
RowdyZip Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 On this note, was anyone else surprised to have Cooper on the all tournament team? When is the vote held for that? He's killed Akron in the past, and I wouldn't say a thing about his performance Saturday until about the last 4 minutes because I expected him to go off...but the guy played in two tournament games and was completely absent in one of them. Then again...who else makes all tournament at PG over him? Quote
originalrowdy Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 Looks like DJ will get a chance at some face saving in the NIT. They travel to Denver. I like their chances, actually. Quote
odhgibo Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 On this note, was anyone else surprised to have Cooper on the all tournament team? Yes! He played spectacularly against WMU, but is that enough?! Quote
ZachTheZip Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 Yes! He played spectacularly against WMU, but is that enough?! So who else would you have nominated for the PG position? Quote
odhgibo Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 So who else would you have nominated for the PG position? Great question. Randal Holt, even though he's more of a SG than PG? Quote
Quickzips Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 So who else would you have nominated for the PG position? They don't really go by positions for all tournament team. The rest of the team was Chris Evans, Reggie Kelley, Tree and Zeke. That is a SF, two PFs and a C. They could have easily made a case for Harney. Maybe Walt Offutt. Randall Holt had two pretty good games. Quote
Dave in Green Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 Trying to be objective here, Cooper had a great game against WMU and a terrible game against the Zips. If one good game is all it takes to make the MAC all tournament team, then Cooper certainly qualifies. Quote
OZoner Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 I didn't vote for Cooper; I had Offutt from Ohio. I didn't have Evans either. There's no position slots on the all-tournament team; I just pick the five best players. Quote
Zip Watcher Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 I didn't vote for Cooper; I had Offutt from Ohio. I didn't have Evans either. There's no position slots on the all-tournament team; I just pick the five best players. I like the Offutt pick, he played pretty well both games. Curious who your fifth guy was, presuming Marshall, Treadwell, Keely and Offutt were the first 4? Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 Looks like DJ will get a chance at some face saving in the NIT. They travel to Denver. I like their chances, actually. I hear Denver is "The Belmont of the West," so maybe OU will struggle? Quote
Zipmeister Posted March 18, 2013 Report Posted March 18, 2013 I don't think I ever saw him compared unfavorably to Ivo Baltic. That is hilarious if they really did that. Baltic is absolutely horrible. Possibly the worst big man in the conference. He had ZERO points in three games against us this year. For the entire season, he only took a GRAND TOTAL of 13 free throws. How pathetic is that for a big guy? There is a reason I call him marshmallow fluff. He's quite possibly the softest big man the NCAA has seen in 20 years. As much as OU will miss Cooper, they won't miss Baltic at all. Addition by subtraction. I think it would be a nice gesture on our part to petition the NCAA to get Ivo an additional 3 or 4 years of eligibility. Quote
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