This Season's Best MAC Basketball Players

[GoZips]

In your opinion, what should the whole depth chart look like? By what you are throwing around, it seems somebody will be left out. Harney is a starter at the 3. With you thinking Gladden will back up Reggie..it looks like Nyles Evans or Melo will be left out.

No one will be left out. The Zips will be eleven deep.

I do not care to speculate on the depth chart.

[Zipmeister]

In your opinion, what should the whole depth chart look like? By what you are throwing around, it seems somebody will be left out. Harney is a starter at the 3. With you thinking Gladden will back up Reggie..it looks like Nyles Evans or Melo will be left out.

I think it's more likely that both Evans and Melo are out because BIG DOG is going to play significant minutes.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I think it's more likely that both Evans and Melo are out because BIG DOG is going to play significant minutes.

[MDZip]

Up to number 10 and still only one Zip (which I think means Jake Kretzer will not make it, but I think he is in the top 25 players in the conference) so I think Quincy checks in between 8-6 and happily he got East 1st team preseason all-MAC, oh had we had him and Abreu all season last year - but I digress (sigh) and Tree (also 1st team) no lower than 3 and probably 2. Hustle Belt aslo ranked the top 25 non-conference games and the Zips had four of them. South Carolina, St. Mary's, Oregon St and Middle Tennessee. Every one of those is winnable.

[legendofzippy]

Dambrot was on 1350 yesterday, and without giving specific player names, when asked about how much the new guys will play he said the front court players were more likely to play than the guards. His reasoning was depth more than skill of the players.

Interesting that he called out Tree for taking plays off, and didn't exactly gush over Nyles Evans. I think it's great though - we all love Tree but keep pushing him more. It could be gamesmanship, but it sounds like he was higher on Q at the point than Evans.

[akronzips71]

The Intra-squad scrimmage went well this morning. Coach Dambrot was pissed at nearly everyone and cut the practice short.

The players are getting testy. Which is something you actually want. Its time to beat up on people other than your teammates.

The four freshmen have actually learned to play defense. Some more than others, but all have gained ground.

In my opinion, (remembering that I have no say in the decisions), Big Dog is a lock to play a lot of minutes. BJ Gladden

will play back up to Reggie McAdams. Cheatam and Jackson will play in the future, but, not this season. Just a guess on my part.

Lately it seems that our guys who redshirt or don't get any minutes are not around the following year.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Diggs is not a point guard, at least not for anything more than emergency purposes. And an occasional top-of-the-key drive at the end of a half.

Hopefully Betancourt has elevated his game. And Evans can play the point. Otherwise, I think McAdams is our best PG option. And that would be a big weakness in an otherwise very strong team.

[Dave in Green]

@Captain Kangaroo, when was the last time you saw Q run the point?

[Captain Kangaroo]

@Captain Kangaroo, when was the last time you saw Q run the point?

Northwestern game. The last 16 seconds are burned into my memory.

Prior that, other 2011-12 instances where Abreu was out/suspended (WVA game was an extended look).

[Dave in Green]

All I can say is that Q has looked to be more comfortable and effective at PG in the few scrimmages I've seen than what I recall from two years ago. Don't know how that will translate to game play. @GoZips has a better handle on that than I do, so maybe he can comment. Q could be a pleasant surprise at the point.

[Quickzips]

All I can say is that Q has looked to be more comfortable and effective at PG in the few scrimmages I've seen than what I recall from two years ago. Don't know how that will translate to game play. @GoZips has a better handle on that than I do, so maybe he can comment. Q could be a pleasant surprise at the point.

Playing PG in practice is a different animal from doing it in an actual game when the lights are on. I'm with Cap on this one. If we are going to count on Q to play 20+ minutes a night at PG this is going to be a long year. Q is an above average secondary ball-handler, but he isn't a PG. I'm getting a very uneasy feeling about this season.

[GoZips]

Playing PG in practice is a different animal from doing it in an actual game when the lights are on. I'm with Cap on this one. If we are going to count on Q to play 20+ minutes a night at PG this is going to be a long year. Q is an above average secondary ball-handler, but he isn't a PG. I'm getting a very uneasy feeling about this season.

Quick, this may disappoint you, however, right now Quincey Diggs is the best point guard we have. Actually, he is

pretty darn good. I tried to say this before, playing Q at the point means some one has to play the shooting guard. That

means either Reggie McAdams or Nyles Evans. Both are excellent shooters and ball handlers. Reggie has much greater

size and is a better defender. Nyles needs to step up his defensive skills. This situation may require "un" red shirting a

Freshman player. Best bet, BJ Gladden.

At any rate, we will all know by the start of the Coastal Carolina game.

[LZIp]

Q, Deji, Evans, McAdams, Betancourt, and Gladden seems like a giant log jam in the back court. I just dont see how it can work. How can these guys gel when playing together with so many getting playing time? Personally, I'd like to see a 9 man rotation.

[Dave in Green]

Maybe it's time to take a closer look at the Zips' PG situation:

First of all, I don't recall it being previously discussed on ZN.o that while Nyles Evans was listed as a PG at Brevard Community College, he was not necessarily the primary ball distributor. BCC played a 3-guard offense, and Nyles was the second leading scoring guard and essentially tied for second in assists among the 3 guards. In other words, he was a combo guard, not a pure PG.

The only pure PG the Zips have this season is Melo. Based on last season, we know that Melo can do a fair job of distributing the ball and a fair job on defense. But he has yet to prove he can consistently score, especially from outside. From what I've seen in scrimmages, he's improved his game, and is not afraid to take it inside to score. But how will that stand up against tough competition in real games?

Q did a nice job two years ago of filling in for the Zips' then only true PG, Alex Abreu, when he was injured. Q wasn't totally comfortable being thrown into a position he'd never really played, but he performed better than expected. If he's practicing as a PG in preseason, he's likely to be much more comfortable in the position going into the season.

Reality is that the Zips do not have a proven championship caliber PG this season. There are three candidates with various strengths and weaknesses. All three have a chance to take over the position and put the Zips into their best position to win games. It will require the best combination of distributing the ball, scoring when appropriate and playing good D. I wouldn't count any of the three out right now.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I hope Diggs can play PG at a high level. It will make this team extremely dangerous against high-major competition. Who can deal with a senior, 6' 6" PG with mad game?

But all I have is blind hope that Q worked exclusively at improving his passing, vision, poise and decision-making during his lengthy hiatus.

In his time at UA he has proven to have a sweet, twine-tickling outside jumper. A killer crossover and a keen ability to slash and finish. His floor attitude is on the edge...crossing over the edge on many occasions...but that's not always a detriment.

Love Q at the 2. Love him at the 3. But he really has to have improved those key PG attributes if he's going to help us net a few early marquee games that always seem to elude us. Will he kill against Bluffton? Sure. Against the Zips #2 squad? Sure. And probably against Western Michigan and even K.e.n.t. But he has looked massively overwhelmed against teams like Northwestern and WVa when asked to play the 1. And until I see the metamorphosis for myself, I will remain a Q supporter, but a skeptic that he's the answer to replace Abreu.

Why would we bring in Evans if he can't play PG? If he can only play the 2 at a high level, what's the use? We already had buckets full of guys to play the 2.

We'll see how it plays-out. Stay hydrated, Melo.

[Dave in Green]

Combo guards combine the attributes of a point guard and a shooting guard, but are not necessarily optimized for either position. Nyles was more of a combo guard in HS and JC. The Zips need a solid 1 more than another 2, so Nyles is being asked to focus more on the PG part of his game and less on shooting. Nyles has the tools to be a good PG if he can develop more of a pure PG mentality, and having competition for PT from Q and Melo will encourage him along that path.

[legendofzippy]

Why would we bring in Evans if he can't play PG? If he can only play the 2 at a high level, what's the use? We already had buckets full of guys to play the 2.

We'll see how it plays-out. Stay hydrated, Melo.

Let's see how it plays out. He's here to play PG, but this isn't the football team - if you can't play at a very high level Dambrot has someone else who will.

But I think Evans plays perfectly into the system, where flexibility seems to be a premium. The opposing defense can't gameplan very well for the Zips when all these guys can play multiple positions. For me, one of the great joys of last season was watching the lineups changes each game to adapt to the current situation and who had the "hot hand" that evening. It appears we'll have the same advantage this season.

As coach has pointed out, the main difference this year will be when there is a defensive breakdown, you don't have a 7 foot shot blocker there to clean it up. So defense appears to be the larger concern for him.

[Captain Kangaroo]

As coach has pointed out, the main difference this year will be when there is a defensive breakdown, you don't have a 7 foot shot blocker there to clean it up. So defense appears to be the larger concern for him.

If you can't bring the ball up the court, the shot-blocking is irrelevant. See the VCU game. Or the WVa game. High-major D-1 point guards seem to feast on weak/average guard play.

I have no fear we'll have PG talent to do well in the MAC. My concern comes with Thinking Bigger. I was really hoping Evans would, assist-wise, be a drop-in replacement for Abreu. And give us the edge in our marquee games.

Additional note - The sometimes paella-riddled Abreu wasn't always the "dream" D-1 PG, but when he was on his game he was the best I'd seen since McLaughlin.

[Zip Watcher]

If you can't bring the ball up the court, the shot-blocking is irrelevant. See the VCU game. Or the WVa game. High-major D-1 point guards seem to feast on weak/average guard play.

I have no fear we'll have PG talent to do well in the MAC. My concern comes with Thinking Bigger. I was really hoping Evans would, assist-wise, be a drop-in replacement for Abreu. And give us the edge in our marquee games.

Additional note - The sometimes paella-riddled Abreu wasn't always the "dream" D-1 PG, but when he was on his game he was the best I'd seen since McLaughlin.

+1 on the above points with some add-ons:

- The VCU game illustrated that while our bigs were good enough / quick enough to switch every screen/pick outside against the MAC, not so against A-10, or High Major talent. Also, once Burgess made a few mid-range jumpers, it took the footer away from the rim. To me, the takeaway there had more to do with our half-court D than any PG problems.

- I think we'll be fine with our PG's .. it might not be our most productive position points wise, but it'll be fine. Already we're better defensively at that position than we've been in a while.

- Abreu was an upper level PG when he was on his game, but Rashon Brown was the best I've seen in a Zips uniform, no disrespect to the Cricket, or McNees (who won as much as any Zips guard).

B) B)

Go Zips!

[Zipgrad01]

If you can't bring the ball up the court, the shot-blocking is irrelevant. See the VCU game. Or the WVa game. High-major D-1 point guards seem to feast on weak/average guard play.

I have no fear we'll have PG talent to do well in the MAC. My concern comes with Thinking Bigger. I was really hoping Evans would, assist-wise, be a drop-in replacement for Abreu. And give us the edge in our marquee games.

Additional note - The sometimes paella-riddled Abreu wasn't always the "dream" D-1 PG, but when he was on his game he was the best I'd seen since McLaughlin.

Exactly.....that is why good guard play trumps anything else come tourney time.

[akronzips71]

Right now they have a #10 and a #8, but no #9

What's up with that? Were they holding that spot for AA or something?

[B4110]

Right now they have a #10 and a #8, but no #9

What's up with that? Were they holding that spot for AA or something?

They had Felder from Miami at 9 I think

[akronzips71]

I am thinking they may have Tree at #2.

Harney didn't really get that many minutes for us last year, so that makes me wonder about the author. I think Tree might be the only other Zip on that list.

That of course means nothing, we have some new guys who might own that list next year.

[Dave in Green]

@akronzips71, don't forget that Q made the East Division Preseason All-MAC first team along with Tree. Counting East and West, that puts Q in the top 10 among reporters who regularly cover the MAC. Since Hustle Belt also focuses on the MAC, I think they'll get it right as well. Tree and Q will both be in the top 10, and both may make it into the top 5.

[akronzips71]

@akronzips71, don't forget that Q made the East Division Preseason All-MAC first team along with Tree. Counting East and West, that puts Q in the top 10 among reporters who regularly cover the MAC. Since Hustle Belt also focuses on the MAC, I think they'll get it right as well. Tree and Q will both be in the top 10, and both may make it into the top 5.

Honestly, I don't see Tree being anything but #2 to the guy from Canada.

He is a beast, and only a third year player.