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Middle Tennessee Game


Derrt

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Once again our assist (8 )to turnover (18) ratio is horrible. I did not see the first half but watched the 2nd half. On the good side, our point guards did not turn the ball over. However, Betacourt is not a good shooter but he continues to jack up threes. Evens does not appear to be any better. If they want to shoot, get closer to the basket and create some space. Otherwise, pass the ball and pick up an assist. Our point guards had a assist for the entire game. That leads to ugly looking basketball.

Happy to see Forsyth contributing. Last year must have been tough on him. At the end, we had Q playing the point and evans was on the wing. Q looks better on the point. I think that will be his future unless somebody steps up. I know that Carmello is only a 2nd year player but a division 1 player needs to be decent shooter. Hopefully, things will get better.

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It's easy to say "things will be ok", because we know we will probably win plenty of games this year.

But, winning THESE kinds of games is what will move the program forward. We simply have to start winning some of these games. If not, we'll continue to spend every year waiting for March to come along, hoping we can stay perfect through a MAC tournament, and if successful, trying to overcome big odds and beat a high seed just to get mentioned for a couple of days as something other than being a part of the bottom teams in the tournament.

These two teams were good, but not top notch, by any means. We had two more chances this week to possibly change the course for Akron, and we failed, again.

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Good and bad are relative. What's good for you may be bad for others. What would it take for you to call the season a success?

1 - Being ranked at the end of the season

2 - Have a couple of signature wins to be in a position for a good seed and an at large bid if needed

3 - Having a 20 win season and make the tourney as a 14 seed and get smoked

4 - Having a 20 win season and play in the NIT/CBI etc...

5 - As long as we have a winning season because that's better than what we had with Hipsher

We've been fluctuating between points 3 and 4 for the last 7 years. When we keep hearing about thinking big, Gonzaga of the east, making the next step, you would hope that we will eventually make it to level 2. It only takes 5 games at the beginning of each season to blow that away and make us realize that we will end up at either 3 or 4. :(

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Unfortunately we are still feeling the effects of AA's selfish decisions last year. It's not like KD could just go out to the point guard store and buy a suitable replacement. It's painfully obvious now just how much he meant to the team. Myles was never meant to be a direct replacement, just a guy who could fill in for 5-8 minutes a game. Melo would have probably been run off like the others before him who couldn't perform up to KD's standards. Now we are stuck with these two and this will be a huge challenge for KD to get one of them or Q to turn into a workable PG. Their struggles are effecting the play of the entire team. With AA running the point this team would be 3-0 and looking like a top 40 team.

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Good and bad are relative. What's good for you may be bad for others. What would it take for you to call the season a success?

1 - Being ranked at the end of the season

2 - Have a couple of signature wins to be in a position for a good seed and an at large bid if needed

3 - Having a 20 win season and make the tourney as a 14 seed and get smoked

4 - Having a 20 win season and play in the NIT/CBI etc...

5 - As long as we have a winning season because that's better than what we had with Hipsher

We've been fluctuating between points 3 and 4 for the last 7 years. When we keep hearing about thinking big, Gonzaga of the east, making the next step, you would hope that we will eventually make it to level 2. It only takes 5 games at the beginning of each season to blow that away and make us realize that we will end up at either 3 or 4. :(

Dambrot is trying to push us to a different level. It's not easy and it doesn't happen overnight. We're playing tougher teams in non-conference now, so you simply can't expect wins every night.

Win the conference - that's success to me. If winning a few NCAA games is the only thing that will make you happy go bandwagon with Kentucky or something.

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We all knew going into this season that the Zips were pretty solid at the 2/3/4 but with big question marks at the 1/5. We're fortunate that the center situation appears to be better than many thought. Unfortunately, the PG situation appears to be worse than expected. Last season the Zips recovered from a similar slow start (for different reasons), put together the nation's longest winning streak and earned a #12 seed in the NCAA tournament. I see little chance of matching last season's record without solid PG play, so my expectations for this season have been lowered until there's some sign of life at the point. It's going to be interesting to see how Coach Dambrot and the team handle this continuing adversity from Abreu's departure.

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Dambrot is trying to push us to a different level. It's not easy and it doesn't happen overnight. We're playing tougher teams in non-conference now, so you simply can't expect wins every night.

Win the conference - that's success to me. If winning a few NCAA games is the only thing that will make you happy go bandwagon with Kentucky or something.

This just totally misses the point on what many of us are saying.

First, I think 10 seasons is a little longer than "overnight"

Secondly, nobody thinks we should win every game.

Fans get a little frustrated when the growth of your program seems to have stagnated.

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Unfortunately we are still feeling the effects of AA's selfish decisions last year. It's not like KD could just go out to the point guard store and buy a suitable replacement. It's painfully obvious now just how much he meant to the team. Myles was never meant to be a direct replacement, just a guy who could fill in for 5-8 minutes a game. Melo would have probably been run off like the others before him who couldn't perform up to KD's standards. Now we are stuck with these two and this will be a huge challenge for KD to get one of them or Q to turn into a workable PG. Their struggles are effecting the play of the entire team. With AA running the point this team would be 3-0 and looking like a top 40 team.

You are 100% correct. AA could penetrate and dish and shoot the outside shot. The only positive were getting with Evans and Betacourt is better defense. We need others to step up. If Harney, Kretzer and McAdams would step up at the wing, we could have Q play the point. That seems to be the best fix for right now unless Evens or Betacourt step up with their shooting or passing. Hopefully, with some practice these guys will learn to move without the ball

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Fans get a little frustrated when the growth of your program seems to have stagnated.

Interesting use of the word "growth" as it relates to fan expectation towards the program. The Zips lost to CCU last year and it didn't signify a downward trend in the program. In fact, they had a great year last year.

I prefer the word condition. What is the condition of the program? For example, the condition of our football program has gone from terrible to bad by breaking the four win barrier. The condition of our basketball program is still very good. We are attractive to recruits. We have a good coach. We get good press as it relates to games. We have a good and growing fan base. UofA is an attractive campus for athlete-students. Etc.... There is a lot to work with so the team needs to take the available tools and make improvement upon it. The foundation of the program is very strong.

It wouldn't take much to change the condition of the MBB team from very good to excellent. A win in the NCAA tournament would do that. So would going undefeated in the MAC. I don't understand the fascination everyone has with an NCAA tournament win being the sole source of success or failure of any basketball programs. There are a lot of ways to establish greatness.

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I don't understand the fascination everyone has with an NCAA tournament win being the sole source of success or failure of any basketball programs. There are a lot of ways to establish greatness.

Can you name me a program that is associated with greatness that has done absolutely nothing in the post season?

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Interesting use of the word "growth" as it relates to fan expectation towards the program. The Zips lost to CCU last year and it didn't signify a downward trend in the program. In fact, they had a great year last year.

I prefer the word condition. What is the condition of the program? For example, the condition of our football program has gone from terrible to bad by breaking the four win barrier. The condition of our basketball program is still very good. We are attractive to recruits. We have a good coach. We get good press as it relates to games. We have a good and growing fan base. UofA is an attractive campus for athlete-students. Etc.... There is a lot to work with so the team needs to take the available tools and make improvement upon it. The foundation of the program is very strong.

It wouldn't take much to change the condition of the MBB team from very good to excellent. A win in the NCAA tournament would do that. So would going undefeated in the MAC. I don't understand the fascination everyone has with an NCAA tournament win being the sole source of success or failure of any basketball programs. There are a lot of ways to establish greatness.

am i missing something? what else is there? isn't that objective of every school that plays D1 ball? isn't that what gets u national attention? (see Can't st and ou)...

no offense of course but i don't get that remark

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Can you name me a program that is associated with greatness that has done absolutely nothing in the post season?

That's the rub for me. I don't think we have done nothing in the post season. To me, the MAC Championship is a pretty good accomplishment.

There is another side to this. What about the team that gets in the ncaa tournament on a fluke and wins a game or two? Does that make that program great or does it make it a program that went on a nice run. I would love to have VCUs Final Four run, but that doesn't make them a great program. They weren't even a great team that season. Here is an article on their run. A lot of things went their way.

Again, I'd love to win an NCAA game or two. However, I also like to look at their body of work throughout the season. We are less than a handful of games into this season and there is no reason for fans to be talking in cliches about the "program taking a step backward", etc. Now isn't the time for overreaction. I prefer to take the season as it comes and make a decision about the condition of the program after completion of the season.

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No one said that the program took a step back. I said it has saturated and reached its peak. Others said that the growth has stagnated. Is there anything wrong with that? Can you say that the program has made progress in the last 5-6 years?

Why do people have a problem with fans expecting more from the team? aren't we supposed to think bigger?

And finally, let me point out that fans who watch games and come to this board to discuss them are the hardcore zips fans. How are you helping by asking the hardcore fans to go root for Kentucky?

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