Ball State

[MDZip]

OK the non conference (and college football)season is over, time to start concentrating on hoops and the conference slate. The Zips currently sit at 125 in the RPI so it likely means once again the MAC tournament is the only thing that can get the Zips into the NCAA tournament, however the conference season is relevant both for other possible tournaments and MAC tournament seeding (which since the tournament seeding was redone is fairly significant). So tomorrow night starts off at Ball State who currently have the MAC's worst record (and we get to play them twice and get Toledo only once and at home so we probably get a bit of a scheduling break there) so this is an important game to start the season. Win it and we get off to a good start (with a game @Ohio looming next), lose it and its an ominous portent. I expect the Zips to win by around 10-15.

[Zipmeister]

OK the non conference (and college football)season is over, time to start concentrating on hoops and the conference slate. The Zips currently sit at 125 in the RPI so it likely means once again the MAC tournament is the only thing that can get the Zips into the NCAA tournament, however the conference season is relevant both for other possible tournaments and MAC tournament seeding (which since the tournament seeding was redone is fairly significant). So tomorrow night starts off at Ball State who currently have the MAC's worst record (and we get to play them twice and get Toledo only once and at home so we probably get a bit of a scheduling break there) so this is an important game to start the season. Win it and we get off to a good start (with a game @Ohio looming next), lose it and its an ominous portent. I expect the Zips to win by around 10-15.

So basically you are saying the Zips will win by 14. Couldn't have said it better myself.

[GoZips88]

Akron 65

Ball State 58

Worried about every game right now until I see signs of improving team chemistry, turnover/assist ratio, and FREE THROW SHOOTING (sorry ... that was my inside voice). Wish we had at least one more middling MAC foe before heading to Athens.

Go Zips!

[ZachTheZip]

Ball State is the only truly horrible team in the MAC this season.

I'm looking for continued contributions from Harney, Betancourt, and the freshmen. We need to get them more involved.

[Dave in Green]

Speaking of Harney, I hear that he did not suffer a broken nose at the end of the Marshall game as some had guessed from the amount of blood on the court. He apparently suffered a gash above the eye that required several stitches to close up, as that's an area that bleeds pretty heavily when the skin is broken. He was practicing this week with a small bandage on his forehead and should be 100% for the Ball State game.

I remember the bad old days when BSU would always play the Zips though in Muncie, even when the Zips were favored to win. I'd like to think those days are gone forever. Majok Majok remains BSU's main weapon. He's averaging a couple of minutes less per game this season than last season, but has raised both his scoring and rebounding averages. He's currently ranked #10 in the country in rebounds per game. But the rest of the team is pretty weak. The Zips would have to play a real stinker of a game to lose this one.

[Zipmeister]

Speaking of Harney, I hear that he did not suffer a broken nose at the end of the Marshall game as some had guessed from the amount of blood on the court. He apparently suffered a gash above the eye that required several stitches to close up, as that's an area that bleeds pretty heavily when the skin is broken. He was practicing this week with a small bandage on his forehead and should be 100% for the Ball State game.

I remember the bad old days when BSU would always play the Zips though in Muncie, even when the Zips were favored to win. I'd like to think those days are gone forever. Majok Majok remains BSU's main weapon. He's averaging a couple of minutes less per game this season than last season, but has raised both his scoring and rebounding averages. He's currently ranked #10 in the country in rebounds per game. But the rest of the team is pretty weak. The Zips would have to play a real stinker of a game to lose this one.

Which area bleeds less heavily when gashed?

[Balsy]

Worried about every game right now until I see signs of improving team chemistry, turnover/assist ratio,

I'm sorry but weren't we all worried about every game last year too? We were absolutely terrible during the 19-game winning streak...usually during the first half of each of those games I remember us struggling significantly. I still believe this team has more skill on the field that last year's.

[zippy5]

were absolutely terrible during the 19-game winning streak

lol

[Dave in Green]

Which area bleeds less heavily when gashed?

Generally speaking, most areas of the human body bleed less than the head with a similar-size gash in the skin.

[skip-zip]

Generally speaking, most areas of the human body bleed less than the head with a similar-size gash in the skin.

It's because that area can easily swell when hit, which opens up the gash even more.

[Dr Z]

Speaking of Harney, I hear that he did not suffer a broken nose at the end of the Marshall game as some had guessed from the amount of blood on the court. He apparently suffered a gash above the eye that required several stitches to close up

Thanks. Too lazy to look up who posted broken nose, but when he walked by me, I took (and posted) this photo. Didn't seem like a nose from the where he was applying the pressure and the fact he wasn't holding his head back. Hope he is okay.

If you look close enough, you can see blood on the back/top of his head. I think the blood pooled on the floor when he was on his back. Not sure as the incident happened on the other side of the floor from me.

[Zipmeister]

It's because that area can easily swell when hit, which opens up the gash even more.

Actually its because the head has more blood vessels in it than other parts of the body.

[akronzips71]

Thanks. Too lazy to look up who posted broken nose, but when he walked by me, I took (and posted) this photo. Didn't seem like a nose from the where he was applying the pressure and the fact he wasn't holding his head back. Hope he is okay.

If you look close enough, you can see blood on the back/top of his head. I think the blood pooled on the floor when he was on his back. Not sure as the incident happened on the other side of the floor from me.

I posted that because it looked like a broken nose when he was laying on the floor in a pool of blood holding his face.

It is a common hoops injury and I am sure DIG will give us some stats.

[Dr Z]

Ball State is the only truly horrible team in the MAC this season.

BSU is a 5 point underdog to the mighty Zips of Akron.

[Eagle66]

I remember the bad old days when BSU would always play the Zips though in Muncie, even when the Zips were favored to win. I'd like to think those days are gone forever. Majok Majok remains BSU's main weapon. He's averaging a couple of minutes less per game this season than last season, but has raised both his scoring and rebounding averages. He's currently ranked #10 in the country in rebounds per game. But the rest of the team is pretty weak. The Zips would have to play a real stinker of a game to lose this one.

I've only seen him once, but, I'd keep an eye out for Freshman PG Zavier Turner as well. Hes the teams leading scorer (13.4 PPG, 12th in the MAC) and assist man (4.2 APG, 6th int he MAC).

[Balsy]

Teamrankings Projects the Zips at 71.7% chance of the win. BallS at 28.3. I know some of you don't like TeamRankings, but for the Zips this season they are 12/13 on predictions, the only one they got wrong was the first S. Carolina game.

[Dr Z]

I know some of you don't like TeamRankings

I like when you click on "betting" (in blue on the results and schedule green bar) on this link because you can go back and look at the previous spreads and the money line. You can also see their record ATS. Telling me that some team that is favored by 10 has an 82.6 percent chance to win is pretty useless...to me.

[Dave in Green]

I posted that because it looked like a broken nose when he was laying on the floor in a pool of blood holding his face.

It is a common hoops injury and I am sure DIG will give us some stats.

I didn't question you when you first posted that because I agreed with you that it appeared he was bleeding from the nose. Even in Dr Z's photo it looks like the bloody towel is covering his nose. GT wrote that the gash was above his nose and required 5 stitches. Assuming it was the result of a stray elbow, it may have missed breaking his nose by an inch or two. Anyone who watches much basketball knows that elbows to the face are not uncommon and that statistical verification is not required.

@Eagle66 is right about watching PG Zavier Turner. The 5-9 freshman is only shooting 39% from the field, but hits 46.6% of his 3s (#32 in the country) and 97% of his free throws (#2 in the country). His 4.2 assists per game are offset by 3.8 turnovers per game. His stats suggest he may be a score-first PG with better 3-point and free throw shooting than what the Zips have been getting at the point.

[Captain Kangaroo]

PG Zavier Turner. The 5-9 freshman hits 46.6% of his 3s and 97% of his free throws

Divide each of those stats by a factor of 2 and I think he'd fit right in with the Zips.

[tomzip]

Divide each of those stats by a factor of 2 and I think he'd fit right in with the Zips.

props to the video feed as opposed to the crap Akron has at home, nice camera work on the dance team!

[Balsy]

props to the video feed as opposed to the crap Akron has at home, nice camera work on the dance team!

Can we all make throw in a few bucks and make a donation to Athletics for better cameras and feed tech...it's just embarrassing how bad ours is.

[tomzip]

Can we all make throw in a few bucks and make a donation to Athletics for better cameras and feed tech...it's just embarrassing how bad ours is.

yes, we need to set up the live feed fund

[akronzips71]

An on screen scoreboard would be nice.

[tomzip]

An on screen scoreboard would be nice.

yes and we all can agree that their arena may be the most hideous thing ever built. Could you imagine if that is what you have to live with for 20 years? Get the name of that architect and put him on the no contact list!

[ZachTheZip]

yes and we all can agree that their arena may be the most hideous thing ever built. Could you imagine if that is what you have to live with for 20 years? Get the name of that architect and put him on the no contact list!

That unnecessarily high ceiling would make it feel empty even with a capacity crowd.