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Miami just came off an OT loss against W. Michigan. Near the bottom of the barrel in many statistical categories... Can't look past them though, as we got UT @ Home on Saturday with an ESPNU broadcast

The zips can't afford to look past any MAC game. This team needs to learn how to show up consistently and play a complete game. Miami has played tough so far and they are a traditionally crappy statistical team. Wednesday will be fun.

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Miami isn't great, but I don't see them as a pushover. Of their 8 losses, 4 have been to Notre Dame, Arizona State, Xavier and UMass. Taking WMU into OT after WMU beat Toledo by double digits is a clear warning that the sweaters shouldn't be taken lightly. In national stats, their biggest strengths are in steals, free throw shooting and rebounding. They're #17 in steal percentage, swiping the ball on 12.4% of their opponents' possessions, which will be a challenge for the Zips' sometimes shaky ball-handling. They're #37 in free throw percentage at 74.1%, which the Zips can only dream about. And they're #57 in defensive rebounding percentage, snagging 71.9% of their opponents' missed shots, which will challenge the Zips' excellent offensive rebounding. They do it with a fairly small lineup, as their top 7 players in order of minutes played are 6-0, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 and 6-7. As long as the Zips have recovered from the 2 OT marathon in Athens, this should be a manageable challenge to keep them sharp for the following game against Toledo.

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In HS, Bill Edwards was Ohio Senior Player of the Year in 2009. His 24 points against WMU in his first game of the season was no fluke. He's a really talented player who has been cursed with injuries. After playing in 26 games as a true freshman at Penn State, where he played through a knee injury, Edwards transferred to Miami and sat out a year. Two seasons ago he showed promise in Miami's first 7 games, but sat out the rest of the season with a wrist injury. Last season he started out strong only to have a season-ending knee injury after only 5 games. Miami is a much better team when Edwards is healthy than they were in their first 12 games of this season while he was out. At 6-6, 245, he's built a lot like Javon McCrae.

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It would be a huge mistake to overlook and discount the Redskins. Especially so considering that this fits the literal definition of the sandwich or trap game in that it is squeezed in between arguably our two biggest conference games of the season. Miami is not void of talent and I feel that they have made some progress. Their guards are not bad at all and in fact they probably have an edge in the back court. In the spirit of Charlie Coles I fully expect this game to be a tight struggle throughout.

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It would be a huge mistake to overlook and discount the Redskins. Especially so considering that this fits the literal definition of the sandwich or trap game in that it is squeezed in between arguably our two biggest conference games of the season. Miami is not void of talent and I feel that they have made some progress. Their guards are not bad at all and in fact they probably have an edge in the back court. In the spirit of Charlie Coles I fully expect this game to be a tight struggle throughout.

cool

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It would be a huge mistake to overlook and discount the Redskins. Especially so considering that this fits the literal definition of the sandwich or trap game in that it is squeezed in between arguably our two biggest conference games of the season. Miami is not void of talent and I feel that they have made some progress. Their guards are not bad at all and in fact they probably have an edge in the back court. In the spirit of Charlie Coles I fully expect this game to be a tight struggle throughout.

I couldn't agree more. Even a casual observer should have noticed the Redhawks improving over the last few weeks just by virtue of their scores. Now you add a really solid player like Bill Edwards to the mix and they are suddenly a pretty dangerous team EVEN IF the Zips play reasonably well on Wednesday. The addition of one quality player can make a huge difference on a basketball team. I expect a dogfight.

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We need to get this discussion back above the Toledo game. before the season started this would not have been on my list of worry games, but the way the RedHawks have been playing, the return of a very good player for them and coming right between Ohio and Toledo is a concern. I'm not ready to call it as a loss but I will bet it wll be a very tight game. Good thing it is at home. Zips by 5, 67-62.

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We need to get this discussion back above the Toledo game. before the season started this would not have been on my list of worry games, but the way the RedHawks have been playing, the return of a very good player for them and coming right between Ohio and Toledo is a concern. I'm not ready to call it as a loss but I will bet it wll be a very tight game. Good thing it is at home. Zips by 5, 67-62.

Bumpity.. bump.. bump

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The MAC really looks wide open, after WMU beat Toledo and then won close against Miami, the highest scoring team in the league after two games drops a 37 point "effort" to EMU last night. Zips and Buffalo are the only two teams that haven't lost yet (and Buffalo's two wins were at home against the West). If the Zips can pick up the win tonight, that will be an excellent start.

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The MAC really looks wide open, after WMU beat Toledo and then won close against Miami, the highest scoring team in the league after two games drops a 37 point "effort" to EMU last night. Zips and Buffalo are the only two teams that haven't lost yet (and Buffalo's two wins were at home against the West). If the Zips can pick up the win tonight, that will be an excellent start.

The Zips advantage in the MAC seems to be - "They know how to win, and expect to win."

The other suddenly-competitive MAC programs have improved talent, but are still trying to figure out how to consistently win. I wonder which of them will mimic the Zips football team and ascend from preseason laughingstock, to contender at mid-season?

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The Zips advantage in the MAC seems to be - "They know how to win, and expect to win."

The other suddenly-competitive MAC programs have improved talent, but are still trying to figure out how to consistently win. I wonder which of them will mimic the Zips football team and ascend from preseason laughingstock, to contender at mid-season?

Though they have been emerged in a slow, steady progression for awhile now, I would guess that EMU most closely resembles that team. They play a killer zone and have some athletes who are long and defend very well. To beat these guys you need some shooters to hit jump shots over the top. Just ask Steve Hawkins after Western was slaughtered last night.

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Good win, I think Miami might be a .500 MAC team this year which is way better than last year. Harney had a very good game again, maybe he is really starting to figure things out now. Betancourt looked better (couple nice assist, a spin move for one of them, a three) maybe he's gaining some confidence. And as I saw KD walking across the floor I realized he is the "dean" of MAC coaches now.

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Another slow start and another strong finish for the Zips. With three of Miami's starters playing 33+ minutes and slowing down late in the second half, the Zips' finishers were rested enough to finish them off in the end. Two players off the Zips bench played more minutes than all but one starter, and a third player off the bench played more minutes than all but two starters. Coach Dambrot's strategy of not starting all of his finishers has paid off so far with the Zips being the only undefeated team in the MAC after three games. It's an unconventional strategy that makes some observers uncomfortable. But it appears to be making opponents even more uncomfortable.

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Another slow start and another strong finish for the Zips. With three of Miami's starters playing 33+ minutes and slowing down late in the second half, the Zips' finishers were rested enough to finish them off in the end. Two players off the Zips bench played more minutes than all but one starter, and a third player off the bench played more minutes than all but two starters. Coach Dambrot's strategy of not starting all of his finishers has paid off so far with the Zips being the only undefeated team in the MAC after three games. It's an unconventional strategy that makes some observers uncomfortable. But it appears to be making opponents even more uncomfortable.

Dave, I'm on the same page with you lately about resting players, but I don't think any coach anywhere plays with the strategy that they can sacrifice the start of the game, and catch up later.

Tonight's Game:

Everyone has to wonder if there is any answer on our roster to our problem protecting the ball. Again, it's not a personnel issue, but a focus issue, in my opinion. And everyone from Quincy to the normal culprits contributed to the problem tonight. As an example, right in the middle of this same game, we witness the most remarkable play by Carmelo, where his spin move at mid-court makes a guy lose his jock, and he delivers a beautiful feed for a bucket. Just inexplicable how we have people who can play so badly and play so flawlessly within the same contest. Keith will double his amount of gray hair this season.

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Another slow start and another strong finish for the Zips. With three of Miami's starters playing 33+ minutes and slowing down late in the second half, the Zips' finishers were rested enough to finish them off in the end. Two players off the Zips bench played more minutes than all but one starter, and a third player off the bench played more minutes than all but two starters. Coach Dambrot's strategy of not starting all of his finishers has paid off so far with the Zips being the only undefeated team in the MAC after three games. It's an unconventional strategy that makes some observers uncomfortable. But it appears to be making opponents even more uncomfortable.

I am glad the zips won but I disagree with the strategy of starting guys who are not producing. I just checked the stats and Even went 0 for 4 and Ibitayo went for 2 with 3 turnovers in 6 minutes of play. Our 2 starters did not score. Reggie was the only person to score from the starters hitting 2 three point baskets before the subs came in. I can't even remember when either of these players has scored a basket. Evens only takes 3 point shots. I know one of his shots did not draw iron. These guys are not producing. We start slow again. Evens need to take shots inside the 3 line and Ibatayo is a great athlete and needs to drive to the basket.

I think Reggie is playing the best I have seen him play. I would have liked to see him on the floor at the end of the game instead of Kretzer, especially after the walk when he is dribbling through the press. Lots of stupid plays at the end of the game but Miami helped us missing a key free throw. Q had a great steal.

Bentacourt had his best game in a while hitting a 3, couple nice passes, and only playing out of control once or twice. He also had a nice rebound.

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