Ohio University tonight

[phil]

It is game day and I thought I would start the thread to indicate the game is at 6. I just picked that up yesterday and wonder how many people will assume it is a 7:00 P.M. start. They also set the Can't game for Friday at 7 which works well for my schedule.

With our suspension, illness, and injury, I still think that Akron will beat OU. I had given up on NIles Evens and then he plays a great game offensively in Buffalo. Hopefully, this will give him some confidence for tonight's game. If Pat, Bentacourt and Evens step up we should win this game.

I know that we have been down on Bentacourt and Evens this season but in a sense they are first year players. Evens is new to the team and Bentacourt was a backup most of the season. I think they both lost a great deal of confidence playing in the Hawaii tournament against top competition. They could not handle the pressure. In hindsight playing a tough out of conference schedule was difficult for this team because we had an inexperienced backcourt.

I think in the long run getting Cheatham, Big Dog and Pat more playing time will help us at the Q and for the future. I want to see Cheatham develop an inside game and not just shoot threes from the wing.

We already have to many 3 point specialist and need guys who can get to the basket and draw fouls.

I am not sure what the crowd will be like tonight. Anybody have any idea.

[Dave in Green]

GT points out that the Kitties are also hurting:

Zips Basketball: Limping Akron Prepares for Aching Ohio

Worst news from the story:

Update on Kretzer

Kretzer will miss seven to 14 days because of his concussion. It’s the second he’s suffered as a UA player.

Meanwhile Elton points out a potentially positive point in his story:

Yet the Zips can likely solidify a Top 4 seed with a victory over the Bobcats, as that would put Akron two games ahead of their nearest challengers (OU, Eastern Michigan) for that last bye with four games left in the MAC season.

[Staton14]

It is game day and I thought I would start the thread to indicate the game is at 6. I just picked that up yesterday and wonder how many people will assume it is a 7:00 P.M. start. They also set the Can't game for Friday at 7 which works well for my schedule.

With our suspension, illness, and injury, I still think that Akron will beat OU. I had given up on NIles Evens and then he plays a great game offensively in Buffalo. Hopefully, this will give him some confidence for tonight's game. If Pat, Bentacourt and Evens step up we should win this game.

I know that we have been down on Bentacourt and Evens this season but in a sense they are first year players. Evens is new to the team and Bentacourt was a backup most of the season. I think they both lost a great deal of confidence playing in the Hawaii tournament against top competition. They could not handle the pressure. In hindsight playing a tough out of conference schedule was difficult for this team because we had an inexperienced backcourt.

I think in the long run getting Cheatham, Big Dog and Pat more playing time will help us at the Q and for the future. I want to see Cheatham develop an inside game and not just shoot threes from the wing.

We already have to many 3 point specialist and need guys who can get to the basket and draw fouls.

I am not sure what the crowd will be like tonight. Anybody have any idea.

According to BackTheZips.com, there are 655 tickets remaining for tonight's game.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Tonight is the night the Zips 6th Man is sorely needed. Please get liquored-up heavily prior to tonight's game, ZipsNation. From what I hear, BAC levels below 0.10 will be turned away at the gate.

BAC the Zips!

[mes102]

Lady Zips got the #BeatOU day rolling by beating the Bobcats in Athens 88-76.

Go Zips!

#BeatOU

[zestycoyote]

*crickets*

Not that there's much to talk about from the first half...

General statement: I can't believe how Forsythe has turned into such a non-factor. Hard to replace Zeke, but it's hard to imagine Forsythe ever playing for WVU.

[UAZipster0305]

*crickets*

Not that there's much to talk about from the first half...

General statement: I can't believe how Forsythe has turned into such a non-factor. Hard to replace Zeke, but it's hard to imagine Forsythe ever playing for WVU.

Everyone is AT the (sell-out) game and not on ZNO.

We lack some intensity, but missing three regulars from the lineup really hurts. Most seasons I'm counting wins and thinking we should lose no more than 4-6 games in a given season. This year, KD really is correct...all that matters is what happens in Cleveland. We can be the best team in the MAC come tournament time...we just don't happen to be right now.

I'm encouraged that one or two different guys who aren't normally in the lineup are contributing big nearly every game. The game time and confidence could prove very valuable in the tournament.

[LZIp]

While he is standing in the corner by himself, I hope Harney is realizing how much his selfishness has set the team back.

[Balsy]

Selfishness is what has done this team in on many occasions. And people want to accept Alex Abreu back...

[Derrt]

smh, I don't even think they'll make the NIT now

[tomzip]

smh, I don't even think they'll make the NIT now

No chance for nit, this team needs to look towards next year

[GP1]

No chance for nit, this team needs to look towards next year

They can worry about next year after this year. Games still to be won.

[Balsy]

Alright folks, we've made the NCAA after worse years. Everybody keep calm and make it to the Q.

[skip-zip]

We scored 90 the other night with a depleted lineup, and now half that much?

I actually was really impressed with the way OU has the quickness to collapse inside, and then get back out to guard the shooters. That quickness also got them some steals on the perimeter several times. They came in here to avenge the defeat at home, and they accomplished that, big time.

That game ended when N'Dour had to spend the last 5 min. of the first half on the bench with foul trouble, and they actually increased their lead. And how the heck do we play for the last shot before the half, and then give up a layup the other way with a dumb pass? That was a backbreaker.

[skip-zip]

Alright folks, we've made the NCAA after worse years. Everybody keep calm and make it to the Q.

If there's any chance, we won't do it by having to win 4 games with this team. So, we have to get into those top 4 spots to get at least one bye. We could have solidified that chance with a win tonight. But, Joe D. said that if Buffalo beats OU next week, we're actually still in pretty good shape for the #4 spot.

I just question how many more regular season wins we might have left in us without any of the absent players returning.

[UAZip0510]

No chance for nit, this team needs to look towards next year

[Dave in Green]

For starters, we already knew before the last couple of games that this season's team has not shown that it's as good as last season's team. Need I mention last season's 19-game winning streak? Now you take 3 of the top 5 scorers out of this lineup and how do you expect them to perform against a good OU team out for revenge? After Tree and Q, the 3rd leading Zips scorer for the season on the floor tonight was none other than Nyles Evans and his scintillating 5.1 points per game average. At full strength this is still a pretty good Zips team. With 60% of its top scorers out, it's a really vulnerable team, even in the MAC.

[phil]

That was the worst home loss that I can remember in a long time. I started with the comment that we could win if Pat, Evens and Bentacourt stepped up. It did not happen. They were a combined 1 for 10 and scored 4 points, all by Evens. They also had 5 turnovers and 3 assist. However, this loss was a team effort. Ibitayo was the only player to have a good game. The game started with Tree missing open jumpers. That seemed to be the theme the rest of the night. We had open looks. Big Dog missed a couple of bunnies from less that 3 feet. Just not our night shooting. Evens went from 18 points to 4. I just don't understand the inconsistent play. The play before the half when he was dribbling and looked confused was just awful and then he turned the ball over. It was just plain ugly. We have got to play better than this.

[UAZip0510]

That was the worst home loss that I can remember in a long time. I started with the comment that we could win if Pat, Evens and Bentacourt stepped up. It did not happen. They were a combined 1 for 10 and scored 4 points, all by Evens. They also had 5 turnovers and 3 assist. However, this loss was a team effort. Ibitayo was the only player to have a good game. The game started with Tree missing open jumpers. That seemed to be the theme the rest of the night. We had open looks. Big Dog missed a couple of bunnies from less that 3 feet. Just not our night shooting. Evens went from 18 points to 4. I just don't understand the inconsistent play. The play before the half when he was dribbling and looked confused was just awful and then he turned the ball over. It was just plain ugly. We have got to play better than this.

Toledo was much worse. Honestly, I had a feeling tonight would be bad for us due to Harney/Kretzer/McAdams all being out. We were full strength when Toledo handed it to us.

[Sportsjunkie330]

I am a troll. I don't wear blinders.

[LZIp]

That was the worst home loss that I can remember in a long time. I started with the comment that we could win if Pat, Evens and Bentacourt stepped up. It did not happen. They were a combined 1 for 10 and scored 4 points, all by Evens. They also had 5 turnovers and 3 assist. However, this loss was a team effort. Ibitayo was the only player to have a good game. The game started with Tree missing open jumpers. That seemed to be the theme the rest of the night. We had open looks. Big Dog missed a couple of bunnies from less that 3 feet. Just not our night shooting. Evens went from 18 points to 4. I just don't understand the inconsistent play. The play before the half when he was dribbling and looked confused was just awful and then he turned the ball over. It was just plain ugly. We have got to play better than this.

You do know that it is Evans and not Evens, right?

[Dave in Green]

If someone had said before this game that the Zips would have only 9 turnovers against the Kitties defense, I would have said the Zips had a fair chance of winning. Counting the 4 turnovers against Buffalo, that's a stunningly low (for this team) 6.5 turnover per game average against the 2 toughest opponents in the MAC East.

Then again, 26.8% shooting from the field would have more than offset zero turnovers. It looked to me like the Zips were just throwing the ball in the general direction of the backboard and hoping some greater power would guide it in. Seriously, when your 2 leading scorers (Tree and Q) are a combined 7-30 from the field and your next 3 highest scorers aren't playing, that's a big heaping pile of steaming doo-doo.

Did anyone else notice that Q played a full 40 minutes, and that he was playing his heart out right up to the final buzzer? It's just a shame that his shooting was off, like everyone's shooting but Deji's. I commented during warmups that Deji was hitting almost every practice shot he took, raining in 3 after 3. He was 5-7 from the field while the rest of the team was 10-49. The Zips outrebounded the Kitties by 5 and had 1 fewer turnover. With average shooting from the field this game was winnable even with 3 of the top 5 scorers out.

[skip-zip]

If someone had said before this game that the Zips would have only 9 turnovers against the Kitties defense, I would have said the Zips had a fair chance of winning. Counting the 4 turnovers against Buffalo, that's a stunningly low (for this team) 6.5 turnover per game average against the 2 toughest opponents in the MAC East.

Then again, 26.8% shooting from the field would have more than offset zero turnovers. It looked to me like the Zips were just throwing the ball in the general direction of the backboard and hoping some greater power would guide it in. Seriously, when your 2 leading scorers (Tree and Q) are a combined 7-30 from the field and your next 3 highest scorers aren't playing, that's a big heaping pile of steaming doo-doo.

I mentioned several weeks ago that one way to get more scoring opportunities when you are a high turnover team is to take open shots earlier in the shot clock. And we had plenty of decent shot opportunities in this game, they just didn't go in. And a lot of them were from close range. But, did you notice that Tree's first 4 or 5 field goal attempts were fall-away jumpers from 12-15 feet? That's not going to do wonders for our shooting percentage. And when he went to the hoop, he took a pounding. His frustration showed with that technical in the 2nd half.

[GP1]

Dambrot throws players under the bus...again.

Nice job kicking them when they are down. You're the highest paid employee in the Athletic Department Keith. Take some responsibility when things go bad.

[Balsy]

I agree with Dambrot though...one team played like they wanted to win, the other simply showed up.