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Marshall, the thundering heard


1981 grad

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Marshall arrives tomorrow. Will this be 3 losses in a row for the Zips and back to back home losses? (I do not count Bluffton as a win since they are division 3). When is the last time we had back to back home losses against division one opponents?

Marshall lost to both South Carolina and Penn State. However, they played West Virginia tough and only lost by a few points. They are 4-7 but have played better competition.

I believe we can win but everyone must play well. When I looked at the box score at North Dakota I noticed that they only had seven players and only played 5 the majority of the game. However, we still got beat. Not a good sign.

We need a big game from our big guys, Pat, Big Dog, and Kwan. If we do not score from the paint I believe things could get ugly. Our outside shooting has been streaky at best. I wonder if B.J. will get a start. Hopefully, we can get a win to prepare us for the MAC that starts next week.

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The Herd really misses Shawn Smith who is out with a shoulder injury. Without him on the floor I like our chances to right the ship. Still, given our youth and shooting woes I'm not sure that we will run them off the floor. We really need some consistent numbers from the wings. I expect a low scoring grinder. I'll call it 66-57 or so.

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The line is Zips by 11.5 points.

One of my off shores has a total set at 132. Barring an extended late foul fest I see no way this game goes over 132. I may be a bridge jumper here because I'm throwing down on this one. Of course, I realize that by doing this that the Zips will probably shoot 70% due to the fact that the hoop Gods hate me.

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At this point I'm just looking for small signs of progress. As The Hip Zip points out, Marshall is really missing senior forward Shawn Smith who's out with a shoulder injury. Smith is one of only two players on the team averaging double-digit points. Sophomore forward Ryan Taylor leads the team in scoring (14 PPG), rebounding (9) and assists (3.3). Marshall plays a similar deep bench to the Zips with 10 players averaging double-digit minutes.

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That was one crazy game. Imagine a game where the home team gets whistled for 6 personals in the first 5.5 minutes of the game to none for the visitors, and then over the next 10 minutes 9 personals are called against the visitors and none against the home team. Just bizarre. Frenchy was dead-on in his description of the Zips' passing game. Just horrible for much of the game. But I give Marshall a lot of credit. They worked their butts off challenging every pass, and any time they didn't tip it away their fingertips were just inches from doing so. I hope the Zips learned something tonight about dealing with defenders who work their butts off non-stop on every play.

Pat did a nice job with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. His inside game is so important to the Zips' success. Speaking of the inside game, BJ finally started getting some results out of all those drives to the basket. BJ also tied for second most rebounds (5) in his 19 minutes. Getting his first start against a D-I team was a big deal, and he responded well.

It wasn't a pretty game, but at least the Zips buckled down and played well enough to win at the end when Marshall was putting a lot of pressure on them. Finding ways to win in pressure situations is an important part of a good team coming together. Now it's on to 18 straight regular season MAC games, and the Zips need to win 12 of them to lock up their 20 wins before the MAC tournament.

EDIT: Shame on me. How could I overlook Coppin State.

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After watching the first 10 minutes, it was hard to believe this was a division one game. We had only 2 baskets the first 8 minutes. That has happened more than once this season.

Gladden really looked good with his start. Nice to see somebody breaking towards the basket and getting some nice rebounds. He has really improved since the tournament. McAdams shot really well from the 3 point line. Kretzer had another poor scoring game. He missed an easy layup. I am really impressed with Evans this year. Playing tough defense and just seems to always be in the right place. Ibi had a great block from behind.

When opening I thought we would win if the big guys played well. Pat was a beast on the boards. Made some great shots in a crowd. We looked more aggressive than the Heard and outrebounded them by 10.

Stupid coaching decision. Marshall: When we shot foul shots had 2 players all the way down at the other end of the court. Late in the second half Ibi got an offensive rebound because they did not have anyone behind him. No idea what their coach was thinking. Cost them 2 points.

Akron: Putting Jackson in the corner. We pass it to him and he gets trapped in the corner. He is not big enough to play the wing and not experience enough to get rid of the ball quickly.

Post game. Second post game in the row where could not hear KD. Only in Akron.

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My biggest takeaway from tonight's game is that BJ is really starting to come around. He's potentially our most versatile player. We need him to play well and with confidence.

Big Dog still looks just awful. KD keeps talking about conditioning. I just don't get it - Big Dog broke his wrist, not his ankle. Conditioning shouldn't be this much of an issue.

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Had to be the quietest 2.937 people in the history of the JAR.

Sometimes, I get the feeling there is some unwritten code that you aren't allowed to yell and scream at certain games.

I could go off on a rant here, but I'll just ask a question first:

Why do people, i.e., season ticket holders, just sit like lumps and glare at you when you dare to yell?

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The team needs the minimum from Puppy Chow and he has not done that thus far

Where has Jake's game gone? Hustle points for sure but the kid is passing up open looks now. I'm concerned.

Never thought I'd type this but the on the pressure Nyles is applying is fun to watch.

I agree with all of the BJ accolades. Looks like he lost some weight and was moving a little quicker and getting more lift. I didn't see that earlier in the year.

Pat's close to being a top MAC player. Just needs a little more strength and to play with a bit more of mean streak.

Speaking of streak.... this team is really young so I expect this team to have moments where they look like a team that can win the MAC and moments where they make you want to pull your hair out. Last night was a prime example of that. KD will earn his paycheck this year. Very eager to see how the Zips match up against the MAC elite.

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