CMU @ Zips 1-17-15

[Balsy]

I don't know...a few negative things could be said about all the OSU National Championship sweatshirts and T-shirts that were on display at the JAR last night. I understand that some people are fans of both teams, but that is just woefully obnoxious.

[Blue & Gold]

I'm glad they played the Zippy "Thriller" pre-game video Saturday night.

[zippyfan34]

I'm glad they played the Zippy "Thriller" pre-game video Saturday night.

My son, asked if Zippy was going to throw the ball at Brutus' head at halftime too. Unfortunately it was just before the game.

[Dave in Green]

My apologies also. Glib, I have no moral high ground to stand on. I have said many things on this board which I regret. Perhaps I overreacted, but I am sensitive to things being written about people that support the Zips with heart & soul.

Overreacting in support of Zips fans is not all bad. I'd expect no less a defense from a truly great Zips fan like you. You may have in the back of your mind the ZN.o privacy rules. The moderators have made it clear that they have zero tolerance for anything that threatens the privacy of a forum member, which would include discussion trying to connect forum members to people seen at Zips events. Anyone who doubts the seriousness of this issue should read this Captain Kangaroo post.

[Zips Win!]

If you are calling me out...kiss my ass. I have never said anything negative about any individual fan on this forum. It would be different if any of us said negative things about certain fans but nobody did.

Go back and read my 83 posts and find one where I was negative about Walkman Guy...it was all in good fun, Mister Perfect 2,310 post guy!

Walkman Guy? Kinda boring, but I like it. Been listening to the game I watch for decades. Folks don't realize the entertaining show Frenchy and Dunn put on. Wouldn't miss it.

On the other hand, I'm surprised that a discussion about stats or free throws is offensive. Good grief! And no 'Terrible's' last night other than the free throw shooting and our inability to inbounds the ball. Hint! Make sure Robotham is near the guy inbounding the ball...

[Sportsjunkie330]

Walkman Guy? Kinda boring, but I like it. Been listening to the game I watch for decades. Folks don't realize the entertaining show Frenchy and Dunn put on. Wouldn't miss it.

On the other hand, I'm surprised that a discussion about stats or free throws is offensive. Good grief! And no 'Terrible's' last night other than the free throw shooting and our inability to inbounds the ball. Hint! Make sure Robotham is near the guy inbounding the ball...

I'm glad you get it.

[BirdZip]

We seem to have taken our amazing baseline inbound strategy (throw it to the tall guy) and used it for our press break (throw it to the tall guy). We even had Forsythe dribbling the ball up several times against BG. It's kind of sad.

I also got a chuckle out of the post-game where Frenchie mentioned the free throw percentage and said "but those things are fixable". If so, then please fix them.

[K92]

[Captain Kangaroo]

We seem to have taken our amazing baseline inbound strategy (throw it to the tall guy) and used it for our press break (throw it to the tall guy). We even had Forsythe dribbling the ball up several times against BG. It's kind of sad.

I also got a chuckle out of the post-game where Frenchie mentioned the free throw percentage and said "but those things are fixable". If so, then please fix them.

I have watched a lot of Wichita State basketball over the past couple years. They're always on some Fox/Comcast regional channel. They run some great, effective inbound plays. They work at the Division 1 level, and they're simple enough to use in my rec league coaching.

I also watch a lot of Zips games. I've never seen an inbound play worth using.

[morris buttermaker]

I have no complaints--- nice job by the zips the other night.

[Dave in Green]

Free throw shooting and inbounding the ball against pressure are both concerns right now. Seems as if it wouldn't be too much trouble to practice some new inbound plays at the same time they're practicing their pressure defense. There's a bit of whac-a-mole here in prioritizing where limited practice time is spent. Ultimately it's up to the coaching staff to decide if letting some areas slide is worth the trade of spending more time in practice on other areas of the game.

Free throw shooting is a common issue for many teams. Over the past 10 seasons the Zips have averaged close to the NCAA average of about 69% from the free throw line. At one point this season the Zips were hitting an above NCAA average 70%+ of their free throws. But their recent slide now has them at a below NCAA average 66.8% and ranked #239 in the country. Oddly enough, they're in some good company:

236. 66.9% Wichita State Missouri Valley
236. 66.9% Arizona State Pac-12
236. 66.9% Utah State Mountain West
239. 66.8 % Akron MAC
239. 66.8% Butler Big East
239. 66.8% Missouri SEC

For the Zips it's really an individual problem. The top 5 free throw shooters are above the NCAA average but the bottom 6 are below average -- some way below:

95.0% Jake

77.4% Deji

76.7% Noah

75.0% Kwan
72.7% Reggie

68.4% Antino

62.5% Nyles
55.9% Pat

54.8% Isaiah

50.0% BJ
45.5% Aaron

Looking at the below average guys, Antino started the season missing a lot of his early free throws as a raw freshman but has been steadily improving. I expect him to be over 70% before the season is over. BJ and Aaron have only recently started playing regularly, so like Antino I expect their free throw shooting to steadily improve with experience. Nyles is a disappointment because you generally expect shooting guards to be high percentage free throw shooters. Pat and Isaiah really hurt the team because they get fouled so much, so I'd focus on working with them along with Nyles.

[zippy5]

How about Deji, now 2nd best? He couldn't hit the ocean from a boat last year.. Props to him for the hard work.

[Hilltopper]

After practice last Friday, Pat spent about 20 minutes practicing free throws.

[morris buttermaker]

Free throw shooting and inbounding the ball against pressure are both concerns right now. Seems as if it wouldn't be too much trouble to practice some new inbound plays at the same time they're practicing their pressure defense. There's a bit of whac-a-mole here in prioritizing where limited practice time is spent. Ultimately it's up to the coaching staff to decide if letting some areas slide is worth the trade of spending more time in practice on other areas of the game.

Free throw shooting is a common issue for many teams. Over the past 10 seasons the Zips have averaged close to the NCAA average of about 69% from the free throw line. At one point this season the Zips were hitting an above NCAA average 70%+ of their free throws. But their recent slide now has them at a below NCAA average 66.8% and ranked #239 in the country. Oddly enough, they're in some good company:

236. 66.9% Wichita State Missouri Valley

236. 66.9% Arizona State Pac-12

236. 66.9% Utah State Mountain West

239. 66.8 % Akron MAC

239. 66.8% Butler Big East

239. 66.8% Missouri SEC

For the Zips it's really an individual problem. The top 5 free throw shooters are above the NCAA average but the bottom 6 are below average -- some way below:

95.0% Jake

77.4% Deji

76.7% Noah

75.0% Kwan

72.7% Reggie

68.4% Antino

62.5% Nyles

55.9% Pat

54.8% Isaiah

50.0% BJ

45.5% Aaron

Looking at the below average guys, Antino started the season missing a lot of his early free throws as a raw freshman but has been steadily improving. I expect him to be over 70% before the season is over. BJ and Aaron have only recently started playing regularly, so like Antino I expect their free throw shooting to steadily improve with experience. Nyles is a disappointment because you generally expect shooting guards to be high percentage free throw shooters. Pat and Isaiah really hurt the team because they get fouled so much, so I'd focus on working with them along with Nyles.

Dave in Green... in all honesty, I wish you covered the Zips in the ABJ, and they bagged GT

[Dave in Green]

After practice last Friday, Pat spent about 20 minutes practicing free throws.

In games, players generally shoot free throws at about 10 percentage points below their practice average. Dwight Howard, who shoots less than 50% from the free throw line in games, is said to hit 80% of his free throws in practice. Game pressure and fatigue have varying effects on different players, and are hard to replicate in an empty arena.

Maybe some ZN.o members should volunteer to come to practice and harass Zips players when they're practicing free throws to help toughen them up for game conditions. You know, like, "Hey you big bozo you can't hit the side of a barn! Ha, another airball, you stink! Why don't you give up your scholarship to a worthy player!" I'll bet some forum members would be really good at that.

[tpsjugglerdude]

Maybe some ZN.o members should volunteer to come to practice and harass Zips players when they're practicing free throws to help toughen them up for game conditions. You know, like, "Hey you big bozo you can't hit the side of a barn! Ha, another airball, you stink! Why don't you give up your scholarship to a worthy player!" I'll bet some forum members would be really good at that.

Back when Porter was here and he was trying to decide who the starting goalie would be, he invited about 15 Rowdies to practice to heckle them both. Some guy named David Meves handled the heckling a lot better than his counterpart and the rest is history.

[Ham]

One way we used to recreate the fatigue and pressure was to incorporate suicides with free throws at the end of practice. Its been so long ago that my memory has pleasantly blocked out the details.

[Zipgrad01]

One way we used to recreate the fatigue and pressure was to incorporate suicides with free throws at the end of practice. Its been so long ago that my memory has pleasantly blocked out the details.

I have tried to block that out, but you just brought it back!!

[Dave in Green]

Dave in Green... in all honesty, I wish you covered the Zips in the ABJ, and they bagged GT

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. I was fortunate to be a journalist back in the good old days. I wouldn't want to be one in the current environment. It's nice to be able to write what I want when I want without editors sending me places I don't really want to go, as GT has to deal with. I just started a new thread called Stats in which I'll try to dig into obscure areas of Zips basketball that I find interesting when the spirit moves me. Hope you find some of them to be of interest. Most of them wouldn't fly in the modern newspaper world.

[Big E Zip]

Dave in Green, I've been reading this forum for a long time, and I often think of you as the voice of reason. When things get off topic or people argue you always manage to bring things back on topic.