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Zips @ Wisconsin - Green Bay


Blue & Gold

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Well, I'll get this thread started as I'm anxious for this game already.

IMHO, this is a huge game if we want to obtain a regular-season Top 25 ranking. If we can crack the Top 25 early in the season maybe we can start to fill the JAR for games other than those against Ohio, Buffalo & Can't.

Green Bay is 1-3, with their only win coming against Minnesota-Duluth, an NCAA D-II school.

However, the Phoenix gave Stanford all they could handle, in losing to the Cardinal 89-93 in OT.

UWGB then got beat by a very tough East Tennessee State, 90-103. ETSU is 3-1 on the year with an impressive 69-68 win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. This while UWGB got demolished by GT 77-107.

(ETSU, however, was also beaten by Villanova 86-51, so lost to the Wildcats by 35, whereas we "only" lost to Villanova by 19. But now I'm really daisy-chaining.)

If we were at full strength I'd be fully confident about Tuesday's game. But we are far from that. The loss of Pat worries me the most as now we only have 2 true bigs and one (Cheatham) doesn't really like playing down low and the other (Big Dog) might really struggle playing 30+ minutes.

Additionally, we've been on the road for a while & might be tired.

But... Go Zips, beat the Phoenix! Get through this game and we've got a couple easier games to play at home while we get healthy.

After Villanova, I think we should be favored to win every game the rest of the regular season (save, perhaps, CMU) which is pretty crazy to think about.

Mission: Top 25!! :rock:

Edited by Blue & Gold
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Sykes is gone and GB will probably be down a bit this year but Fouse and Love are both really solid players for them. Don't read too much into the Stanford game as the Tree's are hurting and struggling as well.

With our depleted roster we will surely have to dig deep but we can get it done. I suspect that all of this will make us a better team when it really counts.

Positive waves here but I 'm not sure we'll be the favorite in this one.

Edited by The Hip Zip
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With the injury situation, maybe I should be more concerned, but for some reason I'm not. Even if Green Bay has taken a step back, going up there on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving is tough.

But I'm feeling pretty good about this one. I think the injuries will allow Antino, Reggie, Kwan and Big Dog to play big minutes. And those four have been very good this year for the most part. So, its not a bad thing if three of those guys play 30-plus minutes (not sure if Big Dog quite goes 30, but he is in line for 25-plus).

This also seems like a game where Josh can start rebuilding his confidence. His shot was fine against Villanova, but again struggled with turnovers. But I doubt Green Bay has the type of athletes Nova or Arkansas do. Aaron Jackson also looks like he is ready to contribute more minutes. Finally, I think Utomi is going to prove that the fact he was going to be redshirted wasn't because he wasn't ready. He looked good in the scrimmage, and physically, he has a D1 body.

Until this team proves otherwise, I'm not going to get that "typical Akron" mentality, which I will admit I have had in previous years every time adversity has struck (to be fair, it does seem like it has hit this program more than any other). This group, even without four key players, has the talent to beat anybody on the remaining schedule.

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EA of the PD writes, Injuries Mount as Zips Keep Traveling.

When will Noah be ready? "Who knows,'' Dambrot said. "He'll play when he's ready to play.''

What about Pat? "We've had X-rays, but we still don't know if he's got a broken rib or not,'' Dambrot said. "But he is still in pain."

How about Jimond? "He's not quite ready yet, but he still may play, although I doubt it,'' Dambrot said of Ivey.

All this, and the Zips are still favored by four. Game is on ESPN3 at 8 pm. Free stream found at go zips dot com.

Congratulations to Antino, MAC East Player of the Week!

Antino_Jackson_Villanova.jpg

Edited by Dr Z
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I think Top 25 should always be the goal. I like that thinking.

But, I don't ever see it happening for us EARLY in the season with this kind of schedule.

The Arkansas win helps a bit, and one loss to a major powerhouse won't hurt much either. But with this schedule, we'll have to make a run through the cupcakes and into the conference schedule for awhile before anything like that happens, just like the path that got us there a few years ago.

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I think Top 25 should always be the goal. I like that thinking.

But, I don't ever see it happening for us EARLY in the season with this kind of schedule.

The Arkansas win helps a bit, and one loss to a major powerhouse won't hurt much either. But with this schedule, we'll have to make a run through the cupcakes and into the conference schedule for awhile before anything like that happens, just like the path that got us there a few years ago.

Exactly.

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If we win this one, big if with the injuries, we're staring 12-1 in the face with 9 straight wins. That cupcake buffet won't be enough to get us ranked but we'll be on the radar going into MAC play.

I i disagree. I believe it is actually good enough. If we blow out the cupcakes like we should i believe we could be ranked especially with a good showing short handed at Villanova. Dont discredit the win at arkansas either. Thats an extremely tough place to play let alone win.

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I i disagree. I believe it is actually good enough. If we blow out the cupcakes like we should i believe we could be ranked especially with a good showing short handed at Villanova. Dont discredit the win at arkansas either. Thats an extremely tough place to play let alone win.

They'll have to be big time blowouts, each by at least 20. If we can run the table after the Villanova loss I see us getting some AP votes by the end of the first or second week of conference play.

All that really needs to happen is for everyone to get healthy and everything will begin to fall in place.

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