U of Akron Zips v. SUNY at Buffalo Bulls 2/24/17

[NWAkron]

Big game!  Will the Zips continue their thermal nuclear meltdown?  Are the Bulls over their shock from losing at home to PCCC?  Will Dambrot and team shake-up the line up?   Will wives, children, and pets be taking cover from flying remote controls and iPhones around 10pm tomorrow night?  These questions and many others will be answered in the next episode of Zips basketball.

 

What are your thoughts?  Personally, I think the Zips aren't ready to shake off what ails them.  But the only way is up!  right?

Edited February 24, 2017 by NWAkron

[zippy5]

Great moments are born from great opportunities

 

[clarkwgriswold]

I'm glad you started this one.  I started the last two and ....

 

Buffalo will again try to draw Big Dog outside then blow around him, like last time.  Hopefully, they won't get off to the hot start they did at the JAR.

 

I'm really hope we start seeing some more offense from Noah.  I love his assist to turnover ratio, but anymore it seems like he gets the ball up the floor, passes, then disappears.  I often wonder how the offense would look with Antino back at the point.

[zippy5]

I'd love to see a little zone mixed in. We can't stop the penetration and Big Dog has turned into a defensive liability. I don't see much of a downside to showing it for a little, at the least. Buffalo isn't a great 3 point shooting team (They lit us up from 3 last time, I know I know).

[skip-zip]

We can't lose 3 in a row.  Just can't.    

[Blue & Gold]

13 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

We can't lose 3 in a row.  Just can't.    

When's the last time we lost 3 MAC games in a row?

[NWAkron]

Strike all of that I just posted.  Losing 3 or 4 in the row isn't that rare for us.  And we've gone on to win the tourney after in one of those years.

Edited February 24, 2017 by NWAkron

[LZIp]

13 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

When's the last time we lost 3 MAC games in a row?

Lost 4 in a row, and 6 of 7 towards the end of conference play in the 2014-2015 season.

Edited February 24, 2017 by LZIp

[clarkwgriswold]

41 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

I'd love to see a little zone mixed in. We can't stop the penetration and Big Dog has turned into a defensive liability. I don't see much of a downside to showing it for a little, at the least. Buffalo isn't a great 3 point shooting team (They lit us up from 3 last time, I know I know).

Amen.  Doesn't even need to be a lot of it; just a different look every once and a while.  Another thing I;d like to switch out of is our big man always jumping the ballhandler on the high pick and roll.  It is just too predictable. 

[NWAkron]

6 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Amen.  Doesn't even need to be a lot of it; just a different look every once and a while.  Another thing I;d like to switch out of is our big man always jumping the ballhandler on the high pick and roll.  It is just too predictable. 

 

I would like to Zeke out front guarding Cooper.

[skip-zip]

7 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Lost 4 in a row, and 6 of 7 towards the end of conference play in the 2014-2015 season.

 

The year we were decimated by injury.  Actually, watching that team win 3 games in a row to get us to the MAC Semifinal was one of the gutsiest and most exciting weeks of basketball that I have ever seen a Zips team play. 

[1981 grad]

24 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

The year we were decimated by injury.  Actually, watching that team win 3 games in a row to get us to the MAC Semifinal was one of the gutsiest and most exciting weeks of basketball that I have ever seen a Zips team play. 

Antino played amazing basketball at the end of the season and at the tournament after Noah went down with an injury.  In the semifinal with Buffalo Hurly showed me how smart he was as a coach when he pressured Antino full court when he brought up the ball.  It wore him down and he did not have a great game.  I always thought that KD should have has somebody else bring up the ball that game to keep Antino fresh.  That was the last year of the double bye into the semifinal for the winner of the MAC.

[Captain Kangaroo]

If we get back to the basics...move the ball...pass up a good shot for a great shot...we are fine. 

 

If if we think the road to a MAC championship is hoisting 25 foot threes as soon as the ball hits your hands...if we continue to panic in the game's final 5 minutes rather than play smart basketball... we lose. 

[Blue & Gold]

9 hours ago, LZIp said:

Lost 4 in a row, and 6 of 7 towards the end of conference play in the 2014-2015 season.

Thanks!  Not long ago at all.  Can't believe I don't remember that.

[Blue & Gold]

9 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Another thing I;d like to switch out of is our big man always jumping the ballhandler on the high pick and roll.  It is just too predictable. 

Man, we've been doing that in what seems like forever.  Zeke used to pick up 2 cheap fouls a game that way.

[Blue & Gold]

Akron Beacon: Zips look to regain 'mojo,' clinch MAC title Friday at Buffalo

 

If we win tonight we clinch at least a tie (not an outright title), right?

[kreed5120]

21 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Akron Beacon: Zips look to regain 'mojo,' clinch MAC title Friday at Buffalo

 

If we win tonight we clinch at least a tie (not an outright title), right?

That's correct. We'd also need Ohio to lose. I haven't looked into it, but I hear Ohio would own the tie-breaker if we finish with the same record as they have a better division record.

[NWAkron]

If we win 2 of our last 3 we are MAC regular season champs.  If we only win one of those, would need Ohio to lose a game.  At this point, we are guaranteed one of the top 4 seeds in Cleveland.  Of course, it can get a little tricky at that point.  Occasionally, a 3 seed is better than a 1 seed depending on who is on what side of the draw. 

[1981 grad]

There are certain changes that I am looking for to turn this thing around.

Big Dog only had 1 foul shot at Bowling Green.  The guy was living at the foul line earlier in the season.  At Kent and at Bowling Green he has slow starts.  We need to get him the ball early and get his to score or shoot foul shots.

 

Kwan needs to find his shot.  He was so consistent earlier this season and we need a solid performance in Buffalo.  He needs to finish strong at the basket and find some easy shots.

 

Does anybody remember when Jimond was getting easy baskets off of Big Dog passes?  Jimond is our best cutter to the basket and Big Dog is not  connecting with him.  That needs to change.

 

Antino clearly had his worst game at Bowling Green.  He is the most competitive guy on the team and if his game goes south we are going to be in trouble.  He likes to shoot the transition 3 but at Bowling Green he was coming up empty and we had short possessions without any passing.

 

Utomi  had only 1 shot in 15 minutes at Bowling Green and was coming off a great performance against Kent State.  This guys gives us serious offense and then at times disappears.  We need consistent scoring from him when others are tanking. 

 

KD needs to use his bench including Poke and Dunn Martin.  Dunn Martin had a good game at Bowing Green.  KD should reward him with more minutes. 

 

We will need our best game to beat this guys and execute down the stretch.  Remember, at Bowling Green we had 2 turnovers in the last 2 minutes and a defensive lapse that allowed a coast to coast drive that cost us 2 foul shots at the end of the game.  We can do better.  Go Zips! 

 

[zipfan84]

10 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

If we get back to the basics...move the ball...pass up a good shot for a great shot...we are fine. 

 

If if we think the road to a MAC championship is hoisting 25 foot threes as soon as the ball hits your hands...if we continue to panic in the game's final 5 minutes rather than play smart basketball... we lose. 

What he said!

[skip-zip]

11 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

Antino played amazing basketball at the end of the season and at the tournament after Noah went down with an injury.  In the semifinal with Buffalo Hurly showed me how smart he was as a coach when he pressured Antino full court when he brought up the ball.  It wore him down and he did not have a great game.  I always thought that KD should have has somebody else bring up the ball that game to keep Antino fresh.  That was the last year of the double bye into the semifinal for the winner of the MAC.

 

Yep, that was the week that Antino had to grow from a kid to a man very quickly.  He was amazing.  And don't forget, Pat was playing his best basketball that year, but was limited to like 10 min. a game with his own injury.   So, I think Big Dog got a lot out of that experience as well.  

 

You're right about the format.  We had to win 3 games, and then faced a very rested Buffalo who had been sitting all week until Friday.  We had no chance.  

[Blue & Gold]

1 hour ago, 1981 grad said:

KD needs to use his bench including Poke and Dunn Martin.  Dunn Martin had a good game at Bowing Green.  KD should reward him with more minutes. 

 

 

It's twitter, so I'm likely reading too much into this tweet by Dunn-Martin, but it's still interesting:

 

[Blue & Gold]

CBS Sports Network, so ESPN3 tonight.

[K92]

9 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

It's twitter, so I'm likely reading too much into this tweet by Dunn-Martin, but it's still interesting:

 

Getting the start?

[kreed5120]

That's what I insinuated Keener. We'll fine out definitively in a little under 10 hours.