clarkwgriswold Posted December 21, 2019 Report Share Posted December 21, 2019 (edited) The Zips get a nine day break for Christmas before the Minutemen of UMass visit the JAR on the 30th. UMass beat Maine on the 20th to snap a 6 game win streak and get to .500 at 6-6. From what I've read, UMass is very young, with their top talent being freshmen. They only returned 5 players for this season. They are coming off of an 11-21 season. The following Boston Globe article about them describes this game as a "dangerous trip to Akron." https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/colleges/2019/12/17/umass-has-lost-six-straight-but-minutemen-are/zUTjLnVquKOkqFgAh6l0UI/story.html Here's area couple of preseason previews- https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/mccall-feeling-different-energy-level-in-his-umass-basketball-program,586651 https://atlantic10.com/news/2019/10/28/211815182.aspx This is obviously not the UMass of Marcus Camby and John Calipari, but a win over an A-10 opponent would be nice coming into MAC play. Edited December 21, 2019 by clarkwgriswold 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted December 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 Happy Holidays everyone! 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted December 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 Taking a look at the UMass roster and stats, three of their top four scorers are freshman. 6'4" Freshman guard T.J. Weeks leads all scorers at 14.7 ppg. 6'9" freshman center Tre Mitchell leads rebounding at 6.3 rpg and is second in scoring at 14.2 ppg. 6'3" freshman guard Sean East averages 10.4 ppg and leads the team in assists at 5 apg. Overall, the team has 7 freshman and 2 sophomores. Assuming they can hold onto them, things are looking up in Amherst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 Roo Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 Merry Christmas Zips Nation! Years ago there were lots of Christmas greetings posted, but this year has been tough, especially with soccer and football being down. The greetings are few which reflects how beat up we have become. Yet take heart. We will get thru this and emerge the better for it. This is still one of the best college sports websites in the country and I enjoy the effort you make to keep us up to speed on all things Zip. I wish you and your families a blessed, safe, and joyful Christmas. 6 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 Merry Christmas everyone!!! Hope everyone had a great day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipsrule Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 Happy Chanukah and a blissful Kuanza to you and yours. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve1981 Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 (edited) This is a winnable game for either team. Yes we have some young talent but imho the coaching staff has some x's and o's issues. We were doing well at home against Virginia with an aggressive trap. Took the Virginia coach 6-7 minutes to adjust and lead to numerous easy buckets. Our coach staff did not adjust during the 8,12,16 and halftime time outs. You could argue they barely adjusted. The other issue that happens over and over is opponents inbounding under their basket and getting easy points. We'd be an average team in the MAC and this game is up for grabs. Be a good sign for either team heading into conference play. A successful year in my eyes is a 500 season and limited use of trapping. More man to man half court defense. Regardless of the out come on the 30th, hope we continue to play in both Football and Basketball. Edited December 26, 2019 by Steve1981 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 (edited) Regarding your game with Akron: the good news is you will not have to attend to one personal hygiene item as your rear end will be freshly waxed. I predict a game flow similar to your game with UVA. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game?gameId=401168212 4 hours ago, Steve1981 said: This is a winnable game for either team. Yes we have some young talent but imho the coaching staff has some x's and o's issues. We were doing well at home against Virginia with an aggressive trap. Took the Virginia coach 6-7 minutes to adjust and lead to numerous easy buckets. Our coach staff did not adjust during the 8,12,16 and halftime time outs. You could argue they barely adjusted. The other issue that happens over and over is opponents inbounding under their basket and getting easy points. We'd be an average team in the MAC and this game is up for grabs. Be a good sign for either team heading into conference play. A successful year in my eyes is a 500 season and limited use of trapping. More man to man half court defense. Regardless of the out come on the 30th, hope we continue to play in both Football and Basketball. Edited December 26, 2019 by Zipmeister . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve1981 Posted December 27, 2019 Report Share Posted December 27, 2019 (edited) Sean East has come a long way, especially after Buggs went down with season ending injury. Chatman, who played for 12 minutes has left the team. Weeks has been out for a while, but is better in ways than his dad. Looks like you guys don't have TV so will probably go out and see the scores later. Edited December 27, 2019 by Steve1981 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve1981 Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 Here is the link to the Akron thread. Remember most of the posters there think UMass is too good for the MAC and think football should be downgraded or dropped. Also note that the OT loss to Yale had an attendance of 2,212. (No one asked me and in the minority, but wanted to go all sports in the MAC when we had a chance. Bad timing as the A10 was at it's peak with 6 NCAA bids and the CFP made the money a no brainier for the ultimatum. Off my soap box apologies but most probable don't go the csnbbs MAC board.) https://www.umasshoops.com/newboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16279 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 5 hours ago, Steve1981 said: Here is the link to the Akron thread. Remember most of the posters there think UMass is too good for the MAC and think football should be downgraded or dropped. Also note that the OT loss to Yale had an attendance of 2,212. (No one asked me and in the minority, but wanted to go all sports in the MAC when we had a chance. Bad timing as the A10 was at it's peak with 6 NCAA bids and the CFP made the money a no brainier for the ultimatum. Off my soap box apologies but most probable don't go the csnbbs MAC board.) https://www.umasshoops.com/newboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16279 What ultimatum? Is this some disguised reference to a Jason Bourne movie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 5 hours ago, Steve1981 said: Here is the link to the Akron thread. Remember most of the posters there think UMass is too good for the MAC and think football should be downgraded or dropped. Also note that the OT loss to Yale had an attendance of 2,212. (No one asked me and in the minority, but wanted to go all sports in the MAC when we had a chance. Bad timing as the A10 was at it's peak with 6 NCAA bids and the CFP made the money a no brainier for the ultimatum. Off my soap box apologies but most probable don't go the csnbbs MAC board.) https://www.umasshoops.com/newboard/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16279 What ultimatum? Is this some disguised reference to a Jason Bourne movie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hip Zip Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 The games against Virginia and Yale caught my attention. Everybody knows how good Virginia and their defense is and they hung in there pretty well. Also , losing in OT to Yale impresses me. I've seen Yale play 3-4 times this season and they are very, very good, not your average Ivy program. They play at NC tonight and have a reasonable shot of taking down the Tar Heels. Looks like UMass can play at any tempo so hope we see an entertaining up and down the floor type contest. Akron 75 UMass 70 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWAkron Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 https://winnersandwhiners.com/games/ncaab/12-30-2019/umass-vs-akron-prediction-3776/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted December 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 I had to go out of town unexpectedly so I will miss the game tonight. I expect it to be a good one. I think UMass will pose a challenge to the Zips but I expect the Zips to pull out a close one. 84-79. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 Zips are gonna roll tonight. 82-65 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 17 minutes ago, zippy5 said: Zips are gonna roll tonight. 82-65 I watched the Mass team play a ranked team (virginia?) and they played them tough till the very end. I believe this will a very tough game for the Zips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve1981 Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 (edited) It will be interesting to see the players tonight. Who and how much and effective they paly. If TJ Weeks is still out but Dibaji Walker has been cleared to play by NCAA, source told @Stadium. Cleveland State transfer expected to play tonight against Akron. per Jeff Goodman Verified account @GoodmanHoops Quote https://www.espn.com/watch?id=75ca2a4f-6cd3-44ad-96de-7e0f10571343 Edited December 30, 2019 by Steve1981 added a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted December 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 The kid may be a great player, but the words "Cleveland State transfer" don't exactly strike fear into an opponent! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippyfan34 Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 Cheese starting so I am guessing we see Dawson as the scoring off the bench today. Maybe get him 5-10 minutes today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted December 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 Cheese and Riak starting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted December 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 Riak with a solid start on offense. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 LCJ is feeling it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 This is fun. Also - Dawson has checked in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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