UIC Postgame Thoughts

[Zips Win!]

The more things change the more they stay the same….at least as it pertains to how Dambrot coached teams close out games.For the first 36 minutes and change, I basically liked what I saw. The last 3 and ½ minutes of the game were typical of the last 3 + years. As the game got closer and closer, the noose got tighter and tighter. This time, a lucky 3-point heave with the shot-clock winding down saved the day. A nice win against a quality opponent…but the answer to the $64,000 question as to who the rotation will be in crunch time was answered tonight. Unless something drastically changes over the next 2.5 months, I won’t be making any long range plans in March.The line-up consisting of the four senior and Nate got the Zips exactly ZERO good possessions/shots from the 4 minute mark until the fouling began. What did I miss over the first 36 minutes that led KD to believe that either Dials or Ced can run this team from the point? (And don’t tell me the ally-oop to Quade) McNees and Ced or McNees and Dials or even McNees and Ced and Dials is a far better line-up than the one he used. I just read the post-game quotes and once again KD pointed out that Dru and Romeo were the go to guys in crunch time the last 2 years…..Enough already, you have plenty of quality talent to develop new go-to guys! How about start playing them!!!Random thoughts….~Dials was awful until the 3 went in….~Ditto for Milum…until the alley-oop dunk.~Best game of the year for Linhart..Can he develop some consistency?~Very good game for McNees. The quick three-point shot cold off the bench in the second half was a bad decision, however.~Wood was terrific….Watch the fouls, please.~If Brett McKnight isn’t going to play, then red-shirt him. ( if this is even possible) Sure seems that KD is catering to the seniors. In my book, Wood and Ced would play as much as possible….Quade would play little and Dials would see substantially less time…

[zipboy]

Dials has been having back trouble. He has been one of the most consistent players all year. He has played great this year. At the end of the game, everything needs to go through, him, Wood, and Ced.

[The Hip Zip]

The Quade Alley-Oop may have been the most spectactular one that I have ever seen. He had to have been close to 15 ft. from the hoop when the perfect pass was launched and seemingly came from out of nowhere to throw it down.McNees has impressed me from day one. The offense just looks crisper when Steve is running the point. He pushes the ball up the floor with very good energy and makes better descisions with each passing game. I told my wife last night that I'm not so sure that he may be our best guard on the team right now. That said, despite obviously not being 100% Dials was huge down the stretch and delivered when the Zips needed him the most. Positives:Lots of great passing and assists last night.Wood, very aggressive. great gameMcNeesFree throw shooting seems to be getting consistantly better.If there is a negative taken from the game it would be that we just could not seem to get a stop when we were really close to putting UIC away. I'm not sure that our defense is quite where we need it to be. Another negative? BARDO: STOP PUTTING THE BALL ON THE FLOOR !! GO UP STRONG !!It was one of the better games I've seen at the jar in a while. It was so nice to not have a whistle every damn trip down the floor for a change, I'll give the officials credit,they did a very good job.I can't wait for the Miami game, its time to go to war.

[skip-zip]

I'll disagree with ZipsWin about Dials. I believe he had 16 last night, and is consistently the emotional leader of this team. We won't win this year without him spending significant time on the floor. The problem is that he appears to get tired running the point, and sometimes makes a bad play due to the fatigue. Plus, he's not the greatest dribble penetrator, and the point man needs to do that. If they can find a way to get him back to the #2 spot more often, if McNees keeps progressing, Dials will likely become the go-to guy every time we need a long jumper. Other thoughts...Quade's dunk was unbelievable.Our rebounding certainly needs work. When Jeremiah can go 7-8 from the line, how can we possibly lose? This might also start making some teams think twice about fouling him.The two blocking calls that got Jeremiah his 3rd and 4th fouls were totally bogus.I like Steve M. at the point, but I think KD may still be hesitant to have him in there at crunch time.Nate is coming alive...and we'll need him.I like starting C. McKnight, and bringing Quade off the bench. Quade seems to contribute more in that capacity. Is Conyers in the dog house?I agree that if Brett McKnight is only going to get a few minutes a game, he should be redshirted. But I think it's too late. I'm hard pressed to think that we can lose a conference game this year if we can go 17-21 from the line on a consistent basis. Lets hope for the best. Our defense is really starting to become the hallmark of this team. And it should keep us in every conference game this year.

[GP1]

The theme here seems to be McNees. I only saw him play once, but I liked what I saw. Since I didn't see his name much in the line up or on this board, I thought maybe the Winthrop game was an exception to his normal play. I told my wife he seemed to be a "sneaky good" player.....in a good way. I like that type of player.He seemed to understand what was going on out on the floor and what Coach D was telling him. When he came out of the game, Coach D would talk to him, he would listen and most importantly, he would respond verbally with Coach D and they would have a conversation. It almost seemed as if Coach D was developing a coach on the floor the way he did Dru.

[ZipAlumn]

I'll disagree with ZipsWin about Dials. I believe he had 16 last night, and is consistently the emotional leader of this team. We won't win this year without him spending significant time on the floor. The problem is that he appears to get tired running the point, and sometimes makes a bad play due to the fatigue. Plus, he's not the greatest dribble penetrator, and the point man needs to do that. If they can find a way to get him back to the #2 spot more often, if McNees keeps progressing, Dials will likely become the go-to guy every time we need a long jumper. Other thoughts...Our rebounding certainly needs work.

I only disagree with the rebounding comment. Against a much taller team the Zips split the rebounds .... 33 apiece.

[Zips Win!]

The problem is that he appears to get tired running the point, and sometimes makes a bad play due to the fatigue. Plus, he's not the greatest dribble penetrator, and the point man needs to do that. If they can find a way to get him back to the #2 spot more often, if McNees keeps progressing, Dials will likely become the go-to guy every time we need a long jumper.

Where do we disagree? You just reiterated my point. Dials cannot penetrate or move the offense. It was completely stagnant the last 4 minutes. He was 3-10 from the field, with one of those the desperation three. Not exactly great stats.Sure seems to me that Dials plays like he's mad on the court. And KD needs to stop worrying about the former players and start developing new ones...like McNees and McKnight.

[hoopla]

Zips Win seems to have a grudge against our best players... how can you say that quade and dials need less minutes. i think that they need more. dials needs to be on the floor as much as possible. the offense goes when he is in there. he has one of the best assist/turnover ratios in the league while learning a whole new possition. remarkable if you ask me. and quade needs to be on the floor for the simple fact that he changes shots around the rim. it is very difficult to score around the rim with quade being a rejector. yesterday was a great exaple of that. as uic coach jimmy collins quoted in the post game interview... “We knew they were a good transition team. Transition defense is what killed us. (Nick) Dials drove from end to end two or three times all the way to the hoop. They were obviously just more aggressive. I just believe that they beat us in transition and that was the difference.”i will have to add that he made some terrific passes on the break as well. i remember one to a running wood that started the second half. and i dont have to mention the oop to quade.linhart has improved a lot. but i dont know if it is improvemet as much as it is him playing with more confidence. he did this more often in fr. year. he has always been capable of playing real well like this. while i say linhart is plaing with more confidence, conyers is playing with much less confidence. his shot is awful right now and he is now starting to pass up wide open shots because of it. it will be interesting to see how the lineup changes because of this if it does at all... maybe another siting of a consistant 3 guard lineup?i am going to repeat what someone else said in this topic.... quades dunk was the best i have seen. amazing.