Akron vs OU

[Zip Watcher]

Count how many possessions they used the 1-3-1 last night, and report back.I'm thinking of a very low number .. wasn't a factor.

[ZachTheZip]

Count how many possessions they used the 1-3-1 last night, and report back.I'm thinking of a very low number .. wasn't a factor.

A quote from the Plain Dealer article: "The challenge was daunting for the Bobcats just walking into Rhodes Arena. But they were up to the challenge from the opening tip starting with picking up Akron's guards in the backcourt to keep them from running, then with a 1-3-1 zone, then a man-to-man once the ball got inside."The defense changed depending on where the ball was. They didn't stick to a single type of defense for an entire possession, they changed it up in the middle of a play to suit their needs.Also, if we hit ANY of those open shots we were getting all game, this wouldn't have been nearly as close, but I think that's a product of OU's positioning being able to keep our guards from getting any type of rythm.

[Zipsrifle]

From what I saw last night, OU has some GREAT athletes! How many times did their big guys pull up to nail a jumper or toss in a hook? Tillman is in a league of his own! I'm not the BB expert, but they seemed to take better shots or were fundamentally better shooters. Wood was all alone under the basket, he needs some help down there. I also got the impression we weren't as disciplined. When we were up by 9, we made several bad decisions that allowed them to quickly get back into the game. We had a lot of shots that were off balance, forced, or passed up good looks. This may have been a result of the team working for a good look since OU was really playing D. Crowd was GREAT! I got to the game just before the tip, and wasn't worried about getting a ticket. Boy was I suprised when I walked in to see a nearly packed house! Loud, energetic, and boy did that guy with the microphone get the crowd pumped up!!! Didn't expect that many people there, I think this is a VERY good sign that people are taking notice of the program!As for the officiating, whe have some people saying the ref's sucked, and others thowing around numbers to say how even they are. From my seat, the majority of the first half was atrocious. Akron was getting called for anything and everything, while it was OK for the OU to pound away. The turning point, IMO, was when the crowd finally got fed up. We're not a bunch of idots and know what legitimate fouls are. Sure we will disagree at times, but everyone knows when they are REALLY getting screwed. After one call, the crowd just kept coming at the refs and I think the refs realized that they would have some serious crowd problems on National TV if they didn't shape up. Things calmed down from there and actually, I think the refs were biased the other way against OU in the 2nd half. I think almost everyone agrees that Bubba's shot at the end of the game was selfish. In my mind, he has been thinking about that shot for the last two years. Akron's the top team in the MAC, he hits the big 3 IN AKRON allowing OU to win the game! He's the hero in Athens and sticks it to his old team and fans who hate him on their home court! He couldn't pass it up. He took the shot and missed. I'm glad he's not at Akron.In the end, I think OU was a higher quality team, and if home court means that much, I don't give us much chance when it comes to playing in Athens. I haven't seen Can't this year, but if they are that much better than OU, we're in trouble. Hopefully this team can contiune to grow so that we are that much better when it comes to MAC Tourney time.

[Valpo Zip]

ZipsRifle just spoke my mind. I think that if this game is played like 10 times. Ohio will win 9 of them. I am sorry to say this but i feel that they were the best team. We needed Bubba to screw up and Linhart to have that WoW tip and the crowds to be at their best, and that only gave us a win by 1.We're not light years away from being a better team, we just need 3 things:1 - better free throw shooting.2 - help for J-wood (Quade and/or Mcknight)3 - Conyers hit a Darn open jump shot.

[GoZips88]

Bardo came in early and exited early. Any chance he's going to be able to contribute meaningful, productive minutes any time soon? I know he's considered by some to be a project but is he going to go down as a KD 'miss?' Quade didn't contribute much either. Is McKnight our only hope at this point for Wood?

[GoZips]

ZIPS 88, excellent questions. My view is that Bardo is a work in progress who actually managed to give several decent not excellent minutes. Bardo's lame attempt toscore under the basket boosted fan dislike for him. That hurts. He is better than that.The one person in the rotation capable of working down low with J-Wood is Brett McKnight. Brett is tough as a box of rocks. He just has not seen enough playingtime (are you listening KD?). Brett has the muscle and the grit to go shoulder to shoulder with Tillman and Williams. Better still; Brett has the SIZE to post up anddefend against these two excellent big men. It is game experience that Brett lacks which is why KD did not utilize him.Quade Milum is a fine and developed finesse player. Physical games shut him down. Quade has to look beyond throwing down alley oops.Chris McKnight probably could match up against Tillman and Williams given the floor time. However, in the game Jimmy Conyers was playing effective defense and the coaches elected to keep him in for his defense. Jimmy appears to have confidence problems shooting the ball away from the basket. His put backs are fine.Time and experience will improve Jimmy's shots.