Blue & Gold

Marla Ridenour: UA men's soccer team finds right blend of young and old in Nick of time

We know the Zips coverage is laughable from the ABJ. They've got a D-1 university across the street and don't seem capable of giving them reasonable coverage. Here is the ABJ article from last night's UA-v-YSU game. It's a "Beacon Journal staff report" because... you know... Youngstown is so far away they couldn't be expected to actually send anyone to cover the game. Ohio.com's Akron -v- Youngstown State game coverage Now look what the ABJ (Ohio.com) offered for last night's Akron STVM -v- Akron Hoban football playoff game in comparison to what Cleveland.com did. There is no comparison, really. Ohio.com's Akron STVM -v- Akron Hoban coverage Cleveland.com's coverage of the Akron STVM -v- Akron Hoban game Cleveland.com has a game story, and focusses on a Hoban player (a human interest story?! The Beacon Journal has forgotten that those used to be a thing.) and 9... 9!... 9!!!... nine!... nine!!... NINE... NINE... NINE!!! videos!!! The Beacon sports (lack of) coverage has insulted and upset me for years. But now I'm just worried about Akron actually having a news source at all.

+1

I like this. It'd be a true shake-up... and maybe that's what this team needs. There seems to be a little sense of entitlement with a few of the players. We need the Kwan who played like he did to get out of KD's doghouse last season - bang down low & focus on defense. I agree Josh has been disappointing. I saw him play Idk how many times in high school & he was just sublime. When Josh was only a sophomore he'd be the best player on the court. His senior year he was the best player & leader of a STVM team that was ranked #3 in the country by USA Today but got upset in the state tourney. I was more excited about Josh's signing that I've ever been about any Zips basketball signing - except for perhaps when we signed Zeke Marshall. But... he's been pretty underwhelming to me so far at this level. Just doesn't move quite quickly enough. Rarely even tries driving to the basket, can't rebound & is below-average-at-best on defense. Bringing Josh off the bench for some "instant offense" might be a good move. I'm baffled as to why & troubled that Utomi didn't see the floor last night. I was under the impression that Utomi was the clear heir apparent for Reggie & Jake's minutes & why we were going to have a more athletic lineup this year. Like someone else stated, if KD doesn't have confidence in either Eubanks or, especially, Utomi to give either of them a single minute in a close game (& a game in which we were -like many Zips games- getting "out athlete-ed"... I'm quite worried about that. Dunn-Martin is the man & probably the best pure scorer on the team already. Wow.

+1. Antino is a PG, and our best PG at that. Okay... Lead Guard; not the pure PG Noah is... but Antino needs the ball in his hands. Noah had a better start to his freshman season, other than that, Antino's been the clearly superior player. Make them compete for PT & up both of their games. Ivey & Dunn-Martin need to see the floor more.

Agreed. If you're a starter KD seems to give you too much slack but non-starters don't get the same opportunity to play through mistakes. Last night Ivey was yanked after a mistake (don't remember what, exactly) & KD pulled him. I turned to my friend & said, "I wouldn't have been able to play for KD. He would've crushed my confidence. I was always so worried about making mistakes I needed coaches who told me to calm down, take a deep breath & chill - this is only a game."

Oh boy, I don't really want to get into this... because I hate being negative & I love all of our players for simply wearing "Akron" on their chests. But typically, over Aaron's 3 years here, Aaron's not been a big contributor at this level. He hasn't seen a lot of PT & when he does play he's more or less used as a placeholder to give the starter a rest. He's an energy/effort guy, but sometimes the game just seems to move a little too quickly for Aaron. But having said that, it's Aaron's senior year & I hope he makes a big jump & has a really productive year! & no matter what I hope he has fun & gets his degree - that's all that really matters in the end.

And props to YSU. They played well - outplayed us in every aspect of the game tonight. I was in Youngstown so wasn't able to listen to the postgame show. Was anyone able to listen? How did KD try to explain that big dump we took on the court tonight?

Lame sauce!! Where is Daniel Utomi?! Not surprised Olojakpoke didn't get any PT. He doesn't move like a baller. If you don't know what I mean by that, I can't explain it to you. Kwan is too streaky. Did he even score once in the 2nd half? Dunn-Martin's gonna be pretty good. I like his fire. Josh & Noah could use some of that. They're both cool as cucumbers... but it gets to a point where it looks like they're sleepwalking... even to the point of being disinterested. Start Ivey over Josh. We need his length and athleticism out there if we're gonna start/play Antino & Noah together. I liked Ivey's rebounding. Big Mike looked comfortable out there for his first college game... but he's no Big Dog. If Aaron Jackson gets this much PT the rest of the year... it's gonna be a long year. Michigan must really suck.

3-0 & 4-0 wins over a good WMU team. Don't want to jinx us, but are we sincerely beginning to click?

Coach KD Expects Zips to Play Well in Opener Against YSU http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/university-of-akron-basketball-coach-keith-dambrot-expects-zips-to-play-well-in-opener-against-youngstown-state-1.726535

I've always liked the monochrome look. I do wish they had a touch of gold, though. I also like the script Akron. Old school. Curious to see the away uni's. Alternates? I'd like to see gold uni's. We haven't rocked gold uni's since the days of Romeo, Wood & Joyce. Time flies; that's been a while now.

New uni's

Thanks! Too easy. lol

I hate to say it, but I thought Tyrell Goodman looked just as good, if not better than TC5. If I'm Bowden, I'm giving TG2 all the 1st-team reps @ QB over these next 2 weeks to get him ready to go -vs- Ohio. I'd tell Woody he's done for the year & to just concentrate on getting healthy. Edit: TG2 was an excellent high school QB, btw. I believe he was the POtY in the state of New York his senior year. Idk why the coaches could see TG2, while a great athlete, wasn't a D-1 level QB but weren't able to see that w/ TC5. TG2 & TC5 are virtual carbon copies. Edit 2: TG2 already has better chemistry w/ Send It In Jerome than TC5 does.

Woody just tweeted "Nothin better than a chiropractor poppin your neck & back.." Don't know if that's par for the course or if this is special treatment for Woody's injury. (I don't know how to cut & paste a tweet. Sorry)

I suppose you recruit to your needs, but TripleDoubleProspects.com has Ellet's A.J. Gareri & STVM's Javon Graves rated as the #4 & #5 players, respectively, in the state of Ohio. Both from Akron, IMO, these are the player we'd want to keep home. https://tripledoubleprospects.com/2017-player-rankings/ Gareri's a 6'8" PF & Graves is a 6'2" combo guard. I know we offered Graves but I'm not sure how hard we really went after him. I didn't hear any buzz about us pursuing A.J., even though I've seen him at a few Zips football games w/ some of his friends. It seems like he would have been happy to stay home & playing for his hometown U. He signed with Ohio & seems happy about it. Good for him - he seems like a really nice kid. By comparison, TDP has Jayden Sayles (also a PF) listed as the #11 player in the state. I've never seen Sayles play. But I will admit that A.J. is a little soft & doesn't like to mix it up down low. He actually has a really nice 3-point stroke, but that often takes him away from the basket. UA may have been looking for more of a banger @ PF instead of the proverbial "stretch" PF.

Time to update this again. Removing Jordan Davis & adding Eric Parrish & Jaden Sayles

Good thread. I'm a bit frustrated with this too. Frustration with Zips' athletics... Why do I even let myself care?

No, TC5 was definitely a QB recruit @ Pitt. He played locally @ K.e.nt Roosevelt & put up amazing statistics in high school, but... I saw him play a couple of times and I can honestly say I wasn't overwhelmed. He was clearly a physical specimen & a superior athlete. But I wasn't impressed with either his throwing accuracy or his decision making - in high school where the game is played much more slowly. Again, he did put up fantastic stats, but his 4-star rating must have been due to potential? On a handful of occasions I remember thinking, "Oooh, that'd get picked off in college..." "Oooh, that'd get picked in college..." "Oooh, that'd get picked in college..." What I don't understand is how I can see that, but men who know so much more about football than I do & have so much more experience than I do thought/think differently. Edit: I think the Zips coaching staff was hoping against hope that they had caught lightning in a bottle with TC5. It just really hasn't worked out that way. Hopefully we can use him differently next year, i.e., position change.

Thanks, Dr. Z! Look forward to these every week!

If Woody's done the season's done. I'm probably gonna go to the JAR & watch the basketball team take on Ga. Southern instead of watching our final fb game vs. OU.

Good call by johnnyzip84

We're just utterly decimated by injury.