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I agree with what most of you are saying, but I think a lot of people are missing the point.Firstly, when some say Akron should "play-up", it doesn't necessarily mean playing Duke and NC, like Can't. Obviously that doesn't do our program any good. However, what about those second-tier teams? Maybe teams in the Big 10 or even some teams in the Big East? Dayton beat Pitt this year! Considerably! Playing against better teams that aren't going to "blow us out" would really help the Zips. It would obviously give the program a little more exposure, and also would help the team improve. The MAC is a tough conference, year in and year out. The experience against better teams would only help in MAC games. The team expressed a sense of confidence after an "almost win" against ranked Dayton. Imagine the result of tough/close games against better opponents....Also, if the Zips did win the MAC, the experience would surely help in the tournament. Come on guys, we've all seen it. Year after year after year after year, there's a "fluke" team that makes it into the sweet 16, elite 8, etc. Why can't that team be the Zips? The answer is, IT CAN! A program like Akron gets guys that stick around for 4 years and are perfectly able to beat a more athletic, more talented team with experience and fundamental basketball. Lastly, let's all recognize that although we HATE Can't (using the word HATE here), it is a GREAT thing that they are ranked. It's great for all teams in the conference. It gives the MAC exposure and credibility. Oh, and did any of you say it will be even sweeter when we knock them off in the JAR on March 9th? :D ps. :screwks:

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I agree with what most of you are saying, but I think a lot of people are missing the point.Firstly, when some say Akron should "play-up", it doesn't necessarily mean playing Duke and NC, like Can't. Obviously that doesn't do our program any good. However, what about those second-tier teams? Maybe teams in the Big 10 or even some teams in the Big East? Dayton beat Pitt this year! Considerably! Playing against better teams that aren't going to "blow us out" would really help the Zips. It would obviously give the program a little more exposure, and also would help the team improve. The MAC is a tough conference, year in and year out. The experience against better teams would only help in MAC games. The team expressed a sense of confidence after an "almost win" against ranked Dayton. Imagine the result of tough/close games against better opponents....Also, if the Zips did win the MAC, the experience would surely help in the tournament. Come on guys, we've all seen it. Year after year after year after year, there's a "fluke" team that makes it into the sweet 16, elite 8, etc. Why can't that team be the Zips? The answer is, IT CAN! A program like Akron gets guys that stick around for 4 years and are perfectly able to beat a more athletic, more talented team with experience and fundamental basketball. Lastly, let's all recognize that although we HATE Can't (using the word HATE here), it is a GREAT thing that they are ranked. It's great for all teams in the conference. It gives the MAC exposure and credibility. Oh, and did any of you say it will be even sweeter when we knock them off in the JAR on March 9th? :D ps. :screwks:
in my original post i mentioned beatable big schools...for ex Iowa, whatever...point is, the current way dambrot schedules has brought us zip fans zero post season births...meanwhile Can't's program, whom has lost 4 of the last five to akron? gets a national ranking...bottom line is Can't's way works and akron's does not...and with all due respect if you think otherwise your delusional and you'll be talking about the same thing 3 years from nowthis team won 26 games last year and was ignored...BY THE NIT...and the issue as i recall was strenght of schedule
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this team had no excuses not to win the tournament just like last years team. wood is back from a "non serious" injury. a miniscus (sp?) is a 2 week injury at worst. dials and ced are now healthy. no excuses anymore for the zips. it is time to play. the mckights have been horrible the last couple of games. they need to pick it up. and nate has to be more consistant. those are the cold hard facts. everyone is trying to make excuses for this team when there should be none. put the success on the 3 seniors backs. let them make plays. i believe that if you do that we will win. and every other player needs to fill a role. i think that we are better than Can't. and that is the way they play. they have their top 2 or 3 guys make plays and everyone fill a role. i think that philosophy will work for this team as well. we have the talent.

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Can't has fared well so far, but their season is long way from over and the at-large bid that they would probably get if the season ended now hangs in a precarious balance. They have a trap game at BGSU coming up, a Miami team whose pace dictates close games night in and night out, and of course a trip to the JAR on March 6th. If they lose any of those games in combination with a MAC Tournament loss, tell me they won't be sweating bullets on Selection Sunday.Over the past decade they have indeed been the class of the MAC, but like gozips19 said, how many at-large bids has that gotten them? Not to mention the way they rely on JUCOs, they're one bad recruiting class away from being a bottom feeder and no sooner than an Al Fisher shows up and produces, he's being introduced for Senior Day. KD has been at the helm for a few years now, he's bringing in extremely talented (four-year) players, and hope upon hope, his local roots might keep him in town awhile. I wouldn't mind seeing a few tougher opponents (even on the road) on next year's schedule, but how exactly do you figure that Jim Christian is some sort of scheduling guru? Xavier, GMU, and UNC (completely unwinnable) were the highlights of their non-conference slate. Their performance overall (only one misstep, losing to sub-300 RPI Detroit) earned them an opportunity to play a St. Mary's squad (who are overrated IMHO... they're a sure bet for a first round tourney exit, you heard it here first) on BracketBuster weekend, and they took advantage. Add Duke to Akron's schedule it looks about the same as Can't's... and it would have been another loss (although a nice boost for the RPI).

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i am not knocking either way of scheduling but just a question.....since can't's way has worked so well in the past then why haven't they received an at large bid in the pat 10yrs? i'm not saying....i'm just saying.... :screwks:
What part of Can't's scheduling had worked so well? Was it their getting pummeled by UNC, or was it thier games against George Mason and St. Marys? I think the answer is obvious.We will have a good slate of solid mid-major teams on our schedule next year, including Dayton, Winthrop, Temple, and VCU. We will get a chance to play some "BCS" level teams in Puerto-Rico (I think we're in that tournament). If the MAC can continue to improve, we'll have a pretty solid schedule. Who cares if we don't get on TV only to be killed at Duke in the name of "exposure"? The only thing that is exposed is our inability to win on the road against a national championship contender.
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;) don't beat yourselves up over Can't...it happens on a regular basis that they are the class of the MAC...the Zips haven't been there and are not there...you can play Duke and NC and lose..but if you can't beat the VCU's, Nevadas etc etc. you don't deserve to be recognized for more than you are...a run of the mill team from a second or third rate conference...
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i am not knocking either way of scheduling but just a question.....since can't's way has worked so well in the past then why haven't they received an at large bid in the pat 10yrs? i'm not saying....i'm just saying.... :screwks:
Can't was in the tourney everytime they deserved to (at large or not).It is just happening that in the years they are good, they end up winning the tourney and making it without at-large.
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This shouldn't come down to a debate over whether Can't will, or will not, earn an at-large bid. The point is, they've put themselves in a POSITION to get an at-large, and we have NOT.And it's certainly not a question of record, because we already know that 26 wins got us rejected by BOTH tournaments. And our 20+ wins have fallen on deaf ears before. So, some people can talk all they want about "we shouldn't play top-notch teams because we'll just get beat", but it's obvious that schedule strength is a HUGE factor in the reason why we are not getting enough respect on a national stage, and have difficulty impressing post-season selection committees. If our philospophy doesn't change dramatically, and we don't take the chances necessary to improve our standing, we'll simply continue to get the same results. It appears that maybe a couple of you seem perfectly happy with that.

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Our schedule is good enough to get us an at large and will improve next year. The key is we have to WIN the games. Dayton win, VCU win, Can't sweep along with early tournament wins would have gotten us consideration of an at large bid.There is no doubt Can't would get an at large bid if they do not win the MAC tourney. You cannot be ranked in the top 25 this late in the season and not make it.

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Can't State is ranked right now. If they lose any of their last three games do you think they will still be ranked? They play at BGSU, home against Miami, and then at the JAR. There are two real loss possibilities in there. Don't go giving them an "at-large" just yet. If they are not ranked come the MAC tournament, and they don't win the MAC tournament, then the only thing they can say hello to is an NIT bid. Because that is what happens to teams in the MAC. Besides the fact that the only thing any fan on this board should be worrying about is beating them when they get in the JAR, and beating them at the Q.

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Can't State is ranked right now. If they lose any of their last three games do you think they will still be ranked? They play at BGSU, home against Miami, and then at the JAR. There are two real loss possibilities in there. Don't go giving them an "at-large" just yet. If they are not ranked come the MAC tournament, and they don't win the MAC tournament, then the only thing they can say hello to is an NIT bid. Because that is what happens to teams in the MAC. Besides the fact that the only thing any fan on this board should be worrying about is beating them when they get in the JAR, and beating them at the Q.
HELL YES, who cares about anything other than POUNDING can't and then being absolute assholes about it to them. THAT'S ALL THERE IS IN LIFE.
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There is no doubt Can't would get an at large bid if they do not win the MAC tourney. You cannot be ranked in the top 25 this late in the season and not make it.
The selection committee couldn't give a crap about the Top 25... especially one dated February 25th. Can't could absolutely fail to get an at-large.
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This shouldn't come down to a debate over whether Can't will, or will not, earn an at-large bid. The point is, they've put themselves in a POSITION to get an at-large, and we have NOT.And it's certainly not a question of record, because we already know that 26 wins got us rejected by BOTH tournaments. And our 20+ wins have fallen on deaf ears before. So, some people can talk all they want about "we shouldn't play top-notch teams because we'll just get beat", but it's obvious that schedule strength is a HUGE factor in the reason why we are not getting enough respect on a national stage, and have difficulty impressing post-season selection committees. If our philospophy doesn't change dramatically, and we don't take the chances necessary to improve our standing, we'll simply continue to get the same results. It appears that maybe a couple of you seem perfectly happy with that.
I personally would love to see a detailed post about why you are so enamored with Can't’s schedule. I don’t see much difference with our current philosophy and theirs. They try to schedule high mid majors –so do we, they schedule cupcakes to help get their 20 win seasons and develop a winning tradition – so do we, they enter a preseason tournament with quality teams and try to advance as far as possible- so do we, - they play in the bracket busters and get a return match –so do we……….We DON’T go play a Tier 1 BCS school like Duke, NC or Kansas (their game next year) on the road in a money/exposure game – That is the only philosophical difference and one that I happen to agree. Can't will have to deal with a real issue when it comes to the selection committee on the bubble– What does a 30 point blowout to NC mean – Is it positive or negative on the resume? And don’t kid yourself if you think it will count for scheduling points….I’d guess the likely interpretation from the big boys would be negative and compare it to a last place ACC team who might have even kept the NC score closer. Please review past Can't schedules and I think you will see that there is very little difference. And remember just 3 years ago, we played one hell of a schedule. Someone else already said it on the board - Can't’s number was up this year – They won the games they had to win –we didn’t, Their mid major opponents are having good years, ours are not.Here’s a what if for everyone? Go back to the Jan 23rd Can't game – 2nd half, we don’t falter and go on to win the following league games and avoid injuries. I think we would have been 21-4 or so going into a bracketbuster game with a very good draw. We don’t get St Marys (they are home, we are home) but a very good Drake ….maybe George Mason….maybe still VCU but still a top away team. So now we are sitting at 22-4 or something with a marquee bracketbuster win, close game with Dayton (doesn’t mean much) and wins over all our major conference foes who have RPIs under 100 and clearly the class of the MAC. Are we ranked in the top 25?This scheduling talk just nauseates me around here when people don’t look past the “current” RPI and into more details or get so caught up in "this " year. I’d recommend that anyone looking for scheduling history and information search posts from GoZips on the board – A lot of insight and behind the scenes information that helps explain how we got here – how the Great Alaska tourney turned sour on us. There’s just too much misinformation being spread on scheduling in these posts on what was done, tried and didnt work. One other thing – Every Mid major with aspirations wants to schedule the lower level BCS conference schools – that’s not rocket science. It’s also not rocket science that lower level BCS schools know how dangerous those games are to their program and avoid them or require package deals that favor them significantly for putting their butts out there. I love the argument that Can't schedule is so great because they are able to schedule lower level BCS schools – Sounds great but back to reality- Look at the past schedules and back things up with facts rather then knee jerk reactions. Can't's schedules are historically filled with enough cupcakes to keep the winning tradition and 20 win season thing alive. I apologize for the length of the post. Just my frustrated opinions on this ongoing beat to death subject.
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the people who want akron to have a harder schedule would be the first one to complain when we dont have a 20 win season.we had plenty of quality opponents to beat lik dayton,vcu ect.if we cannot beat them how are we supposed to win at n.c.and duke? the main reason we got left out by the nit is because they reduced the number of teams.how did the harder schedule help Can't last year.if i re-call we beat them 3x.i like what kd is doing with our program.we play games that winnable not pie in the sky dreams of beating duke,n.c.

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This shouldn't come down to a debate over whether Can't will, or will not, earn an at-large bid. The point is, they've put themselves in a POSITION to get an at-large, and we have NOT.And it's certainly not a question of record, because we already know that 26 wins got us rejected by BOTH tournaments. And our 20+ wins have fallen on deaf ears before. So, some people can talk all they want about "we shouldn't play top-notch teams because we'll just get beat", but it's obvious that schedule strength is a HUGE factor in the reason why we are not getting enough respect on a national stage, and have difficulty impressing post-season selection committees. If our philospophy doesn't change dramatically, and we don't take the chances necessary to improve our standing, we'll simply continue to get the same results. It appears that maybe a couple of you seem perfectly happy with that.
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This shouldn't come down to a debate over whether Can't will, or will not, earn an at-large bid. The point is, they've put themselves in a POSITION to get an at-large, and we have NOT.And it's certainly not a question of record, because we already know that 26 wins got us rejected by BOTH tournaments. And our 20+ wins have fallen on deaf ears before. So, some people can talk all they want about "we shouldn't play top-notch teams because we'll just get beat", but it's obvious that schedule strength is a HUGE factor in the reason why we are not getting enough respect on a national stage, and have difficulty impressing post-season selection committees. If our philospophy doesn't change dramatically, and we don't take the chances necessary to improve our standing, we'll simply continue to get the same results. It appears that maybe a couple of you seem perfectly happy with that.
rack that post...i hear a bunch of apologist in here...no one said christian was a scheduling guru....alot of you convienently mention that UNC blowout but no one mentions they played right with Duke...one more time...Can't's way works and akrons does not...if Can't does not get the automatic MAC birth they will get an at large...
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no one mentions they played right with Duke
So did VCU, they weren't that good last year.
one more time...Can't's way works and akrons does not...
If by "Can't's way", you mean "winning games", then you're right. Otherwise, I'm not sure what you're talking about.
if Can't does not get the automatic MAC birth they will get an at large...
Probably... but it depends on what they do in their next three games and in the MAC Tournament, it's by no means a done deal.
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one more time...Can't's way works and akrons does not...if Can't does not get the automatic MAC birth they will get an at large...
Please check facts on Kents way and how they got here and more importantly their historical schedules before starting a their way/our way argument. (Hint and to save you the work – I’m telling you there are no facts to support it.)Their two marquee wins (George Mason, St Marys) are compliments of the Bracketbuster and return game. Can't is one regular season MAC loss away from being very much on leaning off the at large bubble. Watch, after they lose 1 of the remaining 3, their stock will plummet. If they make it clean thru the regular season and lose in the tourney, I'll give you the at large birth but one misstep and I think you will see the committee “why nots” come out of the wood work quickly. Especially, if George Mason continues to slide and St Mary's struggles with Gonzaga.
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this team had no excuses not to win the tournament just like last years team. wood is back from a "non serious" injury. a miniscus (sp?) is a 2 week injury at worst. dials and ced are now healthy. no excuses anymore for the zips. it is time to play. the mckights have been horrible the last couple of games. they need to pick it up. and nate has to be more consistant. those are the cold hard facts. everyone is trying to make excuses for this team when there should be none. put the success on the 3 seniors backs. let them make plays. i believe that if you do that we will win. and every other player needs to fill a role. i think that we are better than Can't. and that is the way they play. they have their top 2 or 3 guys make plays and everyone fill a role. i think that philosophy will work for this team as well. we have the talent.
That is a solid post. Somewhere between the program supporters who think KD has never made an objectionable move in his career, and who think expecting something beyond 20 wins is flat-out being spoiled....and those "fans" who are chugging Drain-o because we're "only" 19-8 at the end of February, with a schedule that in no way shape or form compares to K.e.n.t., even though with the exception of one game vs. UNC is EXACTLY the same schedule as K.e.n.t...lies where we're at today -- We'll likely be 22-9 going into the MAC tourney as the #3 seed, coming off a win over a Top 25 K.e.n.t. team. We're as healthy as we'll ever be. And as hoopla stated above, we'll go as far as Ced, Dials and Wood take us. Which SHOULD be a finals berth...and that I EXPECT with be a finals berth...the same results of which all UA fans should expect from this team (spoiled brats that we are). ;)
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Blue and Gold....You might be right. In fact, I've always been frustrated with how the "power" conferences get 6-8 teams into the tourney, and Akron gets left at home with 20+ wins. That's exactly why I have made the comments I have made on this thread. JUST WINNING GAMES is not going to get us an at-large bid. We already know that. Someone commented about taking a look at Can't's schedule. And someone else has commented that the difference is probably just a matter of putting a couple more high ranked opponents on our schedule. But, with our current philosophy of not wanting to play road games without a return trip, can we get that sos high enough to gain some merit with the selection committees? I don't know, but I do know that some people on this thread are indicating that we'll have a much higher ranked schedule next year. We'll see. I can see that Can't's strength of schedule ranks about 50 positions higher than ours. I'm sure that's helping their chances right now. Of course, we don't know if they will get an at-large bid, but they've certainly hit the right combination of wins and schedule strength to get national attention, and put themselves in a position to do so.

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no one mentions they played right with Duke
So did VCU, they weren't that good last year.
one more time...Can't's way works and akrons does not...
If by "Can't's way", you mean "winning games", then you're right. Otherwise, I'm not sure what you're talking about.
if Can't does not get the automatic MAC birth they will get an at large...
Probably... but it depends on what they do in their next three games and in the MAC Tournament, it's by no means a done deal.
akron won 26 games last year and what did that get them?
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one more time...Can't's way works and akrons does not...if Can't does not get the automatic MAC birth they will get an at large...
Please check facts on Kents way and how they got here and more importantly their historical schedules before starting a their way/our way argument. (Hint and to save you the work – I’m telling you there are no facts to support it.)Their two marquee wins (George Mason, St Marys) are compliments of the Bracketbuster and return game. Can't is one regular season MAC loss away from being very much on leaning off the at large bubble. Watch, after they lose 1 of the remaining 3, their stock will plummet. If they make it clean thru the regular season and lose in the tourney, I'll give you the at large birth but one misstep and I think you will see the committee “why nots” come out of the wood work quickly. Especially, if George Mason continues to slide and St Mary's struggles with Gonzaga.
FACT...Can't has had more NCAA bids than akron...what else is there?by some of you fellas reasoning akron should have been ranked last season...i mean 26 wins is good season and would get most schools a tourney birthand the MAC has had at large bids in the past
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