Hello again ZipsNation. I hope everyone reading this has had a good holiday season. So the Zips completed the first third of the conference portion of the 12-13 slate last night, and I thought now was as good a time as any to take a step back and look at where things stand. Due to circumstances, I missed the MTSU, CSU and Ball St. games in person. Listened to CSU, caught the MTSU game on the feed with French in the background. So with the usual apologies to Sergio Leone, here goes: The Goo
Greetings Zips fans! And isn't it great to be that?!
Well, our Zips head to the crossover games with a 4-1 conference record, a one game lead over the next closest team in the East, and what appears to be a whole lot of momentum. Thought now would be an appropriate time to update the View on the current state of the Zips since the VCU game. So with the customary apology to Sergio Leone .. here goes:
The Good:
Firs
Well, the Zips let a good team off the hook @ the JAR. It was an entertaining game for certain. But I can't shake the sense that the Zips really let a good resume win sneak out the back door. Kept some mental notes as it went down, and with apologies to Sergio Leone .. here goes: The Good Nikola carried the Zips for much of the game. The feeling I had watching this was that Nik is really starting to emerge as the clear leader of this team (with AA as well). He really played his tail off ton
Happy Holidays to all! My sincere wish for everyone is for prosperity with challenges in the new year, because prosperity in the face of challenges keeps us sharp and is the most rewarding type. Regardless, best to all. Due to a very busy couple of quarters, I haven't been posting many hoops thoughts. This entry was started 3 weeks ago, and I'm just now coming back to it now. A recent topic around ZN.O has been "what is Akron Basketball" .. probably because there's so many new faces trying t
What a week it was. From the loss at Can't State to the 2nd MAC Tourney title in 3 years in a matter of 8 days. I'm digging out of the short week from last week, during this short week before heading to Chicago. Thought I would put down some of my thoughts about the MAC Tourney while they remained fresh in my mind. Brevity is king here, because awesomeness needs few words. And awesome it was! B) So with the customary nod to Sergio Leone, my take aways from the weekend of dreams at the Q:
When I last summarized my thoughts on the Zippers, they were win the basement looking up at the MAC East, with 2 losses against West bottom feeders, and in a fight to simply earn a home game. What a difference a week makes. The Zips now find themselves a bit closer to the top than the bottom, and the potential for a bye seems slighty more realistic. Still much work to be done fans, but they've pulled themselves together and actually looked like a KD coached Zips team the last few games. The
I think it's safe to say that not many of us expected to see the Zips in their current position halfway through the MAC portion of the season. After several seasons of leading or always being within a game of the East lead, our Zips find themselves in unfamiliar territory: The Zips are looking up at every team in the East, including OU when the tiebreakers are considered. Not only that, but the Zips only lead CMU and UT in the combined seedings at the moment. CMU by virtue of last weeks win v
OU isn't as good as they looked last night, and the Zips aren't nearly as bad. In my opinion, they're much closer to each other than you might think. There's a story you hear about Jim Tressel as an offensive coordinator somewhere early in his career where he ran the same play like 4 or 5 times to start a game. I think it may have been at BW with his Dad's team. HC asks him "why don't you run a different play?" Young Tressel says .. "Why? They haven't stopped the one I'm running now." To
The Zips enter conference play this weekend, so what better time to chime in on the season so far, and what lies ahead. I feel comfortable asserting that this team has before it an opportunity to establish themselves as the best team in the league, and a worthy torch bearer of the KD Era Zips. Will they do it? ... guess they gotta play the games .. So with the customary nod to Sergio Leone, my thoughts on the season so far: The good: - No bad losses. The Zips have beaten the teams they were
The Zips dodged a bullet last night, and dispatched YSU in overtime, with plenty of good offensive performances to go around. First, the box score (still waiting for StatSheet to get the +/- run .. hopefully that'll be soon. Zips 91 - Penguins 84 Box Score I didn't write any notes down last night, so these are from memory the morning after. With the customary regrets to Sergio Leone, my observations from the JAR: The Good: Took a punch, landed the last one: KD is fond of this concept, and it's
Great early season basketball game tonight by our Zips and the Flyers. Not a win, but an entertaining look into what the team looks like and what we might expect against good D1 competition. Great to have it on TV. From what I saw in the in-game thread, I'm glad I muted the FSN guys and put on Frenchy. So we're off! Another season of dreams is underway. First off, the box score, as presented by StatSheet.Com And with sincere apologies to Sergio Leone, my notes from the game ... The Good: Re
It's been almost 2 months since the end of the season, and my notes have been on the desk since then. Life & business have delayed this summary, but I did intend to post about a month after the season. I feel like a little time away gives me better perspective on the season that was. Note that this is an effort to capture my thoughts on the season that was, NOT the events since the last game or the changes afoot for next season. That's for another day. So once again, with sincere apologi
Apologies for the scarcity of my notes and postings. It's been a hectic season away from the JAR for Watcher & family. I was hoping to comment a few times after the non-con, after the first East swing, the West .. etc, but not all of that happened. In August, I posted this entry where I summed up my perspective of last season's events. I believed then, as I do now, that the 2008-2009 Zips were among the best 2 D1 Zips team to date. Now we enter the second season of 2009-2010. The regular
In August I posted a wrapup from the MAC Championship Season of 2008-09. Saturday, the Zips begin the MAC portion of the 2009-10 slate on Saturday vs. Bowling Green @ 7PM at the JAR. Others have gotten into grading of the team, player by player. I'd like to take a look at the bigger picture of things rather than just individual performances. The Zips win as a team and lose as a team. The Good: The Zips are winning. A lot. At the conclusion of the non-conference schedule, the Zips stand at 1
It's mid-August of 2009, and football season is less than a month away. What better time to revisit the Championship Season that was the 2008-09 Akron Men's Basketball Zips!? I was home under the weather earlier this week feeling miserable, and searching for something to watch yielded few options, so I cued up the best thing that resides on my DVR system. March 14, 2009 is the only prescription for a crappy day. What a great day .. and great weekend. Got to share it with my family & frie
This is not really game analysis stuff, so I'm posting separately. It doesn't really live up to CK's "Run Son RUN!" tale from the U@B game at the Rubber Bowl, but I'm passing it along regardless. People ask me all the time why I'm such a big Zips fan, not being an alumnus and all (grew up in the area) .. and my only response is that it was one of the first teams my Dad would take me to as a kid. So it stuck with me. Well, my son is 4 years old now .. the Zips are something like 50-4 with him in
Thanks for the comments on the last topic, 2007-08 in retrospect. After thinking more about the season, I realized I forgot to bring up 2 things that will stick with me from the season. They further cement my high opinion of the current regime, their approach to the program, their priorities, and their stewardship of our Zips. #1 - I've been going to Zips games steadily the past 10 years since I moved back into the area .. and on & off over the prior 15 years. In my time at the JAR, there
We're now halfway through the off-season for Zips Men's hoops. So I thought it might be a good time to take a look back at last season, look forward to next, examine the roster, current recruiting .. and miscellaneous topics. Mostly this helps keep me upbeat as the Tribe have rolled over before the All-Star Break and my on-course club selection has been horrible. Today's topic: Four months after its conclusion, and four months removed from the day to day highs and lows of the season, let's ta
I think it's safe to say that today's bad news is a punch in the gut for all Zips hoops fans. It's bad on so many levels .. losing a team MVP / league POY candidate in the stretch run .. seeing Jeremiah lose more time to his knee .. the general struggles of this senior class to find their way to good health for a chance to build further upon last season. Mostly, I'm disapointed for JWood. The guy is already the best big man ever to play at UA in the D1 era .. there's probably not much debat
A couple of observations about the SF position on the Zips: Linhart & Conyers were tasked w/ guarding Christian & at times Tyndale. Now Cedric was involved in the defensive rotations on those 2 as well ... but lets look at the production of Temple's 2 key swing men. Coming in, they were combining to average 36 points & 9.8 rebounds. On Monday night the produced: 20 points, 12 rebounds & 8 turnovers. First & foremost, the Zips beat opponents w/ defense. The defense keys
Hope everyone has had a nice holiday weekend so far. OK, so we're back from Fairbanks .. back on Eastern Time & I've had a little time to put my thoughts together on the team heading into this little homestand on Saturday. Disclaimer: Keep in mind these are the observations of an un(basketball)educated fan .. I'm not a former player or coach .. just love the Zips and have watched a lot of college hoops over the years. Current Status: Backcourt The Zips are THIN in the backcourt right now.
Notes from Game 3 vs. Tennessee State: - A nice all around effort by the Zips. Don't concentrate too hard on the margin of victory .. they played better as a team defensively and moved the ball better on offense than Saturday night. - Dials had a nice night .. was finding his shot in the second half. Clutch shooting when it counted late. - Free throws were certainly a factor & the game would not have been at issue if they even shoot their usual 70% in the second half. By my rough count, I
Sunday was one of the best days we've had in a long time. Our son's 3rd birthday takes place while we will be in Fairbanks with the men's hoops team. So we threw the party early. Much to my son's surprise, his favorite kangaroo paid a visit to his house. I must tell you that it was by far the best thing we could ever get the kid. He took Zippy around and showed him all the presents. He opened things w/ Zippy & had Zippy help. They played together & Zippy conducted the Happy Birthda
