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Deji should be playing 30 minutes a night. It sickened me that he wasn't in for the last two minutes.

Akron has been among the final two teams standing in Cleveland in seven of the last eight years. Do we lose some important games? Sure. Do we win more important games than we lose? The results don't lie. I'm not sure how it was dumb to put Walters on Juice...he defended the play as well as you can defend it, Brown just hit the tough shot.

Personally I thought it was a dumb move to put Walters on Juice. When I saw Walters sub-in, I knew the shot was going in. I'm tired of losing to Toledo. If anyone wants to know why attendance is down, we lose games that matter in our own conference. It's boring to watch the Zips beat up on teams that we always beat up on, and it really, really, really sucks to lose to teams we need to beat.

As far as game day experience, do you think they could find 20 people/groups a year to sing the National Anthem? The taped anthem needs to go.

I feel a lot better about Antino today than I did yesterday. He's gonna be a difference maker. Re: Deji - I would have loved to see him in at the end for offensive purposes, but honestly, Malcolm played dang near perfect D on that shot. Fought through the screen and stuck with him with a hand in his face. Sometimes, the other guy is just better and Juice deserves the credit for knocking that down.

Good catch. Iowa State students do have to purchase a sports pass. To attend men's basketball games a student must purchase a $249 all sports pass, which they have sold out this season. While a student can purchase a football only sports pass for $125 (also sold out), there is no option to purchase a basketball only sports pass. Source

A 2 for 1 was not an option because the Zips did not take a timeout until there were 53 seconds left. Even if we took a shot within 10 seconds, Toledo gets the ball back with about 40 seconds on the time clock. We get a few seconds left but not enough time for a good shot. The problems is that we did not score in the last 3 minutes of the game. Pat missed 2 shots, Antino took a bad 3 shot several feet behind the 3 line that wasn't close and Malcom missed a wide open three. (Antino also took a wild 3 at the end of the Eastern Michigan game) We do not have a go to guy at the end of the game. In the Buffalo game we did not score in the last 5 minutes. In the Middle Tenn. game, we did not even get off a shot trying to get the ball into Pat. The only buzzer beater we had this year is from Gladden on an offensive put back. (I still think that KD needs to have a guy in at the end of the game that can create his own shot, Deji, Gladden, or Aron Jackson) I thought Antino played great in his first start but you could tell he was wearing out in the second half. Malcom was great for a guy who never played any meaningful minutes until tonight. We are a young team and that is the problem with a young team. They have a senior point guard with experience,Juice Brown and we don't.

The 2 for 1 is an interesting option. The Zips rebounded a missed Toledo shot with 59 seconds on the clock. Had they rushed a shot in 10-15 seconds, Toledo would likely have used the full 35 seconds on their possession, leaving the Zips with another 10-15 seconds for their final play. The Zips haven't shown great ability to get off shots in 10-15 seconds, and that would have been compounded tonight without their starting PG available to quarterback the plays. The Zips typically do better when they take the time to set up an open man. Pat had an opportunity for a high percentage shot with 32 seconds left but was bumped pretty hard as he was releasing and no foul was called. I think if the Zips had missed a couple of quick shots and Juice had delivered on his that there would have been complaints that the Zips should have taken the time to set up a high percentage shot as they normally do. As to why Antino was on the bench late in the game, he was physically exhausted. He averages 13 minutes per game and played 31 minutes tonight. Antino waved to the bench for a sub whenever he thought his exhaustion was hurting the team. Antino asked to be taken out with about 2 minutes left and then returned with about 1 minute left after he'd caught his breath. Otherwise, Coach Dambrot always tries to have the players on the floor at the end of a close game who he thinks will perform most reliably in the specific situation.

Why would KD have Antino, Deji, and Aaron Jackson on the bench with 1:42 left? They are the players that made big shots to come back from being down 10.

I've seen that before... Let's hope they peak the week after

This year. But it happened for several years before that. The damage is done. The issue now is many students think they cannot sit down low unless they are a member. And just last year I heard of folks getting their student IDs scanned and not being given a wristband, despite those same seats being given to people who have long graduated and are no longer students. It is what it is, The Rowdies can continue to be a diminishing presence at games or they can take a tough look in the mirror and figure out how to be more inclusive. Hopefully they choose the latter.

I do not understand what KD is thinking when he did not have Deji out there the last 3 minutes. He is the second leading scorer, can drive to the basket, has senior experience and is very good defensively. We did not score the last 3 minutes. When I saw the lineup of Kwan, Pat, Reggie, Jake and Antino there was no question that the ball was going to Pat down low. They double teams him and he missed a hard shot. The last shot by Juice was a fade away 15 footer with a hand in his face. He made a great shot. Tough loss at home but at least we did not get blown out. When they were up by 10 I did not know if we could come back. At least we showed some fight.

You want to cut something, cut the number of administrative positions.

Well that sucked.

ZTZ Said: What exactly have we won? Yes, we beat the occasional power conference team, but those are always away from the JAR. We beat up on cupcakes at home, and then we beat MAC teams which doesn't mean much because most MAC teams have been awful for decades. We beat more MAC teams in the conference tournament, and then we lose in the post-season. (Sorry, Quote function doesn't work on my work computer.) I've been thinking about this a lot. I've been a season ticket holder for a while now, driving an hour each way to any home game I come to. A few years ago, I wouldn't miss a game. This year, I find myself less than enamored with the drive and find myself staying at home, trying to watch a poor internet feed instead. Why am I less excited this year? I think it comes down to complacency. Once you've seen something several times, it's not as attractive any more. Even if it's really good stuff, it's natural to view it as "been there, done that". Seeing Mount Rushmore the first time is amazing. Seeing it a second time, still cool. But do you want to see it a third time? There are some things, like the Grand Canyon, that awe you regardless of how many times you see it. Duke, Kentucky, Kansas: They're the Grand Canyon. Gonzaga has become Niagara Falls. The Zips in their current form--they're Mount Rushmore, if they're lucky. Is going to the Big Dance three times in the past 6 years a great accomplishment? Compared to what Akron did before that, of course. But we're kind of in an eternal DO-loop here. Not only with losing in the first round of the Tournament, but in everything else as well. The opponents are still the same as they were 5 years ago--literally. The game day experience is actually worse. KD still talks about the MACC being the only thing that matters. It's all well and good to say "yes, but look at the recruits we're getting now". The problem is, we said the same thing 5 years ago. At some point, even if something is really good, it goes stale and loses its luster if it stays the same too long. if you're not moving forward, you're being left behind.

Yup! It's the chicken and the egg right now. He needs to show people (top recruits in particular) that he is still the man. I am quite sure nobody was more disappointed in not going to a bowl game last year. That would have shown major progress and I bet would have landed a few more recruits. He needs to WIN and show some of the "Bowden Magic".

I found a short, but interesting interview with Adam Najem that I don't think anyone else has posted on here. Here is the link: http://collegesoccerexposed.blogspot.com/2015/02/collegesoccerexposed-sits-down-with.html He talks about different aspects of college soccer and his time spent playing in Germany.

thanks for finding and sharing with us.