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Some final, random thoughts on the game... There will never be a bigger opportunity lost for the Zips to beat Ohio State in basketball. The Ohio State team I saw on Tuesday night was essentially Ohio U masquerading in Ohio State uniforms. In the MAC, that team would be 10-6. Maybe worse. I do believe the dead-legs excuse. I never saw 3-point shots careen off the backboard like I saw towards the end of that game. From guys like Antino and Josh, who are typically solid. The 4-games in 6 days...with all being do-or-die tourney games, and 4th going to OT was just too much. In hindsight I'm sure Dambrot wishes he'd have played Jimmond a little more, and rested McAdams. Buy I admire that he went with his seniors to win or lose the game. He didn't do that at the end of the Buffalo game (sitting McAdams for the final possession), and I bet it's a regret. And before anyone writes a sappy "please get of KD's back" post - if you ever were a successful head coach at any level, then you've coached in Championship games against good coaches and great talent. Those games are always dogfights. And you make calls that you, in hindsight, regret...but you make them and live with them. And if people question them...so what...it's part of the deal when you're a coach. The Zips had at least 12 opportunities to put pressure on OSU with a back-breaking 3-pointer, and came up empty every time. The Zips team I saw the bulk of 2015-16 should have won this game by 15+ points...but it didn't happen. The OSU fans were nice. I wanted to hate them, but they were all very respectful. The cheerleaders from both programs performed together at one point, and the arena even played the Akron fight song over the PA system during a break. That's unheard of in any road game, let alone a tightly-contested tournament game. Referees did a nice job. Absolutely no homer element. If those guys ref'd the MAC finals, we'd have won the game. No way Buffalo would have only 1 foul whistled in the first 17 minutes of the 2nd half. Big Dog has developed into a Big 10 talent. OSU really had no answer for him. I think he fouled 2 guys out? His free throw misses were brutal. But you can't knock a guy when he puts forth an effort like we've seen from him over the entire season. Zeke came to UA with the accolades, and had a very nice career. But a dominant senior season puts Big Dog as UA's #1 all-time best center. Who'da thunk that last season? Kwan had some big blocks. He's a good at-the-rim defender, but he's not a good on-ball defender. Especially so the further away he gets from the hoop. It will be interesting to see how he works on his game over the off season. We really need the redshirted kids to step up and contribute in 2016-17. There are plenty of game-minutes to be had for the kids that put in the most work this off-season. The coaches need to re-evaluate themselves, and the program too. What can be done differently to better prepare the Zips for post-season success? The scheduling mindset of the past decade appears to be in obvious need of re-evaluation. Is it better to play a freshman with upside than upper-classmen who may have maxed-out? Who redshirts? Who leaves? I don't have much more to offer that already hasn't been said. It was a fun ride, but an all-too abrupt stop. See you at InfoCision.

We all know Marcus is a stud, but hopefully the 5 sacks had more to do with him and not the O line...

Regardless of how someone feels about Keith, I find it so unfair when someone implies that we're winning a lot of games because of cupcakes. Or, that he might have a motive to play those teams to artificially "inflate" how good we are. I'll be the first one on here to say that our schedule needs to get better to raise our national profile. But we have beat plenty of good teams to amass the record that he has, and we do it consistently, year in and year out.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/high-school/other/high-school-basketball-st-v-m-two-wins-shy-of-cutting-down-championship-nets-in-columbus-1.669789 Graves, who is 6-2½... agrees with Joyce’s thoughts that depth has played a huge role in St. V-M’s playoff wins... “We rely on our defense because we know that our offense can score the ball, so defense, pressuring the ball and rebounding have been keys,” Graves said. “I want to bring a championship back to Akron.” Sounds like a loyal Akronite! Get on him, KD!!!

The other thing people seem to forget is that our great record isn't solely in the OOC 'cupcake season'. We won the MAC regular season by two full games. Most coaches at other MAC schools get offers from high majors and leave after winning the MAC. I don't know who would come in and replace Dambrot who could do better - not to mention the intangibles of the Lebron connection, the alumni factor, etc. Rather than Dambrot being the issue, perhaps a highly skilled assistant coach (well-paid by the University) could help jump things to the next level?

We need federal regulations governing the coaching of proper tackling technique! This country really has become dumber than Idiocracy.

Confirmed ..... Add one as he had 5 ..... Unstoppable Unannounced scrimmage tomorrow... Full go !! Wasnt there but confirmed

Do you really think KD wants to play top teams in the other conferences? does he limit those games so that the strength of the program does not show? i am just asking

Sounds like a good idea to me. I think last night's game clearly demonstrated that KD needs to toughen this team up a bit in the OOC. We lost to an extremely youthful (only 1 Senior and 1 Junior on their roster )... ...and depleted (their top 2 leading scorers were both in street clothes )... ...7th place B1G team We're not as good as we think we are.

Btw, announced attendance of 4700. Would have sold out the JAR. Nice job NIT.