Leaderboard

We have a "cannon" that shoots tee shirts into the second row. I feel bad for the kids up top...they scream like crazy for a shirt, and 99.7% of them land in Blue Hair Land. How many shirts can the elderly use? We need an "Adult Diaper Cannon" if we aren't going to fix that thing.

This came in todays mail. I always pay my gambling debts. No matter who on this board won the bet, tbe real winner was Zips Athletics.

We have a pretty good Engineering department at UA. Maybe some physics major can figure this one out?

Poke was good around the basket and showed his offense has improved some. He range has increased from point blank range dunks to 3 feet. His free throw shooting has improved. I like how Groce jumps a kid but then takes a minute to give direction. He'll also yank a kid, give him hell, then get him back in. I like the short memory. His assistants are also well engaged in the process. Still not sure how that Smith kid ended up on the floor. He's not in the yearbook or on the online roster. I think maybe he won a student raffle.

Nice little shout out in Cool Cleveland! Freshman Zips defender Daniel Strachan (#25) was finishing up his senior year at Lakewood High School a year ago. In his freshman year at Akron he has started every game, and now the soccer star, who previously played for Internationals Academy of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy and was rated as the 18th-ranked player in the Great Lakes Region this year, is hoping to make a dream come true by becoming NCAA champions. After beating Louisville this week, TopDrawerSoccer.com named Strachan, along with Akron teammates goalie Ben Lundt (of Berlin, Germany) and fellow defender freshman Joao Mouthino (of Lisbon, Portugal) to its National Men’s Soccer Team of the Week. http://coolcleveland.com/2017/12/lakewood-soccer-star-daniel-strachan-enjoying-akron-zips-journey-college-cup/

president Matthew Wilson is showing some major support this week.... thank you, Mr. President

As mentioned elsewhere, I really like Groce's use of timeouts. In previous years, it seemed like taking a time out was the equivalent of "giving in". Charlie Cole's was the master of using time outs and stifling any momentum an opposing team or player was developing. I like the time out when u are all of a sudden down by five rather than when it's 15. Saving them to the end wont help if the lead becomes insurmountable.

The dunk contest on the Little Tykes hoop was awful. The Pizza Fire contest is an abominable failure as I don't think they've given away a single pizza in two years. The t-shirt cannon shoots duds 99.7% of the time. The whole promos thing is going great! Kudos to last night's halftime show. That was really worthwhile. I'd have preferred that the dance team not perform at the start of halftime to give those kids another couple of minutes on the floor.

In response... 1. I think the "strength" of our OOC schedule is the competitive nature of the opponents. The teams we scheduled this year have had success in recent years, but are going through a transition phase, whether it be because they graduated players or they have a new coach. Regardless, I think they are all talented enough to challenge us the way we need to be challenged, but not overly talented to where we get stomped. One of the biggest keys for young teams is learning how to win. That's the "strength" of our schedule thus far. 2. Agreed. High energy. Two reasons why are is always action: rebounding and defense. We actually crash the boards this year, on both sides of the ball. We also look to jump the passing lanes more. 3. I like that he rips Parrish for that. Act like you've been there before, and get back on D. 4. We are a defensively sound team. We execute the fundamentals very well, in my opinion. It's refreshing. We also don't seem to foul near as much, as we go straight up more often on contested shot attempts. When we do foul, we foul hard as to not let the opponent get a shot off. 5. I don't think our FT shooting these past couple games is going to be the norm. The way the players react to miss free throws lends me to believe they work hard at them. Groce also indicated on the post-game show that the guys that missed, don't normally miss. I think it's a cold streak, they'll continue hit it hard in practice, and it will go back to a higher percentage. 6. The turnovers were a product of our youth and lack of chemistry. We aggressively put ourselves in situations where we got stuck and had to force the ball into passing lanes that weren't there. It didn't both me TOO much. 7. Ivey's effort, particularly on the defensive end, is going to win us some games come MAC play. It seemed like last night, he found his role on the team. WAY more under control on the offensive end, and his defense turned into offense. 8. Malcolm adds an incredibly different dynamic with his physicality. Taking the ball into the lane and drawing the foul at the end of close games... what a novel idea. Cotton's 3 pt. shooting would be huge. He's struggled from beyond the arc prior to last night. 9. IPFW can SHOOT. Utomi has the textbook jump shot. Excellent ball rotation and arc. Additional thoughts... - Poke is coming into his own. He seems to not be wetting his shorts when he gets the ball down low. His aggressive intuition to typically go for the dunk is awesome. A lot of our big men in the past - some taller and bulkier than Poke - have looked to lay it up and in first instead of slamming it down the opponents throats with authority. He also plays intelligent defense, going straight up most of the time to contest and put himself in good positions to block shots. - I still want to know more about this Smith kid. Very odd that he got into the game, and when he got in. He has good size for a guard, and everyone knows we could use that depth, not to mention the fact that you can't have too many 6'4"/6'5" guards. - This team is going to be just fine, and possibly better than fine. They play a fun style of basketball. They're as physical or more physical than most teams we'll face. They can definitely contend, from what I've seen, for a MAC title. - Excellent halftime show. I think that's the most watched show aside from the Panda Plate Lady. Well done by the University to give those kids their moment. - Barely a mention about our Championship-level soccer team being in the College Cup (Final Four) on Friday. Pathetic. The game is on ESPNU, and I don't even recall if that was mentioned.

Seriously? The way FW shoots 3s, our 49% FT shooting, and 17 turnovers tell me why.

I just have to say I love a coach that takes timely timeouts and doesn't attempt to allow his players to "play through it". Lets get back under control.

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2017/12/nate_shultz_akron_zips_ncaa_soccer.html I can not say enough good things about Nate Shultz. He has improved so much. Very Hard working young man....and his parents have been to almost every single game this year.

Unless of course you use NWAkron as a backstop!

Well maybe some people should get off their phones an pay attention. @NWAkron I don't blame anyone for not really paying attention, however, to the t-shirt cannon. If the t-shirt doesn't unfurl, it's launched into the rafters, never to be seen again.

Lucas had been playing against the guys over at the rec center during open gyms before the season. The coaching staff took a look and decided he could help the team during practice. He has turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

I've seen AGE as a factor in debates on this forum about 1,000 times. But, this would be the first time I've seen WEIGHT

Good point...the shirt cannon killed Maude Flanders.

I am guessing the T-Shirt machine has been setup so as not to injure anyone.

Glad you guys donate to the Z-fund too. I pay by the monthly payment plan on my credit card. It makes it easy to contribute. I'm sure many on here could easily afford $50-100 a month. You can even designate which sport you would like to support. The majority of my donation goes to basketball. I would highly suggest that for anyone who wishes to support Zips athletics. It's also a nice tax deduction.

I think we should put cannons UNDER the seats of some of those "elderly" folks, so that they stand up every once in a while.

In the lower bowl, and I usually don't stand up during the t shirt toss. I count on a few every year just randomly landing at my feet. However, last night, as I was looking down at my phone, the cannon shot one directly into my chest. Was quite a surprise. Came about 6 inches from smacking me right in the face.

There's no way he had 23 career points before tonight

Did Poke have 12 dunks to get 24 points?

How the heck did Poke score 24 points. I'll take it!

IPFW seems to have a disproportional amount of white dudes on their team. They are the Wisconsin of Indiana.

Jimond...that was WOW!

We have excellent pace offensively tonight! Team knows when to slow down the tempo. Very nicely done 11-point lead!

Worst "White-out" ever. I can't even find ten people who appear to be wearing the same white shirt.

A Lannister always pays his debts.

Well gentlemen, guess there's no need to split the bets. Akron definitively finished with a better record this season than Western Michigan. Hopefully we're men of our word and make our donations to the Z-fund. GO ZIPS!

kreed5120 I still say WMU wins more games this season than Akron... Akron 7-5, WMU 6-6

Still going...