Zip JD

There is a lot of truth to this, but Wood, Treadwell and Romeo could all rebound and defend in the paint. What they lacked in height they made up with athleticism and high basketball IQ's. We have nobody who can do that right now. Our interior defense is nonexistent and we give up a lot of back door cuts due to inexperienced players and no rim protector. I am continually amazed that more MAC schools do not feed the ball into their bigs like Ball State did against us.

Clark is on the money. It's BG, an unexpected upset or an o'fer for the season.

I hope things move a lot faster and more successfully in Akron than D.C.

Jeremiah Wood in a heart beat. Treadwell would be in Groce's dog house by the second week of practice.

Thanks for starting the threads and writing up the scouting reports Clark.

Unfortunately, Kostelac isn't ready. Even against a bad DII school like Concord he couldn't maintain his area of the zone. Groce gave him a another chance in the 2nd half and Kost gave up three back cuts in under a minute. He's been even worse in man to man as he can't stay with his guy and has no clue how to rotate. I wish he would play more as well because we need his size and as the season progresses I think he will.

ZZX, thanks for the update. I hope he can make the team. Man, I wish he would have finished out his eligibility.

Best of luck to you, Kwan and his family. Please keep us updated as he takes the first step in his professional career.

Let's see if JG has the same impact with our players.

Based on the Zips' troubles in the MACC game and the fact they came out and played hard against Houston, I doubt it, but who knows.

When he didn't press Carmelo Betancourt or Nick Harney in the MACC game (Abreu suspended) and allowed us to run the kittens out of the Q he should be officially taken off any list of candidates for the Zips opening. I realize that was a run on sentence, but in the spirit of Jim Christian just sit back and let a back up PG suffering from cramps and a power forward with so so ball skills control the game without ever trying to stop or pressure them. As much as I could not stand DJ Cooper or Stevie Taylor they could have set career highs in steals if allowed to press. Instead Jim sat back and did nothing. I have never presumed to know more than a coach, but I was at the Q that night and the OU guys in our section were close to storming the bench. Worst coaching I have ever seen.

Duquesne is 96th at over 4.2 million.

You beat me to it so I will go with CIT.

+2

You are forgetting the MVC was even stronger when Creighton was a member. Even with their departure, the MVC is still much better than the MAC. If Akron drops off then the MAC drops off even more. Now that the Shockers have a strong program they are wisely looking to move up. I am a diehard Zips fan but you have to accept that the MAC is a weak, weak conference. Unless a MAC school has a once in a generation season, it is a one bid conference not only to the NCAAs but the THE NIT.

As much as I hate to admit it, I ALMOST agree with you. That being said, seeing Can't make a tourney run would have been too much for me to take. You can name just about any other MAC school and will I root for them in the post season, but I just can't back the Flashers. Off the top of my head, I think OU is the only MAC school to win in the big dance over the past 10-plus years. I also recently heard (I think from Steve French) that no MAC player has been drafted by the NBA since 2003. The days of Ron Harper, Wally World, Thunder Dan, Grant Long, Gary Trent, Bonzi Wells, even Chris Kaman, etc. are long gone. Lastly, I believe the Zips are the only MAC school left in the post season as our conference already got bounced from the CIT (Toledo lost at GW) and the CIT (Ball State lost at Ft. Wayne). Don't even get me started on how little respect we carry in any tourney when it comes to seeding. Based on all of this as well as how much the MAC sold out to ESPN resulting in a horrible conference football schedule, I am now firmly in favor of the Zips looking to join another conference. There is no reason to believe the MAC is ever going to improve or gain any national respect. It is a one bid conference pure and simple in hoops and is abysmal when it comes to bowl games. I don't want a rash move like how we exited the OVC in the 80's but it is time to look at our options. If we can't improve the basketball schedule with better OOC games how about joining a better conference? Winning a few more post season games and seeing some winning football games wouldn't hurt either. Go Zips!

I think we just saw the formula that will be repeated in Cleveland. Run 2 or 3 at Big Dog and the MAC version of hack a Shaq. Don't even get me started on our inability to stop dribble drive penetration.

Agreed. With the Zips inability to put anybody away all season, Noble-Time has been nonexistent. Amazing that they could win the MAC outright with 2 games remaining without any garbage time for the non scholarship players. I hope the effort is there, we hit some shots, protect the ball and get back on defense. I want a Noble 3 to go out on with the assist from Anderson.

Besides the shooting and post play, I love the KC is down low boxing out and grabbing boards. He has evolved into such a complete player in every aspect of the game. He's not afraid to speak up when the younger guys mess up defense rotations or don't box out, etc.. He is really our team leader - that's not a dig at Big Dog. Dog leads by example, but KC is the one doing the talking and backing it up. Big Dog is without a doubt the team MVP, but the success of the season IMO is how much KC has stepped up. Who is the last Zip you remember growing this much from Jr to Sr year?

Buffalo came out swinging as expected and the Zips gutted one out. Best crowd all season, but our dribble drive defense almost cost us. It was a never ending lay up drill for the Bulls. Nice win, but defense lapses, not getting back and foul shots could spell doom in the post season.

You are 100% correct, we are going to get everyone's best shot. Can't, OU (especially with Miami being down for so long) and Buffalo all consider us their main rival for the top spot in MAC basketball. I've heard French and Dunn say CMU and EMU now consider us their rivals as well the usual bravado we hear out of Toledo (again especially with BGSU being down). I'm sure even the rebuilding in NIU's program has us circled on their schedule as well. It's great to be the top team, but it does cut down on any walk-in-the-park road games. Just look at the YSU game, they had probably had us circled on the schedule for months.

Unfortunately, as long as the MAC is so mediocre to poor, kreed is correct. They listed about 60 schools on their "on-the-bubble" list during the selection show and we were nowhere to be found. If my memory is correct, weren't we undefeated at home as well as neutral sites, but 6-7 on the road last year? No way you get an at-large bid with weak SOS and losing record on the road. As for all the RPI talk on the board, the selection committee seems to quote RPI when it serves them and ignores it in other cases, such as, mid major teams. Most importantly, I want to see a complete game against Buffalo where the Zips keep their foot on the gas all game. 8-0 in the MAC.

That is great. Ken Babby, the owner of the Rubber Ducks, is at a lot of the games. It would be great to see the Zips work with somebody who excels at putting people in the seats.

My comment was about the MAC being a one bid conference and wasn't directed at the Zips. The MAC as a whole plays a terrible OOC schedule - and seldom beats anyone really good when they do. We are one of the few teams that took on any ranked teams and we do not get much help from the rest of the conference. If Akron wins the tourney at the Q, tell me one other MAC school that would get a look for the NCAA's. Also, when was the last time the MAC got an at large bid to the NCAA's or even the NIT? That being said, If we run the table and lost in the MAC tourney I agree we would be in. Nobody's ever gone undefeated in the MAC, but it would be a hell of a ride if we did.