Dave in Green

After winning his first two games as a pro with modest stats, Zeke scored his first professional double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals) today. Even though Zeke's Yulon team lost to one of the stronger teams in the tournament, featuring former NBA PG Bobby Brown, Zeke's coach said "Marshall aggressiveness of this war has unfolded." On Sunday, Zeke will face his biggest challenge to date as he matches up against a 2008 NBA first round draft selection, 6-11 Donte Greene, who was just waived by the Boston Celtics and averaged 39 points per game in his first two games with the Dongguan Leopards. Another choppy Chinese translation here along with another photo of Zeke scoring.

The Zips will be getting at least as much of a tune-up as the preseason #1 University of Kentucky, as the Wildcats open tonight against D3 Transylvania University.

Another goofy Chinese translation (with another Zeke photo) seems to say that the Chinese coach is just fine with Zeke being a video game-playing otaku because that's "better than nightclub type." The coach also thinks that Zeke's "strength and bouncing are good, in line with the needs of our season."

I'd like to have seen Q in the top 5. But #7 is a fair ranking in light of questions about how tough it is to bounce back from a whole year away from the team. The quality of Q's evaluation shows the writer really did his homework. While we tend to talk mostly about Q's offense, this evaluation does a great job of describing how disruptive he can be on defense. Can't wait to see Q being introduced at the JAR tomorrow night!

I'll just share a little life experience here. Over the decades I've observed that it's usually about the time that a statement like that is made that something happens that changes things and there's a crackdown. My personal take is that it's best to remain eternally paranoid and not assume that it's acceptable to allow beer bottles to sit out. The lower profile that everyone takes, the longer you're likely to get away with something that's technically not legal. It's when a lot of people get comfortable that laws will not be enforced that they suddenly and without warning are. It's just the way the world works. So be smart and responsible. That's what most good laws are trying to encourage people to do.

My best recollection is that GoZips was impressed with Justice's 3-point shooting, but correctly predicted he'd be a redshirt because he didn't have a complete game, i.e. defense, etc. I'm sure that GoZips will correct me if I'm wrong.

Zips win 2-1!

@akronzips71, don't forget that Q made the East Division Preseason All-MAC first team along with Tree. Counting East and West, that puts Q in the top 10 among reporters who regularly cover the MAC. Since Hustle Belt also focuses on the MAC, I think they'll get it right as well. Tree and Q will both be in the top 10, and both may make it into the top 5.

Live stats shows the Zips Eric Stevenson and two Michigan players with yellow cards.

Zips lead 2-1 at the half.

Luke Nevill is a good measuring stick for Zeke. Nevill is a 27-year-old veteran who has flirted with NBA teams -- including the Cavs -- but fallen just a little short. Zeke will have to outperform Nevill and others like him to get an NBA look.

@KC4three, you must be a family member or close friend of Kwan. I just want to tell you that I'm really impressed with Kwan's overall performance in Zips scrimmages. He is more advanced and aggressive in his play than I had expected. While his outside shooting and ball handling are impressive for a big, the thing that surprised me most is the way he goes after rebounds. He's a true cross between a 3 and a 4, which is a rare combination. I don't doubt that Kwan could challenge for playing time this season. I'm sure that Coach Dambrot will do what he believes is best for both Kwan and the team.

I like Zeke's attitude as he heads off to his first game in Taiwan: And I like that the Taipei Times used a photo of Zeke guarding 7-2 Aussie pro Luke Nevill to accompany the story about Zeke's team winning. Just wish there was a better English translation of how Zeke is actually doing than this: By the way, "otaku" is a Japanese term that refers to people with obsessive interests, which references Zeke's interest in video games.

Little kids would have preferred the Akron RubberDuckies. Adult-oriented folks would just as soon shorten it to the Akron Rubbers. Futurists might favor the Akron Polymers.

@zipdiehard, I think you may have misinterpreted. What Coach Dambrot has said is that the two centers (Pat and Big Dog) would see minutes this season.

Big Dog and the Three Question Marks. Sounds like a good name for a '60s rock group. Let's try applying a little logic. With Big Dog playing, the Zips frontcourt is pretty solid and deep, which suggests that there wouldn't be much PT available for Kwan as long as Jake's back improves. Whether or not Kwan plays this season, his size, ball handling and outside shooting make him a heck of a unique weapon who's going to have a positive impact on the Zips over the next few seasons. In the backcourt, earlier thinking was that Q would be the starting 2 with Reggie backing him. More recent thinking has been that if Nyles and Melo are slow to get up to speed at PG, Q might get more time at PG, possibly even starting. That would move Reggie to the starting 2 and open up a need for a backup 2. Depending on how Deji fits in, that could open up a need for one of the freshman wings (BJ or Aaron) to possibly get some minutes. My observations on those two are that Aaron has an incredible motor while BJ may have a slightly more polished overall game. Slight advantage to BJ. Looking to next season, the only graduating senior who will need to be replaced in the lineup is Q. That also points to giving one of the freshman wings some game experience this season, and I think the odds favor BJ. But AFAIK the situation at PG and with Jake's back is still too fluid for a final decision to be made. I think Coach Dambrot hedges his bets by starting the season with Kwan, BJ and Aaron all redshirting, while holding out the possibility of burning 1 or 2 redshirts sometime after the first few games depending on other player developments.

Combo guards combine the attributes of a point guard and a shooting guard, but are not necessarily optimized for either position. Nyles was more of a combo guard in HS and JC. The Zips need a solid 1 more than another 2, so Nyles is being asked to focus more on the PG part of his game and less on shooting. Nyles has the tools to be a good PG if he can develop more of a pure PG mentality, and having competition for PT from Q and Melo will encourage him along that path.

Maybe it's time to take a closer look at the Zips' PG situation: First of all, I don't recall it being previously discussed on ZN.o that while Nyles Evans was listed as a PG at Brevard Community College, he was not necessarily the primary ball distributor. BCC played a 3-guard offense, and Nyles was the second leading scoring guard and essentially tied for second in assists among the 3 guards. In other words, he was a combo guard, not a pure PG. The only pure PG the Zips have this season is Melo. Based on last season, we know that Melo can do a fair job of distributing the ball and a fair job on defense. But he has yet to prove he can consistently score, especially from outside. From what I've seen in scrimmages, he's improved his game, and is not afraid to take it inside to score. But how will that stand up against tough competition in real games? Q did a nice job two years ago of filling in for the Zips' then only true PG, Alex Abreu, when he was injured. Q wasn't totally comfortable being thrown into a position he'd never really played, but he performed better than expected. If he's practicing as a PG in preseason, he's likely to be much more comfortable in the position going into the season. Reality is that the Zips do not have a proven championship caliber PG this season. There are three candidates with various strengths and weaknesses. All three have a chance to take over the position and put the Zips into their best position to win games. It will require the best combination of distributing the ball, scoring when appropriate and playing good D. I wouldn't count any of the three out right now.

All I can say is that Q has looked to be more comfortable and effective at PG in the few scrimmages I've seen than what I recall from two years ago. Don't know how that will translate to game play. @GoZips has a better handle on that than I do, so maybe he can comment. Q could be a pleasant surprise at the point.

@Captain Kangaroo, when was the last time you saw Q run the point?

Deja vu. That was one of the protest comments made when Mitch Daniels, a career politician with a law degree, was named president of Purdue University.

@GoZips, I happen to know that @Hilltopper's source is rock solid. So I believe that if Jim Tressel were offered the position today, he'd likely turn it down based on what that source is saying. What I've learned over the years is that it's difficult to predict how people change over time and under different circumstances. So when the selection committee ultimately comes up with their first choice and an offer is made, I don't know for sure how Tressel might respond if he were the one to get the offer.

I'd just like to point that Jake averaged 21 minutes per game as a true freshman. I'm feeling a little lazy tonight so I'm not going to do my usual detailed research for once. But I do believe that's record playing time for a true freshman in the Coach Dambrot era. That speaks volumes about the fact that Jake is much, much more than Tree's backup. With 3 of the 4 players who averaged more minutes than Jake last season gone, Tree is the only Zips player left who averaged more minutes last season than Jake did as a true freshman. There's no question that both Tree and Jake will average more minutes this season, and that means that Jake will be playing multiple positions.

Amen. The people who've made the biggest impressions on me throughout my life have been the biggest characters, and Charlie Coles was a giant among basketball coaching characters.

@GP1, nice work on compiling some interesting stats. Sagarin's ratings are not sortable by SOS. But scrolling down through the SCHEDL(RANK) column, I come up with UA having the third toughest schedule among MAC teams at #57 in the country. Only Toledo (#46) and UMass (#56) are ranked with tougher schedules. By comparison, mighty NIU has the #127 toughest schedule and Ball State is down at #133.