Dave in Green

@Blue & Gold, there's been a fair amount of info on Isaiah Johnson and the other recruits posted in the basketball recruiting forum, including scouting reports on Johnson. EDIT: After posting the above, I see that you've been active in the recruiting forum. If you were looking for a specific description of Johnson's style of play, try this post.

We don't completely know Pat's style of play yet, because he hasn't played a lot of minutes and he's been playing in a team designed around Zeke's game. But in HS he was better known for his offense than his defense, just the opposite of Zeke. He blocked a lot of shots, but not as many as Zeke. He grabbed more rebounds and he scored a lot more points than Zeke. He could score from both the inside and outside. Some of the forum members who watched him play in HS could add more to my basic description. Anyone who's watched Pat in practice and warmups knows that he's comfortable nailing 3s from the corner like a shooting forward. So he's likely a better inside-outside offensive player than Zeke. At times on offense the Zips could send him into the corner to pull the opposing center out and let Tree and Harney cover the boards. Pat will want to be more active and engaged in the Zips' offense than Zeke was in the beginning. He will be looking for the shot more often than Zeke, but will look for the open man if he's covered. He has good lateral movement like Zeke, but has quicker feet. The coaching staff will get more familiar with Pat's game after this season and rebuild the team around him.

To be fair to Tree, he was asked by the media to speculate about playing OU again at the Q. So he worded his answer as if it was going to happen. It doesn't show up in Hunter's piece, but Tree quickly caught himself and told the media there were no guarantees that the two teams would meet again at the Q. Tree is not only turning into a great basketball player faster than many expected, he's also getting savvy about dealing with the media.

Jake obviously has a strong hometown following. If it was his dream to play for a quality team close to home, it's easy to understand how OU could have been his first choice. That's the way it works. The Zips lost C.J. McCollum because they didn't have a free scholarship. One might question how much OU really wanted Jake, and whether they could have worked something out to get him if they really wanted him. D-I schools weren't exactly breaking down the door to recruit Jake. In all the research everyone on ZN.o did to find out more about Jake while he was in HS, there was nothing to indicate he could have this much impact so quickly as an all-around player. Most everyone here was speculating that he was the most likely freshman to redshirt. Kudos to the Zips coaching staff for seeing something special in him.

@skip-zip, I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I am in your last post. That has to be the least thoughtful post I've ever seen you make. Of course the Zips were planning to beat Oklahoma State. They worked their butts off focusing on that game and they almost pulled it off. It was not due to a "miscalculation that backfired," and you know it. Tree and Harney couldn't play, Abreu had a serious high ankle sprain and Chauncey had a damaged knee that required surgery -- all at the start of the season. That's the difference between having more signature wins and not. This season's OOC schedule was strong enough to earn the Zips an at-large bid had their record in those games been better, and it would have been better without all the unforeseeable problems at the beginning of the season with four key players. Please do not insult the intelligence of everyone on this forum with any more comments that fall to the level of your extraordinarily weak "miscalculation that backfired" comment.

My initial thought was that not having Zeke would be a major problem. But when they showed a camera view of the Zips walking back to the bench to prepare for OT, it hit me that they all had a look of confidence on their faces. For many seasons I've watched Zips teams in similar situations, and the players always seemed to look shell-shocked. Then they went out and played like that and usually lost. This team is just different. They never lose their confidence that they can win. As long as the team remains confident in itself, I'll continue to have confidence in them.

@jupitertoo, you can't be the best without beating the best. I think it was critical that the Zips prove to themselves they could beat a defending sweet 16 team with all their players back in one of the most hostile environments in college basketball. I've seen thousands of college basketball games over the decades, and this game was a classic battle for the ages. If OU had lost because they played a bad game, it would not have had as much meaning for the Zips. Both teams played their guts out, and one team barely prevailed. That's why I love college basketball so much. With Can't down, the Zips needed OU to give them the ultimate conference gut check.

I agree that Isaiah Johnson is a really promising recruit, and will give the Zips a lot of depth at center. He's having a monster HS senior season. Forsythe has shown brief flashes in his limited minutes to date. OU fans really haven't had a chance yet to see him at his best. A lot of folks are going to be surprised next season when the Zips are built more along Pat's style of center play than Zeke's.

I've searched and have not found a "list" of top 25 teams who were excluded from the NCAA tournament. Maybe there've been more than Utah State, maybe not. The top 25 is usually packed with teams that have enough credentials outside of being ranked in the top 25 to qualify for an at-large bid regardless of whether or not they're in the top 25. It's unusual for a team to be ranked in the top 25 without having strong credentials, but it happens. For example, Louisiana Tech is in the top 25 of the AP poll but not the Coaches poll. Yet Louisiana Tech has a weaker selection committee profile than the Zips, and the Zips' profile is not strong enough to guarantee a lock on an at-large bid. Look, I'm just the messenger here. I've put hours and hours into studying this. I know what all the folks who earn their living analyzing this think of the Zips' situation. They know how the selection committee thinks. Many of them have been through the mock selection committees put on by the NCAA. They are in almost universal agreement that if the Zips win out but lose in the MAC tournament championship game that they will have a shot at an at-large bid -- a shot, not a lock. The top 25 polls may help the Zips a bit. But it is not listed as one of the considerations on the NCAA Selection Sheet. I think it's a shame that many Zips fans were so disappointed back in 2007 when they had unrealistic expectations about the Zips having the overall credentials to merit an at-large bid. I'd hate to see that disappointment happen again. I'm just trying to be realistic here based on all available data. But it's fruitless to get into an infinite debate over whether the Zips would have a shot or be a lock. If anyone is dead set on believing the Zips would be a lock, go for it.

@Zipmeister, I really appreciate your enthusiasm for the Zips being able to get an at-large bid, as others have also enthusiastically expressed after last night's win. But I've spent a lot of time reading a lot of different bubble watches by a lot of savvy sports journalists. While they are also enthusiastic about the Zips' winning streak and the way the team passes the "eye test," they all caution that you can never rely on the selection committee. There is a developing traffic jam of potential at-large teams, with some previously safe teams falling and other previously out-of-it teams rising. It appears as if many deserving teams will get left out when the last few, highly contested at-large bids are handed out. The Zips are not a lock, even if they win out but lose the MAC tournament championship game. They're just one of many good teams in the mix. We shouldn't let our enthusiasm create unrealistic expectations for something that's totally out of the team's control.

Wednesday Night in the MAC: A Treasure Trove of Top Performances Javon McCrea, Jauwan Scaife and about half of the Akron basketball players highlighted a wonderful night in high qualify MAC basketball play, taking us back to the good old days.

I really like the lead paragraph in the Bleacher Report game story: Very rarely does a game billed as one of the best matchups in conference history live up to the hype, but this game was everything and then some. And I really like the closing paragraph in the SB Nation game story: With only three regular season games left against Buffalo, Miami and Can't State the Zips are favored to finish MAC play undefeated and are the favorites to win the MAC Tournament. Ohio on the other hand has dropped two games in a row and has failed to beat a big-time opponent all season. They've dropped both regular season games to Akron and have failed to show up when tested on the road. With this loss it's looking like last years bell of the ball will be left out in the cold come mid-March this year.

I was looking for the original seating capacity of the JAR before seatbacks were installed, and can't find the number anywhere. Does anyone have a source?

I thought it was about time to give Jake Kretzer his very own thread after ESPN named the precocious true freshman its Bench Player of the Night: Bench Player of the Night – Jake Kretzer, Akron Akron won its 19th straight game and improved to 13-0 in the MAC, as the Zips approach the first unbeaten MAC season in 54 years. Kretzer went 6-for-6 the field, including five threes, on his way to a career-high 19 points in the win over Ohio. He’s the first MAC player in at least 15 years to go 5-for-5 from three-point range off the bench.

Zips are getting massive love from the Team Rankings computers after last night's win. They currently project the Zips' chances of making the NCAA tournament at 95.4% -- 49.2% chance automatic bid, 46.2% chance at large bid. The Zips' most likely seed, according to their computers, is a stunning #8. This is the most optimistic projection anywhere, and is probably unrealistic. But Zips fans understand that it's more fun to be over-ranked than ignored.

With all the RPI numbers crunched from last night's games, the Zips now sit at #35 -- easily their best ever.

This is the tough part of the OOC schedule that the Zips signed up for this season: #27 Oklahoma State, neutral site #53 Tennessee, neutral site #25 North Carolina State, neutral site #22 Middle Tennessee, home #40 Creighton, away #60 Detroit, away #84 North Dakota State, home Seven top 100 RPI teams, including four top 50, is a robust OOC schedule. Cleveland State was also expected to be a top 100 team before injuries struck. Unfortunately, losing Tree and Harney for the first three games of the season cost the Zips the Oklahoma State win, which put them in the PR tournament consolation bracket and lost the Tennessee and North Carolina State matchups. Even losing those two games, the Zips still have the #54 OOC SOS in the country. There are only three mid-majors ranked ahead of the Zips that have better OOC SOS -- Gonzaga, Middle Tennessee and Belmont. Certainly with the type of team the Zips have now, and which they should also have next season and beyond, they should continue to try to increase OOC SOS a little more each season. But they had a reasonable OOC SOS this season.

Forsythe didn't have much chance to show his stuff in Athens. OU fans will discover next season that Zeke's graduation will not leave the Zips weak at the post.

Coach Dambrot is more likely to win national COY than MAC COY.

Lead on Associated Press story: ATHENS, Ohio -- Demetrius Treadwell scored 21 points and Jake Kretzer came off the bench with a career-high 19 as Akron extended its winning streak to 19 games, the nation's longest this season, by defeating Ohio 88-81 in overtime Wednesday night. Bubble watch story on CBS Sports updated at 9:22 pm immediately after the game ended with the title: Can Akron Make Tourney as an At-Large Team? Akron: The Zips won their 19th game in a row on Wednesday, going into second-place Ohio and coming out with a hard-fought overtime victory. Although Akron will be the favorite to win the Mid-American tournament, it's unclear if its resume is good enough to get into the NCAA tournament without winning the automatic bid. The Zips are now 4-3 against the top 100, with the lone top 50 win coming over Middle Tennessee. Win out until the title game, and then we'll see.

OT without Zeke, and no substitutions were made. Kretzer (freshman), Tree (sophomore), Harney (sophomore), Abreu (junior) and Walsh (senior) played the whole 5 minutes and dominated play against a really tough team in a really tough environment. Tree played 40 minutes, led the Zips with 21 points and hit 7-8 free throws after his 3-11 free throw performance in the previous game. I'd say he more than made up for his brief distraction in the first half.

Talent, toughness and tenacity.

That did it.

Win or lose, we now know this Zips team is capable of playing great ball in Athens.

Coach Dambrot tells the players to be steady during the ups and downs. Fans are free to go up and down like yo-yos.