Dave in Green

Zeke is what folks call has a high side, please do not think you out recruited Penn State and Pitt. Zeke is who he is, if he starts, he will get pushed around like a little kid, his up side is in his junior senior year.It's unfair to any true freshman to either grossly overestimate or grossly underestimate their ability to perform at a high level in their first season of college basketball. Why don't you come back around mid-season and let us know what you think based on Zeke's actual performance.

I've been noticing in the games so far that many of the "missed" tackles appeared to be the result of the first Zips defensive player to reach the ball carrier trying to strip the ball. I have to believe this is a Zips defensive strategy from the coaches and not exclusively a case of many Zips defensive players making decisions on their own.Like everything else these days, statistics are analyzed to the point that the overall value of trying to strip the ball vs. wrapping up the legs in a tackle must be generally known. Hypothetically, for example, if going for the ball strip results in an average of 2.7 extra yards of gain for each missed strip vs. fumble recoveries on 9.8 percent of the plays, then it's up to the coaching staff to decide which strategy may benefit the team more in the final score.When a team is winning consistently, things like this don't come under close scrutiny by the fans, who are too busy celebrating victories. But when a team is losing consistently, every strategy comes under a microscope by disgruntled fans.

Outstanding observation. We all need to be more focused on what does work than what doesn't.

There's certainly nothing wrong with having an opinion that the 7th-highest-rated HS center in the country might be redshirted in his first year in college. But history simply does not support this happening at even the top university basketball programs, let alone smaller programs like UA's. The only scenarios in which this is likely to happen would be if the center enrolled at a university that already had a top-ranked center playing, or, as already mentioned, if the player were to be injured. There is not much else in the history of college basketball to support anything different. The more you study the history of anything, the less likely you are to be surprised when reality is at odds with your opinions.

I don't know at what point you would say that the Zips go from being unathletic to athletic. But they are certainly becoming more athletic with the higher level of players committing in recent years. I don't have any problem with drawing the line at Zeke, and saying that he pushes the Zips over the line into true athletic territory. But, really, it's just a term that sportscasters throw around to describe players who can run a little faster or jump a little higher than average. In the end, the team that scores the most points and holds its opponents to less points still wins.

I sure hope McClanahan can do many of the things that Linhart brought to the Zips. He was a heck of an all-around HS athlete in Nitro, WV, so the Nitro nickname is a natural, and would be really appropriate if he delivers.

Referring to oneself in the third person is characteristic of illeism. If you aren't familiar with the term, you should look it up and see if you imagine you fit with some of the notable historical figures closely associated with illeism (Julius Caesar, Charles de Gaulle, Joseph Stalin, Richard Nixon, Geraldo Rivera, etc.).Aside from that self-aggrandizing trait, many of your comments here are quite sensible.

Rumplemintz is not a fake name. According to the Urban Dictionary, it's just a common misspelling for Rumple Minze, which is a 100 proof peppermint-flavored German schnapps (I bet that tastes real yummy on the way up).We're all guilty of the occasional common misspelling.Urban Dictionary Link

Honestly, winning another game or two this year is not as important to me as building for next season. If the Zips win another game or two, they will rise from the bottom 10 in the country to the bottom 20. Big deal.I'd much rather see them focus on building for next season. If focusing on future player development produces an extra win or two this season as a side effect, that would be an added bonus. But if the choice is between making a move that will make the Zips win a game or two this year or a lot of games next year, I'd rather invest in the future.

Jake, first I want to say that I appreciate the point of view that it would be better to build a new facility on campus than off campus. I think this is a valid point of view, and I like hearing different people present different rationales for different opinions.A couple of points, though. Unless one subscribes to the black and white viewpoint that one inch off campus is purgatory and one inch on campus is heaven, no amount of arguing is going to convince more than a few people that the facility must be built on campus to be truly successful for UA. Quite the contrary, that will be interpreted by most open-minded people as an extremist position that will turn off those who are looking for the most rational position that benefits the most people. Proximity is important, and it's undeniable that there is a significant difference between the distant location of the Rubber Bowl and a block or two off campus. So if you want to be taken seriously, you need to seriously evaluate whether you are putting forth the best possible argument in favor of your postion.Secondly, if, as you say, UA will be the major if not only contributor to its arena, then, of course, there'd be no reason not to have it on campus. The whole concept of having it downtown is based on sharing costs with the city and perhaps also the county. Many people here might be more inclined to support your position if what you say is proven fact. But I haven't seen any hard evidence that what you are presenting is anything more than your opinion, even though you appear to state your opinion as hard fact. And since you are so vehemently against having the new facility anywhere but on campus under any conceivable circumstances, open-minded people like me are going to have a hard time not believing that you are only making these definitive statements to support your passionately held personal opinion.Again, I think the position you have taken is a good one to be made, and I hope that you and others will continue to try to make points for why it would be better for a new facility to be built on campus rather than off. But if the objective is to win people over to your point of view, I think you need to give consideration to the fact that the people who you are addressing on this forum are sophisticated enough not to confuse the validity of a position with the persistence of that position's advocates.

EA has the most interesting piece of info I've seen yet about this year's team -- Nitro is locked in as the starting 2. Interesting that KD says Nitro's the most improved player. Makes you wonder whether burning the redshirt last year was worth it. He seemed to be lost at times, but did contribute to getting the Zips into the NCAA tournament. Now here he is the starting 2, but with only 3 years of eligibility left instead of 4. Any football lessons to be learned here?

I'm with you on that. He sure impressed me with the level of maturity he showed under real game pressure, and I hope there's a lot more to come.

Well, it's really exciting to have an undiscovered D1 coaching talent posting on this forum. I'll try to keep track of all of your future suggestions and see how they pan out over the long haul. To get paid, though, you'd have to get out in the real world and convince the folks who write the paychecks that you could turn their losers into winners. I can tell you in all sincerity that if you ever accomplish that with the Zips, I will want you to personally autograph my MAC championship and bowl game programs.Off point DIG. Wasn't the thrust of the last several posts that JD, the paid head coach of the UA football program, was supposed to be in the position, with the assistance of his superstar gurus Harris and Montgomery, to assess the talent on the roster? How is it that Nicely comes into the game and within 30 minutes looks like a winner after poor Rodgers scuffled for so long, and we all saw it, yet somehow through all of the recruiting and practicing and meetings JD apparently had no idea that this kid Nicely would likely be his best option at QB?The point wasn't that any posters knew, well, anything. The point was that we as fans had a hard time believing that the guys who get paid to prepare the team couldn't have seen and or guessed that maybe, just maybe Nicely was the way to go before Rodgers was injured. I am baffled by the decision to play Rodgers over Nicely, as I think many of us now are. Lastly, are you implying in your posts that because JD & Co. are paid as D-1 coaches/recruiters that all fans should magically defer when it comes to their decision making? These are the same coaches who have landed us either in, or close to, the ESPN Bottom Ten. Baller4life isn't a paid coach, and is only a fan, and so shouldn't hold opinions about coaching decisions? What is the purpose of these boards? Do we need DIG to police what questions are appropriate for posters to post? STZWhen someone states in plain English that they could do a better job than the professional coaching staff if given a paid position, they've left the bounds of fandom and entered the ranks of aspiring professional coaches.Professionals understand to varying degrees the complexities and nuances of the profession for which they are paid. Those who understand best are generally among the best in their fields. Fans, by definition, are fanatics who generally have a narrower, more simplistic view. And, of course, hindsight is always 20-20.Some of the greatest coaches in the game have had bench warmers who became stars after they were played due to circumstances. There are many reasons why this can happen. It doesn't necessarily mean that the coaches who didn't immediately insert the guy on the bench are stupid, or the fans in the agony of a losing streak who cry out for the backup, or the backup's backup, or any fresh young body, are geniuses.No matter how good a player may look at lower levels of competition and in practice, you never really know for sure how a player will react in a competitive game at the next level until he's demonstrated himself in the heat of competition. But you can't do that with a redshirt without burning the redshirt. And if you make a mistake in judgment, you've just thrown away a year of a college player's career who might have given four good full years if seasoned a full year as a redshirt.Fans can say whatever they want on a sports forum, as long as it meets the standards of the forum's owners. But if fans are free to question the actions of coaches and players, why should those fans expect to have immunity from being questioned by other fans?

Well, it's really exciting to have an undiscovered D1 coaching talent posting on this forum. I'll try to keep track of all of your future suggestions and see how they pan out over the long haul. To get paid, though, you'd have to get out in the real world and convince the folks who write the paychecks that you could turn their losers into winners. I can tell you in all sincerity that if you ever accomplish that with the Zips, I will want you to personally autograph my MAC championship and bowl game programs.

Because the only people who are sure they know everything are those who post on sports forums. Just think if JD was SURE what his true freshmen knew how that might change our lineup...If you know how to determine for SURE how a true freshman will perform against D1 competition, as opposed to what he showed in high school or in practice, please don't waste your great knowledge posting it here. Share it directly with the Zips coaching staff.

Because the only people who are sure they know everything are those who post on sports forums.

I don't think you want to go too far either way in terms of traffic vs. pedestrians. It's great to have a core area that's pedestrian friendly. But if you make it too difficult for commuters, it may drive some businesses out to more traffic-friendly suburbs. A vibrant, active downtown requires just the right mix of friendliness for both pedestrians and vehicle traffic. Ultimately, you want the university to benefit from the city and the city to benefit from the university.

That's a really thoughtful and inclusive 10-point roundup. One small point jumped out at me: While you certainly don't want a player's emotions adversely affecting the player and the rest of the team, it can be tricky trying to fine-tune the chemistry of an emotional player. Some players need to feed off of their emotions for maximum performance. Ideally, you'd want them to focus their emotional intensity on positives, but keep it in check on negatives. I think that Nik's positive emotional drive is a big plus for the team, and I would not want to see it reduced.Point #1 is definitely the game changer. Having a quality true center will have a major effect on every other player on the team. It will help cover some of the weaker areas in other players' games and enhance their strong points. I'm expecting to see major changes in the way we perceive the other players when they're out on the floor with Zeke.

This from a head coach? I hope this is just a poor choice of words. There are many successful people in this world who do things "beyond their years".Anyone who has never done real, live media interviews has no idea how well they would form their words in that situation. It's really easy to mean one thing and say another.I think if you were to ask JD in private conversation what he meant to say, he would say that by years he meant present abilities. If you expect someone to play beyond their present abilities, and they try too hard to play beyond their present abilities, they end up making the kind of errors that get you trashed on sports forums.

Statistical analysis normally requires throwing out everyone's lowest and highest numbers as outliers, and averaging the rest. Throw out Torrence's single 31-yard run as a statistical outlier, and his average becomes way less than stellar. Doesn't mean he might not be potentially the best RB on the team. But the stats to date certainly don't support that.

Hate is healthy? Gee, let's skip the sports facade and go directly into nuclear conflict.

Buffalo behooved.

Thanks for clarifying that. Unfortunately, Google search showed that this had been recently updated. Obviously it was not.

..... One of the suspects reportedly grabbed Jordan’s backpack, which contained an unknown amount of money and drugs. ..... Police said Jordan was serving six months of home detention from a previous incident and had an ankle bracelet on to make sure he stayed there. Jordan was charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping in 2008, according to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas docket. ..... He was attending Lakeland Community College and was going to transfer to the University of Akron in January to play basketball, his father Leonard Jordan said. "He was a good kid, your average teenager," his father said. "He went to school, graduated, had a career, what you’re supposed to do."The good news is that he had a father who apparently loved him. The sad news is that his behavior might be considered "average" or "what you're supposed to do."An absolutely tragic waste of human life that is, unfortunately, way too common in the world today.

Sports are inherently emotional, and we all occasionally vent. But who wants to be constantly bombarded by primal screams? After reading the same repetitive vents from the same people over and over and over again, it eventually becomes nothing but static. I wouldn't bother reading or posting on most sports forums. But ZN is generally more civil and has less static than most.The first thing I do when I find myself getting annoyed by a persistently venting poster is to do a Find Member's Posts to check that poster's patterns. If they have a pattern of mostly primal scream venting and little history of thoughtful contribution, I pretty much tune out that poster. If they have a history of contributing good observations along with some venting, I try to encourage them to focus more on the good observations.The really nasty venting is like horse manure in the middle of a sidewalk. It stinks and mucks up your shoes if you don't avoid stepping in it. The solution is not to wade into the manure and add more to the pile, but to give it a wide berth.