Dave in Green

Right. I hope you get a chance to see the Antino who showed up at the JAR to compare against the photos you've seen. All his HS photos I saw led me to believe he was a skinny little kid in need of a redshirt year full of serious conditioning. The Antino I saw live at the JAR does not look like the kid in the HS pictures. He has a great motor to go along with his quickness and speed. He's still lean and wiry, but with much greater than expected muscle definition that was not hinted at in any of the HS photos like the one below, which is about a year old and is the highest definition photo I could find of Antino.

Everyone understands that Deji is not a star. But when the Zips were hurting toward the end of last season with Jake, Reggie and Nick unavailable to play, Deji rose to the occasion and produced a better than expected performance while averaging 24 minutes per game. No Zips player shot better than Deji over the team's final 8 games, where he averaged the following: 26-48 from the field (54.1%) 15-31 3-pointers (48.4%) 8.6 points per game 2.4 rebounds per game 2 personal fouls per game He also had more steals (7) and assists (6) than turnovers (5) over those important final games. Based on that performance, which certainly exceeded what anyone on this forum expected of him, he earned a starting position for the beginning of his senior season. There's no question that some of the younger players have more upside than Deji. But they're going to have to prove it on the court to take Deji's starting position away. And if they do, we'll know that Deji will be sitting on the bench ready to play his heart out when called upon.

Quote feature still does not work using IE10 with Windows 8.1. Seriously, GoZips, IE7 is way, way out of date. Windows Update should have updated that on your computer a long time ago. If you don't update your operating system using Windows Update, it will be extremely vulnerable to viruses/spyware/malware as GoZips88 said.

Quoted using IE9.

GoZips, as zippy5 said, you should see several buttons in the lower right corner of each post. The last button at the bottom right is the Quote button. If you click the Quote button of the post you want to reply to, it will automatically quote that post in your response.

Of course I meant that Pat and Big Dog were accomplished centers in HS whereas Kwan has no history playing center. I agree that none of them have yet demonstrated great accomplishment at the college level, where they have a total combined experience of only four seasons. All three need to be given a fair chance to show what they can contribute to the team in various scenarios this season. I can see where there'd be times where you'd want to play small ball without a true center on the floor. But few mid-major teams have the luxury of two big (6-10 and 6-11) HS all-star centers on the roster, and you don't want to waste that opportunity by not giving them a fair chance. So while I agree it's worth experimenting with an untried center (Kwan) playing outside the paint to see how it works, clearing the lane to create more open space for Tree on offense is only one aspect of the total game. By itself it's not enough to convince me that Pat and Big Dog should be demoted to the end of the bench before the season has begun without giving them opportunities to show what they can contribute to overall team effectiveness on both offense and defense.

Quickzips, theoretically I see what you're getting at about Tree needing space in the paint to be more effective on offense. In reality, I can't see a wing with a growth spurt taking over the starting center position from two accomplished players who've been true centers as long as they've been playing basketball. I liked what I saw Kwan doing in the paint in the one open gym I've attended so far this year. But what I saw does not equate to starting center over Big Dog and Pat. If Tree needs more space in the paint, that can be worked out by better teamwork with Big Dog or Pat moving away from the bucket when Tree's ready to drive, and then sliding back into the paint to go for the rebound on Tree's missed shots.

DeAndre didn't get to play, but what a huge result for the U.S. to beat Ghana, 2-1! With Portugal's star defender out for the next game on a red card for head-butting a German opponent laying on the ground with the cameras rolling, the U.S. has a shot at having 2 wins after their next game with Portugal. Who ever imagined the Group of Death could work out like this for the U.S.?

UAZip0510, have you actually seen Antino in person? As I mentioned in the Summer Session(s) thread, before seeing Antino I assumed he would be a good candidate for a redshirt due to his low weight equating to a lack of strength and energy. I was surprised to see that he carries a lot of well-defined muscle on his lean frame, and doesn't appear to be lacking strength and energy. It looks as if he's already been spending a lot of time in the weight room.

If you think Coach Bowden can't handle this, please feel free to make more suggestions.

What does Fairmont head coach Jerrod Calhoun think the addition of Nick Harney makes his team?

Had a chance to attend open gym Wednesday at the JAR and get a first look of the season at all the players but Deji, who was in class. Most of my attention was focused on the two new PGs. But I can confirm some of GoZips' observations. Pat definitely looks as if he's been hitting the weights. He looks more like a man now than a big kid. Kwan also looks a little more bulked up and seems to be more enthusiastic about banging bodies in the paint. We need that from him to compensate for the loss of Nick. BJ could also fill part of that role. In HS he was described by one recruiting service as an "undersized power forward." At 6-6 he gives away an inch or two to most D-I college 4s, but it looks as if he's added some bulk to the 215 pounds he was listed at last season. BJ plays a physical game in addition to being a good ball handler, and looks to be capable of backing up multiple positions. Looking at Noah for the first time I really didn't see any surprises. He's about what I expected from all I've read and the videos I've watched. He has a pretty mature and polished game for a true freshman in his first college open gym. He reads the floor really well and is already hitting veteran players with pinpoint passes in their favorite shooting spots. Most of the time he appears calm and deliberate in setting up plays. But he has deceptive moves that allow him to quickly change gears and blow past defenders to get to the bucket. No single aspect of his game really stood out to me in this open gym. He just struck me as having a well-rounded game for having just enrolled in college. Antino, on the other hand, was one surprise after another. I expected to see a skinny, fragile-looking little kid crying out for a redshirt. While it's true he lacks bulk, I was surprised to see lots of solid muscle definition. He looks like a flyweight powerlifter. Instead of being all skin and bones, he has a lot of visible muscle on his wiry frame. Then there's the speed and quickness factor. What I've read about Antino and seen in the videos didn't prepare me for what I saw. He's without a doubt the quickest and fastest Zips player I can recall seeing. The college game will not be too fast for him. He's also a ball of non-stop energy. His motor appears to be right up there with Aaron Jackson's. He's really hard to shake on defense because he uses his speed and quickness to constantly harass his man. After watching him break up a few plays I mentally nicknamed him The Disrupter. On offense Antino effectively uses his speed and quickness to break down defenses and create space for passing and shooting. Obviously these are very initial impressions. I'm not ready to anoit this edition of the Zips as a Sweet 16 team, though I hope they set a high goal like that for themselves. The unexpected loss of Nick along with Q will require improved games from more than one player. It's asking a lot for a true freshman PG to step in and run a D-I college team at a high level. Can Noah and/or Antino rise to the occasion? At least in this first open gym they both passed my eye test as true point guards who can handle the ball, feed their teammates and knock down shots. It will be fun to watch them develop over the summer and fall months.

I wouldn't have mentioned Nick's tweet if I thought it was going to make Zips fans paranoid about what other Zips players are tweeting. Anyone who follows the Twitter accounts of teenagers needs to take a deep breath and try to remember what was going through your head when you were a teenager.

Maybe a recent retweet on Nick's Twitter account sums it up: I'll miss Nick the person more than Nick the player who occasionally tantalized Zips fans with spectacular moves only to leave us frustrated with a lack of intensity and consistency. My best basketball memory of Nick will always be the way he took over at the unlikely position of PG after Alex's unexpected departure and led the Zips to a huge MAC championship upset over the media darling defending Sweet 16 Kitties. Whatever his future in basketball might be, I'm really happy for him being able to pursue a college degree on scholarship at UA. I really hope he stays focused on earning that degree, which could serve him well long after his basketball playing days are over.

I'm still looking for the inaugural monthly newsletter.

First, it's better to be drafted than undrafted. Second, it probably matters less where you play than how you play. Third, the jury's still out.

Nothing like a good, old-fashioned college protest against an abusive power structure oppressing the masses. No wonder students wanted Jim Tressel to go.

The only way the Zips win is when our opponents lay turds?

Did everyone miss this? If Spin lives in Summit County, I read that as no ice, no dice on his vote.

Good questions are being raised here. I would certainly expect prior to any vote that the folks asking for tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer support would present a full list of all the different activities that can fit the floorplan of the proposed arena, a plan for attracting these activities to Akron and a realistic assessment of what impact they might have on the local economy. I would also expect them to have a reasonable response to any questions about optimizing the floor size for basketball to the exclusion of an ice rink sized for hockey and floor space for indoor football, soccer, etc. Just looking at concerts, closer examination shows that there's not as much competition as apparent from simply listing every possible venue in the area. All of the outdoor facilities are generally only used 4 months per year (June-September) and represent no competition the other 8 months. I just attended an event at the Rocksino, and it's tiny with a maximum capacity of only 2,600. The proposed Akron arena seating of 8,500 permanent plus 500 temporary offers a good mid-size capacity of 9k. That's nicely positioned between mega events at the Q that draw 20k and smaller events at most of the other indoor venues that can accomodate less than 4k (EJ Thomas, Akron Civic, Rocksino, etc.). An arena optimized for basketball brings more permanent seats closer in to the stage for a music concert. Lots of different things to consider and discuss before taking a vote.

The original story linked to in the first post of this thread gave realistic figures from the FirstEnergy-funded study that are in line with what Youngstown has experienced: City-owned arenas are not expected to generate big profits at the arena level. It's the total effect on the city and county economy that must be considered. A facility that attracts new events and visitors to the area impacts the area's total economy. That's the important estimate that hasn't yet shown up in any of the published reports. Specifics are still hard to come by since there is so far only a preliminary plan, as the original story made clear:

UA does not get a free pass on the proposed new arena: One need look no further than Youngstown to see that a properly designed, built and operated arena can be profitable:

Let's not lose sight of the fact that a new arena is a secondary purpose of the proposed sales tax increase. The primary purpose is to properly fund a dangerously underfunded sheriff's office and jail system, which represents Summit County’s largest general fund expense. The primary reason for the underfunding is that Summit County has the lowest sales tax rate of any of Ohio's six large urban counties, which typically have the highest crime rates. Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Franklin, Lucas and Montgomery all collect 1% or 1.25% of their sales taxes, which results in proper funding for their sheriff's departments and jail systems. Summit currently collects only .5%, which is lower than many rural Ohio counties with lower crime rates. Raising it to .75% would still leave Summit County citizens with the lowest sales tax rate of any large urban county in the state. An alternative to properly funding the sheriff's office and jail system in Summit County might be to start a new public service campaign:

Balsy, thanks for sharing the good numbers from past Summit County tax levy voting. It's hard to argue against the facts, though some always try.

Why would any sane person ever vote in favor of paying higher taxes unless there's a valid reason? It's up to those proposing the tax to convince a majority of voters that the .025% sales tax increase is in the best interests of those who'll be paying the extra 25 cents per $100 purchase (excluding food). The pros and cons that have already been presented here are just a sneak preview of what we'll see leading up to the actual vote, and g-mann17 has already pointed out how some of the special interest groups might see it.