akronzips71

Zeke has to learn to put the ball into the basket. Having a seven footer in the middle does you no good if he consistently misses bunnies. Too many missed dunks and layups. I like what he was doing in the end of the season with those jump shots. Those are basically a bunny for him. We need 15 PPG from him to be successful. We have three more years of Zeke, build the offense around him. When he gets it underneath it needs to be a gimmie. And ZEKE, hold onto the ball and keep it up high! And MRS M. PLEASE START FEEDING THAT KID. HE NEEDS ANOTHER 25 OR 30 POUNDS ON HIM.

Of course, Bassett sucked today. But after 119 points in 4 games, he is entitled to a letdown.

They really can't get ANYTHING to drop (Zips disease?) and seem to lack offensive movement. They are not going to stop these guys inside so they need to outscore them, which they are certainly not doing right now.

A Redeemed Armon Bassett Leads Cinderella Ohio9 Comments Say Something » 3/19/2010 11:00 PM ET By Dan Graziano PrintAText SizeE-mail More Dan Graziano Dan Graziano is an NCAA Basketball Writer for FanHouse. PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Ohio Bobcats, 14th-seeded conquerors of Georgetown and unlikely second-round opponent of Tennessee, may be a mid-major team. But Armon Bassett is not a mid-major player. "I've played at Cameron Indoor Stadium," Bassett said Friday, the day after he led the Bobcats to the biggest upset so far in this year's NCAA tournament. "I've played a lot of places. So playing against a big-conference team like that, you just go out there and believe in yourself, and that's what I did and hoped my teammates would just feed off of that." It's been a while since Bassett was playing in places like Cameron Indoor, since he was a hotshot Indiana freshman and sophomore who played in big-conference arenas against Big Ten and other big-conference foes every night. His road from that world to the mid-major underdog world in which he now finds himself was rocky and difficult. But he's found a home in Ohio, with a coach who's known him since he was 13 years old and teammates who treat him like a superstar. "I do feed off him," said freshman point guard D.J. Cooper, another of the speedy, hot-shooting Ohio guards who shocked the favored Hoyas on Thursday night. "I see him playing with just a lot of energy and confidence, so I just try and do the same thing. Just follow in his footsteps." When you learn a little bit about Bassett's story, it sounds bizarre that he finds himself in a position to be admired and emulated. But sports is full of redemption stories, and Bassett, a 23-year-old junior who's on his third college, may just have turned himself into one. Share Initially recruited to play at Indiana, Bassett was kicked off the team in the wake of the scandal-marred Kelvin Sampson era in 2008. Amid reports that he failed drug tests, Bassett transferred to UAB but didn't stay long. By the end of 2008, he'd washed out at two different schools and was looking for someone who could offer him a fresh start when few seemed so inclined. Fortunately, he found an old friend. "He was looking for someone he could trust," Ohio coach John Groce said. Groce was that person. Groce's stepbrother, Travis Steele, was Bassett's AAU coach when Bassett was a troubled 13-year-old kid from a tough background. Steele, Groce and their whole family -- including Groce's late grandmother -- got to know Bassett and his mother, Anita Burks. "Armon has been through a lot of adversity in his life," Groce said Friday. "I know you're alluding to Indiana and UAB, but some of it dates back even before that." The friendship that formed between the two families 10 years ago meant that Groce was always looking out for Bassett. He tried to recruit him to Ohio out of high school, but Bassett picked Indiana, where Steele was on the coaching staff. When Bassett was looking for a new school in late 2008 and early 2009, Steele talked to his stepbrother, who brought Bassett to campus and had some long talks with him. "We started having some dialogue to see if it made sense, and if both of us were going to be on the same page in terms of what we were trying to do and expectations and that sort of thing," Groce said. "Once I felt like it was a good fit, then we made the decision. I was just fortunate that I've known him a long time." That good fortune is in full flower now, as Bassett and Groce find themselves on a Cinderella college hoops run. Seeded ninth in the MAC tournament, the Bobcats won four straight games -- two in overtime -- to claim the conference title and the MAC's automatic bid. They then rolled Georgetown on Thursday, and now they face Tennessee on Saturday afternoon for a chance at the Sweet Sixteen. It's hard to imagine them getting this far without Bassett, who scored 119 points in the Bobcats' four MAC tournament games, was named that tournament's MVP and poured in 32 on Thursday against the Hoyas. Not only is he the team's best player -- he's its unquestioned leader. Cooper answered 10 different questions while seated next to Bassett at Friday's news conference, and he began six of them with some variation of the phrase, "As Armon just said ..." Bassett is handling it all like a natural, and when he looks back on the path he took to get here, he says all of his difficulties have helped him. "I got into a little trouble along the way, and I had to go through a long time with my name, nothing but bad stuff being written about me," Bassett said. "It just made me a stronger person. And I have to thank coach Groce for giving me a chance to play. I've just got to be thankful, really." His teammates are thankful he ended up in Ohio, and so is his coach. But as somebody who's known Bassett for a decade and knows more about what the kid has been through than any of us do or probably ever will, Groce is something else too -- proud. "From where he started to where he is now and all the different things he's been through," Groce said. "I'm thrilled that he's had this opportunity to grow and to improve, not only as a basketball player while he's been at Ohio, but also as a person through this process." Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook

Just in case

WOW Does the ESPN pool have a payout? If not, the stats may be different for people who paid their way in. Only 56 after the first round. WOW Considering how many upsets there were last nite, 16 out of 19 is real good. Something like the OU-GTown game would be considered a done deal by most people. Winner gets ten grand. There is no entry fee. If things hold up I will have 16 of the first 19 games right, and I'm still behind about 100,000 people. By the way I'm watching the WVU-Morgan State game and they had a graphic with Akron since Huggy took them and two other teams to the tournament. Plus they said he transferred to WVU from OU.

Maybe Brett McKnight won't even get the chance to take such a high percentage of his team's shots next year. Well, you gotta do both but we missed WAY too many bunnies really gotta work on that. And sometimes they just looked out of gas even with the rotation, so maybe conditioning is a problem. But worst of all, if you watched the second 1/2 warmups in that last game, nothing would go into the basket in practice! I knew we were screwed right then, how can you win a game when you can't hit in practice??????

I made an account just to respond to this post. Be proud I guess. First of all..Cooper was battleing injurys most of the year, most noteably his knee. The ONLY thing that worries me about him as a player is (unfairly) his size. I'm usually pretty even keel with my fandom for Ohio, meaning I don't let myself get to high or to low with any of the athletic teams, but if you honestly think that Cooper isn't going to be a beast by his senior year - you're smokeing something, and I may want some of it. And we were a 9 seed thank you. Secondly, you can't compare NFL football to college sports. In the NFL, there are no rankings, everybody starts the season at the same spot, and everything (more or less) is settled on the field. When it comes time for the NFL play-offs, the teams with the best records go, period. In college however, everything is based on perception. A strong CMU, Buffalo, BG or whoever in football is good for OU, Akron, and the rest of the MAC. One team CAN elevate the perception of the league, provided there are MULTIPLE good teams (RE: Why the Pac-10 actually does suck). So yes, Penn State and Michigan doing well OOC, in thier bowl games, and against the weaker confrence opponents, is EXTREAMLY helpfull for Ohio State. Finally, as I'll relate this to college basketball, Gonzaga has become a virtual lock to make the NCAA's every year. If Gonzaga is in the NCAA's BEFORE thier confrence tourney, and they lose the tourney, guess what - 2 bid league. While I don't think RPI really truly matters for the MAC (see 2005, and Can't this year) - having a good YOUNG team like OU does will increase exposue not just for OU, but for the MAC as a whole. Oh and then there is that whole thing where the further OU gets into the NCAA's, the more money Akron gets, and money makes everything better. I am sitting here typing this as I recover from knee surgery I had yesterday. A bad knee is a real concern for an athlete, and I hope he can resolve those problems. While it harder for an older man to heal and he is young and fit, the fact is, if he needed to take a year off to resolve that, he should do so. Knees are a career stopper. That being said, just watch the hype this guy gets for the next Ohio game. His play last nite was unreal. Normally I would have no interest in watching any games we are not in, but I put it on because of Cooper and Basset. Then I could not turn it off! Basset is SUPER, but he is put to shame by the moves that Cooper has. Again, it's not only the points, its the assists and rebounds and passes and ball handling. Sorry to say, I think OU is going to get top ranking in the MAC at the beginning of next season, and maybe for a few years after that as well.

EXCELLENT POST And last nite he put up numbers like that against a top national program! No denying he has what it takes so far.

WOW Does the ESPN pool have a payout? If not, the stats may be different for people who paid their way in. Only 56 after the first round. WOW

He has his good nights but....good players don't have awful nights like Cooper look at these point totals 2 - Delaware 5 - EKU 5 - Pitt 6 - IUPUI 7 - Ball State 5 - Wright State 4 - Miami 6 - BGSU MAC tournament 2 - Can't 2 - Miami When there are players that average 30+ pts a game out there, some guy from OU who averages 13pts a game really doesn't impress me. I'd consider someone a decent player if he averaged around 20...but 13? get real Troy Cotton from Green Bay averages 36!?!?!?! that's impressive but no ones cares about him around here HE IS A FRESHMAN And he supposedly was nursing a sore knee in a couple of those games.

Totally agree. Gtown had height, OU had shooters who are amazing athletes. It would have been a very poor match for us. All I want for Christmas is a guard who can shoot like that! I think Akron would have gotten the 13 seed if they had beat OU in the MAC tournament. But chances are we would have lost anyway considering how bad our defense was throught the tournament. I don't know. Gtown, a #3 seed and a top national program had MORE trouble with those two than we did. It may be not so much how bad we were as how good they were. right. Because Georgetown is probably worse than UWGB, too, right? UMM. this is a BIG TIME PROGRAM and possibly the best MAC win ever: Georgetown Hoyas Tournament Appearances: 25 Final Fours: 5 Championships: 1 (1984) Win-Loss: 45-24 Georgetown Best Tournament Performances TEAM BESTS PLAYER BESTS STAT SEASON OPPONENT VALUE SEASON PLAYER VALUE PTS 1996 Texas Tech, 98-90 98 1987 Reggie Williams 34 FG% 1982 Oregon State, 69-45 .744 1990 Alonzo Mourning 1.000 FT 1996 Texas Tech, 98-90 33 1987 Reggie Williams 16 FT% 1982 North Carolina, 62-63 .889 1984 Michael Jackson 1.000 3PM 2008 Davidson, 70-74 10 1987 Charles Smith 5 3P% 1994 Illinois, 84-77 .750 1989 Dwayne Bryant .833 REB 2001 Hampton, 76-57 51 1990 Dikembe Mutombo 16 you were arguing for the fact that Akron may have beat Georgetown as well. I wanted you to remember that just last night we lost to UWGB... Nope. I am not arguing that at all. Gtown would be a horrible matchup for us. But this OU team is on fire. Gtown is a big time program, and OU is on a big roll. They are looking very very good, and if their NEXT opponent allows those two to put up over 50 points, it's gonna be game on.

I just heard that akronzips71 is sitting outside of DJ Cooper's dorm right now...definitely a crazy night. I need to get him to autograph his rookie card. It will be worth a million dollars.

You're obsessed I am? Not the guy salivating over DJ Cooper? lol You're salivating over akronzips71, so yeah Geez, I hope you are a cute girl. If not a cheerleader, at least a baton/pom pom girl. You guys are getting weird now lol...good luck finding DJ Cooper's Facebook page...have a good night I was referring to you 0510 since you are salivating about me.

I don't know about that, but if those two guards (SALIVATING AGAIN) hit for 50+ points combined, they are hard to beat. They went for 50+ combined twice this year. And the results of those games were?????? lol I take that LOL to mean THEY WON?

try 14.5. Good thing I only put $0.50 on it. I wonder how many people picked OU in the pool? Maybe one or two in the entire country. I honestly did. haha Nah, you didn't. It's a fools bet. BUT the Cats +13.5 probably tempted a lot of people. I honestly need to provide proof? Of course, of all people i would think your love affair with DJ cooper with have had you picking them to win as well. I actually don't gamble because I only bet on sure things, and there is no such thing as a sure thing in gambling. But I have now seem DJ play two games where he was nothing less than spectacular (the last two against us and tonite) and I am damn impressed. As I stated after the second OU game, I won't be shocked if he goes pro early. That guy has all the moves - sandlot ball handling and driving skills, and is a dead on shooter. 1) You don't gamble but you bet? 2) Somebody lock this guy's bank account lol If I bet, I don't gamble. Because when I bet (on buying merchandise for example) I ONLY buy if it is a sure thing to make money or at the very least break even and never lose money. I recall going to the (horse) track once and seeing a degenerate gambler with a handful of parimutual tickets and his historic statement was: "I JUST GOTTA BREAK EVEN BECAUSE I REALLY NEED THE MONEY".

Totally agree. Gtown had height, OU had shooters who are amazing athletes. It would have been a very poor match for us. All I want for Christmas is a guard who can shoot like that! I think Akron would have gotten the 13 seed if they had beat OU in the MAC tournament. But chances are we would have lost anyway considering how bad our defense was throught the tournament. I don't know. Gtown, a #3 seed and a top national program had MORE trouble with those two than we did. It may be not so much how bad we were as how good they were. right. Because Georgetown is probably worse than UWGB, too, right? UMM. this is a BIG TIME PROGRAM and possibly the best MAC win ever: Georgetown Hoyas Tournament Appearances: 25 Final Fours: 5 Championships: 1 (1984) Win-Loss: 45-24 Georgetown Best Tournament Performances TEAM BESTS PLAYER BESTS STAT SEASON OPPONENT VALUE SEASON PLAYER VALUE PTS 1996 Texas Tech, 98-90 98 1987 Reggie Williams 34 FG% 1982 Oregon State, 69-45 .744 1990 Alonzo Mourning 1.000 FT 1996 Texas Tech, 98-90 33 1987 Reggie Williams 16 FT% 1982 North Carolina, 62-63 .889 1984 Michael Jackson 1.000 3PM 2008 Davidson, 70-74 10 1987 Charles Smith 5 3P% 1994 Illinois, 84-77 .750 1989 Dwayne Bryant .833 REB 2001 Hampton, 76-57 51 1990 Dikembe Mutombo 16

I don't know about that, but if those two guards (SALIVATING AGAIN) hit for 50+ points combined, they are hard to beat. They went for 50+ combined twice this year. And the results of those games were??????

try 14.5. Good thing I only put $0.50 on it. I wonder how many people picked OU in the pool? Maybe one or two in the entire country. I honestly did. haha Nah, you didn't. It's a fools bet. BUT the Cats +13.5 probably tempted a lot of people. I honestly need to provide proof? Of course, of all people i would think your love affair with DJ cooper with have had you picking them to win as well. I actually don't gamble because I only bet on sure things, and there is no such thing as a sure thing in gambling. But I have now seem DJ play two games where he was nothing less than spectacular (the last two against us and tonite) and I am damn impressed. As I stated after the second OU game, I won't be shocked if he goes pro early. That guy has all the moves - sandlot ball handling and driving skills, and is a dead on shooter.

Just kidding...he was a 3 star, same as.... STEVE SWIECH! Also interesting...Al Fisher was a 1 star, less than John Rybak lol Aside from LeBron, who indeed was one of a kind, you have a very hard time predicting how a player will do in Div I. The opponents are bigger, faster, older, more experienced and better than anything he ever faced in High School, unless of course someone in your league had a LeBron or Alcindor (Kareem for you young folks).

I don't know about that, but if those two guards (SALIVATING AGAIN) hit for 50+ points combined, they are hard to beat.

You're obsessed I am? Not the guy salivating over DJ Cooper? lol You're salivating over akronzips71, so yeah Geez, I hope you are a cute girl. If not a cheerleader, at least a baton/pom pom girl.

See, here I am agreeing with you and you have to get all sarcastic on me!

Nothing wrong with being bitter about a loss...VMD just has to understand that OU winning is good for the conference and therefore good for Zips. Don't we get a piece of that payout if they win a game in the tournament? To play devil's advocate... Ohio winning helps them in recruiting. Better recruiting = better teams. Better teams = tougher for Akron to win the conference. Besides...does anyone really believe Akron or the MAC will gain respect with a win? They'll be viewed as an exception to an otherwise mediocre conference. The way they are playing there "could" be more than one win. And it is incredibly petty to say that winning is bad for US since they would get better recruits and beat us. The entire point is to win, and they are doing it. The beat not only the BEST team in the MAC but also the SECOND BEST team in the MAC. It's petty for me to not want the team that will probably be Akron's biggest competition in the MAC not getting national recognition that would lead to a significant recruiting edge? I'm sorry, I thought this was an AKRON forum with AKRON'S best interests in mind... Name a single recruit of Akron's that OU is also recruiting. Oh yeah, here's your recruit: http://ohio.scout.com/a.z?s=354&p=8&am...amp;nid=3407323 5'6" ???? Are they giving him growth hormone?

Seriously? Comparing him to Magic now? lol...dude, he is a heckuva player, but lets be serious here. And do we really need 5 OU-related threads? They played a GREAT game. They validated their wins agains K-ENT and US. They are on fire. What else can I say. And it IS good for the MAC no matter what you say. A mid level team from a mid level mid major blows out GEORGETOWN!!!!! Awesome, I hope they can do it again. You should just change your username. Possibilities include: OhioBobcats71 IHeartDJCooper71 DJIsGod71 Thats very childish. Our season is over. Our league needs a boost. Back in 1966 Earl the Pearl blew us out of the Mid East Regionals. And we stood up and applauded because we knew we were in the presence of a great player. There is nothing wrong with appreciating great play. Mickey Mantle was the greatest draw in baseball. Opposing stadiums would sell out when the Yanks came to town because they wanted to see the Mick hit home runs. He was that great in his prime and fans want to see great players. REAL sports fans can appreciate a great performance, even when their team loses. And in this case, our team is not even in it. I'm just messing with ya man...no offense meant. But in all seriousness, you have now compared DJ Cooper/Ohio U to: Magic Johnson Mickey Mantle The New York Jets that won the Super Bowl I'm just saying... DJ plays baseball AND is an entire NFL football team? WOW I didn't know that. Now I am REALLY impressed. Uhhh...I said DJ Cooper/Ohio U....I figured you could make the player-player, team-team connection... OU won the Superbowl???? I thought you had to be in the NFL to get in, not the MAC.