zipboy

I got to talk to JD at the Lizard during the coaches show last week. More impressed every time I see him. The way he talked, I had the feeling that he is not a 2 yr type guy, but will see the program mature. There are just so many unknowns right now. Who steps up to keep this team moving forward over the summer?

Some thoughts that I meant to post over the past few weeks. Hopefully, works starts slowing down. The Good stuff and there was a lot of it For me, the best season ever as a Zip fan. My Zip life did not start until 91 when I was a freshman at UA. So I missed out on the glorious 80s. I don't know if I will ever see as tough nosed group as this one. I give this team credit for breaking the me first, not mentally tough, here we go again syndrome from prior years. They actually played like they expected to win and wanted to win. How many times in the past was it hard to actually like our team, that you admired how the other team played the game the right way? Can't say that I had that feeling this year ever. KD turned out to be a much better game day coach than I expected. My thought going in was this guy will be a great recruiter and motivator, but probably an average game day coach. Whether he or Shaka gets the credit, I don't know. But Akron had an uncanny knack for playing different combinations or different matchups or different tempos that worked. Their flexibility as a team was amazing. Romeo showed the makings of becoming a superstar in the league. His development from last year to Dec and from Dec to March was amazing. Did he shoot about 75% from the line the 2nd half of the year? Bubba and Middleton also showed that they could play in this league. Who knows how they develop, but they should be contributors. I like that 10 guys played every night and everyone on the team contributed. Nick Meyers even gave some valuable minutes at the end when I thought that he was dead and buried. Earlier in the year, there were comments on this board about players being disgruntled on playing time. If there ever was a team where no one should have been upset, this was it. In the past 6 guys got about 95% of the minutes. This was about as spread out as you can get. I like not depending on the same guy every night to win it for you. Question marks Stating the obvious, next year will be an up and down one for JWood. When Ben Reed came back, his soph year he had a lot of 20 pt games followed by 3 point outings 2 days later. I feel good that JW is a hard worker and he will return to form. But he may not be at full strength until March. Who else steps up to help out inside? Preston is the one guy who is athletic and big enough to really help out. Joyce was the glue of the team. I always worried if he was out for an extended amount of time. This year also showed that he can't go 35 minutes every night. Hopefully Dials can emerge or Middleton can help out at the point. For Akron to be most effective, Dru needs about 25 minutes per night. I did not question KD much this year. Why DP did not get more minutes at the end was my biggest surprise. DP was getting his normal minutes until he got the broken nose. Then McFadden had a great streak and it was hard to play both of them at the same time. But when Rick struggled at the end, KD did not seem to have the confidence in DP. He needs to get better defensively because we need him 25-30 minutes per night. He definitely cares so I hope that he rounds himself out in the off season. Looking ahead 4 exciting new guys in the program including Dials. We lose 3 quality seniors 2 of which made valuable contributions. On paper, this team has to be better next year. KD has started establishing his foundation. It is good to see him starting to beef the schedule as promised, Xavier, some good teams in PR, 2 extra non conference games. I can't be more excited with both Zip football and basketball than I am right now. 2 years from now the JAR will be too small. Better stop my rambling now. Go Zips!

I actually work with that kid. He was signing autographs in the concourse in the 2nd half.

Doesn't BG lose about 90% of their scoring with Almanson and Reimold leaving?

Good posts. Peterson had 3 fouls in the 1st half. I assume that he may have not gotten many minutes in the 2nd half because of that? It's also hard to have him and McFadden on the court at the same time. I have always been a big fan of DP, but McFadden is the hot guy now and he can rebound! ZW has a good point about Cedric. Once he figures out decision making, he will be really tough. Nice job by Joyce to gut it out. Collins played great, but I was glad to see Dru handling the ball with 2 minutes left.

I plan to hit both the Lizard and Hard Rock. I think Can't has Flannerys. A buddy from EMU said they have Harry Buffalo's since the girls are still left. I think OU had the Lizard last year.

I wonder if the league is office is praying for no upsets in round 1. If everything goes according to plan, the top 8 draws including all 6 Ohio schools will be at Gund for the 1st time ever. A friday night semi of Akron/Buffalo and Miami vs Can't/OU could pull in 15K+.

Good post ZW. I don't feel bad about the loss because Buffalo left no doubt who the better team was on Saturday. I enjoyed KD's post game comments. Pretty much said that the past is sunk costs, nothing we can do about the past. This team can only control the future. I don't think that any of us feel EMUwill be a pushover. Zips have very little room for error whether they are playing EMU or Miami. Team D, better rebounding, and good shooting will see us through. I worry abou Joyce being banged up. Hope he is soaking in an ice bath right now. Looking forward to Monday night.

I forgot Stovall. I give him the nod over Nelson. Nice player on a decent team.

Results will be out next week so I assume that voting will be done over the next few days. If I had a vote Turner Battle - best PG in the league. Stovall is a better scorer, but Battles assist to turnover ratio is twice as good. Pound for pound the toughest guy in the league. Ben Reed - when he is on, the best player in the league. Big time scorer and plays with emotion. I love watching him. Danny Horace - Double/double every night. We held him in check, but he puts up the numbers. Josh Almanson - Comeback player of the year as well? Steady guy on a team that may win the West. John Reinhold - Toss up between him, Rost, and Triplett. I think Triplett has had a down year by his standards. I only saw Rost play once. Reinhold is forever burned in m head burying 3's so I give himn the nod. 2nd Team Triplett Rost Romeo - most improved player of the year. Next year could be really scary. Chet Mason - does he have the most rebounds from a guard ever in league play? Too bad he couldn't shoot better. Kevin Nelson - nice player on a bad team. He may be the best pure scorer in the league. Coach of the year KD- I admit it, I am partial. If we win Saturday, he gets the nod Tim O'Shea - surprise team of the year #2 Charlie Coles- If they get the 1 seed, the top team's coach always gets it. Go Zips!

F him. Everyone talks about the RPI being messed up. Well the RPI is actually right for once. Years past the MAC would be 8-9 entering league play and end up 13 after playing each other. How can you go down playing each other? A few years ago Ball State drills 2 top 10 teams and loses to Duke by around 10. Once they dropped 4 conference games, everyone said they were done. too many losses. Put every team in the tournament and I guarantee you that the MAC would have 3-4 teams every year in the final 64. I don't even watch the NCAA tourney anymore. The past has made me bitter. Even with the RPI this year, they will probably choose to ignore it. And the league is probably screwed again this year. Kennedy does not start until Sept 05 as part of the committee.

First, great job ZW. Hope to see you at Gund next week. On to the game 1. Great to see all 3 seniors step up and play well. Also nice to see the box score with 10 guys getting quality minutes. 2. I like Middleton's aggressiveness, but it seems like he is out of control 75% of the time. Does he ever not look to go coast to coast? 3. Rick McFadden, out go to man down the stretch? He is playing with some bigtime confidence right now. 4. Typical Akron game sheet - assist to turnover ratio 2.5/1 other team 0.5/1. We get outrebounded by 15, and they shoot 15 more FTs than us. If we shoot 45% or more, we win. 5. We sure got a lot of easy looks last night. Compare that to playing Miami and Can't where we never got an easy shot. If we shoot well, we win by 20. 6. Looking forward to Saturday.

My thoughts 1. Kudos to Can't. Two tight games, and they made the plays when they counted. In football, I got so pissed when the Zips almost ran the table and it was because "the other team screwed up and gave Akron the game". Give credit where it is due, congrats to Can't. That said, I would love another match up next Saturday night. 2. Nice to see McFadden looking for a shot at the end. I thought the 2 pointer was going down. He forced the 3 pointer, but he wanted the ball and had the confidence to take it. 3. When Romeo is 5 feet from the basket, he has to look to shoot. I admire his unselfishness, but we need him to score. 4. Game of the year by Preston. 5. Nice rebound game by DP. I don't question KD much, but wondered why DP did not play the last 4:49 of the game. He would have been a nice weapon to have the last couple of possessions. 6. 10-6 with 2 to play, I will take that. Get on Marshall early and often. 7. How many games have we been killed on the boards now? The zone is great, but we sure have trouble rebounding in it. 8. Good night at the line for once. We shot ok, around 40%. The D let us down. 9. The next 2 weeks will be the best of the year. Buckle up. Go Zips!

How can you root for a team that has a chicken hawk as a mascot? The sleeping giant is no longer sleeping. It is time to freaking bury them.

Good posts. Usually I am more reserved, but I think we win going away. The offense has to wake up, and Defense is what we do. Can't is good, but we are better this year. After Can't beat us in the tourney when their streak started, John Whorton made the comment, "Akron is the bully, and we slapped them down." Well if we want to be the Big Dogs, we gotta knock off the bullies. And Can't certainly has been the marquee team in the league over the last 7 years. If we lose, it makes it tougher but is not the end of the world. Still I like our chances. It would be nice to see DP rebound with a monster game. CK, you should look up Klaus Zollner on your trip. I imagine that he would have some stories to tell over a few beers. My lasting memory of Klauss was starting his last game vs Can't. He played about 5 minutes, but had a few points, a few rebounds, and a block and played great. Legends are made in the Can't game. Go Zips!!!

Bringing 18 to the game. ZW I am in section 8 as well, row H. Look forward to seeing you. Win tomorrow, a decent chance to lock up a top 3 game.

I like Rick Chryst a lot, but the dumbest thing the MAC can do is let Temple in as a football only member. Short of giving eveyone else a win, it makes no sense. They would lower the RPI, would be at the bottom of the league in attendance, and Philly isn't exactly the best destination for a road game. If they agree to come for basketball, you need to think about it otherwise, just say NO. WKY would be a great pick up for basketball. They may grow football somewhat but will always struggle. I think they make a lot of sense to take a look at. Mid Tenn may also be a fit. Personally, I like the idea of keeping 12 for a while.

Thanks ZW, maybe next time. I am leading the caravan from Eastern Cuyahoga county down. We will be pit stopping at the Lizard "official bar of Akron Zips athletics" in Northern Summit county.

Elton Alexander was on the Joe Dunn show last night. Joe asked him to pick his MAC title game now. Without hesitation he said Buffalo. Surprised me. His #2 was a toss up between WMU, Ohio, or any of 5 other teams. With respect to the game, it was amazing how ready Akron was from the beginning against Ball. They just could not match our intensity. It is just one game and should be a dogfight. But I have never felt more confident in guys stepping up in big games. I never had this feeling in the Ball/Bosley era. Akron just has many clutch guys. It's great to feel this excitement again. Go Zips!

Amazing that we have the best recruiting class in school history and a story like this comes out. Beacon must be getting really worried that the new stadium becomes a reality. A top 25 program with sellout crowds will be hard to ignore. Too bad some people still think Akron is several steps down from other Div 1 programs. Thank goodness for Proenza, Thomas, and JD. No mention in the article that the Hoban lineman going to Toledo picked the Rockets over us. No mention that Tyrell Sutton was offered as a soph. It's one thing if Akron is not even offering local kids who all get scholarships to Div 1 schools. If anything the article should have been why can't Akron land 6 local stars who picked other Div 1 schools. I heard JD make a comment last week that the most impressed kids were from Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy, PA etc. The hardest kids to get are the local ones. Wonder why? Too bad so many people are missing the boat locally.

I will try to make it. Bringing 15 people, so I will see if I can get away.

Great win. I did not get a chance to listen but it sounds like we gutted it out. Bringing 15 other future Zip fans to the Can't game on Wed. Win the next 2 at home and we have a good shot at a top 3 spot. Go Zips!

He is a WR/DB and played at Cleveland South. I think that he is around 6 ft 1in and weighs about 175.

Kind of scary, but the Lady Zips are 9th now in the league and have the chance to play themselves into a home game.

Here were the names that I remember with their comments Carlton Jackson - Long said he was very similar to Omar Jacobs at BG, a huge pick up. Alex Allen - Long said he was the steal of the MAC and would contribute this year and play a lot. He loved this guy. Terricko Marshall from Maple Hts - Long rated him as #2 best DE in the state. He said grades may be a question mark. Ray Sylor- prop 48 from Perry last year. Long was not high on him. Vernon Chambers - prop 48 or prep school from Shaker Hts - Long loved him, said that he was high level big 10 guy and should play next year. Bryant McMillan RB from Cincy - good football player Zak Anderson - Long did not know much about the PA guys. Joe and Fred said he was the best lineman Scott Uziel - no comment Merce Poindexter - no comment Eliot Bates- Pitt people are still pretty upset he picked Akron. He may play sooner as well. Chris Jacquemein - Long said he would not play QB. If he had played 1 position, he would have been a big time player but sacrificed for the team, an all MAC type kid. Keith Hubener- big OL Jermaine Lindsey - Syracuse loved this guy and we beat them Joe Tuzze - FB/LB Al Tariz Bian? - LB from NJ that we beat Can't for Jose Cruz - supposedly he is a solid committ for Akron. Jay Sharp - tall receiver, Long loved this guy too. Brandon Anderson - will play next year DeAndre Scott - a legit 4.3 guy. Long said one of the most underrated guys out there and a huge pick up for Akron Chris Kern? - OL from Upper Arlington, a project Clarence McPherson - no comment Luke Getsy - no comment Andy Allemen - Long was surprised he moved to OL. they said 3 other kids real fast at the end and said they had no info on them. I think 2 were from FL. I have heard Long before, he is a straight shooter guy. He said a few times that he did not realize Akron had got some of these kids and sounded almost shocked at how strong this class was. On a final note, Brian Hainline(spelling?) from Glen Oak was one of the stud receivers in the state and is going to columbus. He was on the show. His brother is the #1 QB prospect in the state of ohio for next year a 6ft 6 in kid. Common sense he will committ to osu, but he was wearing an AKRON ZIP cap at the recruiting show. You never know. Long (a big 10 guy) said that the MAC has better QBs than the big 10. And from my point of view, a kid playing in a JD Brookhart offense for 4 years or a Jim Tressel offense, hands down Akron gives a QB a better chance to make the pros. Great show by Joe and Fred!