Zip Watcher

Here's my 10 man rotation: #1 Double stacked bigs almost all game long. Ideally, there are few if any minutes where both Nik and Zeke are on the bench. I'd hope to have at least one of them on the floor at all times, and see about 20-25 minutes where they're out there together. Other than that, look to get 10+ minutes each from Bardo and Euton. And both of those guys are playing the 5 on defense when they're out there. The Bigs: Cvetinovic Marshall Bardo Euton #2 Start Alex off lightly and see how much he can handle. McNees & Roberts were the starting backcourt for the MAC title team .. so they've got some experience. More and more Alex would keep McNees fresher, and get him more open looks. I'd expect a break down of 30, 25, 25 (Steve, Daryl, Alex) by MAC season. There's clearly an opportunity to run Diggs / McClanahan in spots at the 2 .. but it seems that's probably the exception. The Littles: McNees Roberts Abreu #3 For the 3 hole, we've got 3 guys to use to get 40 productive minutes, hoping for at least 18 ppg & 8 rpg from the position .. with potential to go MUCH higher if McClanahan and/or Diggs can offer some scoring. I'd expect McKnight to play at least half of these 40 minutes, but I can see him starting out slower than that. Ultimately, with 3 guys battling for the minutes at the 3, we're going to get production out of the position, since one will rise above the others. The Middles: McKnight McClanahan Diggs Now if / when they go small, you can see McKnight swinging down to the 4 hole, similar to when they go big, McClanahan and/or Diggs can be a 2. It depends on the matchups. I anticipate that in league play, the Zips will force the issue Big, due to the relative quickness of Nik and Zeke, and the difficulty that size will pose for most conference opponents. In general, I like the versatility that KD has with this roster. He's got 7 guys returning with significant playing time under their belts, as well as 1 D1 transfer, and 2 pretty well traveled freshman. I'm not sure the benefit of playing Egner in the midst of this roster, unless he's dominating guys defensively in practice. Another consideration is the scholi breakdown, which off the top of my head is the following: 4 Seniors (McNees, Roberts, McKnight, Bardo) 2 Juniors (McClanahan, Cvetinovic) 4 Sophomores (Marshall, Diggs, Walsh, Gilliam) 6 Freshmen (Euton, Abreu, Egner, Green, Haney, Treadwell) Now if Haney & Treadwell go the Conyers route, they're sort of not Freshman .. they'd be Frosh in 11-12 .. but let's consider them Frosh now. We've got 6 guys who will be Sophomores next season. I'd expect that to be either 4 or 5 when we get there. Generally, you'd look to have a breakdown of 3, 3, 3, 4 for the 13 scholarships. So redshirting 2 would not surprise me, since it would balance things out for next year .. leaving 2, 4, 4, 4 (allowing that there's an extra in the mix at the moment). Any freshmen playing in this system would need to be playing lights out at least in one aspect of the game in order to crack the rotation. Or, as in the case of Euton and Abreu, provide needed depth in a particular size or skill set. Green and Egner are tweeners who are unfortunately behind a lot of bodies. The logjam opens up next year with the departures of Bardo, McKnight, and potentially Nik). Good roster .. could go lots of ways. Lets hope it goes to the top of the league. B) B) Go Zips!

The box score should reveal the redshirt decisions for the year.

So it took about 4 hours to go from .. "Hey, this is a nice new thing being offered by GoZips.Com." ... to ... "They're doing it the stupid way just to tick us off. They suck." Impressive. Go Zips!

... and thus begins another winter of my content. - Great to be back at the JAR for some Zips hoops last night. Most of the comments above captured my first half observations. Had to leave at the half to get the kids home, but I loved what I saw in 20 minutes. - Saw Zeke's parents outside before the game. Great to see them again. Optimism abounds for a great Zeke sophomore stint, with good reason. I was able to catch a practice about a week ago, and in the practice you could really sense his comfort and confidence within the offense. The ball can and will go through Zeke a bunch this year. - Guards looked good. I'm certainly intrigued by AA. And it was awesome to see Steve able to spot up on the angle a few times and let fly. - The Zips can be BIG if they want to. I hope they want to. They can probably force most conference teams into jumpshooting teams with the inside strength and numbers. I for one like the double stacked bigs we saw: any 2 of Cvitenovic, Marshall, Bardo and Euton at all times. Should help us on the glass, and force teams to hit shots. - That has to start a bit with some good on the ball defense at the perimeter .. a little less ole on the drive, and this team could be on its way to an extremely strong defense. - The new guys seemed to fit in and be comfortable (disclaimer: I left before Egner and Green saw action). Almost all of them through up an airball first shot out, but that's adrenaline and nerves .. can't fault them for that. My big takeaway last night, and it seems to be echoed here on the boards is that no one looked lost, out of place, or appeared to not belong on the floor with the Zips. - Great start to a season. Exhibition, I know .. but getting out there, getting after it and putting away a team early. - As for the athleticism, and also to get the Rowdies and the video guy started on this years chants / motivators, I humbly ask the Nation: It's great to be back at the JAR! B) B) Go Zips!!

Anyone know if the freshman can play the exhibition and still be redshirted?

Can't was better. OU was in general NOT better than the Zips. The Zips beat them twice in the regular season, and OU finished well back of the leaders in the regular season, needing to go on the road to earn their way to the Q. OU then had the best March by a MAC team in some time.

Nice! Jimmy in Erie. Me and the boy will drive up for that. Make the team Jimmy! B) Go Zips!

Indeed it was. For years, we've been grandfathered on an old hosting package that provided 25GB of monthly bandwidth. We've never exceeded it. Until now. Sometime about 3:30 or 4PM yesterday, we went over for the first time. I checked the logs and it appears we had close calls in August and September. We're now upgraded to a 100GB monthly transfer limit. If there's one thing the Zips don't have, it's an apathetic fan base. I think that's a good sign for the Zips and the Nation. Go Zips!

Really? For all practical purposes they just got there. No certainty in that .. the MAC screwed that one up a few years ago .. may have been able to have them as a package deal. Those 2 make the most sense for the MAC. Especially for hoops.

Obviously everyone who follows Zips basketball would like to see better facilities. It just needs to be understood that the more money that's invested in upgrading the JAR, the further a new arena gets pushed into the future. It would be economically difficult to justify building a new arena anytime soon after investing millions to upgrade the old facility. The point being missed here is that any upgrades to the team facilities in the JAR aren't lost if / when the Zips or Akron build an arena. If done correctly, that would turn the JAR into a lights out practice facility in the middle of campus, which would remain so after the team has moved on to the Don Dome. (Jake sighting in 5 .. 4 .. ). In a hypothetical arena across from Canal Park, the teams would likely still use the arena for practices (volleyball practice and matches as well), so pimping out the lockerroom facility at the JAR is a needed improvement, new arena or not. Go Zips! B)

This is one of the biggest hurdles in the Zips hoops teams taking the next step forward. Having facilities in the JAR to support the teams is very important. We have this type of stuff for some other programs on campus. But we don't for hoops. While incremental changes have been made recently .. this type of improvement would go a long way to getting the next Zeke level recruit. This is the capital improvement that the hoops programs need. An arena is secondary. Go Zips!

I disagree. By buying and renewing my seats, I'm saying that I support the Akron Zips, the student athletes, and the community they represent. As a Zips fan, not alumn, I'm interested in doing my part to help ensure that student athletes that choose to compete under the colors and logo of our Zips have a good college experience. That's what this is about. Withdrawing support of the student athletes because of an administrative decision with which one disagrees undermines everything I believe it means to be a fan. It's not a product. It's not professional sports .. and the student athletes don't owe me anything other than an honest effort to compete to the best of their ability and represent UA and the Zips in a manner befitting our community. I don't feel ripped off if the team struggles and I don't feel entitled to see specific changes if I choose to keep my seats. I'm a Zips fan. My dad's a Zips fan, my son's a Zips fan. I want to see the Zips succeed. For themselves and UA. NOT for me. The enjoyment I get out of Zips athletic success is a secondary bonus. See you at the games. B) B) Go Zips!

Back to the original comment about the fumble and "shovel pass" or whatever that was: By rule in college football, if he regained possession in the endzone while on the ground, shouldn't the play have been ruled a safety? He clearly gains possession enough to then try and throw or roll the ball out? If he's on the ground in the endzone, that was a 2 point safety, and not a TD, regardless of what happened after he regained possession. I don't have the stomach to look for a replay, but wasn't he on the ground when he grabbed the ball?

Someone here is mis-informed as to what actually happened the past several months. This is all moot. Mr. Ennis has chosen a different path. To play for Ben Braun @ Rice. Fact is the spots here were filling up. We wish him well and move on with the guys have chosen to be here. B) B) Go Zips!

+1 For the second week in a row, I find myself in complete agreement w/ the Great GP1. Not sure what that means, or if I want to know what that means, so while I ponder that ... Let's go drink a Tullamore! Go Zips!

I'm impressed he kept his head on through it all.

Thanks for the info Rifle!

I have to say I agree almost entirely with the line of thinking here. Good topic & thoughts from GP1. Go Zips!

What YOU don't know is that only Igor is on scholarship currently. Put the endzome lawn gnome back in the closet .. it's feeding you bad things to post. Branko Rogovic isn't a walk-on. Marchese signed an LOI, so I assume he must be on scholarship as well. You making assumptions doesn't make them facts. Go Zips!

What YOU don't know is that only Igor is on scholarship currently. Put the endzome lawn gnome back in the closet .. it's feeding you bad things to post.

Porter's club needs to bring home a title or two for that discussion to start.

+50

It will never cease to amaze me that some fans can pan a recruit within a half day of hearing of them for the first time. It's astonishing, really. Welcome aboard Deji! Glad to have your commitment. B) B) Go Zips!

No mulligans. Every single person in the stadium not on the Zips coaching staff knew that was a stupid decision. Who thought it was smart to hire someone who has never called plays before? Another classic quote from the endzone grass gnome ..

Seems to me to be a team that's in the process of remaking itself. It's not going to be fixed in one week or one season. I thought the defense was solid, but they were left on the field too long. I'd guess they gave up far more yards in the 2nd half than the first. Two plays stick out at me that really changed the margin of the game: - The pop up kick near the end of the half. We gave them a short field to work with on their last drive & they punched it. I assume they must have been kicking away from some returner, but having them start near midfield killed the D. We had a real chance to go in to the half down 7 .. and the field position really hurt. - The blocked FG for 6 the other way. Ended the game. Absent these two plays, the defense played well enough to keep the Zips in the game. They didn't get much help from the Offense or the Special Teams. No points on the board, and left out on the field way too long. In general, the offense was overcome by its own mental mistakes. Lining up 7 guys on the line is a rule in PeeWee .. if it happens once, ok .. but 4 or 5 times in a game indicates some mental breakdowns. This stuff is fixable. These are some of the risks of opening with a BCS and not FCS opponent. Go Zips!