Zip Watcher

+1 , we need to find a way to bring the hoops (men's & women's) team facilities up to par with what we've done w/ FB and are in the process of doing in Futbol. Money doesn't grow on trees. But we have dug a nice hole to address the woeful FB facilities ... somehow, someway, the hoops teams facilities need the same attention .. and it will be at a FRACTION of the cost of the FB investment. And did KD take the bait? Not so much. Basketball Guy here. I don't have tons of detail or stats to back this up .. so I'm hoping that ZachTheKid has this handy or D.I.G can corroborate. 1. I agree with every point you make above except the last one. No question about the draw, the BCS money games on the road, or the FB facilities of years past. Everyone agrees with you here. 2. But it's selective to just list these things out. It's one thing if the FB team is bringing in 700k to the department and paying for itself. This is what happens in places like tOSU and Texas. It's NOT what's happening here, is it? Is the FB team operating in the black? Breaking even? {help me out here Zach .. I know you've posted this over at the bbs somewhat recently} 3. I'm ignoring the capital improvements end of it, because I think the strategy of the U is sound on this one. But until the FB team brings in enough coin due to filling up the Info and sacrificing themselves at the altar of the BCS that it even covers it's own operating expenditures, let's not pretend that FB is some sugar daddy for the rest of the Athletic Department, because it's not. It's been chasing it's own budget in a losing battle thus far. 4. At a minimum, I think the programs are on equal ground. Neither is hugely profitable, and neither should be abandoned for the benefit of the other. But one has been markedly more successful in competition over the past six years, while seeing little or no capital investment to further its improvements. 5. If there were no FB @ UA, the Zips wouldn't be in the MAC, as a matter of conference charter. It's perfectly reasonable to presume that had the Zips stayed FCS in the 80's, they'd be in the Horizon with their old OVC rival, YSU. Certainly not a step down, IMO. I don't really see any basketball guys directing anger at Zips Football. Most of us are Football guy by proxy also .. and just want a little attention paid to the backend of the program to help keep momentum going. I think you might be overstating the energy level. And FB guy needs to not be so defensive and pretend there's some nirvana going on over at the Info and FB program which makes it the only program worthy of investment and time. ALL the Zips facilities sucked before Thomas & Proenza arrived. FB wasn't the only one. I understand that Rifle's still do .. and I'm sure they lose less money than every other sport in the department. Stating these facts doesn't mean any of us want the Info torn down for bricks for a new hoops arena, does it? Who's blaming FB? It is also proven that a defending MAC Champion Zips FB team can't draw flies .. so what? Whose fault was that? The basketball team just came off another successful season. Just as success and interest in the Zips ought not be measured by the number of emails in Terry Pluto's inbox .. then so do I think it shouldn't be measured soley by butts in the seats. There's not a singular metric for this. Why chose one and start assessing blame? Who's to blame for another successful season of Zips Hoops? Another appearance in a post season tournament, and a 4th CONSECUTIVE appearance on Saturday night @ the Q? I think the hard work and dedication of the coaches, players & staff is a good first place to point the finger. ZipME's post merely illustrates that there is a need for similar improvements in the BB facilities (I'd argue mostly for the team rooms / training / video ... etc) as there has been made to FB. I think it's a bit of a defensive reaction by Football Guy to equate that to: "Basketball Guy blames FB for not getting to the Sweet 16 this year." No one questions your dedication, nor should they. I'd classify myself as Basketball guy and I'm in more for FB than BB support at the moment .. so that probably means I'm a little to blame on the facilities problem. Facts of 2009, I'm afraid. I agree entirely?! .. And I would argue no one should be upset with the successful product put on the floor and in the classroom this season by KD & JK. We're in the midst of a great hoops run here, and now the ladies are getting in on the action. Mostly I want Zips student athletes to be successful and have a good experience at UA. Seems to me that the hoops program is winning on those fronts. I for one am damned proud of our hoops teams, as much as ever. B) Go Zips!!!

How do athletic programs such as Gonzaga's and Cleveland State's survive? Maybe because they don't have a 6 or 7 figure red number in their budget labeled "Net Football Profits?"

That's what it's about, IMHO. The demonstrated perseverance by these guys makes and keeps me a Zips fan.

GREAT game. Butler was able to dictate tempo much of the game, and Stevens made all the right adjustments. Difference in the game might have been all those missed bunnies in the first 10 minutes or so. It can be done. Might as well be UA. It's also nice to not know the ref names. Means they got out of the way and let a great game flow develop.

Butler has a nice arena and athletic department with some focus on hoops. I'd prefer UA go after those first.

Thanks for the clarification Chris ... er .. I mean Hilltopper. That's a pretty detailed understanding of the rules you have there.

I was watching the final. It's clear from everyone who saw both games .. that Egner played better on Friday than he did Saturday. He had a nice game, not a great game. Agreed on Egner vs. Henniger, I think Egner's tools translate better. Time will tell.

Frankly, it's really hard to judge one game. It was certainly a game where Jackson could ride Henniger to the title, and they did what they needed to. Egner didn't have a great game I don't think, but it was clear that the Moeller players were afraid of him. They were reluctant to go anywhere near the rim for much of the game. Seems like Josh has some things you can't coach, quickness and hops .. and the energy needed to be a good defender. It appears to me he has the tools to be a solid D1 prospect. I'd have to see him again to make any more opinions. Congrats on the title Josh. Welcome to the Nation. Go Zips!!!

:D :D :D :bow:

Toledo needs to get their house in order so that they can join the Zips in a migration to a better conference when the Big TelEveN blows things up in the fall. I think a UA v UT rivalry could be a good pairing to go together to new conference digs. UT's shown good commitment as an institution to upgrading facilities. They need some stabilizing coaches. Hunter or Hipsher could be that.

To follow-up CK's comments. A bunch of folks have contributed resources here and there over the years. For the past few years, CK's been great in keeping the software license up to date, and I've been happy to provide the hosting .. it's not a big thing to do these things. I think w00t's gonna be helping soon too We don't need tons of affirmation about all of this .. we love the Zips .. we know the Nation is a sleeping giant .. and we enjoy it. You guys / girls coming here as often as you do is confirmation enough for me to know our time & $$$ are well spent here. On the other hand .. we have lives. We have families, kids & jobs. We're NOT students or retirees with extensive free time. And we do our best to keep an eye on what we can. But when the drumbeat starts that someone feels persecuted or offended by the moderators in what they do, or fail to do .. it starts to wear us down, at least me. Seems to me to happen about once ever 16 months or so. Periodically, it appears it's the moderator's fault after a big loss .. but whatever. I'm accused of being Nanny State when I trim things that aren't Joey friendly, and ask that the language used be congenial .. and CK gets hammered for letting too much go. I was talking to Elton Alexander one time this season and told him I appreciated his coverage of late. He laughed and said I was the only one .. that both Can't State & UA fans thought he was horrible. My conclusion for him was that he must be doing a decent job of playing it down the middle if everyone dislikes him. That's my same takeaway on the moderation topic. It's probably going ok if the students think we're persecuting and over moderating them and the more seasoned Zips fan thinks things are out of control. Thanks for being a part of this. B) B) Go Zips!

Tiny URL .. learn it .. use it .. love it. Go Zips!

If he wanted to transfer, I'd take him. X vs. Kansas State: One of the best college basketball games I've ever watched. +1 I've never seen as many clutch bombs from way outside go down as last night. It looked for a moment that I might have a midmajor playing to go to the Final 4 for me on Friday wearing the home whites. I thought X kindof let it get away late. There was a possession with more than 30 seconds left I think where they were down only 2 and they jacked up some off balanced stuff that didn't go, while the easy bucket was available in the paint. Great game.

The dorms are almost done, from what I can see the exterior looks finished. They are opening next fall, but apparently UA feels that freshmen and the learning communities deserved the dorms over everyone else. I guess they figured the only way they could get the nerds near the football stadium is to build the dorm next door. Bad planning on the Honors Dorm if thats the case... I just wanted to say that I'm a nerd, and I'm here tonight to stand up for the rights of other nerds. I mean, all our lives we've been laughed at and made to feel inferior...Why? Cause we're smart? Cause we look different? Well, we're not. I'm a nerd, and I'm pretty proud of it. I have news for the beautiful people. There's a lot more of us then there are of you. No-one's gonna really be free until nerd persecution ends. Extensive research shows that hot chicks with brains prefer nerds.

Anyone see Crawford last night for Xavier? Slasher / scorer from the off guard spot would be a big add to this roster.

If I were a coach, and I'm most certainly not .. the personnel of this team would lead me to push Nik into the 3 spot defensively, but keep him at the 4 on offense. When Nik's face up jumper is consistently 40%+ from 17' then he's a 3 in my mind, and you go big that way. Nik appears to me to be the most likely to fill Jimmy's role next year. He's shown the ability to guard well, even at the perimeter, in stretches. Last season at the Q he did a good job on Bramos, and he generally does well to keep people in front of him. Quickness is not an issue in considering Nik at the 3. Stretching the defense on offense is a consideration. That brings me to the strategy I'd employ if Euton is ready to play, and even if he's not I guess: You run Zeke out there at the 5, with someone backing him up (not Nik). You play Nik and one other guy at the 3 and 4. Based only on returning players, that other guy is Brett McKnight. In this scenario, Brett is the 3 on offense and 4 on defense, and vice versa for Nik. You get Brett's slightly better stretchability on outside, but don't need him to transform into Nate Linehart on defense. He's been rebounding better, so you keep him a bit closer to the rim on defense. This would allow you to mix in Dakotah in much the same fashion. All reports about the guy is that he's a big kid that can both stretch the D with his shooting as well as score inside pretty well. Defensively, however the stories you can find on the web indicate he's an above average *post defender* .. and at 6'-8" that makes sense. There's many stories out there about Euton holding his own in top-flight AAU against bigs, including CBus Northland's Sullinger. So with Euton, you'd have the option of sliding him back down to the 4 (or even the 5, with Zeke chasing a quicker 4), while using him to stretch the D on offense in the 3 hole. I don't have specific thoughts on Green & Egner, I realize this smoke blowing is based entirely on Euton as the added player. 2 guys are going to be added to the rotation, and Nik isn't going to play 40 minutes. In the frontcourt, I kindof believe that Nik is the key to the Zips making a big leap forward. He did struggle offensively late in the year, I saw that too. But it didn't seem to affect his commitment and intensity on defense much. He's got a huge upside that we've yet to see. Zeke will improve by a big stretch next year .. I'm confident of that. But if we can get another guy going to fill Jimmy's role and at the same time use the rotations to add another shooter at the perimeter and keep the size advantage .. THEN we'll be cooking with gas. B) B)

That would seem to make the most sense. However, it probably would need to happen in concert with a current contributing guard departing. KD's reluctance to take on transfers, especially JUCO has more to do with a desire to not "recruit over the top" of incoming freshman and established players than it does with JUCO's being academic or social risks. It's a slippery slope to raise your high school recruiting profile the way the staff has done, and then go out and pull in a JUCO to play right away. It may have the immediate impact of dropping the quality of the HS players considering the Zips back a notch. Not a risk to take lightly. Go Zips!

As a public service for those of you heading to the Butler game to root them on for the Final Four this weekend, I've attached below the words to their fight song. Sing along loudly when you're there. Go Bulldogs! Butler War Song We'll sing the Butler war song, We'll give a fighting cry; We'll fight the Butler battle-- Bulldogs ever do or die. And in the glow of the victory firelight, Hist'ry cannot deny To add a page or two For Butler's fighting crew Beneath the Hoosier sky.

You are lapsing into classic UAkid nonsense here. Good to know that it's not just the new UA hires that get thrown under the ZN.O bus before their first day on the job. Equal opportunity for opponents too!

The conference only gets 2 units for 1 year...2010. But based on quick google and wiki-research (which is always 100% correct), they're paid on the total units earned in the past 6 years. So where in 2009 the conference got paid on 6 units (6 * 222k => $111k per school), in 2010 and at least through 2015, the annual payout will now be 7 units. After the Zips win the title in 2013, there will be significant benefit to Conference USA .. er .. I mean the MAC. Go Zips!!! Edit: Here are some citations for the detail oriented. Southern Miss Fan Snell over @ NCAAbbs did the legwork on this a couple of weeks ago. and he found: This extremely helpful paper, which appears to be Official. It appears that page 7 through 9 are the most pertinent to the discussion. Note that in 08-09, the MAC also had 7 units .. I think because of leftover residuals from the last MAC team to win a tournament game. Payout was over $1.4m last year. Hope this helps.

How you determine the basketball season to be a "flop" .. I'll never understand. And frankly I don't care to even hear the logic. Let's play ... remember when? Go Zips!

I get this feeling that if I keep coming around here over the weekend, should one of my 4 horses in this race make the next round, we'll be talking about how Murray St. is no longer a mid-major. B) B) Go Teams! Go Male Dancer!

Isn't the annual payout equal to the number of units won over the past 5 or 6 years? So even if a unit is 200K, the total take for the conference this year would be 5X that since they've earned 5 units over the past 5 years (or whatever the duration is)? Go Mid Majors!

+1

No need to feel bad about hating the Huskies. There's plenty of you out there. At times they can reflect all that is bad about big time college hoops. Jim C has done a good job there, but to determine that UC's men's hoops team is a collection of *student* athletes is a stretch in the most optimistic of terms. When I went directly from UConn to Purdue, the difference in programs was staggering. My first gig @ Purdue was tutoring in the athletic department, and the lengths to which Gene Keady went to make sure he was putting a team of students on the court really blew me away. Not all Rhodes scholars .. not at all. But there was this thing that you needed to be a "Purdue student" in order to be a "Purdue Boilermaker" .. big difference than what I'd seen a before @ UConn, though there were notable exceptions like Kevin Ollie and Donny Marshall. Off the topic at hand .. it's this issue that I think about when I envision Zips Athletics a few years down the road in a different conference either slightly or largely upstream from where they are now. The investment into the Info doesn't match with staying a mid-major @ the current level. It's indicative of a goal to take a step up in conferences. Perhaps that opportunity will come with the impending Big TelEveN expansion, who knows? But one of the things I like most about Zips hoops, and a big reason that these kids are the first (and generally only) team that I follow actively and root for, is that they're students. Guys like Schindewolf whom you still see around the JAR. Zeke's a student, these guys like Roberts & Conyers fighting to get on track and get the degree. It's not a happy utopia of dean's list guys. But it is a group of good guys putting forth the big effort to balance the books and the balls. I think I read or heard that the team GPA was over 3.2. That makes it easy to root for these guys and want them to do well. When they do as well as they are doing of late, it makes it even better. I wonder how that would change (or need to change) if the dominoes fell in the perfect order to find the Zips in an upstream hoops conference .. say playing UAB, Houston, WKU & Memphis .. etc. Can the program retain its makeup as a group of UAkron students? I hope so. {end manifesto} On the mid-major front, it's very interesting to me to see the top four of the final regular season Mid-Major Top 25. Go Teams!