Zip Watcher

True...if your goal is to lose in the 1st round of the NCAA tourney.If the Zips are to continue their progression, they need Zeke to contribute meaningful minutes.If Jimmy Conyers contributes anything this season, it is gravy. If Zeke contributes it is not "gravy," it is HUGE.I absolutely disagree with the implication that the Zips can't make it out of the first round of the tourney w/out a major contribution from Zeke. Last years team was an incredibly young team. I don't have the numbers available, but they were probably one of the youngest teams in the NCAA's. Yet they went toe to toe with a very good Gonzaga team for 30 minutes. Experience alone says we should be improved this year. I don't think it is at all out of the question that we could make it out of the first round without a major contribution from Zeke. You look at the mid-majors that make runs in the tournament and you will rarely find one that has a true C making a big contribution, particularly a true C who is a freshman. It isn't a necessity at all. Don't get me wrong, if Zeke can come in here and give us 20 minutes a game with 8-12 points and 6-8 rebounds and 2-4 blocks, or even 15 minutes with around 6 points and 5 rebounds and a couple blocks I'm going to be ecstatic. I just don't think it is an absolute necessity for our program to progress. Its gravy.I also disagree on the comment about Conyers. With Nate out of the picture I really think we DO need Conyers to step up. Nate was our best wing defender on the team the last few years. Losing him creates a major void. B.McKnight is likely to take over a lot of Nate's minutes, but the worst part of Brett's game has always been and will always be his defense. Now you can say that McClanahan is being groomed to take over that role, but I never looked at him last year and said, "this kid can be an elite defender." Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I just don't see it. The fact is that we are going to need contributions from Conyers, who at this moment IS our best wing defender. A lot more teams in the MAC and across the country have good wing scorers that can put pressure on your defense than teams that have great big men. We will need Conyers to step up and guard those guys more than we need Zeke to match up with the couple of 7 footers we might see this year.+1

Another nice effort from EA.I'm betting it's Nikola that's really going to fight for playing time. They guy was money down the stretch, and got a taste of some bigger minutes as the season ended. You have to figure there's got to be 20-30 for him alone. Bardo's physicality and defense will keep him on the floor also.I think early in the article, EA makes the comment that: Is pretty telling also. The guy's a highly rated recruit with a huge upside and things you can't teach. But he's coming onto a team that caught fire in late Feb / Early March, pounded the 1,3 & 4 seeds at the Q .. mostly with a very good inside out game ... and returns the entire rotation for the 4 & 5 spots. He's going to have to earn it .. it's got the makings of a darn good team. The days of Freshmen showing up and starting right out of the gate at UA might be a thing of the past. Certainly this year with 12 of 13 players returning off a title season.Get 'em on Zips fans! B) B) B)

How exactly is there "little in reserve" when ALL of the players that split the minutes at the 4 and 5 spots are BACK this season? No one on the team played 30 mpg last year, not even Linhart. His minutes at the 3 need to be filled, but if B. McKnight / McClanahan & Conyers split that up .. Marshall theoretically has to fill B.McKnights minutes / production levels for the time he spent at the 4 last year. Nikola will undoubtedly play more minutes than last year also.I don't see Bardo playing 30 minutes / game .. and I also don't envision any scenario where that would be required or even possible.Also, the last post player to make an impact in the MAC as a Freshman was in 2004-05. Leon Williams. Won the MAC title .. went dancing. Had a great freshman season and really impacted the play of OU that season. Was woefully under utilized in his remaining time at OU .. and they didn't return to the title again. The beauty of this situation is this: To be successful, the Zips don't NEED Zeke to come in and be the second coming of Lew Alcindor, with lots of scoring production and playing 30+ minutes a game. They need Zeke to grasp the team defense quickly. Play good backend help defense, be a shot blocker and help KD and the rest of the team extend the defensive pressure at the perimeter. If he's back there to clean up some mistakes by filling the lane defensively, our ball pressure can be even better than it was last year.He does that, and averages 3 points a game .. the Zips will be a good team this year.Now if Zeke combines the D with solid rebounding and a good sense of getting the ball out of there to start the break .. then the Zips could be a very good team, as they will be able to further leverage their depth as they run up the floor on more fast breaks.Next, if Zeke defends well, rebounds well .. and adds something to the half court offense by being the weak side guy to Brett, Chris & Nik to clean up misses and expose double teams (that Nik should be able to draw) .. the team will have taken a step forward from where they were last season.Finally .. if the big guy develops his own post moves and is a threat himself in the half court .. with a sense of how to find the open guy when doubled .. the Zips are a top 25 team.The great thing here is that he's got the team around him that he does .. and he doesn't need to try and be Alonzo Mourning or Bill Walton. The Zips won the league last year by being the best at TEAM BASKETBALL .. not by having one or 2 great players that lit it up. The last time the Zips had a guy score 20ppg was also the last time the Zips really stunk up the joint and there was a coaching change.Coincidence .. I think not. B) B) Go Zips!!!

Assuming you'll permit the use of your phrase, I hope the Rowdies make good use of this really good slogan.Of course, I'm still personally hurt that they didn't embrace my "AK Rowdie Pipers" concept from This Thread!gO'Zips! B) B)

Linky

Giving credit where credit is due .. I think this is a very good response from EA, and I echo his sentiments. It's really to the point. This guy is pretty in touch with UA hoops and sees the potential where some of our fans even don't. Nice posting.I still say it's better to have EA as the Zips beat reporter for the PD than to have someone new. Even though he was technically the MAC reporter .. the Zips coverage in the PD was pretty good last season. B) B) Go Zips!

But was he watching Zips running back LeSean McCoy get some extra reps in? ;) And were they getting ready for the long awaited hoops game against tOSU at the Q?

I interrupt this off season self doubting with these entertaining videos of Zeke Marshall:First one is against top flight AAU competition (higher level than KVK and Fletcher):And this one must be against some WPIAL opponent. Big speed and athleticism difference between our man and the poor chaps trying to check him. I love the near teabagging at the end:Who wants to start a "Cheers Posterboard Pool" for which MAC East center gets tea-bagged by Zeke first? B) B) Play the D big fella .. play the D .. the rest will come in plenty of time.Go Zips!!

It's a funny article I think.No duh that after less than 1 week in team workouts a true freshman isn't ready to start on a championship team returning ALL of it's post players. That's not surprising.I snickered as well about EA's list of the centers in the East division. Hilarious that he lists those guys .. Zeke will play significant minutes for the Zips as soon as his grasp and buy in of KD's defensive philosophy merits it. My guess is that will happen well before the conference slate starts. If the guy plays 20 minutes a night and pulls down 6-8 boards and blocks 2-3 shots a night .. any offense he adds will be gravy. The term is "game changer" .. and if he does that on the defensive side of the ball, the tempo will rise, and the Zips shooting attempts and percentages will rise.Go Zips!!! B) B)

sorry to have questioned the kid.Go Zips B) B)

I'm still waiting to hear who told you that the MAC has no automatic bid to the NCAA's in Futbol this season.

He won't get pushed by many in the MAC. The problem may arise against NC St and maybe A&M .. but the conference simply doesn't have a post player that is skilled enough that strength alone will push Zeke around. His athleticism is at such a level that Polk, Fletcher (gone??), Parks .. etc aren't going to be able to just lean on the guy .. he's got good feet.

GGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!

Seriously, how well made was that?! The INFO looked pretty good there too.

Igor is O for the season. Branko is at least 3 for 7 or something like that.

Something like that. He was actually the TOP assistant at Western last season under Hawkins, but the 2 apparently agreed that he wouldn't be back this season. I'm betting director of ops in the Big East is a lateral move for the guy. Good to see Stan taking care of DHip's kid.Go Zips!! B)

I will miss EA as the Zips beat writer in the PD. Last season he was pretty reliable .. went to a few road games and the Zips coverage was better than in years past. He called the shot midway through the year that the Zips were the best team.Last year, by itself, was better coverage from the PD than in a long time.

Right now .. 4PM Thursday.

The Clowns have only 5 guys on the roster that I think to be difficult to part with in trade, Cribbs is one of them:Rogers (would start on every team in the league)Thomas (probably on 26/30)Cribbs (field position matters .. it beat the Bills)Zastudil (maybe start on most teams .. field position matters)Pontbriand (ever see a bad snap from this guy? ever? .. see: field position is important)The way the Browns become competitive to a 4 to 6 win season is going to be by playing disciplined defense and winning the field position battle. It may not be pretty, and Grossi, Shaw, Pluto .. etc. will hate it and Mangini for it .. but with the talent disparity they're facing, not making mistakes and pinning teams back deep in their own territory are the ways to beat the really crappy teams. Like the Bills, those teams (OAK, KC & DET are on the schedule) will beat themselves if you just give them enough opportunities to do so.The punt coverage & punt return games are about all the Browns have going for them at the moment. Says a lot about the team when the punter is the best thing going for it .. but Zastudil was on fire Sunday.Go Zips!

I'm a Zips fan .. and I don't give a load about MAC football. It's not good football. Beating someone of significance is almost worthless. It is a nice notch in the belt, but winning championships is what counts.JD is steaming towards his 4th consecutive losing season. That is why there are no butts in the stands. It is as simple as that.Watch the basketball team this season. Now that they've actually won a championship, they will begin filling the JAR with regularity. Humpty made the "million dollar shot." If he missed, the Zips are back to the same old 3k attendance. Now there's NCAA expectations, Zeke, 20-wins, a cake-walk schedule to ensure a fast start...it all comes together this season.Look at the soccer team. Selling out matches?! Why? Because they are winning, and winning consistently over an extended time period. People want to be a part of it.Look at the Cleveland Indians - They sell out when things are rolling...and dodge the tumbleweeds blowing through Progressive Desert when they stink.Look at the Browns -- Sure they technically "sell out." But when you see them on TV at season's end, half the "attendees" are disguised as empty seats? And the other half are rooting for the opposing team.I'm in full agreement w/ CK here.

'37 .. this is the 4th thread of yours that has been moved in the last two days. It's not a huge problem, but it does create some work for the moderators .. please try to be aware of what forum you're in when you start threads. As you know from the soccer threads .. you're posting things people are interested in.You'll get more action if they're in the best place. This one for example goes in football .. not soccer.Go Zips!!!!

No debate here. We all would take that kind of suck right about now.

The real question here is: would it have gone down your leg or not?

Good post Georgia .. I wonder what our friend in the middle of the Pacific thinks?An objective of the Department & teams is to grow the fanbase. I know I'm fortunate in lots of ways in this world, not the least of which is having the means to have exactly the seats I want at the Info and JAR. But that aside, I don't think 3000 people showing up only when the tickets are $5 constitutes the fanbase. Zips fans were the ones who attended the Can't State game on Thanksgiving 4 years ago. There were lots of them. They're the ones who will continue to come out to the Info the next 3 games .. I predict more than 16K on average. Now growing the fanbase DOES mean to me that you need to get the kids (toddlers & grade school) to grow up knowing that in the Fall .. we go to Akron football games .. we see the Zips, and that's our team. In the winter we go to the JAR .. and watch the CAVS on TV. Zips Fest and the approachability of some of the players and coaches in dealing with small kids (see the hoops forum) help A LOT. It's not a tough sell at all for me to get everyone down to UA 2 hrs before kickoff.In some ways I'm proof of this. I didn't attend UA for any classes. But I grew up in the shadow of it .. and we went to games when we were younger. Not every game, certainly .. but Dad got us to lots of hoops games and the occasional FB game. I went away for school at two traditional MBB powers, and enjoyed those days immensely. But at the core, the Zips are my team, always have been .. and likely always will be. Especially in hoops. I've met and talked to a few other guys around my age at the Info about this same thing .. guys who went to Michigan or somewhere else .. and were away when KD & the boys got it done at the Q .. and since their parents / friends had gotten them to the JAR / Memorial / the Rubber Bowl .. etc, the Zips matter.I don't know if a 20% discount on GA's for under 10 helps grow the younger demographic or not. The lack of it now isn't a roadblock to us or anyone else I know who has kids and takes them to the games. Again, this is me and my circle of acquaintances .. however, the notion that some families can't afford to bring kids in at current prices isn't one that I'd dismiss out of hand. I feel like there's lots of kids at the Info like there were at the RB. Night games are more difficult.Things are being handled well, IMHO.

To extend the analysis .. let's say the Zips averaged 16,000 last season at the Rubber Bowl .. and the average ticket price was $10 (I think it's lower than that).2008 Gate = 5 dates x 16k fans x $10/fan = $800,000 2008 Total Ticket RevenueAnd if the Zips average 17k this season @ $20/per:2009 Projected = 6 dates x 17k x $20/fan = $2,040,000 2009 Projected Ticket Revenue[qualification] I am aware that students get in free .. and that more of them are attending now than in the past .. but adjusting for that doesn't make a dent in the additional $1.2 Million the Zips Athletic Department is pulling at the gate. I am also aware that the game day overhead for the facility is higher at the Info .. but again, not so much.[/qualification]I'll let someone else figure out how the concessions revenue compares this year to last year. I know for a fact that my group is spending probably $30-60 more per game this season over last on food and beverages. :cheers: Go Zips!! B)