Zip Watcher

Keep beating the drum skip ... keep beating it. Maybe you can post this in all the football threads too?Have you completely forgotten that Wood went down in the Western game and didn't play in the Northern game?All everyone is saying is that all 6 games appear to be winnable. And anything can happen.Go Zips!!

There appears to be some confusion here. OU paid to play in the CBI last year.This CIT is new this season.Akron was one of 94 teams in the NCAA & NIT last season. That's 94 out of some 340 D1 teams. A little bit different than being one of 68 bowl teams among 120 1A FB teams.

During the post game show, Frenchy said this was the last game of a 4 game contract. He said he didn't think there would be anymore games in the near future. Hmmm. That surprises me. Trust me, YSU would be open to play CANT or AKRON any and every year in any sport, esp the sport that begins with F... cough football.I'd be shocked if this game isn't played in the future. YSU fans love it, though we get drilled in it!I personally hope this game continues as well. It's a nice stop in the Valley every couple of years and can help with recruiting. The teams have a long history of playing .. and if YSU is game, we should be playing them every year. Same goes for playing in Pittsburgh every season or 2, be it against Pitt, or Duquesne. There's benefits to these games beyond RPI .. etc.FWIW, I think Slocum can see the corner now. He's not nearly starting to turn it .. but this Penguin team was at least competitive athletically. A couple of years ago, they didn't belong on the court with the Zips .. they do now. Long way to go, but I see them once or twice a season, and tonight some progress was evident.Enjoyed the trek out to Beeghly .. good win for the Zips .. on to Toledo!!Go Zips!

I'll take "West Stands Upper Deck Structural Steel" for $1, Alex.

Funny to say it .. but even with all the roadies coming up, the schedule sets up for the young Zips if they're able to build upon some of the lessons learned this month.To me it was no small thing that the Zips snapped out of the doldrums and dropped an 11-1 run on Can't after the flushes run to go up 1. A couple of games ago .. the pendulum might have kept swinging the other way.The team needs to build on this. They're finding a balance between having top-notch defense with the McKnights on the pine, and average defense with them on the floor. Saturday I thought it was pretty darn good D with them out there.I'm not thinking about 8 in a row just yet .. but given the performances at OU and MU when they didn't exactly play well .. you'd have to think that by themselves, each one of these games is winnable.A couple of scheduling thoughts:- Against the West, UA has Western and Ball State at HOME. Buffalo has both on the road. OU has both on the road .. and Miami has them both @ HOME like us.- After the West swing, the Zips have only 1 road game away from home. They go to Buffalo and then play 3 at home and then 1 in Wanker county. If this Zips team can keep building an offensive identity without scrapping the D .. this could play out well. The nice thing is they won't be on the road for much in February and early March. If they can get in a groove .. home cooking can keep it there.See you all at Beeghly tonight. Go Zips!! B)

I was thinking it might need to be copied into the validation email sent to all new users.

Kindof wondering that myself .. figuring this is a spoof of our recently MIA commander.

Booo!Hisss!Best one yet .. nicely done!

For Coach Dambrot .. #1: I can't be certain, but it appeared on TV that you were enjoying a diet cola product at the beginning of the win against BG @ Anderson Arena on Saturday. Off the wagon?#2: The defense in spots the past few games has been impressive. Particularly the 2nd halves @ OU and BG. Do you have specific goals on defense regarding FGM or Percentages? For instance, what's a good performance for your defense? Below 40% opponents shooting? 20 FG made?For Coach Kest .. Congrats to your team and staff for Wednesday night and the disposal of that monkey. What's the next milestone you're pushing the team towards?

One can only hope he's as top flight as this guy. ;)Thanks for the updates!Go Zips!

Regarding McClanahan .. I'm thinking if it was motivated by Ronnie's injury .. they'd have burned Sullivan's redshirt, not McClanahan .. that would have allowed McNees to be back to the 2. I think KD is telling it straight that he needs more scoring .. gotta make more shots.

All I could do this week was shake my head at the glass empty people writing this team off after close winnable losses to two of the leagues better teams. Oh ye of little faith- it's early in the MAC season, this team plays good defense and that will keep them in games when the youth lapses are kept in check- If the shooting comes around, anything will be possible as it looks like the East will continue to beat up on each other. It's a wide open league with no one taking the drivers seat right now. Funny, you wouldn't know it from the board but the Zips are a point blank miss by Humpty and traveling call away from 3-0 with ugly defensive wins.Good solid road win tonight with defense. Of course, there's still issues....I'm sure SZ will be happy to point them out and exaggerate their importance but KDs teams always get better as the season goes, I'm expecting no less with this team.Great post Pouch!

Win!The time change doomed our plans today. With the 2 little ones .. 8pm start is way too late. Shame too, since their great grandparents are there.Anderson's cool .. a dump .. but a great throwback gym.My recommendation to you is to go past BW3 and go to Jed's BBQ (just a block west on Wooster .. corner of Wooster & Main). BW3 is everywhere .. but Jed's Fireballs (trust me) are only in NW OH.Have a great time and bring back a win .. need 8!Go Zips! B)

Agreed.

I'm one of the unfortunate souls unable to tune in tonight. Can you say more specifically what was said about Steve Sweich?He said that Steve is a nice kid , but the coach needs to play his best players and Steve isn't one of them. I felt he was pretty blunt about it. So based on who has played when the games count, he is behind a couple of walk ons. My read on the answer, bolstered by being at a couple of practices is different than Hilltopper's.What Keith said was "Steve's a good kid .. has a great attitude (answering part of the question). He's working hard in practice, does what we're asking .. but I have to put my best team on the floor .. and right now .. that doesn't include Steve."I really don't think he inferred anything more than the current state of things .. and from asking him at a practice .. it's things that Steve is working through that will get him on the floor. Let's try not to put finality on a guy who hasn't cracked the lineup in the first 15 games of a 100+ game career. My take ..Go Zips!

Coach Dambrot:- With the depth problems while you wait for Ronnie to get back, it appears the usual strategy of 3 guards / going small is off the table. Is there any thought to going BIG against conference teams, and using Nate, Brett or Jimmy as the 2 guard and posting up smaller guards to get some looks inside that way? Seems like Nate & Jimmy can probably guard most SG's in the conference.Thanks, I'll hang up and listen to your answer.Go Zips! B)

Where's the dead horse guy when we need him?Go Zips! B)

Both McKnights go off. Conyers with a double double.Zips roll 74-59

I'm with most of the replies here: sucked to lose this game, given where they were with a few minutes left in regulation.I told my wife with 2 minutes left, that no matter the outcome, I felt it was a good sign. The Zips played terribly in the beginning of each period, yet there they were, leading the *perceived* league favorite on the road down the stretch. Now how the end unfolded made for disappointment, but I still feel vindicated by the fact that the team was in it the whole way, on the road.The East will be a battle. This was one game that historically you count as a loss .. and our young Zippers almost got it. We're right there. All the home teams won, so they're not really off the pace here.General observations:- Nice to see some heart from the McKnights. REALLY nice. We need this type of effort & performance from both guys each night. It makes us a better team .. they're 2 of our better scorers.- Jimmy continues to play well. A good sign. Kindof like having Ben Wallace go 5-10 from the line late helps the CAVS. Having Jimmy with comfort and confidence helps the Zips big time.- Ronnie being out is hurting us. I hurts us a few ways .. Humpty gets tired .. when he's tired, he gets sloppy. So McNees is spelling him at the point (like Dials last year). We need Steve & Daryl shooting the ball .. not running the point. GET WELL SOON RONNIE.- The team still hasn't played a complete game .. coaching and hard work will help this. My unofficial count had the Zips playing 25 minutes of solid hoops Saturday, along with 20 minutes of ... er .. not so solid hoops.From the box score, a few things stood out:- Zips got murdered on the glass, especially on the defensive glass .. Zips got 22 defensive rebounds. Redskins got 14 offensive rebounds. That means the 'skins got the rebound on over 40% of their missed shots!!! Whoa. Translated into 10 second chance points.- The defense was strong. Held MU to a low percentage .. but the second chances killed them.- Here's the one that blew my mind watching the game, and it showed up in the boxscore: Fast Break Points - Miami 8 - Akron ZERO. For them to have 8 more points running the floor .. and the Zips ZERO tells me that Miami did a great job getting back on D .. and the Zips did a bad job getting rebounds and hitting the outlet guy.- Points in Paint .. this has been discussed .. Miami 34 - Akron 16 .. 10 of Miami's were on putbacks off offensive boards, but even so .. it's an illustration that the Zips have a bit of a doughnut offense at the moment. I believe that the McKnights and Conyers can change that. We're going to score more outside .. it's our strategy this year .. but getting doubled up in the paint hurts.Finally .. considering all these things, and the fact the Zips were in position to win on the road, bodes well for the young Zippers. I agree with earlier posts that the bye is the target .. and I think there's reason for optimism that this team will compete for a bye.Sounds like Ball State had another critical season ending injury over the weekend. I expected them to push for the West title .. lots of bad luck in Muncie I guess.Go Zips!!! B)

It needed to be changed .. the RIP ... er RPI is a little different. Especially where it comes to Miami and Temple's ratings .. doesn't change UA terribly much .. but it makes a win vs. Temple a little better than Niagara.

Fair enough .. so I'm using the Pomeroy rankings .. similar to Sagarin .. et al.Original post edited for clarification.

Ditka steps in to provide low post threat.Zips 138 Sweaters 55

Actually .. can't you have troughs AND have a clean, heated restroom?I've always felt that troughs made for a more efficient men's room .. from a throughput perspective.

This cuts right to the point of my argument. Based on current performance of teams THIS season (and I'm basing this on KenPom RPI .. there are probably differences among other RPI sites), I find that the perception that Can't has played "such a tough OOC schedule" is off base.The flushes have played 5 top 100 teams, 4 top 60 .. and conversely 7 opponents w/ RPI 150 or worse .. counting non D-1 as worse than 150.The Zips have also played 5 top 100 teams, 4 top 60 .. and 7 opponents w/ RPI 150 or worse.I just don't see where UA is any different than the Flushes .. except the Zips have a better RPI win.I figure the East is a dead crapshoot at this point (you know .. with exactly 0 games played .. ). And I certainly don't think the Zips are looking up at the division. I think they're in the pack. Their performance thus far when compared to the rest of the teams indicates as much.Miami getting their PG situation ironed out would scare me. I'm actually glad to catch them early in the first rotation.Getting Ronnie back will be a big help for the Zips. Every team's probably got a wrinkle or 2 to iron out.Should be a fun ride .. 10-6 might earn a bye this season.Go Zips!

now that's setting the bar pretty high... :lol: