Zip Watcher

:D I hear Dwight Lowery is also 2nd team with the J E T S Jets Jets Jets. 3 Tackles so far! :D

Better? Indeed .. he's a local guy and the best of the crew ..

Conventional discussions have held that if a split were to occur, the 8 1-A FB schools would go out hunting 4 more so that the new conference could have a lucrative championship game. So the 8 are known .. and they'd need 4 ..IF the split happens, of course.

Thanks for stopping by Mrs. Pendleton. We hope your son is able to help the Zips also.Go Zips!

I saw him get held big time on a play late in the second quarter that netted big yards for CLE .. not called, but he was squarely in the grasp of an O lineman of the browns.

Through the magic of the Internets .. here you go.

Umm .. actually .. I DID grow up a Zips fan.

Huge debut for "former Zip" Dwight Lowery, as he returned a punt 62 yards to beat the Browns on Thursday. Always nice to see the former guys perform well at the next level.You go Dwight.

What exactly does that mean? Are you just saying he's not as good as Dru?

Swiech would just need to change his name to something ....... maybe McLovin?

Nobody questions Steve's drive & effort .. that's for sure. I for one am looking forward to Swiech anchoring the center position for 4 years. Zeke's quick enough to guard the 4 .. so I expect them to be playing together for a lot of minutes.Swiech brings offense in the post .. and that's going to be needed this year and beyond. Besides the fact that he's an enormous man .. his post offense will be appreciated.

Temple fan posted this over at the bbs: Out of curiosity, I checked one of the gopher sites & found this thread:"The official "Where the **** is Vince Hill?" Thread" I wonder if maybe Da'Von Moore might be able to put a big hit on this kid this season. Is he still around?

GoZips numbers would indicate that Brett is the best scorer on the roster, based on last seasons history.The numbers that sort of jump out at me on that list are the Steals. Look how big the gap between the rest of the guys listed and Conyers & Linhart is. These guys are the core of the defense. I'd like to see a way that both are on the floor extended minutes together. The Wyoming and Temple games were 2 of our best defensive performances, along with the OU home game .. and all of those were games where the 2 SF's played together and really took guys off their game.Now some more numbers .. from the breakdowns I used above (Start through EMU, WMU to end, Last 5), here's the breakdown in points / rebs / assists for between the following:Seniors: Middleton, Wood, DialsReturners: Linhart, CMcK, BMcK, RobertsAgain, I used these 7 as they had the majority of the minutes down the stretch last season. We could add Milum & Conyers in, but it would be a wash. The totals for the groups below are just for the 7 players considered, not for the team. So there's some contribution from Milum, McNees, Bardo & Conyers that is not shown. This is an effort to compare last years departing core to the returning core.First 21 Games only Pts. - Rebs. - Assts.Totals: 54.5 - 20.4 - 11Sen: 35.7 - 12.7 - 8.8% 0.66 - 0.62 - 0.80Ret: 18.8 - 7.7 - 2.2% 0.34 - 0.38 - 0.20 Final 14 Games only Pts. - Rebs. - Assts.Totals: 64.6 - 23.6 - 10.6Sen: 35.8 - 11.3 - 7.4% 0.55 - 0.49 - 0.70Ret: 28.8 - 12.3 - 3.2% 0.45 - 0.52 - 0.30Final 5 Games only Totals: 65.2 - 25.2 - 10.2Sen: 32.2 - 12 - 7.4% 0.49 - 0.48 - 0.73 Ret: 33.0 - 13.2 - 2.8% 0.51 - 0.52 - 0.27Pretty interesting trend. While Dials and Wood both had a HUGE game in the NIT, in the last 5, the other 4 guys held their own, and contributed more scoring and rebounding to the cause (I know 4 guys vs. 3). So while we're losing 3 1000 point scorers .. down the stretch, and generally as the season wore on, these other 4 guys really stepped up and contributed a lot to the team. This is a good sign. We're losing some big numbers .. but we have some big numbers coming back.The one area that we will need improvement, and it is obviously the big need area on the roster .. is assists. Between Dials @ PG & Wood with the inside out game, the majority of the assists (70%) were produced by the seniors. This is a big need to fill. The addition of 2 capable PG's should help a little, but a move away from the inside out game that Wood enabled us to run will have to be overcome also.One constant in the KD era has been that no one player has averaged over 20 ppg or even approached averaging 1/3 of the team's production. It's a team system, requires buy in by the players, and is comprised of lots of interchangeable parts. This isn't a CAVS thing where if you can slow down the main contributor the wheels will come off. We're bringing back 4 guys who scored 8-10 points per game .. that's good returning production. None of these guys are going need to drop 20 / night for the Zips to be successful in 08-09. What needs to happen is that among the newcomers, 3 guys average about 5-8 a night, and one or two of the returnees step up their game with increased minutes to be 12 point guys. Add back in about 10ppg from the combination of Conyers, McNees & Bardo. If that happens, the Zips are scoring in the 70's again. Without a 20point guy.We don't need Brett to score 25 a night to get a bye in the conference tourney. We need the team to continue to function, and guys to fill roles. The big improvement on this team needs to happen on the defensive end of the floor. The 07-08 team allowed WAY too high a shooting percentage. That can improve greatly.KD's comments about opening things up now that the roster has evolved are telling I think. He's going to get out and run more rather than force the halfcourt set. I think he has the capability to do both, but like last year where they could push it, but were a little better in the half court .. I think this year, they'll be able to do both, but be better on the break. This will help guys like Conyers, who play better in the open floor on offense. I think we can count on more perimeter pressure and better perimeter defense, with the quickness increase. B) B) Go Zips. Go Trevor. Go Zeke.

Good initial effort. I should clarify that McNees & Conyers are not in these lists at all.In 1-21, you've got 2 right.In 22-35, you've got 5 right.In Postseason, you've got 5 right.Very nice.

If I'm KD (and I'm NOT), McNees is likely the #2 SG on this team, and the sharp shooter off the bench, a la Cedric of 2006-07. I think he ends up behind Roberts in the 3 deep. BMcK and Conyers could eat some minutes at the 2 depending on the matchups also. Smith was a sad story. RIP.As for the Joyce comparisons, Steward is a better one to draw, IMHO. Joyce caddied for LBJ in HS and AAU. Big games against top talent. Talent probably bigger in the AAU stage, games bigger in HS. Steward caddied for OJ Mayo (& I think Bill Walker) in AAU ball. Big time team .. competition against top talent. So while the eyes of ESPN maybe weren't on him .. Ronnie balled against the best of the best in the AAU circuit .. so I don't think we can eliminate the Joyce comparison entirely.

Maybe the subtitle of this topic should change to : Returning Players get No Respect.I think it's a good thing to consider, these questions of skip .. so to do so, I did a little digging into the statistics of 07-08 and looked for some trends.I broke the season up into two halves & also looked at the postseason. The halves were not even, I used the Western game on the road (where Wood went out with the injury) as the start of the second half. It was about the halfway mark of conference play.I'm not using names, because I think it'll be fun to have everyone fill them in. I'm taking the top 7 guys, since there's a big drop off after these 7 to the rest of the roster, both in minutes played and productivity.Sorting all by scoring average, here's what I found:First 21 Games (SC Upstate through EMU):Player Pts. Rebs. Assts.A - 13.9 - 8 - 2.4B - 12.6 - 2.4 - 4.5C - 9.2 - 2.3 - 1.9D - 7.6 - 4.4 - 1.4E - 4.6 - 2.2 - 0.2F - 3.8 - 0.3 - 0.4G - 2.8 - 0.8 - 0.2Final 14 Games (WMU through UMass):Player Pts. Rebs. Assts.H - 14.4 - 7.3 - 2.7I - 10.9 - 2.4 - 3.8J - 10.5 - 1.6 - 0.9K - 9.9 - 5.1 - 1.7L - 9.2 - 4.1 - 0.6M - 5.7 - 2.1 - 0.3N - 4 - 1 - 0.6Postseason Only (MAC & NIT):Player Pts. Rebs. Assts.O - 15.2 - 7.2 - 2.6P - 10 - 5.6 - 1Q - 8.8 - 3.6 - 1.4R - 8.6 - 2.8 - 4S - 8.4 - 2 - 0.8T - 7.4 - 2.8 - 0.2U - 6.8 - 1.2 - 0.2So lets see who can ace this quiz .. I'll start you off by telling you that the same guy is at the top of all three lists, and that he is the ONLY one holding the same spot in all three lists.First poster that can correctly label each spot gets a free beer from me @ a tailgating event to be named later. Honor system here .. no grinding the numbers.Go Zips! Go Zeke! Go Trevor!

Is that "homemade" or did you acquire it somewhere?

Last year the MAC media picked CMU to win the West I think, based on multiple players (Minnoy mainly) who had yet to see the court there and a brand new coach. Here again, we have a Michigan area writer doing the MAC summaries, and he's picking the Chips based on 3 or 4 new players who have never played D1 ball .. projecting based on talent moreso than results.On the other hand, the Zips are in need of having players step up to fill ~80 minutes / game of the 200 available. While the Zips lost tons .. they have a good deal returning.I'm down with the oversight .. it's only going to serve to further motivate the McKnights & co. Pick the Zips 6th in the East, that's fine with me .. I'm content in the belief that it will be vastly different in March.For my money, I think NIU is climbing the hill way faster than CMU will. CMU lost the best PG and a 4year starter in Watson .. NIU returns most of their roster and has some talent coming in. Plus Patton has been a head coach for a long time. If I had a media vote in the pre-season MAC standings, I'd put Miami at the top .. but that's just me.KD has entered reload territory .. nobody else notices .. and that's fine. Give a false sense of security to the other conference teams and insult and motivate our guys. I don't see a downside to this. B) Go Zips! Go Trevor! Go Zeke!

Missed this earlier & thought I'd comment on this now.GP1's right .. the Huskies didn't win jack with Chris Smith, or Cliff Robinson (aka Uncle Spliffy) as it pertains to NCAA. When Smith was not yet there & Spliff was a junior, they knocked off Columbus State for the NIT title. Two seasons later was known as the "Dream Season" in CT for a long time. In 1990, UC finally broke through and won the Big East Tourney, and advanced to the Elite 8, where Laetner beat them on a last second shot after a Tate George turnover. In the Sweet 16 that year, they blew up some brackets with the length of the court inbounds pass from Scott Burrell to George for a turnaround buzzer beater to beat Clemson.Prior to 89-90, UC had won a total of ONE game in 8 conference tournaments. ONE. Cliff was a big player and has been a good pro, but the program build really came after him. He enabled the recruitment of Smith, Burrell .. and then Smith was a lead in to the freshman class of 1991-92 which had 6 or 7 guys, including Donyell Marshall, Kevin Ollie, Donny Marshall and 3 other guys (Rudy Johnson, Nantambu Willingham, Brian Fair) who were all highly regarded coming in. It's these guys who really turned the program up stream, with Donyell leading the way. I'll maintain to this day that the 93-94 team which included Donyell and Ray Allen would whip either UConn title winning team had Calhoun learned how to finish games. Through the early & mid 90's, UConn would get up big in tournament games, milk leads .. and then squander them late. Even when Rip Hamilton & co. broke through .. they had some scares in games with a big lead that they had to win late. The Washington game comes to mind.When you get right down to it, they had great players (Marshall was unanimous consensus All American) but the program didn't know *how to win* .. they had to learn that lesson first. Sound familiar?Back to the Zips:I in no way want to place undue pressure on any one individual or team to live up to comparisons .. but this is the summertime and there's speculation to be had, so here goes:- If we consider the UC comparison, the Zips are ahead of where UConn was in 1988. Prior to 88 UConn had 10 years of 1 conference tournament win, Zero NCAA tournament appearances, and ONE NIT appearance in which they went 1-1. In the past 4 seasons, the Zips have won 6 conference tourney games, and gone 2-2 in 2 NIT appearances. In FOUR years. Certainly the conferences have differences, but the fact is UConn was recruiting in an environment when they had national TV exposure .. played GTown & Cuse 2 times per season .. and they couldn't muster much.- Now GP1's question: I think that Jeremiah Wood, along with Travis, Joyce, Middleton & Dials represent Akron's Cliff Robinson and Chris Smith. These are the guys that have shepherded the Zips from absolute mediocrity to expecting to have success in conference tourney games, and winning in the NIT. None of them are going to have a 20 year NBA career, I agree .. but relative to what Spliffy did for UConn .. I think Wood is the best example. He's been here as the team bought into a new system, learned how to win .. learned to defend the home court. And the 5 of them won nearly 100 games in 4 seasons.- As to who is Donyell Marshall & Ray Allen? That's anyone's guess. I think it could be Zeke .. he has high major talent, upside & size. He's on the fringes of being HS All American. But this class coming in may as a group represent the 91-92 class for UConn. Several guys .. a whole lineup of talent .. major talent infusion throughout the roster. It may take a year or so for the class to exceed the results of the prior class (as it did Donyell & co.) but when they get the ground underneath them, the upside is much higher.- If KD & co. can land one more top 50 recruit in the class of 2010, then I think the table is set. It's probably set already, but if the Conyers & CMcKnight spots are filled by guys capable of coming in and competing for court time right away .. the moving of recruiting upstream will really have taken hold. All made possible by Wood & Co., with some LBJ effect. Zeke is the first top flight guy .. and that makes him the recruiting equivalent to Donyell (no relation that I know of) .. whether the on court impact measures up will be the fun of the next several years at the JAR.

Zipbsbandman with the super timely scoop .. nicely done!But he told lots more people than just you .. assuming you're talking about This Guy.

Thanks for the comments on the last topic, 2007-08 in retrospect. After thinking more about the season, I realized I forgot to bring up 2 things that will stick with me from the season. They further cement my high opinion of the current regime, their approach to the program, their priorities, and their stewardship of our Zips. #1 - I've been going to Zips games steadily the past 10 years since I moved back into the area .. and on & off over the prior 15 years. In my time at the JAR, there have been a few constants over the years. One was John Bodis (aka exexec), and ardent fixture at the JAR who passed in the summer of 07. Zippy has been another. Another is a devoted fan near whom we have periodically had seats over the years. This man is usually seen near mid-court on the scorer's table side of the court, clad in a throw-back style #5 Jimmal Ball jersey. He sits with his parents, is actively into the game, and rarely if ever have I been at a game and nJohn Bodisot seen him. I learned later that his father may be on the BOT. Regardless, he's a true fan of the Zips in every way. I believe it was the Buffalo game @ home late in the season. It would have been the 2nd to last home game, because I know it wasn't senior night. KD & staff had this fan sitting on the bench with the team. Now I don't know the fan personally, but judging from what we could see from our seats .. it was a big night for him. This was probably a small change in routine for the team and staff .. but I'm certain that it was a game that fan won't ever forget. They made a fan feel a part of the team. #2 - There was a lot of discussion about this topic when it all went down, but I'll say here that starting all the seniors in their last home game was a nice move, and one that should be continued every season. Every established program has solid contributors that may never start a game in their career and play sparingly throughout. They're no less members of the team than the all-conference starters. And when it comes time for their last game in the JAR as a Zip .. they should start the game. Most all the elite teams do this, and I was glad to see KD do it. It's the right thing to do. That's it .. these were smaller things with less to do with basketball than they have to do with the program. But I do think they're indicators of the kind of program and team we have and that KD is putting together. Certainly one I'm proud of. Got any moments that stick out from 07-08? Go Zips.

Thanks for the comments on the last topic, 2007-08 in retrospect. After thinking more about the season, I realized I forgot to bring up 2 things that will stick with me from the season. They further cement my high opinion of the current regime, their approach to the program, their priorities, and their stewardship of our Zips.#1 - I've been going to Zips games steadily the past 10 years since I moved back into the area .. and on & off over the prior 15 years. In my time at the JAR, there have been a few constants over the years. One was John Bodis (aka exexec), and ardent fixture at the JAR who passed in the summer of 07. Zippy has been another. Another is a devoted fan near whom we have periodically had seats over the years. This man is usually seen near mid-court on the scorer's table side of the court, clad in a throw-back style #5 Jimmal Ball jersey. He sits with his parents, is actively into the game, and rarely if ever have I been at a game and nJohn Bodisot seen him. I learned later that his father may be on the BOT. Regardless, he's a true fan of the Zips in every way.I believe it was the Buffalo game @ home late in the season. It would have been the 2nd to last home game, because I know it wasn't senior night. KD & staff had this fan sitting on the bench with the team. Now I don't know the fan personally, but judging from what we could see from our seats .. it was a big night for him. This was probably a small change in routine for the team and staff .. but I'm certain that it was a game that fan won't ever forget. They made a fan feel a part of the team.#2 - There was a lot of discussion about this topic when it all went down, but I'll say here that starting all the seniors in their last home game was a nice move, and one that should be continued every season. Every established program has solid contributors that may never start a game in their career and play sparingly throughout. They're no less members of the team than the all-conference starters. And when it comes time for their last game in the JAR as a Zip .. they should start the game. Most all the elite teams do this, and I was glad to see KD do it. It's the right thing to do.That's it .. these were smaller things with less to do with basketball than they have to do with the program. But I do think they're indicators of the kind of program and team we have and that KD is putting together. Certainly one I'm proud of.Got any moments that stick out from 07-08?Go Zips.View the full blog post here.

Phenomenal post. I'm looking forward to that game .. can't wait 'til 09-10! B) Go Zips!

Welcome aboard. Good to have you here.Nice post & thanks for setting the record straight on your facilities. The thing that lots of folks are NOT aware of is Can't State's level of success in the non-revenue generating sports. Their Reese/Jacoby results speak for themselves. This success demands and deserves good facilities. Porter will hopefully get this for Men's Futbol soon.But in a similar fashion, "I really do have to say you don't know what you are talking about" regarding KD and a quick exit. This belief (or is it hope?) that fans of other conference teams have that KD is quick to the door reflects a lack of understanding of his vision, plan & commitment for UofA and the men's hoops program. It is wishful thinking on your part to believe that KD is out the door with the next high-level offer.Will he be here forever? Perhaps not .. but at the moment he's got the support of the University, administration & community to try and make his vision for Akron Basketball a reality. I personally believe that if these things continue & he feels his efforts are being rewarded / supported in the right way .. he'll continue to be here. Should those things change (see: Huggins, Bob, 1989), then he should look elsewhere, because he deserves nothing but the best support and opportunity.Moving the program upstream competitively & facility wise will likewise move it upstream as far as prestige / compensation & opportunity is concerned. There's 2 ways to be the coach of a high level D1 team: #1 Win at each level and keep moving up until you get your shot at an elite gig (see Pearl, Bruce or Matta, Thad). #2 Transform the program you run into one of those high level D1 schools (see Monson, Dan). For now, KD is working on #2 .. and it's a process, not a quick return.Just my $0.02 ..

Was Cedrick there when the "guys" said that?I'd like to know why Ronnie was not there. Any clue?I figure that the guys are all probably taking a class or 2 during the summer. That's the best guess. I did see Roberts walking around the JAR when I snuck in to see the King James thing last week .. so he's around.