Zip Watcher

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.

That sounds right, but I have a question. Is that true, since LeBron was never in the NCAA nor an alumni or even registrant at any NCAA institution? Granted, the rules of recruitment apply to the school and thus penalize the school, not the the individual, but if the individual is acting on his own and not with any collusion with the school, is that really a violation?If you can be construed as a "booster" of the school, you fall under NCAA regulations. Note the pinned topics in the FB & BB recruiting forums. If LeBron has donated to the UA Athletic Department, then he can be considered a "booster" and the rules of contact apply.The great thing about the original quote cited by zen is that it comes from a group of folks vigorously defending Rob Sendheroff (sp?) and Can't State's decision to bring him back, after he was involved in the recruiting / phone call scandal at IU. Poetry.

The great thing about this article is watching fans of other conference teams squirm a little bit. Especially those for the school which shall not be named. There's a little bit of "well he's only here 'cause KD is .. and KD's gonna leave and then so will LBJ" as well as "LBJ doesn't really have an allegience to Akron (the city) it's only out of convenience .. once he's on the Nets, that will end."Combine that with the response to the Marshall commitment and it's a little entertaining over @ the conference forums. Folks can't decide whether to beat the "It's a great thing for the entire conference" drum, or the "it won't really work out for the Zips, it's a fluke and the guy won't pan out" drum. You can't really pick both ..Go Zips.

Futbol is played on grass .. the real stuff.

We're now halfway through the off-season for Zips Men's hoops. So I thought it might be a good time to take a look back at last season, look forward to next, examine the roster, current recruiting .. and miscellaneous topics. Mostly this helps keep me upbeat as the Tribe have rolled over before the All-Star Break and my on-course club selection has been horrible. Today's topic: Four months after its conclusion, and four months removed from the day to day highs and lows of the season, let's take a look back at the 2007-08 Akron Zips. The Bottom Line: The Zips went 24-11 overall. 11-5 in conference regular season, good for 2nd in the East. The Zips went 2-1 in the MAC Tourney, falling in the championship game for the 2nd year in a row. The Zips advanced to the 2nd round of the NIT (1-1) after winning on the road @ Florida State. So those are the numbers .. the factual results. How did they get there? The Good: The Results: Hard to criticize 24 wins. In 4 seasons, KD has 92 wins. The Zips are nearly unbeatable at home, and have secured a bye to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament the last 3 years. The last 2 years, they've been playing on Saturday for the MAC title. Among our hopes and dreams for the Zips 4 years ago was to play for MAC titles & NCAA births .. that's happening consistently now. NIT performance: Going on the road to beat an ACC team in the post season is no small feat. It was the Zips' 2nd postseason victory in 3 years, and KD is now 2-2 in NIT games. Could have been more but for a furious comeback by UMass late in the 2nd round game in Amherst. Jeremiah Wood: JWood leaves as one of the best players ever to don the blue & gold. While fighting through additional injury problems with the knee, he still finished strong, abusing UMass enroute to posting a career high in his final game. Maybe the best recent example of the Jawanza Moore Effect in a few years [i have a theory that strange things happen to Zips when they're playing their last games. Several Zips have put up monster games in their final appearances at the JAR or otherwise. Scott Gooden, Daryl Peterson, Jawanza Moore and others have all had huge games late in their senior seasons.] One could argue that Wood was the most effective big man in the MAC the past 2 seasons. He certainly carried his team farther than other bigs. Perseverance: The team battled injuries from the beginning of the season, through to the end. And it battled admirably. Losing Ronnie Steward to a hip flexor injury early in camp had implications that lasted to the final game of the season. It put additional strain on Dials, as he was forced into the PG role nearly full time. JWood's injuries noted above. Middleton battled sore knees all season, coming through strong in the end. Though without the services of Wood for 4 critical games down the stretch, the Zips went 3-1 in those games, helping secure the bye in Cleveland. Youth movement: The Zips saw increasingly helpful contributions from young players as the season wore on. By the end of the season, Daryl Roberts was one of the main cogs of the backcourt. Bardo provided valuable minutes of rest for the bigs. McNees performed well early in the MAC season, and showed signs of being an effective shooter. And during the injuries, the McKnight's stepped up to lead the team inside, with Chris having several big games down the stretch to become the weakside option opposite Wood. CMcKnight led the Zips in the first 2 games @ the Q and made strides to being a leader on the floor. Individual Defense: Linhart has become one of the most versatile defenders in the nation, able to guard anyone from the 1 through the 3 and do it effectively. Big defensive efforts against the top scorers of Temple, Dayton, FSU, UMass & many more helped keep the Zips in games and alter some outcomes. Jimmy Conyers also contributed solid defense early in the year when still in the rotation. The Miami Game Performance: With all apologies to Steve McNees and his 18 point run at the end of the first half to bury the Redskins, the Asian Unicycle Lady at halftime was awesome. Easily outdistancing the Chapel's annual thrashing of Zips coaches for the best halftime booking. The Bad: Injuries: From the beginning (Steward) to the end (Wood), injuries hampered the ability of KD to put together his best rotations. Especially in the backcourt, the injuries put people out of position and limited players effectiveness (Dials) due to the strain of running in an off position. Middleton was almost never the same as during his award winning junior season. No true PG: With no true PG available to provide even 20 minutes of service, Dials was forced to carry the load. This diminished his shooting effectiveness and put further strain on his knee. Dials soldiered on and led the team (see Perseverance above), but the Zips could have used his outside shooting to stretch the defense and open things up even more for Wood. Having Nick at PG hurt this a little bit. 3 Losses to a Bird with Teeth: Not much to say about this. Sucks to lose to them 3 times. They had the one ingredient that challenged the Zips big time - quickness on the perimeter, and the ability to drive the basketball (see: Fisher, Al) into the paint. Even after all of Can't State's "glory" years .. the Zips were within a few games of evening the all-time series entering 07-08. Now again, there's some work to do after dropping 3 in a row. Team Defense: I haven't looked it up yet, but it seems to me that this team allowed the highest shooting percentage of any UA team under KD. Possibly linked to the loss of Travis inside, it was obvious to many that they just weren't able to get stops as predictably as in the pasta. Perimeter depth and quickness really hurt the team D significantly. More below. Tourney Final Losses: While it's great to be playing for the title year in and out .. the drive home from the Q without a celebration downtown on Saturday was substantially below average. I look forward to the day soon where that door gets kicked in. At least this year there were a couple more games to see after the championship letdown. The Ugly: Perimeter Defense: From the first loss of the season vs. Portland State and a guard named Dominguez all the way to the MAC final and late in the UMass game, the perimeter defense was difficult to watch. Our guys just weren't able to consistently cut off the dribble penetration. This led to way too many easy buckets at times, and inflated shooting percentages by opponents. Some coaches (Jim Christian) recognized this and took advantage of it .. others did not. I found this to be the achilles heel of the Zips on D in 07-08. Loss @ CMU: For whatever reason, this sticks out to me as one of 2 games that really were hard to get past. They had just gone through the first rotation with the East teams at 4-1, and then go on the West swing and open up with a loss to a team that they would later beat by 21 at the Q. The game was just a mish-mash of confusion on offense as to who the best weapons were and getting lost on defense, allowing walkons to burn the Zips from outside. Even looking @ the schedule today, that loss stands out. Loss @ home to NIU: One game after picking up a road win without JWood, the Zips come home to face NIU (the worst team in the West at the time) with a 22 game home winning streak on the line. The guy with the microphone jinxes everything .. not really. Rotations were changing .. they ran into 2 freshman who had their best shooting nights of the year (see Defense, Perimeter) .. BMcKnight abuses the huskies on what seemed like 3 or 4 consecutive possessions, and then inexplicably doesn't see the ball again (sorry KD). Zips lose by 10 at home .. ughh. First half shooting in MAC Final: Going into the MAC Final, the questions surrounded how the Zips would get the ball inside and overcome the perimeter defensive pressure by the flushes. KD, in a masterful move, rolls the Zips out in a point-forward offense, using Linhart to initiate the offense at the top of the key. The guards are split and pushed down to the corners, and the perimeter quickness of Can't State is negated a bit (more on this strategy below). The Zips get shot after shot from inside 8 feet at the rim. They shoot 1 for 1000 in the first half. Even worse at the line. Trail by 13 or so .. and never seriously threaten in the 2nd half. Sometime you get the exact shots you want and can't buy a bucket. That HAS to be one of the definitions of ugly. Closing Games Out: When your team is averaging a record of 23-10 over 4 years, sometimes the complaints that ring out seem overblown because lots of folks harp on them. I think it happens that way because there's not much that we can worry about here. Foul shooting was improved slightly this year, so the splinter under the fingernail became "closing out games." In games in which the Zips won and those in which they lost .. the Zips sometimes were unable to go for the kill when up double digits in the second half. Just in the NIT alone the Zips won a game after losing a big lead (FSU) and then lost one when they couldn't get the wheels back on (UMass). I struggle to point to one cause for this. For me it hasn't been a consistent thing, like KD slowing things down too early, or guys always tightening up. I think it's varied from event to event .. and the Zips will continue to work on this. The best example of failing to close would be UMass: Wood is on his way to 28 points in his finale, but it could have been 35. Coach Ford tries everything he can think of for 30 minutes, and continues to get torn up inside. Suddenly with 8 minutes left, he decides to front the post AND pressure the ball at the perimeter. At that point, the Zips guards are trying to initiate the offense from 30' out, and Wood is fronted by a guy who was 6-10 or so. The combination spells disaster. Turnovers in bunches .. crowd gets back into it .. a dagger thrown up by BMcKnight rims out .. and it gets away. I can't help but wonder if the point-forward approach employed against Can't State might have made a difference. As I sat behind the bench for that game, it occured to me that trying to enter the ball from the sideline or corner might have helped. The defensive capability of UMass' SF (Forbes?) probably exceeded that of Can't State from an athleticism standpoint, so that may have been a factor. Here again, the Zips were bit by the lack of a true PG. Having a guy that could break his man down and get to the paint and force help away from Wood or CMcKnight would have slowed the turnover rate a bit I think. And a few comments more: Generally, I think at the end of the year, this was a great season. Had there not been the injuries (specifically CM), I think it would have been a better team than 06-07. Injuries are probably the difference. This was one of the best 2 teams in the D-1 era I think .. if not the best. As far as the roster goes, I feel pretty strongly that the 07-08 roster was the deepest ever. Next season should be even deeper, but without the experience factor. The team continues to trend upwards. The believability is there on the team's part. When it arrives in the fans' mind is anyones guess. Buy-in by the players in the team-oriented approach to basketball is REALLY good. It will continue to yield good things. Boals has a great orange dress shirt. I believe that the Zips were 1-1 @ home with the orange on Boals (Defeated OU & lost to VCU). Someone should track this to see if there's a lucky shirt on the rack. It might help to know which color affects the Zips to play their best. I can't imagine being happier with the current state of things in Zips Men's Hoops. There's still places to go and challenges to overcome .. but I feel pretty good about how things stand. Traveling with the Zips to faraway games is big fun. I highly recommend it to everyone. I've been at team hotels @ Regional Finals in the NCAA .. and it's big fun. The Lodge in Alaska and Sheraton in Springfield were a small taste .. much more to come, I'm sure. Don't miss it. These are my takes .. thanks for sticking with me .. would like to read yours. Go Zips! B) I've got them on .. do you? B)

We're now halfway through the off-season for Zips Men's hoops. So I thought it might be a good time to take a look back at last season, look forward to next, examine the roster, current recruiting .. and miscellaneous topics. Mostly this helps keep me upbeat as the Tribe have rolled over before the All-Star Break and my on-course club selection has been horrible.Today's topic: Four months after its conclusion, and four months removed from the day to day highs and lows of the season, let's take a look back at the 2007-08 Akron Zips.The Bottom Line:The Zips went 24-11 overall. 11-5 in conference regular season, good for 2nd in the East.The Zips went 2-1 in the MAC Tourney, falling in the championship game for the 2nd year in a row.The Zips advanced to the 2nd round of the NIT (1-1) after winning on the road @ Florida State.So those are the numbers .. the factual results. How did they get there?The Good: The Results: Hard to criticize 24 wins. In 4 seasons, KD has 92 wins. The Zips are nearly unbeatable at home, and have secured a bye to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament the last 3 years. The last 2 years, they've been playing on Saturday for the MAC title. Among our hopes and dreams for the Zips 4 years ago was to play for MAC titles & NCAA births .. that's happening consistently now.NIT performance: Going on the road to beat an ACC team in the post season is no small feat. It was the Zips' 2nd postseason victory in 3 years, and KD is now 2-2 in NIT games. Could have been more but for a furious comeback by UMass late in the 2nd round game in Amherst.Jeremiah Wood: JWood leaves as one of the best players ever to don the blue & gold. While fighting through additional injury problems with the knee, he still finished strong, abusing UMass enroute to posting a career high in his final game. Maybe the best recent example of the Jawanza Moore Effect in a few years [i have a theory that strange things happen to Zips when they're playing their last games. Several Zips have put up monster games in their final appearances at the JAR or otherwise. Scott Gooden, Daryl Peterson, Jawanza Moore and others have all had huge games late in their senior seasons.] One could argue that Wood was the most effective big man in the MAC the past 2 seasons. He certainly carried his team farther than other bigs.Perseverance: The team battled injuries from the beginning of the season, through to the end. And it battled admirably. Losing Ronnie Steward to a hip flexor injury early in camp had implications that lasted to the final game of the season. It put additional strain on Dials, as he was forced into the PG role nearly full time. JWood's injuries noted above. Middleton battled sore knees all season, coming through strong in the end. Though without the services of Wood for 4 critical games down the stretch, the Zips went 3-1 in those games, helping secure the bye in Cleveland.Youth movement: The Zips saw increasingly helpful contributions from young players as the season wore on. By the end of the season, Daryl Roberts was one of the main cogs of the backcourt. Bardo provided valuable minutes of rest for the bigs. McNees performed well early in the MAC season, and showed signs of being an effective shooter. And during the injuries, the McKnight's stepped up to lead the team inside, with Chris having several big games down the stretch to become the weakside option opposite Wood. CMcKnight led the Zips in the first 2 games @ the Q and made strides to being a leader on the floor.Individual Defense: Linhart has become one of the most versatile defenders in the nation, able to guard anyone from the 1 through the 3 and do it effectively. Big defensive efforts against the top scorers of Temple, Dayton, FSU, UMass & many more helped keep the Zips in games and alter some outcomes. Jimmy Conyers also contributed solid defense early in the year when still in the rotation.The Miami Game Performance: With all apologies to Steve McNees and his 18 point run at the end of the first half to bury the Redskins, the Asian Unicycle Lady at halftime was awesome. Easily outdistancing the Chapel's annual thrashing of Zips coaches for the best halftime booking.The Bad:Injuries: From the beginning (Steward) to the end (Wood), injuries hampered the ability of KD to put together his best rotations. Especially in the backcourt, the injuries put people out of position and limited players effectiveness (Dials) due to the strain of running in an off position. Middleton was almost never the same as during his award winning junior season.No true PG: With no true PG available to provide even 20 minutes of service, Dials was forced to carry the load. This diminished his shooting effectiveness and put further strain on his knee. Dials soldiered on and led the team (see Perseverance above), but the Zips could have used his outside shooting to stretch the defense and open things up even more for Wood. Having Nick at PG hurt this a little bit.3 Losses to a Bird with Teeth: Not much to say about this. Sucks to lose to them 3 times. They had the one ingredient that challenged the Zips big time - quickness on the perimeter, and the ability to drive the basketball (see: Fisher, Al) into the paint. Even after all of Can't State's "glory" years .. the Zips were within a few games of evening the all-time series entering 07-08. Now again, there's some work to do after dropping 3 in a row.Team Defense: I haven't looked it up yet, but it seems to me that this team allowed the highest shooting percentage of any UA team under KD. Possibly linked to the loss of Travis inside, it was obvious to many that they just weren't able to get stops as predictably as in the pasta. Perimeter depth and quickness really hurt the team D significantly. More below.Tourney Final Losses: While it's great to be playing for the title year in and out .. the drive home from the Q without a celebration downtown on Saturday was substantially below average. I look forward to the day soon where that door gets kicked in. At least this year there were a couple more games to see after the championship letdown.The Ugly: Perimeter Defense: From the first loss of the season vs. Portland State and a guard named Dominguez all the way to the MAC final and late in the UMass game, the perimeter defense was difficult to watch. Our guys just weren't able to consistently cut off the dribble penetration. This led to way too many easy buckets at times, and inflated shooting percentages by opponents. Some coaches (Jim Christian) recognized this and took advantage of it .. others did not. I found this to be the achilles heel of the Zips on D in 07-08.Loss @ CMU: For whatever reason, this sticks out to me as one of 2 games that really were hard to get past. They had just gone through the first rotation with the East teams at 4-1, and then go on the West swing and open up with a loss to a team that they would later beat by 21 at the Q. The game was just a mish-mash of confusion on offense as to who the best weapons were and getting lost on defense, allowing walkons to burn the Zips from outside. Even looking @ the schedule today, that loss stands out.Loss @ home to NIU: One game after picking up a road win without JWood, the Zips come home to face NIU (the worst team in the West at the time) with a 22 game home winning streak on the line. The guy with the microphone jinxes everything .. not really. Rotations were changing .. they ran into 2 freshman who had their best shooting nights of the year (see Defense, Perimeter) .. BMcKnight abuses the huskies on what seemed like 3 or 4 consecutive possessions, and then inexplicably doesn't see the ball again (sorry KD). Zips lose by 10 at home .. ughh.First half shooting in MAC Final: Going into the MAC Final, the questions surrounded how the Zips would get the ball inside and overcome the perimeter defensive pressure by the flushes. KD, in a masterful move, rolls the Zips out in a point-forward offense, using Linhart to initiate the offense at the top of the key. The guards are split and pushed down to the corners, and the perimeter quickness of Can't State is negated a bit (more on this strategy below). The Zips get shot after shot from inside 8 feet at the rim. They shoot 1 for 1000 in the first half. Even worse at the line. Trail by 13 or so .. and never seriously threaten in the 2nd half. Sometime you get the exact shots you want and can't buy a bucket. That HAS to be one of the definitions of ugly.Closing Games Out: When your team is averaging a record of 23-10 over 4 years, sometimes the complaints that ring out seem overblown because lots of folks harp on them. I think it happens that way because there's not much that we can worry about here. Foul shooting was improved slightly this year, so the splinter under the fingernail became "closing out games." In games in which the Zips won and those in which they lost .. the Zips sometimes were unable to go for the kill when up double digits in the second half. Just in the NIT alone the Zips won a game after losing a big lead (FSU) and then lost one when they couldn't get the wheels back on (UMass). I struggle to point to one cause for this. For me it hasn't been a consistent thing, like KD slowing things down too early, or guys always tightening up. I think it's varied from event to event .. and the Zips will continue to work on this. The best example of failing to close would be UMass: Wood is on his way to 28 points in his finale, but it could have been 35. Coach Ford tries everything he can think of for 30 minutes, and continues to get torn up inside. Suddenly with 8 minutes left, he decides to front the post AND pressure the ball at the perimeter. At that point, the Zips guards are trying to initiate the offense from 30' out, and Wood is fronted by a guy who was 6-10 or so. The combination spells disaster. Turnovers in bunches .. crowd gets back into it .. a dagger thrown up by BMcKnight rims out .. and it gets away. I can't help but wonder if the point-forward approach employed against Can't State might have made a difference. As I sat behind the bench for that game, it occured to me that trying to enter the ball from the sideline or corner might have helped. The defensive capability of UMass' SF (Forbes?) probably exceeded that of Can't State from an athleticism standpoint, so that may have been a factor. Here again, the Zips were bit by the lack of a true PG. Having a guy that could break his man down and get to the paint and force help away from Wood or CMcKnight would have slowed the turnover rate a bit I think. And a few comments more:Generally, I think at the end of the year, this was a great season. Had there not been the injuries (specifically CM), I think it would have been a better team than 06-07. Injuries are probably the difference. This was one of the best 2 teams in the D-1 era I think .. if not the best.As far as the roster goes, I feel pretty strongly that the 07-08 roster was the deepest ever. Next season should be even deeper, but without the experience factor.The team continues to trend upwards. The believability is there on the team's part. When it arrives in the fans' mind is anyones guess. Buy-in by the players in the team-oriented approach to basketball is REALLY good. It will continue to yield good things.Boals has a great orange dress shirt. I believe that the Zips were 1-1 @ home with the orange on Boals (Defeated OU & lost to VCU). Someone should track this to see if there's a lucky shirt on the rack. It might help to know which color affects the Zips to play their best. I can't imagine being happier with the current state of things in Zips Men's Hoops. There's still places to go and challenges to overcome .. but I feel pretty good about how things stand.Traveling with the Zips to faraway games is big fun. I highly recommend it to everyone. I've been at team hotels @ Regional Finals in the NCAA .. and it's big fun. The Lodge in Alaska and Sheraton in Springfield were a small taste .. much more to come, I'm sure. Don't miss it.These are my takes .. thanks for sticking with me .. would like to read yours.Go Zips! B) I've got them on .. do you? B) View the full blog post here.

I think the foundation has been laid and the Zips have a plan that can get them there, or above being GOTE.I do think that there are some big differences in being GOTE that make it more difficult for KD than it was for Monson & Co.1. When Gonzaga really blew up on the national stage, it was YEARS after Stockton had graduated to the NBA. So Stockton was in the league and supported his team in ways he could. These are probably intangibles, but it would have helped Monson sell the Zags to recruits upstream of the typical WCC team. Now there are similarities to that situation w/ LBJ & KD. But we're only a few years into the LBJ influence, and it may take a little bit of time to get there. LBJ & the things that he does on campus and in the JAR will help turn the tide.2. Location. GU is in Spokane, which is an isolated city far away from pro sports. Now Wassou is not too far south in Pullman, but the Bulldogs do NOT play in the shadow of any pro franchises that hold the hearts and purse strings of the available regional fanbase. I think this is a factor .. getting crowds and support may have been easier in their setting than it is in Akron.3. The League. The MAC of today, even it it's current state is twice the league that the WCC was when GU started it's dominance and long string of NCAA appearances. It was a much easier door to kick in for them in the late 90's than it is for UA to kick in now. That doesn't change the fact that KD has to get through that door .. but I think it's a factor that it's harder for him to get through than it was for Monson. And once Monson got through, success begat success and the recruiting built .. snow ball started rolling down hill .. you get the picture. They got there, I get it .. but the first one may have been easier than the Zips next one. I do think once they get there, the same continuation can happen here. Roster depth and stability seems to provide that chance.This can happen in the next few years. If the Zips were to break through and win the MAC this upcoming season with 10 or more underclassmen and Zeke on the doorstep ... look out, because very quickly the discussion will turn from being GOTE to just being the first Akron and leaving thoughts of GOTE in the gutter.Go Zips. B) B)

It's kindof hard to believe that the guy who was the best player on the court for 40 minutes of the FSU game is a walk on.This guy reminds me of Cedric as a freshman, the longer he played the clearer it became that he could flat out play.

2010 will have 2 available, unless we give one to Daryl Roberts.Seniors in 2009-10 include Chris McKnight and Jimmy Conyers (as currently projected).