Zip Watcher

Ok .. just got back from the noon game .. and what a difference a night's rest makes.The Storm won game 2 by 8 or so after a tightly contested game the whole way. Coach Dixon from Pitt among several coaches in the room to watch the game.Zeke had a nice game: 16 points, 8 rebounds, 10 blocks .. despite sitting a bit in the second half due to foul trouble. I don't think he missed more than 3 shots, so I'd put him at 8-11 from the field. 1 or 2 of the misses needed to be just dunked home, but he touched them up and got bad bounces. He showed the little post move from last night a few times. Cleaned up the glass a little better today, and even showed a 17 foot jumper in the first half. Did not go to the line this afternoon.Good effort by the Storm .. the game could have gone either way. They played together, the threes were falling, and the big guy was affecting lots of shots in the lane. Good game.I'm not able to make games tonight and tomorrow .. so I'm hoping other folks will update us as to what happens at 2:40 today in order that we can give correct schedule information for the rest of the tournament.Go Zips .. Go Zeke .. Go Storm .. Go see them play!!

After the banquet (more on that later), I was able to convince the wife to stop over and see Zeke play. I saw all but the last 4 minutes ... and when I had to go, the game was still in doubt. I understand from posts above that they ultimately fell to the FLA team they were playing.Seemed like about a dozen UA folks scattered around, which was good. I'll admit that the Rec courts don't lend themselves too well to the casual fans .. there's just not much room around them.Compared to the 2 games I saw in the Solon Cage Classic, the Storm struggled a bit. The FLA team was bigger & quicker than either opponent at Solon. The game was tight early .. then got a little bit out of control, but in the second half, the Storm pulled back into it. I believe that had it down to 5 with the ball at one point, but it may have been 7 with the ball.Zeke changed a bunch of shots early .. and then had some foul trouble I think, because he sat for a bit in the first half. The second half, he stepped it up offensively. I think on 3 possessions out of 5 down the court in the second half, he actually got the ball on the block on offense. This was NOT a common occurrence last night .. I'm not really sure why. Regardless, on all 3 he demonstrated a nice back to the basket post move and dropped 7' shots into the hoop. This was part of the big run the Storm put on midway through the 2nd.I think he changed a bunch of shots .. lots more than went as official blocks. Probably not his best game .. but still very much a factor in things. The FLA team had a guy who just verballed to Louisville, as well as some weakside size, so the competition was pretty good.One comment about the Storm's game planning: they generally run the offense like a HS team unaware of a size advantage of the post. They don't generally use Zeke on screens to get him into open space, and they don't have a lot of success getting the ball to him when he's on the block one-on-one. I'm not sure if they're not looking for him or what ... in fact it seemed like they had him on the weak side a lot on offense .. so it's hard to tell what was going on there. The word of the day remains upside: He's BIG .. athletic, and long. These things can't be taught. Seems to me his timing on shot blocking is pretty good, and he's shown some good touch inside. The rest are things that will continue to improve. He just turned 17 recently, and has a year of HS ball left to play. The great thing here if the Zips can land him is that he's got lots of time to develop. They're not scrambling to fill open spots for the 08-09 roster here. This is planning for the FUTURE .. 09-10. This is a good thing.I'm heading down w/ the boy for the noon game today. Hope to see some of you there again.Go Zips .. Go Zeke .. Go Storm .. Go see them PLAY!!

Indeed.And don't forget to extend your evening a bit by heading over to the rec for a little AAU ball.See why HERE.Go Zips. B)

.. snips..Agreed on the need for some extended patience here. Hipsher & Owens got 9 years. Kest should have lots of rope. This however, I think is garbage. I'll drop the BS card on you here.It has less to do with smarts, and everything to do with effort, motivation and efficient use of your time. There's required aptitude for nursing, sure .. but it's not mutually exclusive with talent on the basketball court. You sell today's students way short to have this opinion, especially as it pertains to a sport where the "next level" aka playing professionally is not a likely possibility.One of the great things about UA and the conference in which it currently resides is the recognition that it is the UNIVERSITY of Akron, and that the athletes are STUDENT athletes. To have some idea that we're going to have a varsity sport and bring in students just to do time, play the sport and walk away with a more easily obtained degree in {put your opinion here} is foolish. My experience tutoring and TA'ng classes at a BCS school with high level athletes studying engineering successfully tells me your argument / suggestion doesn't hold water.Go Zips.

RISE UP Zips Fans!The week has arrived where we'll all learn how much the Rowdies and fans really want the Zips to take the next step. We talk about it .. some act on it .. and here's your chance to support a {potential} Zips player on his {potential} future campus. Chances to show support like this don't come along all the time. It's up to us to take this one.Thanks to King James and his tournament, the best HS ballplayers in the country will descend on NE OH this weekend for the King James Shooting Stars Classic. Games begin Friday and continue through the championships on Saturday.Among the top players coming to Akron is Zeke Marshall, #61 on this list of 2009 seniors. Zeke is seriously considering joining the Zips program, and has multiple BCS level offers (Pitt, UVa, Va Tech). He was recently elevated to a 4 star prospect by Scout, and held his own against other similarly rated players last weekend at the Pitt Jam Fest.This weekend is your 2nd chance locally to support Zeke and the Pittsburgh Storm. Go catch some fine AAU hoops and cheer on the block party that is Zeke Marshall. The website of the Tournament is located HERE. The Storm are team #2 in the M Pool, competing in the OPEN division of 17U.Based on currently posted schedules, the Storm plays Friday at 8:40PM at UA Rec Court #1.They are then scheduled to play Saturday @ Noon at UA Rec Court #3.The full 17U pool play schedule and brackets are found HERE.After the first 2 games listed above, bracket play then begins, and is laid out on the schedule page. The Storm is in Pool M, and the 1st and 2nd place teams go to the Diamond Bracket #2 (page 10), the 3rd place goes to the Ruby Bracket (page 11). Please check the tournament pages for final schedules, as everything is subject to change. I'm not certain how current the homepage will be kept.Some other thoughts: The men's basketball banquet is Friday night. It's listed as from 6-8 or so. Go to both .. get your $15 and go to Quaker Square and celebrate the 2007-08 Zips. Then head over to the Rec to see the center of the defense in 2009-10. Let's make them wish the Storm's game was at the JAR or Memorial.We need to remember that KD & co. (Boals) are recruiting this player. Not us. We're simply going to support an AAU team in their biggest tournament to date.No initiating direct contact with the player or his family is permissible. Pleasantries only if you find yourself face to face with them.As always, if we conduct ourselves appropriately, it will reflect well on UA and the Program. Let's remind them all what Zips fans are all about.Here's your chance Rowdies .. it's on YOUR campus. Roll to the Rec early before heading over to give plasma and buy that new bong at the Odd Corner.If the coaches can land this player .. it's a program elevating event. Be there to see this talent for yourself, in case you really need convincing as to how far this Program has come under KD's watch. While the rest of the conference is still working to fill their scholarships for 08-09, the Zips staff is working to close the deal on a top 11 center for 09-10.Every college coach in the country ought to be in town this weekend. Funny they'll come for this, but they don't dare bring their own teams to play. Whatever.I encourage you to make it out if you're in the area. AAU hoops are HIGH quality at this level .. you won't be disappointed.Please continue to be mindful of contact guidelines regarding any potential player / family. Let's represent the Rowdies and UA well .. and support the Storm.Go Storm .. Go Zips .. Go Zeke .. GO SEE THEM PLAY B)

Ok,I did a little reconnoitering over at the Pitt boards at Scout, and here's what I found about last night's Pitt Storm game @ The Pitt Jam Fest. If you look around Pitt's board a bit, you'll find that many of their posters are skeptical as to whether or not Zeke merits a BE level scholi.- They apparently lost to National Christian Academy. According to pittfan3411 in this topic, Zeke got the better of some guy name Dante Taylor. I looked him up and he's number 27 on this list of 100 guys. So that's an interesting observation to read.- This thread also merits some monitoring as it's specifically about Zeke at the Pitt Jam Fest. Hopefully there will be more.If at least 1 guy thinks that Zeke hung tough with a guy who has offers like Taylor .. it seems to me he belongs out there with anyone in his class. Fortunately, no coaches were able to see that game. Today opens up scouting for coaches. They CAN go to the games and scout, but are still prohibited contact. My understanding is that Jamie Dixon can speak with Zeke after his last game, since he'll be on Dixon's campus .. but all others are prohibited from speaking to him (this may not be 100% accurate). I think 2 Zips coaches are headed to Pitt for today's games.Next weekend can't get here fast enough for me. Zeke will be in town again .. and after his last game, the Zips staff will have the chance to sit down and have some face time with him. It's a great thing to have one of the MONSTER AAU tourney's on campus .. kindof like an extra official visit, if I understand the rules correctly.Still would like to hear the comments of any UA fans that may have gone to the game.Go Storm!Go get 'em Boals!Go Zips! B)

Roll Call!!Anyone going to this event? B)

Brian Wood was one member of one of the best backcourts in Zips history. In 2001-02 he started the MAC quarterfinal game at the Q against Bowling Green. At the time, that was the farthest any Zips team had advanced in the MAC tournament. His backcourt mate was an unheralded local kid from Benedictine named Rashon Brown.

Well .. we've gone from having the all time leading scorer in Colorado history on scholarship to a Florida AA POY as a walk on. I do suspect that's progress.FYI, I checked both rivals and scout, and there's nothing on Peterson .. so it's difficult to project which schools were interested in him.

Thanks Mollaut .. were the guys he was up against headed to D1? Any big school players on the Ky side? He held his own in Cbus against Buford (not directly 1 on 1) .. but I'm curious to know if the Ky team had any high major guys on it.

Did you grab any photos of those "players" running sprints along the baseline in game 2?

Actually, you may have been looking at a 7th or 8th grader. There's a kid on the younger Storm team that had to be 6-7 or 6-8 that I have on good info was still in junior high. I didn't see that team play, but they were hanging around the 17U team for a bit.

Ok, I know there are a few members of the Nation residing in Western PA / Pittsburgh, so I'm posting some information about what you should be doing THIS weekend to support the Pittsburgh Storm. Go catch some fine AAU hoops and cheer on the block party that is Zeke Marshall. The website of the Tournament is located HERE. Based on currently posted schedules, the Storm plays Friday at 6:30PM at the Peterson Events Center (Pitt's home court).They are then scheduled to play Saturday @ 8:30AM at Trees Hall (also at U Pitt).Directions to all sites are linked to on the main tourney page .. Pitt facility directions are HERE.Bracket play then begins, and is laid out on the home page. The Storm is in Pool 12, and the winner goes to the Gold Bracket, the 2nd Place to the Silver Bracket. Please check the tournament pages for final schedules, as everything is subject to change at the whim of Jamie Dixon .. er ... the tournament organizers.I encourage you to make it out if you're in the area. AAU hoops are HIGH quality at this level .. you won't be disappointed.Please continue to be mindful of contact guidelines regarding any potential player / family. Let's represent the Rowdies and UA well .. and support the Storm.Also, for those of us not in WPa .. please post your thoughts if you do go.Go Storm .. Go Zips .. Go ZekeP.S. The Storm is coming to UA in 2 weeks for those who didn't catch any games at Solon, or went to see the 16U team instead of the older kids. B)

I'm thinking that players just want to be around a winning program when it blows up. B) B)Reading the article, it sounds like he's spent time around the team / JAR in the summers. Maybe he has family in the area and spends the summer in Akron. Could be a local walk-on situation.Can't teach height. B)

I wasn't able to make it out on Sunday. Did anyone go?Seeing the results @ the tournament site makes me wonder what happened in the first game. The Storm go down to CBIZ to a tune of 56-42. There must have been some effective defense preventing the Storm from pushing the ball, since they were averaging 89 coming in.Anyone catch the game & can report back?The Storm will be at the King James tournament @ UA & surrounding gyms in 2 weeks. If you're in WPa, I believe they're playing at the Pittsburgh Jamfest next weekend. A rumor has them on Pitt's home court on Friday night.Go Zeke .. tear 'em up!Go Zips!

I wouldn't say it was like the Rowdies were in the house or anything .. but it was apparent who the Akron fans were that were there. I'm pretty sure all had a hat or shirt on. The one thing about the early rounds of these AAU events .. the only people there are generally the parents. So even a small block of interested fans supporting a team is noticed.

Updating the Storm's schedule based on Saturday's results:They play at 1:15PM at Aurora High School. Mapquest tells me that you can find Aurora HS HERE. Generally speaking, it appears to be just southwest of the intersection of Rt 82 and 43. Easy to get to. Not far from 480 or the Turnpike or Rt. 91.Should they win at 1:15, they'll advance to play at 5:15 PM also at Aurora HS.If they win that, they'll be playing in the finals at Solon High School, at 7:30 PM on Sunday. Our friends at mapquest tell me that Solon High School is found just off of Rt. 91 (Darrow Rd / SOM Center) a short drive north of Twinsburg.Check the Solon Cage Classic link in the first post of this topic for updates on the schedule & scores. I think they've been pretty timely. If you do go and have the ability .. please post to the Nation some scores & updates after the early games so more folks know the skinny for the evening game.We all need to continue to be good examples of Zips fans. Be friendly. And mindful of compliance. Have a nice time, you'll see a really good team if you go.Go Storm

I was able to catch both games on Saturday, along with no less than 8 other Zips fans in attendance to observe the Pittsburgh Storm. My main observation: Any and all Zips fans that are able should go see this team & their center play on Sunday. You won't be disappointed.My main thoughts on what I saw:1. At times it was like watching Shaq against 6th graders. In the first game, I think Zeke had 7 or 8 blocks in the first 10 minutes. Ended up with 12 for the game. Some of these were on the perimeter as he closed on an outside shooter quickly. After awhile the first opponent stopped going inside. I don't blame them.2. I'm not sure if he needed to jump to block those shots or not .. but they went a flying ...3. I'm not a talent expert or scout, but seems to me that ZM has a huge upside. He's bigger (thicker) than I expected, given the weights listed on the recruiting site. He's strong, quick, and agile. No clumsiness or anything about him. The man can play basketball.4. One thing I think you'll see on Sunday is the Storm is a darn good hoops team. In addition to Zeke, I'd guess that at least 2, maybe 3 other guys on the team are headed to D1 programs, though none have verballed yet. The team this weekend does not include any unsigned seniors .. only juniors and below. But there are a few guards on the team that should get calls from Reggie Witherspoon. He could use the help. #10 especially impressed me, as did 11 at times. There was a sequence in the first game where the other team turned it over in the backcourt on 4 consecutive possessions, all due to the Storm's guard play.5. By the way .. the Storm hung 89 on both teams, and won both games by over 40 points. The games were 2 16 minute halves .. so they got up and down pretty well. They defended and scored.6. I've forgotten how good AAU hoops can be. Both the play and the officiating were first rate .. a real treat to enjoy for a change.7. I can go on about the talent on the floor, but I recommend you go see it for yourselves. The guy has a TON of potential. He shows some commitment to defense and rebounding already. Demonstrated a couple of different effective post moves .. back down and turnaround, little sky hook .. and he blocks everything in sight. Defensively, he's a monster now. I'm curious to see him a year from now. Absolutely worth the drive to see the Pittsburgh Storm on Sunday. The weather's gonna be crappy, so why not go inside and see some hoops.I'm otherwise engaged on Sunday so I probably won't make it out there .. but I'm sure to get down to the King James Classic in 2 weeks.Go Zips .. Go Storm ... GO SEE THEM PLAYPS -- Here's a shout out to lilroodude .. what say you big fella?

I'll post some results when I get back tonight .. and the schedule for Sunday .. so you may have a chance later this weekend.Go Storm.

Zeke Marshall and the Pittsburgh Storm are coming to NE OH to play in the Solon Cage Classic THIS WEEKEND.Official Site - Solon Cage Classic.For those interested in seeing Zeke play .. supporting the Storm, etc, I've assembled the following information: The Storm are guaranteed 2 games on Saturday April 12thGame times are 11:30 AM and 2 PMThe games are located at the Edge Sports Complex in TwinsburgThat complex is located on OH-82 (Aurora Rd.) east of OH-91 (Darrow Rd.)A mapquest map of the site is HERE.Should they win both games, the Storm would get a bye and play Sunday afternoon @ 1:15 at Aurora HS.Any losses would leave them playing a first round bracket game Saturday night @ Solon HS, time TBD.Full schedule and bracket information is found on this page.Now let's get out there and support a {hopefully} future Zips cager!Please be mindful of your conduct regarding contact .. represent UA and the Rowdies well .. and I'll see you on Saturday! B) B)

Well .. my thoughts on this are that we are using the news collector to pull in Zips related stories for the front page. The front page pull stories from that Forum only.In the future we hope to pull other feeds (Rasor, etc) that are Zips related in the attempt to have the Nation be your one stop shop for Zips news if you want one. We're working on what we can and can not pull in and how much. For instance, if you pull Rasor's RSS feed, it pulls the entire article, which would reduce Mike's hits .. which we DON'T want to do.So we're working on that .. As for commenting in the News articles themselves .. I think our intent at the moment is to keep the sports discussions together .. so that folks don't have to check multiple places if they're interested in discussions related to a specific sport. I haven't figured out how to auto sort the articles into the right forums. In that case, we could import them into the news forum for the front page .. and the individual forums for commenting ..but at this point, I don't have that figured out .. so things will remain as they are. The news forum is jsut that ... a collection of news .. discussions remain within their established forums.not permanent .. but it's the way it is. Comments noted.Thanks.ZW

Isn't that why the Oklahoma City folks are trying to steal the Seattle Supersonics?

Sounds like a good argument .. but it's just wrong.A: How do you figure "a long way away from making the NCAA Tournament" .. they've been one game away 2 years in a row now. EMU and Buffalo are a long way away .. the Zips are quite simply not.B: Go look up at Can't State's NCAA results from 2001 (the year before their elite 8 run .. ) and let me know how they did in the dance that year.

No kidding .. who cares if the conference blows goats .. better for the Zips to dominate and keep the bid to themselves. I don't really believe Can't State will fall fast, but it wouldn't break my heart if they never won another game.Do people really think that Gonzaga is up nights worrying about why the league they're in only has 1 or 2 good teams (this year being different, I know)? No .. they own the WCC bid and that's the way they like it.The Zips are working on their business .. the rest of the league is irrelevant.Go Zips!

So who else expected Davidson to pull a page from the Zips end of game playbook and not get a shot off? :wall: w00t survives another season .. this was pretty close.Go Zips!