Zip Watcher

Ali Kart is in there.Andy Norman is in there.I think #4 is Kirene Johnson.Klaus Zollner (great free throw shooter) is the other big guy.30 wasn't Emmanuel Smith, was it? Seems too early for him.

Thanks for the comments & suggestions.A few thoughts on the matters:#1: We have enabled validation emails and the confirmation security code things. That has reduced spambot activity pretty well.#2: I have also just implemented New Member topic & post moderation to further eliminate the problem. New posts by new members now need to be approved by one of the Moderators.#3: Full upgrade of IPB to v2+ is not really possible here, as V1.3 has been included in most server sets and v2 is not a free product as v1.x was.#4: As for the refresh problem, it is generally a browser cache issue. However, if you use the back button to go back to the forum after reading the posts, then your "new posts" icons & such will not update. If you get in the habit of navigating back to the forums / posts by clicking on the navigation bar, or a link at the bottom of the topic, then you shouldn't see many problems related to delayed updates / refresh.#5: Zen, check your PM's here at ZipsNation.

Due to increased spambot activity, all new users will be joining the nation in a probationary group, known as NewMembers.During this period, all of your initial posts will be reviewed by moderators prior to being posted to the forums. Once you have demonstrated that you're not a pr0n spambot, you will be bumped to the Members group & no longer subject to Moderation of all your posts.If you have any questions, post them to this forum & they will be answered for the benefit of all.Thanks!

Can anyone confirm this? Is this true? I've been waiting to see this for a bit, because I think it's a glimpse into the future. Would love to hear how it went, even if for a few moments. Was out of town and missed the game.

This season's Zips team will probably go down as the best DI Zips ever .....Until next year.Long way to go this season still. Enjoy the ride.

I think that CK's comments in the other thread were dead on, comparing us to Nevada.I think it will be nice to have the Governors back in town for a visit. All MAC folks think the OVC is crappy, but they have had runs in the NCAA's over the years, so I'm not too quick to kick dirt on our old conference foes.When I think of AP, the first thing that comes to mind is how they were the victim of the (IMHO) WORST officiating call in the history of the NCAA tournament. I'm sure an AP fan can recount this better than I, but I think in like 87 or 88 they played in the NCAA against a Providence team coached by Pitino. I believe Billy Donovan was on the club as well (current Florida coach). Not sure what the stakes were, but I think it was a second round game (a quick search of APSU's website revealed nothing).As memory serves, AP was up on the Friars LATE in a game at the point where the Friars needed to miss a free throw and get the RB in order to have a prayer of winning the game. Coming out of a timeout, Pitino instructed the officials that he wanted a timeout as soon as PC got the ball. So the guy bricks the free throw and the ball is loose. A dude from PC TOUCHES the ball & the whistle blows, giving possession to PC. What actually happened was the guy touched the ball, couldn't get any semblance of control & APSU ended up with the ball on an open break, sure to be fouled or just end the game. But the stupid ref blows the whistle, giving the ball to PC & PC goes on to make a bucket to win / force overtime & ultimately when on to win and eventually go on to the Final Four. APSU got jobbed in that one. Big time. Pitino benefited greatly, but APSU got jobbed.That's what I think of when I hear Austin Peay.

Brief thoughts:- The D today was outstanding in the first half .. and pretty darn good in the second half. If the Zips can hit a stride where they come to defend like that night in & night out, they're going to be tough against anyone they play the rest of the way.- It's clear to me that Rome & Wood are getting used to being out there together again. Both guys are looking for the other on the weak side & the interior passing by both was pretty nice today. In conference, anyway .. there's only one team that has horses to defend that & it's OU. WMU was powerless today.- Nice to see Jimmy step into Nate's minutes & not disrupt things. On the offensive side of the ball he's got some work in front of him (I mean relating to the plays & system, not his skills), but defensively, he's there right now. His guy got a bucket in the first half when he moved over to double the guard, but I think it was a slow rotation from the baseline guy that left him open. Man to man, Jimmy is more athletic & has quicker hands than anyone I've seen him guard yet. Should be a nice player to watch.- Dials was tough today .. nice game.- McKnight can flat out play. I used to say that about CM when he was a freshman, and I might be more sure of it with the new CM.- Cedrick is always $$$.- It only took 25 minutes for WMU to realize they couldn't drive the hole going away from Milum. Maybe some of the easiest blocks of his career.- This could have been much worse for WMU. But what could make this Zips team special is that they don't need to be clicking all out on offense to build a lead. If they continue to defend as a team and have 7(+2) interchangeable parts, they should be able to withstand a bad night by Rome or Wood .. or anyone. By no means was the first half a good one offensively, but when you hold a team to 13 points, you're going to be winning.- I remember a game in a blizzard against CMU @ the JAR a couple of years ago where the Zips came out firing on all cylinders & blew the Chips out of the building early & often. I enjoyed this one even more because it came as a result of solid defensive play. Defense wins championships.

I couldn't care if Zippy's a$$ was hanging out tonight .. whoever had the gig today did a great job & gets props from me today.We had our kid with us today. With this win, the Zips are something like 32-1 with him in attendance all time. He's just a bit over 2 years old today.For whatever reason, the noise in the JAR is bothering him this season .. loud places never did before, but just seems like it takes the boy about through the first half to get acclimated & enjoy the game. I should tell you that he's a huge hoops fan .. the only movie / DVD he ever requests is "Jimmy! .. we watch Jimmy!" (Hoosiers).I've learned that we take him in just after the lineups & avoid the whole smoke & lights thing .. but today we got him down there early. The boy about lost it .. had a real hard time with the noise & pyro stuff .. was asking to go home now .. not enjoying things at all.But here comes Zippy up the aisle in the lower section for the first time all season. I give the high sign & Zippy comes over to say hi to our little guy .. Zippy actually came down the row behind us. The boy gets down in that row & runs to Zippy, who offers five & gets a hug instead. Zippy rolled with it & really cheered the kid up. Didn't take much time, but really made a difference.I've got nephews who were at times freaked out by Zippy, but I think my boy has Zippy right up there with Santa Claus at this point.Whoever you were today, Zippy .. nice job! You made a kid's day today & made the parents life a little easier.Anyone reading this who knows the guy / girl .. please pass this along.

Scout has Swiech as *** and the 29th best center in the 07 class nationwide.Steward it has as **.Can't also has a 7-0 290# guy on their roster right now that never sees the floor. 3 of 4 of their guys coming in next year are JC transfers. I like KD's model of bringing in HS talent & building a program. Worry not Zips fans.

Don't you mean: "I wish the guy well in all his endeavors .. good luck Dantley?!"

1. I agree .. would like to know more .. have not the time to look myself.2. The third scholi this year (for incoming guys you list) is from Bubba Walther. After Bubba left, KD did not fill the spot with an extra freshman this year. He had 3 from last year's seniors (Preston, Peterson, Futch) and just used those.3. My understanding / guess is that you're going to see a bigger lineup in the very near future. I've been told by people that McKnight may project more as a guard than a SF. I certainly think that of Conyers once he's comfortable in the system. He definitely has the quickness & athleticism to guard the 2 in this league. Perhaps Bret does as well.I think we need to be careful not to project MAC type of rosters onto the Zips for much longer. This is NOT to say winning the MAC is not a goal or that I don't like the current players. I'm simply saying that in order to move the program upstream, the days of the 6'1" shooting guard HAVE to end. KD needs to (and is) move to the 6-4 6-5 guards. It's a difficult recruit, but he's starting to get it done.The other thing to consider is that with Chris McKnight's quickness & outside touch, I think we could see him slide down a little and use some SF minutes. In the last 2 games there's been moments where he's switched out on the 2 against a pick, and had NO trouble keeping the guy in front of him. KD himself has referred several times to finding a way "down the road" to get Jimmy & Nate on the floor at the same time & I think we'll see some of that next year. Assuming that Swiech does NOT get red-shirted next year, I'd expect to see rotations with guys using positions something like:C: Wood / Swiech / BardoPF: Wood / Milum / CMcKnightSF: Linhart / CMcKnight / ConyersSG: Dials / Conyers / BMcKnightPG: Middleton / McNees / StewardI don't care to speculate about minutes / combination .. just show that I think KD's getting to the point where he has an EXTREMELY flexible & dynamic roster. We've all talked about wanting to get Bigger, Quicker & Stronger in recruiting for both sports. My observation is that it's gonna happen on the court in the next 2 seasons for the hoops Zips. Some of these guys we project as or consider as SF's are actually going to be SG's.So long as they can defend the position adequately .. it's a REALLY good thing.

He's currently a junior, so we'll have at least 4 to give next year (Dials, Middleton, Milum, Wood).There was some talk of the Rowdies putting together a road trip to visit Sweich. I'm thinking that Operation Land the Roo would be better off targeting a guy like this for next year's recruiting.

Go to ESPN.com, go to the Men's Hoops page & click on Rankings, you'll see both full lists side by side.

I concur entirely. New Zips fans and opponents need to know that this isn't the first good team @ UA. In fact, UA's tradition goes MUCH deeper than 7 or 8 years .. unlike some other places.If I remember correctly the Zips are something like 21-10 all time in NCAA tournament games. That's not too shabby if you ask me. I sit by some former players who'd probably take umbrage to the comment that their efforts were not relevant to now.They need to re-do the banners in the style of the new jerseys, etc. and get them back up there.

Derrick Tarver aside here .. by what criteria were the Zips NOT mediocre in 2003-04? They DEFINED mediocre, didnt' they? Isn't that why we had a coaching change?

Regardless, it will be great to watch Nate develop. I think if he can speed up the delivery of his jumper, he becomes a VERY tough guy to guard in this conference.

I guess I'm looking at a different guy here .. because I see a guy who has all the tools, physically & mentally to put it together. Again, I think Newble is a good example of a guy who was never "go-to" by your definition in the MAC, yet has hung around the league for quite awhile.

Since you've been watching the MAC for so long, I'll ask my question again. Do you think that describes Ira Newble when he was at Miami? You bought a ticket just to see him? Do you even remember him @ Miami?Did you buy a ticket just to see John Edwards? Did he dominate .. rise above all the other players on the court?No one here is saying that Nate is a future lottery player or first team All-NBA'r .. the observation has been made that he has a ton of game & could one day get there.

NIT is postseason play & postseason experience. Waters built his Can't State clubs on the experience they gained playing on the road against good competition in the NIT. It's not the big dance, sure .. but early in the buildup of a program with young kids, sometimes it's the better outcome. Getting the chance to play multiple games vs. a round 1 blowout at the hands of an elite team helped the Zips last year. Going NIT is not always a bad outcome.And let's face it, the MCB isn't exactly the top of the mountain for a MAC FB team either. Boise & Utah have shown that dominating your schedule & playing (& beating) some top flight OOC foes will get a mid major beyond the Backyard.com bowl or whatever the "champ" gets .. if playing Memphis in Detroit is the pinnacle of success for Zips football, I think the bar is set a little too low.Ultimately, I guess it's perspective. Is your goal each year to win the MAC? Or does your goal go beyond the conference you play in? I think these questions illustrate a difference between our mindsets.

That's not just what the poster is saying .. it's what KEITH is saying. When you get here Hugo, you'll find that UA IS tradition rich .. and KD is bringing that back. He's where he wants to be. So long as Buchtel Hall doesn't pull the rug out from under him (see: Huggins), KD wants to be here.

Seems to me both have had made strides in their respective programs. Agreed. Both HAVE made postseason play. Now, which coach has a postseason victory? Both have beaten BCS level competition. Mississippi St. last year in BB is IMHO the equivalent of NC St. in FB this year. Both were good wins when they happened .. and both opponents ended up sucking ass that season.Go Zips!

I often watch Nate and think to myself, he might be the best talent on the team.Remember the WMU game @ the Q last year? I'd say Nate took over the game there. 14 rebounds .. he changed a lot of shots. Taking over the game doesn't require dropping 30 on them. The Nevada game also .. their SF (Kemp) is on a few mock draft boards already .. and Nate & Jimmy pretty much took him out of the game in a man defense.The beauty of this team & we will see more & more of it is that you can't shut down one guy & beat the Zips. You have to force the Zips into bad shots & bad decisions (Zone helps). Clamping down on one guy won't beat them. That's why neither KD, nor any of the guys are in a hurry to have anyone taking 30 shots & scoring 20 a night. It's just not as effect & efficient as having 7 guys combining to average 67 points / game. I think the thought that Derrick Tarver was a better player (ever) than Nate Linhart is now is pretty funny. No offense to DT, but he couldn't carry Nate's basketball jock. Tarver was a one on one guy .. completely unable to play within a team, had suspect ball handling skills & no defensive desire whatsoever. Point of order however, Tarver played for D. Hip, not KD. And the recruitment of Tarver probably led to the ultimate nail in that coffin.Nate's got the best combination of size, speed, quickness, ball skills & court awareness (and his is excellent) that I've seen here since Andy was a Freshman. I was sure Andy would be in the league one day & still believe it would have happened if it weren't for that trip to WKU. I think that Nate's release probably needs to be sped up .. and he needs to continue to improve. I don't think he's a drafted guy right now .. but I do think he's an Ira Newble type .. may show up a few years later after working on his game across the pond. Anyone actually remember Newble @ Miami?

Well, between 10 minutes & 2 minutes the Zips put some space between them, and with about a minute left, it looked like they were going to end up covering. Pretty hairy last minute.Thoughts:- Defensive intensity was average in the first half, better in the second half.- Foul shooting percentage may have won the game .. for all the complaining about refs, look at what Miami did at the line vs. the Zips. First time all year that won a game for Zips. Hope it's not the last.- One guy still takes too many damn plays off on the defensive side of the ball .. killed us at least 3 times when he gave up EASY looks at the basket to Miami.- #50 on Miami is a real nice player. Reminds me of Reimold from BG. Doesn't look like much, but he can kill you .. I think he's only a Soph. also.- Miami leads the MAC in redheads.- #43 for the Zips was money (nice sign Rowdies) in the second half.- Clutch shot from Dru- ERRONEOUS? Very nice also.

Uhhh .. that means he was an assistant in the OVC .. not the MAC.

GP1,Had temporary amnesia regarding the Bidwell .. very nice place. Ted's upstairs was where we pissed away the afternoons most of my senior year there .. they had a pizza & pitcher special for 10 bucks that amply supplied 3 people for a few hours of dart throwing.I lived about a mile down from Willie Pie my junior year .. I claim it's the best pizza east of N. Main St. in Akron. Totally different animal .. but killer pie.The Woody's thing doesn't ring a bell .. I'll have to think about that for a bit .. maybe not in my travels.I think the stadium was called Memorial Field or something. Held 12K if it was lucky. Was never more than half full as I can recall, but this was before Skip Holtz and the drive to move upstream.Storrs was a tremendously fun place to be as an undergrad. Alchoholism was encouraged & a wetter campus you may not ever encounter. Don't know what it's like these days, it's been about 10 years since I've been back. I'll swear up and down that whoever wrote the movie PCU (Favreau & Piven starred) must have spent some formative time on that campus. What with all of the different cause groups & the frats off campus .. the pit .. all smells like a UConn student to me. Great memories.