Zip Watcher

Been meaning to post some notes on the Hoops golf outing at Raintree, but have been OTR & hadn't gotten to it. Nothing earth shattering, but here goes:- About 100 golfers attended the event. An unofficial report had the number of former players @ 26 of those 100.- Former players in attendance, that I saw & recognized included: Bosley, Andrick, Byron Thompson, Rashon Brown (I think), Andy Norman, Joe Jakubick, Carl Schwartzinger (sp?), Russel Holmes, McFadden, Jawanza Moore .. I'm sure there were many others. Sat at dinner with one from the late 70's, but never got the name. Super nice guy.- Former hoops player in attendance that wasn't a Zip: Larry Nance.- All coaches & many AD staff around and quite accessible during the event, both before and after the golfing, during dinner. Coaches visited our foursome on more than one occassion & had the change to chat briefly with KD & Hunter. Nice folks all around. Every time I see him, I'm more and more convinced that this IS KD's dream job. I don't think he goes anywhere .. barring a total withdrawal of support by the U, the community or both.- Raintree in nice condition for the event .. much nicer than I anticipated to be honest.- Meal was probably the best food I've ever gotten at a golf outing. Nice side of beef @ 1PM. I lingered awhile, but I think I was out of there around 2:15 or so.- ZW's group was -7 through 11 holes, and then the wheels fell off and we scrambled for 7 straight pars to finish the round. One member now struggling with a sore back from carrying my sorry ass. I believe that 58 (-14) won the event.- Prizes weren't why I was attracted to the event, but they appeared sufficient. The 2006/07 signed ball would have been nice for the office bookshelf, but no luck with that.- Long drive markers and closest to the pin markers were labeled "Akron U" when we arrived at them on those holes .. upon our departure, I think all were relabeled "University of Akron." A little pet peeve of mine & I never attended the U. Go figure.- Steward was in town on his official visit that day / weekend, so there was a buzz about the impending commitment. No current player contact @ the outing. Not sure if it's an NCAA rule, but probably a good idea.- KD spoke for about 5-10 minutes during the dinner. Spoke about continuing to move upstream, and establishing the program long term. Emphasized the need to be bringing in great HS players (I infer that means we won't be seeing too many JUCO's under KD's watch) to be here for some time and grow and perpetuate what the program's about. Talked about getting bigger and more athletic at every position .. not just the need for some big post players .. getting bigger @ the guard & SF positions. - It's clear this guy's target doesn't lie in winning the conference every year. That's a low point below his targets. I like the style & motivation .. and think he's right in aiming so.- Keith also hammered home GP1's constant point. A lot of the success of a program has to do with the fans .. getting support from the community .. filling the building .. supporting extra events that benefit the kids .. etc. It's not just KD / JD / CP / JK and their staffs .. the fans & community need to step it up.A nice event .. I'm looking forward to making it an annual thing. Hope you'll consider it too.Go Zips.

Well put. Tough to win games when you're DEAD!

Bingo. The schedule is what it is because teams don't really want to play the Zips. Has a lot of truth to it at home, but also on the road. Some scuttlebut at the BBall golf outing on Saturday said that even the CBE classic was supposed to put the Zips at one of the other regional sites on the East coast, only to have the host team refuse to have the Zips in their 4 team group. Not sure if there's truth to it, but if so .. teams seem to be avoiding Keith's club.

I'm quite certain JD is thankful for that.Go Zips!

Exactly what video feed are they streaming? If NTU isn't sending a crew, who's broadcasting the game for the GoZips feed?

Seibart & Weinkein were MUCH better rebounders than J. Wood and Chris Hahn. Yep .. that argument holds water. Maybe I should give my season tickets away.

Bobby,Marla is the OSU beat writer for the BJ. Cool it a little bit on calling her out. She's doing her job.Maybe you should be upset that Sheldon Ocker doesnt' cover the Zips enough? Would you?This is a prime example of you attempting to derail a useful thread ... take it easy.

I'm wondering if the scheduling was done between the schools or only by the tourney committee. UA did the General a favor years back by DHip bringing in Pat Knight for a year (which also helped the Zips while he was here). I wonder if that helped this.I'm liking having this on the schedule .. good early season test, tournament conditions. Nice to build off the NIT experience.

Let me restate ... getting TO the dance is a low bar for this program at this point. I expect them to dance this year .. I'm suggesting we all prepare to come to expect it, and expect more. Getting to the dance is a goal for lower mid-major program. Dancing deep is the desired and achievable target for the Zips.The Zips are building to be among the best in the nation (a slow steady process .. I know this), being the best in the MAC is just a step along the larger path.

I have to disagree with that last part of your post. This is going to be a nice & exciting year. But this thing is just beginning to build, and it's year 1 of Jimmy. The Zips are only on the uphill climb now. In a few more seasons, we're going to look at Keith's team then, look back to 05-06 and wonder how he won 23 games. There's a 30 win season in the Zips future.

I think this year's club will be plenty deep. The rotations will be interesting to see how they pan out.I'd sure like to see less of the 3 guard rotation, given a somewhat shallow backcourt.Thinking about depth, there's plenty of bodies:Guards: Middleton, Dials, Joyce, McNeesSwings: Conyers, Linhart, RybakBigs: Travis, Wood, Milum, McKnight, BardoOf the above, the staff probably knows what they have in 8 of them. Not all are studs, but known quantities and guys that have been around long enough to know the system. Then, you've got 3 newcomers (not counting Jimmy) .. if one or 2 of those is able to contribute right away .. you might be able to go more than 9 deep.Other thoughts:- I'd sure like to see Jimmy in the backcourt rather than the 3 .. get the backcourt size & strength up. That would present matchups the MAC would struggle with, and give us a way to have more big guys on the floor.- Everyone who's in the know will tell you that Rybak can flat out shoot .. will he find the range and become the spot shooter KD needs for limited minutes? Would be nice to have a zone breaker like Faulknor.- Sounds like Bardo is bigger than we thought a year ago .. won't take much for a guy that size to be a space eater & post defender. Won't need lots of point from him early. Can he bring some D and rebounding? Or is he a year from contributing.- Gotta have Middleton on the floor as much as possible. The only guy that has shown the desire to penetrate consistently. A good enough shooter to keep people honest, also.- Looking forward to seeing Travis & Wood out there together again. There were glimpses of great teamwork right before Wood went down. The success of the team might hinge on how quickly they get back together. They used to have a pretty good sense of where the other one was .. and had good interior passing looks.- Nate will continue to impress & surprise people .. he'll be a key contributor all season. Speed up his outside jumper a bit, and he'll fill the Preston spot nicely.Here's my "Crunch Time 5" .. I'm sure this ISN'T what we'll see .. but I'd love to see KD try something like this:PG: MiddletonSG: ConyersSF: LinhartPF: TravisC: WoodRegardless, I'm certain Keith's got a good plan and the guys to execute it. He only needs one or 2 of the new faces to click and contribute, and they'll be better than last year.Looking forward to the outing on Saturday also .. Zips hoops only a month or so away. The only MAC team returning with a postseason win last year.Certainly soon, they'll be

Thanks CK. Needed to be said.Bobby, if you want to bash OSU here .. your free to run Smack in the Smack Forum. If you do it there, those that wish to defend the Sucks can follow you there and debate away. It isn't happening any longer in the main sports forums.

Maybe Caleb has a redshirt that he can lend to JD for the season?

Indeed. Thanks for the help @ facebook & myspace!

For your Can't half.

Hi & welcome to the Nation. This is your second post explaining the same thing to us. We got it the first time, you're a Can't fan. I think I can speak for most of the Nation when I tell you who we root for, and in what order:1. We root for the Zips2. We root for whoever plays the Flushes3. Each of us inserts our own individual loyalties here.With no disrespect intended, I suggest you might try MACbbs. You'll find a much more receptive audience for your argument and mindset there.Click Me to Root for Everybody!Go Zips!P.S. --->

No sign of the broadcast @ gozips.com either. Perhaps the pipe from ComCast is down?Cant' say I'm pleased about this...

This forum is officially for sale.Please contact me by email at: I.cant.believe.what.I.just.saw@incredulous.comIncredible.

Hey Dr. Z!Any chance you could drop your buddy @ TWC a note and ask if it's going to be shown to ALL TWC customers in NEOH, or just the immediate Akron area.How about those of us that were Adelphia (Suburban Cleveland) and were just acquired by TWC? Are we getting some love too? They've got a local access / information channel, it's just not 23 .. I think it's 15 or 17.Thanks!

Some aggressive facts from Terry Pluto.Nicely done Terry. The Zips & the Nation need this type of response to Coach Amato's drivel. I'm not sure we could have done it better & you have a higher soap box from which to deliver the message.A nice article.

I'm down with Stec. I think he'll be fine. I agree he might be too close to the line, but he's not cost us a game yet, and that's with 2 roadies @ BCS. His punt from the endzone in Raleigh was MONEY baby!Stec will be fine.

I'll probably get it. I got the creighton NIT game last spring that way, from the bluejays site directly ...The quality was ok .. generally pretty good on the PC screen. I'm a fanatic and have a setup for sending it out to my big screen ... and the quality on 42" of flat screen pleasure was marginal. Watchable, but you couldn't be too close. It's worth $8 I think .. I'll probably do it again.

First flight did take place in NC .. our compliments for that.Aviation was borne in a bike shop in Dayton, OH .. and OH remained the center of improvements & advances in flight for decades after Kitty Hawk.On a related topic, if you're ever near Dayton, don't miss the USAF museum there .. it blows Air & Space away.

I have to say that I'm feeling pretty good about the new punter. Punting from the goal line in the rain against PSU on the road in your first appearance .. are you kidding me? No blocks. No fumbled punt attempts.Nice game Mr. Stec .. good start to a career. Seems like you had better luck early when they came after you. In the second half, PSU called of the dogs because you showed some mettle & resolve. I think the open backfield caught you off guard in the second half, but that's what next week's for: improvement.Anyone who has concerns about how Stec performed should have seen the BG game tonight at Brown's stadium. BG is in the game with a chance to win if they had a punter / punting team. One block recovered in the endzone for a TD, and a lame duck punt returned 35 yards to the 1, TD 3 or 4 plays later. 14 points on crappy punting. That put Wisc up 28-14 and put it out of reach.Both kickers looked good to me in difficult conditions. That 40+ yarder from the PK was money in the first half!

Just imagine how good it could be if the admins ever got around to fixing all the busted links & kept the news pages up today & added photo galleries.This site could rock! FYI, the Nation was born in a meeting of the "Porky's Seven" at the JAR in February of 2004. The site was launched on 23 Feb 2004. The community has existed long prior, probably 3 or more years before at 2 sites @ Dreamwater, devoted to Football & Basket