Zip Watcher

Some quick thoughts after the Marshall game and leading into CMU: - Nice to get a road W. Even with Marshall in desparate straights for a win of any kind, this was a game the Zips had to have. Would have been a tough loss for this team to take. -With the relative struggles of Can't State and Miami (and I guess the whole conference) on the road this season, I think that 3 road wins would pretty much guarantee a home game on March 7th, outside shot at a day off on the 7th. Anyone have an idea where they can grab 2 or more additional road W's? - I was of the mindset that Milum would be red-shirted, but pretty glad he was out there to help last night. Stepped up big for a true frosh on the road. I understand the need to balance out the scholis ... and it helped the team last night. - Marshall shot 29.6% last night. It's becoming commonplace that teams are having HORRIBLE shooting nights against the Zips. Remember the whining that Dunn & French used to do that "it always seems that teams have their best shooting nights agains the Zips" .. ? Open shooters make more shots that harrassed shooters. The team defense should only continue to improve as they play more together. - Similar to all the current discussions by the national press about Bill Belicheck building a team of simply Football Players, with less emphasis on specific positions, does anyone see a trend at UA in this direction. In the other thread, there's this notion about center or no center. Don't we essentially have 3-5 interchangeable frontcourt players? I think that's helping this team defend when different players have good shooting nights or get in foul trouble. Pure team basketball .. is this what it's like? (Off topic .. probably a good explanation for all of JDB's TE signings). - Memo to Joe Dunn: I like your enthusiasm, I really do. But when your interviewing the coach in the post-game show. Can you please ASK HIM A QUESTION!? We tune in to the game and hear your analysis, we don't listen to the postgame to hear you postulate about what happen and then get a brief yes or no reply from the coach. You have 40 minutes to tell us what you think, and 5 minutes to find out what KD thinks. Help us hear what the coach has to offer. Maybe make up some questions in advance?? Please interview (ask questions). - Did I hear correctly that there are only 500 tickets left for the CMU game?! Does this mean there are actually 5000 seats sold, and people holding real tickets, or are there 2500 "Vouchers" floating around out there. I'd sure like to see what the JAR looks like filled with Zips fans .. it's been a long long time. I'm struggling to keep my expectations in check here. At this point just really enjoying the ride up and the product and people involved on the court. Hey Z-P: I don't need your seat, but I can probably move it for you if you want to off load it (them). Let me know! We should have some cheeks in your seat.

Z-P : You need a password reset on your registration? Need help recovering it .. let me know.

I was long in the category of Hooper, wondering why no good big guys in some recent classes. Then a fellow MAC fan friend of mine asked me 2 simple questions: "How many NBA caliber centers have you seen pass through the MAC since Akron joined the conference? How many bonafide dominant low post players over 6' 8" have you seen?" It made me think for awhile, and I could only come up with Kaman as a MAC player who went on to play / get drafted by the NBA as a center. As for dominant low post players, I can think of a few: Anthony Stacey, Gary Trent, Brandon Hunter, Antonio Gates .. I'm sure I'm missing a few ... but these were all great players in the MAC, and none were any taller than Romeo. Beefier .. perhaps, but height wasn't such a big part of their success. If you stood next to Stacey, he was actually about 6-3 .. and he used to DESTROY us inside, when we had a 7' center. Ultimately, we have to consider the conference in recruiting, and having a stable of athletic 6-7 to 6-9 guys is going to help bring success in the league. I'm off the issue of having a true center. Edwards was a stiff, no matter who's writing his paycheck these days.

I'm with you .. I was thinking the other day that there must be some "Jam the JAR" promotion they could do that would get people there. Maybe mix it in with an Akron Food Bank non-perishable drive or something where you get a free GA ticket when you buy 1 and bring some canned goods or something. That way, you'd get some press for community building and still have some gate $$$ to defray costs. If they could handle giving away as many tickets as they did for the Marshall game, which represented 1/5th of the home football schedule .. 2500 seats to one game that is 1/15th of the hoops home slate shouldn't break any budgets. The hurdle here may be a high one for the first game, but if they keep up what we've seen thus far, people will come back on thier own. What sucks is that after all the good hoops last week, there's no mention of "what you're missing here in Akron" in the local paper. Nice support by the hacks. I see them at the games every time .. are they just using the press pass for free entertainment?? Regardless, I'll be there with multiple people in tow .. a win in Huntington and it's going to be hard to keep my expectations in check. The East might be in reach here and now! Go Zips.

Brief Sunday night comments a day later: 0. I wholeheartedly disagree with any notion that fatigue had anything to do with the last 8 minutes last night. These were mental and strategy breakdowns. 1. It will never make sense to me that teams that play good pressure defense can sometimes have enormous difficulties in breaking the press. This was very clear last night, and I suspect the rest of the MAC will pick up on this until they prove otherwise. Way too many backwards passes in the back court. Dribbling into traps all too common. 2. When a team is struggling to break the press and get the ball up the court, why does a coach continue to bring all 5 guys into the backcourt? 5 offensive players in the backcourt = 5 defensive players in the backcourt. This can ONLY serve to crowd things up more than usual, and often enables the defense to employ a zone press in the backcourt to effectively disrupt the offense's ability to advance the ball. Get at least 2 guys out of there to the front court and things will open up! To be fair, this was the first decision all year by KD that didn't make sense to me. There's reasons he's the coach and not me. 3. Best game yet by Preston, Futch was solid .. these guys should get better throughout the year. 4. 30 minutes of the best hoops in the JAR since 1989. That team can beat anyone in the MAC. 10 minutes of some of the worst hoops in the JAR since 1995. Erasing these episodes will be a big part of this team growing up and coming together. 5. Can someone tell Joe Dunn to ASK QUESTIONS IN THE COACHES / PLAYER INTERVIEW??!!! After the game, we already know what you think Joe, from your 10 minutes w/ Frenchie. When KD sits down, it's your job to ask a brief question and let the coach give us some insight into the game. We shouldn't be hearing you give some seminar on what you saw and ask the coach to agree. Ask a question and get out of the way. We'll all (you included) learn a lot more and enjoy the interview more. 6. The Mr. Hero Perseverence Guy of the Game Award goes to: The kid on the press row side of the court during the 12minute timeout in the 2nd half. Nice recovery after getting your head lost in the jersey during the dressing component of the contest. Didn't lose his head for good & recovered to sink the hoop first. WELL DONE! Finally: :gun: How fun was that first 30 minutes? I haven't been this pumped about the team in a long time. I rarely miss games, but I can't wait until Saturday for the next game. Hey PASTIE! You've been missing some good action this week. You'll be glad you're there when you make it back. Defense wins championships, and there's a MAC East Championship to be had here with a few road wins! Go get the Herd & we'll see you back at the ranch on Saturday night! Go Zips.

I agree that it was a nice coaching job, but I'm not sure KD can coach sitting down. I've never seen him sit at the JAR yet this year. If you look, they don't even keep a chair open for him! He's always on the move .. maybe that's the inspiration our team needs for energetic defense.

I saw that too .. Motown Bronco has made 2 such comments in the past week. Right after the game, he referred to it this way: Another poster wrote: I think it will be interesting to read the reviews of Can't State by the Bronco fans after tonights game.

I concur CK. AWESOME showing on the defensive end of the floor tonight. Held UB about 20 pts below their season scoring average. That will overcome a huge rebounding deficit in a hurry. Other thoughts: 1. Cedric wins the first Battle of the Middletons .. hands down. RM not really a factor, as most of the Bulls guards were taken out of the game. Cedric's shot deserted him in the second half, but I thought in general, he made good decisions and played some nice D. Exceptional block in the second half. 2. Futch kills me sometime. He repeatedly demonstrates good footwork and hands, and relatively good quickness. I just think he takes the WRONG shots almost ALL of the time. I haven't looked at a box score, but I can think of at least 3 possessions tonight where he got the ball in the paint, and used a drop step or dribble to get himself right at the rim, and then he takes some goofy flip shot at the hoop that doesn't have a prayer of falling. While he's not really clicking right now, with some work on laying the ball in the hole / reversing it .. he could be a contributor. Right now he's passing up the easy shot for the more difficult. 3. Preston making strides on D. Nice to see that, because most defenders don't really know what to do with him when he gets the ball out at the arc. He blew by some people tonight, and has the step back jumper. Some defense and rebounding would get him buckets of minutes. 4. Were the Zips playing volleyball in the first half on the glass? I'm thinking there were at least 5 or 6 rebounds lost because guys were tapping at the ball instead of just grabbing it. Ditto on the turnovers .. grab the ball & go .. don't bat at it .. 5. Were there really 3000 people there tonight? If you had asked me, I would have guessed 2100 or so. Seemed like a much smaller crowd than the OU game. More on this later .. Z-P you missed one of the better efforts by a Zips team in a few years. 6. Where's the 50/50 this year? Maybe this was discussed at football time, but is there some new NCAA thing prohibiting a good old fashoined raffle at hoops games? It's not like we don't have enought cheerleaders to pull it off?! 7. Home court being defended well. After tonight, I think the Zips should be able to beat any team in the league when the games are played at the JAR. Certainly won't happen that way, but UB's a strong team, and the UA defense just took them out of their game. Anyone else notice the relative confusion / panic that set in for UB after Bubba's bombs? They went into this super slowdown for a few possessions because they knew they were in danger of getting blown out of the building. Imagine what it would be like with lots of Zips fans in the building. I remember the MTSU game very well & look forward to that atmosphere again. All home games are winnable for this club. 8. Can't State got clobbered tonight in Kalamazoozoozoo. Too early to gage the Zips in some of these games, but I can't say I'm anything but excited for Saturday and the next game .. this could be a very interesting season.

Posting some quick thoughts prior to tonight's WIN against league favorite UB: Why I think this season is a big opportunity to be successful: 1. KD has bodies. We're going to learn pretty quickly who can and can't play UA basketball. I look for Futch and Preston to gradually step up and fill new roles. Neither are going to be like Wood, but each can do things to help offset the loss a little bit. 2. DP is getting his hoops legs. I think he's on the upswing and things will go through him more and more. 3. The Zips won't always shoot 30% from outside. 4. We've now seen several occassions when the Zips have slammed the door defensively for 8 or more minutes on teams. Usually in the early part of the 2nd half. This tells me 2 things: KD is making adjustments and sound defensive coaching moves and 2: the team has bought into the concept that defense will win them games. Down by 13 at the half & coming back to lead by 6 with 8 to play showed a lot of heart at WMU. 5. Close road losses at UT and WMU. Even with Wood, we would probably hope to split that trip, and they had themselves in good position in both games. Shows some heart. If there has to be a time to get adjusted to losing a key player, a 2 game roadie to the West was probably as good as any. At least it didn't involve dropping a game at Marshall or a winnable home game. They competed in difficult situations and got through some of the adjusting .. now it's down to business w/ 14 league games to play. 6. 10-8 can be had if they continue to rebound and defend hard. That means defending the home court and stealing one more win on the road than they lose at home. I think that 7-2 / 8-1 at home in conference could happen, so they need to steal 2 or 3 road wins. Marshall, OU, CMU, Can't State .. there are wins available. 10-8 means home game.

BIG game tonight as a measure of how the team has adapted to the loss of one of its core players. UB picked to win the East. 2 road losses in conference already (EMU / BG). Everyone back from a good team last year. Zips undefeated @ home --> Zips favored by 3 tonight. Middleton vs. Middleton. I've liked what I've seen from Cedrick thus far. Joe Dunn was spouting some garbage about CM disappearing the last 5 games .. and I think he's trying to create a story. CM has been showing flushes each chance I've had to see him. Ultimately, I believe him to be the answer at the 2 come late Feb / early March. Can our captain break out of his turnover rut and knock down some shots? Against OU, home cooking was good for McFadden. Tonight would be a good time to hold on to the ball unless hitting the net with it. Travis HAS to stay out of foul trouble. Maybe the biggest impact of the Wood injury is that KD can't afford to have the periodic Romeo mental meltdown game. We need RT to be there every night. Late in the game at WMU (very winnable) it would have helped to have some interior defense / rebounding. Should be a good measure of the team mid-season. I look for a close win to move to 2-3. Hopefully more than 3500 tonight, though no students on campus yet??

Combinations of many things .. the late nights probably a big thing. The biggest is probably finishing the year end numbers @ work & adapting to the changes at home. I'll be back in frequency soon. More posting today I think. As for the schedule, I don't have a real problem with things this year. I think perhaps that people aren't posting because there's far less to bitch about this year than last season .. we're all stunned into realizing that many of the things that bugged the crap out of us in past years have disappeared for one reason or another. Team play is better Defense is better No academic casualties mid-year It'll pick up I'm sure .. when we win tonight .. it will help.

Well said. Awhile back someone ticked me off about this same thing & I posted similar experiences to a board somewhere sometime .. might have been dreamwater or macbbs .. and since the macbbss search function blows, I can't find it. But I couldn't agree more w/ CK. ZW (not a UA grad)

Well, I got up the courage to tell my son (Zips undefeated with him in attendance) about JW's injury this evening, and he wasn't very happy about it. His reaction pretty much sums it up for me:

I saw that tonight also. Where the cautious part should be kept in mind is the fact that XRays don't contribute at all to the diagnosis of muscle and / or ligament injuries. Only CT or MRI can visualize soft tissues. XRays tell you about the bone and might show if there are chips, or a complete tendon release from the bone, but they don't offer much in the way of indicating the presence of tears in soft tissues. Regardless .. I'm keeping the fingers & toes crossed until we hear more. Hang in there JWood!

Well folks, it looks like GP1 wants me out of here too. I never took a class at UA, but follow UA hoops more than any other sports team. Moreso even than my 2 alma maters who are much farther upstream in the food chain than UA. We all have reasons for rooting for who we root for .. mine have to do with being at ACME Zip games and the JAR as a kid with my Dad. But just because I didn't attend UA .. I'm a goner. Listen slugs .. many of us hate certain schools for a variety of reasons (ask me sometime how I know that umASS fans eat their own poo .. ). I am in the camp that views Columbus State as an example of what is wrong with college sports .. so I don't root for them and I give crap to those who do. But they can root for whoever they want to. Being an OSU fan in OH is very different in my mind than the kids down the street that are "die-hard" Bulls fans cause Michael was there .. or Dook because they win a lot. The fact is, we who reside in NEOH are continuously bombarded with coverage of the big school down I71. So kids are going to grow up Buckeye fans. What gets under my skin is that the local hack papers fail to recognize the presence of major college sports in our own backyard. Unfortunately, until we fill the gyms and the stadiums .. they're not going to pay any attention to the Nation. And if the Nation isn't covered, children (other than those directly in the Nation) aren't going to grow up rooting for their backyard D1 school .. they're going to be fans of the one down the road that the papers and TV stations tell us that we should watch because it's all they're aware of. My gripe is completely with the media on this one .. especially the one a half mile from the JAR. I lived & studied for a time in Indiana and there is a popular saying in those parts that you might see on bumpers once in a while: "Hoosier by birth. BOILERMAKER by the grace of God." The fact is, it's easy to be a Buckeye fan in this state .. it's what the crowd does. It can be tough to be a Zips fans these days. Our challenge my brother and sister Zips is to bring more people to the enlightened state that life in the Nation provides. We have been entrusted with a great thing .. and like any other gift, it is only as good as the number of people we share it with. The Nation is a sleeping giant, and KD & JD will continue to help wake it up. And when it wakes up, a new generation of fans will be found that might not be so inclined to root for a team 120 miles away before the one down the street. You guys (GoZips and GP1) need to chill a little bit. Smack is smack & many of us appreciate a good Columbus State joke, but BZ is a member of the Nation and should be treated as such. We have a forum for smack & jokes .. To paraphrase the big orange monkey creature: Zip shall not flame Zip P.S. Let's not scare the Dude away .. we miss him around here ... P.P.S. BZ --> register up so you can at least claim your login for your own & we all hope to see you around for a long time.

Seems like Hipsher can't catch a break Majerus pulls out the rug from DH ...

Did a little digging on this last night. I don't have a link handy at the moment, but a quick google would indicate that if a player suffers a season ending injury BEFORE the halfway point in the season and has played in 20% or less of the teams total season games, he may qualify for a medical hardship year (which is separate from a straight redshirt). I think the standard redshirt used to be 6 or 8 games, both of which JWood has already played in.

My view: I concur with many comments above, re: Joyce & Peterson .. won't repeat. I agree. - This was an encouraging game to watch. The team responded to adversity (more on JW below) well and defended the whole game. I agree with KD that this is going to take time, but one of the things the Zips HAVE to do to contend in the MAC, this year or any year is defend the home court. Especially in a divisional game against a team riding a 16game road losing streak, this was a game they shouldn't lose, and they didnt. The defensive intensity has to be the biggest single change from 03-04 and it won the game last night. The Zips were by no means burning up the nylon, but when you can hold a team without a field goal for 10 minutes to open a half, you can get by on an average shooting night. If they don't defend everynight, they'll risk looking like OU or Oakland when the shots aren't falling. - Regarding the Cricket. Can someone explain to me why he isn't honored in some fashion at the JAR. As one of the rocks of the late 80's run of 20 win seasons, he has to have won more games as a Zip than most other players that have played here. Certainly in the D1 era. I hear all the time how the Cadavaliers should retire World B. Free's number, but the Cricket not being recoginzed confuses me more. - At times last night, the half court sets were a bit painful to watch. Often times, teams that like to run are hard pressed to execute when forced into a half court offense. I like the run and gun, and the half court has looked ok .. but last night there were possessions where confusion reigned if DP didn't get the ball early in the shot clock. - Winning a rebound battle by more than 10 will never hurt a team. - What ever happened to the 50-50 raffle? - From our seats we can sometimes can hear the play call from the court in the second half. And I'm pretty sure the Zips have a play called "Tarver" .. they ran it last night in the second half a few times. Someone near me mused that it must be an isolation play followed by an off balanced jumper. - I think Middleton could be a big part of this team down the stretch. At times, he's shown the ability to create good open shots for himself off the dribble. Rashon Brown and Johnny H (v. 1.0) were both able to do that at will and it really helps free things up at times. - Anyone else think that it's nice that we didn't show up for the past 2 games and see 2 guys AWOL for grades reasons? Refreshing, since these are student athletes. - I'm truly enjoying the postgame shows from KD. Direct insight and comments .. you can learn from his comments and I think he's pretty pragmatic. Re: Wood: From where I sat it looked pretty bad when he came down. It looked to be a clean play, just bad luck. He came down hard, and he was just WAYY up in the air and got himself a little off balance coming down. There may have been incidental contact, but it just was one of those things. I'm not into speculating on the seriousness of the injury. I've seen guys roll around on the floor in far worse agony than Wood did and it ended up being an MCL sprain. On the other hand, what sometimes appear to be minor injuries end up being total ACL tears. Here's hoping it's not serious and that he recovers completely. Utlimately this team isn't about just this season, it's building for the future. Wood will be back in any event and be a cornerstone of the team again. In his absence, however long, these other guys will get experience, and we'll learn what they can contribute. Shaking the rust off of Myers / Futch and Preston should help the team in the stretch run.

Good for you, but I'm not sure this is the right forum for this .. Zips FB member or not ..

At ANY D1 school, the life of a walk on is a tough one. Opportunites to play are often few and far between and caused only by shortening of the bench due to academic casualties, injuries and/or redshirts. On this team, unfortunately, we appear to see a deep bench with all scholarship players healthy and no one redshirting. Minutes for the walk ons may be hard to come by. In my view walk ons at this level are the ultimate team players. They go through all the sacrifice of the scholy guys and do all of the same work .. to help the team get better and have enough bodies in practice. Many of these guys will never get the recognition of the fans at large, but their contribuitons are huge in building a good team. ZFM, I wouldn't worry too much. Your guy is going to get his chances to help this team. If you saw the CSU game when he was in, the Vikings were pretty active in denying him the ball. Even if he's out there a few minutes and never hoists a shot, he'll draw a defender out and open things up for the team. Your man has a role on this team, he gets mention in the post game by coaches and players .. he'll be a part of it before this is all over. Best of luck to Maurice in his new team. I'm sure he'll be an asset to a DII school, probably an immediate contributor. At the JAR, he was unfortunately on a team with several swing men in front of him. All the best to him in his further academic exploits. Seems like forever since we've had a game .. looking forward to the game a Dayton. Should be a good measure of how the process is going.

CK - Nice points .. beat me to the punch. Here's my view of the game (what sticks with me after a long night ...): Was this the longest 40min game in the history of the JAR? Were the ref's working on a per foul basis last night? Wood continues to impress (CK's description is good). Someone lit a fire under Romeo's tail last night. Both he and JWood were monsters with the energy on the glass last night. If he brings that energy & fire every night, Travis is earning big minutes. Having 2 guys out there like that made a big difference last night. I wouldn't mind seeing Goddard in the mix for spot duty.. he didn't hurt his chances with his brief performance last night. It was interesting to me that CSU knew he was a shooter and worked pretty hard to keep on him. That may have opened things up a little bit, even with him not getting a shot off (did he shoot? can't remember) Great to see DP get off. 23 points on 13 shots is a good night. I thought he looked comfortable and steady. That's the kind of game the Zips will need from him to be successful. Was nice to see him actively in the mix. Anyone else notice that Preston had an ice pack (or heat pad) on hi s lower back whenever he was on the pine last night? Looked remarkably similar to the way Andy did when he would sit there with an ice pack ... ? Middleton can play. How nice was it to hear KD exhort the locals to get out and support this team? I thought it was a nice crowd, but should be more. Great that he just goes after it on the radio. I like his style in the postgame. Very pragmatic & educational (for me anyway). Last night's turning point: With 3:57 left in the game and the Zips trailing 66-65, KD goes to a THREE POINT GUARD SET with Travis and Wood when on Defense. That group did a much better job rotating on the perimeter. Collins, Middelton & Joyce all out there at the same time & it made a difference & momentum shift. They got after it and got a couple of steals. Defense & timely foul shooting won this game down the stretch. Overall thoughts: Wins early for this young team are important, and I thought this was a nice effort. What will have to improve in conference play is the ability to choke a team for good when the Zips get up by 12 or 13 early in the 2nd half. Gotta work on putting people away & maintaining momentum. Young team & it's early. I like what I see .. they're getting after it on D and the energy is there, both on the floor and the bench. The flip side to this win is that they had to work pretty hard to beat a mediocre (and that's what CSU is) team that wouldn't fare too well in the MAC. CSU had 30pts on the pine for most of the game with the foul trouble and early injury. I don't think we should read too much into this game. It's a win .. nice to have early. Good to build upon. We're going to learn a lot about where the Zips are in the next 2 games. Good times are coming .. and we should all be patient. The Zips Nation shall rise!

The guy you're talking about needs to prove he can defend at the D1 level .. and that's probably the main reason he isn't seeing significant minutes. Also, he doesn't have the ball skills necessary to create his own shot. With a good set shooter like that, the team needs to run plays / specific picks to get him open. At this stage of the game & season, they're not set up to accomplish that. The game is more than just pure shooting, or David Faulknor would be an NBA all-star.

Uhhh .. Bubba actually brings about 10 pts / game (in about 18 minutes). That's significant since it puts him as our 3rd leading scorer. Up and down? Certainly .. but he can hit outside shots. I wouldn't substitute him for anyone until I see solid defense from the other options. Simple fact may be that our best shooter hasn't played much, but he's got to prove he's capable of being a shutdown defender. Bubba has been solid on D, as solid as most Frosh are .. and his size / quickness / and ape like arms help us on defense. Some of the other options are just too small & a step too slow to provide that type of D for 20 minutes / game. There's a role for every player on this team.

What exactly happened on the last play of the game? By my rough estimate, there should have been about 8 or 10 seconds left for MSU when they set the ball for 4th down. Either that much left for a punt return, or to take over on downs? Just when I thought the Spartans had gotten jobbed enough .. the refs let UH have a 40 second play clock on 4th down? As with anything, the Zips need to take control of their own destiny. NO ONE will ever do it for them. Nice season Zips! Go Blazers!

During my time in W. Lafayette, I believe the Boilers played at least 2 games AT MAC schools. Joe Tiller's first game was a loss in the Glass Bowl .. and I think there was a trip to Ball State mixed in there back when Jim Colletto was coach. My thought is that perhaps the Zips could get a 2 for 1 out of Purdue and down the road bring the Boilers to a new on campus stadium? Keep the Boilers game. I go out there for 1 to 2 games a year, and next year would have 2 September games to catch .. UA and ND.