Quickzips

Never been a big Harney fan, but I wish him the best of luck in whatever he decides to do next. Not a huge loss for the Zips. Nick had his moments here, but he never really did consistently put it all together. Just means more minutes opened up in the frontcourt for some of our younger guys.

Reported offers from Iowa and Houston now as well. Definitely feels like an offer intended to find a replacement for Treadwell. We're going to be awful thin at PF going into 2015. Early playing time for a solid program could be tempting for some PFs who might not have otherwise considered Akron that strongly.

I don't expect Noah to start from day 1. It just isn't KD's normal way of operating. Very few freshman have started from day 1 for KD (Zeke is the only one I can think of off the top of my head). There are a couple of other factors that go into it. PG is easily the most important position on the court. Having the ball in your hand all game long, and having to defend the guy on the other side who has the ball in his hand all game long, make it very difficult for a freshman to come in and adjust to. Beyond that, there are the conditioning issues that freshmen are so prone to having. You just don't want to throw a freshman out there and give him 30 minutes a night from day 1 and watch him have nothing left in the tank going into the stretch run of the conference season. Could Noah be the exception to all of this? Maybe, but he is going to have to prove it. That said. I think Noah will play from day 1. I expect him to back-up Melo at the start of the season. Probably for about 12 - 18 minutes per night at first. I would expect that you will see Noah moved into the starting lineup some time late in the OOC season to give him a few games to acclimate before the conference schedule begins. By the end of the season I expect our starting lineup to be: PG - Robotham SG - Jackson SF - Kretzer PF - Treadwell C - Cheatham Yes, I do see Jackson starting eventually. Our other options at SG are McAdams and Ibitayo. I don't want to start Reggie and Jake as there is too much overlap in their games, particularly on the offensive end. I would rather start Jake as he is a little tougher on the defensive end right now. That leaves Reggie coming off the bench. Deji had a few good games coming down the stretch last year, but he's got to show more consistency before I trust him in the starting lineup. From what I've seen and know of Jackson I can easily see him moving into the starting lineup based on his work ethic and the more diverse skill set he brings to the table. I also see Cheatham starting over Johnson and Forsythe. The problem I have with Johnson and Forsythe is that they are primarily low post scorers (and Johnson is a boat anchor in transition). The problem with that is we already have a really good post player in Treadwell. Having Johnson or Forsythe on the floor with him just clogs up the lane and makes things more difficult on Tree. Cheatham has enough size to play C at this level, and he's more adept in the pick-n-pop game with a shot out to the 3 point line. I think this will open up space on the inside for Tree to operate. That said, Kwan will have to take a big step forward with his defense if this is going to happen.

So stoked about the Noah commitment right now. By all accounts he's a great kid and a hard worker. He should fit right in with the Zips mentality. Just to piggy-back on Dave's sentiments, I've watched some of Noah's videos. He isn't just a long, pinpoint passer. He really excels at dishing to his bigs on the interior off of dribble penetration. Those are really tough passes to make. In traffic, without a lot of space and trying to get it to your guy in a position where he can go up and score. Noah makes those plays regularly. Tree is going to LOVE this kid. Not only does his passing ability stand out, he has the ability to score. He has a well developed mid-range jumper that he's capable of extending out to the 3 point line. He also shows some ability to finish himself around the rim. I know he is just going to be a freshman next year, and it is usually pretty tough for freshman PGs to step in on day one and make an impact, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, but this is one of those signings that really gets me excited.

Not sure why you feel the need to attack me and other posters for the quality of our postings. You pointed out that a walk-on hasn't made a contribution in the KD-era. I pointed out that Roberts was technically a walk-on (if you want to get into a debate about whether he was truly a walk-on or not that is a different issue) who made significant contributions in the KD-era. It is called point, counterpoint, and you should give it a try some time instead of taking unnecessary pot-shots at the credibility and value of other posters.

Daryl Roberts would disagree with this. On a related note, if you believe his twitter feed, Noah Robotham's decision should be "coming soon". If you are looking for an immediate impact player at the PG spot he would probably be your best bet.

I'm with you on this one Zach. You just read Noah's twitter a little bit and you get the impression that he has Akron pretty high up there. He retweets a lot of Akron related stuff (including tweets from Tree and one about the arena announcement today). You don't see anything like that from him about BC, San Jose State or any of the other programs he is being linked to.

KD has over-recruited before. In fact he's sort of made a habit out of it the last few years. Players come and go. If the Zips want Noah, and he wants to be a Zips, they will figure it out.

Good hire for the Bobcats, but his first order of business has to be keeping some of the talent they have remaining and finding new talent. The bobcats have graduated a lot of talent over the last two years, and the rumors of multiple defections in the wake of Christian are only compounding that. First order of business for him has to be convincing Ndour to stick around for his last year. Even with Ndour the Bobcats really don't have any kind of significant depth for next season. It might not be a full on rebuilding job, but Phillips has some work to do if he wants to keep the Bobcats competitive the next couple of years.

Named Gatorade Nevada High School Player of the Year http://lasvegassun.com/news/2014/mar/22/gormans-noah-robotham-nevada-gatorade/ Go get him KD!

Man are things falling apart at OU. Jon Smith quits the team just before the CIT. Their coach leaves to take a job at a middling ACC program. Their top returning player is rumored to have one foot out the door. Their top incoming recruit has already asked to get out of his LOI. Those of you who want to complain about KD need to keep this situation in mind. For all his flaws, he has brought a level of stability to this program that has allowed it the Zips to have a pretty nice level of success for the past decade. We are already starting to see what constant turnover at the head coaching position can do to you down the road at Can't, now it looks like OU is about to be in a similar (maybe even worse) position.

His twitter feed is showing photos indicating that he's been on campus recently. Would be a nice get for the Zips. I would still prefer a JUCO or transfer PG who has immediate eligibility just because I'm a little leary of going with a true frosh PG, but it can't get a whole lot worse than our situation from last year.

Best wishes to you and your family in this difficult time.

Time for a reality check man. Legal in two states is by no means "decriminalized". Do me a favor, go out and grow some of your own and start selling it on the street in broad daylight in Ohio (or any of the other 48 states). You'll find out real quick just how "decriminalized" it is. After your criminal trial is done and you've served whatever sentence you are hit with you can then try explaining the whole situation to your boss. I'm sure he or she will be more than forgiving and willing to give you a second chance. When you are done extracting your bosses doorknob from your rear end you can try explaining your criminal conviction to potential new employers during job interviews, presuming they even bring you in for an interview with your record. Of course someone will eventually hire you, but the reality is you have most likely slashed your earnings potential by a pretty significant amount. Life doesn't always give you a second chance. That is just something they tell kids in grade school to make them feel better. Some people are also forgetting that Alex has already had a couple of second chances. He was suspended multiple times in his first 2 1/2 years in the program. Exactly how many "second chances" are we supposed to give him?

Thought a lot about this, and I have to agree that Alex just needs to stay away. 1) He let down his teammates. Big time. It wasn't just he had a bad game or he didn't work hard enough to come back from an injury. He put his own selfish desires ahead of those of his teammates and the program. That isn't the guy I would want to be leaning on. Particularly if I am someone like Tree, Betancourt, Kretzer, McAdams, etc. and I was on that team and had to live through it. 2) It would be a black eye on the program and the University. This is a guy who was brought up on felony drug charges. To let him back on the team and put him in a high profile position as your starting PG sends the wrong message. Not to mention the fact that he already had a couple of suspensions on his record before this. 3) I have serious doubts that he would be able to come back and be an effective PG. Conditioning was always a problem for him anyways. I seriously doubt that 18 months away has helped that much. I know we are desperate for help at PG, but is an overweight and out of shape Abreu really the answer? There is a time and a place for second chances and there is a time and a place to move on. For the Zips, when it comes to Alex Abreu, it is time to move on.

Thought a lot about this, and I have to agree that Alex just needs to stay away. 1) He let down his teammates. Big time. It wasn't just he had a bad game or he didn't work hard enough to come back from an injury. He put his own selfish desires ahead of those of his teammates and the program. That isn't the guy I would want to be leaning on. Particularly if I am someone like Tree, Betancourt, Kretzer, McAdams, etc. and I was on that team and had to live through it. 2) It would be a black eye on the program and the University. This is a guy who was brought up on felony drug charges. To let him back on the team and put him in a high profile position as your starting PG sends the wrong message. Not to mention the fact that he already had a couple of suspensions on his record before this. 3) I have serious doubts that he would be able to come back and be an effective PG. Conditioning was always a problem for him anyways. I seriously doubt that 18 months away has helped that much. I know we are desperate for help at PG, but is an overweight and out of shape Abreu really the answer? There is a time and a place for second chances and there is a time and a place to move on. For the Zips, when it comes to Alex Abreu, it is time to move on.

I'm struggling to remember one game this year that Nick made a significant impact in. Maybe there was one or two early in the year that I'm forgetting about. By and large he's been a no show all year. Based on raw talent alone he should be one of the 2 or 3 best players on the team. That he was arguably the 6th or 7th best player on the team this year speaks volumes. You win ballgames with guys like Tree, Kretzer, Q and McAdams. You lose ballgames with guys like Nick Harney.

Game was a microcosm of our season. We can look really good at times and really bad at other times. We can hit a lot of 3s in a hurry, but can rarely sustain it. Our offense goes into a shell when teams extend their defense and pressure the ball. Most importantly we can't hit our foul shots when we need to. Won't spend too much time on the FT issue. That was pretty obvious. The last 10 minutes showed exactly why you need a solid PG to win at this level. Western threw quick double teams at us every time Q or Tree got the ball. I don't think either one of them ever looked to pass out of it. Both guys wanted to put the team on their back, stop the bleeding and get us the win. I get that, but when the double comes it means that the rest of the squad is playing 4 on 3. You've got to move the ball out and either find the open man or force the D to start scrambling. I've said it before, and will say it again. Nick Harney is such a waste of natural talent. If he had half the passion that Tree did he would be an all-MAC first team player. There is clearly still some issues left over from the suspension. He was disinterested all weekend. His performance last night was as miserable as I've seen out of a Zips player in 10 years. 9 minutes, 5 fouls, one travel and not a single point. Frankly, I wouldn't be disappointed at all if this guy decided not to come back for his senior season. Give me guys with a little less talent who actually want to play. If I could give one gift to one Zips player this off-season it would be good health for Jake Kretzer. After the year he went through this year to see him take 2 or 3 more really hard hits last night was cringe-worthy. Jake's game lends itself to those sorts of things. Hopefully as his career goes along he can learn to be an effective player without exposing himself to those types of situations as much.

Kellogg played his heart out tonight. I'll tip my hat to him. Like you said. The anti-Cooper. No flash, no trash talking, no hero ball. Just goes out and plays the game. He just got no support late in the game.

We got to the line 22 more times than they did, and they at least have a case that the refs missed a goaltend late in the second half. I won't go as far as to say it was a hose job against OU, but the refs were certainly not in their corner.

Zips turned up the pressure in the last 6 minutes and OU couldn't handle it. They stained their pants from both ends. Really happy for the sophomores tonight. Reggie, Jake, Pat and Melo. Jake just for getting back on the floor when there were serious doubts a week ago as to whether or not he would be able to this year. Reggie played a heck of a game and was a big key in corralling Kellogg late in the game. Pat shook off a miserable first half and was a huge key in the second half drawing fouls and getting to the line. Then there was Melo who played the best game I've ever seen him play. Without him I'm not sure the Zips come out of there with a win tonight. One down, two to go. Eight straight!

Anyone care to perform the eulogy to Can't basketball? A first round tournament loss to a mediocre Miami team, on the road and a roster that doesn't return much of any talent for next year. Hard to see them competing again any time soon under Senderoff. Kind of sad actually.

The big problem right now is that he is still a boat anchor in transition D and doesn't move his feet well enough to protect the rim from dribble penetration in the half-court. Can't recognized this and took advantage in the first half when he was on the floor. It was no coincidence that Can't wasn't getting as many clean looks at the rim in the second half where we went more with Pat or the Harney/Tree combo up front instead of Johnson. Frankly I was surprised not to see Kwan at all last night with the way Johnson was getting abused on defense. If he wants to be more than a 15-20 minute a night guy at any point in his career here he has to get the weight under control. 250-260 would be ideal. I'm not sure he can get there, but he's not going to be an effective player at 280-300. As was mentioned previously, the big problem with our rebounding right now is that Jake isn't on the floor. He's one of those guys that you don't really realize all the little things he does to help the team until he is gone. A lot of people look at him as just a spot-up 3 point shooter but he is a lot more than that.

Should have been a double-digit win. If we hit even our regular 63% from the line (which is admittedly putrid) we win relatively comfortably. Love Qs effort and hustle and his story, but a small part of me is glad that I no longer have to watch his boneheaded jawing and shoving at opposing players and coaches going into timeouts. You're 24 years old now Q. Time to grow up.

Pretty simple to play the Zips right now. Pack everyone in the lane. Double every touch in the post. Dare us to shoot 3s. When Deji is our best player we've got absolutely zero chance at bringing home a win. This mess of a season can't end soon enough.