Quickzips

Under Coach Dambrot (6 seasons?), what are the Zips top 2 OOC victories? Florida State. Temple. Mississippi St. All on the road. Sounds about right to me. Two of those during the NIT, the other during a preseason tournament. I think there are going to be some opportunities to add to that list here this year. Knocking off Temple again, Dayton or Minnesota would certainly push that Mississippi St. win off of the top 3 and maybe even leapfrog Florida State. A win over Miami(FL) would also have to be in the running for the top 5. I suppose that is a little disheartening to see that we don't have those impressive wins on our resume despite all the W's over the last few years. Now it looks like we are going to have those opportunities this year. Have to take advantage of them.

I don't think I would say Dayton is the best on our OOC schedule thus far. Temple is expected to be a preseason top-25 team from all indications. Don't get me wrong, Dayton will be a challenge, but I think Temple. Don't discount Minnesota too much. Tubby Smith is putting together a pretty nice program in that little corner of the Big 10, 11, 12, whatever the heck it is now. They won 21 games last year and made the tournament, even beating Butler in a preseason tournament. The Gophers may not be the flagship program of the that conference, but it isn't like we are talking about Penn State or Northwestern here. As far as the schedule goes, like I said earlier, it is lightyears ahead of where our normal OOC schedule is. If VCU isn't coming this year, then that indeed hurts a little bit, but it is still a solid schedule. The key again is going to be who we fill those last spots with. If we can find some more solid mid-majors and maybe a decent power conference team or two the schedule will certainly be more in line with what many on here have been clamoring for. If we fill those spots with teams like Malone and St. Francis, then it really isn't that significant an improvement.

Based on this and what we know from before and this addition, here is what I have for the Zips 2010-2011 OOC Basketball Schedule: Home Games: Cleveland State Youngstown State Oral Roberts VCU Away Games: Dayton Minnesota Temple Oakland UIC Neutral Site Games: Miami (FL) Indiana State Three spots to go. That is certainly a more respectable schedule than what we've seen in past years so far. Going on the road and challenging ourselves with an on the rise Big-10 Program along with two quality A-10 Programs (one of which figures to be a preseason top-25 squad). Home games against some decent Horizon schools from the area that should help attendance. The return bracketbuster from VCU should be a good challenge. Also an ACC school to look forward to during the tournament in Vegas. Oral Roberts, Oakland, UIC and Indiana State aren't big names but we aren't talking about St. Francis and Malone anymore. Hopefully we can fill the last three spots with some more quality mid-major teams at home and maybe one more road game against a power conference team. Starting to look like maybe, JUST MAYBE Dambrot is taking all the scheduling criticism to heart.

My only real concern here is with the ability of his skelatal structure to handle the extra weight. Tall guys sometimes have a tendency to become injury prone when they add muscle because their skelatal system can't handle the extra weight. Perfect example, Greg Oden, who has become more and more injury prone as he's added muscle. If Zeke's frame can handle it, and he isn't getting "sloppy fat" then by all means, put on the extra muscle. Just make those throw downs all the more thunderous.

So is this is the "go far in the tournament or else" year? Did you even read the quotations? Seriously though, Dambrot is probably right, and may even be a little generous to himself in this article. I personally think if he doesn't get back to the NCAA's in the next three years (the Zeke era) people will start calling for his head. He probably will even need to win a few games. I like KD as much as the next guy, he's an Akron guy through and through, and he deserves to stay here as long as he keeps providing results. But the reality of college athletics is that nobody really cares what you did last year. You need to keep moving the program forward or your out the door.

Really? Could have fooled me. Sincerely, Brett McClanahan Seriously though, our Guard depth could be a significant issue this year. We are going to need Roberts to return to his 2008-09 form and we could really use a Conyers style breakout from McClanahan (or at least a little more solid play). Otherwise we are going to be really leaning on some newcomers in Abreu and Diggs, which I don't think is a path we want to rely on too much.

Take Westerville South PG Traevon Jackson off the list. Jackson committed to the Wisconsin Badgers over the weekend.

Abreu: Eligible Immediatly as an incoming freshman. Diggs: Eligible Immediatly, although he is a transfer, his former school moved down a division exempting him from having to wait a year Gilliam: Eligible Fall 2011, will have to sit out the 2010-'11 season Egner: Eligible Immediatly as an incoming freshman. Euton: Eligible Immediatly as an incoming freshman. Green: Eligible Immediatly as an incoming freshman. Harney: Will be eligible in the Fall of 2011 if he makes grades in the 2010-11 schoolyear. Greyshirting.

Personally, I think a lot of people are just starting to suffer from a case of the offseasons. Nothing is really happening in the world of Zips athletics, so any little information that does come out gets jumped on, overanalyzed and generally freaked out about (see last week's basketball meltdown). A lot of these things are the type of thing that would barely be noted during the middle of one of the seasons. As far as football goes, I've been losing interest for years. Basketball has become more "my sport." It isn't that I don't care, it's just that I find basketball more exciting. I've had my reservations about Ianello from the start, and nothing he's done thus far has eased those, but then again without having played a game let alone a season there is nothing he really can do to ease my reservations. I'm withholding judgment until I start seeing some results. Its the only really fair thing to do. I admit, that I still don't follow soccer all that much either. I can't say I'm that worried about the soccer program, but at the same time, I'm not as informed as others on here. As far as basketball, I actually like the moves that have been made. Despite having been to 4 straight conference title games, KD recognized that the formula for success in the MAC is starting to change and he's brought in guys to try and keep up with/get ahead of the curve. Zeke is sticking around, despite getting a little frustrated by the tedious summer schedule and I think we should be on a pretty good track for some more good basketball. Now when it comes to the question of Zipsnation's relationship with the AD's office, it isn't the AD's job to monitor and contribute to this site. It is pretty rare to see a professional or college sports program that associates itself with a internet fan forum, and personally I think that is the way it should be. Too big of a can of worms whenever you start interjecting yourself into the ups and downs of a large group of diehards. Let the diehards do their thing and the AD do their thing. Ohh, and one last point. The whole Zeke thing a week ago, was not cool. If your going to post something like that in jest, you better darn well make some indication that you aren't serious.

If Ennis is ended totally out of the picture, then we DEFINITLY need to fill his spot with another PG. Next years team is really only going to have one PG on it, Abreu. Hopefully Dylan comes back around to the Zips, because I think he could make a dynamic 1-2 punch with Abreu, but if not there are some other options out there for us. Personally I'd LOVE to have Stevie Taylor from Gahanna Lincoln. The kid has been tearing up the AAU circuit all summer, and he's hit a growth spurt that is making his diminuitive stature less of an issue. There is also Jehvon Clarke from Canton Timken, Nyles Evans from North Canton Hoover, Traevon Jackson from Westerville South, Trey Lewis from Garfield Heights and another favorite, Travis Trice from Wayne High School in Dayton.

Don't think we've necessarily lost Ennis yet at this point. Kid seems like he's had a good summer and there has been more attention on him lately. Sounds like he's just looking to see what other kind of opportunities may have opened up for him based on that. I guess you can't really blame him. Hopefully he finds his way back to Summit County Ohio.

Thank you Momma Zeke for ending the speculation. Zeke is a key member of the Zips and I think it is understandable that people would get a little anxious when rumors like that start flying around.

That better be a joke. Presuming it is, I'm not laughing too hard.

Updated to include Canton Timken PG Jehvon Clarke.

Ask and ye shall receive Unfortunatly he has to sit out a year, but...Dylan won't be here til next year anyways so....

Am I seeing that video wrong are or we getting a PG who has the ability to throw down? The last play where he throws down over two defenders looks flat sick. I've got to say, with Abreu and Ennis on board, I really like the looks of our PG position long term. Hopefully these two get to campus, stay healthy and live up to expectations (hopefully all of our recruits do).

I would like to see LeBron find a loophole in the NCAA rules getting him back four years of college eligibility and decide that instead of staying in Cleveland, running off to Chicago or New York or elsewhere, he is going to return to his hometown of Akron and a team that actually has a coach right now in order to win those championships he so longs for. Hey you said dream. If we have to stay within the confines of NCAA rules. I would love to see the Zips land a blue-chip, NBA potential recruit from right around the corner at St.V named Jakarr Sampson. Paired up with Zeke in the frontcourt and a stretch 4 like Euton our frontcourt would be an absolute nightmare. If we are going away from specific personnel, I would like to see us run an offensive scheme that focuses more on dribble drives and kick-outs than on isolation post ups and spot up shooting. I would also like to see us mix up our defenses more as opposed to running primarily out of a half-court man defense. Throw in a little 2-3 zone, 1-3-1 zone, full-court man pressure, extend a zone out to full court. Keep your opponent on their toes a little more.

If you guys thought Zeke was raw coming in here last year, try bringing in a kid who can't run the floor more than 3 times in a row without being completely winded. You can't teach height, but it sounds like these kids have a LOOOOOONNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG way to go before becoming D-I ready players. Very surprised they are getting as much interest from as many big programs as they are. I know they are tall and all, and every good coach out there has to be salivating over that, but most of the article leads you to believe that they are nowhere close to being D-I ready.

Hard to really know what a kid is looking for in terms of recruitment. Far to many variables go into such a decision. -Location. Does the kid want to be close to home? Is he looking for a little distance b/w himself and Mom and Dad? Is he looking for something in between? -Academics. How committed is the kid to academics? Does he view them as secondary to playing basketball or is he using basketball to get himself a good, free education? Does he have a particular field of study he wants to go into that the particular University offers or is well known for? -Coaching/Teamates/System. Is the kid looking to play in an uptempo, high scoring type of system? Does he value defense more? Is he looking for a coach who is going to push him more and hold him accountable or does he want to be in control of his own game? Is he a "me first" kind of guy or is he a "team first" kind of guy? -Long term goals. This one is kind of related to academics, but does the kid look at himself as a future pro who just needs the right situation to attract the eyes of the NBA or does he view basketball as a gateway to an education that he will be able to use for the rest of his life? -Playing time. Is the particular team loaded with young talent at this players position such that he's staring down a big fight for minutes or are they graduating their only real contributor at that position and looking for an immediate contributor to fill the void? Is the player alright with having to redshirt or is a redshirt and absolute red flag? These are just a few of the issues that are going through a recruits mind during the whole process. What issues and how much weight each individual recruit gives to them are far too difficult to tell. As for Harrison-Docks, I've seen his name floated around some on the web in connection with the Zips. Definitly someone to keep an eye on, as his early recruitment indicates that he has some perceived talent. Probably a little too early to be making predictions on what a high-school sophomore is going to do though.

Update to include Cleveland Central Catholic PF Anton Grady.

My big question right now is what position we will see Egner play. It sounds like he has the size to play some PF and the athleticism to play some SF as well. Is he more of a Romeo Travis type where we can play him as a bit of a stretch 4 or is he more of a Nate Linhart where his length and defensive abilities can make him a lockdown SF? Particularly with the recent voids opening up at SG I really wonder if we won't see more of Diggs at SG than initially thought allowing some more playing time for Josh at SF. Just spinning some ideas around here. Certainly a lot can happen between now and the open of the season.

Nice to hear a well reasoned analysis of Gilliams strengths and weaknesses. I look forward to seeing him in a Zips uniform. He gives us a dimension that we don't have on the roster right now, being a do-it-all type of strong, athletic wing player. That type of player can really cause some headaches for the rest of the MAC where big, strong, athletic wings are often in short supply. Looking forward to seeing him on the floor for the Zips in 2011-12.

Just to put the Zips rotation into some perspective, 9 players averaged double digit minutes per game this season. The average number of players with double digit minutes of playing time for the top 10 teams in the final regular season AP poll was about 8.5. So the Zips rotation is not really significantly different from what the top teams average, and there's no reason to expect much change in the coming season. I don't think minutes really shows the parity on this past years team, but scoring certainly does. Don't have the numbers available right now, and not really sure I care to look them up, but I doubt that you would find another team in the country with only two players averaging in double digits in points and both of them only averaging 10 points per game. Then on top of it having eight players averaging 5 points per game or better. Our minutes distributuion might not be that far out of line from the rest of basketball, but our scoring distribution almost certainly is.

I'll conceed that I'm probably wrong about Gilliam being in the 220 range. Although his official bio from UMBC still has him listed there http://www.umbcretrievers.com/sports/mbbal...?PLAYER_ID=3997 I think you are definitley right as far as the different type of player we are starting to bring in. We're not seeing as much of the undersized combo-guards and the skilled but unathletic bigs coming in. Gilliam and Diggs represent two athletic wings who can play above the rim. Egner is a high flying, athletic combo forward who is well known for thunderous, above the rim dunks. Abreu is a bit undersized but he is quick and shifty and is a true point-guard as opposed to Humpty who was always more combo-guard than point man. Then you look at next years class and you have another high flying forward in Harney and one of the best athletes at the PG position in the highly talented Chicago area in Ennis.

I think I would be more worried if we had four kids who were starting or seeing significant playing time asking to leave. Fact of the matter is that the only guy who was getting significant minutes who is jumping ship is Humpty. Steward wasn't getting regular minutes and that probably wasn't going to change. Sullivan and Swiech weren't getting any minutes at all, and that probably wasn't going to change. Kids leave all the time looking for more playing time. It is the reality of college basketball where you have thirteen kids on scholarship and only so many minutes to go around. Now if the four guys who were transfering out were Zeke, Cvetinovic, Humpty and McClanahan I would be very concerned. That would speak more to a program wide problem than just a group of kids who made the decision to seek playing time elsewhere as opposed to riding pine here.