Quickzips

Attendance at Kentucky High School Sweet 16 GAME: 13,790. Average Akron Zips home attendance 2009-10: 2,824. I hope young Mr. Euton is prepared for a bit of a culture change up here.

Good luck with that one. Anyways. A few suggestions. Humpty needs to play PG more. He isn't an off guard. I understand that he's a home run or nothing kind of guy and that KD's system is predicated more on basehits, but trying to make him play the off guard is handcuffing him. I don't have a problem with McNees starting at PG, but he needs to get a rest a little earlier and a little more often. When he's not on the floor, and even at times when he is, we need to have Humpty at PG. Free throw shooting has to improve. We have been a bad free throw shooting team up and down the roster for years. When it has gone on this long and with this many players you have to look at it as a coaching thing. I don't know if we need to get a coach in here just to work with the guys on free throws or what it is, but this has to improve. I would like to see less emphasis in warmups on jump shots. One thing I noticed throughout the year and particularly in the tournament was the Zips running through the layup line once, maybe twice and then everyone is shooting jumpshots while on the other end our opponents were working on getting to the rim and finishing. I can't handle another season of watching blown layups, especially from our post players. Take some emphasis off the jump shooting and teach these guys how to finish inside. Please do not open the season by playing your walk-ons major minutes over younger players just because they have been with the program longer and you feel safer with them. This kind of gets back to the point about trusting in your players. You recruited the scholarship players for a reason. Trust what you saw in these guys when you offered them a scholarship. I hate to say it, but we need to work more on adding a zone defense into our system. We threw it at some people at times this year, but usually we were quick to back out of it and go back to man to man. The thing that impressed me most with OU in the tournament was their ability to throw multiple defensive looks at you and confuse you into long scoring droughts. I think if the Zips have the ability to go zone for 4-5 minutes a game and play it at a high level, and throw in some full court pressure a few times a game it would really help a lot. Please cut back on some of the self-deprication. I know you like to use it as a motivating tool. Telling everyone who will listen that we aren't that good a team yet is a way to keep guys focused on getting better, but I feel like after a while guys start to tune it out. I think that started to happen to us at a few points throughout the year. Call it the Stan Van Gundy syndrome. Sometimes it is ok to say, "you know what, we played some damn good ball today and our guys are looking pretty good." You just have to know what buttons to push and when to push them.

And people ripped on me mercilessly when I said that the NIT, CBI and all these other tournaments were a joke. Last night was an example of how little most Zips fans (not just Joe Akron, but actual, loyal Zips fans) care about these post season tournaments.

I doubt that either conference is going to get into a scheduling agreement that doesn't include all of their teams. You might be able to get away with something like this if on the same day the teams that aren't in Cleveland face off against one another in home gyms. It would also have to be a multi-year thing and you would probably have to rotate the teams that are coming to Cleveland (leaving CSU, Youngstown St., Akron and Can't there every year for obvious attendance reasons). Like Cap'n said though, I'm honestly not that interested in the Horizon. Outside of Butler and maybe CSU and Youngstown State for geographic reasons they really don't offer a whole lot. Get this kind of deal with the A-10 and I'm all for it. Maybe an A-10/Horizon/MAC mega-challenge?

What are the 10 OOC games that have already been scheduled? Reports are that we already have home games scheduled with Cleveland State, Oral Roberts, Wyoming and the return game from the bracketbuster with VCU. We also supposedly have road games scheduled against Oakland, Temple, UIC and Niagra. It has also been reported that we will be part of a preseason tournament with Miami(FL) and Indiana State.

why is everyone saying getting penn state in here is a pipe dream? is it because they are a big 11 team? if you do recall we had Purdue in here about 10 years ago and they were a decent team then. I think it would be a bad idea to bring in a st bonnys or a tulane, even though they are a in a good conferance, it would only hurt our RPI and SOS. we are trying to better ourselves not hurt it. i dont think we should schedule anyone outside of the top 200 in RPI, with the exception of malone of course. anything lower than 150 will hurt us. 10 years ago we sucked. There was no risk to Purdue in coming here because they felt secure that they could come to the JAR and win. Now we are on a string of 20 win seasons and recognized as one of the best teams in our conference. For a mid to lower level Big 11 team like Penn State that brings up the potential for a loss that would look bad for them. That is why I think it is a pipe dream to get a home and home with Penn State.

One thing to keep in mind with that site though. A lot of the postings are for teams that need a game on a specific date. Though a quick glance through the site might indicate a laundry list of potential opponents, we have to remember that we already have 10 OOC games scheduled and those games already scheduled may conflict with the dates that some of these teams are looking for. Still, I have a hard time believing that we couldn't find 4 more quality OOC games looking through that list.

If I were going to fill out the schedule: Home Games: Cleveland State Oral Roberts Wyoming VCU Wright State Western Kentucky Penn State (pipe dream that probably won't happen) St. Bonaventure (in the likely event we can't get Penn State to travel to the JAR) Road Games: Oakland Temple UIC Niagara Purdue Neutral Games: Miami(FL) Indiana State

Things on there that I would be interested in if I were KD: Cincy looking for one more team for an exempt tournament. Get road games against Cincy and Dayton along w/ a home game vs Mt St Marys and a roadie at Arkansas Little Rock. Home and home series against Tulane. They aren't a very good CUSA team, but getting into some games with CUSA wouldn't be a bad thing and the road trip to New Orleans would be kind of nice. Home and home series with Nevada. Would have to start on the road, but as we know from a few years ago, Nevada is a solid high mid-major. Possible to include them as part of a west coast trip with another team or two? Wyoming? A home and home with Wright State makes a lot of sense geographically and would be a solid mid-major to fill in the schedule. La Salle and St. Bonaventure are lower level A-10 teams, but like Tulane and CUSA playing home and homes against an A-10 team wouldn't hurt. If I am willing to take on a money game without a return game Kansas, Arizona, Arizona State, New Mexico, Stanford, Nebraska, Richmond, Butler, Purdue, Mississippi State, Iowa, BYU, North Texas is traditionally one of the better programs in the Sun Belt and would be nice as part of a package going out west. A home and home with them wouldn't be bad. Cornell is an Ivy League power and is garnering a fair amount of media attention heading into the tournament. Another nice idea for a home and home. Davidson isn't quite as good as the Steph Curry days but would still be a solid home/home. I don't know as we could get it but a home/home with Penn State would be a real coup. Western Kentucky has a long tradition and is a very good program. A home and home with them would make a lot of sense as well. Siena has quietly put together one of the better mid-major programs in the country. They beat Ohio State in the tournament recently and have a good shot at taking down Purdue this week. That would be a nice home/home. Eastern Kentucky wouldn't be a bad filler game. Not going to help the RPI a lot, but not going to hurt it. That gets me about half way through the list with a LOT of possibilities. I am going to be very disappointed if we fill those last four spots with a bunch of teams like St. Francis and Malone.

The one thing I really hope regarding Euton is that we aren't getting into another Steve Swiech situation. Don't get me wrong, I like Steve, and I have all the respect in the world for the guy sticking it out this long. However, it is plain to see that he's not capable of playing at this level. He's big and muscular, yes, but his foot speed and body control just isn't there. I think things will be different with Dakotah because of his ability to step out and knock down long jump shots. Steve just doesn't have that ability. I just don't want to get my hopes up as high about this kid as I did about Steve because they both seem to have a similar rap coming out of high school. Big, muscular guys who can score a lot and grab boards in bunches.

More info on Thomas. Looks like grades are a big issue. Probably headed the JUCO route. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ST2010031403112

Zips could certainly use a 6'3" SG who has the ability to create off the dribble that Thomas is advertised to have. Like others have said though, unless he is willing to walk on it doesn't look too likely. I agree to an extent that there are a few players on this roster that would be better served by a change of scenery. I have no problem with Steve Swiech, and feel bad that he hasn't gotten more of an opportunity, but at this point I think it is pretty clear that he isn't going to see a lot of playing time around here. Alex Sullivan is a case of a guy who is likely to be a victim of the numbers game his whole career here. With Roberts, Hitchens and Steward already in the rotation we just don't have minutes for another small guard. I suppose he could always wait it out and hope for a Conyers like situation at the end of his career, but it seems unlikely.

Not sure it is the exact opposite of Dambrot's scheduling idea. The basic premise of the KD scheduling philosophy is that nothing matters except winning the conference tournament because our conference isn't getting more than the 1 auto-bid from the tournament champion. Pine-Bluff I'm sure is aware that the SWAC isn't going to be getting more than their one auto-bid as well, which they got this year. It isn't like this team got an at-large bid like Utah State, and they wouldn't have if they had lost their conference tournament. It should also be noted that, although they are in the tournament they are playing in the enviable "play in game" against Winthrop. I really doubt that this kind of a guantlet type schedule is a good thing for the Zips. Makes me wonder where Miami would have wound up had they won 2 more games in Cleveland.

Humpty is a guy who has the ability to slash to the basket. The problem he has is finishing and hiting his free throws. That and the fact that we are trying to make him into a jump shooting off guard when his natural position is at the point where he has the freedom to slash to the basket and be creative. Honestly, there are times I wonder if Humpty is a square peg trying to go into a round hole around here.

Sorry, forgot to press the button on my last post. Thought it would be clear enough for everyone to understand.

In keeping with the small, but growing anti-Dambrot sentiment around here these days... Where the hell is KD on this stuff? Doesn't he know that you need to actually sleep with the kids mom if you want to land top talent like this? Isn't he keeping up with the latest trends in recruiting? How are we ever going to keep up with the rest of the MAC if he isn't going to go to these lengths to bring in some good talent? We need to fire him and hire someone who is a below average coach but has a son who is a five-star recruit.

Utah State was 27-7 with losses to 14-17 Utah, 20-12 Northeastern, 26-5 St. Mary's, 17-16 Long Beach State, twice to 22-11 New Mexico State, and a 22 point drubbing by 23-10 Louisiana Tech. Not exactly losing to Austin Peay and EMU, but it isn't like this is a team that won 30+ games and never got blown out either.

Didn't really think of it that way when I was posting this, but it makes some sense. Utah State would be a solid OOC foe to schedule for a nice home and home series.

While looking over some NCAA bracket information I found this quote from ESPN's Andy Katz to be quite intriguing and relevant to the Zips. 4. Utah State coach Stew Morrill is a terrific coach who never receives the publicity he deserves for the job he's done with the Aggies. He's also a bit stubborn when it comes to scheduling, refusing to compete in tournaments at a neutral site or play road games at power conference schools without the promise of a return game. He might never change his scheduling philosophy after this season. The Aggies won the WAC by three games and got an at-large berth as a 12-seed after losing the conference title to New Mexico State. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2...&id=4996455 Utah State made the tournament as a 12 seed at large from a mediocre (although admittedly better than the MAC) WAC this year. New Mexico State who beat them in the conference finals is also a 12 seed. Their schedule: http://espn.go.com/ncb/teams/schedule?teamId=328 They did play some good programs in OOC including BYU and St. Mary's, but there is a noticeable lack of teams from the six power conferences. They also took on some real clunkers including Idaho State, Southern Utah, Cal State Bakersfield and Western Oregon. What interests me so much about this is Utah State's scheduling is quite similar to what we get each year out of KD. They are probably helped by having a little better conference schedule than us, but at the same time we took on a couple teams from the big six conferences. Yet Utah State was able to make it to the big dance with an at large bid and a 27-7 record. Now I have been as critical as anyone about KD's scheduling woes, but this makes me wonder if he is that far off. I'm sure there are a lot of other factors in this equation that I am missing, but it is something interesting to think about.

Not many centers to choose from... Quade was never a Center here. Jeremiah Wood played the C role for most of the time he was here. He was a PF, and not a very good one at that. He had maybe 3 or 4 good games here his entire career. Beyond that he was the epitome of an athletic kid who lacked anything resembling basketball skills. The poster child for being careful what you wish for when you're looking for the Zips to recruit more athletes. Don't get me wrong, it is great to have some runners and jumpers on the floor, but if they don't know the game they can be a liability. As far as my team. First team: PG-Dru Joyce SG-Nick Dials SF-Nate Linhart PF-Romeo Travis PF/C-Jeremiah Wood Second team: PG-Derrick Tarver SG-Cedrick Middleton SF-Rick McFadden PF-Chris McKnight PF/C-Rob Preston Honorable Mentions: Daryl Peterson, Jimmy Conyers Still too early to tell: Steve McNees, Brett McKnight, Anthony Hitchens, Zeke Marshall

Personally looking at the 4 seeds: Maryland has what I think is one of the most exciting players in the country in Greivis Vazquez and they have a lot of guys around him that know how to play with him. I think that would have been a double digit loss. Vandy is a team we might have been able to stay with. This is where I think Zeke would have been a factor. Ogilvy is a nice veteran big man for them, but I think Zeke's athleticism would have given him fits. A lot of what Vandy does runs through Ogilvy and I think we could have kept it close here, but I think experience would have favored Vandy, but I don't think they would have beat us by more than 7. Possibility for an upset existed here if a few bounces go our way. Wisconsin plays a lot like us. Tough, hard nosed, grind it out basketball. I think they are the more talented team though. We could have hung with them for a while, I think, but in the end they probably would have pulled away to a relatively comfortable win. As others have pointed out, Purdue without Robbie Hummell would have been ripe for the picking. That team was in consideration as a 1 or 2 seed with him. Without him, they will be hard pressed to make it out of the first round. I think this would have been our best shot at an upset.

If we're giving out offseason homework: McNees: Work on the lateral quickness. We need you to at least have a chance at staying in front of the quicker guards that are starting to become more prevelant around the conference. It would also be good for you to add a mid-range jump shot to your game. Hitchens: Must work at finishing the ball around the rim in traffic. Humpty is our only guard who has the ability to break guys down off the dribble, but he struggles finishing at the rim. If I'm him, I'm asking Zeke, Cvetinovic, Swiech, Bardo and any other big guy I can find to come in the gym with me so that I can work on this. Also needs to get much better at the free throw line. Roberts: Has to get back to where he was at the end of last year. I think a lot of it can be traced to that ankle that has been a problem all year. Give that baby a rest, then get in the gym and work on getting that shot back that was so pure a year ago. Steward: Has to get some arch on that jump shot. Might be our most creative ballhandler, but Dambrot just isn't going to play a guard whose shot is that flat. KD's system is predicated on getting the ball into the post and kicking it back out to open shooters. You have to have a reliable jump shot if you are going to get more minutes from him. McClanahan: Apparently you are a SF now and not a SG. As such we need you to hit the weight room and get a little stronger to be able to match up with guys defensively at that position. Decision making on the offensive end needs to get a lot better as well. Especially off the dribble. McKnight: As others have mentioned, needs to lose a little weight. If he could get down to the 225-230 range it would help him a lot. Particularly with that back and those knees that seemed to be nagging him all year. Beyond that, consistency is the name of the game. We can't have our leading scorer disappearing for games at a time like you did during the tournament. Cvetinovic: Free throw shooting is one big thing. Also needs to work on his handle while backing guys down in order to avoid those travel calls that became more prevelant this year. Must add some more diversity to his offensive game which right now consists of trying to blow by defenders from the top of the key after a ball fake or running that baseline spin move. Zeke: No brainer here. Has to continue to get bigger and stronger. Whatever he did leading into the tournament to improve on his shot offensively, keep doing it. The biggest thing is going to be adding the bulk that he needs to really be effective without losing the athleticism that made him such an exciting prospect. Bardo: No idea here. At this point in his career, Mike is what he is. You aren't going to suddenly make him into an offensive threat, an outstanding shot blocker, etc.

My guess at the depth chart:PG: McNees, Hitchens, StewardSG: Hitchens, RobertsSF: McClanahan, Egner, Green (expect Egner to take this starting spot eventually)PF: McKnight, Cvetinovic, EutonC: Marshall, Bardo, SwiechI don't expect Sullivan to be back. There clearly isn't room in this program for another short combo guard and probably won't be until at least his senior year. Might as well look for playing time elsewhere. I would like to see more Hitchens at the point as I still think McNees can play PG alright for 10-15 minutes a game but trying to play him there 30 minutes a night limits his effectiveness. I almost wonder if Euton might not redshirt. With Brett McKnight and Cvetinovic I don't think I see a lot of minutes for him.

If complaining about the refs makes you feel better, than go for it, but the refs didn't lose that game for us. There were a lot of bad no calls, but they went both ways. The refs easily could have made this into a free throw shooting contest where the Zips would have probably lost in regulation by double digits. They didn't. Those of us in attendance, and those of you watching on the TV got to see a pretty exciting basketball game where the refs really weren't the center of attention, and at the end of the day that is really all we can ask for with this conference.

I want to be mad about this game. I want to rant about the schedule. I want to complain about the poor footspeed of our guards. I want to scream about some of the late game sets we ran. I just can't. That team left it all out on the floor tonight. Chris and Jimmy, can't complain at all about those guys. They played their hearts out. McNees, didn't make every play, but when we needed one he was coming up with them. He can only do so much. Roberts was HUGE for us down the stretch in regulation. Zeke had a rough day on the defensive end, but got some big rebounds and his touch is getting better and better. I just can't complain about any of it right now. We got beat because our guards couldn't stay in front of Bassett and Cooper. We all know our guards struggle against quicker backcourts. Humpty did a nice job with Bassett in the first half, but apparently he stiffened up at the half and couldn't go down the stretch. In the end, Ohio just made more plays than us in overtime. Are there things I would have liked to have seen done differently? Ofcourse. Am I excited about the CBI (or even the NIT)? No. I've said it all year, and I will remain consistent now. I have no interest in either of these tournaments. As long as we treat them as a great consolation prize we won't be able to take the next step. Again, I want to be mad. I just can't. I'm numb, but not mad.