GoZips

Great comments. I chatted with Chauncey Sunday and he echoed the same thoughts. His re-hab has already begun

Illinois blew up Ohio State today. Blow out win at home.

Looking at WMU's depth chart it is easy to see why they faded in the second half against a big, athletic squad like NC State. WMU starters average 27 to 31 minutes a game. WMU is basically seven players deep. If the Zips keep on the full court pressure, rotate the players and have any kind of a decent shooting and rebounding game WMU is likely go down in flames.

I am not quite sure of just what you think you are talking about. My point in an earlier post was that the complainer was one of a number of people who have a distorted notion that Akron can not compete in the big boy world of Division I-A sports. Or, at least not in football. So, they continually whine that Akron should drop down to a lower level of competition where they might be more successful in the number of wins total. This is certainly lame thinking if there is even any thinking occurring at all. A decision and commitment to I-A (no, I will not call it FBS or CBS, or even FOX). At the corner of West Exchange and Brown streets stands a 60 million dollar investment in upper echelon football. When that stadium was built it was to correct the neglect and short sightedness of many people who actually originally whined about moving up from Division III sports back in the 1960's. This University is rightfully committed to be a prime player in college sports. There is strong evidence to support this claim. Does the 2010 National Championship in men's soccer not indicate this commitment? Does the ten year contract to keep Coach Dambrot here not indicate the commitment to Div. I-A sports? I realize that you and many others lack vision or the drive to compete. Well, football is no nanny state. We have to invest in success. Whining, bickering, acting childish and suggesting foolish, childish ideas or throwing tantrums is not going to change the plan. The reality of the Akron football program was that it was repeatedly put in the hands of "dreamers". That is, men who talked a good game, but had no clue as how to accomplish the goal of being a winner. Gerry Faust was brought in to take the program to the big boy level. That he succeeded (not failed) with the crap facilities and limited resources is a testament to his personal love of football. This University and its fans are indebted to him. Forget the morons who continually bash Coach Faust. Their own inabilities overwhelm their sorry views. Gerry was a success. He got the ball rolling. He had a plan and the right contacts. The difficulty lay in hiring coaches who lacked the experience to move the program forward. Lee Owens was a novice who has since learned his craft. He is now successful coaching at Ashland University. JD Brookart was a disaster. He had a blank resume and no coaching experience of any kind. He was not prepared to be a head coach at this level. Sadly, when Akron hired a green horn Athletic Director he had to hire a new head football coach. Not having a solid network of other ADs and friends to ask advice from he hired his friend who had the same empty sheet resume that JD once possessed. Worse, Ianello is an elitest, snob who acted as though being in Akron was beneath him. You add up the years since Faust and you have a long stretch of failure. Last year some wisdom was granted to heads of this estate and they hired an experienced and well qualified football coach. Now, this staff only needs the time and resources to deliver what everyone is clamoring for. Going backwards is rarely the answer. List for me all the battles and wars won by retreating. In the US Civil War General George McClelland nearly retreated the Army of the Potomac into a complete defeat. You would be speaking with a Southern accent and eating tons of fried chicken today if Lincoln had not replaced him. The direction is to stay the course. Terry Bowden has the helm and he deserves our support. If you look up you can see a bright light. It is a new day. I love silly cliches. So, don't be a whiny twit; grow some nads and support the Zips.

Your point of view is myopic to say the least. I get the impression that you are actually a Buckeye fan lobbying for the whole pie (attendance, sales, attention, etc.) for the wonks in Cowtown. The "basic fact" is that there is always a top dog and an underdog in all scenarios. If you are so set on backing the perennial winner then by all means throw your loyalties to Cowtown State. The current system, while far from perfect is much more desirable than a super group of fifty, then forty, then twenty teams while all the other programs become less and less.

I do not track statistics like DinG and some other do. I do know that Mayborg has a strong anti-Akron and especially an anti-Zeke bias. I would settle for him and Mike Boroski never officiating a Zips game. A friend commented to me today that Mayborg averages eight more whistles per game than any other official.

This is the reasoning behind bringing Evans. The additional plus is that he slots year wise between the senior (Abreu) and the sophomore (Betancourt). Thus far, Carmelo has been a bit of a disappointment. He has not yet learned to think and operate at college speed. He WILL get there in time.

Mayborg is the official I yelled at after the game as he headed to the locker rooms. I called out to him that Akron won in spite of him

The University basketball staff does NOT use Rivals or Scout in their player evaluations. The resources they use are kept confidential and generally include PAID scouting/recruiting services. Tips from other coaches friendly to Akron such as Shaka Smart and others also provide input. The network among college coaches (assistants and head coaches) is vast and interconnected. As I stated in another post, the level of recruit sought by the Zips has continually improved under Dambrot. Coach Rich McFadden handles most of the recruiting over the past 3 or 4 years. He seems to have a keen eye for talent that fits Coach Dambrot's system. Evaluating talent using only Rivals or Scout free services will befuddle you about player abilities. The free stuff is only an overview and not an in depth analysis of the players. Most recruits are spot on. A few will fail to live up to expectations and a few will excel. Success comes from finding more players that exceed expectations than come up short. Usually coaches will not "cut" a player. They tend to indicate to the player that he needs to improve X, Y, and Z. Some players opt to transfer in order to get playing time. If a player is warming the pine for 40 minutes of a game that should be a clue that he is not meeting expectations. The ultimate decision is up to him. Recall Steve Swiech and Dakota Euton. Both left and excelled at a lower level.

At the mid-major level the trick is to find the "diamonds in the rough". To put it another way; the coaches have to glean and find those players that the "bigs" have under evaluated; or are late developers. The "bigs" passed on Harney and Treadwell because of their grades. We are already learning that the "bigs" missed the boat on incoming freshman Isaiah Johnson, B.J. Gladden and to an extent Kwan Cheatam. Akron's scouting and recruiting brain trust is putting in over time. The past three years have brought a definite upgrade in Akron's talent level. As for how do we "pay" for being plus one or plus two over the scholly limit? Hmmmm. That remains to be seen. Your guess is as good as mine.

Thanks, zippy5, you gave us a great chuckle. You get the mighty +1

I fear that we will not have Quincy back myself. Though, there is still hope. Point guard was not Q's best position You are correct; this is the first JUCO in the Dambrot era. Evans brings two years of college level experience which the Zips need at the point. He has really elevated his game.

Please do not break your arm patting yourself on the back. You sound like a typical former student. Which building is named after you for your contributions?

And just what have YOU ever done for the University?

Nyles will be a junior with two years of eligibility, He will back up Alex and give Carmelo a chance to grow into the college game.

The University can NOT comment until Nyles signs his Letter of Intent. From my knowledge base this is a good and true post. Go Zips ...!!!!

Tree is 6'-7" ...???? Since when? Try 6'-9" and still growing. Big D is BIG. I adopted him.

Shame on Akron for scheduling Texas Southern. I suppose the Zips should hang their heads along with Boise State, Northwestern, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Colorado, Houston, San Diego State and let us not forget Kansas State who all played Texas Southern this season. Not terribly difficult to get a low power rating when losing to likes of these teams. Again, shame on the Zips.

Ho ho, the Ding Dongs come out in force to crank on decent opponent that none of them saw play a lick. Well, show your sorry asses up Sunday night as Princeton has finally woke up. The Tigers knocked off handily a darn good Bucknell team (11-2) their last time out. Princeton has the front court size to match up well with the Zips. They also boast the preseason Player of the Year favorite, Ian Hummer, who is living up to his advance billing.

QUOTE(Dave in Green @ Dec 25 2012, 05:11 PM) * Josh Egner -- not benched, but transferred out as expected after the end of the semester. Z.I.P., hate to burst your bubble of hope. Josh Egner is no longer on the team. Josh might get his sophomore year back if he transfers to a non Div. 1 program. Rumor has it that he was headed for Mount Union (Div. 3) to join his former HS coach and a couple of his former team mates.

Texas Southern poised to give the Zips a nasty battle. TSU is no Arkansas-Pine Bluff creampuff. Do not let the 1-11 win/loss record fool you. The Tigers are ably coached by Mike Davis, former head coach of UAB and Indiana. TSU took Houston into double overtime. They put a serious scare on Kansas State before falling by nine points on the road. The Tigers lost at Colorado by three points. The Tigers seem to take the challenge in big games. The Zips have to look quite beatable in their eyes. Two TSU are returning all conference players. One, Fred Sturdivant, #4, is their 6'-7" version of Quincy Diggs. He can inside or outside and loves to go to the basket. Fred is the leading rebounder and second in scoring. Number four is their leading shot blocker with 34 blocks this season. Tough hombre. Omar Strong, #5, is the other all conference player. Although only 5'-9", Omar is their leading scorer averaging 15.7 PPG. His assist to turnover ratio is an amazing 1.8 to 1. He has committed only 27 turnovers in 12 games. Has the stats Akron would love get from a point guard. Madarious Gibbs, #3, is a six foot guard that has stepped up to a starter role. He, too, has good numbers. The Tigers shoot 39.0% complimented by 31.4% from three land. Conversely they give up 46.5% over all with allowing 37% from three land. This would indicate that one, their opponents can get inside and control the rim; two, three ball shooters get open on a regular basis. Like most teams they are better at home than on the road. But, the close road games indicate that the Tigers can put up a battle. One telling statistic is that they play only seven deep. They are not likely to enjoy a spirited full court press or employee one themselves. Judging by the player stats it appears that TSU normally runs a three guard double forward set. They should have trouble with Akron's big men. However, both Colorado and Kansas State can match Akron in size and TSU hung with these squads. Just added to their roster in terms of playing time is Ray Penn, #14, a 5'-11" guard who poured in 24 points against Kansas State. Penn started the last two games. In fact, they are the only games he has played in all season. So, he is a bit of a fly-in-the-ointment unknown. If the Zips can play the same inside/outside game they laid on Cleveland State they should win by 12-14 points.

Cleveland State was missing their potential star player. He was on the sidelines on crutches. Always nice for the Zips to beat up on a hapless opponent. Surprised that more of the quackers haven't been venting their collective spleens on the Zips. Think the full court press unnerved the Vikings and caused them to play way below their potential. Probably the best game Akron has played in four or five seasons. Oddly, the Zips out rebounded their second opponent in a row. Be ready, Texas Southern (1-10) will be a lot tougher opponent than hapless, potential star playerless Vikings. See you limpets Thursday night. Merry Christmas ... !!!!

For now ... stand pat. The University is not going to drop a level in football no matter how you plead your case. A major change for a fair number of schools is in the wind. Akron will be part of the mix. The money backing this school is largely opposed to staying in the MAC (unless the MAC makes a lot of improvements). This University has a number of strong selling points; not the least of which is location. GP1 was correct that the football (thee major driver) was crippled by an INexperienced AD's blunder. The AD has shown repeatedly that he learned from that mistake. The football program is now a righted ship and well on its way to becoming respectable. Patience is the key. The solution for UA is an improvement in conference. This yields more fans, better players, more revenue; it is a business decision. Be patient. Stop clamoring for what you do not know what you are talking about and let the wise leaders guide.

Dave, excellent post. I see the team and Zeke nearly every day at practice. Zeke works both before and after nearly every practice on his game. He gets plenty of coaching. Opponents key on Zeke because he is the one weapon the Zips have that opponents fear. Efforts are under way to get Pat Forsythe to that fear level. Front court is not the Zips weakness. A thin and some what injured back court is the real problem. Then again, I am stupid because I see the players all the time and do not have the benefit of osmosis or a crystal ball.

Coach Tressel was quite visible at the A-PB basketball game. Looking dapper and glad handing like a politician. I'd say that he was representing his new work place just fine. Heard he turned down a chance to be head coach of a sad sack NFL team. Reason? Just built a new home in Medina county, and, he may be in line to succeed Porenza. I kind of like that idea.