GoZips

lilroodude has the best understanding of what the next season portents. Nearly all of you would agree that Quincy Diggs was Akron's best athlete last season. Hold on to your hats. Q will be the third best athlete in 2011-2012. And considering that he is gettiing better over the summer, that should give you a clue as to what is coming. Next season's team has the clear potential to be the very best team in the history of UA. What a lot of you are missing the point on is that this team is chuck full of athletes. They will be capable of running most opponents right off the court. Surprise, surprise old GoZips is right.

I think the losses are going to hurt us, but I think the Zips do still have enough coming back for everyone to be optimistic. GoZips level optimistic? I'm not sure yet. But with a nice core of Alex, Nitro, Quincy, the Serb and Zeke coming back there is still plenty enough in terms of experience and talent to think that this team will be just fine. However, it will be another year in which the Zips will play a certain amount of the "who's going to step up" game with the incoming players. There are at least five players that I think everyone is going to be looking at as having a reasonable opportunity to step up and play a major role for us next year. Walsh, Gilliam, Harney, Tree and Egner. Realistically we are probably going to need at least two of them to step up and be significant contributors. The good news is that for the most part these aren't 18 year old kids fresh out of high school. Walsh has two years in at one of the top mid-majors in the country. Gilliam was the leading scorer for two years with his UMBC team. Egner got a little bit of playing time last season and if you believe KD's comments towards the end of the year he was ready to see some more. In the end though, the biggest reason I think the Zips will be just fine is KD. When you have a coach who has proven that he knows how to manage his team and put his guys in a position to succeed you have to have faith that he will continue to do so. For me...the biggest risk/reward is the PG position. All of the other of the other non-returning positions can be replaced. I think we all agree that Zeke will be better and any improvement from the Serb will make him one of the league’s best players. I think our defense will be greatly improved at all positions...except PG. Abreu needs to dramatically improve his defense and take better care of the ball. If Walsh can play strong defense, he will see plenty of minutes at PG and I think the Zips will have a great year. And I think the learning curve will be much shorter this year. Like most here…I am not counting on any of the incoming freshman. But Walsh and Gilliam are different and should help immediately. And I am still hopefuh for Egner. Of the returning starters; Alex Abreu will be the hardest pressed to keep his starter role. Brian Walsh is six-four, experienced (A-10 caliber), and plays his azz off.

The article on Syracuse.com smells. Rob Murphy, EMU's new head coach, former assistant at Syracuse is seeking a hardship waiver to get his new protege three years without sitting out a year. And, obtains the services of a player recently or currently at Arkansas. How long before they find a "hardship" excuse for him? Perhaps he also has aging grandparents. Bull. It all smells. EMU soon to join tOSU on the cheaters list. Here is a clue: grandparents are older people, (I speak from experience), they die. Its a lame reason.

What is happening in men's basketball? A lot, actually. The pre-season trip to Canada is set. The team will start practice August first. On the tenth they leave for Toronto for the first of five games with Canadian teams. The first game to be played in Toronto and the remaining four will be played in Montreal. I do not have any opponent team names at this time. The two incoming freshmen are on campus and participating in "open gym" pick up games with the current Zips players. All the Zips are currently healthy which is good news. The team is "deep" and very, very athletic. Still, the entire MAC East will be "loaded" this Fall. The Zips may be ranked as the second or third best team in the early going; well, on paper. Personally, I think Akron is far and away the team to beat. Ball State and Western Michigan are expected to give the East teams a run for the roses. Met and spoke with "Tree", Demetrius Treadwell for the first time. Tree is a large wide body of the Cvetinovic mold. He certainly looks fit and ready to play. Great attitude to top off his disarming smile and gentle presence. He is immediately likeable. He came to play. Heard a lot of good and encouraging words about the incoming talent. That is, those players who sat out last year and the two non-qualifiers. Who, both made grades. For those of you who have long clamored for a "tough" schedule ... you get your wish. The Zips open the season at Mississippi State with a road game not long after in Morgantown against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Marshall comes to town along with Detroit (they are loaded) and Virginia Commonwealth. Trips to Valpo and Duquesne are scheduled. While the schedule is not complete, these games are firm. Oh, a short trip up to Cleveland State on the docket. It is going to be a banner year for the talented and deep Zips. Anything less than the Sweet Sixteen will be a couple of yards short of their goals.

Let's forget for the moment that most college athletes get about $16,000 per year in Pell grants to assist their educational needs, Let us adopt the system that some of you are clamoring for. Let's just pay each player according to his need and ability. Obviously a stud player such as Terrell Pryor should command a salary in the neighborhood of, say, $250,000 per season. Most of his tOSU teammates should command one hundred to two hundred thousand per season. Now, all eight of the schools able to pay these salaries will be able to form a super league that gets all the TV money and time slots. That's four whole football games every Saturday. Screw all the other 900 plus schools that use to field sports teams. It is, after all, a "free" country.

Marketing Department? We don't need no stinkin' marketing department. We got pistolas. There has been no marketing at Akron since Joe Dunn stepped down as Sports Information Director, what, twenty years ago?

It has long been known that the tOSU men's basketball program is as squeaky clean as the floor of a chicken coop.

Thank you. I will. tOSU footballers were NOT selling their own personal property. The were selling items (sic) memorabilia such as game jerseys they had "liberated" from the football property room. Pilferage of game jerseys at the end of one's senior year has long been a common practice. Frankly, I still have at least one or two. Seems I saw my grown daughter wearing one of mine recently.

Bingo ... !!!! Well said.

Gordon Gee is the well known "Pigpen" of college sports. He leaves a slime trail everywhere he has been a university president. Even hiring Gee is tanamount to saying you do not give a damn about the sanctions sure to follow. All you want is to win it all now over and over until caught.

Lindy's and Athlon place the Zips as the seventh best team in the MAC East. The Sporting News (arguably the best of the bunch) actually rates Akron as fourth best in the East. Cant slides in at the vaunted, and coveted seventh place.

parve Russki?

Just how do you two (Skip & Dave) expect to improve Akron's schedule? I believe the coaches would love to hear your suggestions. You simply can not go on the road over and over and win. It has been tried. You get beat. Witness Miami and their OOC schedule. While it is impressive they rarely win on the road. Chances are the Zips wont either. You need a high level mid-major schedule that gets quality opponents in your house. This the Zips have done several times and never seem to capitalize on it. That is, they lose at home to better caliber teams. Xavier, Dayton and Nevada come to mind. Usually by just a tad. Still, its a loss. Keep in mind that those opponents are also jockeying for their schedule to play to their advantage. It goes both ways. In my mind I see that Akron needs to have a "kick the door in" season just to get noticed. We tend to make good noise around tournament time while dragging a string of early season weak performances along with good late season performances. We get good quality games with VCU because Shaka Smart is their coach. We get games with Rhode Island because Jim Barron's is a friend of KD. These are two of the type teams Akron needs up and down their schedule. Like the rest of you, I cringe when I see any Div-III opponent on the schedule. That really hurts Akron. There are several quality teams that simply will not risk playing Akron. From my point of view I would like to see the Zips schedule "two-for-one" with high major programs. We need to get our kids use to playing the high major opponents on better terms than a road trip. Our guys need and deserve the opportunity to play high majors on a regular basis. The trick is getting them to come play at Akron. It is not so easy to do. It is far safer for coach X to play a patsy home game than it is to risk a loss to a quality mid-major. By the way; it takes buckets of money to get a big boy to even schedule an Akron. As for improving the chances of getting an at-large bid; most of the conference members need to improve their scheduling and won-loss records to get noticed. Look at last season. Technically Cant was bubble NCAA. But, losing twice to lower ranked Akron pretty much moved them out of the selection committee's eye. Had Miami and Ohio been in the mix there would have been a much better chance of Cant getting an at large. The disrespect was obvious when you look at Cant being schlepped on the road as a seven seed in the NIT. They proved that they were much better than that. Which in a perfect world would have also improved Akron's stock. There is no easy fix.

Wow Go! You sure can tell a lot about a guy from just looking at his physique. What physique attribute tipped you off that learning the system would be a challenge for Nick? Let's see. I'm six foot tall and in decent shape for a man of my age. Nick is standing next to me and we are talking about his basketball interests. I can see that Nick is very tall, six-seven, and has a rather muscular body as opposed to the baby fat build of Dakota Euton. Just an observation, mind you. Note the nifty photo Cap'n K posted at the start of this thread. Nick has the build of a young man, not the build of gawky teenager. I would need be blind to not notice the excellent condition Nick was in. What tipped me off? I'd say that Nick's muscular build that was not honed at McDonald's tipped me off. Plus, I had the benefit of asking Nick several pointed questions about his basketball interests. His responses quickly indicated that he has a personal plan to achieve his goals. And, my questions included ones about his school work and career. I apologize if my post sounded negative regarding Nick learning KD's system. It was not intended that way. Frankly, I think Nick will have no problem learning the "system" and will quickly get a sizeable amount of playing time. As for staying healthy, Nick faces the same challenges all the other players have regarding injuries. What I stated was intended as a positive remark leading to recognizing that Nick Harney will quickly become of the Zip's new, highly regarded players. That help?

According to Nick Harney at this year's basketball banquet/celebration he expects to compete for time at the small forward. Nick can also play the power forward when called upon. Looking at his physique I would judge him as a pretty powerful and athletic forward who has excellent athletic abilities. Learning the system and staying healthy will be his biggest challenges. He is currently six-seven and muscular, oh, and still growing. All in all; expect great things from Nick Harney.

Something is terribly wrong.

Matt is far to modest. He just made the Dean's List for the second time in grad school. His current GPA of 3.5 is his best ever. Congrats to Matt.

This glowing report makes me want the University to fire Ianello ASAP.

This is an important observation and contains a major amount of truth. Egos drive decisions. And, the coaching staff works on and with the players year round on nearly a daily basis. Let us not second guess the coaching staff. It is interesting that fans judge based on what they see on the court during games. It is difficult for fans to "see" behind the scenes and what is best for the team while catering to various players egos. Keep in mind that current coaching thought (in general) is to divide 150 of the 200 minutes among the top six players. The remaining 50 minutes gets divided among players 7, 8, 9, 10. This is not hard and fast. It is a general oft used concept including at Akron.

Lucky beyond belief, ZIP In Paradise, take a quick visit to the ocean and do a little swimming. That wonderful Pacific salt water does wonders for the sinuses. I speak from experience. Dayum, I miss my Wednesday evening visits to Ono Hawai'ian Food. You lucky stiff. Aloha, Brudda

To use a quote: First up: Brett McKnight was far more than a "one dimensional" player. Brett got tagged with being a sub-par defensive player in his sophomore season. Brett stood like a deer in headlights when a UMASS guard drove past him for the game winning basket. Brett has never been able to shake that unfair label. McKnight was a great shooter; a clutch shooter (better than any other Zip during his time at Akron); he also was a decent rebounder. So, one dimension just does not fit Brett. Second: KD is not going to relegate senior Bret McClanahan to coming off the bench. Book it. Third: Diggs, not McClanahan, can play multiple positions with ease. Diggs is a logical choice for playing the sixth man ... if his ego can handle it. I believe that Quincy is such a team player that coming in off the bench would not phase him. Q will get all of his minutes and then some.

I'm completely puzzled as to why there are a few people who feel this way. If you watched the way we ran him on isolation plays more and more frequently as the season progressed, including at critical times during the MAC tournament, you'd clearly realize how pivotal of a role he'll play in the future. How long has it been since we had a guy who could beat a defense off the dribble straight to the rim? His physical tools give him teh potential to be an outstanding defender too. Your last sentence defines why Q looks like a potential great sixth man. Quincy has size, quicks, hops, shooting, smarts. He falls a bit short on defense (but, being worked on intently). The reasons that playing the sixth man are: Q can play the wing forward; Q can play the shooting guard; Q can play the point. Several other Zip players can play one or two of these positions. Q possesses GREAT versatility. What other current Zip can play all three of these positions?

I remember when Larry Shyatt was an assistant at Akron. http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/bi...mp;staff=shyatt Another quality Akron area recruit that goes to Wyoming....man, that is a terrible loss... Shayatt is a funny dude...he was at Wyoming for a single season, then bolted for Clemson. People in Wyoming were pissed. Now they take him back...and a lot of people are even more pissed. I predict Nance Jr. will go to Wyoming, hate it, and transfer back to either CSU, OU or Akron (my crystal ball is on the fritz and I can't see the exact final destination yet). Slight chance he will also renege on his commitment. No chance he plays 4 years in Wyoming. Column on the topic My exact thoughts.

They're dropping like flies... Third time violation of the same team rule? That must be some sweet weed he refuses to share.

I heard that there is a possibility that ESPN2 or ESPNU will televise the game.