GoZips

UNC-Greensboro posted their schedule. The Zips play at UNC-G on December 31. That means the team will then travel straight up to Providence for the URI game on January 3,2009.There is a slim possibility that the Zips could play in Columbus against the Buckeyes in midNovember. That "slim" is really, really "iffy". Ohio State's attempt to hold an exempt tournament oftheir own collapsed this past Thursday. Akron has been offered an opportunity to play the Buckeyes inColumbus and schedule a D-II team at home. If none of the three potential exempt tournamentsAkron is being courted by actually get a full field, then the OSU game becomes an option. All three arein danger of collapsing.Originally the Zips were scheduled to be a part of the Legends Classic. As near as I can tell this field iscomplete and the tournament should take place. Apparently there is some problem impeding thefinalization of the dates. The eight teams involved are PITT, Washington, Texas Tech, Mississippi State,Eastern Kentucky, Fairleigh Dickinson, Drexel and Akron.Two other exempt tournaments with openings are the famous San Juan Shootout and the Cancun Classic. Both tournaments have now extended an invitation to the Zips. However, both fields are still one and two teams short even if the Zips committed. I rate the likelihood of being in either of these tournaments as low.Understand that playing Ohio State is not some great wonderful thing. First, our young Zips are not likely to pull off an upset in mid November in Columbus. Two, there is no return game being offered. Three, we lose the Mississippi State game leaving Akron one game short and a D-II opponent replacing a D-I opponent. Not a sweet deal. Think this through before you start salivating over a trip to Columbus and a likely loss.

They sure will. I have heard that he is one of the best strength and conditioning coaches around. I sure do hope the best for him. Another person leaving the program that KD hasn't had good relations with. Numbers keep going up in that department.Please explain that last part?Its no secret that players dont like playing for him and that he has gone through 3 trainers and now another strength coach. This all coming from one of his assistants.Now I do not normally run strings of posts together. However, this one seems to need being restated here in order to keep continuity.Crafty, I am with you. When some one makes an accusation they should back it up with facts.Right now we have a poster, in this case, hoopla, claiming that coach Dambrot is not liked by his players or persons associated with the program. That sounds pretty serious to me.Since I know most of the players and all of the coaching staff assistant coaches I have to say that I have never heard anyone complain about Coach Dambrot. The former players "dislike" coach so much that they keep returning to the office to visit. A number of them are finishing up their degrees and using the facilities provided for that purpose. Again, I have never heard a player or coach make a negative comment about KD or the program. If anyone is disgruntled, then it is a secret to me.Now, I do not know most of the strength staff or some of the other facilitators. I did not know Ray Eady. I do know that the best results regarding weight training of the basketball players is due to the efforts of one of the assistant coaches and NOT Ray Eady. I can name the coach if it ever becomes relevant.Ray Eady, a nice guy, left for a better opportunity (i.e. more money). Wisconsin pays more than Akron. The best of luck to him. Most MAC schools are a stepping stone for coaches in their career. It is a symbiotic relationship that pays the MAC school in the future as former coaches rise in their field.As far as I know, Ray Eady did not burn any bridges behind him as he left. Are you burning bridges for him? Does he know that you are making claims that impune him? Or, do you just not like coach for some dark, distorted, personal reason?Turn over of coaching staff is normal. Shaka Smart was an assistant at Akron. Shaka who is a friendof mine is now the number one assistant at Florida under Billy Donovan. Shaka left the number one assistant position at Akron for the number one position at Clemson. Shaka left Clemson for Florida.Does that prove that Shaka was disgruntled at Akron and at Clemson? Or is he a young coach furthering his career?Other assistant coaches under Dambrot will over time move on to other schools and improve their career. That is not a negative against KD. It is a positive.Honestly, I can not think of anyone directly associated with KD (those who work in the basketball office) that dislikes him or disses him. hoopla, you must be privy to something that no one else knows a damned thing about.Will everything be Pollyanna buttery? Not on your life.

Yes, all of us missed your posts. Many of us have been wondering about Zeke's progress. Sounds to me that he is on track.I still believe that Zeke will make it into the top twenty-five (the five star zone) by the end of his senior year. The University of Akron Zips .... lasagna powered ... !!!!Go Zeke! Go Trevor! Go Zips!p.s. Start saving your aluminum cans (soda pop and beer) for the "Cans for Trevor" fund. You save them and we'll get the cash they produce to Trevor's family. This activity has already yielded over $100 for Trevor's expenses.

Internet news article microcosms what is wrong with the news print industry.Declining sales brought on by terrible reactions to changes in the industry. Instead of raising the newstand price; lower it. Lower the cost of advertising. Use more color if possible. Most importantly; clean up the editorializing in the news stories and get back to a neutral stance on politics. Newsprint is so biased toward the left that they have by their own hand removed half their readership. The editorial page(s) needs to offer both sides not just their rampant flaming liberal opinions.Is anything worth while about business taught in the universities today?One last thing. For most of my life the ABJ was an afternoon paper. Perhaps they should return to that time slot and market suburban Cleveland as well.

Gozips, we do not at all agree on this one. I guarrantee you that Charlie will not win a super bowl as the starting QB (if he ever starts for an NFL team) before The Mighty Browns ever get to the super bowl.The Mighty Clowns?Perhaps you would like to retract that statement in lieu of last night's performance.

Hey, wahine skirt chasing, pineapple dripping, opehi slobbing, hula Z.I.P. ... where oh where on that link are the collegiate rankings? Do I look under, Jobs, MP3, Food, Music, Flowers, Loans or Internet?GoZips suffering from kialua pig depravation Zips fan.

Yes, I am an unabashed Frye fan.Article reads like Charlie did just fine after he shook off the rust and jitters. Question in my mind didCharlie show that he can successfully back up Hasselbeck? If the Seahawks think so, then Charlie stillhas the chance to do what I believe he can do. Win a Super Bowl as the starting QB before the lame azzed Clowns ever get to the Super Bowl.SeaHawk Web Site Article

If I have learned anything in life it is that greed never takes a holiday. Once a thief, always a thief.

We have a 69 Taps here in Wadsworth. It is with in easy walking distance of a delightful lady friend of mine. We recently made the short walk for the first time. Both of us enjoyed a Pilsner Uriquil (said to be the best beer in the world), an appetizer, sandwiches (quite good). We will return.Tax, tip and bill was less than twenty bucks.

Amen ... !!!!

Nice find, Cap'n.Is this kid really on Akron's radar? The future is a long way off. Six-ten tends to mean he will be atleast a couple of inches taller by his senior year in college. He could be a three, four or post in theZips scheme. Depends on his floor speed.As for needing a great wing man, yes, that is the most pressing need. However, if Brett will pick uphis game on defense the wing issue goes away. Brett is a GREAT offensive player. He has reallygood Freshman stats. His defense is lame. Fix that and Brett is as good a wing man any team couldwant.I like Brett. To me, he belongs on the court. His defensive play puts him on the court or on the pine.The first two names that emerged for the wing slot are a big step above Jordan Threloff. That is not tosay that this kid could be developed the way KD and staff want him. Six-ten makes for a wing whocould not guard guards. Few players at Nate's six-eight (his true size) can guard back court playersanywhere near as well as Nate does.Jordan spoke of wanting to mesh with a great team chemistry. He darn sure would find that at Akron.

Two quick points.1) Expedia.com has an airfare sale. Roundtrip on Airtran or Northwest available for $198.Find Airfare2) The Zips 2008-09 generalized schedule is posted elsewhere on Zips Nation. The hold up for not having it posted officially is because the exempt tournament has not been finalized. It is possible that the Zips will have to switch tournaments. If that happens the road game against Mississippi State most likely goes away. The Zips want to stay in this tournament (Legends Classic) if at all possible.

One possibility would be to fly between Charlotte and Akron. Airtran price currently is $218 R/T.Watch for a sale. Likely to drop to $79-89 each way (now $109).A trick I often use when driving over 200 miles is to rent a car instead of driving my own car. You canget a new car, all sorts of features like A/C, CD player, comfort, etc. Biggest plus is that you never getstuck hundreds of miles away from home if the car dies. Just be sure you get unlimited mileage and out of state option (often free). When the Zips played a football game at North Carolina State a couple ofyears ago we drove down in a rented Pontiac Grand Prix. A grand ride to say the least. The suckergot 29 MPH and I drive hammer down all the way.

Today's meet the team went well. It seemed to be well attended with a heavy emphasis on kids and young people being in the mix. This bodes well for future Zips support.Looked to me that a couple of players were a bit banged up. Nothing serious that I could tell. The playerswere cordial and talkative. They exude a lot of preseason confidence. That's good.One freshman player I looked forward to meeting was not there. Devoe Torrence missed the event.I do not have any knowledge as to why he was not there. No player that I asked knew either. Perhapshe was in the training room getting an ankle iced down.Ryan Bain is huge. Sewell has arms as thick as my legs (and I have good legs). Hope the rest of youwho attended the event post your observations.For me, I am going with the kids. They are going to surprise people and finish way above the cellar.

Coach McFadden says that the Winthrop game is definitely set for Tuesday, November 18, 2008.I did not ask about any other game. The schedule is still in flux as the exempt tournament teams havenot yet been finalized. Do not be surprised if the Zips switch to a different tournament.

Little Headaches

Please, please be careful with unsigned recruits. It is okay to talk with them and their parents if theyapproach you. But, you can not call them. Especially if you are a booster. Booster being defined asa person who donates money to a university's athletic program.Booster Phone CallI am sure that I am not completely correct. Thus, I try to error on the side of caution.

I am with you guys. Red shirting three players makes more sense over the long run.

Parked toward the high end of the Atlantic Coast Conference's swamping of soccer recruiting resides theUniversity of Akron Zips. The ACC garnered five of the top ten classes. Akron is the sole representativeof the Mid-American Conference. College Soccer News Oh, btw, Ken Lolla's Louisville Cardinals checked in at thirty-fifth. Ken is slowly building UL into a Big East power.

I agree about the defense or lack of it last year. Unfortunately there are few statistics that can be used todetermine just how good a player is on defense. To some extent we can use rebounds, blocks and steals.But, they do not show the complete picture. If a Zip pours in twenty-five and his opponent scores thirtythere is a net loss of five points. Failure to play defense will sit a Zip down quicker than anything. Thiswas quite obvious in the UMass game. Brett lit UMass up like a pinball machine and still managed tospend most of the game on the bench. Because? He played like zero bars, er, defense. The Minutemenwent through him like he was not even there. Defense is key to winning in Dambrot's system.ZW, Conyers and Linhart along with Bardo make for a strong defensive front. With those three on thecourt move Brett to the two guard. Might even consider moving McNees to the point in this scenario totake advantage of his long range shooting. If Hitchens or Steward can out score Steve, then by all meanskeep one of them on the floor.It seems that with the talent KD has at his disposal the Zips can give opponents fits with so many different looks.Overly fortunate tuna Z.I.P. stuck in Hawai'i, at this time I am not aware of which Zip, if any, has any academicproblems. The coaches seem to be inclined to red shirt just two players. Academics might play a part in their decision.

Darn, been some really excellent posts on this subject. I am quite favorably impressed. Also it is nice to see such a strong interest in mid-Summer. I presume that, you the reader, have read Interview with Dambrot that Gozips.com posted.There are several excellent nuggets about what is going on with the Zips. Since KD mentioned the nameI will take this opportunity to reveal that Oklahoma State was one of the high majors willing to go home-n-homewhen UIC backed out of their contract. You can expect to see Oklahoma State perhaps as early as nextyear. Xavier is another possible future opponent, home and home.I take the dog on long daily walks. This gives me time to ponder. Aside from personal prejudices thereis a way to help us determine what is likely to happen. Each poster made some excellent observations.There is a method to help determine a player's on the court performance that no one has mentioned.Divide a player's statistic for the year in each category by the minutes he played rather than averagingby game played. This is an eye opening review.Take a look at these stats:## Player................. GP-GS... Min--Avg ... Tot ... Avg Reb/min A Ast/min TO TO/min Stl Stl/min Pts Pt/min -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------33 LINHART, Nate ..... 35-28 ..1014 29.0 164 4.7 0.1617 53 0.0522 37 0.0365 57 0.0562 298 0.293930 McKNIGHT, Chris .. 35-19 .. 597 17.1 105 3.0 0.1759 14 0.0234 41 0.0687 20 0.0335 225 0.376904 McNEES, Steve ..... 34-2 ...630 18.5 36 1.1 0.0571 65 0.1032 49 0.0778 14 0.0222 173 0.274623 McKNIGHT, Brett .... 26-4 ...204 7.8 39 1.5 0.1912 38 0.1823 14 0.0686 4 0.0196 105 0.514712 ROBERTS, Darryl .... 26-2 ...327 12.6 18 0.7 0.0550 19 0.0581 18 0.0550 5 0.0153 102 0.319332 CONYERS, Jimmy ... 26-12 ..262 10.1 44 1.7 0.1679 43 0.1641 24 0.0916 12 0.0458 75 0.286354 BARDO, Mike ......... 35-3 ....310 8.9 61 1.7 0.1968 55 0.1774 11 0.0355 5 0.0161 54 0.1742## Player................. Reb ... Avg Reb/min ------------------------------------------------------33 LINHART, Nate ..... 164 4.7 0.1617 30 McKNIGHT, Chris .. 105 3.0 0.1759 04 McNEES, Steve ..... 36 1.1 0.0571 23 McKNIGHT, Brett .... 39 1.5 0.1912 12 ROBERTS, Darryl .... 18 0.7 0.0550 32 CONYERS, Jimmy ... 44 1.7 0.1679 54 BARDO, Mike ......... 61 1.7 0.1968 ## Player................. Pts Pt/min ---------------------------------------------33 LINHART, Nate ..... 298 0.293930 McKNIGHT, Chris .. 225 0.376904 McNEES, Steve ..... 173 0.274623 McKNIGHT, Brett .... 105 0.514712 ROBERTS, Darryl .... 102 0.319332 CONYERS, Jimmy ... 75 0.286354 BARDO, Mike ......... 54 0.1742## Player................. A Ast/min------------------------------------------ 30 McKNIGHT, Chris .. 14 0.0234 04 McNEES, Steve ..... 65 0.1032 23 McKNIGHT, Brett .... 38 0.1823 12 ROBERTS, Darryl ....19 0.0581 32 CONYERS, Jimmy ... 43 0.1641 54 BARDO, Mike ......... 55 0.1774 When you study the averages by minutes played you get several surprises. First and foremost, Brett McKnight is farand away the best player on the floor. Nate Linhart is rock solid. Mike Bardo fairs very well except in scoring. SteveMcNees also did well.The McKnights are scoring machines. KD's comment last Spring that Brett would lead the team in scoring was no idleremark. I like the idea of having Brett, Chris and Nate on the floor together most of the time. Swiech, Bardo and NikCvetinovic are capable second line front court players.On poster remarked that he would like to see Brett McKnight at the two guard. That is an interesting idea. Both Brettand Nate played the two at times last season.My best guess for the starting rotation:Starters:PG-StewardSG-RobertsLF-LinhartCF-C.McKnightRF-B.McKnightLF - the left side forward taking advantage of Nate Linhart's left handednessCF - post or middle forward, the man in the paintRF - the right side forward to take advantage of Brett McKnight's right handed shootingQuickzips wrote:Redshirts:McClanahanSullivanParrishI completely agree. There is one caveat. Think about this: suppose you wanted to extend having a great point guardout to five years. Red shirting Hitchens would accomplish that. Naw, he is just too darn good to sit down. Having bothSteward and Hitchens in the game gives the Zips a double whammy in the back court. Bob Huggins used dual pointguards the last six or seven games of the season and it gave West Virginia a huge advantage.

ZW, I am in complete agreement with you. Sort of expected that the Zips would not get due respectbecause of losing three starters. Our incoming players seem unvalued to me. Are we wrong to havesuch high expectations. I think not. We can expect outstanding play from the excellent recruits that KDand staff have brought in.Your last statement is echoed by the MAC board posters. Only few of them, the ones most knowledgeableabout basketball, are sounding the alarm that the Zips are reloading. It surely escaped the CHnet writer.Come March this young team will have long since made their fans forget that they are mostly Freshmen.If you do not object, I would like to steal your close line: Go Zips! Go Trevor! Go Zeke!I am trying to put together a program to collect aluminum cans for Trevor. The little suckers are worthtwo cents a piece when sold to scrap dealers in quantity. I have some people and businesses in the Wadsworth area collecting cans. Sure could use a lot more. Need collection points around Akron.Go Zips! Go Trevor! Go Zeke!

College Hoops Net not including Akron in their "TOP 144". College Hoops Net is in the midst of their annual count down of the top 144 Division one collegeteams. Ohio University checked in at number 129. OU is listed as the number five MAC team.Central Michigan holds the number 122 on CH's list. CMU is also listed as the number two team in the West division. That leaves three MAC teams rated higher than CMU. Since one is the number one West division teamonly two slots remain for the top East teams. CH lists Cant as the MAC representative at the 2009 NCAA tournament. That leaves Akron, Miami and the fast rising BGSU as the three teams vying forCHs one remaining spot. Logic dictates that Miami is the choice as Miami lost only the excellent TimPollitz.This puts both Akron and BGSU outside of the TOP 144.

Zip Watcher, good and interesting post. I can not speak about UCONN as I have never followed themclosely. One point you made is something I have been pondering for some time. While the coachingstaff says that they are a wing forward away from having all the pieces in place, I wonder if the Zipsactually have all the pieces as you suggested.Nikola Cvetinovic is bigger and more powerful than he first seemed to be from a distance. Up closethis kid is a beast. He could well be the back up to Chris McKnight at power forward. I wonder ifNik and CMAC along with Nate Linhart could make up the Zips front court this year.The back court is awash in young talent.Where does this leave Brett McKnight; whom coach Dambrot predicted would be the Zips leading scorer in 2008-08? Personally I think if Brett moves to wing and after Nate he is the Zips wing man fortwo years. Now we know that Brett is a wing man. However, Brett is just a slightly smaller version of thegreat Jeremiah Wood. Brett is not the rebounder that Wood was. If Brett picks up his rebounding itbecomes nearly impossible to keep him off the court.I am curious how Mike Bardo and Steve Swiech fit into the plan. Both have strengths and weaknesses.Bardo saw a fair amount of playing time last season. Swiech is an unknown per actual game minutes.Do the Zips go to a line up that includes a true center before the arrival of Zeke?