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I see a cup filling as opposed to emptying. There are several factors involved in building a long term successful program. Coach Dambrot's approach is builtaround bringing in quality high school recruits. Some coachs such as Jim Christian rely on JUCO transfers. That approach is short term and has to renewed eachrecruiting season. But, it works well most of the time.Relying on high school recruits is a long term process where the school and the coach build on the past performance. It is a method that is designed to entice apotential recruit to want to come to the school.This method has to compete with a number of other quality programs. It guarantees that those players fresh outof high school that can play right out of the box will sign with the best program available to them. Coaches like Dambrot are left with selling the vision to kids thathave to be developed. That is why Mike Bardo, Steve McNees and others have to red shirted to give them an extra year to learn and mature.Unexpected events also play a role. Darryl Roberts missed a year because he was immature and failed to complete his high school courses on time. Darryl has great potential not only as a player, but as a citizen as well. I am pleased with his growth. Ronnie Steward, doubly needed because Roberts misfired, goes downwith hip problems. Painful and cost a medical red shirt year.Generally speaking, there are plenty of quality guards available. The dearth lies with big men. The number of really good big men is much smaller than guards andsmall forwards. The thin ranks of big men does not bode well for schools trying to improve if they have a history of losing. nee: Akron of the Crawford andHipsher eras.Neither Bardo or Swiech are polished big men. They have to be molded into first line players. Its a bit of a crap shoot. Zeke Marshall has plenty of shortcomings, but is still better than Bardo or Swiech. Thus, Akron is pursuing Marshall with vigor. Zeke's short comings just might make him available if otherschools find better players to fill their open slots. Personally, I believe that Swiech is going to be a stud player for the Zips. Can Bardo reach that level?The incoming class of 2008 is easily the best class of the Dambrot era.Nikola Cvetinovic is a 6'-7" wide body with outstanding "numbers". Nik could play in the current rotation right now. Nik is not a wing man. He is a banger.Anthony Parrish is a 6'-8" wide body with maturity problems. Andy was benched in February for not doing his classroom work. It sank in at least enough thatAndy poured in 27 points in a recent tournament game. Parrish is a likely candidate for red shirting.Alex Sullivan is a 5'-11" point guard largely regarded as the best point guard on Ohio. Alex shoots the lights out. He penetrates and scores. More importantly,Alex leads. He is a team leader. He will likely transfer this leadership straight onto the floor at Akron. I strongly believe that Alex will be a starter as a freshman.Brett McClanahan is a 6'-4" combo guard that was nominated for the McDonald's All America team. Brett carries a weak team on his back. I have to believethat Brett is tough as the coal miners he grew up with. At six-four Brett would fit well in the third guard slot.Anthony "Humpty" Hutchens is a 5'-9" (maybe) point guard. Like Alex he is a team leader, a penetrator, a stud player. Humpty pours in the points. He knowshow to slash and play defense.Dambrot now has a beautiful stable of guards. Zeke Marshall coupled with the McKnights and Steve Swiech would give the Zips a front line that would over powermost of the MAC and nearly any team the Zips could potentially schedule.

There is nothing wrong with our offense, or our defense. Its nearly impossible to defeat a team with five excellent players on the floor backed up by two cheatingreferees. The refs are from the Colonial Athletic Association. They called the game in a manner consistent with making sure their team won. Simple as that.VCU is an excellent team. Without the officials help they lose by eight to ten points. They had the officials and it showed.I sit at the Akron end along the base line. One of numerous bad calls (let's be honest ... the official cheated) was the awarding of the basketball to VCU after it wentoff a VCU player's thigh out of bounds. The official knew it. He awarded the ball to VCU. Its a little thing. In officiating a lot of little things add up. It added up. Itwas cheating. It was unfair, dishonest, whatever you want to call it. It influenced the outcome of the game.It is not always the call an official makes, a lot of the time it is the call he does not make. No calls are an easy means to affect a game's outcome without exposingthe official. Nine blocked shots by a player who was not once flagged for a foul while making those blocks. Ahem. Right. Got it.The two officials left the floor smiling at the barbs being tossed at them. They knew what they did. They get paid by the CAA, not Akron. They know that they willget plenty of calls from VCU to ref VCU's home games as a direct result of their misconduct. Its just good business.Again, VCU is a pretty good team. But, without the extra help they lose. They would even lose at home to Akron if fair officials called the game. That's honesty.

Hip Zip, I agree with you. However, we need to go a step or two further. An Akron win over VCU and an Ohio win over George Mason would considerablyimprove the overall MAC resume.I think Akron and Ohio need wins over their CAA opponents to enhance the NIT selection possibilities.Never, ever, thought I would be saying this, "Go Flushers beat Saint Mary's...!!!!!"

Mollautt, thank you for the solid assessment. Your post validates coach Dambrot's approach to OOC scheduling. Build a resume of decent lower high majors,upper mid majors and avoid going out to get one's brains beat out for a fistful of bucks. Fortunately the Zips can afford to buy games. This year the Zips boughthome games that included Wyoming.MU's loss to Kansas paved the way for MU getting their brains beat out several times. Any team (which included the Zips) that had the kahones to play a wide openrun and shoot game reaped the benefit of beating down the Redhawks. As a fan, that first game at the JAR was a treat. As a long time basketball fan it was in a word "painful".Miami played well at home. It was a dogfight. Both teams excelled and made for an entertaining hard fought game. It was truly a game that you wanted both teamsto win. There was no shame in losing that game. Fair well against Ohio and especially Cant. You have thousands of Zips fans cheering the Redhawks on.

I feel compelled to add my two cents worth.I confess that I went to the Miami game as a guest of the AK-Rowdies. And Rowdies they were, beautiful. Best Rowdie performance ever.Little vulgarity and plenty of trashing. The Rowdies had the entire arena (gym?) watching them and listening for the next outburst.In general, the Rowdies were much better behaved than the MU students. Or should I say, out numbered MU students.At one point during the game the MU students began chanting "community college, community college". What did the Rowdies do? They picked it upand ran with it. They referred to themselves as "community college" repeatedly after the taunt. Even asking the rhetorical question after the game,"how does it feel to get beat by a community college?"Speaking of the rift over the national anthem ... MU had some twit on a badly tuned electric gee-tar doing a piss poor imitation of Van Halen fumblingthrough a sad, unworthy rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. The Rowdies vocalized the last one third of the anthem in beautiful harmony.So well done was their emotional over taking of what is suppose to be a tribute to America, that a large number of Miami fans joined in.At the last line the Rowdies finished with "...home of the Zips" Sounded great to me. After all, the Rowdies, the Zips and even the MU folksare Americans. I found nothing offensive about their performance. Some of you know that I am an older person who happens to be a combatveteran. Semper Fi.At the half time MU drug out their truly sorry a$$ed men's glee club. Now I read post game that the amplifier failed to work. So what? In aquiet arena twenty men singing in harmony could easily be heard. Only, they could not be heard. mostly they mumbled. Sad.At three and a half minutes to the start of the second half, the Akron team came out on to the floor. Their appearance prompted a loud andlong cheer from the Rowdies. The Rowdies completely overwhelmed the lame glee club. If you read the MU board you will find a fewpathetic whines about coach Dambrot and the team interfering with the glee flub.Speaking of coach ... at one point before the game I suggested that the Rowdies chant "Charlie, Charlie" when coach Coles came out on thefloor. It was considered until one student pointed out that people might not realize that it was intended to be a heartfelt tribute to the seniorMAC coach. Charlie Coles is highly respected. There never any taunts directed at coach Coles.I was a bit late getting to the bus for the return trip. Bumped into a long time friend, coach Frank Jessie, who once was on Bob Huggins staff.As I approached the bus some jerk in a white Ford Explorer accelerated directly at me. At the last moment he swerved to avoid hittingme. He finished his brave attack by flipping me a redhawk. A number of Rowdies saw the incident.Finally, much to the glee of the bus full of Rowdies, our driver, "Joe", told us that the MU radio announcers said that there were at leasttwo hundred Akron Rowdies in attendance. It sure seemed so to the MU fans and team.Good win. Puts the Zips back on track.

Could not get the link to work.Try This One

I believe that some one (me) posted this yesterday ... ahem ... !!!!

Was e-mailed this nifty little parody of the New England Patroits coach .. .Bill BellachuckYou are going to love it unless you are a Pats fan (that's like being a Cant fan)You Cheated

For many years I actively participated in semi-professional drag racing. It is an expensive hobby/sport. It leads to divorce, scraped knuckles, blown engines, transmissions and rear ends. Some times you win, some times you lose. One thing for sure, you always, always run what ya brung. The measure of a competitor was the ability to stand tallwhen on the starting line.Tuesday night begins the new season for the Zips. It is time to man up. Miami will be ready. They need this win just as the Zips do. Zips, be ready.There can be no lament about not having Jeremiah. It can only be play your a$$ off. Leave it all out on the floor. It is gut check time. It is time to look down anddo an onion check. Either you got them or you go home with your tail between your legs. This is a must win.This game is about winning the MAC. This is the first step to taking the MAC. You want to concede to Cant? Get the frack out of my face.This game determines if the Zips can do it. There are just four games to play in conference. We start with Miami. Charly and company will be a tough test.Still, the Redhawks are quite beatable. The Zips have had enough time learning to play without Wood. Some people need to reach down into their soul and play withgrit and determination.In my youth I served on a U.S, aircraft carrier that had the motto "a ship that wont be beat, can't be beat". That World War II ship still exists to this day.If the Zips go after Miami with the intent of winning, they will win. Rowdies, you best have your lame buttocks down at Mullet Hall.

For anyone who cares to look, Nik is the BIG kid in the back row.Looks like they still grow dem tobacco farmers mighty large down dat way.Big NikWord is that Nik is capable of playing in the rotation right now. That is a compliment.

Woods is out? Woods wont play in the VCU game? You got to be kidding me. This is all a set up to suck VCU in. Woods plays, maybe 10-15 minutes.How pathetic to worry about the lame a$$ed RPI. Its a fracking sham. Play the game on the court.There was no foul at the end of the ODU-VCU game. Two referees had the best look of anyone in the house. Neither of them called a foul. Get over it. And, guesswhat, I reran the video of the Akron-NC State game for the fortieth time yesterday, damn if Harvey didn't score every single time. NC State LOST, deal with it.I believe in KD. He said the Zips can compete with anybody. That's ANYBODY, not somebody, anybody. Get it? No, of course you do not. To many its all about getting a good enough phony number. The hell with phony numbers, play the game. Lame and worn down, tired, dazed,confused, over matched, take it all in. Its just a game. Bragging rights? Who really cares? Now, if we were the Suckeyes it would matter. Wouldn't it? Naw, they suck, too.We have the AK-Rowdies. Be there.

Its just a hunch mind you, but, I think Alex starts at the two guard as a freshman. Oh, he might not start the first game of the season, but by in conference play he will.Akron has a great stack of young guards. Contesting for the starting and prime time minutes is going to be fun for the fans and hell for the players.Alex is certainly going to be in the thick of it.

Seems like Maynor is not the only whiner connected with VCU.If Maynor charges into the Zips with his right knee high as he repeatedly did against ODU he is going to get it broken off at the knee. That maneuver is like watchingChris Singletary play. Let us see how good Maynor is with Linhart on his butt all night.VCU is a challenge, especially with Wood out. But, win or loss playing VCU is going to hurt our RPI. tsk, tsk

Heard from an impeccable source that the Zips chances of getting Zeke is just about 50-50. Akron has him as their number one "get". He has some flaws, but has great potential.I am intrigued by his two and half inch growth spurt. There is probably another inch or two still to go.The Zips recruiting rotation calls for signing a big man as there are plenty of guards on board.

Attending last evening's Coach's show from the Fairlawn Winking Lizard heard this tidbit. Nik is playing so well that he has a genuine chance of playing as a truefreshman. Nik even has the potential to break into the starting line up in the course of the season. The coaching staff is really high on his performances and potential.

We all know Akron cannot recruit or get quality players. At least our opposition loves to tell us that we can not. Well, found this in the Charleston newspaper."McClanahan, who earlier in the day received notice that he's been nominated for the McDonald's All-American team (along with Nitro girls player Kendra Wallace), ended up with 17 points and eight rebounds."Complete Article

Seems to me that the Zips are not down nearly as much as people perceive. First off, Cedric has been on the wounded-in-action list all season. Most of his minuteshave long since been gobbled up by Steve McNees and Darryl Roberts. When Ced appears on the floor it is largely a psychological boost. I think he will see almost no floor time against NIU.The big hurt is losing Jeremiah Wood. I studied the men on the floor pattern KD used at Ball State. I think the coaching staff has already found out how to plugin the right bodies to make the team on the floor strong without J-Wood. The "if" factor is not Bardo or Chris McKnight. Its Jimmy Conyers. If Jimmy keeps hishead in the game the Zips will do just fine. Jimmy needs to contribute fifteen minutes of hustle, not ten minutes of sulking. Play hard Jimmy. You have a largefan base that longs for you to succeed. Me, included.

We are forgetting something here. According to the coaches, Swiech is behind Bardo at this point in his development. Additionally, the Zips get a five year span of thesetwo large players with the red shirt year. I think Akron covets seven foot Zeke Marshall. However, nearly every large school east of the Mississippi also covets him.The thinking was that Brett could handle is position as a true freshman. Honestly, has he been given the floor minutes to prove this? I sense that KD has a strongreluctance to take risks with the second line players. I think that Brett and Mike should have been given more minutes, not less. Every minute they play a firstteam player rests. And since neither Brett or Mike has been damaging the Zips, play them.Finally McNees is less of a turnover artist. He is now earning his minutes and doing passably well. It just takes time and experience. Steve is a good example.

I see a lot of sound thinking and good ideas being posted. Let me add the glue that makes all this work.Prevail upon Mack Rhoades and others to schedule two or three HOME games each September. Here is the reasoning. The weather is still warm. Most teams winsat home. The opportunity to improve is raised exponentially. In recent years the Zips have rarely played more than one home game in September. This has tostop. You simply will not draw fans in October and November to watch a team with a losing record no matter what big name school they almost beat.

Alex Sullivan demonstrates why he is a future Zips shooting star.The six-four senior shooting guard scores forty-three points including four threes in Riverside's victory Saturday night.Alex lead all scorers with fifteen buckets, nine free throws and pulled down nine rebounds.Small write up in Plain Dealer Boy's Round Up.

Humpty gets 34 in loss to rival Zanesville.Strong indicators as to why the Zips have little interest in 6'-7" Ray Chambers.Humpty Shines In Loss

Humpty gets some great props in the local paper. big game tonight coming up against Zanesville.Humpty Gets Props

What disheartening news, losing Jeremiah Wood for the next four weeks or so.We all knew that both he and Cedric Middleton and to an extent Nick dials have been ailing. Maybe it is time to heal them all. That would cut the rotation to eight.The real issue being how does KD shore up the post play? Obviously we could survive, probably easily, with Ced and Nick out. But, down in the post, who do weturn to?Both Mike Bardo and Brett McKnight have to grow up fast. Bardo can give the defense, but his offense is, well offensive. Mike just needs to go to the basketforcefully. And keep that ball high over his head. I hope that Mike grows into the position quickly.Brett gives the Zips a lot of firepower on offense. Can he play defense sufficiently well to stay on the floor?Jimmy Conyers, the forgotten man. Jimmy has hung tough when playing the four spot. But, he still has not gotten confident with his offense. Will Jimmy get it done?Actually, the four spot has been a bigger concern all along. With Wood out the weakness of the four spot will become glaring. Chris McKnight is more of a three man.Still C-Mac has shown the ability to play down low. Can he pick it up?His brother Brett may have to take on the mantle of the four spot. We will soon find out if he can.Does KD need to play Steve Swiech? Two thirds through the season and no floor time would be an awful time to put the kid in. This has to be a last resort.Once in a while Quade Milum demonstrates his capabilities. Now is the time for a long series of games where Quade steps up and plays his butt off instead ofhanging out on the wing hoping for alley-oops.Defense will be the key to winning for the next month. Wait, defense has been the key to winning all along.If ever the Zips needed a floor general this is it.

This from Youhave beenRammed, back on page five of this thread. Nice that no Zips fan picked up on this post. Instead you side with District who hasflamed me, you and the Zips from his first posting on the CAA boards. Well, since none of you read the early posts that this character posted you can be forgiven.Regular readers of ZipsNation know that I am a solid source of information, care about the Zips and the community. Fact is, I rarely trash talk or put any one down(Cant excepted). Be nice to see a Zips poster refute lame attacks on me. District was warned on the CAA board to back off by the admins. Then, none of youknow that. Nor do you know that as soon as the pairings were announced I congratulated the people on the CAA board and stopped posting there. District seems to feel that the almighty RPI is the were all, end all of determining a team's abilities or lack of them. He ranked on Akron pretty heavy on this boardin this thread (scroll back) about how many times Akron did not play in post season. He was especially unkind about the events at the end of last season. A truecollege basketball fan knows that Akron got screwed. He made the usual Cant like remarks about Akron's inferiority. Which he has continued to do by repeatedlyinsulting the Zips.Side with him if you like.

District, once again you rear your festered head. Get off the soap box. Your vaunted Rams nearly lost at pathetic Georgia State. (6-16, RPI #278). It tookovertime to wrest a win from this bottom feeder program. Truth be told, Georgia State like nearly any conference member is a tough out on their home floor.Before you diss us, BEAT us. A task you will find a lot harder to accomplish than you have any clue about.