GJGood

Interesting views, I have it a little different.... Zeke vs. J-Wood... I'd go with Zeke although Wood was more of a force on offense and the boards Tree vs. Romeo... with Zeke there I take Tree for sure, no Zeke and its a tie because of Romeo's blocks and D Linhart vs. Kretzer... I like Linhart much better on D, but Jake on O... here's the kicker I like McAdams here as a blend of both Walsh vs. Dials... I'll take Dials for his leadership and energy not that BW is lacking in those areas just more from Nick Harney vs. Joyce... at the PG spot this is Dru hands down, most important stat for a PG is A/TO ratio which is a Dru strength plus he could score and defend. Nick may be better overall with his height and inside game but not at PG.

I think the team makes a strong return as long as there is more motion to the offense. Too may times this year it looked like one or two guys working and three or four watching. In years prior to that it seemed like we ran opposing defenses all over the place while in our half court offense. With the depth on the Zips bench playing a high energy style should work out to be an advantage late in games.

...and it wears out where it is constantly slid on right near the bases. If turf is a necessity in the Akron climate then even though I prefer grass I understand you've got to do what you've got to do. Just keep the dirt portion as real dirt. It would also be nice if at some point the whole Lee Jackson Field complex would have lighting available, although I know there are more $$$ involved there as well

I don't mind turf instead of grass, especially if your city is known as the Rubber City, but I didn't really like what Ohio State does. The dirt portion of the infield should still be real dirt and not carpet as well.

I understand the officials did what the rules state they had to do. I just don't know how the kid running up the court with the ball is supposed to know he has less time than what the clock is reading. Had he known he would've either called the timeout sooner or taken a desperation shot from the backcourt. The odds would've been slim for UNC but they would've at least have had a shot.

I heard Wake Forest was talking to Shaka as well, could the thought of coaching in the ACC, and not that far away geographically from where he is now, pull him away? Personally, I hope he stays at VCU. Too many guys seem to jump ship when they are quite capable of winning just as big at the place they currently are. He had VCU in the Final Four. I think he could get it done again there so (other than just $$$$) why jump ship and start all over again?

So the real question is not "Where do we belong?" but rather "What can be done to make where we belong a better place to be?"

That was an odd ending. While I understand the argument that the clock didn't start for a second to second and a half and since he called timeout with 0.4 seconds left on the clock there should be no time left, my problem is that the player had no way of knowing this. He has no choice but to go by the clock he can see on the court. UNC never got to attempt an improbable last second miracle shot because they weren't aware that they were already out of time due to clock error. I understand why the officials ruled the way they did based on the rules but I didn't think it was fair for the game to just be ended like that beacuse it wasn't UNC's fault the clock didn't start. I was pulling for ISU so i was happy with the result but still didn't like that ending.

The only conference I can think of that might show some interest is CUSA if they would be looking to create a presence in the northeast Ohio media market. The question, though, would be is following Marshall's lead worth it? How big of a step up is CUSA in basketball over the MAC? How much in football? We're still not talking a Big Six conference but is it a move you'd like to see if the opportunity were to arise? I really don't know where I would stand if the choice was CUSA or MAC.

Those 2006 and 2007 years still stick with me. 2007 may have been the best team of the KD era, and they just got robbed of the chance of doing anything in the postseason. In 2006 the old boys club NIT committee let us in but stacked it against with putting our first two games within 45 hours of each other and in Philadelphia and Omaha. Not many teams would stand much chance in that scenario.

I went to the game at Ohio State last night and I must say that despite losing 6-5 in 11 innings, I saw a lot of good things from the Zips. Even though I have seen them have better results against OSU this was the most confident I have seen a Zips team. At times in the past I thought they seemed almost intimidated but definitely not last night. They fought and clawed for every run as did OSU. The difference in the game was really Akron overthrowing errors to first base (especially a couple of times when the ball was a bunt or dribbler down the third base line that only traveled about 40 or 50 feet), which could be as much the fault of being a little over-amped as much as anything. I just hope this team makes the MAC tourney this year and my prediction is that they will. They certainly have the ability to do it and once you get there you never know what might happen.

I have always thought the CiT teams should work amongst themselves to schedule return games in future years. Akron plays at IPFW in this event so why not have the powers that be at the two universities get together and schedule an OOC for a future season in Akron? i realize they might not have the marquee value we'd really hope to get on the home schedule but it certainly beats playing the likes of NC A&T or Howard, plus scheduling a road game in Akron wouldn't hurt IPFW's road schedule either. A lot of CiT participant matchups could benefit from something like this in my opinion. its kind of like the way ESPN did the BracketBusters but with the schools putting it together themselves.

Everybody is wondering where the Zips collective mindset will be for this one and that is a fair question. but what about IPFW? How will their mindset be knowing they just missed the NCAA tournament suffering a three point loss to a team they had beaten once earlier in the season? It could be that both teams are in the same boat. Then again this is their first national postseason game ever, so maybe that will motivate them?

This team could pose major problems for the Zips. Not only are they in the top 40 nationally in three point shooting but the also led their conference in rebounding despite having no one taller than 6'9".

From what I have seen this morning it appears that Buffalo's season is over after they turned down an invite from the CiT. I am glad we didn't go that same route.

True on the second round matchup possibilities but the fact that they didn't give us CSU off the bat kind of tells me that they did their research to see we played them out of conference and that they probably want to avoid rematches in the early rounds if possible. Still, I'd see them giving us CSU, OU, or EMU well before giving us someone like Pacific or Portland State.

IPFW just lost their conference championship game by three points to North Dakota State so they barely missed out on being in the NCAA tournament. It is hard to say if that will have a positive or negative effect on them in this next game. The Mastadons did play two MAC schools this season. They won at Bowling Green but they lost in Oxford to Miami, both games were very tight and game down to the last couple minutes. IPFW also had some near upsets having lost by one point at Dayton and by two points in Champaign at the Big Ten's Fighting Illini. I think this is a team Akron is quite capable of beating but that pose some serious problems if they are playing well and we have one of our patented stretches where the offense shuts down. Interestingly, they only shoot 66.6% from the free throw line, They also only have two players averaging double digits in scoring (with nobody averaging 15 per game) but have seven players that score at least seven points per game. To me that sounds like this team may mirror the Zips in a number of ways. Anybody know any more about them?

Now the statement above I made seems not to be the case. You can't trust everything you read on the internet.

I believe I read that our arch rivals already accepted a bid to the CIT. If they got in after finishing 9th in the MAC, I'd think it looks good for us. I still kind of hope what I read was wrong, not because it is our rival but because somebody more desrving will certainly not get in.

I agree, but we also could not stop Whittington. His size, speed, and agility hurt us and we had no one who could adequately match up.

I actually disagree with teams #100- 351 being in the CBI and CiT. The "old boys club" NIT selection committee emphasizes the power (BCS) conferences and fringe power conferences like the A-10 and MWC and will likely put in a few teams from those type programs even when there are a generous handful of true mid-majors that are as good or better available. So yes the CBI and CiT fight for teams starting at pick #100 but rarely, if ever, is the best rated team in a tourney like the CBI worse than #100 in reality. My 'test teams' this year to see how the selection committees are doing are UW-Green Bay and Southern Miss. I really think they should both be NCAA at-large teams. USM has a legit shot but I think UWGB not only will get snubbed by the NCAA but will also be seeded in the bottom half of the NIT, Toledo isn't terribly far off from UWGB so it will also be interesting to see where the Rockets end up.

I believe I remember Shaka Smart saying that he felt one of the major reasons he felt his VCU team was able to the make Final Four a few years ago was the experience the Rams gained the year before in their CBI run. I think playing as long as you can will be crucial to the team's development for 2014-15.

Anybody have a preference between the two, CBI and CiT?

To me the big keys to next season are: 1) The play of the centers. If Big Dog and Forsythe can develop into bigger defensive threats and become more offensively potent consistently (they've both shown moments of brilliance) it will go a long, long way. Big Dog is already one heck of an interior passer and could become the key cog in our "inside-out" offensive game plans down the road. 2) Betancourt needs to at least become a threat to score. He doesn't need to be a double digits kind of guy but he does need to show that he can score 5 or 6 points and can't just be left alone on the floor by the opposing defense. He will play a lot because of his defense so we just need a little more on the other side as well. 3) The most painfully obvious one. Something needs to be done about the free throw shooting. 4) As with any team in any year, health and keeping your roster available to be on the floor, sometimes that is just luck.

Always a very good sign to be in the championship and being able to be the better seed in that game. I don't watch the Lady Zips a lot but I will be watching today.