Captain Kangaroo

The refs tried to make a really good basketball match up suck, and they came close. But at the end of the night even f-ing whistle-happy refs couldn't spoil Reggie McAdams Night. He and Big Dog were fun to watch. The other guys chipped in sufficiently at critical times to pull off the win. EMU is finally good competition. They look like a real basketball team now. Nice, tough guards. Glad to see they're climbing out of a decade-plus abyss. Ivey and "Ace" continue to swing and miss at their opportunities to get more PT. If either can hit free throws and defend, dramatically increased PT is the reward. I'd love to see one of them step up. Kwan doesn't look like "the most the NBA-Ready Zip" I heard touted earlier this year. What happened to the Kwan I saw back in November? Not a perfect game, but the Zips showed spunk and tenacity for the first time in a while. It was nice to not see us get out-worked, Looking forward to the Purple-out Saturday. Hope to see a big crowd.

Larry Williams only job is to fill InfoCision. If anything else were remotely close in importance, we'd have kept Wistercill. Bowden has given him something to sell, so it's on him to get attendance moving in a positive direction. Bowden took unarguably the worst football program in D-1 to an 8-5 record and a bowl win within 4 years. So we know the impossible can be accomplished. I'd expect a good AD, with creativity and a plan, can get attendance to 15k+ average butts-in-seats within the next 4 years. That should be what is expected.

Huge upcoming stretch of games for the Zips beginning tonight. A win this evening, and all's well with the world. A home loss, and the JAR faithful will probably start thinning out. We know Miami is at "Cupcake Level." But with the added incentive that it's a MAC East tilt, they'll play tougher. Should be a competitive game. NIU looms next, and they are certainly at EMU's level. Gotta sweep these three, because @Ball State, @OU and CMU follow. Tough MAC slate this year. It's good to see.

There is no one on this team that should feel entitled to their minutes. If Aaron Jackson or Williams or Ivey want to play more minutes, freaking defend, move on offense, and defend, and you are a starter. The talent on this team is as good as any I've seen, but the hustle and effort is the worst. No excuse for getting their ass whipped in successive games, other than having a big head from eating a ton of cupcakes. Top 25? This crew is below the Top 125. Wins against some weak competition has hidden some critical weaknesses. It used to be KD'd say "The first team to 65 will win". Now the opponents are hitting 65 with 9 minutes left in the game. That's a problem. We shoot three's like we're Golden State. But we make them like we're Central State. That's gotta change. Too much potential to give up on the Zips...but right now....this is the worst Zips "team" I've seen in 12 years.

Shots will come and go, but defensive effort and rebounding can't. And shouldn't. That's just desire and effort. We've played two successive decent teams, and been thoroughly out-classed. That's beneath the talent level of this team. Where's Malone when you need 'em?

That was a pathetic first half of basketball. Kwan is shooting below 30% from 3-point land, yet he continues to hoist at a rate that would make Joe Jakubik blush. On defense, he's a statue. And he has plenty of company in that category. Terrible offensive movement. No one crashing the boards. That's a big-time trend. If this is what leading the league in 3-point defense gets you, time to bag it. It's as worthless a stat as free throw defense. Dambrot's voice better be peeling the paint off the walls at halftime.

Direct TV CH221.

Finish at the rim - both guards and bigs. We are missing WAY too many bunnies. Hit your free throws. I'm having a Great Lakes Christmas Ale to get ready for the the first half. Anyone else doing any virtual tailgating?

Yeah...it's impossible for Bowden to get any kids from Florida.

Former Zips Safety Replaces Boarman

HS Commits Brandon Council OL 6' 4" / 290 West Bladen / Jireh Preparatory Academy - NC Trevor Brown OL 6' 6" / 285 Dr. Henry Wise (Md) / Jireh Prep - NC Kato Nelson QB 6' 0" / 190 Flanagan HS, Pembroke Pines, FL Trenton Fincher OL 6' 6" / 280 East Kentwood HS, Grand Rapids, MI Jonathan Neeley OL 6' 5" / 260 Ursuline HS, Youngstown, OH Cedric McCoy OL 6' 6" / 330 Ellsworth CC, Iowa Falls Transfers Jojo Natson WR 5' 7" / 171 Utah State Josh Krok OL 6' 8" / 303 Niles McKinley / Kentucky Kwadarrius Smith ATH 5' 9" / 165 Missouri Kevin Gladney WR 6' 1" / 190 Akron Firestone / Nebraska Reggie Rogers DB/WR 6' 1" / 185 Massilon / Marshall Bryce Jones S 6' 0" / 178 Cleveland Heights / Boston College

We already have one elder statesman / former local HS coach on staff. No room in the budget for a second. I'm sure Bowden will have a good relationship with Boarman's successor. Terry's treated the St V kids pretty well. Would be nice if Grice landed on St V's staff.

I guess will find out tonight if that stat is valid, or simply a reflection of the low talent competition we've played thus far.

No.

It was nice to see the Zips in-person for the first time in a month last night. But that was a really tough game to endure. I taped it, but I'm deleting it asap. Sitting through it once was too much. The Zips won because they are more talented. Certainly not because they played harder or smarter. WMU relentlessly crashed the boards. I'd love to see the Zips put forth a collective rebounding effort like that one day. Last night, Antino and Kretzer matched WMU's intensity, but everyone else fell short. If Ivey and Aaron Jackson want more PT, they need to produce in the time they're given. Last night extended PT was there for the taking, and neither stepped up to take it. Make your free throws and your PT will increase. I think a lot of our vaunted #1 3-point defensive ranking is due to playing crappy teams that can't shoot very well. I don't see us doing anything special on D...I just see opponents missing shots because they aren't any good. WMU is a terrible 3-point shooting team. That Heymond kid is a whirling dervish of action, but his shot (14 of them last night) looks like mine. And that isn't a complement. Robotham looks better than a month ago. But there's no hint of the "special" qualities we saw from him in his Freshman year. Hopefully we start seeing some glimpses of the old Noah soon. It is a credit to Dambrot that he's assembled such a talented roster that we can play like we did last night, and still lead wire-to-wire. But as wadzip has stated, the ceiling for this team is much higher than what we saw last night. That makes them a bit frustrating to watch, even though they're winning. We're now in January...it is time for that potential to materialize on the court. A like-talented WMU team would have beaten us by 8 last night, because they wanted it more. Teams like OU and K.e.n.t....and maybe EMU are of like-talent too, and you know they will be gunning for us.

I think Antonio Brown and Kalil Mack, and scores of other successful MAC/NFL players would disagree with your contention that you are in a better position to get into the NFL via a Power 5 conference team. As far as active coaches go, Amato has likely put more players in the NFL than anyone. Bowden knows what it takes to get there too. Akron has the staff and facilities to get anyone who wants to put in the necessary work into the NFL. I'll give Illinois the TV and publicity edge, hands-down. If that's what's important to a recruit, go Power 5.

Potato Photos Tonight

Game is on ESPNU tonight.

The aging of ZipsNation is becoming very apparent in this thread.

So you want Akron to get an at-large by merit of a win/loss that's inflated by playing easy opponents? I think we need tough competition during the MAC season if we're going to have any chance of winning an NCAA tourney game.

For the Zips, trotting into Dekalb has never been a party...regardless of the Huskies' ineptitude. I remain astounded that programs like Ball State and Miami can be so bad for a decade. These were schools in the late 90's/early 2000's that were legit Top 35, with NBA-level talent. Then they dropped into the Cupcake Abyss.

Probably not...or the Akron-K.e.n.t. football game wouldn't be considered a rivalry. On a similar note - in the postgame interview, KD took issue with the UA-Buffalo game being scheduled while the students were out. It has become a big game on the MAC schedule, and it's a shame it's held during the 1st week of January. KD also said "I'd hold the Akron/K.e.n.t. football game in September every year, when the weather stands a chance of being great, and you can draw 20,000 fans." I've said that for years. The September Akron/K.e.n.t. games have always been very well-attended. Screw having it held in front of 3k (or less) at the end of November.

In the post game, Frenchy and KD wondered "When did UA/Buffalo become a rivalry?" It was in the Hipsher-era, when the Zips blew something like a 20-point lead in the final 5 minutes. Thunder Dan gave the best post-game interview in the history of Zips athletics. I recall the words @#%&$ and *%$@#(^ being used multiple times. I didn't see the game last night...I listened to it on the radio while I cleaned my basement. I think I heard the "LeBron James Foundation" and "Y-P App" commercials a combined 87 times. Great win by the Zips. Looking forward to Friday!

Is Hocking the college OU's mascot was attending when he beat up Brutus?

To bolster GoZips point - The Hiram Terriers have reeled-off 9-of-10 since their 100-30 loss to the Zips, including wins over Illinois and DePaul?! Wait...that was Illinois College and DePauw. Om nom nom.