Captain Kangaroo
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Posts posted by Captain Kangaroo
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I believe he considers himself a team leader, that he was deeply frustrated by the Saint Mary's and Middle Tennessee games and that he had difficulty reconciling that frustration with his passion for winning.
Tree simply needs to realize that we have no chance of winning those games. He needs to appreciate the fact that we beat Mississippi State 5 or 6 years ago, and that the confetti from that victory still obscures the sun.
He needs to realize it is unrealistic to expect to win any of the marquee OOC games leading up to the MAC season. Only then do the games really count. The sooner he aligns his goals with the low-aimer Zips basketball fans, the better off he'll be.
If it helps boost his spirits, there are some who are hoping we can develop Evans or Betancourt into a D-1 point guard over the course of this season so we'll be more competitive next season. In November, building towards the next season is really what it is all about.
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Evidence would fill a book the size of the bible. Did you forget about Zeke's four years already?!
If Zeke played for John Calipari, do you think he would have progressed better...or sat at the end of the bench... or quit basketball prior to his eligibility expiring?
I think KD got the most out of Zeke Marshall that anyone could. Probably more.
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That's the best news we could have received at this point.
Better than Tree being in-uniform and practicing?
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The "Paul Winters Counter-trap."
Best, most unstoppable, simple play play ever.
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I've never seen anyone make a grass field by an airport runway sound so sexy...
A grass field can make a tractor sexy.
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I'm a Toledo fan that lives in Akron. I travel for every UT game and my group tries to tailgate with fans of the visiting team. I tailgated for the Can't St game a number of years ago in the surface lot behind the parking deck off exchange and besides myself, my wife a few others it was dead. I hav seen people tailgating in lot 9 in the past on weekends when Toledo has played weekday games. Is this where everyone tailgates. If so what are the odds of scoring a couple of Lot 9 passes? I hope to bring The Rocket Trailer and I believe the Jambulance is making the trip as well. Any info is helpful. Thanks!
I doubt you can score a Lot 9 pass, but you can always try. That lot is unfortunately reserved for donors. But this late in the season, maybe if you arrive early enough you can sneak in (although your vehicle isn't exactly a Stealth).
Most visiting fans have seemed to congregate in Lot 13. That's where I have seen the party busses, grilling, etc.
One thing we lost in the move from the Rubber Bowl was the all-encompassing awesome tailgate lot. Lot 9 is great, but the Rubber Bowl lot was essentially Lot 9 but 20X larger.
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We're a one-bid league right now because nobody has recently produced the big wins to change that.
If Akron had beaten both MTSU and St. Mary's, we'd have an infinitely better chance of making a case for an at-large bid if the rest of the season goes well. You can't dispute that.
I like succinct, accurate posts.
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For me, it's always the App State question. Is App State better because they beat Michigan in 2007. I've posted this before. The answer is a resounding NO.
Appalachian State is far better off than had they not beaten Michigan. They now have a part of college football history. Every year when such an upset looms, people talk about the Appalachian State win over Michigan. They will for decades to come. Who cares if they are 3-8 right now, they got Raquel Welch in her prime. Everyone else got Oprah. If I got Raquel in her prime, and I'm with Oprah now, I am way ahead of every other FCS Chubby-Chaser.
Is Valparaiso better today because they made it to the Sweet 16? Who cares. They are a part of college basketball history. Two decades later they still show Bryce Drew's shot. And they will for another couple decades. That shot has done more to raise awareness of their University than all their Horizon League wins combined.
Do K.e.n.t fans relish their trip to the Elite 8? Or do they relish their MAC championships? Which is the better memory? When Antonio Gates brags to his team mates about his college basketball career, does he brag about beating Eastern Michigan, or Pitt?
The list goes on.
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Some big road wins would be great. Some NCAA wins would be great. But it's never, never, never going to matter.
Big road wins against BCS schools...wins in the NCAA tourney...these will never, never, never matter?
Tell that to Coach Dambrot. I want to see if he agrees with you.
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You're the tough guy saying it means nothing to beat a MAC team, or a team like North Dakota State.
Let's see a fight between you and any guy on any of those rosters. Your ass gets handed to you in less than 30 seconds.
You are getting way too confrontational with people that disagree with your personal view of Zips basketball. Everyone is growing tired of the escalation.
Once you start driving people away from our board with your tone, and frequency of posting, it becomes a problem.
Please stop it.
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But so far I don't think Akron has played poorly.
Yeah. That St Marys' game was great.
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BC has been pretty terrible in the last couple of years so I would read too much into this win until we are further into the season. If I remember right they only won 9 or 10 games a couple years ago.
BC has been terrible by ACC standards.
Toledo has been terrible by MAC standards.
Kudos to the Rockets. Looks like they are officially no longer a cupcake?
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It was a good win that the Zips would have been happy to get.
Heck, there's a lot of Zips fans that would have been happy to lose to BC by 20.
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Secondly, adding full-court ball handling to Quincy's plate would be a huge mistake. It would seriously diminish his ability to contribute the other things he does best. Plus, significantly turning those duties over to someone who is at the end of his career would be a bad investment for the near future of the program.
I don't advocate adding PG to Q's plate. I advocate making it his plate.
Would it diminish his points? Sure. Would it increase his assists? Yes. And, it would free-up McAdams and Kretzer for the open looks they are struggling to get in the post-AA era.
You play the season to win as many games as possible, not to develop players for the next season. If Q at the point gives us a better chance to win games, he should play the point. Evans can work on the role in practice and over the summer.
Again - if Evans can play the position, by all means he should be the man. But if he can't, the PG should be the best option for us to win at The Q. And that's Q.
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What a great argument. "I have no idea if costs have gone up, but I'm going to say they have to support my point." In the future, try facts.
Expecting more? Fine. But I don't have the time to repost every whiny statement in here where people are boo-hooing because other MAC teams went on tournament runs and we haven't. The NCAA tournament is great, but a lot of it rides on getting lucky with matchups and having a few hot shooters.
We've been to the MAC championship 7 years in a row, there's a great team on the floor right now, and we have a great group of talented freshman. There's very little to be complaining about, but the entitlement crowd finds a way.
There are many who consider you to be acting like an entitled whiner.
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Wow! Talk about hitting the panic button early! In no way, shape or form would I move QD to the point. To say I completely disagree with this post is an understatement.
Man...the Celtics win a couple games and the Laker fans go off the deep end!
If Evans can handle the point, I'm all for it. But thus far I don't see it happening. Very early in the voting, but the first precincts are reporting he has a lot of work to do to be a real point. And our up-front schedule is pretty tough.
We need to win now!I am with you, brother! But I see a pass-first Diggs at PG as our best chance to make any noise in Hawai'i.
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NIU 48
BSU 23
Not too shabby.
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I dont think it is fretting. It is more like frustration that we have zero idea what is going on with recruiting compared to almost any other school in the country.
But that's just life in Akron...
We lost CJ Mizell early in the season...arguably our most notable 2013 recruit...and his absence was a complete mystery for multiple weeks. Could you imagine at Ohio State if their #1 recruit disappeared for weeks and his whereabouts were never mentioned?
Years ago I used to meet with Brookhart's staff. They were very open to discuss anything. Ianello - the polar opposite.
Maybe I'll start that back up again. Bowden's guys seem to be foreword-thinking enough to understand our site can be a plus to the program.
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The assertion that we're in some sort of recruiting peril is laughable. Bowden didn't get the HC job at UA until late December, and had a solid Year #1 recruiting class. Year #2 added a ton more talent. Now he has 7 kids committed in early November of Year #3, and people fret? Seriously?
And the people that whine about the local HS kids...give me a break. We have Grice, Bickley, Brumbaugh, Pratt...Lane, Pittman and Moore will be playing next year...we do fine locally. And the kids from Florida and southern Ohio are panning out just fine. Pennsylvania too.
Fretting over Zips recruiting in November is flat-out insane. Fretting over not getting local kids is worse. What has Bowden done, or not done recruiting-wise, to not have faith in the guy? The internet recruiting sites generate nothing but a sea of Chicken Littles.
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Are we saying that they are not capable of carrying out the set play as designed or that they just lack the experience and ability to organically recognize where the ball needs to be?
The latter.
Also - getting the ball up the court quickly and not letting the offense stagnate is a problem with a sub-par PG.
A great point guard is unselfish and pass-first, but he's a threat to score if the defense slacks-off. With a great point guard, the remainder of the offense works to get open because they know he'll get them the rock. Our present "true" point guards are not a threat to score. And the opposing D can clog the paint in the half-court. And when the ball is tossed down low, there's no threat of kicking it back to the PG for a 3. That was a real strength/threat of Abreu. He kept the D honest.
You contend that our roster has no high-major talent. True. But we are as loaded and anyone with high mid-major talent. Except at point guard. That is hurting us against teams like VCU and St Marys. Teams we should not be getting rolled by 20 - 40 points as we complete decade #1 of the KD Era.
How would I address this issue?
I make Diggs THE point guard, immediately. Give him 25...maybe even 30 minutes per game exclusively at the point. Diggs is our best ball handler, and he is a legit threat to drain the three if left open. He's also our most creative passer. What needs to change is - Diggs needs to put his wing mentality in the garbage can for the remainder of the season. He can't be the isolation guy that relies on dribble-penetration so heavily. There, he simply turns the ball over too much. Every time down the court he needs to think "pass first." If he can embrace that mentality, things will open up everywhere.
The crappy Boston Celtics, who jettisoned hall of famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, have now won 4 straight. They beat Miami, in Miami, a couple nights ago. They are winning because Brad Stevens handed the point guard reins to Jordan Crawford, a guy with a career reputation as an out-of-control gunner But Stevens recognized he was the team's best passer. He's longer than most point guards. And his ability to drain an open outside look keeps the opposing team's D honest. [side Note - I realize most of you don't follow the Celtics, but if you click on the link and read the embedded column from a Zips/Abreu/Diggs point of view, I think the correlation between that, and the Celtics/Rondo/Crawford situation makes it applicable and interesting.]
The Zips need Diggs as their #1 point guard. Not as a "hobby," but as his primary position. Diggs needs to eschew a few shots per game in lieu a few assists, for the overall team good. There is no other PG option with the upside such a move offers.
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NIU 48
BSU 23
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What might really surprise me is if we completely abandon the option of Harney being up top, like a "point forward" at times. How can we ever forget that we blew out OU using this option.
How'd it go against VCU?
@BigDog and @Momager can split the point guard duties against MAC teams and the Zips still win. This thread is about upper-tier competition.
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I'm going to ask you guys to watch something.
I don't ever think that we are intending to have Diggs run the point, minus the game at West Virginia when we had no other option.
Over his 2+ years here, it simply appears that we are putting the ball in his hands to spread the floor and isolate him on a defender as a called play. Once again, I will assert that he's the most talented guy on the team when it comes to being able to dribble the ball, one-on-one, and get to the rim. We have probably never had a guard who can dribble and elevate quite like that. It's an offensive weapon, and a play I have seen Keith use from time to time, and I think people need to separate that thought from the idea that he's actually being asked to "run the point", or be a backcourt ball handler. I'd guess that it's merely just part of a play that we are calling in certain situations.
Then who is our point guard?
I haven't seen enough of Evans to know one way or the other if he can run the point. I hope he can. But if he can't, our situation is way closer to "West Virginia Part II" than you might like to admit.
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After watching the Coastal Carolina game, the St Mary's match up is definitely a concern.
Point guard may be worse than I feared.
Diggs? His return was exciting on many levels, but any new-found ability to run the point was conspicuously absent. Anything beyond spot duty (maybe 5-8 minutes per game) does not bode well.
Evans? Meh. We'll see if he gets acclimated to the D1 game soon. He's our best chance. But he didn't show much in his D-1 debut.
Betancourt? He improved his conditioning and tattoos in the off-season, but not much else. Shaky defense, shaky ball handling, and no offense.
Ibitayo? He's the same guy as year 1 and 2. The Conyers Award can be placed back in the closet.
Harney? I'm sure he tears up Betancourt and Ibitayo in practice (when running the point), but St Marys is a different story. Also - I'd like him a lot better if he'd quit shooting the three. Stay around the glass, Nick.
There were times Saturday when I thought this Zips team was as good as I'd ever seen. They reminded me of the old K.e.n.t. teams of the early 2000's. But those spurts came from the pressure D and fast breaks. Once the Zips tired, then Coastal would rally hard. And as deep as our bench appears to be...without any significant production and leadership from the point we will struggle against the elite opponents. How ugly was it when Coastal pressed us? And their press wasn't anything special.
Hope KD can figure it out. Hope Evans' improvement is on a fast track. We're 80% of the way towards being a legit tournament-advancing team.
Gauging Team Improvement Beyond Record
in Akron Zips Football
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I agree 100%.
I think this was the best defense the Zips have fielded in two decades.
There really were no weak links in the secondary. All the DB's have improved since last season. We play WR's honest, without the 10-yard cushions we've all grown accustomed to since the Lee Owens years (apologies to the anomalies that were Dwight Smith and Reggie Corner).
LB's were awesome. We lost CJ Mizell for the better part of the season, and it was "Next man up." Jatavis Brown is great. Evans is great. March is great.
DL had quality and depth. Pretty much 8 interchangeable guys. All solid contributors.
We ALWAYS over-pursued in the past. Now we have discipline.
This was a bowl-worthy defense. But our offense was not. No rhythm, no consistency, just herky-jerky all season. I look forward to a real QB competition this spring. Pohl needs pushed. He needs to make a big leap forward next year if we are to be a bowl-worthy team. If he plays like 2013, or his successor plays like "Pohl 2013" it will be a shame.
Home run-hitter WR and return man need to emerge too. Our KO and Punt return guys have shown little in the way of escapability since Andre Jones. We start our possessions around the 20 yard line way too often.