Captain Kangaroo

Way too soon to tell. He needs to get his grades for this semester, and next semester, before anything is official. I am sure he is being set up for success by UA (manageable class load, tutors, etc.). If he doesn't make grades it will be his own fault.

I hope he can keep his staff together for a few more years too. Tank, Woodford, Buckley, Amato...all those guys have done an awesome job over the past 2 seasons. You saw in year #1 that we can move the ball and score if we've got the right people in the system. We regressed offensively in year #2. QB, RB and WR need to pick it up next season. We need some horses. Then we'll be pretty dangerous.

While your sentiment is correct, your examples are a bit off. We've beaten Creighton and MTSU. Relatively recently. The win vs. Creighton was in a really down year for the Blue Jays. Much like beating Penn State last season...we whipped them by 20...they're a Big 10 team...but Penn State would have struggled competing in the MAC West last year. They sucked. Nevada, VCU (0 for 5?), Dayton, etc. I think are better examples of the Zips opportunities to ascend OOC, but faltering. While I loved the Bracket Buster event, over the last decade it really exposed the Zips as being a notch below the true upper-mid-majors.

I remember him...

Actually, I was referring to the Mississippi State win from 2005-6. I figured since LOZ was referencing the Florida State NIT win in the same post, he/she was referring to the Mississippi State win of that era. Regardless of the landmark Mississippi State win, LOZ's point remains valid - if Tree would simply realize the Zips should not expect to win, much less care about winning such games, and wait until the MAC season to really be concerned about W's and L's, he'd be much better off.

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.

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.

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.

Better than Tree being in-uniform and practicing?

The "Paul Winters Counter-trap." Best, most unstoppable, simple play play ever.

A grass field can make a tractor sexy.

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.

I like succinct, accurate posts.

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.

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.

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.

Yeah. That St Marys' game was great.

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?

Heck, there's a lot of Zips fans that would have been happy to lose to BC by 20.

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.

There are many who consider you to be acting like an entitled whiner.

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. 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.

Not too shabby.

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.

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.