Captain Kangaroo

How can this be? I thought K.e.n.t. State was the Championship Factory? If Willie doesn't bring up the fact that "The Zips are the REAL Championship Factory" during one of his time-out appearances Friday night, he should retire his mike.

If I'm not mistaken, we have a MAC East "title" banner hanging in the JAR from when we were 3rd, in a 3-way tie? I think Buffalo Football gave out "MAC Championship" rings when they finished "#1", @ 5-3, in a 3-way tie for first in the East, but lost to the two teams ahead of them. They weren't even bowl eligible (5-7 overall). Schools will claim championships however they can get them...and hope their recruits don't do any research to verify their legitimacy.

The Zips have played 1 good half out of the last 4. That's a bit of a concern. I like that Dambrot stated the Zips need to hit the three's to have a chance in the NCAA's, and that some rotation changes would be instituted to help the situation. Ibitayo played in the first half, but sat in the 2nd. 3-point hitters McAdams, Kretzer, Gilliam and Walsh played. Minute-wise, it was negligible, (Deji doesn't play more than a handful of minutes) but having a real 3-point threat in for those few minutes was a big help. It is the difference between 3...6... 9... vs. 0 points Abreu got a spring in his step in the 2nd half...that had been missing since OU. As he goes, so do the Zips. Friday should be a blast. The Zips are a big-game team...I expect they will rise to the occasion.

It is a school night, and I had to get my son home. If you've ever sat through a net-cutting, they take forever. If we cut down the nets in Cleveland on a Saturday night, I'll stay. Winning a MAC title is nice, but the focus in 2013 is winning the MAC tourney. That's where everything is on the line. You see it on our site every day, you hear it from Dambrot himself - it all comes down to two days in Cleveland. I think most did. But the win was a foregone conclusion, and people wanted to get home on a cold March weeknight. The opponent, and the Zips lethargic 1st half play, were responsible for the lethargic crowd. I think the bar for the 1986 team was lower, so people were more excited. Now, we play for NCAA tourney appearances. They're expected. And the should be. We have a 7-foot NBA center instead of a 6' 3" football player in the middle. Yes. The JAR was new. Huggins was a rising star. No ESPN (like today). ABJ was robust in its coverage and influence. Different era. Not meaningless. But the program needs to keep elevating. Dambrot says so repeatedly. Winning the 2013 MAC is nice. Great accomplishment. But the ceiling for the program is much higher than 27 years ago. More is possible, and more is expected. That's a credit to KD. Kudos to him and all the players over the past 9 years that have made a regular season championship worthy of a polite golf clap.

Oh no... "It's going to be a process at Akron, that's just what it has to be," admitted coach Bowden It was nice to see that we challenged Pitt last year.

Wow, Harney is 6 for his last 13 FT's. That is bad. Deal with the stat. If you perform shoddy statistical analysis, knowledgeable Zips fans will call you out. They also get pissed when you derail solid thread topics with uneducated or ill-researched information. No one here can keep up with someone who posts 25 times in a single day. And they shouldn't need to. Your monopolization of the board with opinion-free vagaries, endless statistics and fractional movements of the RPI has got to cease.

It is almost comical how a thread that's strong on observations and opinions is doomed to be drug into the pablum-scented statistical abyss that is DiG. Thanks to Hip Zip for trying. I liked your observations.

Beats me, but you can look it up pretty easily on the Internet if you'd like. Go for it. I just know their record sucks, but they matched up very well against us on the perimeter and made our life miserable for about 38 game-minutes. I recall Abreu going 1-8 from the field. I also recall Miami's free throw defense holding us to an impressive 11-22.

Harney's defense has improved from last season...but he didn't guard anyone last season... so simply attempting to get in someone's way is a step up. His free throw shooting is sub-par. Heck, any of his shots outside of 6 feet tend to be errant. His 3-point shooting confidence rivals Ibitayo's...if he's open, he's shooting. Unfortunately, like Deji, he shouldn't be shooting. Harney should be slashing to the hoop and getting tip-in's. His biggest attribute is his soft hands and touch around the hoop. While he's more comfortable hanging outside, he needs to play to that strength. I have to believe Harney is getting his minutes due to his offensive upside. And, I think he sulks when he doesn't start. If KD wants anything out of the guy, he has to start him. If Harney every puts his mind to it, he could be absolutely unstoppable. I wonder if it will ever happen.

That's why those guys won games in the post-season. We have become taller, faster, more athletic... but top-to-bottom, not as tough as the Dials (et al)-era.

God Bless you, Hip Zip. Miami scares me a bit because they pressure the ball as soon as we pass half court. They're disruptive at the area where we're most vulnerable. Abreu had dead legs at Buffalo. And while he's shown a propensity for offsetting his bad plays with great ones throughout the season, it didn't happen @ Buffalo. KD tried picking up the pace with Betancourt a couple times... and perhaps shaking AA out of his funk... but CB's shot-out-of-a-cannon pace seems to be a tough adjustment for the other four guys used to AA more so than it was problematic for UB. Not that CB is flawless by any stretch, but he made a couple good cuts to the hoop Saturday and everyone else just stood and watched him. Will Miami be tougher than the Zips? That was another possible chink exposed on Saturday. Buffalo pushed us around. While McCrea was giving rabbit punches to the kidneys, Ibitayo was giving up soft foul "and-1's" on Buffalo fast breaks. Will Miami spread the floor offensively, and carve-up the Zips in the process, a la Buffalo? The Zips should win regardless of what Miami throws at them tomorrow night. They have too much talent to lose to Miami, especially at home. But HOW the Zips win, is what should be really interesting to watch unfold. It's been too long since Jonas has seen the floor.

If we don't win games in the tournament, then why bother trying to make any move on a national stage? Akron's situation is unique when compared to other "Mid-major Tourney Wonders" of year's past. We are in a similar situation as a Gonzaga or Butler...just with a reasonable coach's salary. Dambrot isn't going anywhere for 10 years. But they've won, and we haven't. Yet.

ABJ Story

If the Zips can have a Top 25 team in the MAC, and basically run roughshod over 94% ot the league to the MAC Championship every year, why go somewhere else?

The Zips are being mentioned as a relative equal to Ohio State in basketball. Not when Ohio State is in a down year, but when they are a Top 20 team. If you throw a hissy-fit about such a column, then you simply stopped reading it once you saw "Ohio State."

I don't know what affliction you have that makes you a miserable worry-wart, but it is really getting old. If all you bring to the table is eternal pessimism, then you should probably find another place to post your "thoughts." You post too many times per day, with the same tired old negative vibe. And it makes our board lesser for it. Good people no longer post here because you are hogging the board space with your negativity, pushing decent posts down into oblivion. This board will be highly visible nationally over the next few weeks. It is important to me that UA and its fans are viewed in a positive light. I will have a lower-than-normal tolerance for board hogs and, for lack of a better term, general stupidity. You know how they kicked the homeless out of New Orleans for Super Bowl week, then let them return afterwards...same concept. Please strongly consider the above-listed thoughts from here-on-out. CK

No DiG posts Awesomest Day Ever F*ck the RPI

TCU Failure K.e.n.t. Retread Looks Like a Bird NIT Awaits

Anyone else remember when we played Memphis in the MCB and their players dumped Gatorade on their coach...then the Zips scored two quick TDs to cut the gap to 7? Too bad we didn't get that last on-side kick. F Memphis.

As a reference, below is the 3D model used for BGSU's new Stroh Center:

What will GoZips think of their pep band? Does he hate sound, or smoke more?

I hope the Zips win, but I really hope Zeke gets called for another technical for hanging on the rim. Otherwise there'll be nothing to discuss between Wednesday night, and Saturday's Buffalo game.

I couldn't imagine how the 5k Zips fans would have erupted in horror and disdain if the NDSU center had performed the identical dunk as Zeke.

Locally, we are getting a good deal of Cleveland press because K.e.n.t. and CSU are having uninteresting, down seasons. It's nice to hog all the local college BB press.

There have been 5k Zips fans at the past several home basketball games, and they all paid full price for their tickets. BOGO for the championship game will deter no one from attending. Anyone who's been at the MAC Championship game at the Q over the past decade knows it is a blast. At BOGO, it is $10/ticket. To see a championship game at a professional arena, that's a steal.