Captain Kangaroo

My three keys to a successful 2013-14: 1.) Forsythe needs to prove he can step up and be "The Man." Early on he showed some flashes of awesomeness, flying through the air and throwing down some one-handed dunks. By years-end, he was giving us few serviceable minutes, with scant few points and rebounds. Not much defense either. Was he dissatisfied with being a back up? Had he simply hit the wall after a tumultuous first 1.5 years of college? The Zips relied on game-changing Zeke's interior presence to bail them out sooooo many times over the past 4 seasons, so having a similar interior force in 2013-14 will be less of a shock to their existing habits. Prediction - Pat will exceed Zeke's 2012-13 rebound average, score roughly 7 ppg, and average 2.6 blocks per game. 2.) Betancourt needs to develop an outside shot. He needs to shoot about 200 3-pointers per day from now until October. He can dribble, he can get from a-to-b as fast as any other Zips guard in history. But if he's zero threat to hit an open jumper, he's of little help to us. Prediction - He takes his 200 3-pointers per day, which both improves his scoring, and strengthens his legs...allowing him to play 25 minutes/game without cramping up. 3.) Harney needs to alter his shot. No more starting at the waist and hoisting up floaters that careen off the backboard/rim like something off Tom Candiotti's hand. Harney has the softest hands of any Zip I've seen, and he's money on the short put-back. His defense has improved to the point where he's becoming serviceable. His drives to the hoop are still pretty reckless...but I can live with them. Those 3-pointers? They gotta improve big-time. And he doesn't need to change much...hell, he can keep shooting from the waist. Some of the best college women have that same 3-point shot. But he's gotta drain it at at least a 32% clip. And that comes with hard work. And hard work has been more associated with Tree than Harney over year's #1 and #2 of their inexorably linked careers. Prediction - Only a slight improvement in his 3-point percentage. Eeeks it up to 28.1 percent. Hope I'm wrong.

Your tag line says "We'll be better next year," so why are you pessimistic? Now is your time to shine. Next year is coming.

Hope Joe has a 5 second delay instituted.

One can only hope we make this an annual award.

Why don't NFL teams, or college teams for that matter, take a 7-footer to block kicks? Especially the long ones. Could anyone get a 50-yard kick over a leaping Quade Milum? I guess it is a similar argument to "Why don't NHL teams place a 900 pound man between the pipes?"

You are correct. I missed the Memphis trade. This guy sees Zeke in LA. Possibly taking the place of former UCLA 2nd round pick, and former Cav 7-footer Ryan Hollins?

I miss the old days when guys like Michael Olawokandi, Yinka Dare and Dasagana Diop would chime-in.

I select "yes." KD's connection to LeBron places Zeke in Miami with the last pick of Round #2, replacing the ageless Jawon Howard. The presence of Norris Cole lends credence to Miami's NE Ohio draft bias.

If asking for reparations after forking over roughly $1,500 for football season tickets over the past 3 seasons is being spoiled, call me spoiled. Some fans wear their hair shirts and are compelled to accept whatever tripe UA gives them. Others call a spade a spade, and have felt like Kunta Kinte coupled with Ground Hog Day from the moment InfoCision opened it's pearly gates to hell. To each his own.

I dislike the "spoiled" moniker. It is untrue. Spoiled infers you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. That you don't have any concept of adversity. Zips fans are 100% hardscrabble. Even in their men's best basketball season they get punched in the gut by King Hippo. Their football team has won 3 combined games in 3 years. Coach Kest's WNIT appearance doesn't really scratch the surface of reparations required to forget the bulk of what we've endured over the past couple decades.

A remember back in the early 80's a representative of Devry University came to our high school. I asked him about sports at Devry, and he proudly stated "Well, our club soccer team beat Ohio State this year." Almost 30 years later, Ohio State soccer is apparently reliving that horror. May God grant them the strength to survive.

Hipsher was a head coach at Wittenburg, Stetson, and coached the Zips for 9 seasons. He was also a top assistant at Alabama and South Florida. Ianello was never so much as a coordinator in the Lingerie League or Pop Warner. Completely different.

Andrick and Tree would have been like Laimbeer and Mahorn. That would be a bad-ass front line. That said, I was referring to pre-meltdown Andrick. After the "fight," Andrick and Bosley were never the same players. The fire was gone. They gravy-trained their scholarships for the remainder of their eligibility.

In Melo's magical sophmore season he averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. That netted him the 22nd pick in the NBA draft. On a center-starved Celtics team, and while completely healthy, he's scored 2 career NBA points. To his credit, he has had a mediocre season for the Maine Red Claws. Melo is a fatter, slower, BCS version of Zeke.

FYI - event is on the 12th, and is $30 if you didn't get your tix today.

Fab Melo is a complete stiff who hardly played college basketball, and the Celtics took him in the 1st round of the 2012 draft. Athletic 7-footers are still a valued commodity. Doc Rivers loves defense, and Kevin Garnett can't keep playing in the middle at 39 years old. Even with Melo playing on the Celtics developmental team, it wouldn't shock me if the Celtics took Zeke. I'd rather use a second rounder on Zeke than Svrunas Mvalatinonis, or whatever random worthless European is available.

I wonder if Abreau has ever been to Lambeau?

I can't believe that a HS senior would stiff Bowden on signing day, then wait 6 weeks while still holding a Bowden offer in his pocket and then stiff him in favor of Coastal Carolina. Bowden wasn't that desperate. A more likely scenario is either: 1.) Bowden found someone better on signing day and rescinded the Zips scholarship offer 2.) The kid, or influential people chirping in the kid's ear, felt he could do better than the Zips...stiffed Bowden on signing day...and when the phones didn't ring, were left with a sack of beans instead of a D1-A scholarship. I would liked to have seen if his high school game tape would have transferred to D1-A college success. But it's no big loss, if it can even be considered a loss.

Per a recent Elton Alexander column, Bowden cannot comment on these two kids until they are enrolled at UA, which will not happen until the summer.

Shawn Roberts and Doug Schutz wouldn't have stood a chance. Zeke +Tree+2 Bufords and 2 McLaughlins + Marcel Boyce...and I think we would have been competitive.

Since when does Elton count in binary?

I think it will be a good test of Wistercill's AD capabilities to lock up, or lose Kest. Like men's soccer, in the big D1 picture it is chump change to pay a good women's basketball coach. Additionally - UA has been very patient and loyal to Kest. She had some horrific seasons. Is that loyalty repaid? Stay tuned...

CK and son in section 111. I got the call for tix from UA, but it was too late...had to pull the trigger last night on Stub Hub. See everyone there!

Section 111. Me and da kid. Couldn't wait any longer for UA. Stub Hub has plenty of seats. Michigan fans will leave after their game, and I'm sure you can sit anywhere you want at 10pm.