Captain Kangaroo

Former Zips fullback gets Elyria Hall of Fame enshrinement. Tough SOB back in the Faust era.

What I would LIKE to think is -- KD himself was not satisfied with how things were progressing...hence why he sort of blew things up at the end of last season. It remains to be see what Walsh, Gilliam, Treadwell, Harney, Justice, etc bring to the table. They're all supposed to be above the level of player we've become accustomed to seeing. Supposed to be.... I have been fooled in the past by alleged "savior" recruits and transfers (Hipsher, Tarver, Conyers, Carson...the list is long) so I am beyond leery of upcoming "New KD Era." But he made the change...the "Tiny Guard Era" seems to be over. I guess we all need to see how it plays out on the court. More so than any other time, it will be interesting to see how KD coaches @ The Q. All the top teams are of equal talent. Strategy and substitutions are HUGE this year. That, and motivating his guys to cease with their uncanny Loyola Marymount defensive impersonation.

Sounds exactly like a guy that can't win basketball games.

I typically get a ticket from a random scalper near the arena for $10. It always seems insane to me to pay $35 for a seat, when you can sit anywhere you want for $10.

I like the Zips' confidence! UA Athletics again will partner with Cadillac Ranch (located at 200 Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland and within walking distance of The Q) to serve as its official fan headquarters throughout the week of the tournament. Cadillac Ranch will offer a variety of food and drink specials to patrons who are wearing Zips attire.

Looking at the PD today, I see we actually let K.e.n.t. waltz their way to scoring on 21 of 23 consecutive possessions!? That is the worst defensive stretch I can recall in the history of Zips basketball. And for it to come against K.e.n.t. is boarderline unforgivable. What happened to the team I saw in February? Fool's Gold, I guess... My final comment on that game.

I fear sub 1000.

Zeke played an excellent game, as did Diggs. Roberts was tough too. After that...blech. We played soft SOFT SOFT on defense. Inside and outside. I think at one point K.e.n.t. scored on 18 of 20 consecutive second half possessions! How the hell is that possible?! This Zips team is like the playground bully. We play weaker teams...the kind you can intimidate and they immediately fork over their lunch money, and we whup 'em. We play a team that fights back and punches us in the nose, and all of the sudden we hear our mom calling us, and we sprint off the playground. What is the deal with Zeke kicking the ball out when he's in perfect position for his 8-foot baseline hook? I don't get it? He's had 10 looks at that shot over the past 2 games and he's kicked it out every time. KD MUST give him the green light to take that shot! None of the lessons learned in February stuck. We're back to rotating late on defense and letting our opponent do whatever they please. We'll have a short stay in Cleveland if the guys keep their February Defense tucked-away in the closet.

Reminds me of a funny story -- When my son was 5 years old he had a writing assignment - "Write two things you love and two things you hate." For "Hate," he wrote (in kindergarten kid crayon): Bees and K.e.n.t If I can ever find that paper, I'll scan it and post it. It still cracks me up.

Homecoming Queen:

I really hope we're up for the task tonight. The OU game was on the internet...this one is an ESPN2 broadcast. Put on a show, Zeke!! K.e.n.t. is YOUR game!! As Chris Berman would chant: "Prime Time...Prime Time...Prime Time..."

My old college roommates were from Indian Valley, Newcomerstown and Dover. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Here's a trip down memory lane --

The 5' 2" OU kid that was on the court at game's end was not a starter.

My first...and possibly final basketball overview of the season - The Captain is looking to construct a brick pizza oven in his back yard this summer, and sourced some materials from a foundry in Urichsville. I parlayed the plant visit into an excuse to go the extra 2 hours to Athens West Virginia and watch the surging Zips. Didn't work out as I'd hoped.... The drive was simple. 77S to West Virginia, hang a right, and you're there. From Northern Summit County, roughly a 3 hour trek. All highway...72MPH. I'd never been to the Convo for a game. It's a great facility, and was 1/2 full for OU's senior night...which equates to a packed house at the JAR. The game itself was almost an exact replica of OU/Akron game #1. OU kicked our butts in every phase of the game. Obviously OU sees UA as more of a rival than the Zips view OU. The Bobcats were ready to battle...the Zips were ready for Milliken. Maybe. What was most striking to me in this game was our absolute invisibility in the paint. The 40-21 rebounding differential pegs the Desire-o-Meter in OU's favor. Every missed shot was fought for by two OU players, and you hardly saw a white jersey within 5 feet them. Our defense was the proverbial Chinese Fire Drill the entire night...guys running around, out of position, arms flailing futilely as OU methodically picked us apart inside-and-out. The epic scoring drought returned. Boooooo. Everyone was stone cold. It was so bad at one point that, when McClanahan drained a late three, the O-Zone kids politely clapped. Sure, 1/2 of them were clapping sarcastically...but many of them were simply compelled to try and be nice. A bad sign for McNees is when he's missing his warm up shots. The ball came off his fingers differently every time. He was destined to have a bad night from the moment the OU senior's parents left center court. Ironically he had as many points as DeVaughn Washington's mom. To be fair -- he had one more assist. Alex Abreu doesn't fear the roo, but he sure does Fear the Coop. DJ Cooper is fun to watch. And when he sees Alex Abreu guarding him, his eyes light up. Cooper looked for his shot all night, and when he played off the ball he always had it delivered in his sweet spot. No Zip could guard Cooper last night, but when Abreu was on him, you could see him kick it to another level. Likewise, Alex's facial expressions grew increasingly worried as the night wore on. And wear on it did... The refs stunk. Charges were called on the Zips at the offensive end, and blocks were called (on us) at the defensive end. That was, until the point differential became large enough that the refs felt they could begin calling it evenly. That said, like in 99% of the games, the refs in no way decided the outcome of this one...OU put the wood to us with a savage brutality. Speaking of brutality....KD tortured me by calling 3 time outs in the final minute. Or was he punishing his players...interestingly, none of whom were named Peterson, Oldham or Euton? Or was he messing with the inept refs (I think the old coot is the Athens Mayor during the day)? Regardless, I arrived at home really really late this morning. After a great February run, the Zips forgot what got them to the point where they were vying for a Championship. OU out-coached, out-fought, out-executed and out-everythinged the Zips. We needed to put forth a supreme effort to beat OU on senior night, and we dropped a deuce on center court. Bummer of a trip...except for my sweet front row seats. Off to K.e.n.t. A win over those smelly bastards and all is right with the world.

Both MAC centers. Both 7-foot. Both in the same relative era (not comparing anyone to Wayne Embry or Nate Thurmond). I think the comparison is valid, at least to people who know basketball. Check out John Edwards' stats. Another valid comparison. Another recent MAC 7-foot center who played in the NBA. Zeke's stats are better. Beyond that stated above, my original post highlights Kaman's production growth from year #2 to year #3. It was clearly not a comparison of their respective Sophomore seasons. Check back with me next season at this time, and I'll show you that Zeke's ppg and rpg will have doubled from his Sophomore season. And you will have learned.

A quote from macsportsonline says it all - "And can we lay off Zeke Marshall? He's not the second coming of Tim Duncan, but his numbers are much improved over last year (he sports a 101.4 offensive rating this season as opposed to 86.4 last year) and all indications are that he is going to be very, very good his last two years." MAC Sports Online Chris Kaman doubled his offensive numbers from year #2 to year #3. That's the way it goes with 7-footers. People are stupid.

The stupidity within this thread makes me ill.

You'd be surprised how a point guard's turnovers can diminish after their freshman season.

I think this is the best point of the thread. Zeke isn't a scorer at this point in his career. And people can theorize whatever goofball psychoanalytical hypothesis they want regarding "why?"...but Zeke is a defensive player 1st. And 2nd and 3rd. That's the way it is today. Letting Zeke focus on D, and letting our other O-Centric players score, is the best formula for winning in March. When teams start focusing on McKnight and Nik, then Zeke will need to step up and score. Zeke loves D. He always has. Letting him focus on D, and letting the other hot hands score, is what's best for our team right now. The standings don't lie.

Such a big game that CK may indeed grace OU's campus for the 1st time in about 16 years?!

In a related, important story - There is no indication that Alex Abreu has any thoughts of transferring. If there is any other breaking regarding players not doing anything, please keep us all posted.

I don't think he was all that consistent for the first 40% of the season. But he's the best post player in the conference for the past month, and that should garner him a 1st team nod. He just needs to finish these next 3 games strong. And I think he will.

$50,000 (cost of buying a CBI home game) is a really expensive couple of practices. After practicing since October, a handful of additional basketball practices in March means absolutely nothing. As evident by our lethargic home loss to WGB last season, the players don't really care about the CBI. And as evident by our <1k attendance, the fans don't either. In a football bowl game, where you can practice for 4-6 weeks more than a non-qualifying team, the extra practice time makes an impact.

I remember in January and early February...all the posts complaining about the horrific referees...oh, how the disgusting, vile, evil referees were screwing the Zips over. You'd swear the three refs were Hitler, Dahmer and Charles Manson night-in-night-out. Amazingly - since the Zips have been winning, no one complains about the referees? Funny how that works out...