Captain Kangaroo

I see all the hubbub regarding the Zips Basketball scheduling and I figured it was worth it's own topic. Unless...people are tired of it. The Very GoodI think this year's schedule is very good. Home games against Wyoming and Temple are great, and the wins will look nice to any selection committee. @ Dayton and @ Winthrop are also great opportunities for high-visibility wins, and a nice home/home addition. We blew it with our chance to play Colorado State, but the game was there for us if we'd have won. The Alaska tourney was a good, early season event. And, it looks like we should have another marquee opponent for the Bracket Buster.The "Decent"NC A&T is a decent team...mediocre record, but a nice win over DePaul to their credit. UIC looks to be similar, with a bad record, but a tough schedule. They have a win over Bradley and a 1-point loss to UNC Charlotte.YSU has turned their hoops program around as of late. They didn't look too bad vs. UCLA, and played Notre Dame within 12. A good local rivalry. I would schedule a home/home with them for the next decade.The "Slightly Bad"Austin Peay looks to be down from last year's 20-win team, but it is a return game for our earlier Bracket Buster. We didn't proactively schedule it. A tough road game.Binghamton is similar. They were a solid team when we scheduled the home/home following the 2005-6 season. But they aren't so hot now. Hopefully we can upgrade that schedule slot next season with a better opponent.The "Terrible"Walsh...but we needed the tune up. And it was a dramatic competitive upgrade over Tiffin circa 2006-7.UNC Central looks to be terrible, but we need a "breather" game or two.Other MAC SchoolsMiami seems to be the only MAC team that really went nuts with their schedule and had any success. And it garnered them wins vs. S. Alabama, Mississippi State and Xavier. They had close losses to USC, Dayton and Louisville that will probably be looked upon favorably by the NCAA selection committee should Miami falter in the MAC tourney. Toledo has been crushed regularly with their "ambitious" OOC schedule.K.e.n.t. scheduled no one of note other than Saint Louis and Xavier.Overall, for where our program presently sits, it is a good schedule, consistent with, and probably better than other MAC schools. It puts us in a better situation for the post season than last year's schedule. If we can take 2-of-3 from the Dayton/Winthrop/Bracket Buster...and finish with the type of overall season we had last year, I think the post season committees can't overlook us. And, I wouldn't trade a 9-point loss to Duke with a 15-point win vs. NC A&T.If Miami is a good as they appear, I think the MAC has a puncher's chance at 2-bids this year. We'll just have to see if the Zips, K.e.n.t., and OU are for real too. And maybe WMU.

149 lbs? Couldn't he round it up to 150, or put a roll of pennies in his socks? I'll be interested to learn more about him...149lbs is REALLY small.

Also -- The reason UNC came to NE Ohio wasn't because CSU had some whiz-bang, schedule-making God. UNC makes a deal with any recruit they sign, ensuring UNC will play a game in the kid's home town, in front of his friends and family, at some point during the kid's 4 year stay. Jawad Williams was from Cleveland, so UNC played @ CSU. Go Zips is correct -- It was originally scheduled to be Akron. Jerome Lane had the same arrangement back in the mid-80's, which is why Pitt came to Akron (Richfield).

Awesome domination by the Zips last night. Best game I think Wood has ever played. He was unstoppable.Milum Asylum! Quade was off-the-hook with his hook shot last night. When he plays with confidence...look out. Bardo yet again with some nice minutes.Ced is playing awesome.When McNees runs the fast break, the other four Zips on the court play at a heightened level. They all seem to relish the fact that if they work to get open, they know he'll find them for the shot.I wish Conyers had Dials shooting confidence...and sometimes I wish Dials had Conyers confidence. 5 of 17 from the field. Yeowch. But Dials made some clutch shots and played solid defense...and hit his FT's.The technical foul call was critical. And bogus. In general, the refs seemed to think we were all there to listen to their whistles rather than to watch a basketball game. Way too many ticky-tack fouls called.Not much more to say. The Zips thoroughly dominated a decent team. Our inside game was devastating, even though the opponent, statistically, had the bodies to match up with us. Who needs The Cavalry? McNeed/Dials/Ced rule. If either Roberts or McKnight can make any impact this year...we can run a lot of teams off the court. And if Steward gets healthy? :blink:

Here - I'll write it for Tom Gaffney:The Zips are not drawing big crowds right because:1.) Games meaningful to Ohio State football are being played on TV during the Zips games. No OSU fan is coming to the JAR if OU/Missouri or WVU/Pitt is on TV. And, it seems 95% of local sports fans are compelled to sit on their couch and watch those games rather than watch great Zips basketball in person.2.) The Zips game day basketball experiece is tragic. High Schools do a better job of making their games "an event." My friend went to a Woodridge game the other night. For a buck the kids that came through the door got their face painted, tatoos, signs, hair paint...the works. Same thing that I saw at the Cavs/Celtics game the other night, but on a high school's budget! The Zips do NOTHING like this. 3.) Travis and Joyce gone? Not a factor. No effect on attendance whatsoever. 4.) KD says he'll do "anything" to get butts in the stands. How about beating Western Michigan...Toledo...Miami to get an NCAA berth? Three consecutive times we were the better team in Cleveland, and three consevutive times we've lost. Like it or not, that has a TREMENDOUS affect on the early-season attendance. If we were coming off an NCAA appearance, and all the local Zips fans had their MAC championship T shirts...hats...their memories of rushing the court and high-5-ing the players at The Q...of getting on ESPN and being covered by the local media...of filling the local sports bar or student center with hundreds of like-minded (for a moment, at least) Zips fanatics for the NCAA tourney game...that's when you're really building a fan base.The NCAA tourney captures the fans imagination and excitement. The Zips basketball team sitting at home in March for the 21st consecutive year doesn't get Joe Akron off his butt to see Wyoming in December.Is the MAC tourney a crap-shoot where anyone can get knocked off? Sure...but K.e.n.t. has won it four times in the last 9 years...and with three different coaches. Winning at The Q IS possible. I've seen it.I DO care if tickets are being given away to Zips games. Why - Because I don't see ANY effort on UA's behalf to get people paying customers to the game. Z-E-R-O. Giving away free tickets to games is the lazy way out. If I saw ANY effort on UA Marketing's behalf to try to fill the arena with paying customers, I would say "hell...give the stupid tickets away." But I don't. No one is even trying. And it bugs me.There is a lot of blame to be spread around if you want to grouse about attendance. Lack of Marketing...poor overall game day experience...tragic concession options...the team's lack of NCAA tourney berths...the OSU machine...it all factors in.But -- Since this Zips team looks very good. And the MAC season is just around the corner, it is all a moot point. Our attendance will grow as the season progresses, and by year's end the JAR will be at, or near capacity. Just as it was last year. And if we can reach the NCAA's in March '08, then you'll see some better early season crowds to watch the 2008 - '09 Zips.There you go, Tom Gaffney. Massage it a bit, and print it.

the Nemer brothers are going to make Uof A pay for the Sun GrillI luvs my IC Lights at The Sun Bar and Grille...but OUTTA' MY WAY JOE!!! THE WRECKIN' BALL'S A COMIN'!!!!

I read that 900 rowdies have registered, but only 20 show up? Your 50/5 ratio isn't so bad?As long as we can bring my son down, my wife and I are in! (big difference between the Oldies and the Rowdies is the kids).

Nice Drubbing of St. Louis by K.e.n.t, but Other Than That...

DAMN!! You beat me to it. For all love Charlie gets on this board, the silence for Dwight is pretty deafening. Did you know he has 22 career NFL interceptions? He trails Vic Green by only 3INTs as the Zips all-time NFL INT leader!Dwight StatsVic Green

It'll be interesting to hear, after a few games from your new seats, if you have any thoughts regarding injecting some life into the Oldies up top.

4. You don't need to use the word "suck" in every cheer. Of the few cheers I did hear, I heard that a few times. Be a little creative.6. Know our opponents. How Temple had an player named "Christmas" and no Rowdies busted out any carols during his free throws is beyond me!

The Rowdies that show up are great. But there are a couple hundred too few.What was done to get students to the game? Promotions? Give-aways? Emails? Campus posters? There are several thousand students withing 1/4 mile of the JAR. To have such a lot turnout for a marquee opponent like Temple is pretty pathetic. And - the general public's attendance was equally pathetic too.Until someone at the University is disgusted with attendance, nothing will change. Disgust is the catalyst for change...you look in the mirror and you're 60lbs overweight and you say "I'm disgusted, I'm cutting out the potato chips and getting my fat a$$ off the couch and exercising"...that is when things change. Until someone...someone that can do something about it (that is key) gets disgusted with attendance, nothing will change.If you want to do something, you find a solution. If you don't want to do something, you find an excuse. Excuses abound at UA. And you get paid to repeat them for decades. Not a bad gig?I went to the Cavs / Celtics game last night. When I walked in the door, immediately to my right was a table for my son to get his face painted and get a Cavs tattoo. Cost: virtually nothing. Next to that was a "hair painting" station. They sprayed his head with metallic stripes of wine, blue and gold. Cost: Virtually nothing. Then some Cavs girls gave him a pass to go court side and watch warm-ups. They gave him a $3.00 disposable camera and a $3.00 Cavs t-shirt. The kid had the time of his life! And at almost no cost to the Cavs. The Zips could do something VERY similar even on their budget. Anyone love that 17k .gif of a brick they show on the Zips "big screen" when an opponent is shooting a free throw? Does it look more like a piece of cheese or a graham cracker? My son says "graham cracker."At least they changed that car dealer commercial from "Another punch in the gut loss for the Zips..." to "Zips fans hate to lose..." Your welcome for the suggestion, UA. I can't believe it took internet postings to change something as glaringly wrong as that...but I'm glad it was changed none-the-less.Time to focus on Wyoming. I'll predict 2,500 in attendance. 2,502 if you count the two people that will work @ the concession stand at half time.

Krusty the Clown: "Is the Bill of Rights a good thing....or a baaaaad thing?"*long pause*Amber Dempsey: "...Good thing?"Krusty: "RIGHT!"

Throwing in 2 more cents:We fared better than I expected. The team seems to be improving game-by-game. McNees looked very good. He only scored 2 pts, but he has shown a nice stroke, and no fear in driving or shooting. He sees the floor very, VERY well. And his AND-1 assists get the crowd as pumped up as any dunk. His dribbling in traffic and breaking the press was pretty good for a Frosh. I'm comfortable with the ball in his hands in press situations. His D was more than adequate too, and he crashes the boards well for a little guy. Gotta do better than 0-2 in clutch FT's though. I predicted we'd need Milum and Linhart to step up in order to win. Didn't happen. Buth gave good efforts, but Milum struggled against the bigger Temple front line. And Linhart struggled period. Seems like the word is out to shut off the base line when he drives. And that he's an Anderson Varejo clone (ie. flopper) on D.Conyers was rock-solid the final 35 minutes...except those two missed FT's. Crashed the boards hard. His near-miss, power throw down off the missed shot was as athletic a power move by a Zip as I've seen since Anthony Buford or maybe Roy Coleman. He played great D. And although Bardo got the rebound credit, it was Conyers who ripped the ball free after that late missed FT. 9 points/9 rebounds. Great job.Ced was solid...except for that 0-2 FT episode. It was interesting to hear Dambrot bring up the Miami '07 ending when referencing Ced's misses. Usually a coach avoids such references. But -- everyone was thinking it, whether Coach mentioned it or not. Ced played great D and was stellar from 3-land. Wood struggled against the bigger front court. He got stuffed a few times, and missed a ton of bunnies. He needed some help underneath. Looked like he was missing Travis a bit...or someone to take the double teams off him. Late-game he started fading away to give himself room, and kicked the ball out too, so he eventually adapted. But, again, those FT's...Dials missed shots...rushed a few off-balance 3's...but you'd have to give him an "A-" overall. Great D, great hustle, clutch shots, solid ball handling....he was the glue that held the Zips together last night.Bardo looked good. He needs some more minutes. The frosh HIT his FT's! And was clutch under the boards. He made the most of the minutes he got.McKnight needs to figure out what he wants to be. Wing man or glass cleaner. Last night we needed him underneath, and he really wasn't all that effective. As the lead frittered away amongst a hail of Shaq-esque free throws, you could hear the Temple players warming up their "JUST-LIKE-FOOT-BALL" chants. But unlike the gridiron Zips, the hoops guys held on. Thank God. I though the "Roo Town Rebound" post game show was great. Joe Dunn's recruiting questions were great, and Coach Boals' answers were really interesting. Funny story that Cventinovic traveled to West Virginia to see McClanahan play football. Also - sounds like Humpty and Nick are going to be crowd favorites over the next few years?McFly was dead-nuts on regarding the concessions. Two people working the lame concession area at halftime. And those two had as much spring in their step as Jason Taylor did last night in that mud bowl. As the guy next to me said "I've never been to a High School basketball game where the concessions were staffed so poorly." And people wonder why the crowds are so small. There's ONE, of several reasons.Nice job by the Marketing crew to get people to the game. If they wouldn't have done their job, I bet there would have been 2,051 people there instead of 2,056. We just won one of the "Big 5" games remaining until the McKnight/Roberts Cavalry arrives in mid-December. Beating a quality team like Temple gives me legit hope for the remaining 4 games, none of which are easy.Until the Cavalry arrives...I'm happy to watch McNees/Dials/Ced. They're not too shabby.

If the same team that showed up Saturday night vs. Binghamton shows up tonight, we're in trouble. We'll lose. I agree Linhart needs to have a big game...a double-double type game...if we're to hang with them. Milum will be key too. He has the athleticism to match Temple's big men. Can Ced play effectively on 1 day's rest? We'll need him to go for 15+.I think Dials and Wood will have solid games.41-2 at home under Dambrot. But only two of those wins were without Dru and Travis.Temple should be favored by something like 8. I'd agree with that.

7 road games. Great.

The Ball State QB (Nate Davis) rules. If either CJ had half his playmaking abilities, this thread wouldn't exist.

Fingers on laces. I rest my case.

Thanks for the scoop, UAK! Statistically, he looks awesome. We need a 6' 3" shooter like that!

I'm told he is eligible. He is a transfer, but he received a waiver from the NCAA. Since I saw him on the sidelines, dressed at some away games, that would mean he is eligible. An ineligible player is not allowed to dress (that's why you see transfers like Ryan Bain and Jeremy Bruce in street clothes in the stands rather than dressed on the field).Joe Dunn was also pretty adamant the other night that Alex Allen would be a senior next year (he'll be a junior). Maybe Joe is finally showing his age?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :laugh_up: :laugh_up: :john: :john: :john:Tough to take a site seriously that once posted I, CK, was a candidate for offensive coordinator!

I'm for whatever it takes to get a win. I want to go into the heart of recruiting season coming off a win vs. the MAC West champ. Getting waxed at home in for the sake of experience would suck for the program, the fans, and especially for guys like Stokes, Shepp, Jabari, Mackey and the other seniors.

I'm sure that will appear on a locker room chalkboard somewhere, but it is the truth. Hopefully it is a good tune-up for Temple on Monday.1-2...how bad is Quinnipiac?

Lost and Stolen Recruits

and Notre Dame is... who'd a thunk it?Sometimes they place a BCS team there as a joke. Like when Michigan lost to Appalachian State. Notre Dame really is one of the 10 worst teams in the nation.