Valpo Zip

Sorry UAZip, to me there is no debate. As much as I loved the 2007 team, I think it was mainly because it was our first time in the MAC final and it was the first time we felt that we can actually "DREAM" about being in the dance. But when you think about it reasonably, let's look at the 5 starting positions if I remember correctly... I will take: - Zeke over J-Wood (5) - Tree vs Romeo (4) will be a tie - Linhart vs Kretzer is also a tie - Walsh over Dials (2) - Harney (was playing PG) over Joyce (1) When it comes to the bench, I feel that Gilliam, McAdams and Forsythe are definitely better than Middleton, Quade Milum, and Bardo. Again, that 2007 team has a very good spot in my heart because what they did at their time was unprecedented. I have great respect and appreciation for those guys but with all due respect, I feel that if Milum, Middleton, Bardo, and Joyce were graduating HS in 2012-2013, they will not even be recruited to play at Akron.

In the game between UNC and Iowa State, a clock mis-operation resulted in the clock showing that some time is left for the UNC players to call for a timeout. However, the refs reviewed it and ruled that, regardless of what the clock was showing, the time should have actually expired. (Sounds familiar?) The game was called over with an Iowa State win. The TV guys and a representative of the officiating committee all said that this was the right call. So, my question is: when are Romeo Travis, Dru Joyce, Middleton, Dials etc... getting their stolen MAC 2007 championship rings?

That makes sense now. I did not read that line at the bottom. Thank you for being a better reader than I am . Please accept my apologies. It was not my intent to mislead any one.

Good catch Dave. I have no clue as of why Calipari's did not make the list. The USA today, however, clearly states that this is the list of the "TOP" NCAAB salaries. It is not a list of randomly selected 60 coaches across the board to say that KD is 48/60. The point remains however, that KD makes a base salary of $426,000 with bonuses that can earn him north of $700,000/year. That is a lot of money for a coach who never won a game in the dance.

Ok Dave you got me there. I should have asked to find a president without a doctoral degree...in any field, not particularly a doctorate of philosophy (ph. d). So MD, Pharm. D, Ed. D, J.D (which president Daniels has) don't count.

Really, Zach?!!! Why don't you tell me what makes you want Tressel for the job? What did he do other than coach Football? ... and Cheat while doing it! Can some one name a research university with a president who doesn't hold a Ph. D?

As I mentioned before, Tressel for president will be an absolute disaster for the university. I was visiting Akron last week (before the tournament) and I met with multiple professors who said that they will leave the university if it happens. I don't know how much that means to you, but keep in mind that this is an Academic institution first. Athletics come next. I hope and pray that the search committee is smarter than taking such a stupid move.

The "Like" button is still not working for me!

I don't think that we are unrealistic or asking for unachievable goals with the men's basketball program. And if you want to compare it to other sports, let's do that! People are very happy and content with the progress that TB has made with the Football team. I will be thrilled if the football team is bowl eligible next year, whether they win or lose their bowl game. That's being realistic. On the other hand, if TB is here in 10 years still cannot win a bowl game, will you be happy?

Those of you portraying the problem as being a financial issue are way off! Check this link of the top 60~ish salaries of college basketball coaches: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/salaries/ncaab/coach/ KD checks in at 48 in the nation and top of the mac. We lost to an IPFW team that was coached by a third year coach who makes $92,600 a year and plays in a 2500 seat gym. Do they have more resources? why did they have a better team? It swill sure be nice to have a new arena and a $50M and all that but all the other mid majors winning games at the NCAA tournament do not necessarily have that (Can't, Ohio, North Dakota, etc...) The program did not have more money when we had people like Jeff Boals, Shaka Smart, and Lamont Paris as assistant coaches. We don't have that caliber of people simply because KD decided to have a staff of exclusively "his" people. In academia, this is known as academic incest and almost all universities do not allow it.

Oh the good old Crawford/Hipsher argument! KD has been with the program for 10 years now. He is signed for another 10 years ahead. Coleman Crawford and Dan Hipsher did not have that luxury and job security. KD is making $400,000 + winning incentives!!!!! That is more than the salaries of Crawford/Hipsher and his whole coaching staff combined. Do you still think it is a fair comparison?

I don't mean to be offensive to any fellow fan or player/parent or even staff member reading this forum. I do however feel that (as a fan base, no one personally) we need a dose of reality at this point. As fans of the Akron Zips, we tend to wear our blue and gold glasses every off season as we start discussing our sweet 16 team, the most athletic group that Akron ever fielded, Big Dog who is going to dominate the paint by the start of MAC play, etc... Reality usually strikes 3-5 games into the season, when we usually lay an egg in our OOC part of the schedule (Austin Peay, Duquesne, Coastal Carolina, etc...). We then start playing the "mostly" mediocre MAC teams which re-inflates our heads to think that we are sweet 16 caliber again. In the MAC tournament, we have obviously dominated by consistently being in the championship game for the last 7 years (winning 3 of which). After the MAC tournamnet, over the last 5 years, we have lost by double digits all 3 times we went to the big dance, lost in the first round of the NIT at Northwestern, and lost in the first round of the CIT to Wisconsin GB. Considering all the above, can someone explain to me why do we feel that the CIT is beneath us? I can see Butler, VCU, or Creighton looking down at the CIT because they have consistently played AND WON at the NCAA tournament. But us???? Do we feel that we are too good for the CIT because we make it to the NCAA tournament every other year and get blown by XX points? Moreover, if the NIT or CIT are such lowly tournaments, can you please remind me of the last time we made a serious run in any of those tournaments? did we ever win one of those tournaments? final four? any thing worth mentioning? Fellow fans, with all due respect, our team can't make free throws. Our team went for 8 minutes of play without scoring a point against WMU. Why on earth do we feel that we're too good to play in any tournament? where did this team get this sense of entitlement? Why are we discussing if coaches want to play in the tournament or not? isn't that their job to prepare the team to play whoever they are playing? Why are we discussing how the players feel about playing in the CIT? isn't it expected from them to be competitors who play their hearts and souls every time they put on their jerseys?

That foul wasn't called simply because Jake got up and tried to be a tough guy and play. Go back to the Singletary/Linhart video - No foul was immediately called. Only when Linhart rolled on the ground in clear pain did the refs go to the screen and decide that Singletary doesn't belong on a basketball court. With MAC refs, being a tough no BS player doesn't get you any where. Being a whiny clown like Hurley does. Back to the topic at hand: technically speaking, character on the side, McRea is the POY even if his team gets out of the first round of the tournament. There is no shame in admitting that. P.S: @ubxcretired - Count me as another Zips fan who enjoy reading your posts. I don't always agree with all you say, but enjoy it nevertheless.

Thanks Hilltopper. I agree that Tree seems to be headed to a top 10 spot for his career points. What a pleasure he is to watch.

I am curious to know where does Tree rank in the list of the highest scorers. Is there a data base where we can look up historical statistics?

Absolutely!

It is the main source for call ups but I think that Zeke needs to establish himself a bit more in the D-League before he gets called up. Becoming a starter is a good start.

What a bad turn this conversation has taken!!! @Sportsjunkie: Are you seriously comparing the two? The one had a fight with his girl friend and was suspended by THE DISCIPLINARY BOARD OF THE UNIVERSITY. No courts, no jail time. Does that compare to a Drug dealer who was convicted and jailed?

That is an amazing progress and a great thing to see. When I heard about Jason Kid and the Nets looking for a big who can help them defend the paint, I was (prematurely) hoping that Zeke will get a look. Anyways, it only shows that there is always need for a seven footer with his skills. I am hoping that we will see Zeke in the NBA some time next season.

@Uazip0510: If you want to use the "Alex should have been our PG" argument, I will counter with the "Q shouldn't be playing" argument as his eligibility should have expired last year. IMHO, should have could have would have are just too lame for excuses after 30 games into the season. @Dave: I am glad to hear that KD assumes responsibility in his personal conversations. As I reflect on this, I feel that I used to like him a lot more when I used to personally talk to him when I was living in the area. Also, most of his vivid "defenders" seem to be people who personally interact with him on a regular basis. Nevertheless, as a fan whose only interaction with their coach is through his coaching performance and what he says in the media, he continuously rubs me the wrong way. Last game against EMU, he goes says something likes this: ----------------------------------------------------- In ypsilanti our shooters made 10-19 from behind the arc, today they only shot 3-23... (sarcastically): it must be bad coaching! ----------------------------------------------------- What I heard was: "Don't you dare blame me, it is the shooters you should blame. What I wanted him to say : "EMU adjusted to our offensive schemes since we last played them, they made it tougher for our shooters, we need to find better ways to get them open" Do you see the difference? Yesterday, rather than saying that the team quit, wouldn't it be better if he said: "we were missing some key pieces and we failed to make the necessary adjustments, we will try to do a better job next week" What is KD afraid of? he has a 10 year contract that pays him more than he will ever need. Who is he trying to impress? We (as fans) will not think any less of him if he publicly assumed responsibility rather than blaming the 19 year olds that he recruited.

The team did quit and KD is right in saying that, but the problem is in what he didn't say. It is easy to point fingers at others instead of looking in the mirror. KD knew few days ago that they will be missing 3 players, what adjustments were made? what was the plan? go out there and wing it? KD has been on the top of this program for 10-11 years now? that's long enough for him to be blamed when something goes wrong. If young players not performing well: He recruited them! if upper classmen not leading well: He didn't develop them into leaders. if The team is too young: he didn't balance recruitment if we don't have good assistant coaches: they are his guys if fans don't show up for regular season games: he created that culture. Like GP1 said, he has been paid mightily and has had control over every little detail of this program for long enough for him to every now and then say that he did something wrong. Just to be clear: I am not trolling, I don't want KD fired, and I will not be rooting for the buckeyes or Kentucky. I just feel that some accountability is needed.

I said this before and as much as it hurts, I will say it again: When you spread the mentality that only three games at the Q matter, people will only attend the 3 games at the Q.

Apologies if this has been mentioned before but i don't remember seeing anything about this guy. He seems to be high on Akron despite a long list of other interested schools. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLkGnh6kNGY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGLkGnh6kNGY&app=desktop

His first "research" task should be finding a better place for coaches to shove their play calls sheet.

Two basket ball teams... and a volleyball team.