Valpo Zip

The performance of this team is absolutely disgusting. Starting with the two games in Valparaiso till the game today, KD keeps sucking and getting out-coached over and over again. You watch the games and you can see that we have more talent, more size and more speed, yet we loose. KD couldn't teach Zeke in 3 freaking years how to use his 5 fouls wisely and not commit them at the perimeter. Rico, travels at least twice a game, and the whole team is around 50% with free throws. Does KD even address any of that in practice? Oh and I don't know where to start with Serb, was he promised that if he comes back for his senior year he will be able to do whatever the Heck he wants and get away with it? For those of you who will come back with the "The sky is not falling" argument, I know that. I know that we can "theoretically" loose our whole season and win the 3 games in Cleveland and win the NCAA tournament. However, If KD doesn't give a $hit about the regular season, then why does he ask us to buy tickets and watch his team play those games? why is he continuously bitching about the empty JAR? I am done wasting time and money to raise my blood pressure. The product KD is putting on the court is no different than the $hit Ianello was putting in the fall.

We're bigger, faster, and more talented than MTSU. We somehow are managing to lose this game by a lot.

We scored 5 points in the first minute. MTSU coach saw something, called a time out and we scored 6 points in the following 11 minutes. What the heck did that coach see and what did he tell his team? AA with 2 travels and one carryover in 15 minutes :'(

Again, is it too late to send Nik to Serbia?

For whatever it is worth, the 7.95 link is decent and worth the money.

The Zips did distinguish themselves from the MAC by beating Miss State but that lasted only one week. they went back to mediocrity by losing to two average teams in Valpo and Duquesne and then getting destroyed by WV. The rest of the MAC east teams have also been impressive by beating WV (Can't) and Arkansas St and Marshall (Ohio) and Dayton (Buffalo & miami). As of now, we are not looking better than any MAC east team except maybe BG. We HAVE to beat MTSU to get back on track and put the WV game behind us.

If we don't win this game, we can kiss the 20 wins/season streak goodbye. Just saying!

Knowing KD, I think it is fair to say: bye tree, it was nice seeing you play. What a sad way to waste your talent.

Is it too late to send Nik to Serbia to play pro? I think the team will be better without him. And do we do any free throw shooting at practice?

Detroit has an RPI of 281 with a record of 1-4 with their only win being a 1 pointer over Austin Peay. I am sorry GOZIPS but that win is not as impressive as you think it is.

You can't expect a first year player to assume the leader's role. Not with the way KD does things. Nitro and Zeke don't seem to be able to assume the leader's spot. Serb is still volatile and ready to blow up at any moment (had a scary instance vs Duquesne) Rico was a great fit for the job but his suspension doesn't help, and we don't even know when will he come back. The best option now, and it is a good one, will be Q. Last year's Q was not leadership material but this year's Q definitely is.

Hopefully long enough for Deji to get some good playing time. He can only get better. When did we change our goal from winning games to developing players? Do we also hope that Zeke gets suspended so that Josh gets more PT?

With all due respect to you guys, you are simply failing to see the difference between being negative and raising the bar. What happened is that we (as fans) are expecting more of this team because of the high level of talents in it. If you are satisfied with the "only 3 games in March matter" mentality, then you shouldn't be disappointed, in fact i don't know why you're even watching bball at this time of the year. If you however, were hoping for a season where we put ourselves in a position for an at large bid, in case we don't win the MAC, then you can't tell me you're not disappointed with the outcomes of the last two games.

Those refs were not bad refs, they were really good. They did exactly what they were supposed to do. There is no way they were missing calls. No one is that bad. Count me a believer in the gazelle conspiracy. That being said, we could have beaten the refs and valpo and we should have. The team did choke. The seniors disappeared, Zeke, well...and most of all KD was out coached BIG TIME. We historically struggle against the zone and last night was no difference. For 3 consecutive plays at the end of the game, he called time outs and still couldn't draw a play that will put the ball in the hoop. We were up by 5 with 4 min left and we didn't score a point in the last 4 minutes...we also didn't score a point in the first 4 minutes of that half. You can't do that, especially when you play against 8.

I am so sorry to hear that. My prayers go to this soul and for the Mcknight family.

Everyone needs to slow down and take a deep breath! This is a team that has NEVER BEATEN A TOP 25 TEAM. NOT EVER. So before you get all psyched up, just to be disappointed, just keep in mind. We have never beaten a ranked team. Small steps. Lets win the next two games and get three votes next week! Where is the "like" button?

The next 2 games in the 2k classic tournament are going to be huge. Both Valpo and Duquesne are decent competition but the zips should show that they can consistently win and end the week at 4-0. Maybe we'll have 4 votes next Monday. So did you make your travel plans for this week end?

With the unprecedented excitement accompanying the beginning of this season, I think that we will and we should see greater crowds at the JAR for the men's bball games. If we all want to become the Gonzaga of the east or the Butler of the MAC, we definitely can't play in the JAR for too long. And as we all know, the best way (maybe the only way) to have a new arena is to outgrow the current one. continuously selling out the JAR will send a message to Dr. P and TW that we need a better place and also will send a message to KD that his efforts are not unnoticed. Another thing that came up recently when talking about the tournament and Miss State going to NY instead of the zips, the general feeling is that the zips do not travel well. That HAS TO CHANGE. This team is worth traveling for. It is a shame when we go to a tournament and play another team with 10 times bigger crowd on a neutral court. We need to show our support inside and outside the JAR. I think that it should start in Valpo this week end. It is only a 6 hours drive from Akron (4 hours from where I live ) and It should be a great time watching 2 competitive games in 2 days. I've got my hotel reservations, how about you?

To answer the survey question: Nitro. Because KD is loyal to his hard working players and Nitro has been a good "soldier" for 4 years. Reading the comments Gozips and others made about practice, I expected tree to be a big frame but not much basketball skills. I was kind of expecting to see a freshman Bardo or Futch. I couldn't have been more wrong. Tree is extremely similar to Romeo Travis his freshman year. Same footwork, same rebounding abilities, and defensive prowess. When he spends some time in the system, Tree should develop the mid range jumper and will end up another Romeo by the end of his career. My only minor disappointment, if any, yesterday was Egner. Not that Josh did anything wrong but because I felt that his teammates did not trust him. I saw him multiple times posting up in a great position and asking for the ball where Rico or Walsh look away or just hoist a three. The two baskets Josh scored were from a steal under the basket and an offensive rebound, I would have loved to see him get the ball in the post, I was really looking forward to see if he can go to work with it.

I second this motion

Could you imagine how good the Lakers might have been if Kareem or Magic was in the 6th man role? Diggs starts. Period. Remember when Kevin McHale was the best sixth man in the NBA? One second after the game started, the Celtics would send him to the scorer's table to enter the game. He was actually a starter. It was a joke. Diggs is the best player on the team and looks like what a D1A basketball player should look like. It's called talent and this program finally has the talent it could have had for years. I like Keith Dambrot Version 2.0 much more than Version 1.0. I might even start calling him KD2.0. Please explain. I am confused. KD1.0 banked on kids of lesser talent and didn't ever want to take a risk. His good coaching and "gritty" kids weren't enough to win the MAC the way they could. He even admitted one year after losing the MAC Championship that he had to do things differently and bring in better talent. KD2.0 goes after better athletes and is a good coach. It makes his life easier and the team much better. KD1.0 had to coach his a$$ off every game to get the team to win. KD2.0 can coach the kids up, send them out, sit back and drink coffee and read the NY Times. KD2.0 realized there were better ways and easier way to win basketball games. This is the best Zips basketball team I think I have ever seen and it goes to a paradigm change in the coach...which is a good thing. The old way was not helping the program reach its potential. GP1, do you think KD1.0 was able to get good athletes but he decided not to? Do you think the likes of Diggs, Zeke, Rico, etc... would be interested in coming to a post-Hipsher Akron team coming out of i don't know how many losing seasons? I think that KD is the same, he is just gradually building the house. Rome, Dru, and J-wood laid the foundation. Dials and Linhart followed, now with 2 NCAA trips in the last 3 years, KD can recruit almost any midmajor. That is the difference as i see it.

I see what you're saying quickzips and you're absolutely right. Aldridge is more of a PF. I do however feel that Zeke's offense is getting there and that with two more years of high level college bball, he will develop a better feel on how to put the ball in the basket. He made huge progress since he first came to Akron: no more fumbles, much better shot selection, better footwork, and better positioning for both alley-oops and putbacks...this is why I compared him to Aldridge..

If the NBA draft was today, I think Zeke will be an early second round pick and he will have a Ryan Hollins like career. If he, however, stays in school and keep progressing at the rate he is, at the end of his senior year, Zeke will be a top 10 pick with the potential of a Lamarcus Aldridge career.

I have a lot of respect for the writer of this blog. It is hard to be so fair and unbiased when you talk about your rival. Some of our fans even refuse to acknowledge that Can't is going to be a good team. Anyways, is this going to be the year we get an at large in the MAC?

So?