Valpo Zip

The problem is that Dambrot knows that we're NOT on a comparable level with those schools. That's why he doesn't schedule them.

With all due respect, in my opinion, this is not an issue with the players needing the paint for themselves. It is more of a reflection of the offensive scheme we play. In our offense, we play a unique version of the inside-out offense where we feed the ball to the paint and the other 4 players line up behind the 3-point line. If the big guy is doubled he will pass to the open shooter, otherwise, he will try to take his man to the basket. Therefore, two no 3-point shooting big guys cannot work together. To get both big guys together on the floor, you will need to add some other plays to the play book. I dream of the day when Pat uses his wide shoulders to set a screen for a lightning fast slashing Antino Jackson. Or seeing either big dog or Pat sealing a defender under the basket for the other big guy to go to the basket.

I wish all our alumni felt that way.

According to ESPN, WMU's average free throw shooting percentage is 0.686. Had they shot their yearly average yesterday, they would have won the game. Keep in mind that the officials did everything they possibly could to give them extra FT chances, but they still came short. Anyways, it is a good feeling when you look at the MAC standings and see that WMU is 4-2 and realize that your team is responsible for their '2'

This is like seeing an employer advertising for a job where you get all the "wonderful" attributes of having a job except getting paid at the end of the month. I will not apply for such a job

That's why you create another email account that you never check.

It seems to me that Zeke is only signed for the Dubai tournament and not the whole season. He doesn't show on the seasonal roster of Sagesse http://www.clubsagesse.org/roster My understanding is that the Lebanese league rules allow teams to have no more than 1 international player on their rosters (for that, sagesse has Desmond Penigar) while the Dubai tournament allows teams to have more international players. It is good to see Zeke making the most of his opportunity. If he impresses, Sagesse may decide to keep him as their international player or he may catch the eye of another team in the Dubai tournament or Lebanese league.

Ha! Lebanon out of all places. Lebanon is my native country. Sagesse is Lebanon's equivalent of LA Lakers. Perennial power with a lot of history and supporters. Best of luck to Zeke. I wish I can get in touch with him to offer help with whatever I can do from over here. Also, If you ever run into an arabic story about him, I'll translate for free

Guys, we to make your voices heard. Bitching about it on ZN.org is preaching to the choir. Now with the thousands of likes that the stupid facebook post is getting, the athletic department will think that cheering on OSU is actually a good idea and great sportsmanship The employee who designed and posted that graphic maybe selling it to his bosses as a great success because of the "like" volume. I don't know if our administrators are smart enough to realize that those likers will never make it to a game or donate a penny to UA. The tweet from the president is even more disturbing and it only has 4 replies complaining about it. If you don't want to send an email or a letter or whatever, can you at least respond to Dr Scarbourough's tweet to show your objection in a respectful way?

I love the fact that the coach is taking full responsibility for the inability to be smart and make the necessary adjustments. Now the question is, how does this responsibility translate into a measurable plan of execution? In the next games, will we start seeing more dribble penetrations? back door passes? low screens? or will we still just pass the ball back and forth for a while and try some high screens before we heave a three pointer?

Are you pushed by the Horizon league to lobby for this? I know they would love to get rid of them.

This is the good old chicken and the egg dilemma... More fans and larger arenas come after success not the other way around.

This lethargical attitude is the biggest problem to our programs and it scares me to think that our coaching staff are thinking along the same lines. Did we run out of excuses inside the university so now it is the city of Akron that has nothing to offer? What does spokane, WA have to offer? what does Indianapolis have to offer? and Wichita, KS... Or let's get closer to home. What did Can't have to offer for K.S.U to make an elite 8 run? and what did Athens have to offer for 3 NCAA wins in the last 5 years? Seriously people, for the millionth time: NO ONE HERE IS ASKING FOR DAMBROT TO BE FIRED. All what some of us are saying is that the guy does not walk on water and the program hasn't made any progress in the last 5 years. Someone should take a look at why that is. Is that blasphemy?

I work for a private small university and I frequently get the following question from HS seniors and their parents: "Why shall I pay more $ to go to a smaller school with less features?" The answer is: you will be a number in a big school, you will be a student here. So, along the same lines, if we can't win like the big schools, let's at least give our fans the personal experience and respect to make them feel that they are friends of the programs and not numbers. Here a few examples: 1 - The whole Lot 9 tailgating issue and our Athletic department acting as if tailgaters are stampeding in front of the stadium and that we can turn away a few thousands of them. 2 - Back in my days as an AK-Rowdy, Caleb used to bring his team at the end of each win to jump around with the rowdies and sing "I believe". KD and the basketball team used to run straight into the tunnel without even looking at the rowdies. (This may have changed recently, or so I hope). 3 - Requiring Rowdies to have a wrist band and a certain shirt to sit on the lower level seats (I also am not sure if that is still the case) 4 - Organizing fan outings not only to make $ (like banquets and golf outings) but also to get them connected and build a strong fan base. This includes bus trips and travel arrangements to away games.

I feel with you Alone in Ashland. My family is very similar to yours. Family members who went to Akron and live in Akron only hear about the zips when I come to town and offer them free tickets to join me for a game. BTW, they automatically decline if OSU is playing in the same day (even if at different times). Even worse, I work with a bunch of big ten + ND alums. During lunches and/or water cooler conversations, they each gloat about their teams going to bowls and being ranked and making runs in the NCAA tourney. They look at me for contributions and the only things I can say are: "We're getting better in football" and "We have a young basketball team... for the 7th year in a row".

KD will not be fired nor should he. No one is asking for his job and no one is asking for him to be threatened or whatever. Nevertheless, he should be told that the program has not progressed in the last 5 years. And he should be pressured to hire better assistants. And he should be told that the way he schedules is not acceptable. If I was the AD I will make the seasonal incentives based on the RPI at the end of the year instead of the W-L count. I honestly don't care how many 20 win seasons we have in a row and most importantly I DON'T CARE HOW MANY TIMES WE BEAT PINE BLUFF AND BLUFFTON. KD did an amazing job pulling the program out of the dumpster it was in during the Hipsher era. We all appreciate that and he deserves all the praise for that. The guy has a very lucrative 10 year contract. Isn't that thanking him enough? 10 years later, can we still not ask for more?

I was not planning to contribute to this chronic discussion because my experience here has been that most of the fans act as if Dambrot can do no wrong and no one should ever question any thing he does. But now that you are asking for a single point of discussion, I am going to accept your offer Dave, let's talk about player development. Dambrot came to the program 10 years ago selling the idea of no JC and only HS kids because you invest in them in their underclassmen years and then they return big on the investment when they are seniors. So I would assume that when coaches invest resources to scout a player and invest more resources to offer him a scholarship, that player should at least return on the investment by being a player for multiple year and that their performance should steadily improve from year 1 to year 4. Let's see the record...look at the following names: Alex Sullivan, Michael Green, Humpty Hitchens, Dakotah Euton, Josh Egner, Steve Swich, Nick Harney, Alex Abreu, Ronnie Stewart, Andrew Parrish, Bubba Walter, John Rybak, Blake Justice, Carmelo Betancourt, and finally Tree. That's a list of 15 student athletes (I may be forgetting some more) that did not play their senior year of eligibility at Akron and (in business terms) did not reach the potential return on investment. Now off course you will say that players every where transfer out of programs but that is a list of 15 players. If Dambrot is in his 10th? year at Akron and the average coach brings in 3 HS kids per year, this list would be 50% of KD's recruits. So when KD talks year after year after year about his team being young and that they're not winning because of this youth, you have to ask: who's fault is that? and how can we ever have a seasoned team when players don't get to their senior year in the program?

Kehres could have jumped from D-III to DI. He just didn't want to.

Ironically, Buffalo was the only D1-A team that Ianello managed to beat as a head coach.

I know it is still early in the season but for whatever it is worth, we ranked #9 in the midmajor top 25 rankings http://www.collegeinsider.com/mens-mid-major-top-25.php With 4 MAC teams in the top 25 and 3 receiving votes, could this be the year where playing the MAC portion of the schedule doesn't kill our RPI?

Our teams usually have a single "feel good", out of conference, win per season: 2011: Mississippi State 2012: Penn State 2013: was it Oregon or Oregon State? I am afraid that USC was it this year and tomorrow we will go back to face the harsh reality. If the zips want to surprise me tomorrow and show me that I am nothing but a clueless fan who has no idea what he's talking about, i'll be happy to take it.

Is this link operated by the athletic department in a big university or by a teen age kid in china?

Is Steve Zakuani interested in coaching? I think he'll make a great coach.

The crazy thing is that Kofi Sarkodie and Steve Zakuani didn't even make that team.

I never interacted with coach Peters at the personal level, but the love he is getting from everyone speaks volumes about the man he was. May his soul RIP.