Z.I.P.

Here is my take on Ohio, after seeing them play three games in the beautiful Hawaiian Islands over the holidays: Stevie Taylor has lost his PT and his starting spot in the rotation to the "New Taylor".. Ryan is a very good freshman -- big guard who should develop into a very effective scorer and defender, possibly an all-MAC caliber baller. Setty is so very inconsistent: He can literally take over a game on the inside (as he did versus DePaul) with his aggressive play, offensive rebounding and fine court vision. Unfortunately for coach Saul (nice guy BTW, spent some time near him, he's a laid-back sort of guy, who reminds me somewhat of coach Hawkins at WMU), Treg gets out of rhythm and tends to get lost for long stretches, and can commit bad fouls. Green Bean Willis, when he gets hot -- pphewwwww, does he get hot -- he can just blow off a streak of points that can change the game (33 pts vs DePaul, IIRC). In general, you are right that this OU team lacks depth -- and they also lack size and rebounding. But on a given night, they can surely beat any team in the league.

Taking an awful long time for this hire, aren't they? That's probably because past experience shows the U won't invest in the program. Not even a Taraflex floor!

Sitting at the Diamond Head Classic at Stan Sherrif Center this morning I turned the program to the section on Loyola Marymount (which plays Wichita State tonight), and the "Player to Watch" happened to be the eponymous name to this thread. I was not aware of Evan Payne until reading that he "rewrote LMU's freshman record book" last season with seven 20+ point games, and comes into this tournament as one of the nation's leading scorers at over 22 ppg. It appears Payne is on target to exceed 2000 points in his West Coast Conference career, if it isn't cut short by the NBA draft. How in the world did this hometown player get away from the Zips? Here's the LMU bio: http://www.lmulions.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/evan_payne_862254.html

Thanks guys, you beat me to the news. I hope she has the chops for the environment. There's a lot of talk that jobs like Akron, Creighton women's footy are unwinnable, always to be compared to the men's success. We have the facilities, she has three years to prove herself, like all new coaches -- but three years in this job is not enough to turn things around. Even coach Kest took longer -- and she's a miracle worker!

Anyone still doubt my prediction that they will enter MAC play undefeated?

Here is one really good option -- if it's available. http://www.purduesports.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/110314aaa.html I realized one of coach Klatte's assistants was a former youth player in the islands -- saw Erin Otagaki last week as she's "home" for the holidays and coaching player camps. If I see her again, I will ask her about Klatte's plans. He took a new program to the tourney six times in seventeen years, had ten straight years of double digit victories. He has a wealth of regional and national connections. Can we afford him? I have another dog in the ring also, a high major assistant I've known for many years who has applied and should be considered. I'm hearing that there have been Big East and Big Ten assistants applying. Not sure about current HCs. The job announcement went out officially around Dec 1. There could be a decision by the end of the year if the wheels turn rapidly.

Ya know, frankly that's sad for both college soccer and I think the young man. He will not get beyond some reserve play for a couple years. At least. Would you give this recommendation to your kid?

Have to agree -- and frankly, I think any championship won on PKs should have an asterisk next to it!

This youngster is a 2016 senior, but I sure hope our Crew Academy connex (Hello, Wil!) are working to put our best face forward with Ben Swanson, the #1 ranked player in the Great Lakes region in his class. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/benjamin-swanson/pid-10017624

An amazing indication of the long-term futility of Akron's program (pre-today!) is that the team recently won the program's 400th game ever -- and the program began in 1974. We've averaged just ten wins a year!

LOL. Yes, my monitor zoom WAS set on 100%, but it still showed the type for the entire site as 8 rather than the apparent default 14 (see Hilltopper's font above). It is fine now, so not sure what went wrong yesterday.

The team has been very inconsistent -- but clearly improving in regards to passing to the open man and getting assisted field goals. I noticed that a lot of games I've seen this year have had fewer assists than normal -- and one thing came to mind: this damned "new" hand-check rule. Not only has it created a lot more of a free throw shooting contest on the floor, but I believe it has turned the game into more of a one-on-one game. Ball-handlers without any contact allowed by defenders are much more likely to drive deeper and take the ball to the hoop sooner. Whether you like that or not is up to you (same question as "Do you like the NBA?"), but there's a clear change in the game. Next question: What's wrong with the font size today? The default font is so tiny you can't read it, so I had to increase to 24.

Balsy, were you in Nashville while the football team was in Knoxville? Hope you enjoyed yourself!

"Intriguing" ain't the half of it! This certainly dispels all those stories that Kehres could never jump from D-III to D1.

"Xavier is expected to commit there soon." Does that mean https://rivals.yahoo.com/alabama/football/recruiting/player-Xavier-Braithwaite-151818 ?? Also from Erasmus Hall.

I think you meant "2014". Personally, I have my doubts whether DeA will be treated any better in North London than Jozy Altidore has at Wearside. Haven't seen Spurs play much this year -- who's holding down the RB spot?

Pretty amazing how Teal Bunbury has put himself back on the plate by scoring a couple of playoff goals! Comeback player of 2015?

Oh, I forgot to mention -- watch out for J Love and the Special Sauce!

This team seems to have one big thing that last year's team lacked, and that is resilience. They do not let a bad stretch of basketball get them down -- they fight through it -- and that is a sign of a potentially very good basketball team.

Watched UAPB play three games in Hawaii to start the season. This is the best Pine Bluff team I have ever seen. Akron by 15.

Looking at their schedule, I fully expect the team to go into MAC competition undefeated this season. How long, and how many wins will it take to jump into the top 25 poll?

I was absolutely shocked by what happened in the NCAA Women's tournament over the weekend. I watched UCLA play twice this year, and they were the best women's team since at least the early 90's North Carolina outfits that featured Mia Hamm and several other future USWNT players. UCLA got knocked out of the tournament by Virginia 2-1. I would call that an historic upset -- and evidence of just how difficult it is to go undefeated and/or win an NCAA title. Tip my cap to the 2010 Zips!!

The rule book (and I have specifically asked the SID and official scorer of Hawaii women's soccer about this -- I have to assume it applies to both men and women) states that the home team has the option of running the clock either up from 0:00 to 90:00 or down from 90:00 to 00:00. In my travels I have noticed that many schools that used to run their scoreboard clocks up have switched to running them down -- why I have no idea, I'm with Zip_ME87 on this issue. BUT -- if you want the clock run the opposite direction you should direct your opinion to coach Embick, as he would seem to control the clock operation. This season I watched men's and women's games at Cal State Northridge and UC-Irvine, and the clock at Northridge ran up, while I seem to recall the one at Irvine ran down. In Hawaii, for several years our clock ran up, but a few years ago they switched it. I think it's just playing to the less knowledgeable spectators, who might be confused by the "backwards" (to American thinking) timekeeping. Let's get in the swing of the international (FIFA) system.

How's THAT for an answer to a 16 point run? 7-1 Akron run.