sgm405

Oh dear God please rack this post. Thank you mcperp...I'm glad someone finally gets it.

Again...my statement was this:I think the #1 team in the nation that's currently in the Final Four would defeat Akron handily.And why shouldn't I? They are clearly the better team and would present a ton of matchup problems for Akron. I also think that OSU coming to the JAR would do nothing for their program. They wouldn't make much money and wouldn't help their strength of schedule...and if they did lose in the huge upset it could hurt them big time. So an OSU-Akron matchup at the JAR brings ZERO positives for OSU with a chance of major negatives...why exactly would they choose to do that? I would've said the same thing for Florida, North Carolina, Georgetown, UCLA, etc etc etc as well. They would have no reason to come to the JAR at this point and time. Those were my two statements. Anyone who knows college basketball and looked at things in a non-biased manner would agree with both of those statements. So answer me this...What exactly does that have to do with my allegiance to Akron? Did I say I liked OSU more? Did I say I wished OSU would beat Akron? No and no...I simply pointed out realistic observations that people that hate OSU refuse - for whatever reason - to believe. Please, enlighten me...and maybe use actual points and arguments instead of sophomoric insults and generalizations.

"Who cares about some schools a couple of hours away anyways? Well, beside smg."Apparently a lot of people...I mean, that's why you all hate OSU, right? Because they get more attention in Akron than Akron gets in Akron...???"Apparently sgm wishes he had gone to Ohio St."And why is that? Because I think the #1 team in the nation that's currently in the Final Four would defeat Akron? Or because I am smart enough to see that OSU coming to the JAR would do nothing for their program? What exactly does that have to do with my allegiance to the Akron?

I just think OSU coming to the JAR gets them nothing. With - as you said - the way the committee perceives Akron right now, a win over the Zips for the Buckeyes would mean very little for their program. If Akron played a near-perfect game (and they'd need to to defeat this Buckeye team) and somehow defeated OSU, it would be a killer loss. So if you're the OSU AD, why do it? OSU haters will call it fear....I call it intelligence.

Well if you guys want to think that way, that's cool. Smart scheduling = fear I guess. Again - why would OSU come here? It doesn't work that way folks. Akron's got to win something before that happens, to make it worth it for big time programs to come in. But hey, if you guys want to think that the #1 ranked, Final Four-bound Ohio State team that scheduled non-conference road games against UNC and Florida this year is afraid of the Akron Zips...hey, that's your right. And the team that should've lost to Xavier, who was on par with the Zips this year. OSU was forced to play Xavier on a neutral court, and you saw the results. Yes, OSU is AFRAID to play any decent Ohio team away from home, and for good reason. A loss could begin to chip away at their sports monopoly on the state, God-forbid, and would severely hinder the ignorantly overconfident invinibility mindset of most Suckeye fan morons. So now we're counting "should've losses"? Who won the game? That's really all that matters.Again...OSU won't play at Akron because of a very simple reason - THEY GAIN NOTHING. Why schedule a game that does nothing for your team? As for Akron beating OSU, hey - I'd love to see it happen. I'm not sure who'd guard Greg Oden or Mike Conley Jr., but that's a different story. But do you honestly think one win over OSU would chip away at their "sports monopoly"? If Akron is to ever be anywhere near the same level as OSU bball, they'll have to:1) Win consistently2) Win their conference numerous times3) Actually make it to the NCAA tournament 4) Once there, make at least a nice run...and not just once. Hey, I hope it happens...I really do. But anyone who honestly think that OSU is afraid of not being able to beat Akron, or that Akron is anywhere close right now to the level of their program is just letting their OSU-hating blinders get in the way of reasonable thinking.

Not saying he wasn't a factor at all. I'm saying ANY 7' guy would have done the same thing on those teams. Anyone 6-10" or so on those teams in that spot would have provided those same things. But not many teams in the MAC have a guy that size with any kind of skill. Which goes back to my point - if Swiech is the real deal, he could absolutely dominate in the MAC.

Well if you guys want to think that way, that's cool. Smart scheduling = fear I guess. Again - why would OSU come here? It doesn't work that way folks. Akron's got to win something before that happens, to make it worth it for big time programs to come in. But hey, if you guys want to think that the #1 ranked, Final Four-bound Ohio State team that scheduled non-conference road games against UNC and Florida this year is afraid of the Akron Zips...hey, that's your right.

If you're OSU, why would you come to Akron to play? Honestly...everyone take off the OSU-hating blinders and think logically for a second. They would have nothing to gain and everything to lose by coming to the JAR. It wouldn't help their strength of schedule one bit. And trust me...I love our team, but I'm pretty sure OSU isn't "afraid" of playing Akron. You contradict yourself.If they have nothing to gain and everything to lose, then obviously, they are afraid. Afraid or smart?

I couldn't disagree more about him not being a factor. Was he a very skilled player? No. Was he a go-to guy? No. And that's my point. Talent-wise, he WAS a stiff. BUT - he was STILL a big-time factor for those Can't State teams. Having his size down low altered many opponents' shots, kept opponents off the glass, and gave the flushes many second chances. NBA scouts must disagree with you as well - he went undrafted but has had two separate stints in the league. Again, not saying he's anything great...but you don't get into the league at all if you don't play a factor in games. Oh, and to say Nick Meyers could've done the same thing is ridiculous. But back to my point. If Edwards could play such a factor without much skill at all - a skilled-player like Swiech could do wonders in the MAC.

If you're OSU, why would you come to Akron to play? Honestly...everyone take off the OSU-hating blinders and think logically for a second. They would have nothing to gain and everything to lose by coming to the JAR. It wouldn't help their strength of schedule one bit. And trust me...I love our team, but I'm pretty sure OSU isn't "afraid" of playing Akron.

Kinda creepy fellas...not gonna lie

I'm not saying I want to abandon the "team" aspect...I'm just saying most successful postseason teams are ones that have that "team" concept but ALSO have at least one player who you know you can count on stepping up. Was there any Zip this past year that you knew would have a good game each and every game?

Derrick Tarver's teams were poorly coached and had nowhere near the overall talent that recent Zips squads have had. While I wouldn't want his attitude or defense on last year's team, I think if they would have had someone with his scoring ability on the roster they would've won 2-3 more games and would've definitely been dancing. Just my opinion

Anyone heard anything about who is the frontrunner?

As I've watched the NCAA Tournament, I've seen a lot of different styles of basketball. Teams relying on post players, teams relying on outside shooting...up-tempo, half-court...that's the great thing about the Tourney - you get to see a lot of different ways of winning. One constant to me with every team I can think of that has any kind of success in the tournament is this: they have at least one go-to guy. Most of the majors have at least 2, but even mid-major and smaller schools have at least one. One guy who can put the ball in the hole during a drought. One guy who can take the big shot. One guy who - when the team needs it most - puts his team on his back and carries them through. Which led me to thinking about the Zips program. Did we have one this year? I honestly don't think so. The default would be Dru Joyce. But Dru couldn't create his own shot enough to be a true "go-to" guy. He also struggled at the line, especially towards the end of the year. Romeo? No dice. While Romeo was solid, I never once got the feeling of "We're ok...the ball is going to Romeo"...ever. I'm not even sure that - deep down - Romeo wanted the ball with the game on the line. Of course I have nothing to back that up with...just my gut feeling, watching him playing without much confidence many times, even during his senior season. Dials? Negative...too streaky. Wood? Maybe. The way he played in the MAC Tournament was inspiring - he took over the game numerous times and seemed to want the ball in key situations. However, it was only two games...but maybe. Middleton? Of any player on the roster, he might be the one who could turn into that guy. He's extremely quick, can shoot well, moves well without the ball, plays terrific defense - he is streaky at times though...and he'd definitely need to improve his free throw shooting. So maybe...but he needs a big offseason. Linhart? No. Milum? No. I'm just not sure last year's team had a true "go-to" guy. And while I love the team aspect and enjoy that different players step up every night - I think we need at least one GTG to make a successful postseason run. I'm not sure we've had one since Derrick Tarver graduated - while some people don't seem to like him, you could at least say this for him - he could take over a game, he could score in bunches, and he wasn't afraid to take the big shot (although there weren't many during his tenure). Could it be Swiech next year? Maybe eventually - big men in the MAC can be HUGE (See: Edwards, John). So the questions are: 1) Am I right - do we need a GTG? 2) Did we have one last year?3) Do we have one on the roster for next year?

Quote of the article:``I believe in bouncing back,'' he said. ``Right after the NIT thing happened, I got a couple of calls from (coaching) friends who said I had to get out of Akron, because if you win 26 games and can't get an NIT bid, something is wrong.''So what did Dambrot think?``For a day or two, I probably felt like leaving,'' he said. ``But then I got over it. This has made me even more determined to make it work at Akron.''

Have you honestly ever seen that though?

Maybe it's just me lol...I just thought it was hilarious that a player is on the bench eating popcorn like he's at the movies...and that Huggins would let him lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV2qhtG8ur8...adspin%2Ecom%2FLOL!

This event worries me. If athletics doesn't advertise the heck out of it, will enough people show up to make it worthwhile to the players and coaches? Consider this:A) We couldn't draw fans with GAMES. Will we be able to draw for a pep rally? B.) It's scheduled the first day back from spring break. For anyone who's gone away for spring break before, the only thing you want to do for the day or two after you get home is lay around and recover from the trip. Factor this and the fact that students won't find out about this until mid-way through the day (if they even do at all) and there could be an extremely low student turnout. C) Are people really going to come out to celebrate a team who - based on season outcome - really didn't win much of anything in the end? And will they want to re-live a game that broke so many hearts in Akron? Now before I get ripped apart, I'm not saying I don't like the idea. I do. Our team had a great season and deserve a warm reception. I'm just pointing out some honest and realistic things to take into consideration. I just worry that if it's not done right, the players could be coming out to a standing ovation of 100-200 fans.

It was interesting to hear "Duke" Vitale call the coaching job by Mike Krezewski "probably the best coaching job of his career." Gotta love Packer and Vitale. Note to everyone: Please take the discussion of the OSU Xavier game to another board. If you want to draw a game tangent to something Zips-related, that's fine. If you want to discuss OSU basketball, there are plenty of other forums to do so. Thanks. If you actually read the posts they ARE made in relation to Zips basketball. One compared the game for Xavier to that of the Zips vs. Miami, the other claimed to be showing an example of why the Zips were left at home.

Anyone who watched the game knows that Oden got mauled all game long. Maybe if you took off your OSU-hating blinders you'd see that. Hey, I feel bad for Xavier. Like Akron, they played great up until the very end and then blew their chance to win. But they blew their chance to win, not the refs. Maybe they can make t-shirts or something...

You probably could've just not clicked on the thread, couldn't you have?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2802320"According to ESPN.com's Andy Katz, some of the names up for consideration to replace Amaker include Washington State's Tony Bennett, Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery, former Golden State Warriors coach Mike Montgomery, UNLV's Lon Kruger, West Virginia's John Beilein, Xavier's Sean Miller and Cal's Ben Braun, as well as ESPN analysts Rick Majerus and Steve Lavin. Katz also reported that Kentucky coach Tubby Smith could be a candidate, if he's available."No mention of KD from ESPN

At first I thought he simply shoved him...however, if you watch the replay closely Oden grabs for the ball. Hard foul? Yes. Intentional/Flagrant? Not at all. The announcers and even the coach from Xavier said so. Again...Xavier doesn't blow the nine point lead, we're not talking about it. Xavier doesn't throw a lazy inbounds pass that gets stolen, we're not talking about it. Xavier hits their free throws, we're not talking about it. Xavier lost the ballgame. Period.