Z-Pouch

From todays Beacon Journal - another nice article Putting together a banner season Dambrot has Zips thinking, playing like winners By Terry Pluto Before a recent practice, Keith Dambrot brought his team together and pointed to the banners hanging in Rhodes Arena. ``We want to hang one there,'' he said. The Akron coach means a postseason banner. A MAC championship. An NCAA appearance. A National Invitation Tournament berth. Something to make the fans smile. ``You have to aim high,'' Dambrot said. And dream big. But after Saturday's impressive 74-68 victory over Niagara in the ESPN Bracket Buster, Dambrot is talking about the Zips making their first appearance in a postseason tournament since Bob Huggins led the Zips to the 1989 NIT. ``It's been in the back of my mind all year,'' Dambrot said. ``And these guys, they keep surprising me all the time. If we can finish strong, why not something like the NIT?'' Why not should be obvious... The Zips are without leading rebounder Jeremiah Wood (knee surgery). They have no one averaging more than Darryl Peterson's 14 points, and the junior is playing with a nose broken in two places and a LeBron James-like protective mask. Akron has not had a winning record in five years and was picked for second-to-last in the MAC East at the start of the season. So how have these guys won 9-of-11, raising their record to 16-7? Doing it with defense Akron fans love how Dambrot has pumped up the offense with mass substitutions and a determination to bolt to the basket like a bunch of third-graders let outside for recess. But that's not why the Zips are the hottest team in the Mid-American Conference. Nor is it why the postseason is a possibility. `'It's their defense,'' Niagara coach Joe Mihalich said. ``Their defense was tougher than our offense.'' Niagara brought a 17-7 record and an offense averaging 86 points into Rhodes Arena for ESPN's Bracket Buster. The Purple Eagles lead the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and they have won more games than any MAAC team in the past six years. ``They would be a very good team in our conference,'' said Dambrot, and he wasn't just being nice. He's right as Niagara starts three seniors. They a gritty, veteran team used to scoring big and winning often. Didn't happen Saturday, as Akron held Niagara 20 points below its season average. ``Our defense is our main thing,'' Peterson said. ``We just play harder, work at it more. It's like the offense is secondary.'' In his first season as coach, Dambrot wanted to bring a dedication to toughness. Hit the boards, dive on the court, make it hard for the other team to score. ``We've been too much of a finesse team in the past,'' he said. The result is Akron holding opposing teams to 41 percent shooting from the field, best in the MAC. It also is why Akron won this game despite scoring only three points from the foul line, compared to 21 for Niagara. How about this? Niagara outscored the Zips 17-2 on second-chance points, and Akron didn't score a single fast-break point. On the offensive So how did they win? Niagara had few open shots and was a dismal 37 percent from the field. The Zips played shrewd offense. Point guards Dru Joyce III and Mario Collins combined for 13 assists and only three turnovers. The Zips swished open 3-pointers, 13-of-24. Senior Rick McFadden played like ``the quiet leader'' that Dambrot calls him, scoring a team-high 18 points and snaring six rebounds. Romeo Travis (4 points) had a long night on offense but was the game's leading rebounder with 10. He combined with Matt Futch to hold Niagara's leading scorer Juan Mendez to 3-of-12 shooting, the ugly 16 points well below his 24-point average. This is a fun team to watch and one easy to love with three local kids starting in Joyce, Travis and Futch. Fans are getting excited, as 4,053 rocked Rhodes Arena where Akron is now 11-1. ``Right now, the sky is the limit,'' said sophomore Joyce, who has known Dambrot since the eighth grade. So maybe the Zips will be a factor in the MAC Tournament. A decent finish could bring them close to 20 wins for the first time since 1989 and an NIT bid. ``That would mean so much to these guys,'' Dambrot said. ``They have really worked so hard. It would mean a lot to the program, to the city. That's why I put it out there as a goal -- let's really try to do something special this year.'' In many ways, they already have.

Impossible to complain about the past three games at the JAR from any basketball fans perspective - Can't, Toledo and Niagra were all entertaining and exciting - Why wouldn't you come back if you like basketball ? I still think we need some old fans to come out of the woodwork and does UA still have students ? Really poor showing by those supposedly going to school -- Student turnout is embarrassing. Atleast the community seems to be catching on to the Zips. Tonights crowd at 4100 was loud, I forgot how good the JAR can be. It can be a tough place to play when people show up.

Nice game by the Zips tonight -- It looked like we lacked a little intensity to start but got on track and got it done. Interestng note -- After tonights game the Zips have broken the Top 50 on RealtimeRPI.com !!!!!!! #49. Up next -- Miami #23. Can we get a sellout on Wednesday ?

Is that 4-7 on the road ? A good solid win and momentum going into Wednesday's big game would be nice. Everyone's talking about a run and gun high scoring game, interesting to see if our defense can put the clamps down on them. Looks like they have yet to be held under 70 pts. Can the Zips keep them in the 60's ?

Can't State two game skid and still talking (well, maybe whispering) smack. Romeo and crew have a couple of things to take care of and then it will be your turn.

In the post game show, they mentioned both Elton and Darnell (ABJ) were there. ABJ must really be on the bandwagon to send someone to an away game !!!!

How about the ABJ and PD sending people to cover the game ? Would be nice to see some home game type coverage while you're away in Athens in tommorrow's papers. Not expecting much but it would be a nice surprise and might start to build excitement for a couple of home games in a row. Miami on Wednesday is huge. Will the fans be there Sat and Weds?

I wonder if they are impressed with Zips and KD Game was never close - 20 Pt margin of victory was the closest it got since the 1st half. That was dominance. My guess - O'Shea over KD doesn't sound so good now. Congrats to KD and THE TEAM

I guess if this was your football team's record, I could understand your enthusiasm for your coach.

That makes a lot of sense right there, buddy. This is your coach's first year. O'Shea finally has the kind of players he wants for his system and he's shown that he is a good coach. No one expected this team to do anything this year (picked last in the east), and he has turned this team around and turned the attitude of the fans around. You gotta give him credit. Do you know anything about our team that you are basing that statement on? Give some reasons your future is brighter than ours. BTW, at this time in O'Shea's first year, we had the same record you have right now. I sure hope that KD's record is better then 54-55 in his 4th year. Congratulations on your mediocrity. Been there, done that with Hipsher..... Please just keep on under rating the Zips for tonight's game. This team is full of suprises and an awful good/confusing defense. I agree OU has everything going for themselves tonight - home,probably a good crowd, on a little run. But it seems like that's when these Zips usually pull a "How'd they do that?" Once again, congrats on that 54-55, 4 year dominant run you have going. We'll let you keep him. KD

The past is the past. ABJ coverage this morning was pretty good. (Although I think Peterson is a Jr not Sr -- It's tough to catch that wagon in full stride so I let a few mistakes pass !?!?!?). My thoughts. The ABJ jumping on the bandwagon - Good Terrry Pluto on the bandwagon -- Good My Neighbors on the bandwagon -- Good City of Akron basketball fans on the bandwagon -- Good Sold out games and out growing the JAR - Priceless............. I really dont care how we get there or who helps us. The important thing is getting there, being a contender and increasing the fan base. The ABJ can and will help to reach out to new fans. If they suddenly wake up and jump on the BB/FB bandwagon - more power to them. Who wouldn't want to see a "Zips Football preview pullout section" or "Zips Basketball pullout" someday in the ABJ ? There's no reason it can't happen if the programs start winning and the fan base swells. It's all about selling papers. As for the flushes coverage -- I hate to remind everyone - 6yrs, 20 wins, NCAA appearance, NIT appearances, blah blah blah blah....equals some coverage. How nice is it to see this run ending ?????

Funny timing on this ABJ game recap in which Can't coach directly blames players -- Probably not his best coaching move. Falcons hand flushes first home loss of season Warzynski, Edwin lead Can't State but miss key shots By Gary Estwick Beacon Journal staff writer Can't - Kevin Warzynski scored 23 points in the second half Saturday afternoon, but his final field-goal attempt fell short of keeping Can't State perfect this season at the M.A.C. Center. After helping the Golden flushes recover from a sluggish start, Warzynski missed a 15-foot jumper with 45 seconds remaining, and the Golden flushes lost 77-73 to Bowling Green. ``I'd rather play the way I played at Akron and win than play the way I played today and lose,'' said Warzynski, who scored two points during Wednesday's victory at Akron. What the flushes craved even more than Warzynski's final shot was leadership at point guard. Can't State coach Jim Christian blamed the loss in front of 5,483 fans on starter DeAndre Haynes and reserve Marcus Crenshaw. Neither player was able to run the team's offense, and with Warzynski scoreless in the first half, this was the wrong afternoon for offensive woes. Can't State (16-8, 8-5 in the Mid-American Conference) never found a way to defend Falcons forward Josh Almanson, who scored from all over the court, finishing with 23 points. It's a problem Christian hopes to solve before Tuesday's MAC game at Buffalo. Haynes and Crenshaw had a couple of moments. Haynes scored Can't State's first five points. Then, he disappeared. When he fouled out trying to rebound Warzynski's miss, Haynes had seven points on 2-for-7 shooting. Crenshaw wasn't much better. He did score a 3-pointer with 13:04 remaining, as Can't State took its first lead of the second half. After that, Crenshaw continued to shoot and continued to miss. He finished 2-for-7 from the field with six points. The loss came down to more than their offense, Christian said. He wanted leadership and execution. He needed poise and composure. He didn't get either. ``I can't tell you how many times tonight we called a certain play, and the point guard would go to the wrong spot,'' Christian said. ``Kinda throws the whole team out of rhythm.'' Maybe that's why the flushes seemed infatuated with 3-pointers and attempted 26. Christian's problem was less about the amount and more about the shot selection. ``We just fired up shot after shot,'' Christian said. ``We kept talking about it during timeouts. Try to get the ball back inside.'' It didn't happen. Guard Jason Edwin scored 16 points. But with Can't State trailing 73-70 with 27 seconds left, he missed a layup. The Falcons (14-7, 8-5) converted 5-of-8 free throws in the final three minutes. Can't State's loss, coupled with Ohio's win over East Division-leading Miami, left the flushes and Bobcats (13-8, 8-5) tied for second behind the RedHawks (15-6, 10-3).

BZ - Once again, I didn't hear the comments but it really suprises me that KD would be as blatent as indicated. He seems to be a players coach so I'm just more surprised then anything that it's coming across so negative. I was thinking along the lines that he sighted a couple of incidents in the game and named the players (to me, that's not all bad) but nothing malicious or dealing out any blame (that's definately unnecessary as any game is made up of many parts). If there was no mention of the timeout abuse, shame on him. In the end, he overcoached and should have taken responsibility - he put the players in a tough situation without the TO's. I like what he has done with the program so far so I guess my prior comments were looking at it with rose covered glasses and giving him the benefit of the doubt. It's just seemed quite a bit out of his character. As for Hip, come on now, we are all on the same page there.

A lot of good comments on the board. A couple of thoughts that crossed my mind that weren't mentioned. - Talk about A games and who brought and who didn't - I know most of the Can't fans I know are saying they played terribly and so are some on the Akron side - my thoughts, I compliment the defense on both sides - good/great(?) defense can make some games and teams look pretty ugly. When all shots, passes, screens and rebounds are contested, the game's not that easy. I credit both teams defensively giving Can't an edge. - Interesting that a shot here or there - which we all can recall - and this game goes to Akron. Would that have meant that Can't choked in a big game ? Other then Collin's play at the end, I'm not sure I would talk much about choking. Coming back from 10 when you could have just folded, shows me something about this team again. - Why were there no open looks on the perimeter ? See above Def. But I'd like to add that for Akron atleast, a number of our open three's in the past several games have been in transition before the defenses get settled into a half court game. Can't did a good job in transition taking away those open looks. Akron tried many times to push the ball and ended up in a half court game. While we are getting better in a half court set, most UA runs this year have been on break outs and quick trigger sets. - I'm with ZW, while I thought we would win fairly easily at home, I'm hardly discouraged by this effort. We are up and coming, getting better each game -- it does no good to peak in early February. There is plenty of time to gain more experiance and work things out by the first week of March. The main thing we cannot give up over the next several weeks is a first round home game. Personally, I think this team needs the experiance of a 1st round game (A Tournament WIN) rather then a bye. - All this talk of KD's post game show, I missed it but it seems as though something must have been lost in translation. The KD Iv'e heard always steps up for these kids and takes on his own accountability. And if he did say something down the players accountability path -- Aren't they ? It's time to toughen up and if thats how he wants to accomplish it, GOOD, next time we might not get killed on the boards in the first half.

Brings back memories of the old Can't State football game cheer "Smoke the Weed, Beat the Girl, Start the Bus.........." What a great night.........

Agree with the eerie calm. It seems that a lot of people are being a little slow to jump onto the bandwagon. I admit I still have reservations but they continue to get it done without any real stars and someone stepping up (never know who it will be - except JDunn, it's always Big Country. He just likes to say Big Country at every opportunity). At the BSU game as the Zips were manhandling them with defense and distributing the ball on offense, I remember several times looking at one of my buddies almost in disbelief saying - Wow - Wow - Hey, we're pretty good - as if I wasn't quite sure but damn we look good at times. Interesting in French's talk show last night, that someone brought up that maybe the individual talent level is underestimated - everyone's always talking about lack of and sum of the parts........Might be something to that theory in addition to playing team ball and great defense. Interesting comments on other boards that show an outsiders view, is exactly just that. - Bubba is only a shooter. I think he is going to be a real good one in the future as he bulks up - On Can't State game, Biggest game in a long time for Akron, they will crumble under the pressure. Buffalo, Ball State, Miami, Bowling Green.......If there was a choke it was at Miami - that was a big game, chance to take 1st place and set mid season tone on the road - Crumble - These guys have been there - I dont see a repeat with Can't State at home - On Can't State game, Can't will dominate inside. Not sure they have anyone that matches Romeo's athletic ability - Seems like a tough matchup for them. Romeo's foul troubles will be huge as always. I'd expect Can't State to go early at him to take him out of the game. They have some nice finesse players that could get some early fouls on him. Should be a great closely contested game. Now, thats something we haven't seen at the JAR in a long time....... One last thing -- Is this the game Goddards been waiting for ? A little spark in front of 5500......or whatever number gets past the Fire Marshall.

ZW -- Those MAC PAC seats are at center court in th lower arena not floor ? I haven't had a chance to talk with our rep yet. I take it you recommend them.

I don't think there is anything wrong with this team taking on some personality. It was one of the things I really liked about the Bosely/Ball/Andrick days. They were tough likable guys that put it all on the court and outwardly expressed a passion for the game and winning. One of the things I noticed this year is that the bench seems to be more into the game - standing, cheering, rooting those on the floor on -- We didn't see much of that in recent years. Most of the time, guys in the past seemed to be sulking (obviuosly something to do with Hip's constant yanks). Another great change and sign of a team coming together. Pumped for Wednesday

Impressive win for the Redhawks. Too bad Sundays game is not on TV -- it should be a good one regardless of Miami's home court advantage if Zips continue hot shooting. The D will show up to keep it close but we must prove that shots will fall outside of the JAR. Looking forward to the game, it's just too bad there's no video feed for UA to pickup.

Is it not absolutely amazing that the Beacon gives no BB history on this guy. Granted it was in a lower division but how hard is it to mention some HS stats and at least that he was 2 time division player of year. Par for the course but sure is funny.

For what it is worth, Fox Sports has the recruiting classes ranked for all the Div 1 Teams Recruiting Class Rankings Akron ranked behind only Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.

Good point by the BSU fans about the Bracket Buster games and pairings. Huge week for the Zips -- 2 good wins before Sundays pairings and the ZIPS are looking at one of the better opponents in the Bracket Buster at HOME. As for flying under the radar, Good. It will be too late when they figure out what hit them tonight......

Classic Beacon Journal They pulled the wrong Akron ad for tonights game. They "accidently" ran the Central Michigan/Credit Union/Saturday game. Too bad -- The ad for the BSU game was pretty nice on Monday and had the "buy one, get one coupon". Leave it to the journal to mess up a good promotion. UAM must be furious.

Terrance Chapman, BSU's leading rebounder and 2nd leading scorer, listed as day to day as MRI comes back negative. No much further information available on message boards. Doesn't matter, we'll be ready anyway they come Chapmen Story and BSU/WM Game wrap Interesting matchup -- Joyce vs Peyton Stovall who some say is the top point guard in the league. Can Dru come thru again ? Zips offering Buy one, Get one promotion in the Beacon -- Should be a good one !! Will crowds show up two games in a row. If you went Sat, you had to enjoy it - Now at a good price, you can see a better matchup. Can we break 4K ? 5k ? Let's Go Zips

Figure this one out----- From the article in Evansville "Butler and Fletcher were scholarship players and Merfeld’s only freshmen recruits. Butler was a two-time Ohio Division IV Player of the Year and an honor roll student at Saint Peter’s High School in Mansfield, Ohio. " I guess Saint Peter's aint a Harvard prep school... I gotta believe that KD knows what he is doing -- after all, so far so good. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.