Z-Pouch

You rule Captain - I cant wait for the Little Kittens to come after you. Anyway to open up the poll to allow multiple votes - One vote is just not enough. Picture of the kitten in the sink is priceless.

Bubba's not the brightest light - he should have just gone quietly. Sounds like some trouble may be about to come his way. Too bad. Hopefully much to do about nothing. Although it would be really funny to see Ohio get nailed for tampering or whatever is in the article. Can't wait till bobcatattack gets a hold of this - They have been visiting the nation a lot lately as Tuesday approaches.

Ohio - No sour grapes here. But you really are over estimating Bubba's skills. He is a one dimensional role player who can shoot the three, has a slow shot release, doesn't play much defense and has questionable size. He disappeared in games against better teams that can extend their defense making it impossible for him to get his set shot off. He has difficulty creating his own shot. His numbers at Akron were inflated by big games against lower quality teams where he could launch 3's all night. His playing time was decreasing significantly because the talent around him was better and Akron seems to be a better team without him. And you will hopefully witness that he pouts quite a bit on the court which affects his play and the teams at times.Once again, no sour grapes. I've watched the kid for the past year and a half and am only giving you my thoughts on his skills. I thought he would be a much better all around player for Zips, it just wasn't happening. Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy to still have him as a role player shooting the three (Though I'm not sure as an unhappy role player who thinks he should be the star and primary option in every offensive set). I wish him luck but the writing was on the wall here with the current guards and incoming recruits. Plain and simple, the situation was not going to improve unless he wanted to "compete" for playing time and even at that he may not have been best suited for KD's team oriented and defensive approach. I hope he makes it onto the court for you guys, those games will be a lot of fun.

In complete control, 50-29 and then it looks like we ran out of gas due to 3 games in 5 days. One thing to remember though, everyone is going to have their off nights and close ones - good to see the Zips are now winning these games rather then losing as in the past. Central also had Can't on the ropes at the end of the game before giving that one away. Any MAC victory on the road is a good one - as said, a W is a W. Things continue to get tougher, both competition and schedule with games - Sat, Tues, Thurs and Sunday. I hope we can get some rest with an easy game Sat w/Eastern for Dials and Travis. Looks like we need it.

Get over it - The BB coverage has been excellent. Gafney is doing a good job and a little misprint and lack of editing and you are all over it. Good grief - get a life. It happens in every article in the Beacon.Absolutely impossible to argue with the coverage thus far into the season - When you get 3 pics and full sports front page coverage of the lowly CSU game. The Beacon is making an effort and since the Foootball championship game, it's been worth reading.Same old, same old complaining - Please bring something new to the table. It's annoying.

A rest for Dials at some point this week would be nice. With Eastern and Central coming up and potential blowouts (both are HORRIBLE), Dials should get some well deserved rest. Starting on the 24th, the season gets serious and we need him.

I don't know whether he is practicing or not but he is still there sitting behind the bench at games - A good sign that even with the transcript/ineligibility issues that he is staying at Akron and earning his eligibility back. He will not play this season.

Agreed. People have said winning will bring out the fans -- We're off to a good start, KD is 19-1 at home, yet we are probably looking at 3500 tonight. Hoping to be suprised but there is not a lot of buzz except at the Beacon which has been trying to get the BB season jump started. Too bad. this is a good team and good coach that deserve better.

ZB - Nice work.Happy to see Bardo putting up some numbers in his senior year. He was the only incoming recruit that seemed like a reach for KD. Could he be a steal as he matures ?With Bubba's scholarship opening up, has anyone heard of any potential HS or JC recruits ? Another big guy would be nice.

Peterson was limited to 5 minutes due to back problems. It has been mentioned briefly several times throughout the season that his knees and back are giving him trouble.

What will it take to get people out to the JAR Saturday night versus Northern Illinois ? Northern is a good team and the Zips are on a littel roll and play an exciting in your face brand of basketball. As KD said in the postgame, it will be a little dissappointing if people dont start showing up for this team. Adding a 6th man to the home court advantage would be huge. No excuses, get out to the games !!!!!!

I agree with everyone on the need to get the 4th guard some playing time and mentioned it in another earlier thread. It must not be a concern of KD's - If you're up 15-20 points and and you don't get them time, it's not a priority. Captain mentioned it but maybe Dials knee is better then we think. I'd go with Sowers, simply because he seems to move best, he seems athletic and defense wouldn't suffer. This team has enough offense.Another thing, I have no idea why Joyce feels it necessary to kill the momentum and tempo of the game walking the ball up the court. Geeezzzz, we are on a big run and we take the wind out of our own sails. I'm not sure if it's a coaching strategy or Joyce's way of managing the game, I just don't understand it when you've got the other team against the wall.Great posts on the game by everyone. The energy in the JAR is great, I hope more people continue to come out - They will not be dissappointed. I'm not sure how they count attendence but that seemed like more then 3k. If the JAR only holds 6k, I'm not sure where the other 3K would have sat last night.

There was a debate on the Buffalo site as to when he would be eligible for OU. Is it next January ? or does he have to sit out a full complete season. No one over there really knew for sure.

Zips37 is right - Dials is one of the toughest kids we ever had but who would have thought going into the year that guard depth would be a concern for this team. It will be interesting with the upcoming busy schedule if KD tries to keep Dials from being over used and give some more minutes to another guard off the bench for "just in case" sake. Who would that guard be ? Sowers ? Due to his defense, he would probably get the nod over Mraz and Goddard but it is really thin now after the top 3 guards without Bubba and Conyers. Is Rybak an option ? Can he play off guard and handle defensing opposing guard.Now is the time though to spread the guard minutes out and keep Dials fresh - We start off playing 5 weaker MAC west teams and OOC Cleveland State before going to Ohio at the end of the month. I think Dials has to be there and effective at the end of the year for any real success.

Zips finish with an 18-4 run to overcome a 10 point deficit. Amazing - A win at Ball State when you are not playing your best ball.Road wins in MAC BB are golden.

MRasor, Thanks for the info. Your Blog activity on Ohio.com has really picked up lately. Can you shed any light if the paper plans to continue increasing coverage of the Zips ? I would think that the recent showing of local support and interest would be something to capitalize on. Many have preached on the board that the Beacon's value to people in the internet news age is a strong tie to the local community and large university down the road. Any signs of change internally ? Football coverage has been good lately but will it continue - The BB team will be very good and deserves the coverage - someone forgot to put in the WSU game announcement and preview on gameday. That's not a good start.

Great article in the Beacon Business section on recent success of the new slogan and athletic programs. The popularity of this slogan and some winning teams may be the ticket to getting some merchandise into local stores and some national chains (Walmart locally in the Akron area). This would be huge for the university.UAM Perfect slogan, perfect timing`Fear the Roo' merchandise with glaring kangaroo is winning campaign for UABy Dan Kadar - Beacon Journal staff writerMix together a newly successful athletic program, the holiday gift season and a fresh slogan and you have a marketing winner.That's been the case at the University of Akron, where ``Fear the Roo'' merchandise has been selling out since the women's cross-country team, the men's soccer team and the football team all won Mid-American Conference titles, the soccer team earned a national ranking and the football team went to the Motor City Bowl.The logo features a glaring kangaroo with the words ``Fear the Roo'' over the top.``Sometimes it's kind of like a perfect storm,'' said Mike Waddell, associate athletic director in external relations at UA. ``You need success on the field, you need a merchandising season to present itself and then you need a winning campaign. All those things seemed to hit during our most successful fall.''The school grossed $100,000 in athletics merchandise sales in December. Waddell estimated that half of that came solely from Fear the Roo sales. In December 2004, the gross was about $7,000.``The longest and most lasting effect -- whether it's Fear the Roo, a football championship or a soccer title -- is trying to reverse what we call the `loser mentality' that's been around for so long,'' Waddell said.The bookstore inside UA's Student Union has been a hot spot for Roo items, selling out its first shipment.``The people have been coming in in droves,'' bookstore manager Patrick Duff said. ``We can't keep them in stock. What was fun is that people came in who haven't been around in a while.''The gear was so popular, the school couldn't sell it on its Web site. ``Literally, as soon as it came in the door, it sold out,'' Waddell said, adding that it will be available at the Zips team shop at Rhodes Arena and online at www.gozips.com next month.Tom Krampe, owner of All-Ohio Athletic Equipment Inc., said he had Fear the Roo items only the weekend of the game, but they sold well on Christmas Eve. ``What little we could get our hands on from the license people, we sold,'' Krampe said. ``I think we have five T-shirts left.''In previous years, Krampe's store didn't have UA gear, but he decided to start carrying it because of the success of the sports programs.He thought the Roo merchandise might sell even better, though, if it were printed with the school's name -- ``Most of the folks from out of town who were visiting wanted it to have the name `University of Akron' on it.''Duff said the bookstore made its sales numbers for the year thanks to the new design.On Wednesday, the bookstore had a full rack of Fear the Roo gear set up in front of the store. Prices range from $14.98 for a youth T-shirt to $34.98 for an adult hooded sweatshirt.For the Zips basketball season, the store has six or seven products on order. Duff said he also plans to venture beyond clothing with car decals and key chains.``We knew it was popular, but we didn't realize how popular it really was,'' he said.Can't State University ran into the same merchandise mania when the Golden flushes men's basketball team made it to the Elite Eight round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament. As the flushes were knocking off teams, Can't State couldn't keep items in stock.The most popular was a gold shirt with the logo ``Get Your Gold On.''Gail Moseley, director of athletic marketing and promotions at Can't State, said she likes Akron's new slogan.``Fear the Roo is a great idea,'' Moseley said. ``Kudos to Akron. The idea was fantastic.''Waddell is looking to keep the momentum going.``When you hit a bottle rocket like this one, you ride it,'' he said.He emphasized, though, that the fearsome kangaroo is not the same critter as the university's bouncy, friendly mascot.``This is not Zippy. Zippy is the guy who will go to your birthday party and kiss your baby. Around our department, we call this guy Hoppy.''

I don't see him getting many more minutes at OU - maybe less. Bubba has difficulty getting his shot off against better and quicker competition. I would think his best option is going to a smaller school if he is concerned mainly about his time/stats. Most importantly, Zip37 hit it on the mark - another scholarship opened up and we need someone with size and athletic ability to rebound. It's late in the recruiting game but maybe this gives us an opening to take a chance.

Thanks. I have mixed feelings on this one. At first, I thought it would really hurt but Bubba's defense is such a liability out there. Cedric has been playing well and should benefit with extra minutes. In the end, it might be for the best.

Academic casualty ? Bad news but with the Rybak stepping up as a shooter, this might not hurt as bad as expected. Hopefully, there is no more bad news on the way and everyone remained eligible. Good luck to Bubba wherever he lands.

15 minutes to go Akron 56-38. WOW

I completely agree. I also think Sowers is a sleeper and am looking forward to seeing him get some more time. He's an athlete and will defend well.

Can anyone explain how he loses a year of eligibility or gains it back ? The Beacon article also says that he can apply for his fourth year of eligibility and it will be granted if certain athletic/acedemic (?) criteria are met. Sounds to me that we still will have this guy for 4 years if he plays by the rules and wants his eligibilty. I cannot understand why any HS would purposely mess with this kids future as has been suggested on this board. How can transcript problems not be worked out unless someone is not cooperating ? Of more concern now, is that he must figure out a way to pay for school/tuition to stay enrolled this year.

What planet have you been living on ? Wells is rated the #1 HS RB and prospect by many "experts" that know a lot more then you or I. His HS stats may not match those of others but on pure physical attributes, this guy is the real deal. Carter won all the Ohio awards based purely on stats but rates nowhere near Wells by people who make a living on rating HS players. No doubt, he is not coming to Akron but even the fact he made an official visit, says a lot about the recruiting abilities of JD and where the program is now. Just that visit and being able to say that Wells considered Akron will sway some really good recruits in our direction. JD's a smart one and obviously has a great background in sales and marketing. If I'm reading this wrong and Wells is actually considering Akron -- JD. By the way, rumor has it that Can't signed the water boy from my DIV V HS - they're just killing us out there.

I think on this or any board if you are going to make such comments like that, you should back them up with an article or facts for crediblility. Without them, you're just going to get toasted and look like your instigating. I'd like to see the information or source -- maybe they signed 10 mediocre guys and we have only a handful of commitments (I don't think that means it's a better class but ......). Still, I'm interested if there's anything out there you can share.