Let'sGoZips94

And shooting 65.5% from the line to boot. Assuming our current free throw percentage trend continues, I won't miss the days of 60% being the norm. It's incredible the night-and-day difference in fundamentals so far...

I think the word "probably" is too strong here in terms of our first loss. Dayton is 2-2 with a 1 pt win over Ball State, and losses to Hofstra and Old Dominion. This is going to be an interesting game. Dayton is in a similar position as Akron, but with a stronger tradition and foundation in place. It will be interesting to see how our young Zips play on the road for the first time, especially in a typically nasty environment.

My dad and I had a conversation about this last night. We said there should have been a minute-or-two-long highlight video of the soccer team, starting with the 2010 Championship, and a slogan like "The road to the 2nd Star starts tomorrow." Also were shocked Embick and the soccer team weren't there in attendance to give a speech like Bowden and the football team.

Is that true? Player stats pop up every once in a while.

That was a very fun game and an impressive performance. Observations... - Utomi. Wow. - Patton and Parrish are just plain smooth. They are incredibly solid, especially for freshmen. - Sayles' presence continues to be felt. The guy commands the paint. - Free Throws were key AGAIN. It's fun when the fundamentals are covered. - Solid D complimented with a refreshingly low number of fouls. - Up until the middle of the second half, Akron destroyed their press, which was surprising. They struggled when UT Martin made some adjustments, but then figured it out again. This is fun basketball to watch.

I am a huge fan of GV Artwork's apparel, and am ecstatic that Akron decided to partner with them. However, the grammar nerd inside me is cringing. We HAVE Hops

1) You can't lump in his tenure at Illinois. It's a completely different animal. 2) I'll take 2-3 .500 seasons if it means we get an NCAA Tournament win. 3) If there isn't program growth in 4 years, then I will consider looking for a new coach. However, Dambrot got 12 years or whatever it was, with zero NCAA Tournament wins. I'm willing to take the risk with the supposed "gigantic if". 4) So the suspensions of Quincy, Treadwell, Harney, Abreu - they never happened? Which by the way, with the national attention the Zips were getting in 2013, that Abreu suspension was doubly embarrassing to the program, university, and fan base, which was then followed up with an equally embarrassing 40 point loss to VCU in the NCAA Tournament.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, neither of which were Akron when it came to NCAA Tournament appearances. Fact of the matter is, Groce won NCAA Tournament games and Dambrot didn't. I'll take the lumps if it means the ceiling of what's achieved is higher with Groce. Dambrot had ample opportunities to notch that big win, and never did. Embick has had some frustrating seasons with Zips soccer, but the ceiling with him is nearly as high as it was with Porter.

Or as short as... "Groce had 3 NCAA tournament wins in his time at OU, including a trip to the Sweet Sixteen, in his 4 years at OU. Compare that to Dambrot's 0 NCAA Tournament wins in 12(?) years at Akron."

His name isn't flashesfan34, so I'd say he's allowed in!

Keep the QB a secret. OU didn't prepare for Kato, and admitted they were expecting a much slower QB. We won't be able to catch Can't as off guard, but it can certainly help. There might be an advantage to keeping it a secret; there is no advantage of the inverse I don't believe.

Uhhh... No. Wed, Nov 15 @ Bowling Green - W 66-37 - 9-2 (6-1) 42 points in the second half.

Although technically Wally Pipp didn't end his career by self-wrongdoing; he had a headache.

I really hope there's a big turnout for the Can't game. The community and fan base needs to reward a stellar performance and hopefully a trip to Detroit with a good crowd for the last game of the year.

Only scored 22 in the 1st half and 16 in the 2nd half. I am INCREDIBLY glad we beat them the other day.

HUGE! Although I thought there was a hold. Shhhh...

Three 7s = JACKPOT Two 7s = 5 yard penalty

HUGE INT!

Imagine if we would have actually beaten someone worth a darn in that time span, or won an NCAA tournament game. We would've had people saying, "Yes," the first time we asked them to come play for Akron.

#1 team in goals per game. #2 in total goals with only 16 total games played on the season, which is the least amount in the top 50 on the list. ... and my fiancee is taking online classes at FIU...

William & Mary Butler Pacific Coastal Carolina Seattle Illinois-Chicago UMASS Cal UNCW SMU St. Francis (Brooklyn) FIU Air Force Maryland New Hampshire Old Dominion Wake Forest Butler Sanford Coastal Carolina Akron Notre Dame UMASS Louisville UNCW SMU Virginia FIU Air Force WMU New Hampshire Indiana Wake Forest Stanford Akron Louisville UNCW FIU WMU Indiana Wake Akron FIU Indiana Akron Indiana AKRON

You and I see things totally differently regarding Big Dog. Did he develop into a solid post player, mainly his junior/senior year? Yes, his vision was incredible for a big man. However, did his lack of physical development ultimately hurt the team? I think yes. What did we accomplish with the MAC MVP? Very little in the grand scheme of things. You could only play one game with Big Dog on the floor - in and out ball. Otherwise, you weren't really able to run with the bulls (not in reference to Buffalo) and there wasn't much flexibility in game strategy/style. Zeke didn't really bulk up until senior year, either. Who knows if that's just how his body matured, or if the strength & conditioning program wasn't where it needed to be, but it's a fact. My point is I haven't seen a player in a long time physically transform in the off-season, especially prior to his freshman year, like Sayles has. This is basketball and not a bodybuilding contest, you're correct. However, I'm sure we could go back to previous years' game threads, and find several posts about not being able to physically match up with some of the bigger name teams. Physicality, strength & conditioning - they're all important aspects of the game of basketball. What's wrong with going through a mental process of trying to find things that might tell us, "This coach does this better than Dambrot?" Isn't the overall goal to keep the program going in the right direction, and actually take steps to improve? I don't hate Dambrot, but I disliked quite a few things over his last couple of years here - bashing fans, making excuses about the MAC and the JAR holding him back, boring game style, poor free throw shooting, losing to OSU when we clearly should have beaten them, etc. Not to mention I was fed up with the 20-win participation trophy seasons with nothing of substance as the end result; no NCAA tournament wins, no victories over ranked teams, etc.

I'm glad they're here. My point is if he tried to recruit them to Duquesne after his departure, then really he tried to get them to not come here. Maybe Groce talked them into staying? That was my point; I'm skeptical in this situation, until proven innocent. We'll see how he develops as a basketball player. I don't ever remember a player taking the physical leap that Sayles or other players look like they've taken, when Dambrot was here. I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of Dambrot's tenure. Then it became annoyingly stagnant, full of consistent disappointment, underachievement, and cliche answers in post-game interviews. I am thankful for the new heights he took the program, but there was a lot not to like, especially towards the end.

Not sure I can give him credit for those two without proof that he didn't try to pull them to Duquesne with him. Additionally, if you look at pictures of Sayles in high school compared to his first college game, its incredible the physical transformation that took place this off-season. Not sure that would have happened under Dambrot.

5 seed. Edit: With the winner of two Pacific Northwest teams coming to Akron. I like that.