Blue & Gold

Toledo plays against us as though they feel like they have our number. I hope our guys don't feel the same way. We need Kwan to stay out of foul trouble to stay in front of Witherspoon. We need Pat & Big Dog to be men tonight.

Uh, oh. From George Thomas' pregame article: Robotham sits Point guard Noah Robotham sat out Tuesday’s practice with what was termed “a touch of the flu.” http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/ua-basketball-zips-seek-to-slow-toledo-offense-in-key-rematch-1.567607

Noah & Joshua are going to be great for each other. We're going to have the two best PG's in the MAC next year. They're gonna be able to go at each other every day in practice. Iron sharpens iron.

A doubleheader sounds rough - this isn't baseball where players are standing around most of the game. Especially considering they're only doubleheaders for us, the other teams are only playing one game. Sounds exhausting to me. This sentence from the article: Akron will travel down I-71 to battle the Columbus Crew in an exhibition tilt on March 20 at 1 p.m. before venturing back to FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field to host Walsh later that same evening at 7 p.m. Ouch. More power to 'em, I guess.

Great article on Joshua Williams. http://www.ohio.com/sports/high-school/high-school-boys-basketball-high-scoring-guard-joshua-williams-takes-on-leadership-role-to-guide-st-v-m-before-transitioning-to-ua-1.567258

The MAC is a Top 10 conference in RPI this year, so I guess I shouldn't be as upset as I am with our road record, especially considering our roster's youth. I think we'll be fine on a neutral court (MACC). We were pretty good in Charleston.

Hate to say it, but I'd take K.e.n.t's remaining schedule over any other contenders'. They look like they're in the best spot right now.

I like the way EMU tries to run every time they got a defensive rebound. I wish we did more of that. Especially with our depth. Might as well try to score before the defense gets set up.

I think it's worth the money.

Zips baseball opens season with a 7-5 victory over Furman. http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/on-the-record-university-of-akron-baseball-team-opens-season-with-a-victory-Can't-state-falls-1.566857

Haha. Especially since LeBron has Nike make special UA Zips editions of his LBJ shoes. Why aren't we wearing those?

I'm firmly in the camp that longs for a new arena. But the beautiful EMU Convocation Center can be put alongside UA's beautiful InfoCision Stadium as proof that you need more than a nice facility to draw a crowd.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/university-of-akron-baseball-preview-tournament-success-motivating-zips-heading-into-2015-season-1.566448

Nice post-game blog entry from George Thomas. http://www.ohio.com/blogs/ua-zips/university-of-akron-zips-blog-1.277207/points-to-ponder-with-zips-ua-big-men-announce-presence-to-Can't-state-1.565978 "This is the first game that everything could be seen working for the Zips – offensively and defensively in several ways..."

From GT's column, a quote by Pat Forsythe: “You can see it out there, the chemistry and how everyone is excited for everyone else. You never see anyone down about anything; it’s just a good vibe out there.” It is refreshing, not having the perpetual pouting from some former players who shall remain nameless. The team chemistry does seem to be much better than it's been for a few years.

Game story by George Thomas. http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/men-s-basketball-akron-61-Can't-state-52-inside-scoring-bench-seal-victory-for-zips-against-golden-flashes-1.565971 "Although the score didn’t reflect it at times, the Zips dominated play from the opening tip, holding the Golden Flashes to 35 percent shooting while hitting 40 percent of their shots." I agree. IMO, the score was not indicative of how UA really controlled this entire game.

Marla Ridenour on Pat & Big Dog. http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/marla-ridenour-university-of-akron-s-disrespected-inside-game-coming-on-at-right-time-1.565981

Where do you see this? Rivals.com still has him committed to UA. Of course, since he's committed to UA, they've downgraded him from 4-stars to 2-stars.

Well, we won tonight. But we also lost #TeamOhio

Joshua Williams' STVM now ranked #3 in USA Today's Top 25. http://usatodayhss.com/rankings/expert/boys/basketball/2014/8 Tough stretch coming up. STVM plays @ Shaker Heights tonight, then @ undefeated Walsh Jesuit, followed by a game against Carlton Bragg's St. Joe's.

We were in the running for Michigan DE Immanuel Stinson & it doesn't look at though he signed with anyone on Wednesday. https://rivals.yahoo.com/michiganstate/football/recruiting/player-Immanuel-Stinson-159381#college_choices

I think Noah Robotham is team MVP so far this season with Pat a very close second. Pat's one of the most dominant big men in the MAC. Maybe the most dominant. I don't think Pat's hurting for confidence. I think Big Dog is. A little. That's how I'd read that.

That list is interesting. It also gives leverage to teams based on the number of recruits they signed, but look at the average star-rating. Akron is doing quite well if you look at the average: #1: Toledo (2.24-star average) #2a: Akron: (2.23-star average) #2b: Miami: (2.23-star average) #4: WMU: (2.22-star average) #5: NIU: (2.16-star average) Miami is the big surprise on that list.

Not as much information to be found on Emmanuel, but Olojakapoke's been tearing it up this year... http://www.maxpreps.com/local/team/player_of_the_game_and_year.aspx?contestid=e5982a7e-99ae-49b0-ad8e-2045a3178fef&schoolid=35d647be-1e56-4447-a321-b1ffd9ee093b&ssid=4846da9f-66fa-49e9-a3d1-15f04ca7ecc4