Blue & Gold

And I have to keep reminding myself the dude's only 19! Crazy.

7-0?! 89-61 win last night?! Good grief, we're a legit power

In comparing a true freshman Robotham to my two other all-time favorite PG's Dru Joyce & Jimmal Ball, I say Robotham is even better than both of those guys. Dru Joyce could launch a 3 from 8-feet behind the arc. Robotham (presently) doesn't have the insane range Joyce did, but he's really got a great 3-point shot which defenders have to respect. But unlike Joyce, Robotham is a much more dangerous threat to put the ball on the floor & drive to the hoop - something Dru never did a lot of. Jimmal Ball is one of the handful of most explosive players I've ever seen play (LeBron, Antonio Daniels & Bonzi Wells). I believe Jimmal was an Honorable Mention All-MAC as a true freshman. I was expecting Jimmal to be 1st-Team All-MAC for the next 3 seasons, but Jimmal never made First Team all-conference. After his first season through the conference, defenders learned to just take a step back off of Jimmal to take away the dribble-drive and make him shoot the ball & Jimmal's outside shot was always pretty inconsistent. Can't take a step back off of Noah or he'll light you up.

I love Zippy. But I much prefer the "Z" logo to the A-Roo logo. I don't care much for the A-Roo. The "Z" is, as the kids say, sick! I used to love the old-school Zippy who was running/hopping & making "#1" with his finger. Don't know what ever happened to that classic logo.

I'll admit I was one who thought Kwan should have been redshirted last season & then when Tree was indefinitely suspended from the team this year, I definitely thought we were gonna go down in flames. I don't believe I've ever seen a player make a bigger jump from one season to the next. Maybe Jimmy Conyers. In another thread I called Kwan's development breathtaking & said I couldn't believe my eyes. I like how another poster said it's "almost too good to be true." It really is. Also, does anyone remember a Zips team that played so well together as a team? They're really playing some beautiful team basketball right now that's a joy to watch. Robotham's the revelation. But I primarily attribute this to Pat Forsythe. The guards get the ball to Pat (who is a bigger scoring threat that Big Zeke was) but if nothing's there he doesn't generally force up a bad shot & passes the ball back out (much more quickly than Tree ever did).

You're probably right. I guess the point I was trying to make was that I don't attend a huge, mega-church. We simply have two guys who volunteer their time (not much time, either) & run a successful internet stream. You'd expect a D-1 university to be on the cutting edge of technology. It's shameful, really.

Could it possibly have to do with the number of fans attempting to access the video stream? Lack of bandwidth, or something? I'm NO techie. I just know our church streams it's services online without a hitch, but we typically only have between 10-15 people attempt to view the stream at any one time.

Looking at the box score, I see BJ Gladden didn't play last night. Anyone know the reason for that? I was hoping he'd get some quality game minutes against the cupcakes; he's still gotta get his D-1 legs underneath him.

Thaaaaaaank you.

This is an appropriate way to describe Kwan's development. I still can't believe my eyes when i watch him play. During one of the brief instances when my video feed was actually working last night, I heard Joe Dunn comment that if Kwan keeps developing, the NBA is a real possibility. Steve French agreed. Kwan's still only 19 years old, for crying out loud!

Video was simply unwatchable and froze up permanently for me with about 18 minutes to go in the second half. Aggravating, and embarrassing. Surfed over to 1350 am to just listen to Steve & Joe and they were already in postgame wrap-up.

Well would you look at that - Eastern Michigan coming in at #20 with a 6-0 record?! Good for them.

I like this quote from Dambrot on Antino: “[Antino] is a great kid, but he is erratic emotionally, which causes him to have erratic play,” Dambrot said. “But there is nobody in America that if he is right can keep him in front of (him) because he can shoot the 3-ball, he can shoot the pull-up and he can drive it and handle the ball well. He is just not all the way there yet. ..." http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/ncaa-men-s-basketball-akron-coach-keith-dambrot-seeks-more-consistent-play-from-zips-1.545892

Hope Big Dog & BJ get a lot of PT.

It worked fine on my MacBook Air. Good game. Bryant was on fire from behind the arc. Robotham the real deal once again. Liked seeing Robo (freshman), Tino (freshman), Big Dog (soph.), Kwan (soph.) & Deji (senior) finish out the game. Another solid game from Pat. He's legit.

Go Zips! (It feels good to say that after yet another football debacle.)

Lame effort all around. Did the coaches and players mail that one in? How is that possible when there was so much at stake? *Sigh*... Whatever. Tired of Pohl's sissified throwing motion & non-leadership. It's between Kincade & Chapman next year. It would help if one, oh, just one, of our WR's was capable of getting separation. We stink.

I was a little hesitant to get excited about Noah because, whether it's accurate or not, I have the impression that most highly coveted recruits sign during the early signing period. So I was a little skeptical. (Also, a number of years ago we signed a rather highly touted recruit from out west - Colorado's all-time leading scorer if I remember correctly. Brian something? He ended up just simply not being able to play at this level. So that also tempered my enthusiasm.) Anyway, now that I see Noah's game I cannot believe we signed him. He is absolutely legit. I can't believe Power 5 conference teams weren't climbing all over each other trying to sign him. I mentioned in another thread: best freshman I've seen play for the Zips since Jimmal Ball. Jeremiah Wood was awfully good too. Okay... one of the three best freshmen I've seen play for Akron. His court presence is like having a 5th-year senior out there. Just unbelievable.

I'm surprised at how good this team looks. I'll admit, I thought we could flush this season down the drain when we lost Tree. I think this team looks better than any Zips team we've seen in a number of years, including the Zeke Marshall years. Forsythe has stepped up big time. He's much more offensively-minded than Big Zeke ever was. I love it. I love the fact he's only a junior. Very exciting. The vast improvement of Kwan Cheatham is just breathtaking. When I watch him play I simply can't believe this is the same Kwan who wore a Zips' jersey last season. Jimmy Conyers would be the only player I could think of that I've witnessed make a bigger leap one year to the next. Deji continues to get better and better every year. He's going to be one of the better players in the MAC this season. When we recruited him out of Chicago, I remember one recruiting service ranking him as the #1 most athletic player in the state his senior year. Well, Deji has worked and worked on his game and is now not only athletic, but a very skilled basketball player. Nyles Evans doesn't look like the same Nyles Evans we saw last year. Nyles can, and does, really help this team. Always glad to see a local player do well. I was in the camp that was a bit concerned with a seeming lack of player development within the Zips program. Well this year has really begun to change my mind on that front. Antino Jackson is going to be a legit D-1 point guard. (What a backcourt we're going to have adding Joshua Williams next year. We've gone from having no point guard to an embarrassment of riches.) Noah Robotham is simply a revelation. Best freshman I've seen suit up for the Zips since... Jimmal Ball. Not as explosive as Jimmal, but an even better point guard. MAC Freshman of the Year. BJ Gladden has definitely been underwhelming, but I feel he is going to be fine. He's big, strong, athletic. Game just has to slow down for him. It may not happen until next year. This 10-game stretch of light(er)weights should really help his confidence. Big Dog. I know he was hurt. But he hurt his wrist for crying out loud. That shouldn't stop you from jogging, sprinting, running stairs, doing wind sprints, treadmill, etc., etc. The rustiness of his basketball skills is understandable, but his lack of conditioning... Getting a little tired of McAdams. As has been astutely observed: a one-trick pony. Even I could hang around beyond the 3-point line & just launch a handful of 3's a game. Floor spacing? Okay, but other than that... I may even start Gladden over Reggie. However, I'm pretty sure Reggie will get into more of a groove as the season goes on & I'll eat my words. At least I hope so. Kretzer is similar, but he seems to be the glue that holds the team together. I really like his hustle, presence, body language & leadership. Anyway, the team looks very good. Ball movement has been great. I attribute this to having legit PG play and, dare I say it, not thinking we should rely on Tree.

I agree. After KD finally called the timeout, we then proceeded to go on a, what, 7-0 run? Should have been called 10-points earlier.

Thanks! Then this game will be a good litmus test for our young, Tree-less team.

Did this South Carolina team lose many seniors off of the team that drilled us twice last year?

It looked like Pat's initial success was a bit of a double-edged sword. Pat was dominating in the post & the Zips offense degenerated into simply feeding Pat the ball down low; not a bad strategy as you want to feed the hot man, but there was also quite a bit of standing around & watching Pat go to work. When Pat's shots started to fall short (though most were right there & good shots), the Zips were out of rhythm & Miami pulled away (they're an extremely well-coached team). The ball rotation has been much better without Tree in the middle. Now that it looks like Pat might step up this season, we've still got to keep moving without the ball & not get lazy, i.e., just watching Pat go to work down low.

It's up. Go Zips!

Is Watch ESPN a few minutes behind? I'm not seeing a live link for it.