Blue & Gold

Walsh, sick in every sense of the word.

VCU literally beat us worse than we beat Tiffin, Malone or John Carroll. On national t.v. Ouch. [edit:] But I think the announcers were very gracious towards us. They mentioned numerous times we were depleted by Abreu's suspension and Walsh's flu bug. Back in the studio, Kenny "The Jet" Smith even chalked the point discrepancy up to our starting PG being suspended. He said something to the effect, "I'm not even going to mention his [Abreu's] name because if you get suspended you don't deserve for us to use your name on national t.v." (He meant that in a negative way; not like he was protecting AA's identity until proven guilty in the court of law.)

I'm not. I want a Sweet 16 run. I've said for years that I can die a content Zips fan when our basketball team has reached the Sweet 16 and our football team has cracked the Top 25. (Hopefully our programs get to a point where those won't be once-in-a-ifetime occurrences. Though right now I'd settle for that.)

Shaka admitted as much in his post-game interview (which, along with the abominable game, has already been deleted from my dvr). He said something to the effect that they play aggressively and hope the officials let it go.

You are exactly right. I intended that "awfully young" to be a compliment.

I had the same thought. I was on vacation during that OSU-Florida game & when I came home a week later, I asked some of my OSU-honk friends what they had thought of the game (I was shocked myself). They looked at each other & said they hadn't even mentioned it... and it had been over a week. What is there to say. This was bizarre... humbling... embarrassing... What I hate is that many people around here look for reasons not to take UA seriously. This is a big handful of ammunition. OSU doesn't have that problem.

I'm going to go with: C - Forsythe/Johnson PF - Treadwell/ Harney .............Kwan Cheatham redshirt W - Kretzer/McAdams W - Diggs/ BJ Gladden ..............Aaron Jackson redshirt PG - Evans/Betancourt Justice - transfer Deji - God bless Deji, but he's the odd-man-out. Possible transfer candidate. Forsythe - Zeke's quantum leap in development this season set Pat back a little. At the beginning of the year I though Pat, as a freshman, was playing better than Zeke as a junior. Then after the Detroit game Zeke just absolutely took off and started looking like an NBA player and Pat was relegated to a handful of minutes off the bench. I'm excited to see how Pat develops with starters' minutes. Isaiah "Big Dog" Johnson will be a beast after a year in the weight room; best C in the state of Ohio this year. Kretzer & McAdams, though only freshmen, were a bit exposed against VCU as more one-dimensional shooters. That's fine, but without Q & a sickened Walsh, this really hurt last night. We'll have one of them on the floor at all times next year for floor spacing. Diggs/Gladden - this will be a significant upgrade in athleticism. Both are BCS-level athletes (and ball players). Evans - Will provide a much needed scoring threat at the 1. Betancourt - Looks like he's going to be a solid backup PG. But, as of now, doesn't look like he's a real difference-maker. Steady, reliable 10-minute-a-game backup. It's going to be an awfully young team next year.

I believe that outdoor practice field actually gets a lot of use. I've seen both the men's and women's soccer teams practicing on that field, as well as intramural sports being played there. It looks to me as though the U is looking for the baseball team to use Canal Park AMAP. They haven't put any $$$ into Lee Jackson's baseball field in years. I have to think that's were they want to place the arena.

I posted a similar thought in the 3 Seniors - Walsh, Gilliam, Zeke - thread. Please don't be a stranger, MommaZeke! You'll always be a part of the Zips family! God bless you & your son (of whom you should be indescribably proud!).

Thanks. Too bad we were matched up in the first round. But now I know who I'm pulling for. Go VCU

Weren't they referring to Harney having the too-high dribble?

This. Their wings could all handle the rock and drive to the basket. Chauncey is our only wing able to do that. This game really showed how (perhaps even more than losing Abreu) the loss of Q hurt us. We only had three healthy wing players last night - Chauncey, Reggie & Jake; Reggie & Jake are really just perimeter jump shooters. VCU out-athleted us. (But still, the degree to which the out-athleted us was simply stunning.)

Brian, Chauncey and especially Zeke. I'm definitely going to miss these three. It's not going to be the same without them. I still remember seeing Zeke walk through the JAR as a high school recruit. I had no idea who he was, but man was he TALL! The Rome, Dru & Wood teams still hold a special place in my heart, and likewise, I know this team is going to as well. Additionally, I'm truly going to miss MommaZeke. The last 4-years of her postings have been special. MommaZeke, if you read this, please don't be a stranger! You and Zeke will always be Zips, so please stay in touch with ZipsNation! God bless you guys. We love you.

I (mistakenly) thought the A-10 was losing it's luster when Xavier and Butler decided to join the Big East. But barely. It's still going to be a great basketball conference. In looking at the A-10 website: Charlotte Dayton Duquesne Fordham George Washington LaSalle UMass Rhode Island Richmond St. Bonnaventure St. Joseph St. Louis VCU They've got 13 schools. That's quite a few already. But after last night (and the results from our previous two trips to the NCAA) I'm thinking dominating the MAC is simply fool's gold. I'd be for a move to the A-10, even if it meant getting smacked around for a few years. But I'm depressed right now. Idk. Was last night a fluke? Or was last night a call for a change in perspective? [edit:] UMass is the only school with D-1 football. I know Charlotte is trying to go D-1 (right?). How does Charlotte plan on handling their football situation?

Never in a million years would I have seen this. I was telling people today I thought Akron had a really good shot at winning. Didn't this team beat us by 1 on a tip-in at the buzzer last year?

I hate this. For a number of reasons. What I hate most right now is the embarrassment. A lot of people think I'm a little weird for being a Zips fan anyway (when being an OSU fan is so easy). I was starting to get a few converts this year, but now this may just bring everything back to ground zero.

I'm shocked by how far we are from being competitive.

And the second figure against the stiffest competition the MAC had to offer - K.e.nt State (x2) & Ohio. In no way is Melo the playmaker AA was. However, he is a better ball-handler & won't try to do too much & get sloppy, like AA was quite prone to do. We'll see.

Wonder if we're inviting Green's Dan Fanelly to walk on? Fanelly was named D-1 1st-Team All-Ohio.

Great links! Thank you!

Umm, who is that? (Forgive me if I missed something obvious - I'm viewing this on my iPhone, so the screen's kinda small.)

I've heard from a Rector (not Ken) that Joshua's little brother (currently in 8th grade) may be even better.

Akron.com

Darius Hoisten

I wouldn't want Reggie or Kretzer taking more than 2 or 3 dribbles against havoc (of course they might surprise me). But I'd say both Reggie & Kretzer can handle the ball at least as well as Nic C. did last year - who helped bring the ball up against havoc. Tree, Harney, Reggie, Kretzer... they all are better ball handlers than Nic C. was. Melo is very quick and a better ball handler than AA was. Add that to 7' Zeke @ center court for a safety valve and we should be alright.