Blue & Gold

I like Javon Bess. He's a basketball player. Aggressive, always around the ball making plays, can handle the ball pretty well & flat-out just puts it in the hole. I really hope we're looking at him next year.

I hate preseason rankings. It's stacking the deck.

That memory is as painful for me as anyone, but we didn't run the table that year.

I like that Pat is 6'11" and muscular. He's athletic & aggressive & confident. He's going to be a beast and though won't block shots like Zeke (or get into opponents heads - which is huge - "Game Changer") he should be an automatic double-double machine. He's going to be the top C in the MAC for the next 3 years.

Akron.com Team just focussed on improving and winning. That's good.

Akron.com

I believe HS Stripes is giving a hypothetical voice to the NCAA selection committee; that they could/would say that, were we truly worthy of an NCAA Tourney bid, we should have won our conference tourney. In reading his post, I don't believe HS Stripes was saying that this is what he personally believes. Personally, I can't imagine being left out if we continue to run the table (the odds are still against us doing this; it's just incredibly difficult to go undefeated in conference) and lose (to Ohio) in the MACC game.

KD has truly elevated this program. I've been a Zips fan for a looong time and would have been hard pressed to have ever been able to say I'd be confident going into a game with Columbus. This year I'd be confident. It'd be a good game, for sure, but come on now, Columbus State is one of the best programs in the nation. The great thing is that, with KD, we're not falling from grace anytime in the foreseeable future. We lose Zeke next year, and his shoes will be impossible to fill. But 6'11" Pat Forsythe (IMHO) is better as a freshman than Zeke was. He's going to be a monster. If we get Quincy Diggs back, next's year's Zips will be even better than this year's team.

George Thomas' game story. This is the seventh UA senior class that will enjoy a 70-win career. Six of those classes have come under the guidance of Keith Dambrot.

Good thought. This sounds like a question for Dave.

I think perhaps Chauncey yelling into the crowd (instead of just getting back on defense) is what led to them hitting the three at the buzzer - on Chauncey's side of the floor. Chauncey can't catch a break right now, but if that was in fact what happened, it's a bad mistake for a senior to make. Still, I really appreciate Chauncey's fire and wish he was getting more pt right now. We need a healthy Chauncey - with confidence & swagger - to beat OU & Can't.

Someone mentioned it earlier, but Marla's article just seemed ill-timed. She could have written that article at almost any time over the past 8 years. But not now. We've had great crowds since the Buffalo/LBJ-bobblehead game. Also, I get the feeling that Steve French & Joe Dunn were rather offended at the article. But I didn't take Marla that way. I read her vibe as a "Come on now people, get out to the game!" vibe. Am I wrong?

I'm amped that the crappy JAR was almost sold out. Again. Was the crowd into the game? Did they seem to have a good time? I'm always afraid of Joe Akron turning out & then being bored at the game (which is why I stopped inviting friends to the Charlie Coles-led Miami games).

Less Deji & more Chauncey, please.

Awesome! I'm a season ticket holder but have to miss many games due to taking care of my grandfather. I really appreciate the games being streamed online.

How's the attendance?

One thing about Kwan Cheatham is that he has a huge upside as he is young for his class. Though Kwan is a senior, he just recently turned 17. So he'll still be 17 when he steps on campus next year. Kwan's probably a good candidate for a redshirt. Let him eat and lift next year & just fill out his 6'9" frame.

You can get GA online. You'll just print the tickets off at home & take them with you; won't have to bother with the Will Call window.

This isn't breaking news, but I thought I'd post that MaxPreps.com has Cincinnati Walnut Hills (which Isaiah Johnson leads in scoring & rebounds) ranked #22 in the country (#1 in Ohio). Interesting tidbit: MaxPreps ranks Columbus Northland #25 in the nation & #2 in Ohio. Since the 2006-07 season, Columbus Northland is 163-8!

Which game? Last night's game vs. Pickerington Central? Btw, A-Jack scored 20 points last night as Gahanna beat Pickerington Central 72-62. Earlier in the season Gahanna had lost to P.C. 59-46 while AJ was suspended. If the game they're televising is the Dunk For Diabetes Shootout game, don't bother watching. AJ was in foul trouble the entire game & ended up on the bench for most of it. I still think he scored 10 points, but it wasn't much to watch (I was there).

Jerome was beast last night as Firestone edged Buchtel for the City championship. 37 points 17 rebounds 2 blocks 2 assists 2 steals Akron.com

Good point. The story's photo shows Tree sporting an outrageous pair of solid black socks. But good article. I enjoy the insight into Tree as a person.

I split my undergraduate work between Walsh and Malone. When I was in school, both schools had great student support. But at small schools like Walsh & Malone, I was friends (or at least acquaintances) with most of the guys on the teams, so it made going to the games a lot of fun. Until Akron develops a culture where going to the games is a resident-student social event that's not to be missed, it's probably a very good idea to create as much interaction between the players and students as possible.

This isn't national news, but I guess WKDD's been mentioning the Zip's win streak a lot. I was having dinner last night w/ a group of people and one of the girls (who doesn't even know what color a basketball is) asked me, "So have you been to many of Akron's basketball games? I guess they have the longest win streak in the country? They talk about it all the time on the radio!" I asked what station she listens to & she said KDD. Props to WKDD!!!

I posted this in another thread, but I'll copy it here: I really like this class. Considering we're coming off 3 consecutive 1-11 season, I love this class. I think the fact that LB's Jon Shelby and C.J. Mizell should be eligible to play next season is huge. Also, the signing of JUCO DT Keontae Hollis is huge - I've been looking into him & the guy's a big, strong, mean, aggressive, hard-working stud. We were in so many tight games last year where we just couldn't overcome our lack of depth. Since we've now got Keontae Hollis, C.J. Mizell & Jon Shelby in the box, I'm going to say that the key to us going bowling next year is how DT Lavonne Gauthney pans out. If he turns out to be a player, that would give us 4 solid DT's. IMHO, that's where we lost a number of games last year - Cody & Caponi are very good, but by the end of games they were simply gassed. Our front seven has a lot of potential: DE------------------DT------------DT------------DE Presley-----------Grice--------Caponi---------J. Turner C.J. James-------Hollis-------Gauthney--------??? -------------------J. Price ---------LB-----------------LB---------------LB ------Shelby-------------Mizell------------March -----J. Brown----------K. Baines--------J. Williams ----D. Moore-------------Rizzo------------J. Lane