Blue & Gold

George Thomas is the man. Here is an article about UA Baseball's 4-0 MAC-opening victory over Ball State.

I know it would be rough on our recruitibg vs OU, but I was definitely pulling for OU. I came up out of my seat when Offut hit that and-one toward the end of regulation. I think the turning point was when Cooper had his breakaway layup blocked. That turned into a 6-point swing, as UNC went down and hit one of two free throws, got the rebound & hit a three for a 4-ooint possession. It went from OU potentially being up by six, to a tied ballgame with only a couple minutes left. Tough loss, but man, did OU represent the MAC well, or what?! Good show, fellas. Oh, and btw, that game was close even with the Magnificent Mr. Cooper having an awful shooting night.

UNC keeps their 7-footer in the paint. Rocket science?

I listened to the game online. Elida was the far superior team, as theynheld a hapless St. clairsville scoreless in the first quarter and ended up winning by, IIRC, 30 points. However, I'm expecting Dayton Dunbar to smash Elida tomorrow. Dunbar is huge and deep. But Reggie has definitely proven himself to be an elite player. Edit: And, btw, the Elida-Dunbar game will be televised tomorrow, but I'm betting this won't be a great game by Reggie, as Dunbar will probably be able to slow him down.

How about transfer QB Dalton Williams working with the first team? And glad to hear JUCO DE Albert Presley is making an impression!

+1. I have no idea how any of those guys kept playing ball like they did. I said it a few different times last year, they all had a lot more resolve & fight than I would have. Ianello absolutely sucked all the life out of me.

Hilarious quote concerning Ianello: "Only weeks later he would be replaced by the great Terry Bowden, who has already surpassed Ianello on the all-time Akron coaching list (coming soon) without ever coaching a game!Though Rob Ianello might not fit in with the others on this list due to never having much high hope to begin with, he somehow managed to fall far below even the lowest of expectations. Going 2-22 and single-handedly demolishing a D1 program – with top-notch facilities nonetheless – surely earns Ianello the top spot on this list, if not the top spot all time on the list of Biggest Zips Busts." And I wouldn't have the Big 3 on the list either. They played very well and laid the foundation for UA's basketball upswing.

Got a little time on your hands, eh?

Good observation. That's a tough loss, he was probably the most versatile player on the team.

Good. IMHO he was our D's hardest hitter.

It's funny, we loved and respected your team at WMU... except for Stainbrook. We hated his guts. But now that he's on the market we're discussing how he'd look suiting up for the Zips.

+1. Very well said.

Wow, that's a ton of info. Thanks for the summary!

The Ohio -v- USF game is on TBS at 7:00.

McAdams had 25 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Monster game. Any idea if Elida's Final Four game will be televised?

Count me as one who thinks they'll beat the Bulls. And is it just me, or did Ivo Baltic make an exponential leap over his play from last year?

The Info has wrought iron gates, so they're most likely looking to mirror those.

This is why I'm still so devastated about how our season ended. Like you said, lots of mid-majors make noise once. It's my personal little theory that to engrain yourself deeply into America's basketball consciousness, you have to make noise two years in a row (what VCU is about to do). Unless you make noise two years in a row, you're a novelty; a one-hit-wonder; lucky. That's why, even though I think we'll make some noise next year (Zeke's senior year), I really felt as though we needed to make noise this year.

Agreed. No upset there. I alsways pull for the mid-majors, let alone the MAC schools. So i found myself pulling for Ohio big time last night. It just makes the MAC look good and makes our 1-point loss in the MACC look good. Michigan, afterall, was a co-champion of the Big 10.

Absolutely. I'm glad that Ohio has everyone coming back next year. I don't want them to have any excuses when we beat them.

Amen. Our lack of a big to replace Nic this year, and Zeke next year, has me worried about our near future. I'm thrilled with this year's class. We've got two Big East caliber players coming in with McAdams and Mello, and Kretzer is also one of the best Ohio has to offer. But we're gonna need some additional beef down low next year, let alone after Big Zeke graduates. I was really hoping to have a big man in this year's class to give him a redahirt year before trying to fill Zeke's giant shoes.

Especially with the way KD's been composing the roster. We don't really run a "shooting guard." Instead, we have a PG and two Wings - both of which are expected to swing & go down low. I think Deji could do that. Blake Justice... I don't know. To make matters worse (on Deji & Justice) we're bringing in the two top rated wings in the state this year in 1) Reggie McAdams and 2) Jake Kretzer. Linky. (Scroll down to "Small Forwards.") Both can handle the rock (McAdams often handled the point for Elida), shoot from well behind the arc, and go down low with their height (Kretzer @ 6'7" and McAdams @ 6'6"). I don't forsee much PT for either Deji or Blake.

Out of necessity? What do you mean by that? Is Lee Jackson torn up right now?

I like having so many games at Canal Park. We only have 6 games at Lee Jackson Field.