Blue & Gold

Correct. It doesn't sound like the lesson has been learned. The quote should have been, "We should have played in the NCAAs if we hit a big shot," or "We should have played in the NCAAs if we had players to go toe to toe with OU's guards." Defense isn't the foundational issue. Put me in coach - I'll bust my balls! I'll leave it all on the court!!! I'll give you blood, sweat and tears!!! But you know what? The better teams will still score on me because I'm not a good enough athlete. The foundational issue is that we need a higher caliber of baller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not more yelling and screaming and stomping of the feet to play more defense!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! The proper lesson was not learned!!!!!!! I'm discouraged, demoralized, pissed and, now reading these quotes, becoming without hope in the world!!!!!! I'm glad I'm not near a bridge.

Quote from Tom Gaffney's article: "The more Dambrot talked, the more emotional he got, even suggesting the Zips might become the new Miami of the MAC." NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Say it ain't SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My worst nightmares, the nightmares which wake me up with a cold, clamy sweat in the middle of the night, sound like they may come true! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Here watching the Tennessee - San Diego State game & the analyst was speaking of Bruce Pearl. He said Pearl is a master motivator who instills confidence in his player because he sticks with them. Even if a player is not playing particularly well, Bruce has faith in them and sticks with them during the game. This really makes the confidence of his players bloom. I thought that was a pertinent observation, as I see our players always looking over to the bench to either get chewed out or yanked anytime they make a mistake. Now, I was far from a D-1 college athlete, but I was a good high school athlete. And I know I could never have played for a coach like KD. I would have been crushed. I was always my own worst critic and the last thing in the world my athletic psyche needed was a coach yelling at me. I think this was the biggest problem Jimmy had throughout his UA career. But, frankly, I can't pretend to understand KD's substitution patterns at all. He also seems to consistently pull players after they've just made a good play - at precisely the time in a game that I'd have my confidence peeking and be ready to get on a roll. So, in the spirit of this thread, lighten up on the players. Free them up to make mistakes and take chances. There's enough pressure out there without a coach adding to it. If a player makes a mistake, pat them on the butt & teach them what they did wrong. Unless they're total boneheads they don't need to be yelled at so much or put on short, confidence-shaking leashes.

Though making offense v defense an either/or proposition is falacious, an important distinction in regards to defense should, ironically, be mentioned here. Personally, I neither enjoy, nor respect, Pheonix Suns-esque defenseless basketball. Defense is vital. But... defense should be used on top of or in addition to your offensive prowess to demoralize your opponents; not as your essential MO for winning games. If your program is overly-focussed on defense because you don't have any confidence in your offensive abilities, well, that's asking for trouble / playing not to lose / waiting for the sky to fall / choose your preferred cliche. Big difference and an important distiction to realize. But, right now we don't seem to have the horses to run with the big boys, so, I guess we'll just have to try to slow everyone down & play not to lose for the next year or two? Idk. As another poster said, we need some bad ass MFers who can ball. Right now we've got a team-full of system/role players. I love KD, but I do hope he's a little shaken up right now. In a healthy, humbling way, of course. We've got to re-evaluate some philosophies - both recruiting and in-game.

I agree. Firstly, defense is boring and when all is said and done, basketball is a form of entertainment. Some of the Zips games, though we won, were so boring! High school games - freaking high school games! - are usually played at a faster pace. WTF? Not too many casual b-ball fans will buy tickets and tell their friends, "You've just gotta see the Zips play! Man, do they play great defense!" Winning, of course, is important. Absolutely. No one would argue that. But it is also important HOW you win. Win 20 games a year with Miami-style-defensive ball and the crowds will dwindle and I'll be taking a nap from my GA seats. Anyway, that's beside the point. As far as strategery, I do understand that focussing on defense takes the pressure off of your on-court performance, as defense is effort driven - a constant, which you can control - and not as susceptible to cold-spells or being effected by having the butterflies. Having a defensive focus also gives teams with lesser talent the ability to hang with the big boys by slooooowing the game down and limiting possessions for both teams. YAWN. I'm sick with that. I loved OU's attitude tonight. They went in there, showed Georgetown how to play ball, kicked their ass, took names, showed the Hoyas the door and KNEW they were going to.

What's up, man. You're new to ZipsNation. Cool to have you. I'm pretty much dead-set against expanding the NCAA Tourney. It's great as-is. Why mess with perfection? The NIT's a decent tourney as well - they're actually getting quite a few of the games on tv. IF they would include mid-majors with the expansion, then I'd be all for it. But, if history repeats itself, then it's going to simply be a way to get even more BCS schools in. As has been discussed before, the "analysts" will use any excuse @ their disposal: RPI, SOS, record, quality wins, bad losses, etc., etc. The other two tourneys are fine too. As we saw last night, probably where we belong right now anyhow. So, to answer your question, no, I hope they do not expand the Big Dance. It's big enough.

<br />Perfect match-up is right ... they had a guard that totally went off on us (AGAIN!) tonight for 35. Four straight games that's happened. R.I.P. 2009-2010. Yep. What I was actually trying to say (though it's beside the point) is that the overall caliber of UWGB was similar to the overall caliber of our team. We don't/didn't need any competition any tougher than what we got in the CBI (obviously). I guess GoZips was more insightful & prophetic than the average Zip, as he called the team out after the EMU & WMU games and before the OU & UWGB defensive debacles.

After watching our regular MO for for a few minutes - just passing and passing and passing the ball around the perimeter untill we launch a 3-ball - I decided to keep track of how many times we possessed the ball & settled for a 3 without either passing the ball into the post, or attempting a drive in the lane. I began counting with 15:36 left in the first half and, by halftime, counted 9 such possessions. That, by anyone's definition, is not good basketball. The problem is that is our standard MO. I thought our offensive philosophy was to work inside-out? What we do in practice (over theory) is work outside-outside-outside-outside-out-launch a 3. Did we have a guard drive and dish a single time tonight? And we're losing Jimmy next year?! Good grief. I'm honestly more concerned about next season in losing Jimmy than I was about this season in losing Linhart. I'm getting season tickets, but in all honesty, we really may be in for some rough sailing next year. And the year after. Can KD say "JUCO?" We DESPERATELY need a guard who can penetrate and either finish @ the hole or dish it off. We need a guard to break that defense down. That guard (save Humpty - but we know he struggles to finish) is not on the team and isn't comung in next year either. Like I said before, I'm a diehard & will be @ as many games as I possibly can, but in all honesty, for the first time in the KD era, I'm not too optimistic about our prospects for next season.

[quote name='zip81' date='Mar 17 2010 Other CBI attendance: VCU at George Washington 793 Indiana St at St. Louis 3,542 St. Louis just opened a gorgeous new 10,000 seat arena. Hmm...

Josh Egner's here tonight. I just passed him by the concessions stand. He's a legit 6'6". And rockin' the mohawk! I'm probably gonna come back tomorrow night & watch him play. Jackson v Akron East. P.s. I wonder if he'd also agree that our concessions offerings suck? Lol.

Actually, I echo Dr. Z's sentiments in another thread: This tournament is where we belong. The competition in this tourney matches the level of our program right now. UWGB is a perfect matchup - talent wise - for our team.

He's "banged up."

[quote name='Hilltopper' date='Mar 17 2010 Its 65 and sunny. Its St Pattys day. Too many other options for Joe Fan. 2250 Att. 2250 if we're lucky. I'm here early & they've got the north GA section closed. Wise move.

[quote name='Captain Kangaroo' date='Mar 17 2010 Other than CSU and Butler, no Horizon team interests me as an opponent. My thoughts, exactly. And since we've already got CSU on the schedule... I think the single-day, single-venue concept is intriguing. But I'd be more excited about this sort of challenge were it against, as was noted above, the A-10 or the MVC.

I voted men's hockey. I'm not a big hockey fan, but it is currently the 4th major sport in our country. The sport I believe we'd have the most success with, however, is wrestling. The wrestling talent in the area is outstanding. I believe UA could build a powerhouse program. But... It's not as much a spectator sport as hockey. The sport I'm personally most interested in is men's lacrosse. I know that both Walsh and Malone are putting together lacrosse club teams. Does UA have a lacrosse club team? FUN sport to both play and watch!

Now THAT is a Division I college basketball schedule. That is a respect-garnering schedule (and I'm not referring to the NCAA or NIT selection committees. I'm thinking of casual Akron-area basketball fans.) Though the JAR actually works to repel casual fans, real, bonafide D-1 teams coming to the JAR on a regular basis couldn't hurt attendance or interest in the program. I just don't know why it seems to be rocket science that weed to bring beatable teams with name recognition to the JAR. These teams, just like UA, are searching for games. Forget Kansas, Duke & UCLA. Bring on GOOD mid-major programs from recognized mid-major conferences and sprinkle in a few road games against the Cincy's of the world.

[quote name='vmd9' My favorites were the gold, they seemed to be the most unique and a cheering section of all gold is pretty sweet. +1

That website is absolutely amazing! Lol. I can't believe you found that. It makes all the sense in the world, but I had no idea anything like that existed. LOTS of great options right at our fingertips. Have we been sold a bill of goods on how difficult it is for us to schedule? Anyway, that's beside the point. I could waste hours on that website putting together various dream schedules.

[quote name='MDZip' I got one too which is odd because I am not a basketball season ticket holder and live 350 miles away. At least they are trying to market (maybe to other than season ticket holders?) So... you gonna come?

"I'd rather have a sister in a whorehouse, than a St. Francis in the JAR." -Bob Brown, The Unit

Thanks for that quote, Captain. I did not hear the postgame interview so did not hear that quote. You are right; very, very intruiging.At least we have a coach who - even though we've made the conference tourney title game four years in a row - is not satisfied with where the program is at presently and publically admitted as much. Though I sometimes have wondered if our relatively weak schedule may have had to do with the nice bonus KD receives with a 20-win season, quotes like this reassure me that we have a coach that wants to put Akron basketball on the map as badly as I want to see it there.It's going to be fun watching the program's developments over this off season.

Great game. Congrats to OU. They played a very good game. These were three of the most exciting games I've seen in a long time. Thank you, Zips, for the hard work & for all the excitement!

Lord have mercy!And it's difficult to see on my BlackBerry, but is he rockin' a mohawk?! Sweet!

I loved how Frenchy was so dejected when EMU hit their 3 with about 6 seconds to go, only to be absolutely beside himself 5.5 seconds later when Steve hit his bomb! Absolutely CLASSIC!

Why on earth is this not on FSO? They've got Columbus freaking Bluejackets hockey on!!! W...T...F.And on SportsTime Ohio? HIGH SCHOOL BOWLING?!?!?!?!There are not words...