Blue & Gold

Lee, I'm not sure what you're getting at with this post. Come again?

Now that is one poorly constructed sentence. The 'Meister is gonna have a stroke! Lol

Yeah. I wasn't able to watch the game, but during pregame I believe the announcer said Payne didn't start during the semi-final due to being banged up.

Oops. Sorry about the above post. K...S...U (Kansas State University) gets translated to "Can't State.". I'm sure you guys could figure that much though.

Well, it's halftime and Butler is beating Kansas State using strong... Defense! Lol. They actually held Can't State to 20 1st half points. I guess it's Can't State's lowest scoring 1st half of the season. Butler can put the rock in the hoop too though. But it's a low scoring 1st half. Butler up 27-20. Go Bulldogs!

If anyone is curious, former Zips recruit Adrian Payne - who signed with Michigan State - is playing on STO right now. He's #33 in blue (Dayton Jefferson). He just scored the 1st 2 points of the game.

Now I'm the one who was totally wrong! Lol. Yeah, that's really weird. Can we sue for breach of contract? Not having the Info Team Shop open by now is shameful. It's embarrassing really. Is our athletics department demanding enough excellence to be equally appalled and embarrassed? Or are they content with incompetence? Knowing the less-than-brilliant history of the department, I'm afraid I know what the answer is.

Either you think this team has a lot of talent, or Zipmeister is having a seizure right about now. I don't want any part of this. Lol. Yeah, that's no one's business but their own. Don't ask, don't tell. Just don't drop the soap in the shower! Lol.

Yup, that's the plan. I wish we could do it all at once, but I guess this will suffice.

Hmm. Idk, but to me it sounds like you may have simply been given the run-around. B&N would likely control the merch found in the bookstores, since they're run by B&N. But the team shops @ the JAR & the Info would probably be different. I only say this because last year in the Info the were selling InfoCision Stadium t-shirts as well as one shirt that read something like, "my two favorite teams are the Akron Zips and whoever is playing Can't State," or something to that effect. I just can't see a national corporation like B&N stocking items like those. They'd likely just have more generic UA merch. I have no way of knowing this, of course, but I would venture to say the lazy, incompetent bums in our athletics department simply didn't want to talk to you about it. So UA, when's the Info Team Shop opening? How lame.

++ Concur with that sentiment -- as if I haven't been saying it for months. And, if TPSjuggler is correct -- we will be down to Zero on any slasher-type players. Is this addition by subtraction?? Don't worry I wasn't right at all. What?!?! A member of ZNO admitting they were wrong?! Are you sure you're familiar with the ZNO culture? You might want to go see a doctor, man. Lol. Actually, I believe you're referencing a possible transfer by Humpty. So, man, I'm glad you were wrong about that! I'm excited to see Humpty's game next year. Turn him loose KD! Fast! Fast! Fast! In fact, as an aside, I was listening to the Jackson v Gahanna Lincoln game last night and the announcer, watching Stevie Taylor bring the ball up the court, commented, "Wow, Stevie Taylor brings the ball the length of the floor in about one second." That's exactly the type of game Humpty has. Now, if we're going to tell our PG's to simply jog the ball up the court, they why recruit a 5'8" burner of a PG. If we're just gonna walk the ball up the court for a half-court set, then just have a F do it. B-Mac & Nik could both bring the ball up. They could simply toss it over the heads of the opposing guards. But if we're recruiting 5'9 Humpty, 5'10" Steward and 5'8" Stevie who's athletic advantage is burning up the court, they why are we walking the ball up? Either we need to start running the fast break AMAP, or we need to stop recruiting this type of player.

Rob Brandenburg? VCU can have him. Give me Josh Egner!!! Oh, and Stevie only had 5 points. He was really shut down tonight. Hmm. Give me Dylan Ennis! Lol.

If he wanted to transfer, I'd take him. X vs. Kansas State: One of the best college basketball games I've ever watched. +1. Both teams nailing clutch shot, after clutch shot, after clutch shot...

The dorms are almost done, from what I can see the exterior looks finished. They are opening next fall, but apparently UA feels that freshmen and the learning communities deserved the dorms over everyone else. I guess they figured the only way they could get the nerds near the football stadium is to build the dorm next door. Bad planning on the Honors Dorm if thats the case... My opinion on why they may have designated those dorms for freshmen- Since the upperclassmen have proven so sparse in their support for Zips athletics, they're probably trying to get as many freshmen to attend the games as possible. If these freshmen get into the habit of supporting all the games, and the following year's class as well, then after 2-3 years of that you've got a completely changed student culture where supporting Zips football & basketball is the thing to do. When I was driving up Spicer to the UWGB game (granted, it was St. Patty's Day) Idk how many frat boys I saw just sitting on their front porches drinking. They didn't go to the game. The U resident student population needs a cultural change. Difficult to do. Of course winning would cure a lot of ills.

That would seem to make the most sense. Please be a JUCO point guard, please be a JUCO point guard. I can't analyze ball as well as some on the board, but I'm really hoping for a JUCO shooting guard rather than a PG. I really like Humpty's potential. Humpty's best when he's allowed to play fast. Seeing him in high school, he's lightning quick & is best when he's running the fast break & pushing tempo. He also used to have an absolutely killer stop & pop from 15'. He's gotta find that shot again. It was impossible to stop. He'd be coming down the floor @ 100 mph and stop on a dime @ the free throw line & bury the J. Idk, I guess I wanna see KD turn Humpty & Ronnie (also a very fast player) loose next year. I think both are used better on the breakout rather than walking the ball up for a half-court set; they're so fast & their lack of height was a hinderance when they tried to get the ball down low in the half court set. If we're just gonna walk the ball up the court, let's just let Nik bring the ball up the court (only half-joking). I think both Humpty & Ronnie also have the ability to break the defense down with dribble-drives into the lane. I just didn't see much of that this year.

I like Nik's attitude. Even when he was struggling on offense it didn't seem to effect his confidence level at all. He's a warrior. He never shied away from the ball & always kept bringing looking for his shot & making moves to the rim.

Greetings, JoeMac! Thanks for chiming in. Good to have you a part of ZipsNation! Could you give us a description of Michael Green's game? His strengths, what he likes to do offensively, his weaknesses, perhaps the kind of competition he may have struggled with/against this year? Whatever you've got for a breakdown & what we should look for. Thanks in advance!

That design is amazing!!! I'm still hoping the UA does something more with the Quaker Square Inn. At least they're keeping what, half of it open as a hotel? They really need to get their culinary arts program working in there to open up the old Tavern on the Square (formerly a very nice restaurant) as well as one of the old banquet dining rooms. Quaker Square is just too unique/cool to be used exclusively for a dormitory. Now the Mayflower on the other hand... It'd be better vacant than it is now.

....Just please don't go back to those HORRIBLE yellow and navy uniforms (a la Geen Bay) from teh late 90's early '00's. I love the fact that they keep their uniforms fresh and new...so I don't mind seeing new white, blue, and even gold uniforms. I'd love to see an alternate White or blue helmet....just none of that hideous Green Bay Look-alikes....that was attrocious. Holy crap, tell me about it. Those are the uniforms I was referring to in my above post. They were the worst uniforms in all of D-1 college ball. I'm with you - I like the new uniforms. If we get travelling whites to match the home blues it'd be sweet. Just flip-flop the white & blue & walla - you've got a sweet away look. I want the gold helmet to be our staple look - but alternate white or blue would be cool too - ala, Oregon. But awfully pricey.

I think GoZips makes a very legitimate and pertinent point. And I'm absolutely NOT a KD hater. I love KD. I think KD's done a terrific job building the program. When I was in college I had an internship w/ Prudential Securities and did a fair share of work for KD. And talked some basketball. He told me the whole Central Michigan story, and was misty-eyed while he told it. I'm a BIG KD fan. But he's really got to stop keeping his players on such short leashes. It's a killer for an athlete's psyche, and, as any athlete knows, having self confidence is a HUGE part of success. I've said before that I couldn't play for KD. He'd have my confidence completely shattered. I always responded best to a teaching/encouraging coach. I wanted to do well and win just as much as any coach did. I didn't need a coach screaming at me if/when I screwed up. I just needed a coach to teach me & pat me on the back and tell me to hang in there. Idk. I just do know that if I played for a coach that yanked me after every mistake, I'd be second guessing myself left & right. Jimmy C. is a very interesting case. Jimmy didn't somehow learn how to play ball just this past season. It all likely has to do with his confidence level. And watching how KD manages the players, it's pretty plain to see how it could be painfully difficult to develop an on-court comfort level.

Thanks, Doc! I can rest easy now. Lol

Does anyone know why the NCAA decided on that distance instead of the European distance for the 3-shot? Was there a specific reason behind that particular distance, or was it just arbitrary? When I first heard rumors about moving the 3-line back, I just thought a move to the international distance would be natural.

I thought last year's uniforms were sweet. But I don't care what they do, as long as they keep the gold helmets. And the gold must be GOLD! Not yellow! Lol.

Greenwood's a decent-sized corner. That'll be refreshing to see. Also, props to the ABJ and Tom Gaffney for the great Zips coverage. No sooner had the basketball season ended that they're beginning coverage of spring practice. And running a story on the opening day of spring drills to boot! That's quality coverage! Thanks Tom! Keep us informed!

As someone mentioned before in another thread, I'm surprised about Aaron Williams leaving. He really seemed like a team leader. I guess he just really liked JD?