Blue & Gold

Chillicothe 59, Newark 53 OhioVarsity.com Chillicothe took on Newark in the second game of the Play By Play Classic, matching Akron recruit Anthony Hitchens and athletic forward Ray Chambers against Newark's tandem of 6-foot-9 junior Dane Kopp and guard Cody Dennison. Ultimately the scoring of Hitchens and Chambers proved to be too much for Newark to handle, as their late surges throughout the second half were never quite enough to give them the lead and Chillicothe was able to walk away with a 6-point victory.Hitchens paced Chillicothe with 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. He was able to get his shot off on virtually anyone that Newark threw at him, whether it was via his dribble drive or deep outside jumpers. The diminutive guard struggled shooting the ball however, as he was just 8 for 24 in field goal attempts. The future Zip made an impact on the defensive end as well, gathering three steals en route to being named his team's MVP.Chambers, an athletic forward, also contributed with 17 points and 7 rebounds. He was a bit too much for Newark to handle inside, proving to be far more athletic then anyone they had to offer. Not overly skilled, the 6-foot-7 senior does the majority of his damage within five feet of the basket, using his strength to overpower most defenders. Chambers has reportedly given a soft verbal commitment to Ohio University, but is still fielding offers from other programs according to those close to the situation.Kopp, a 6-foot-9 junior, had a strong performance for Newark, posting 14 points and 8 rebounds in defeat. The lengthy forward showed off a soft touch from mid-range and finished well inside, despite his slender frame. He mentioned that he is hearing from a ton of MAC schools and Bowling Green has already offered him a scholarship for 2009.Toledo Libbey 72, Lakewood St. Edward 58 St. Edward was able to stay in the game early due to the strong shooting of their wing players, but Libbey's stable of athletic players ultimately proved to be too much to handle for the Eagles' guards, who committed 16 turnovers in the game. The game MVP awards went out to Libbey's William Buford (26 points and 11 rebounds) and St. Edward's 6-foot-6 senior Conor Tilow (22 points).Buford's 26 points came in impressive fashion, as he showed Ohio State fans what they have to look forward to once he steps on campus next fall. He scored via a variety of pull-up jumpers and athletic dribble drives to the basket, while also throwing down a couple of impressive dunks in the victory. The 6-foot-5 senior showed why he is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 4 shooting guard in the class of 2008 and he is going to be the main reason why Libbey is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Division II state tournament this year.St. Edward senior Tom Pritchard had issues with foul trouble on Saturday, allowing him to only play 20 minutes before fouling out. He finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds on the day facing constant double teams, while struggling to get touches on the offensive end. The absence of Delvon Roe to a knee injury has made things noticeably more difficult for the Indiana recruit, who now faces two defenders virtually every time he steps on the court.

I was thinking the same. Let him run off screens and launch it from deep. He's got ice water in his veins and a lightning quick release. At 6-2 I think he'll make a great deep-threat shooting guard.

nbs, none of us were dissing Steven at all. GoZips did mention that he had heard that Steven needs a bit of work on his D, but who doesn't, eh? Then the topic was changed to "Coach LeBron James" for a bit.I think we're all very excited to see Steven out on the court. Honestly, I believe that Steven will be the first truly skilled center we've had since I've been following Zips basketball. I love Jeremiah Wood, but he's only 6-6, so I actually consider him more of a power forward playing out of necessity at the 5-spot. And, skhorbotly, here's how I'm thinking the lineup will shake down if Zeke commits to UA:PG: Steward, HumptySG: Sullivan, Mcneese, Roberts, Brooks (good grief where do we find minutes here?)SF: Brett, MclanahanPF: Chris, Cventivovic (I just call him Nic!)C: Steve, Zeke, Bardo in mop-up minutesI moved Mclanahan to SF, Nic to PF and Bardo to mop up duty at the 5-spot. Wow, what a roster; what versatility! If Can't State doesn't strike gold w/ another JUCO recruit next year, then after Al Fisher graduates we should be ahead of the Golden Flushes for the following 3 years.

Let me just say that what impresses me most about the Zips fans that Zeke would be playing in front of, and what I am most proud about when I tell people that I am a Zips fan, is that we honestly care about our players as individual human beings. By far our biggest concern is the personal development of our young men. Of course we love to win and we love it when one of our players has a great game - that's just a whole lot more fun than losing. But win or lose, we cheer, pull & root for the fellas 'cause we care about them and love them as young people - young people who are going to have bad games right along with good games; young people who are going to make bad decisions right along with good decisions. Also, the team chemistry that the Zips' squad has is really something special. I attribute that to coach KD's personality and recruiting philosophy and the type of person (not player) that he recruits. These young men on the Zips' basketball team are elite athletes to be sure (All-Ohio and All-Pennsylvania caliber players), but more importantly - much more importantly - they are the nicest, friendliest, and sincerely humble group of guys you'd ever hope for your son to be associated with. I don't know Zeke, but apparently KD feels that his personality would blend naturally with the other people he's brought in to be a part of this rising program - so that speaks volumes of Zeke's character. So, as apparently Zeke is a high-quality young man - not just a tall young man - I sincerely wish him the absolute best in his future, where ever that may be!GO ZIPS!

That's too bad. I appreciate African-American coaches and Stan really seemed like a very classy individual; a good role model for his players.

Here's an interesting article mentioning a Play-By-Play Classic (in Columbus?) in January. Humpty gets a good write up. But what I found most interesting is that in this tourney Chillicothe, which won Ohio's D-II title, beat Newark, who won Ohio's D-I title. Also, as you'll read, in this same tourney, Toledo Libbey, who finished as Ohio's D-II runner-up, and has Ohio's Mr. Basketball William Bufford, beat Lakewood St. Edward, who finished as Ohio's D-I runner-up. Ironic. And man, what a good tourney!http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=762441P.s. The article also mentions that Ray Chambers had given a soft verbal to Ohio but was awaiting test results. Good luck to him! But the article also politely mentions that Ray isn't an incredibly skilled big man, and by watching his game, I don't know if his game will translate very well to D-1 college ball. He just uses his 6-7 length to physically dominate high school opponents, but he won't be able to do that in college.

I drove by the stadium sight today and the hole in the ground is actually much deeper than it appears to be via the camera. The entire backhoe(sp?) was down in the hole; I could only see the peak of it's arm.

Good post. And true! It's really something that our plight last year is directly responsible for not merely causing a national ruckus amongst "mid-major" athletics directors, but actually intstigating the creation of a third post-season tournament! Perhaps a greater good has come out of last years tragedy? Don't get me wrong, it absolutely broke my heart for Dru and Rome not to be able to experience the Big Dance - I've been watching those guys since high school, when Dru looked like he was 3 feet tall! But now Dru and Rome can tell people, "See that tourney you're watching on t.v. right now? That actually exists because of the injustice my team experienced my senior year at UA." It's actually a rather profound story. What an impact those events have had.

That incident was likely the icing on the cake. LBJ is now friends with Warren Buffet - the world's richest man - and receives investment advice directly from Warren himself. I'm sure that the ingenious and financially savvy Mr. Buffet had already warned Bron-Bron that any monetary investment in Can't State would be the financial equivalent of pissing down one's leg!

Jimmy certainly passes the eyeball test - he's a dead-ringer for Michael Jordan, only about 1 inch shorter. I wish all our Zips players looked as much like a baller as Jimmy does. But he just really doesn't get it done. He's got the proverbial deer-in-the-headlights look when he's out there. Man, I don't understand that. If I were 6-5 and as athletic as Jimmy I'd be flying all around out there. But alas, I'm a 5-8 white boy.

Ha! Coach James! Go LBJ! He's a true homeboy! I love that guy; he's really "kept it real," and still loves his hometown of Akron! Gotta love Bron-Bron.

It's interesting that you post this, because I've been perplexed by this coaching strategy all year. I even started a thread about 1 or 2 months ago entitled something like, "KD's coaching strategy" and asked for someone to explain to me why KD seems to, instead of feeding the hot man (which is a b-ball 101 maxim), he actually tends to pull the hot man from the game and sit him down on the bench. I honestly am dumbfounded by this. Just when a player makes a good play, and his eyes start lighting up, KD yanks him. I love KD, I think he's a great recruiter, but I don't get this at all.

Yeah, that really just sounds like revisionist-history spin doctoring. Personally I wouldn't be using that line as my apologetic because I don't think people will buy into it. That was just a really embarrassing mistake. Ouch. I love and admire the Rowdies (one of the two best student sections in the MAC - Ohio's O-Zone being the other) but man, I mean, I often double check myself @ Dictionary.com before I make a silly little post on here while amongst friends, let alone a sign I'm gonna hold up for the world to see. That was just a bad blunder - one that Can't fans could rehash for years (I doubt they will). If the sign were intentionally misspelled it likely would have read more along the lines of, "wE duN't thoW sToof." If it was intentional, then it was far too understated; it should have been much more over-the-top. Oh, well. I didn't see it and I don't believe the FOX Sports cameras caught it either (that would have been a disaster!)

Tim O'Shea would like a word with you.Good point. You guys had more talent than anyone in the league.As far as Can't fans outnumbering Akron fans at the game, well, I was only watching on t.v., but it may have only seemed that way because Akron fans didn't have hardly anything to cheer about after about 10 minutes into the game; whereas, as much as I hate to say it, Can't's fans were probably letting it be well known that they were loving every minute of it.

The Zips seem to be loading up on guards, but if they don't end up with big Zeke from Pennsylvania they really need to start looking at some big men. Check that....big men (6'10" +) that can move well. I don't care what size school they come from (more likely to find a steal in the mid- to small high schools) as long as they can shoot from point blank range, rebound, play defense, and just get in the other team's way.I'm anxious to see what kind of game Steven Sweich has. He was a heralded big man recruit last season and redshirted this year. He's between 6-9 and 6-10 and probably weighs around 250. He doesn't look like someone who's gonna run the floor extremely well on the fast break, but he is very big w/ long arms and big hands and he really could both rebound and score in high school. I think we're really gonna need a good season from him NEXT year to be competitive.

An Akron alum living here outside of Columbus I make it a point to see Zip recruits in my local area I have seen a lot of high school basketball the last few years. I love the fact that so many Zips, like Linhart, the McKnights, Steward, and Hitchens are coming out of central Ohio.I would like to comment on the Hitchens conversation. He certainly is an impressive point guard and can easily be the most talented PG in the MAC in the near future. I do, however, see a problem occasionally with his decision making, especially in the area of taking ill-advised shots. Hopefully that trend will go away when surrounded by a bunch of D-1 college players. For what it is worth, though, I still say the Zips next great guard is Ron Steward. I'd actually have him ahead of Hitchens when it comes to being a college ready player at the conclusion of his high school time. I really hope he will be healthy next season. If he is the Zips could have the best 1-2 (and even 3 with McNees) punch at point guard in the MAC, and I don't mean eventually I mean by the second half of next season once these guys have gained just a little experience.Wow, I'm really excited and quite intrigued to hear you say that you'd pick Steward over Hitchens right now! While I have never had the opportunity to see Steward play ball, I was literally shocked when I saw how fast, quick and skilled Humpty is! So your comment really whets my appetite to see Steward do his thing! Steward must be an amazing talent as well! And, as you could tell from last night's bitterly disappointing loss to Can't, we desperately need athleticism at the PG position. Ironically, it looks like that may be our calling card as soon as next season w/ Steward & Humpty. (Additionally, Darryl Roberts is a quick player and new recruit Alex Sullivan is also heralded for his quickness and athleticism.)

Z-P, sorry I missed your cry for help! I was over in the live chat room and didn't see your post! I couldn't have helped you anyway, but I wouldn't have ignored you! None of ZipsNation saw your post because most members of ZipsNation were up in Cleveland and the few of us still at home were watching on ESPN2 and talking in the live chat room. Sorry Bro.

I know this is a hypothetical question, but I think we'd have a better shot of winning a first round game in the NCAA than getting to the Final Four of the NIT. The NIT is a tough tourney as well and making it to New York is a tall order. But I'd rather make the NCAA tourney because 1) it'd be the first time in longer than I can remember and 2) that means K.e.n.t. would have lost!

Wow, I hope that's not true. How many times is a player allowed to do that before their scholly is pulled?

If we have a healthy Steward next year then we'll be unbelievable at PG. Did any of you out there get to see Chillacothe (sp?) in the state semi-final game today? Good grief, Humpty is amazing! He's one of the best high school players I've ever seen! I know you'll be rolling your eyes at that statement, but I'm not speaking in hyperbole. IMO rarely does a player stand out like Humpty did today. He's amazingly fast & quick & can stop & pop on a dime. You guys just have to see the game. Now perhaps he was just on fire today, who knows? He scored about 25ish points today, which is 4 above his average. Poland Seminary was a pretty good team (undefeated), but they weren't incredibly athletic -Ray Chambers also had a monster day and he's been known to disappear at times against tougher competition (if I remember reading). But, man, did anyone else out there see what this kid can do?!Most all D-1 college players dominate in high school (unless they're a project big man.), but in basketball teams can scheme to slow down a big time player and make the others on that team try to beat them. For instance, I've had the opportunity to see both McKnight bros. play in h.s. and they were very good, but not like this. Likewise, I've had the opportunity to see (off the top of my head) Rydell Brooks, Derrick & Darren Tarver, Johnny King, Andrew Lavendar, Ricky Jackson, Todd Brown, Keith McCleod, Jamie Bosley, Jimmal Ball, Doylan Robinson, Romeo Travis, Dru Joyce, Andre Simms, Andy Hipsher, Marcus Johnson and many others play in high school, but none of the aforementioned players came close to impressing me like this kid did today.High school players that I've seen who were clearly on a much higher level than their peers (like Humpty was today) have been, LeBron (of course), Bill Walker, O.J. Mayo, Kosta Koufus (sp?) and Raymar Morgan. Those are, off the top of my head, the very best h.s. players I've had the privilege of seeing in person. When watching those players it was evident that they could do almost anything they wanted, anytime they wanted. Even though I was only watching Humpty on t.v., and not in person, Humpty is, IMO, in this category of player (at least today he was.) Okay, okay... it goes without saying that LeBron is in a category all by himself.See a replay of the game if you can!

Yeah, they can change it. I've noticed in the Canton Repository that they'll run AP articles on, say the Cavs or on Michigan State and when the AP article on the Cavs may mention Eric Snow they always add to the article the fact that he played at McKinley, and likewise, if the AP article on Michigan State happens to mention Raymar Morgan, they always add to the article the fact that Raymar played at McKinley. See, they have a passion for who they are.

Don't you mean you expect WMU to win the WMU/EMU matchup?

The title of your post is exactly right. It's the myriad of little slights that are like a thousand paper cuts. Or being "hen-pecked" to death. We need people on the BJ's sports staff that are excited about Akron athletics. If that were the case then it would be a natural inclination to point out to the uneducated masses that Anthony Humpty Hitchens is a future Zip.

This sounds like a good idea. But screw the Q. I don't like dropping any more of my money up in Cleveland that I already do. Bring the teams down here to Akron. Every year Walsh and Malone host a Hoops For Habitat Tourney where Malone would host the teams during the first night of the tourney and play Team A in the nightcap while Walsh would play Team B in the first contest of the evening. On the second night of the tourney Walsh would be the host school and play Team A in the nightcap while Malone would play Team B in the first contest of the evening. It was fun because both Malone and Walsh could see how their clubs compare to like opponents, and also served to highten the excitement for the annual Malone-Walsh games. Naturally, Malone would be very interested in the Walsh games and vice-versa. It gave both Walsh and Malone the opportunity to make statements to each other. Some of the money from the event would go to benefit Habitat For Humanity. Akron and K.e.n.t. could cooperate like this and bring in CSU & YSU (or 2 other schools for that matter.) I just remember it being a lot of fun.

I think it all comes down to how Matt Rodgers plays at QB. I've given up on CJ. But what do I know?