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Dr Z

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Posts posted by Dr Z

  1. Akron-Ball St

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    Getting back to the Zips. This off season has to have every position opened up for competition.
    On the offensive side, I would agree...except for TE & FB. We need some talented receivers and some consistent line play more than anything on that side of the ball.

  2. Akron-Ball St

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    I still love Frenchy, but he can be lost sometimes.
    I trust your eyes more than Steve's. When is his next eye test at the DMV? That might be the final straw if JJ has to pick him up for games. I still love him too, but seriously UA, spring for the LASIK.

  5. Rasor on the Zips

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    Who is better? The team that played better during the course of the regular season? Or the team who played better in the conference tournament?
    There is zero question in my mind. I hope the goal for the basketball team is to make it to the NCAA's. There is no bigger reward. You MUST play good in the tournament to make it there. I don't give two squirts about the regular season. To be "better" than another team, you must play well when it counts. Ask KD what his goal is this year. If it's not the NCAA tournament, I want a new coach.

  8. Rasor on the Zips

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    I thought Mike wrote a pretty nice piece, click here for the whole thing. Feel free to comment here or on his page.

    1) Transfers — At the end of last season, this blog preached extensively about the need to improve the athleticism on the floor. I trust Keith Dambrot to "coach up" just about anyone, so why not go after some riskier transfers? The coach must have been seeing the same thing, because Akron received three transfers since last season ended. Although only Quincy Diggs is eligible this season.

    2) Crunch time option — If the MAC Tournament taught us anything, it's that Steve McNees is an assassin. He pulled out some of the

    , gutsiest plays you've seen in March. Leading up to the tournament, the Zips had lost several games because Dambrot ran a play for Brett McKnight when the team needed a basket with one possession left. Nothing against Brett, but he's just not that kind of player. McNees showed he is. Will that carry over to this season?

    3) Zeke Marshall — The most anticipated freshman in the program's history led the MAC in blocks and made the All-Freshman Team. We wanted more. We wanted a back-'em-down center who would not get out-muscled by the Kenneth Van Kempens of the world. Word out of Zips camp is that Marshall put on some weight with the help of Mom's spaghetti. Will that extra strength translate to results?

    4) Leading scorer — One of the tenets to the Dambrot system is that no one player will be among the league leaders in scoring. Sometimes I wonder if it's intentional. Sometimes I wonder if it helps Dambrot better control the team if he does not allow the team's scoring needs to rely solely on one ego, or to provide more predictability for the team's hopes not to rely on one shooting arm. Heck, even LeBron James wasn't a totally dominant scorer under Dambrot. Last season, Jimmy Conyers led Akron in scoring with 10.1 points per game — only the 29th highest average in the MAC. It appears that trend will continue this year, but if there is an offensive weapon on this team, it's probably McNees or McKnight.

    5) Shut-down defender — Lately, the Zips have had the luxury of a shut-down defender at the swingman position. It was Nate Linhart, then Conyers. At first glance, it doesn't look like Akron has a replacement for that role. If either Brett McClanahan or Diggs can become that player, it will be a sure way to get extra minutes.

    6) Attendance — Can I speak to harsh truth with you, Zips fans? We do not have a very good fan base. Akron's home attendance was sixth in the conference last year, despite it being the sixth-consecutive year of exciting, winning basketball. Our arena is not conducive to having a wild student section, but the tiny student section we have is not always full.

    7) Freshmen forwards — Akron recruited three forwards in this class. It looks like Dambrot will need to use at least one. The easy pick would be Dakotah Euton, the former Kentucky recruit who can bruise you and stroke 3s (like Antoine Walker, without the bankruptcy). Michael Green has a Conyers-like skill set. Ironically, like Conyers often did, Green is also lacking confidence so far in camp. Josh Egner is a high-motor, high-athleticism defender. My guess is that Euton and Egner will play and Green will redshirt, but I reserve the right to change that opinion after seeing the exhibition game Thursday.

    8 ) Alex Abreu — The Zips have lacked a true point guard since Dru Joyce. If there is one definition for Abreu, it's "true point guard." Dambrot's biggest complaint is that Abreu isn't only "pass-first," he is pass-second, -third, etc. However, he will learn under ideal circumstances — under McNees, a senior who is unafraid to chuck it up from 25 feet at any moment. The question is, can Abreu advance this season to the extent where he can take over the PG role by next season If you look at the prospective 2011-12 roster, you'll see Dambrot is really counting on it.

    9) MAC East competition — The MAC media is either 1) not paying attention, or 2) getting paid off by Dambrot, in order to give his team bulletin-board material. They picked the Zips third in the division behind Ohio and Can't State.

    10) Cvetinovic — Another story out of camp is that Nik Cvetinovic has calmed down and become a team leader. It sounds to me like a Major League II storyline (i.e. "Wild Thing" Rick Vaughn goes Wall Street). But I hope it's true. When Cvetinovic plays with poise, he is a great steadying player in the Zips rotation. He grabs important boards and comes up with clutch baskets.

  12. Hopin' and prayin'

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    The flushes are in the same general place UA was in the year we went to the Bowl game.
    I don't agree with that AT ALL. The Zips had a top QB that year, IMO Spencer is not in that category this year. Big difference at the most important position in football. If your just talking about record-wise maybe, but NOT talent.

  13. Coach Porter is tweeting an appology

    in Akron Zips NCAA Championship Soccer

    Posted

    I think we should concentrate more on Coach Porter's other tweet..."Keep the Faith". I've become spoiled in the last 2 seasons given all of the Men's Soccer Team's success. But, they are human and can and do make mistakes.
    What I take away from this, is that I won't be surprised if some team ranked way lower than them beats them in the tournament. I now know this team is capable of that. What I hope is, that it is a reminder that they need to stay focused no matter how weak the opponent seems.

  14. Radio Show Notes - iCoach

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    Thanks for posting. By your number (1) topic, I'm deducing that iCoach is not happy with the receiving corp. At the beginning of the year, I was excited to get Frisman as a coach, I was hoping he could get this group to play well. I would have like to spoken with him at some point and time. I would have done it at the golf outing except for one thing. :horse:

    One question I would ask. We roll out PN7 to one side of the field and send one receiver out in a route. I have seen our QB get sacked or throw the ball away or incomplete every time they run this. I have never seen it work. Last night the Texans tried the the exact same play with arguably the best receiver in the league...same exact result. Even coach Gruden made a comment about it. WHY in the world is this a play in anybody's playbook? It's not even a big gain if it works?!?

  16. Zips Live

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    I made it a point to listen tonight since KD was going to be on.

    The starting rotatation is set and the top 8 guys are set.

    Rotation is McNees & Roberts at the guards with Abreau getting minutes.

    McClanahan will start at the 3 with McKnight coming off the bench.

    Nik and Zeke will start down low

    Thanks for taking the time to post this ZB. Good info.

    Glad to see Abreau get mentioned. I can't wait to see if he has what it takes to help this team compete against good competition.

  18. Coach Porter is tweeting an appology

    in Akron Zips NCAA Championship Soccer

    Posted

    "After 40 games w/o a true loss (pk's vs UVA)..."
    I'm glad to hear coach P doesn't think losing a game on pk's is a true loss. I agree!!! That makes me feel a little better for the time I wasted watching that game. As far as apologizing for losing to Cleveland State, I didn't even know they had a soccer team?!? I can't imagine how many egos were put in check after that game. Could be a good thing in the long run. Cleveland State? :rolleyes:

    I hope there is some kind of video that came from this game that KD can use to motivate his team before he plays CSU this year.

  21. Halloween Hoops This Friday Evening Oct 29th

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    Your complaining about my complaining makes me want to complain.
    Keep in mind, (it appears to me) that this is somebody comparing multiple events, yet has not been to either of them. :rolleyes:

    I wouldn't get too worked up. :D

    I wish somebody learned something new at this event that was post-worthy. Did anybody converse with someone that would care to share with ZN?

    Did anybody make some sort of observation without conversing that would care to share? A lot of Zip fans are beaten down from football and could use

    some bball news. Even some photos. Anything.

  22. Today's Observances

    in Akron Zips NCAA Championship Soccer

    Posted

    While the field looks good for this time of the year, obviously they're trying to get it as dry as possible and keep it that way with the craptastic weather that is bound to come soon.
    Core aerating is common maintenance this time of year, and has many benefits for thick healthy grass. It is done in the fall and spring because the ground is soft. Those little cores will get stuck in their spikes and cause some slipping, I've seen it happen in football. They will dissipate in a few weeks depending on weather.

  23. 24/7 LeBron

    in Off Topic, Smack & Jokes

    Posted

    LBJ regrets decision.

    "If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit different," James said to reporters on Sunday in New Jersey before his Heat played the Nets. "But I'm happy with the decision I made. There's always going to be a misunderstanding. I don't know what I would [have done], but I definitely would have changed it."

  24. Mike Johnson

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    IMO, Smith is a problem, I would like to see Mike make a change at QB to see how effective it would be.
    Mike has a new weapon. :D

    "We're going to continue to go forward with Troy Smith right now," Singletary said. "We're going into the bye week, and as far as Alex Smith is concerned, it's a week-to-week deal. I'll wait and talk to our doctors, trainers, whatever. But we'll make those decisions as we need to." Troy Smith leapfrogged veteran backup David Carr on the depth chart -- virtually sight unseen -- to get the start in place of Alex Smith, who is out 2 to 3 weeks with a separated left shoulder.

    Congrats to Mike.

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