Dr Z

1-0 Zips

Maybe EA has seen some practices and is basing his opinion on what he is actually seeing, as opposed to a national guy who only goes by what he reads (top ranked recruit at Akron).

My two year old niece played on the hill most of the OU game.

Don't underestimate a hippie when it comes to grass.

I like the Temple hire better.

Can I have more than one vote? Today I want to vote for a defensive coordinator as our next coach.PS NOT Akron's. Maybe it's just part two of my first vote. I think I can get both wishes.Oh yeah, and he has to have played linebacker in the NFL at some point and time. Maybe tight end, but I prefer linebacker.

Too bad some upperclassman football players can't post here. Would be a good question for Rasor to ask members of the team.

I missed this, did anybody see it? Somebody might want to forward OU's version to Tommy Shaw. Styx's "RENEGADE" has become a Steelers Nation fight song. . .how did it happen? Find out this week, as "NFL Films Presents" tells the true story of the “birth of Renegade”. . .featuring interviews with Mike Tomlin, Ben Roethlisberger and "Renegade" song-writer, Styx's own Tommy Shaw.Airdates as follows: NFL FILMS PRESENTS Hosted by Steve Sabol"Renegade"ESPN210/27 @ 1am ETESPN210/28 @ 2:30pm ETNFL NETWORK10/29 @ 4:30pm ET10/31 @ 9am & 10:30am ET

I voted "something else" I want a guy that can win. I don't care if he is coaching Pop Warner.Pro style offense, base 4-3 defense and normal punts. Pretty much the opposite of what we have.

I'm at a loss for words. I'll chalk this up to a minor error in judgment. Rasor is balz on, but I'm pretty sure it goes without saying.

Deploy larger players and they will be strong enough to bring down the other team's players when they run the ball. The players we have on the field are too small. Use a defense that places larger players on the field and all will work out. Such an easy answer, yet our staff refuses to do it. I'll never understand it. Sometimes I think we are playing 10 on 11 out there, how can the kids even stand a chance?

Defense:I'm not sure I have seen a Zips team that has had a bigger disparity in running yards in a season. It's like we don't understand football. Stop the effin run on D, and run the ball on O, if you don't, you continue to give the other team opportunity after opportunity to score. Yesterday we got out rushed 31 to TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE!!! Everybody on ZN knew they were going to run the ball, did we do anything different to stop it??? Nope, same BS scheme. That QB couldn't have hit water falling out of a boat, yet we defensed him like he was Drew Brees. Can our staff adjust to anything?Offense:I hope as Zip fans we look back at this year and say that it was a blessing in disguise that PN16 got the experience that he did. IMO he is getting the best training he can to be a good QB. I have never bought into you learn things on the sideline. You learn things from game time experience. I do have fun watching him learn each week. Now, can our receivers help him out a little by catching the ball??? Whatever time in practice we are using practicing the stupid wildcat, stop. Use that time for PN16 and his receivers to get used to each other. I can't figure out our offensive line. They play well 4 out of 5 plays, but the one time they don't, usually results in a terrible play. It's usually on third down too. Do you realize we were O for 10 yesterday on third down? My gawd, that's embarrassing.Like most fans, I HATE that shotgun hand off to the running back. It's obvious we aren't getting rid of it any time soon, but can we run a reverse out of that set a few times to help it out just a little? Do you ever remember rooting for a Zips team that has used so many running backs in a season? Was it really necessary to burn BA's red shirt? Kid might be good when he adds 10 more pounds of muscle and can break that first tackler. Kudos to Alex Allen for a perfect pass to AJ. Please get AJ involved in offense more."Special Teams"I hate the rugby style punt. I just don't get it. Seems like it might be a good idea on the OLD old rubber bowl cement style turf, but on the new style it just sticks to it and doesn't roll. Big field goal miss early. I would love to have a solid FG kicker.Memo to JD: Beat Ken+

That would require two things, a game plan and four defensive lineman in the game. Anybody giving odds?Keep your eye on our key defensive half time adjustments this week.

How much development does he really need to compete against the centers in the MAC? Let's be serious, he could hop around on one leg and be better than half the MAC centers.If Brian Hipsher can play in the MAC, surely Zeke can start as a frosh!?!

21-17 Zips, call me crazy, but I have to be just to turn the tv on tomorrow. Guess I better tivo it.

I didn't see that theory, but I'm serious in saying that. I remember the early Jawanza years. I hate to pick on him now, but how many open two hand under the hoop shots did he miss? Then in his senior season, it was like a light went on and all of a sudden and he was not only making shots, he was helping us win games. I really hope Jimmy becomes that guy. I hope that light comes on.I think the Zips with Zeke will have to learn how to win in a different way than they did last year. I think we will be better for it come Q time.

I would expect one of the most highly rated recruits in MAC history to contribute his first year. Especially in the MAC. Especially with his body type. I would be disappointed if he didn't. I bet if you ask Zeke, he would be disappointed if he didn't. I'm going to actually attend one game and see him play at the college level before I type too many opinions. I have NEVER been more excited to watch a Zips freshman in my life.PS Jawanza Moore will go down in my book as having the biggest turn around senior year where he went from 3 year liability to contributor. Jimmy Conyers has a chance to take that tittle. Stay tuned...

Odd sentence. You can read a lot into this if you wanted to. "The good thing is, we can win without him." Possible motivation?

One thing is clear after the first full week of Zeke Marshall's college basketball career with the Akron Zips: His career will be a marathon, not a sprint.And even though Marshall is the Mid-American Conference's highest-rated recruit since Rivals.com began posting its top 150 national players in 2002, he is still a freshman.Friday, after five officiated eight-minute scrimmages against his teammates, he had two rebounds, two points and no blocks. He did not get his first rebound until the third session, and his second came in the last."It has been pretty much what I thought: an adjustment," Marshall said."The game is faster, it's harder and you have to run longer. I have to compete. Everybody wants to come after me. I have to answer back."Part of Marshall's problem has been an ankle injury that only recently healed to the point he could practice.Another part is that his teammates, coming off a MAC championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance, aren't just going to hand over their playing time to him."These guys don't want him to take their minutes," Zips coach Keith Dambrot said. "Before you can beat their guys, first you got to beat out our guys. Let's be fair to the kid."Seven-footers are rare in the Mid-American Conference. The past two -- Chris Kaman at Central Michigan and John Edwards at Can't State -- were nowhere near Marshall's level as a recruit.Yet Kaman became an NBA lottery pick, going sixth to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003. He is entering his seventh season with the team.And Edwards played two seasons in the NBA, with Indiana and Atlanta, and currently plays professionally in Europe. Both were centers on the last two MAC teams to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. Neither started as a freshman.Akron returns its top four players to a team that earned the school's first NCAA Tournament bid since 1986. Now, winning a game or two in the tournament is the objective.History says Marshall's presence can help make that happen, even if he is not a starter.Edwards' coming-out party was as a sophomore reserve on Can't State's NCAA Elite Eight team in 2002. He averaged 11.8 minutes per game off the bench that season, until Can't played nationally ranked opponents. Then Edwards averaged 14.7 minutes a game. His size under the hoop kept defenses honest, even though his production (3.3 points, 2.1 rebounds per game) was meager.Marshall's impact with the Zips and on the league will not be measured by his early practices. As his career advances, his shot blocking, rebounding and scoring may rise dramatically as he will have three or four years to become the dominant big man most envision."You know he's going to get better," Dambrot said."He's got a ways to go. And I haven't been hard on him yet. The good thing is, we can win without him."Source

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SourceThe Akron Zips dominate the voting for the Mid-American Conferece preseason basketball media polls with coach Keith Dambrot's Zips being the overwhelming pick to finish first in the MAC's East Division, the overwhelming pick to win the MAC Tournament and landing two players on the preseason All-MAC East Division Team. The Zips picked up 19 of the 24 first-place votes. The Zips, who finished tied for third in the MAC last season, 23-13, 10-6, return four of five starters and 12 of 13 letterwinners from a team that won the MAC Tournament last season then advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Zips lost in the first round to Gonzaga, but look to a bright future as they replace 6-7 Nate Linhart with 7-0 Zeke Marshall, a consensus Top 50 recruit, plus its two All-MAC performers. Pollsters named 6-5 junior Brett McKnight (11.2 ppg) and 5-10 sophomore Anthony (Humpty) Hitchens (8.8 ppg) to the first team. Picked to finish a distant second in the MAC East was Can't State, with Can't State senior Chris Singletary (12.2 ppg) being named to the All-MAC team. The MAC West is projected to be a tight race with Central Michigan being the favorite followed closely by Northern Illinois. Interestingly, CMU has no All-MAC selections.MAC East Division Preseason Media Poll1. Akron – 190 points (19)2. Can't State – 108 points (3)3. Buffalo – 97 points (1)4. Miami -- 78 points5. Bowling Green – 54 points (1)6. Ohio – 32 pointsMAC West Division Preseason Media Poll1. Central Michigan – 113 points (10)2. Northern Illinois – 102 points (4)3. Eastern Michigan – 94 points (3)4. Ball State – 87 points (3)5. Western Michigan – 79 points (4)1. Toledo – 29 points(1st place votes in parentheses)Tournament Winner: Akron (19), Buffalo (2), Northern Illinois (1), Can't State (1), Bowling Green (1) East Division All-MAC Preseason TeamKenny Hayes, G, Miami Brett McKnight, F, Akron Rodney Pierce, G, Buffalo Chris "Sucker Punch" Singletary, G, Can't State Anthony “Humpty” Hitches, G, AkronWest Division All-MAC Preseason TeamDavid Kool, G, Western Michigan Jarrod Jones, F/C, Ball State Brandon Bowdry, F, Eastern Michigan Darion “Jake” Anderson, G, Northern IllinoisCarlos Medlock, G, Eastern Michigan

I know this is not apples to apples, but it's close. Here is how a SB coach is handling a similar situation, this is from Sunday's post game conference: Question: Do Rashard’s fumbles make you reconsider him starting? Mike Tomlin: Not at this point no. Not at all.

SourceNews from Can't State basketball was not good Tuesday evening as word began to spread that 6-3 senior Chris Singletary's injured ankle from Sunday's scrimmage will likely sideline him at least until the start of the regular season, Nov. 13. Now, he might not be alone. Returning 6-2 junior guard Rodriguez Sherman suffered a dislocated elbow during Tuesday's practice that could keep him out as few as three or four days or up to two or more weeks. Head coach Geno Ford said he will not know Sherman's status for sure until some point Wednesday when X-rays have been seen by the doctors. "I do know he and Chris being out is not good,'' Ford said. Singletary and Sherman are key players at the two positions where the Golden flushes are thinnest. Sherman has been making the transition to point guard this season, after missing all of 2008-2009 due to knee surgery.

Those aren't thoughts.