infofan

Not thrilled with the attendance but It definately looked like more than 3600. ABJ-George is what he is. Unfortunate but he isnt invested in the zips so his writing shows disinterest. I must credit Marla Ridenour however for an excellent article on the zips today! I wish she could cover the zips full time. Here it is if you missed it. During the first 10 minutes Tuesday night at Rhodes Arena, the University of Akron Zips showed why they are built not just to win the Mid-American Conference Tournament, but to win in the NCAA Tournament. Two monstrous slams by Jimond Ivey. A beautiful turnaround jumper by Kwan Cheatham. Aggressive moves to the basket by Isaiah “Big Dog” Johnson for layups. Two mid-range shots by Noah Robotham. A block and two dunks by Emmanuel Olojakpoke. It may have been the best 10 minutes of basketball I’ve seen the Zips play, and that goes back to 1999. Using a crowd-pleasing 26-8 blitz, UA captured a convincing 83-68 victory over Ohio University and extended its home winning streak to 26 games, third-longest in the nation. It was easy to see what prompted Zips coach Keith Dambrot to say his team has “good upside.” It was easy to see why Cheatham, one of two senior starters along with Johnson, believes the Zips can be “very special.” But with over six weeks remaining before the MAC Tournament, there is more to be done. The Zips (15-3, 5-0) are among the league — and national — leaders offensively, but at the bottom of the conference statistics defensively. They are untested against zone defenses and athletic big men. They’re small on the perimeter, a challenge when they don’t have the ball. Dambrot must find more threats in the low post than just Johnson, who at 6-foot-10 and 295 pounds will wear down over the span of three games in three days at Quicken Loans Arena. Freshmen Olojakpoke, Daniel Utomi and Tavian Dunn-Martin show flashes of dazzling promise, but must continue to develop, along with Michael Hughes, sidelined with an injury against the Bobcats. All the pieces seem to be there for UA to accomplish its goal of winning an NCAA game. That dream, unrealized in four previous appearances in the program’s Division I era, dates back to 1986 under former coach Bob Huggins. But a roster full of potential guarantees nothing in March. The Zips have had players with such skills before and were unable to put it all together in the month that means most. While Dambrot called Olojakpoke a “mini-Zeke Marshall” in reference to his shot-blocking ability, the UA coach admitted the 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman had to be taught from scratch. The Zips have had better big men than Johnson, most recently Demetrius Treadwell. While Josh Williams, Antino Jackson, Cheatham, Robotham and Dunn-Martin have all made over 20 3-pointers thus far, the Zips have had a stable of shooters before. Reggie McAdams and Jake Kretzer led the way in that regard for what seemed like longer than four years. They’ve had a player like Ivey in Deji Ibitayo, although Ivey seems capable of much greater feats than Ibitayo accomplished during the 2013 NCAA season. But 10 minutes against the Bobcats showed the Zips may possess a combination of explosiveness, athleticism, 3-point marksmanship and interior presence never seen in Dambrot’s 13 seasons at UA. Dambrot is in the midst of what may be his most masterful coaching job. I thought the Zips would miss McAdams and Kretzer more than they have. They’ve always gone eight or nine deep, but never been this young off the bench. Dambrot has to be mindful of not running Johnson into the ground too early. He’s kept the team moving forward despite a maddening penchant for living on the edge, with seven single-digit victories, including three this month. But all that UA wants is still within reach if the team continues to improve. “That’s going to be the key for us — how good we can get defensively,” Dambrot said. “Our numbers defensively right now are the worst we’ve ever had here. But our offensive numbers are the best we’ve ever had. I think I can fix that part because that’s how I’m built. “But it’s going to take effort from our team and not being satisfied with wins that aren’t great wins. They’ve got to be better if we’re going to win in the NCAA Tournament or win the MAC Tournament.” Dambrot knows the burden is not all on the players, but on him, too. Something happened during what he called “a dysfunctional locker room at halftime” against Ohio and the Zips channeled what sounded like some angry outbursts from coach and players into 10 marvelous minutes. “That’s one thing about having an experienced coach, you still know you have warts,” Dambrot said. “You know your breath stinks. You’ve got to put those breath mints in and fix your problems or you can be fooled by your success.” Dambrot won’t be fooled. If he can keep the Zips from becoming satisfied with just getting by, they may be breathing much longer in March than ever before.

Just wondering....Did Warren Ball officially request a medical redshirt for a 6th year or was that just a rumor late in the season?

Looks like Barto verbally committed in June of 2016. Did he rescind that now hes reconsidering Akron?

I hope Hilltopper's prognostications ring true. But I see Buffalo and Ohio U and Kent being much better than their current records indicate.

This is probably before many of you were born but does anyone else remember the Zips playing New Orleans , then coached by present day UTEP coach Tim Floyd, back in the early 90s? I believe it was the McDonalds Zip Holiday classic tournament.

On the radio feed it sounded like there was no postgame handshake between players or staff. In fact Joe Dunn said we better just get out of here.both games in Savannah appeared to have very raw inexperienced officials.But glad we came out with 2 wins and a championship!

This kid looks like a real high ceiling prospect, and Im hoping Jake and our early interest can sway him. But looking at rivals, scout, chillicothe paper, the consensus is hes going to WVU. Hes quoted as saying hell fit in well- they( WV) run the same offense as his HS and Huggins and his HS coach are friends, plus it never mentions Akron except that we had mild interest.

Interest ad I came across from 1970s. Zips season tix for 5 home games $15, 2 for $25. Too bad we can't get support like that from the local media today!

Not sure how UPS, a corporate sponsor of both Kent and Akron felt about that flyover! I for one hope the powers that be learned from saturdays game day atmosphere and schedule next years game in late september/early october and NOT November.

Nice 4th down stop by Bryce jones. Once again today an opponent is more than doubling our time of possession! It's just inconceivable that we can't get nation, wolf, and lane involved in offense

Embarrassing! Losing to a team with no quarterback in a blow out! And why don't we fans deserve to know players are hurt. Ball is week to week, Woodson out. Other schools keep their fans informed...

My experience with ASN is much better. Very good announcers, good graphics, HD video with full replay capabilities. Usually at least 4 camera angles. No starting/stopping or audio issues when Ive watched either football ( UMASS game) or basketball (Western Mich). ASN is a hybrid network owned by sinclair broadcasting and fed to broadcast channels nationwide ( including Columbus and Cincy but not Cleveland), plus streamed through watch espn. Its very similar to Time Warner Cable Sports.

While we all maybe want Cant state to lose , its unfortunate they lost Xavier Pollard . X-rays have confirmed the senior guard suffered a fracture in his foot during fridays game. Freshman guard Jaylin Walker also injured a foot during that game at Ohio U. Lets hope the zips can come away with a win and/or at least stay injury free tuesday night in that same building. Pollard was averaging 13 pts a game and leading the flushes in assists with his specialty being slashing to the basket- not our strength on defense.

I agree with Hilltopper. KD has been at this for many years, and hes on the NCAA rules committee. He knows what hes doing. I also found this, .In Division I, a student-athlete can apply for a hardship waiver if a season-ending injury or illness occurs in the first half of the season. The student-athlete, however, must not have participated in more than two contests or dates of competition or 20 percent (whichever is greater) of the institution's scheduled contests. The season consists of at least 33 games so half season is defined by no less than 15 games.

Officially there is no 'pecking order' for MAC bowl placement. The top 5 teams go to a bowl period. Boca Raton bowl vs AAC Famous Idaho Potato bowl vs Mtn West Go Daddy Bowl vs Sun Belt Popeyes Bahama Bowl vs Conference USA Raycom Camelia Bowl vs Sun Belt In addition there is a secondary tie (6th MAC team) in with the San Diego County Poisetta Bowl vs the Mtn west or Army IF one cant fill their committment. That leaves Akron (MAC #7) .... To fill in whatever is available Cure bowl, New Mexico bowl, R&L New orleans bowl, St petersburg bowl, Quick Lane Bowl. Good luck to us! In the meantime lets get to Kansas City and the College cup in European Football by beating Creighton today at 4!

sources are saying its Western Michigan going to Popeyes Bahama Bowl

Texas lost. Also of note, Sports Illustrated has Akron playing Tulsa in the Quicklane Bowl dec. 28 at Ford field in Detroit. But first lets take care of business tomorrow with Senior day against Can't

Great performance by zips so far! Still wondering if our lack of proficiency at the line will cost us with all the fouls we're seeing in this second half.

reveiwing some of Dr Scarboughs state of the U speech today, he gave a presentation on Marketing and capital campaign plans for October, november , and december. Item 2 was JAR phase 1 Capital Project. Does anyone know specifics here? Is that simply the new paint scheme or is there more to it?

i have to throw my vote ( as if it matters) to Thomas Woodson for our starter after today. With Kyle Pohl still in the mix pending his condition. Who ever thought wed get 626 yards in a single game? It looked bad early on both in terms of execution and penalties, but it sure turned around (what changed?)and we shut down the penalties and the Tigers. Lastly did you guys catch the announced attendance? 16,763!

I know not many of you have Time Warner cable, but my schedule guide shows the Akron -Oklahoma game is on channel 320 FSCS at 7pm with a subscription price of $8.99

Steve French on his weekly chat on Joe Dunns radio show said UA dropping baseball may open the floodgates. That while no one wanted to be the first to drop any sport, others may well follow now. and we cant read much into our "avg attendance" of 251, since we dont charge admission. Even though we do in football,softball, M/W soccer, M/W basketball, and even volleyball and swimming.

While it's very regrettable to lose any sport, remember baseball has no stadium and brought in zero revenue. Even the hockey club and women's swimming and soccer bring in more than that. They faced spending money on a baseball facility or this. Perhaps it can be revived as was wrestling at Cleveland state.

Just heard joe Dunn reporting from Chicago on 1350. He said pat forsythe had to get several stitches in lip after game and did NOT practice today. Jake however did practice. Visited a chiropractor and is feeling 100% better so he's back Saturday for sure. Hopefully the big guy -Pat as well!