UAZip0510

From Rasor's Blog: "I went into the Akron locker room to talk to Cvetinovic. He said it’s time to roll up the sleeves and start working toward next year. That naturally led to a follow-up question: “Are you even coming back next year?” He said, “No comment.” McClanahan, who was sitting nearby, chimed in, “He’s coming back.” That’s going to be the big question heading into next season. Losing Cvetinovic would mean Akron would need to replace three starters and two key bench players."

Eerily similar to the Gonzaga game two years ago, although we were up 4 at halftime in that one. Let's see how they respond in the 2nd half this time around. LETS GO ZIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All things considered - Notre Dame being hot from three, Akron struggling from the field, the 7-3 foul discrepancy - being down 7 right now isn't too bad. We need to heat up a bit, close out on their shooters, and continue to control the boards...gotta finish this half strong.

Gotta keep this one between 4-8 points...the longer the game stays close, the more pressure goes on ND.

Am I just bitter, or do a lot of these ND guys look like d-bags?

I'm not going to lie, if Can't State was going against Notre Dame today I'd be cheering for the Irish. The other MAC schools I can do, Can't State not so much.

Nikola, First of all, congratulations on this season. You took your game to a new level, and moved yourself from being a good role player to a team leader. You are one of the big reasons why Akron is playing Notre Dame tomorrow in the NCAA Tournament. I understand that you are graduating, and that you are anxious to return home to Serbia. However, please think long and hard about that decision before you make it. Think about leading the defending MAC Champions as a senior. Think about how good this team would be...how deep this team would be if you stayed. It would be a team that not only would be a favorite in the MAC, but also one that could do some damage in the NCAA Tournament: C-Marshall/Euton F-Cvetinovic/Egner F-Treadwell/Harney/Green G-Diggs/McClanahan/Gilliam G-Abreu/Walsh/ Think about how great it felt to stand in front of the the crowd at the Q with the Serbian flag, and how awesome it would be to do it again next season. You have an opportunity to be a leader on a Zips team that takes this program to the next level. If you decide to leave, we will certainly understand. Zips "insiders" on this forum have already said you're as good as gone. Even so, I hope you reconsider, and that we see you next year at the JAR. It could turn out to be an incredibly special season if you are there. LETS GO ZIPS! BEAT ND!

Anyone listen? I can't take listening to that show.

How about some actual game discussion? Starters F-Tyrone Nash - 6'8", 232 F-Tim Abromaitis - 6'8", 235 F-Carlton Scott - 6'8", 218 G-Scott Martin - 6'8", 219 G-Ben Hansborough - 6'3", 203 The Domers starts five seniors, led by Ben Hansborough. He is the star of ND and was named Big East Player of the Year. Hansborough averages 18 PPG and shot .441 from three point land this season. Tim Abromaitis is probably their next best player, a 6'8" forward who averaged 15 PPG, 6 RPG, and shot .424 from downtown. Most games, their rotation only goes seven deep, with 6'9", 244 forward Jack Cooley and 6'2", 173 guard Eric Atkins. If the Zips can get them in foul trouble, it will make an upset much more plausible. Notre Dame is a very good three point shooting team, so the Zips will need to stick close on defense. Zeke Marshall will have a definite height advantage, and needs to play like he did against Can't State if the Zips have any chance to win. PPG - Notre Dame 76, Akron 70.5 RPG - Notre Dame 36.9, Akron 34.5 APG - Notre Dame 16.7, Akron 14.6 FG% - Notre Dame .466, Akron .433 FT% - Notre Dame .725, Akron .706 3PT% - Notre Dame .392, Akron .361

Anyone know when/where they'll be selling MAC Champion and March Madness shirts? They have them online at GoZips.com but I wanted to buy them in person to save money on shipping.

did I miss something? this article has ND as a 1 seed. This was from CBS' projected brackets that they posted yesterday...they had Notre Dame as a #1.

btw, that writer is Justice B Hill. Wasn't he the former Indians MLB.com writer? What the hell does he know about basketball? Nothing...and he didn't know anything about baseball either. He was a big time "state the obvious" beat writer for the Tribe.

"Akron will lose four seniors and its top nine players, and possibly a fifth if junior Nik Cvetinovic" Does anyone else not understand this comment?

From CBS Sportsline: Why they'll win it: Experience, of course. The common theme with this team is to joke about the median age hovering around 26. But with five seniors in the starting lineup, Notre Dame's been playing like a team out of the 1970s or '80s, the way it has beaten teams so well. The group has so much confidence because it's so comfortable in its skin. Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis are dangerous from deep, but Carleton Scott is the player Hansbrough has said is most vital to keeping the unit strong at its core. Why they won’t: Too many lopsided losses. The Irish dropped six games this year, five by 12 points or more. Players to watch: It's hard to not watch Hansbrough compose himself on the court. He could have a Jimmer-like moment on the big stage, certainly. And as noted above, Abromaitis is just as lethal from long range. Shutting them down involves both having an off night as much as any successful coaching strategy. Best off the bench: Notre Dame doesn't go deep, but Eric Atkins is an efficient scorer, competent distributor and no stranger to the foul line. Great plug-him-in guy. Soaring/slumping: Up: Hansbrough's been ascending ever since January, to be honest. Abromaitis is in the territory as well. There have been a few games when both have gone off. Down: It's a compliment to say Tyrone Nash falls into this category because, really, the Irish haven't seen disappointing play out of anyone lately. Nash is a victim of raised expectations. Notable stat: 15.9 percent. That's how often Notre Dame turns teams over. Only eight teams force their opponents into fewer mistakes. None of those teams will be in the tournament. Last time won a national championship: 1936 (pre-NCAA tournament). All-time starting five: G: Austin Carr; F: Troy Murphy; F: Kelly Tripucka; F: Adrian Dantley; C: Paul Nowak. Final thought: Burn, baby, burn? The burn offense is the ace up Notre Dame’s sleeve. The Irish can score with the best of them -- and run, too -- but no team has such a counter like Brey's. The burn offense is defined as this: burning out the shot clock until the final few seconds before taking a shot. It's used to take other teams, perhaps those who thrive off running and chaos, completely out of their element. It's a wonderful weapon to have, and Notre Dame has mastered it, even if they utilize it infrequently. http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball...-things-to-know

This is a good thing. All I want to hear now is Akron doesn't stand a chance. Akron doesn't have any playmakers. Only OU can win a ncaa tourney game. Our center is just a beanpole. We were just lucky the ball bounced our way in the MAC. The lower our seed, the more overlooked we will be. Just did a little background research on the writer, Justice B. Hill. He is a former Ohio University journalism professor. No wonder he talks up last year's Bobcats and bashes Akron and Can't State.

ESPN has us as a #16 against Notre Dame SI.com as a #15 against San Diego State By the way, some d-bag on NBC Sports felt it was necessary to insult us: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42053783/ns/...ege_basketball/

+132984398

I wouldn't want any other MAC coach over Dambrot. He has a passion for this team and this program, gets the most out of our players, and produces a team we can be proud of both on and off the court.

Looking at this game, a few things stand out... - Zeke needs to have a good game and stay out of foul trouble. When we beat Can't, he played 30 minutes and had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. When we lost to them, he played 21 minutes and had 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He absolutely has to stay out of foul trouble. - McClanahan and Cvetinovic have struggled this year against Can't. Nik had 5 points and 5 rebounds in the 1st game, 8 points and 4 rebounds in the 2nd one. Brett had 5 points in the 1st game, 2 in the 2nd game. To think neither of those key players played to their usual capabilities...and even with that, we're still 1-1 with them and played them close on the road in the loss. That's pretty encouraging. - Who controls the boards might decide this game. 37-34 Akron in the 1st game, 34-22 Can't in the 2nd.

Game was officiated fair, too many whistles in general though. I had an Akron fan behind me jumping up and down screaming every time Akron got a foul called on them. He made me ashamed to be an Akron fan. If you stuck around for the OU game, and watched OU fans cry about fouls, that's how it looked to the unbiased observer. While I was eating lunch today a BigTen game was on, they went 7 minutes of uninterrupted time up and down the floor, no whistles. That's more fun to watch than tons of stoppage in play. I like watching basketball, not foul shooting and officials calls. I agree with this 110%. The game was officiated fair, but I want to see more basketball than free throws, and I want each teams best players to be on the court when the game is on the line.

We'll start with some fun facts: - Western Michigan has now won 5 in a row and 8 of their last 9 since losing to our Zips on February 9th. - Akron has defeated Western Michigan in their last 5 matchups (including the MAC Tournament). Western Michigan's last win over Akron was on 2/6/08. - Akron has played Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament Semi-Finals three times in the last five years (2006, 2008, and 2010), winning each game.

It is impossible to have a discussion with a person who invents their own reality, so I will post the following solely for those casual forum readers. Jim Tressel's offense was a MAJOR NCAA violation. Ferri's offense was a secondary violation. The same level of violation that Ohio State football had 17 documented occurances in 2009-2010. Believe it or not -- There's a reason the NCAA has a differentiation between major and secondary. Secondary offenses are nothing. Clearly reference the ZERO resulting NCAA sanctions against the Zips football program. Absolutely zero. Clearly reference the $250k fine and two game suspension of Jim Tressel, with more sanctions to follow. Clearly reference the multitude of suspended players. Players suspended not for 1 or 2 games, but 5. I feel bad when someone's hero lies and cheats in such an egregious manner. It obviously has rocked some people's very foundation. If posting fantasy beliefs regarding Ohio State football in a Zips football forum gets someone through the day, I'm happy to contribute to the coping mechanism. That's what we're here for. (lol) (omg) (PBR) I'm also happy to see a post of mine from 2009 is still sought as a reference. After re-reading it, it still hold up (where's a pat on the back smilie when you really need it?). I like when people reference my quotes directly, and credit me, rather than paraphrase me and act like the copied thoughts were original. I know I said I was done, but I can't let this pompous, arrogant response go. Want to talk about creating your own reality? How about you being a regular guy just like us that acts like he's above the rest of us or has some kind of insider information? You are just a fan that flip-flops more than a politician (Like KD on the hot seat to KD is Coach of the Year candidate). You are just a fan that needs to try to pump up his own ego by insulting fellow Zips fans and playing the "I'm a bigger fan than you" card. You can't have a discussion or a debate, you have to have an argument, and you have to "win". You are just a fan, but in your world, you're an "insider" that can fool some people on the Internet into believing the same thing. It strokes your ego, it makes you feel good, and you bask in the attention, but everyone else is too nice to call you out on it. I'm not. You are just a fan, nothing more, nothing less. This would be a much better forum if you would realize that, and would realize that being a dick to fellow Zips fans isn't the way to go. I know I've said this three times before, but I'm really out this time folks lol. I'm sure CK will respond with another sarcastic post that belittles me and falsely makes me out to be a Tressel/OSU lover...I'm sure it will be full of zingers lol. Now, back to being excited about today's win and looking forward to tomorrow's game at the Q...LETS GO ZIPS!

Let's talk about the game itself...what do you guys think is the key to this one?

OK, this is really my final word. - Jim Tressel was wrong in what he did, and should receive a punishment, probably for 4-5 games, not 2. I don't believe he should get fired, and I don't think he's the terrible person some of you make him out to be. He's an excellent coach, and the large majority of his former players speak very highly of the man as a person. He made a critical error in judgment, but I don't think it should cost him his job. - I brought up the Reno Ferri story and CK's comments as an attempt to show the bias from some on this forum. I made the mistake of forgetting that this was a Zips forum and one with plenty of people with heavy anti-OSU sentiment. - It's unfortunate that on a Zips forum, Zips fans are questioning the "fanhood" of fellow Zips fans simply because they have differing opinions. I wonder how many stay away or have left for good because of this. It's too bad we can't just agree to disagree. I'm out (for real this time)...time to get back to thinking about tomorrow's game against Miami. GO ZIPS!!!!!!!!!!!

It used to be that in our society, when a person was caught doing something wrong and it impacted those within his organization, the person did the dignified thing and resigned from their position. Today, you hire a lawyer and play the public relations game even when you are wrong. The truth is, Reno probably couldn't buy much with his check or could go out and get a job a Home Depot making about the same amount of money. There is a bid difference between that and the millions Tressel is making. Reno did the dignified thing. Tressel is playing the same scumbag game he has been playing for ten+ years now. There is a huge difference between what Reno did and what Tressel did. Reno didn't carry on a lie to save a football season or worse yet, his own ass like Tressel did. Reno also didn't have a potential National Championship season on the line...it's a bit easier to walk away from Akron's situation. Reno also never owned up to his wrongdoing, resigning instead. I guess it depends on perception...and on a forum full of anti-OSU sentiment, I know I'm not winning there lol. Let me get this straight. You are saying it is OK to lie to the president of tOSU, your direct supervisor (the AD) AND the NCAA if you have a potential national championship season ahead of you? On what planet is this OK? It has nothing to do with tOSU. At any other school, in any other job, these actions would get an employee fired. Only at tOSU could this go on. The SEC has nothing on tOSU. Reno took more risk. He gave up a low paying job for no money. What would Tressel give up?....He already has millions. Resigning from tOSU wouldn't hurt Tressel. When did I say it's OK? I've been very clear in saying that I don't think Tressel was right, and that he deserves some punishment. I'm just saying it's two very different situations. One has a head coaching job at a Top 10 school. The other had a low paying job at a mid-major. Tressel had a hell of a lot more to lose, which makes it a much more difficult. Also, don't give me this crap that it wouldn't happen anywhere else. The SEC's oversigning (http://oversigning.com/testing/index.php/the-oversigning-cup/) scams are far more hurtful to recruiting and the game in general.