phil

I have enjoyed watching Zeke play basketball and find it difficult to understand why people blame him when the team is not playing well or is not winning. Zeke is an great shot blocker and has just set the Akron record for blocked shots. He wins the opening tip every game potentially giving us an added possession each game. He provides a safe pass on the inbouds play by passing him the ball where nobody can get it. Most importantly, he intimidates other players by having them change their shot in the lane or by passing the ball out or forcing a bad shot so that it will not be blocked. His rebounding has improved and he has grabbed numerous rebounds in heavy traffic. Zeke is a much more intensive player on defense than he is on offense. Currently he is better at blocking shot than at scoring. However, he is only a 2nd year player and he still has potential to be an outstanding offensive player. He has displayed a nice jump hook early in the season. But he does not have the confidence to consistantly take the ball to the basket when he is one on one. With practice and hard work he can improve his offense. I look forward to watching Zeke play in the tournament and maybe in a couple of years he will be setting some offensive records.

Don't give up on Zeke! He had 9 rebounds on Wed. night and he is a great shot blocker and can intimidate the other team in the middle. His offense still needs work but he is only a soph. He needs to work on his inside game and have the confidence to take the ball to the hoop. The refs did not help him last night by calling a ticky tack offensive foul off the ball 7 seocnds into the game. Each one of his fouls were non calls that had no effect on play. His second foul he ran into a Buffalo player getting back on defense and his 3rd foul the Buffalo player lowered his shoulder into Zeke getting position and when Zeke touches the guy on defense they call a foul on Zeke off the ball. (I dislike refs that call fouls off the ball that do not effect play but swallow their whistle when players get hacked driving to the basket) But look at the difference a year can make. Cvenetovic's game is so much better today than it was last year. Remember how he used to hesitate at the foul line, hesitate making his move to the basket, would try to draw offensive fouls at least 2-3 times a game and then get upset when he would miss shots or not get the calls. Now he is playing with great confidence and scoring from the paint. He and Brett are taking the pressure off the outside shooters by scoring in the paint. This team is playing great basketball without Zeke being the go to guy. There is nothing wrong with this and I still believe he will be a valuable contributor during the remainder of the season.

Both McNight and McNees have always stepped up their game the past few years during the Mac tournament. Two years ago McNight scored the game winner on an out of bounds play where he received the ball in midair and put the ball in the basket. McNees seems to shoot the lights out at the Q. He has hit some deep 3s at the end of the games. When he first played as a freshman I remember he used to throw some crazy passes and would turn the ball over. He has matured every year. Bardo is really playing well and has helped this team. These players will be missed next year. Lets hope they each get to play in one more NCAA tournament before they leave!

A great game by Nik and McNight on the offensive end. Each game he is playing with more confidence. As long as he and McNight keep taking the ball to the basket this team can stay with anyone. I was also glad to see Zeke play with more confidence bringing in 9 rebounds and a couple of blocks. This team is moving the ball well and there was some nice give and goes for easy baskets. We started slow with only 5 points in the first 5 minutes but they did not get down on themselves. Looking forward to the final few games and hoping they can keep up this high level of play.

This year the attendance at all of the Akron sports is down. I remember last year soccer had a couple of sell outs and this year with a better team I don't remember any sell outs and the attendance seemed to be down. The football team attendance was a fiasco. I went to 2 games and have never been so disappointed at the product that was on the field. It certainly didn't help the athletic program when the primary sport with a new stadium was getting blown out at home. I believe that many fans felt the same way and wonder if this disappointment carried over to the attendance for the basketball team. The attendance at the basketball games is certainly disappointing. I expected a better crowd at the Creighton game. The team is winning and playing good basketball. I liked the band leader getting the fans off their feet because it was spontaneous. I personally do not like someone getting paid to lead the crowd to cheer for the team. That should come from the game, the players, the fans, the coach and the bandleader and his cow bell.

Coach Dambrot indicated in the pregame that the team worked on offensive rebounding and it showed. Bardo and Nik had 2 pretty putbacks in the game and the team husseled for offensive rebounds. The key to this team is the ability to drive to the basket. When they make moves to the basket, it opens up the permieter for wide open 3s and easy layups. McNees had several nice drives to the basket. Even if we miss our shot, the drive draws defenders to the ball and creates opportunities for offensive rebounds. Abreu did not shoot very well but was 7 for 8 from the line by driving to the basket and drawing fouls. Unfortunately, this team often settles for passing the ball around the perimeter of the defense and then taking a 3 point shot. (The first 3 minutes of Weds game). Z is the only one underneath for a rebound. By taking the ball to the basket last night, they rarely cranked up a shot with the time clock expiring. Nik is playing at his best and keeping his emotions under control. He has been their most consistant scorer and rebounder. I am hoping that they continue this type of play as it was a great game to watch.

I went to the game taking 2 of my sons and one of their friends expecting a competitive game. It was competitive for one quarter. However, Akron's defense simply could not stop the Northern Illinois Offense. They scored on every possession and did not punt until there was about 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. I was sitting at the 30 yard line and watched the coaches talking to the defensive team. The coaches did not have any answers or the players simply could not make any plays. In the 2nd quarter Norther Illinois scored a touchdown, Akron went 3 and out, and then the kicker shanked a punt setting Northern Illinois up on Akron's 45 yard line for another score. No defense, no offense and no special teams. One problem Akron has had in the past is that the opposition each week has scored a touchdown in the last minute of the half. It didn't happen this week. Instead they scored 2 touchdownsbefore the half, sending about half of the fans home for the night. Akron looked like they were playing man to man on pass defense and they were getting beat on almost every play. When the ball was in the air our defensive backs could not get to the ball. There was little pass rush and their receivers were open much of the night. I usually like taking my kids to the football games but this was painful to watch. I stayed till the bitter end and estimated that there were 500 fans in the stadium exluding band members and the Northern Illinois fans. I am hoping this team will improve but I would not bet on it.

It's 2010....Go to ticketmaster before you leave your house, buy tickets so and then you won't have to stand in line. There is no line on the internet. You completely missed the point. This is not the way a professional organization should operate. How about a little customer service. Besides, not that it should make a difference, but my son didn't decide to go until that day. Ticketmaster runs 24/7. You could have spent five minutes on it before leaving for the game. It's 2010.....those who had to stand in line have nobody to blame but themselves. So you are making excuses for poor customer service...besides being a jerk. I have asked the AD about this a couple of times. The ticket purchase transaction time is about 3-5 min a person. Way too long for only having about 10 windows that are not dedicated to will call. They have the same problem during basketball season. A 5 person line is about 20-30 min waiting. Plus the credit card system seems to go down all the time. Hell they were manually tyoing in credit card info last year. Buy a scanner these type of issues should be handled by the director and assistant director of ticket sales...they pay them good money to sell very few tickets and providing poor customer service. Also, the Ticketmaster fees are crazy. You have to be thick skinned to support U of A athletic teams. When the team played at the rubber bowl, I would be stuck in traffic for an hour trying to get to the game when the attendance was 15,000. The reason was that the University would collect the parking fee on the streets tying up traffic for a mile. The lines at the concession stands were also very long and slow. Getting out of the parking lot was also a nightmare because nobody was directing traffic in the parking lot. My experience is that the parking situation has greatly improved at the new stadium. I also have been stuck in line at the Jar buying tickets. I noticed that the line moves very slowly because there are only 2 windows selling tickets and the clerks must use a computer when selling the tickets even for general admission tickets. A 10 second transaction becomes a 3 minute transaction whenever a computer is involved. The line really slows down when somebody buys lower level seating and can't decide where to sit. On several occassions, it has worked to my benefit because people have given me tickets while I have been waiting in line. It amazes me that the university will spend money to advertise a game but will not monitor the ticket windows in order to eliminate the lines. The biggest joke is the half time entertainment at the basketball games last year. At the sold out Can't game, I was treated to "Lets Make a Deal" with the prizes coming from the Salvation Army collection. I appreciate the Salvation Army sponsoring the Zips but that was not a great way to bring fans back to the Jar. Whether the Zips win or lose, Akron could certainly do a better job servicing the fans and making a trip to the stadium a more pleasant experience.