OU Dude

looks like a good pickup for the Zips. some of you might remember Gahanna Lincoln making news two years ago when they beat Northland 71-45 in the state tournament. At the time Northland was the #1 team in the country. Lots of familiar names on both sides of the floor- Northland was lead by Jared Sullinger (OSU), JD Weatherspoon (OSU to Toledo), and Trey Burke (Michigan). In addition to Jackson Gahanna had Stevie Taylor (OU) and Rob Brandenburg (VCU). There was a lot of talent on the floor that night, for sure. http://buckeyeprep.blogspot.com/2010/03/ga...-northland.html

thank you mam, its obvious you've raised a terrific young man and I look forward to seeing him play next year, with the exception of two (maybe 3!) games of coarse.

I don't mean this as any disrespect to the young man but as an outsider looking in Zeke doesn't seem like he enjoys playing the game very much. It's like if he and DJ Cooper switched bodies and he was 5'11" and Coop was 7' Zeke would never go near a bball court and be totally happy (and Cooper would be in the NBA already). OU hasn't beat Akron 5 of the last 6 games (with two of those being conference championships and two being by +24 points) because OU is that much better than Akron, they did it because they were mentally tougher. For all of his jawin and chest bumpin and reckless shot takin Cooper really believes he is unbeatable, and his teammates drink the koolaid when the lights are bright. Akron could benefit from a little more attitude. Abreau is developing nicely and is bringing some of that attitude, dude was lights out in Cleveland (how bout the irony of AA not being able to miss a shot even when he tried!) but I think Marshall needs to bring it as well to get the whole team bought in. side note- somebody tell Dambrot to keep the big man under the basket on D! just because he can defend on the perimeter doesn't mean he should. I hope Zeke comes in like a junkyard dog and dominates next year, its time for the MAC to return to being a multi-bid league and these two teams are primed for a run.

there's a new era in the MAC? I had no idea, thanks for the heads up. ...or, is it just more convenient to crown Buffalo the 2nd best team in the MAC since they beat Akron? Gotta give Akron credit, they did a great job of getting OU's bigs into foul trouble quikcly. Jon Smith was assigned to Zeke, he beat Zeke on the tip off but then got called for 5 fouls in only 6 minutes, he never had a chance to do anything. I'm not blaming the refs but if you objectively look at the replay those were some questionable calls. To Smith's credit, at least when he went back to the bench the cameras didn't catch him pouting and crying. Damn that was awkward. (sorry, that's probably a sensitive subject). at this point I'd say the most over rated team is Can't.

my mistake, it was '09, and '10, last year they lost their conf tourney championship game and missed the auto bid.

There you go, that's the stuff! Overrated is a matter of opinion but the loss to RMU doesn't expose OU as a fraud, however I do applaud your lack of confidence in their abilities. RMU is a really good team, they're 11-4 with a 71 RPI and have been to the Tourney the past 2 years, losing on a shot at the buzzer isn't the end of the world. As you can see by the odd stats the game had a weird flow. It seemed like every RMU shot that bounced on the rim fell in and every OU shot that hit the rim bounced out and found an RMU player's waiting hands. It reminded me of the OU/Akron game last year in Athens- The Zips couldn't buy a bucket and Cooper couldn't miss even when chuckin up 3s from the concession stands (as he is known to do). It was just one of those nights. I've watched too many MAC games to every say with certainty which team will win on any given night but I will say that this is the best Bobcat team to take the floor since the days of Trent. They're fast, deep, can shoot, and have finally learned the value of playing defense (currently #1 in the nation in turning over opponents). Cooper and company love getting up for the Akron game, with this one being on TV you know they're going to bring it. I have no doubt the Zips plan on bringing it too. Set your DVRs, this could be a really fun one.

glad to see we're past the holiday niceties and are getting down to some good old fashioned smack talk! I can't wait till this game, these two teams have a sever disliking of each other and it makes for some great entertainment. It also means you can throw their records out the window. The two match ups I'm looking forward to are Cooper v Abreu and Baltic v Zips' bigs. I think Cooper was able to get into Abreu's head his freshman year, I'm guessing we'll see a more confident sophomore this time. You can count on Cooper chuckin up some ill advised balls, but the difference this year is the Bobcats are very deep with shooters so other players can pick up the slack. Baltic continues to improve and at times looks like an MVP, but sometimes still struggles against aggressive players down low. will the Zips be able to take him out of his comfort zone? soo glad this one will be on TV, can't wait.

Not really sure you can accuse Ohio of playing a cupcake schedule., their current SOS is 49 with an RPI of 8. 6 of 14 OOC games are against teams with an RPI currently less than 100. OU is 4-1 so far against these teams with Robert Morris(82) left to play. Lone loss was at Lville(5) by 5, wins were home against Lamar(35) and on the road at Oakland(74), Marshall(44) and Northern Iowa(7). With that being said, the MAC is going to be a grind like it always is. Things like records and RPIs and SOSs don't mean much when you have two teams that are so familiar with each other and have a personal history. Its going to be a grind and its going to be fun. Just got word today that ESPNU is picking up the Zips v Cats game on 1/14, looking forward to another battle. Thanks for the post. Always welcome in my book. It keeps the forum interesting. +1. Nice post, OU Dude! You guys absolutely should have beaten Louisville. That one was hugely disappointing. thanks. I gotta tell ya, this Akron team scares me, once you get back to 100% you're going to be hard to beat. Looking forward to a some exciting conference play. on a site note, 3 cheers for replacing Ianello, real happy for you guys! Happy Holidays Zip nation.

Not really sure you can accuse Ohio of playing a cupcake schedule., their current SOS is 49 with an RPI of 8. 6 of 14 OOC games are against teams with an RPI currently less than 100. OU is 4-1 so far against these teams with Robert Morris(82) left to play. Lone loss was at Lville(5) by 5, wins were home against Lamar(35) and on the road at Oakland(74), Marshall(44) and Northern Iowa(7). With that being said, the MAC is going to be a grind like it always is. Things like records and RPIs and SOSs don't mean much when you have two teams that are so familiar with each other and have a personal history. Its going to be a grind and its going to be fun. Just got word today that ESPNU is picking up the Zips v Cats game on 1/14, looking forward to another battle.

I think I see where you and I are looking at it differently- You see poor musicianship and marching ability in students from bands that try to emulate OU and attribute their deficiencies to being a bi-product of that style. My viewpoint is that the style of the marching band has no bearing on the quality of the program, the reason you see a lot of bad show style bands is because its easier to get away with. Its a chicken/egg thing- they do show style because they're bad, they're not bad because they do show style. You see the difference? - I like the idea of Mus Ed majors taking marching band in college, I think thats a good thing for the reasons you stated. - We're both right- its not that some music profs don't out right ban their sutdents from being in the band (that I know of) but I don't doubt that many do discourage it. The reason corps drumming was mildy discouraged is because of the mechanics- a rigid, from the wrist stroke sucks the life out of a fluid, Moeller stroke that uses more arm movement. - "Putting on a uniform, splatting and dancing" is not good for musical development, agreed. But thats not what a good show style band does. You can be musical and play contemporary music, the two are not mutually exclusive. The dance chart is one song of an entire show. They march in formations for the other tunes, just like a corps style band. Again, the style doesn't prevent excellence.

Hi, I occasionally check in on Zip Nation from time to time and enjoy reading the conversations but felt compelled to correct the record regarding some of the statements in the previous post regarding the Ohio Marching 110. Quick background on me- I have a music education degree from OU but was not in the marching band so I don't come at this as a blinded 110 lover. In fact, I come from a drum corps background and prefer that style over OU's show style band. An absurd falsehood. Nobody is blaming show style bands for the downfall of public school music programs. If you were really in those circles you'd know the biggest problem is funding. period. Yep. It's a great recruiting tool too. A lot of university marching bands (Cant State) require music majors to participate because they can't find enough willing participants. That is not a problem at OU. Competition is fierce, most music majors don't march, a lot of non majors come to OU specifically to be in the marching band. That has absolutely nothing to do with the style of band. I've worked with both corps and show style high school bands and I've seen good and bad from both. Logan High School near Athens is a show style band and they regularly produce musicians that kill it at state solo and ensemble competitions every year. Not true. But they do love to overblow in the 110, no doubt. On the other hand, the former percussion instructor at OU didn't like his students marching in drum corps because it is the antithesis of the jazz style drumming he taught. There are legit reasons to mock the 110 but to suggest that they are a detriment to music education in the state of Ohio is a knock on my degree and on many of my friends, and its false so I felt compelled to set the ercord straight. Thanks for hearing me out. Anyways, good luck to you guys, we'll see you in a couple weeks. I hope iCoach gets it turned around and I'm already counting down the days until bball season.