clarkwgriswold

I think Bowden and the administration need to let last night sink in before making any major decisions. Let some calmer and more rational heads settle in. As much as I am not a huge fan, I think you bring him back with conditions, primarily revisions of his coaching staff. The play calling and special teams hampered the team all year and he defense had huge lapses. There could be a hitch in that however, as Bowden seems very loyal to his crew. On the other hand, he's not due much if any of a raise based upon his sub .500 overall and MAC records, and the Miami, Toledo and FAU losses do little to bolster his bargaining position.

Joe Dunn quote of the night- "After this game, I'm going to appreciate NIck Saban a lot more."

We'll see if he can pull it off. History says...........ummmmm, NO.

The IPFW coach did a great job last year of crediting Tom Crean for scheduling them when most schools in similar situations avoid such games.

I believe that's two years in a row for the mighty Mastodons beating the Hoosiers.

Giving you a chance to get in before the line changes so you can make some cash. Lead pipe cinch lock on my toll free line!

They're still waiting for the big rush on tickets.

My best bet is that the Zips lose to USC then face Princeton who loses to MT. The Zips then beat Princeton and play the winner of Hawaii/Davidson which should be a winnable game for 5th place.

They have built a quality program down there. I miss them on the schedule. They were always a quality team and gave the Zips all they could handle.

If they beat USC, they get the winner of Princeton/MT. If they lose, they get the loser of Princeton/MT in the loser's bracket. If they win that, they get the whoever comes out of the losers' bracket of Davidson, New Mexico State, Miami and Hawaii. Aaaaaah hell, here's the bracket- http://espnevents.com/diamond-head-classic/bracket/

The Zips head to Hawaii at the end of the week for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. They open with USC (5-3) with Middle Tennessee (7-2) and Princeton (3-6) on the other side of their 4-team bracket. All decent names, but none of the four has looked like world beaters in the early season. Strong enough competition that we should get a good sense of where the Zips are going into the MAC season.

Anybody looking for a good deal on a Proenza bobblehead?

The Concord Grapes will come to play.

Exactly. An uninspired game against an uninspiring opponent. That's the worst team we've seen at the JAR this year, and despite the point differential the Zips worst game. Really liked Patton's effort today. He's taken not starting well and seems to be committed to playing hard and learning the game. My favorite play of the game was when Poke made an awful pass from out top that was stolen. He then stalked the Valley guard down the floor and swatted his layup. Back to the real games in Hawaii.

Your chances for a Taylor Made Jewelry mini basketball will be at an all-time high today NWAkron. Don't blow it!

Game day. Will there be more than 1,000 fans in the JAR. This seems like a perfect chance to get people into the JAR with free tickets to groups like the Boys and Girls Club, CYO, etc...

Translation- no new arena.

Aaaah, seems like just yesterday one of the Zips biggest fans was trying to convince us that the Zips were on the cusp of joining the ACC. God rest his soul.

You all realize that at the end of the season none of this SOS/RPI stuff means nothing, right? In today's MAC/NCAA dynamic, it makes little or no difference as you're only going to the NCAA tournament if you win the MAC tournament. We can hope for change, but that's the reality for now.

I think that only the long term is going to show us whether this slate of pre-MAC games was a strong one. After we see how the season develops, we'll be able to better discern whether these teams were competitive or whether the Zips just aren't that good and made mediocre teams look good. All in all, I like what I am seeing. For getting a late start, I think Groce and his staff put together an decent roster and schedule. In the end, I think it's a little better than a .500 team, but that's as good as could be expected after KD's departure and the losses the roster suffered.

It is definitely a 1-3-1. They threw in a 2-3 briefly at one point.

The Zips played Creighton and Gonzaga before the MAC schedule last year which are superior to anything this year, but I prefer the UT schools, App State, UPFW and the rest over the likes of Coppin State, Mercer, Radford and Adrians that were on last year's schedule.

Exactly. I hate an all game zone, like Syracuse. You could see when the Zips switched over to it against App State that the App State players had an initial "what the hell is this?" reaction for a possession. I think the 1-3-1 also tends to throw teams due to its little use by teams and it being conductive to traps.

The thing I like best about Poke is that he gets it all out of effort. Don't get me wrong, he's a freak raw athlete with his size and jumping ability, but it is obvious that the game is relatively new to him and does not come naturally. He counters that "awkwardness" by just pure effort, hard play and soaking in all he can from the coaches.

And did it all in just 42 minutes.