legendofzippy

I don't see how we can redshirt either. Pat is clearly the starting center, so let's say Big Dog is the backup. It's not hard to get two bigs into foul trouble. So then what do you do - who's the other big to have on the court? The answer might not come until the tournament in Hawaii though. It's not like other teams have a huge depth in "bigs", so I suppose it's possible the situation never comes up.

Epic.

Well, you're just being realistic. On the positive side, we have an experienced QB coming back, which typically goes a long way in football at any level. Gotta beat UMass, but this year is definitely a success. Two MAC wins, a road win, beating our rival, close games with NIU and Michigan... still a long way to go but this is much, much better than recent years. And yes, an upset over Toledo would be great, but that game shouldn't define the season.

What kid that's old enough to enjoy a baseball game plays with a rubber duck? Babies/toddlers might have one in the bathtub, and that's the extent of it. There's no spinning this, it's a dumb name and it's being mocked. It's a fail.

Let's see how it plays out. He's here to play PG, but this isn't the football team - if you can't play at a very high level Dambrot has someone else who will. But I think Evans plays perfectly into the system, where flexibility seems to be a premium. The opposing defense can't gameplan very well for the Zips when all these guys can play multiple positions. For me, one of the great joys of last season was watching the lineups changes each game to adapt to the current situation and who had the "hot hand" that evening. It appears we'll have the same advantage this season. As coach has pointed out, the main difference this year will be when there is a defensive breakdown, you don't have a 7 foot shot blocker there to clean it up. So defense appears to be the larger concern for him.

I don't see any evidence that MAC teams are being penalized too much. Akron commits too many penalties, but it's not the refs picking on them. College FB Team Penalties per Game

It's being mocked on SI.... Akron Minor League Baseball Team Adopts “RubberDucks” Nickname

Dambrot was on 1350 yesterday, and without giving specific player names, when asked about how much the new guys will play he said the front court players were more likely to play than the guards. His reasoning was depth more than skill of the players. Interesting that he called out Tree for taking plays off, and didn't exactly gush over Nyles Evans. I think it's great though - we all love Tree but keep pushing him more. It could be gamesmanship, but it sounds like he was higher on Q at the point than Evans.

Two things: (1) The Sina King loss is tough. Lots of returning starters from last year, and that's a big loss of talent/chemistry for a team hoping to finally get that MAC title. (2) A Google search of "Sina King" yielded an unexpected result.

Isn't the poem basically saying what this thread has been saying all along? This kid isn't very good, and everyone knew something was fishy. Please tell me we get to pull the offer now - we can't waste any scholarships. As far as dad's playing their kids, this happens a lot and I think it's great the player stood up and said something. The main reason Big Ben wound up at Miami is because of nepotism, and not getting to play until his senior year. It happened at my school too with QB's. It's the Akron scholarship part that bugs me though - I don't care who your dad is, you better not be getting an offer without legitimate talent.

My concern with the JAR is that the ceiling isn't very high, and the corners are a mess. Could the corners be removed to put seating all around and retain structural integrity? The cost issue comes in again too. IMO the track is dumb. I used to run on it as a student and quickly stopped. You're constantly on the turn and it messes with your knees/ankles after a while.

While all chair seating would certainly be nice, you're also talking about a pretty large expense. Plus the current seats are retractable and the facility is used for other things. Is this really worth it, especially as it would also reduce capacity? I've been in the "show up more often and force the university to build something bigger" camp. This is definitely a key year. Nice article by Ridenour to spotlight the importance of fan support. Nice to list the increase in 5k+ games. 10 such games this season would be awesome.

+1 MAC win, road win.... forget style points, this is huge for our program.

We're not underdogs, and haven't been for about a decade.

I listen to that show every day on my way home from work, starting at 5:00. To date I have not heard anyone call out this site specifically. I'd say those guys are very fair.

What makes you think our defense is on par with the defenses they're been playing? I'm optimistic for the win, but would anybody really be surprised if we lose this game?

I'm not sure it's possible for us to consider any opponent "no problem", but this is a great opportunity to finally get a road win. It will have been 5 years by the time this game starts.

Has this been discussed more, as to why the silver? I'm probably in the minority, but I like it.

I didn't see where this was posted yet, but could have missed it. Anyway, congrats to "Tree". McCrea and Pearson also on the list, so "best player in the MAC" discussions can begin. Demetrius "Tree" Treadwell Named Lou Henson Preseason All-American

At what point do we consider that Michigan simply sleep-walked through their game with us? I hope that's not what happened. NIU 35, Akron .... 3?

Good. Hopefully they stay in disarray. I know they're (way) down, but a win over Miami would feel good.

A few have mentioned what Can't did last year. Look, that was one year. We had one good year a little while back. I'm talking about success on an on long-term basis. I will agree that BG and Toledo have done a much better job. Maybe it's because they can pull from the Detroit area? I don't know their history as well. I don't agree that it might just be bad luck. Akron has made some horrible decisions. It might take TB a lot longer to dig out from that than we hoped. So...... when does basketball start?

No offense, but who was kidding themselves? It's a tough area to recruit. Ohio has lots of talent, but first off you're losing the top layer to Ohio State and Michigan. Then other Big Ten teams like Wisconsin, Michigan State, etc., come for kids. It's not surprising to see a few go south to top programs either. So now that the state has been mauled, you get to compete with other MAC teams, and there are plenty of them. Plus we have Can't right in our back yard. So you have two teams in the same area fighting for leftovers. Is it really a coincidence neither has ever been very good? Basketball is different. Small roster and all. But football - it's just hard for us to get that depth. I still think Bowden is doing the right things, but my impression is that for many years Akron had zero relationships with Ohio high school football coaches. I heard one coach - I forget who, shame on me - on 1350 one day admit that he used to tell his kids not to even consider Akron. But now he has a good relationship with Bowden so that's not his advice anymore. How many schools were like that?

Isn't Karma the idea that doing bad things catches up with you? Winning basketball programs aren't a bad thing.

Yikes, didn't see this one coming. The penalties are just killer. We're not good enough to overcome things like that. Ohio is better than I thought, but we sure seemed happy to help them out. Right now it appears the NIU and Ball State games could be ugly. Probably Toledo too. The rest are still winnable. I think. Hard to stay optimistic, but still just need a MAC win somewhere. Pohl should grow over the next few years. I still think we're better, but this game sure makes you wonder.