skip-zip

Does anyone have the contact information for the search committee? I really would like to send a letter or an e-mail to convey my thoughts to them.

Interesting that you bring this up today, because I was just sitting with a client today who has been well connected for years with Ken+ State. We talked about how Ken+ has continued this similar kind of string for well over a decade now. And they've also been fortunate enough to find that "up and coming" replacement from WITHIN. However, it looks like they've now reached the end of the line. According to my "good source" Rob S. would have been gone right now, if it wasn't for the fact that he is only 2 yrs. into his contract. But, he's done at the end of next year, and they will probably sink even further before he's gone.

I have to say, before I started watching a lot of women's games in recent years, I heard so much about Tecca. But once I got to watching the games myself, I really started to feel like Luburgh was the best basketball player on that team. And I began to think she might have a future, the more I saw her play. The only thing that tempered those hopes a bit was when I got to see how overwhelmed she was when playing against higher level talent, as I saw in that Purdue game. I hope she makes it. I wish her luck.

Because some reporter cites "a source" told him OU was not looking for an assistant, that means it's true? After the OU AD had just hired an assistant for the last coaching replacement?

It will be interesting, for sure. If Smith and N'Dour both leave, along with the graduation of Kellogg, Wilkins, Johnson, and Hall, I would be surprised if it wouldn't be looked at as a true Rebuilding project. And I have to wonder....was Boals even considered at all ?

Thank You

I got to thinking about this over the last few days.... If we want to be unique, lets think about how exclusive the Z logo would be? How many people can even use that?? Gonzaga could possibly use it because they often call themselves the "Zags", but that isn't even their nickname. Who else even has a school name or nickname that starts with a Z ? Does anyone know?

I assumed that people are bringing up Boals because the OU job is now open, which is his alma mater. I don't think anyone referenced his name as if he had a chance to beat Christian to the BC job.

I think I would be surprised this time if Boals didn't get a call of interest from his Alma Mater. If not, maybe he's just not getting looked at by people as head coaching material. After all, he's been a D-1 assistant for an awfully long time now. You'd maybe think that those opportunities would have started to surface by now, even if it was at a lower level?

I wish he'd stay in Athens. We've beaten them 5 out of 6 times since he's been there

No, they will probably make a lame attempt at trying to be trendy again, and come up with something totally stupid like they did at that bowl game a year ago. Who can ever forget the bird-eyes that were pulled out of their logo, and put on the front edge of the helmets, which would not have meant anything to anyone who wasn't familiar with their bird? And putting the "K" on the back of the helmet, which clearly said, "We're the really unimaginative rip off of Oregon".

I actually liked this quote the best.... "We're lining up against good people that will get us ready for our conference," Bowden admitted. Leave it to a legendary coach to point out one of the many obvious reasons why playing good competition in the OOC is a benefit. May this finally lay to rest all debates about pursuing/avoiding a strong OOC schedule on both the football and basketball forums (yeah right).

No doubt. Thanks for mentioning how Buford ended his career, which is not remembered by many people. In fact, this was a guy who excelled at Akron as a freshman and sophomore under Huggins, absolutely carried a sinking ship of a team in his 3rd year under Crawford (including a dramatic win over Keith's unbeaten Ashland team), and then sat out a year and started on a Final-4 team in Cincy under Huggins. What a phenomenal career, despite the tumultuous situations. And what more can anyone say about the Cricket. As you point out, the most recent person to have his number retired. Ran the point for a conference title team as a Freshman, and never looked back. Sorry to say that Dru and Dials come nowhere close to this.

I loved that team too, but that wasn't my vote. But I will tell you this much.....when comparing personnel on the 3 teams we have been discussing, I will scoff at anyone who rates any players higher than Romeo Travis and Marcel Boyce until they are wearing a "Conference MVP" title. And I will also give the 1986 team credit for one other thing: They competed in the NCAA tournament against a #2 Seed, and almost pulled out a victory. That was, BY FAR, our best showing ever in the tournament.

Joyce clearly deserves his due credit here. He doesn't have Harney's athleticism, but he's probably the 2nd best floor leader of all time, only trailing Eric McLaughlin. And Dials could take over that role, when needed. Jake has yet to make the contributions that Nate made to the teams he played with. I give Dials the nod over Walsh for the same reason. Romeo was the top player in the MAC his Senior year. Until that is duplicated, he has no equal on the Zips roster. If Wood wasn't carrying so many "Center" responsibilities his Senior year, he may have ended up being the best post player ever. In fact, image what Wood accomplishes if he had even been able to play next to an average "Center"? Zeke can't equal him in offensive ability or rebounding, but somewhat equalizes the equation with the impact he had on some wins and losses with his stature and shot blocking ability on the defensive end. I think the only real equalizer for the 2013 team is when you get to the bench guys. And I also feel like the 2013 team had more pure athletic talent. Comparing the two also gets tough when you have to give 2013 credit for the first breakthrough in our national ranking.

I want to drink what you're drinking today.

So, let me see if I got this right. Failing to score in an 8 minute stretch didn't bother you. But, giving up only 52 points in regulation did?

Certainly confirms what we were seeing.....too many individual efforts to score points.

Oh, absolutely. Even if you hit the incredible rate of 40%, that means you could hit a few, and then miss 4 or 5 in a row. That stretch of 4 or 5 misses, mixed in with a few turnovers, and you could have enough consecutive empty trips up the floor to cost you a game, no matter when it happens. You must be able to find more reliable (higher percentage) ways to score.

Basketball is consistently in the Sweet 16 ?? I think you missed the earlier discussion about the success standard that we are commenting about.

That would indeed be the debate. CAN you achieve those things from the MAC? We've certainly seen it, sporadically. But "consistently", in both sports, from one school? That's my point. Again, look at who consistently hits those achievements in football and basketball? It's a very small number. I'd say, look at those who are doing it, and see their conference alignment and resources. Then, see if any MAC program, ever, has even come remotely close to making that achievement a consistent part of their record. The answer will be...none. So, what are the chances that Akron will be the one who can buck a trend that has lasted for many decades, and change the course of the history? With such limited MAC-level resources? I can't fathom how heavily the odds would be stacked against it. With the MAC as our conference affiliation, I would equate it to duplicating the unbelievable rise of football's Boise State and basketball's Gonzaga, simultaneously. We would stand alone in this achievement, and would be one of the biggest stories in the history of college athletics. I wonder how insurmountable the odds would be ? It's a dream of the ultimate magnitude.

Simple? Please tell me how many teams are in BCS bowl games and Sweet 16s on a consistent basis. Maybe a dozen? Heck, I don't know, but I know it certainly is a small number. Many of us are wanting Akron to progress. But what you are proposing would put us in super-elite status, do you realize that? So, I'll gladly take your "simple vision"

Ugly. I'd be curious to watch it again, but it would probably make me sick. I just wonder how much individual play was going on when that lead started to shrink. I was there, and it still seems like a blur to me. I was in too much shock to analyze the situation at the time.

Dave, Do you remember Keith talking about getting more playing time for Melo because he was better at running the set plays? You make some great points. Overall, we just had a tough time getting the ball to guys who were in a position to score. Or, just getting those guys INTO a position to score. The set plays would help get that done, but we often never ran them effectively. And again, I point back to the lack of cohesiveness within this team for that inefficiency. Thus....we had to live with a team full of players who often took it upon themselves to try to score a basket. If anyone goes back and looks at the scoreless 8 minute stretch against WMU, I'm sure we'd see a lot of this. And that was 30 games into the season.

Sometimes, it's a little tricky to point to a lack of offensive motion without understanding all of the situations. Oftentimes, it looks like we're spreading the floor as wide as we can to get those entry passes into the post. And when we do that, the guys on the perimeter are sometimes just trying to find an open area to sit. Continual movement without the ball is not the answer that some people like to think it is. I think we have a much bigger problem creating offense from a lack of guys who can effectively dribble the ball into the paint, rather than a lack of movement from the guys without the ball.