skip-zip

We're just tired of seeing our Zips squander every opportunity to record a big OOC win. And we've had plenty of them. I don't understand this, or any of the other "do you expect the Zips to win every game?" reactions.

It was awesome. I miss that big, collective field full of tailgaters. Everyone is scattered all over now. I'm looking forward to seeing the Jambulance again.

Give me that seam route that Zach D. ran for a long TD against Michigan. And have Pohl throw the pass right on the money again.

This is an interesting statement,, because you pretty much answer your own question. We're a one-bid league right now because nobody has recently produced the big wins to change that. If Akron had beaten both MTSU and St. Mary's, we'd have an infinitely better chance of making a case for an at-large bid if the rest of the season goes well. You can't dispute that.

I did make a point to say that it was a win I was very proud of. The fact that they climbed in the rankings AFTER losing to us is certainly a testament to how good they were playing for a stretch last season. It was just unfortunate for us that this "best ever" win ended up looking much less significant later in the season. I sometimes have to ask you (see bold above).....where do you get this information?

I think you're right on the money. It WILL hurt the teams that play physical defense. I just hope it doesn't hurt us too much. But usually, I don't care about a new rule just as long as both teams are treated equally, and that it doesn't add significantly to the total number of fouls whistled in the games. Let me add this. Hand checking, unless used aggressively (in which case, a foul should be called under the old rule), is not going to stop anyone from doing what they want to do. I'd much prefer to see defenders with both hands stretch outward, or above their heads.

I don't know. Maybe his stats weren't bad. But, after witnessing the Ken+ and UMass games, I think there's some obvious problems sustaining drives and scoring points, and I finally broke down and decided that making a change in leadership behind Center might be what's needed right now to get this offense moving again. That's the first time this year that I really started to feel that way, because I try to hard to resist the normal temptation to blame the QB.

Dave, I often think about the Miss. State game also. Why? Because it might be our biggest OOC win ever. And I'm still proud of that win. But I think the fact that this win was the Best Ever also makes it stand out as a symbol of frustration for a lot of fans also, in regards to us not being able to get "over the hump" to the next level. Why? Because the fact remains that through the last decade, with all the 20-win seasons, MAC title game appearances, etc., this "Best Ever" win still lost it's significance very quickly, because of the way Miss. State's season played out. So, any hope of turning heads with a "Hey Look...Akron has a win against Miss. State" on our resume quickly vanished. As I said earlier, we've been pretty darn good over the last decade, so you'd think by now we'd have at least one of those "Hey Look....Akron beat ______" for college basketball fans across the country to talk about. And it just hasn't happened. And I want it to happen so badly.

That's the other thing everyone might have forgotten about......Besides the Sweet 16 appearance in 2012, OU knocked off #3 Georgetown in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament also, in a major upset.

I sure hope Toledo's fans don't see this.

This is a legitimate display of frustration. You'd think that we've been good enough, for long enough, that we'd knock off someone that truly gets some national attention. It hasn't happened, and there's been tons of opportunities, and plenty of them have resulted in blowout losses. I have such high hopes going into some of these games, because I so badly want us to raise our national profile. In addition, I want people outside of Akron who might root for "bigger" schools to finally eat their laughter the next time they think, "Akron can beat on MAC teams....but....now we're seeing what happens when they actually have to play somebody". I don't like it, and I'll continue to be frustrated as long as we sit here on the cusp of greatness at times, but fail to put together the performances to make it happen.

I'm sure that will go just as far as all the other times we've been screwed with location, seeding, etc. Prepare for the worst, when the NCAAs treatment of Akron Soccer is concerned.

Obviously, that is a very difficult thing to do.

This just totally misses the point on what many of us are saying. First, I think 10 seasons is a little longer than "overnight" Secondly, nobody thinks we should win every game. Fans get a little frustrated when the growth of your program seems to have stagnated.

It's easy to say "things will be ok", because we know we will probably win plenty of games this year. But, winning THESE kinds of games is what will move the program forward. We simply have to start winning some of these games. If not, we'll continue to spend every year waiting for March to come along, hoping we can stay perfect through a MAC tournament, and if successful, trying to overcome big odds and beat a high seed just to get mentioned for a couple of days as something other than being a part of the bottom teams in the tournament. These two teams were good, but not top notch, by any means. We had two more chances this week to possibly change the course for Akron, and we failed, again.

1) Absolutely. Give all the credit in the world to the defense over the last two games. They were on the field far too long today. 2) Was I the only one (finally) screaming for a QB change? And this is not a bandwagon that I jump on very easily. 3) Why did we suddenly have so much trouble running the ball against a really bad run defense? 4) It's funny how many of us looked ahead to the Toledo game for that possible 5th win, while not realizing that UMass was going to be such a struggle. I'll never do that again (I swear ). 5) How many people would have guessed, after last year, that the offense would turn horrible at some point this year, yet the defense could be relied upon to win some key games and save the progrum?

The way they blew us out at their place two years ago still hurts. We even struggled to beat them on our home floor last year. I'm glad to hear that they had some significant personnel losses. Time to turn that around.

It wasn't the 4th day of consecutive games in the MAC tournament. I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but shooters don't lose their legs in Game #2 after 3 days rest. Physical fatigue is a whole different issue than being sleepy because you were up too late. Let me add: As many times as I've been to the West Coast, coming back has always been a much bigger issue for me.

Let me consolidate a few of my previous thoughts on this issue here... First, I don't see the coaches abandoning the development of their inexperienced point guards after a couple of games. That would shock me. This isn't the first time that young players needed a lot of work. They aren't going to make any dramatic changes in philosophy after a couple of games. Secondly, adding full-court ball handling to Quincy's plate would be a huge mistake. It would seriously diminish his ability to contribute the other things he does best. Plus, significantly turning those duties over to someone who is at the end of his career would be a bad investment for the near future of the program. If the first two games are any indication, it sure looks like Evans has emerged as the most trusted person to fulfill that role, with Carmelo in secondary duty. Whichever one becomes the primary option, I just hope it all works out. At least we have two possible solutions.

I have a feeling, at least based on the first two games, that Keith is probably going to allow Evans to come along through the course of the season, and hope Betancourt can at least give us some kind of production in between. As I said earlier, Evans was running the point for the last 4-5 minutes of the CCU game, when we were trying to run out the clock. That's pretty convincing to me, as far as where the coach stands on who is currently the man he wants to trust with the game on the line. I disagree that Diggs can be a primary ball handler. I love him on the isolation plays, and he is creative with the ball, but I don't see that happening in the coaches plan. Not with a guy who only has about 20 or so games remaining in his career. Someone brought up a good point: You won't get many assists when you are shooting as poorly as we shot the other night. If Coach really believes that Evans is the man, and he can be patient as he comes along this season, look for nothing much to change in the coming games as far as him playing 20 or more minutes at the point. If that changes, it might be our best indication that Coach is thinking about other options.

They did better than "hang tough", even with a depleted lineup. They were within 6 with a few minutes to go, in OSWho's arena.

That seems odd to me too. But frankly, I don't care where the recruits some from, as long as they can play. I don't know why that seems so important to some people. What benefit exists for us if a player comes here from Cleveland or from Florida, other than the "boost" in attendance from his mom and dad and a few friends who can attend home games?

I have to wonder about the same thing, especially since it's been a problem for awhile. Ever since Dru and Dials were in the backcourt together, we've been scrambling a bit for depth with guys who could handle the ball. If you recall, both Dials and McNees both started running the point out of necessity. Then, I think the real glut occurred when Humpty, Sullivan, and Steward all transferred out at the same time. This was followed by McNees and Roberts both graduating the following year. At that point (no pun intended), the depth went from average, at best, to almost non-existent. Even with AA still having one year remaining, you would think that we would have already been working on this situation last year. Was he really sold on Evans, Betancourt, or both? I don't know.

You missed the point. Impressive or not, it's not a number that's worked in our favor in the Dambrot era.

Bottom Line: A Dambrot coached Akron team is not going to beat anyone that shoots 51% from the field. The turnovers are a problem for the 2nd straight game, but there's plenty of blame to go around. The two point guards, combined, only accounted for 5 of the 19 turnovers (although neither had an assist - ALARMING !!). But, 4 turnovers from your Center ???