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This isn't a time for gloating. My honest reaction was simply....What Choice Did We Have? This talented young guy didn't come here to sit the bench. But, we all know this team needs a lot of work. I'm just happy our coach had the guts to pull the plug on this two-year situation that clearly wasn't working, and has given us a chance to turn the corner with some new talent. And.....May the Lone Ranger ride again, for the sake of our poor football program.

"The Zips have won one in a row, and Columbus State is on a 13 game losing streak!" ....You da man Frenchy You gotta love that. That's Hilarious!!

That is pretty funny. I'm guessing it would indicate that whoever is organizing the event happens to work for that University down south?

We are a "right now" culture, but there is a bigger picture with the mac that doesn't play into that. The mas has been around since 1946. It can't seem to get it right. The goal should be to have the best mac we can possible have with the expectation being it will never catch up, because history shows it isn't capable of catching up to the bcs conferences. We are in the mac. That's where we belong until we are forced elsewhere, or the mac's member schools wake up and take control of their future. We can only dream that this happens. This is a good post. I've always felt that this is the biggest challenge to getting into a "bigger" conference....the MACs long history of mediocrity, and the lack of a collective effort to do anything about it. Operating within that kind of framework makes it so difficult for a school to make themselves desirable to the bigger boys. Maybe a "right now" attitude could have benefitted us 20 years ago. Our first season in the MAC saw a 7-3-1 season and a 2nd place finish. The following year, we were picked to finish first by most people, and won a key matchup to start the season against CMU before being decimated by injuries and had a .500 season. Could we have possibly elevated ourselves right out of the MAC by taking a "right now' attitude? The facilities never came around fast enough, as everyone had hoped. And the powers at the U seemed very content with being a MAC member. But, the excitement and momentum was there early, and I can't help but to think that we may have had an opportunity to position ourselves as the up-and-coming D-1A program if everyone could have gotten on the same page.

Excellent post. Akron is not a good place to build a retail fan base, but the surrounding area is. The Aeros do a good job of drawing fans to baseball games from all around Akron, so it can be done. They need to try harder. If the mac/UofA want to be taken seriously, they need to draw fans to the games. Selling corporate suites is very important, but when America turns on ESPN and there are 5,000 people, it is laughable and recruits aren't going to take it seriously. Lastly, the Big East. I lived in Connecticut for a year after college and I went to a lot of Big East basketball games. We would get absolutely destroyed in the Big East. Within five years, it wouldn't be worth having a program. Look at schools like Providence and that's what we would be like. Hey...not so fast!! According to some people, we just got some new guys that are looking good in practices, and should be taking us to the upper echelon. The Big East teams will be fearing the Roo very soon.

Quincy Diggs .390 (ESPN) Brett McClanahan .389 (ESPN) Brett McKnight .385 (ESPN) Same stats here (CBS Sports) ...and here (Rivals) The 2011 Post Season Media Guide does NOT include the Notre Dame game. Quincy took and made one three point shot against the Irish. That elevated his percentage. McClanahan took a couple of shots against the Irish and his percentage went down. Brett fired up over two hundred three balls over the course of the season. Diggs shot forty-one three balls. Huge difference. Diggs by virtue of rarely shooting long shots gains a minor statistical advantage. He is NOT the best outside shooter on the Zips. I will concede that percentage wise with a small sample he "appears" to be ... blah, blah, blah. Truth is; Diggs had a terrible stroke and any one who follows the game would and should cringe when he took those long shots. My original intent was to give Quincy credit for his work over the off season for improving his game. Some of you find busting my ass more to your liking than recognizing this kid for his hard work. As someone who has often criticized posts on here as being overboard personal attacks, I don't think anyone is maliciously going after you in any way. When someone starts posts predicting a sudden rise to national stature for our program, and an expert knowledge of the Zips, I'd expect people to challenge what they are saying. And I'll actually repeat what a couple of other people have said.....We all appreciate that you are sharing information from these practices.

I think anything other than a downward move to a conference like the Sun Belt is good for us. I'm just not convinced that our attributes are anything that would persuade a "bigger" conference to say, "We want Akron".

I agree...caution and a dose of reality is needed. And you have done that. But your constant posting on the issue comes across more of advocating a point of view. Better to advise caution a few times and if people fail to pick up your recommendation you can always say "I told you so" But the constant advocating against the opposing view makes you come across as unwilling to compromise, see other people views and worst of all....allow others to have a point of view different than your own. I understand that is the norm now in US culture and is often the pervasive view here. I say “relax” and enjoy the enthusiasm. There was none last few years in BBall …or any sport other than soccer. I hope it translates to better support of the teams. Doug, I recall responding to one of your posts previously in regards to my "tone" or lack of respect. And I'll give you a similar response.... If you think my comments on here are bad, you haven't spent much time reading posts on this board.

I'll agree that it's fun to have hopes and dreams, and begin to analyze the upcoming season. But, I feel compelled to interject a voice of extreme caution when I see a few people proclaiming our rise into the national spotlight based on what they see in a summer practice.

For the record -- I never cringed when the guy that lead the Zips in 3-point shooting percentage (39%) launched a 3. I was actually sort of happy. Good point. I'm also getitng a little bit weary of hearing how great these guys are doing in PRACTICE. I can't begin to illustrate the difference. For starters, little pressure to make decisions, pressure to win, and fear of making mistakes. Not to mention an all out effort by a defense to nearly take your head off if you try to score. I know... I'll get a response from a certain someone that emphatically says something like, "No...you're wrong...KD is great at simulating game situations blah blah blah". But sorry, it's just not remotely the same conditions. We have a number of guys who have not been in game situations in quite some time, or didn't even have tons of playing experience in high school. That only adds to the uncertainty of how they might perform.

I'll take that. What a refreshing change that would be for the fans.....and another MAC title....and an upset win over a Top-25 team. That has to happen sometime, doesn't it? Me too. That's what gets me to more games, getting the ball quickly down the floor and into an offense, fast breaks, scoring points. THAT's what I want to see. I've walked out of the JAR when the Zips have won 59-58 and I felt like I lost. If I'm going to watch our PG turn around at half court and dribble the ball backwards to the three point line every trip down the floor, I would rather sort my socks at home and listen on the radio. I know that feeling. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed our victory in the OT MAC title game this past year, it was also very excruciating. I don't prefer a game that lasts 45 minutes to end with a score in the 60s. That game just about killed me.

I'll take that. What a refreshing change that would be for the fans. ....and another MAC title ....and an upset win over a Top-25 team. That has to happen sometime, doesn't it?

Without a doubt. In fact, that might be a dramatic understatement. One requires playing two good games. The other requires playing 30 good games, and hoping some pollsters are even paying attention.

There are three players who look like triplets. They are Q, CJ Oldham & Nick Harney. Get in line now for "Fear the Fro" shirts... I had a "Fear the Fro" sign back when Wood was sporting one. Looks like I'll have to dust it off... Oh no. By far, the best signs I saw during the J. Wood era were "FEAR THE WOOD". Even old people like my wife and I (we both have juvenile minds at times) could never stop laughing at that. But, don't consider me a representative example of people in my age group. I still laugh at Beavis and Butthead too.

I would say so !! I just can't even get close to wrapping my arms around the notion that we could make a huge jump to the upper echelon of the college basketball world, suddenly. Especially after a year where we had significant turnover. To the enthusiastic optimists predicting that we'll jump to the Top-16: Remember, there's two major challenges, and one of them has to be nearly impossible. 1) Will we have a dramatic improvement in our level of play, right out of the gate, to make us significantly better? 2) Will the pollsters suddenly jump on the Akron bandwagon in large quantities? Could we have the potential to improve our rebounding with more athletic players?...Yes. Could we now have some personnel that could improve our ability to drive to the basket compared to some of our recent personnel?...Yes. But, one point in which I wholeheartedly agree with AKZipper is this crazy assumption that we could zoom ahead of 80 or so teams that were better than us last year because they won't improve, or will regress. Right now, we're just a very good MAC program that needs to replace 16 years of combined playing experience. And that's enough of a challenge in itself, which makes the notion of passing several dozen other programs who are presently better than Akron a dream-like scenario to me. I'll say it again....I'll be happy to just see us BEAT a Top Ranked team for the first time in our history. But, BEING a Top Ranked team would require that level of play, every game, right out of the gate. Not just winning games, but winning them all in impressive fashion. And hoping that the sportswriters in places like Los Angeles, and Miami, and Dallas will wake up one morning a few months from now and suddenly decide to turn their attention towards Akron's victory in a MAC game over Central Michigan from the night before. It's certainly not impossible to think that this could eventually happen for us. It's just nearly impossible to even dream that this kind of change could happen that quickly. Point of order. Before you can agree with ak, we should verify that ak agrees with me. What about it zipper? Zipmeister....my apologies. Although I see similarities in both of your posts, I mistakenly credited AKZipper with the "80 spots upward" statement. I must now give you credit where credit is due.

Then I'm curious how you feel about that big circle they form on the sidelines before the game, where they make guys get down in a 3-point stance and attack each other like a Sumo Wrestling match while everyone else stands around and yells at them. Have you ever noticed that? A lot of people think it's dumb, expends energy, and risks injury. What do you think? It's always been difficult for me to see it as a way to get guys fired up when I imagine how much something like that can turn into a complete disaster.

I would say so !! I just can't even get close to wrapping my arms around the notion that we could make a huge jump to the upper echelon of the college basketball world, suddenly. Especially after a year where we had significant turnover. To the enthusiastic optimists predicting that we'll jump to the Top-16: Remember, there's two major challenges, and one of them has to be nearly impossible. 1) Will we have a dramatic improvement in our level of play, right out of the gate, to make us significantly better? 2) Will the pollsters suddenly jump on the Akron bandwagon in large quantities? Could we have the potential to improve our rebounding with more athletic players?...Yes. Could we now have some personnel that could improve our ability to drive to the basket compared to some of our recent personnel?...Yes. But, one point in which I wholeheartedly agree with AKZipper is this crazy assumption that we could zoom ahead of 80 or so teams that were better than us last year because they won't improve, or will regress. Right now, we're just a very good MAC program that needs to replace 16 years of combined playing experience. And that's enough of a challenge in itself, which makes the notion of passing several dozen other programs who are presently better than Akron a dream-like scenario to me. I'll say it again....I'll be happy to just see us BEAT a Top Ranked team for the first time in our history. But, BEING a Top Ranked team would require that level of play, every game, right out of the gate. Not just winning games, but winning them all in impressive fashion. And hoping that the sportswriters in places like Los Angeles, and Miami, and Dallas will wake up one morning a few months from now and suddenly decide to turn their attention towards Akron's victory in a MAC game over Central Michigan from the night before. It's certainly not impossible to think that this could eventually happen for us. It's just nearly impossible to even dream that this kind of change could happen that quickly.

Here you run into trouble. You're here admonishing energized fans about their opinions, and you want to base the cold shower on facts to back up your reservations. I think it's good to be cautious here. You live in NEOH and are a Vikings fan. I get it. We all have big hopes, and some of us are more eager than others to dream big for our guys. Problem here is that your "facts" are categorically and completely inaccurate. The Zips have received AP votes, on multiple occasions under KD. It's not some magic land they've never visited. Is the AP poll a real poll? Two NCAA births in 3 seasons are real, tangible evidence of success. They weren't accidents. I look forward to more. I've got them on. B) Go Zips!! The NCAA berths have been some of most exciting moments of my life as a Zips fan. But, the "evidence of success" is exactly what it is. Evidence that we can put together a team good enough to win 20 games and compete for a MAC title. But with the turnover this past off-season, even remotely anticipating that dozens of pollsters could launch us from relative obscurity to a Top-16 team over the period of the next 20-30 games of our basketball history is just an incredible.....incredible.....leap. I'm not being a "downer", or trying to dampen anyone's enthusiasm. If someone said, "maybe we can bring these new guys along fast enough to win the MAC again", I'm totally on board with them. Or, "Maybe we can develop these new guys well enough to have a solid Top-100 RPI team by the end of the year". I'd be on board with that kind of goal too. Again, I'll be happy with just beating a Top 25 team for the first time. I can't even imagine what it would take to BE a Top Ranked team anytime soon.

Lots of exuberant hyperbole posted recently, but this one is pretty over-the-top. I'll give you the past 8-or-so years haven't seen too many eyeball-test teams. But in the 10 years previous, EMU (Dial, Head, Boykins), K.e.n.t (Elite 8 guys), Miami (Sczerbiak, Newble, Davis, etc), OU (Jamerson, Trent, Hunter, and many others), BG (Stacey/McCloud), Ball State (Lonnie Jones, Theron Smith, etc)....all have had some really legit rosters. And won some big games. Even Marshall had some big teams, with VanHoose and Slay. This group of Zips hasn't won anything. In the past, KD's teams have been ones where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Hopefully he can continue that, with the increased talent level. Then we'll have something extra-special. This will probably be KD's toughest year to coach. Dividing minutes will be tough. Zeke's a Junior...he needs to blossom big-time this year. Breaking-through and beating BCS-programs hasn't been done in a long time. I can't remember ever getting a single vote in any "real" basketball poll, let alone Top 25 ranking. A few votes in the "others" section would be an impressive step forward. Lots of milestones can be reached this season, beyond the elusive NCAA tourney win. I dig the excitement and the potential as much as anyone...but let's be real. Best ever...even by only the eyeball test? MAC basketball has a lot more tradition than that. I'm glad someone is slipping in a little reality every now and then. Top 25? This started with someone saying that anything less than Top-16 would be a dissappointment. Now I think I've seen someone who's been watching practices believe that we could even be better than that? Heck, we've never even BEATEN a Top-25 team. I think you're right. We've never received a single vote as an "others receiving votes" in any legit Top-25 poll.....ever....even with a 26-win team. So, if we win 27 or 28 games we'll not only get votes, but we'll get tons of votes, nationwide, from people who've barely even heard of Akron, and move all the way to the middle section of the Top-25? Dozens of people would all have to change their opinion about Akron, simultaneously, and that's not going to happen. Lets look at what could possibly happen sometime soon, although it still would require an amazing scenario to fall into place... Realistically, if we can somehow find a way to get through maybe our first 10 or 12 games of a season without a loss, maybe that would get 5 or 10 people to possibly change their opinion and vote for us? Where would that put us? Maybe about the 50-60 range? Of course, it would vanish after we lose our first game. But geez, I would consider that a MAJOR step forward for the program, which would be incredibly exciting. In fact, I'll jump for joy the first time we just simply record a win against a Top-25 team. I can go watch as many practices as I want, and I'm quite sure that I couldn't look at this team and predict a sudden and incredible 80 position rise in our national ranking. It's not ever going to happen that fast. Akron is still a nobody to far too many people who matter. So San Diego State, Butler and Memphis changed the voters' votes, but if we had a season like their's, it wouldn't be the same for us? That's right...because we're the black hole in the NCAA...we're the abandoned child of the NCAA No. I'm saying that it won't happen overnight. We ARE the forgotten child right now. You're talking about a program that hasn't even beaten a single Top-25 team in their entire history. So, imagine how long it would take for people who matter to believe that we belong IN the Top-25. Good Luck selling that one to the pollsters.

Lots of exuberant hyperbole posted recently, but this one is pretty over-the-top. I'll give you the past 8-or-so years haven't seen too many eyeball-test teams. But in the 10 years previous, EMU (Dial, Head, Boykins), K.e.n.t (Elite 8 guys), Miami (Sczerbiak, Newble, Davis, etc), OU (Jamerson, Trent, Hunter, and many others), BG (Stacey/McCloud), Ball State (Lonnie Jones, Theron Smith, etc)....all have had some really legit rosters. And won some big games. Even Marshall had some big teams, with VanHoose and Slay. This group of Zips hasn't won anything. In the past, KD's teams have been ones where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Hopefully he can continue that, with the increased talent level. Then we'll have something extra-special. This will probably be KD's toughest year to coach. Dividing minutes will be tough. Zeke's a Junior...he needs to blossom big-time this year. Breaking-through and beating BCS-programs hasn't been done in a long time. I can't remember ever getting a single vote in any "real" basketball poll, let alone Top 25 ranking. A few votes in the "others" section would be an impressive step forward. Lots of milestones can be reached this season, beyond the elusive NCAA tourney win. I dig the excitement and the potential as much as anyone...but let's be real. Best ever...even by only the eyeball test? MAC basketball has a lot more tradition than that. I'm glad someone is slipping in a little reality every now and then. Top 25? This started with someone saying that anything less than Top-16 would be a dissappointment. Now I think I've seen someone who's been watching practices believe that we could even be better than that? Heck, we've never even BEATEN a Top-25 team. I think you're right. We've never received a single vote as an "others receiving votes" in any legit Top-25 poll.....ever....even with a 26-win team. So, if we win 27 or 28 games we'll not only get votes, but we'll get tons of votes, nationwide, from people who've barely even heard of Akron, and move all the way to the middle section of the Top-25? Dozens of people would all have to change their opinion about Akron, simultaneously, and that's not going to happen. Lets look at what could possibly happen sometime soon, although it still would require an amazing scenario to fall into place... Realistically, if we can somehow find a way to get through maybe our first 10 or 12 games of a season without a loss, maybe that would get 5 or 10 people to possibly change their opinion and vote for us? Where would that put us? Maybe about the 50-60 range? Of course, it would vanish after we lose our first game. But geez, I would consider that a MAJOR step forward for the program, which would be incredibly exciting. In fact, I'll jump for joy the first time we just simply record a win against a Top-25 team. I can go watch as many practices as I want, and I'm quite sure that I couldn't look at this team and predict a sudden and incredible 80 position rise in our national ranking. It's not ever going to happen that fast. Akron is still a nobody to far too many people who matter.

And I believe the team could do that even if we didn't have any newcomers contributing to the team. Are you expecting Abreu or McClanahan or others to take a major step back? Then I guess I should be asking a similar question to you. Do you expect guys like Abreu and McClanahan to take a major step forward and fill the shoes of McNees/Roberts/McKnight? If so, then of course you would feel that we could equal last year's success, and I would agree with you. But, I believe we are going to need some major contributions from some new guys to reach that level or better. And in reference to Abreu and McClanahan, where exactly are they? Have we seen enough consistent play from either of them to indicate which "step" they are at? What they both showed us the first half of the season vs. the second half of the season should make anyone pretty confused as to where they might be headed from here. As I predicted, we relied heavily on our seniors for that stretch run to a MAC title last year. Who is going to emerge as being capable of filling their shoes is anyone's guess at this point. This team has more uncertainty than any Zips team I've seen in recent memory.

News flash: Zeke Marshall needs to worry about being able to consistently finish at the rim before we start trying to make him into a 3 point shooter. We are going to have plenty of guys who can take long jump shots. I was kinda thinking that too. I'm all for developing guys into "complete players". But, long range shooting isn't something I see as suddenly emerging as an effective part of his game when he is already in his Junior year of college. I can't recall...have we ever even seen the guy taking anything close to a jump shot more than maybe a handful of times? Even from as far away as the foul line? I'd be absolutely shocked if he starts firing 3-pointers at any time in the next 2 years. GoZips...I believe. I believe that this year's team might be able to win 20+ games, be one of the 5 or so contenders in the MAC at the end of the season, be somewhere near the 100 mark in RPI, and have a chance to play in the big dance....if some of the new guys can make significant contributions. Anything more will truly be an unexpected surprise to me.

As a fan who just had to endure a 1-11 season, I was just thrilled to hear him say that something was being done differently.

Interesting comparison. If you look at Miami and Akron playing in an overtime game in the MAC tourney, the fact that they were almost identical in RPI at the end of the year, and that their personnel losses were somewhat equally comparable, where does that put Akron in relations to Miami's present 110 ranking? That probably leaves our additions vs. Miami's additions as the only variable in which to consider. So, if he puts us in the top 100, obviously he feels more highly of our additions. If we end up out of the Top 144, then we know he feels otherwise.

The first thing I noticed was the words "New Approach" Isn't that contrary to what we had been hearing from the coach?