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Dr. Z...there was so much going on those final few minutes that it was impossible to comprehend everything that was going on. I just noticed Dials yelling and waving his arms to the crowd. I never saw him yelling in the huddle, but thanks for pointing that out. I've felt, pretty much all year, that he is the leader of this team.I think just about everyone in the arena looked at each other when they let Can't keep the ball on the opening tip, and never blew a whistle to do the jump ball over again. Was that a sign of things to come in the first half? Pretty much.

He does admit in the paper today that he bumped Dials to get some space for that shot. But lets face it, there were a lot bigger issues than that when we play Can't, and it's all of the other no-calls while blocking shots, and flying over people's backs for rebounds. Plus, in the last 3 seconds of the game, and it's Can't, supposedly the darling of MAC basketball, do you really think that call is going to be made? Like I heard KD make reference to after the game, we seemingly have more of an advantage in a game against Can't when the refs take more control of the action. And I can see why that would be true. But when the calls are not consistent on both ends, that's when I get all ticked off. I really would like to know , since it keeps coming up, just how many calls that bald headed ref made in Can't's favor.

Marty...I know what you are trying to say. Although Roberts didn't seem to help us with his shooting and turnovers. I do like that he shows some potential to drive in the lane and create some things. That's one of the things we've been missing this year without a true point guard. Maybe that speed of his can create some plays during the tournament.

Treeoman...better check your record against us over the last few years, including a stretch of 4 straight Akron wins, before you come on here bragging.

Where was LeBron sitting? I never saw him, and didn't know he was there until I watched the news last night.

Z-Pouch. One of the guys sitting with me, who is also a very experience basketball guy, noticed the same thing about the balding referee. I didn't notice him calling all-Akron fouls, but I don't pay too much attention to who is making the calls. I wonder if anyone has seen the game footage again and can confirm this?

That's classic. A Can't fan coming on here questioning spelling and grammar when he can't write himself.

zipsdiehard...I agree with you. It's the inconsistency that makes it so difficult to play with these officials. Inconsistency from half to half, and calling different plays on both sides of the floor differently. I know the MAC officials are bad, but does anyone remember how many times Can't got called for a foul on a blocked shot, although they ran the guy over with the body after the block on nearly every occasion? It happened in the first game too. On the other hand, almost everytime we blocked a shot, it was a foul. Bottom Line is that teams can't play when they have no ideas what you can and can't do because of inconsistency.Actually, I am surprised that league officials do not call a Can't/Akron game more closely, considering what happened in the first game, and the way that it got out of hand. sk...I agree with some of your points. Especially about the recruiting. After a brief down period, Can't is once again the team to beat in this league. And we need to keep up with them. Unfortunately, we've maybe lost touch with them again, AND are about to go through a down year. I hope our people see this, and consider getting some guys who can give us more immediate help in the next couple of years.sk...in all of my years in athletics, when I consider that college games generally end up in the 50-70 point range, I would never call a 23 point performance "limiting" a guy. In fact, that is one of Jeremiah's best offensive outputs of the year.

zipfan81...I'm sorry, but where is anyone saying that we blame Quade or Goddard for our 1-20 3-point shooting? In fact, I don't believe Quade or Goddard are getting blamed for anything. We are questioning the idea of using an odd starting lineup, without our best players, and how that affected our play right out the gate. Which, if you look at it, ultimately became a stretch of the game that we spent the remainder of the game trying to dig ourselves out of.GoZips88...I love our bracket too. That was the right place to be. Can't will likely now have to play OU in the semifinal, which is the most dangerous team in the league with the inside guys they have, and when their guards are having an "on" night. Akron, on the other hand, gets WMU in the semis, playing a LONG way from home on an unfamiliar court. We'll have an advantage over NIU or CMU in the quarterfinals for the same reason. I don't like the idea of playing so many teams that have beaten us, but the alternative was playing some very dangerous teams, many of which we already had two wins against this year. That's usually not good.

I'm glad other people saw the problems with Roberts tonight. And McNees seems ill-equipped, right now, to help us in these kinds of games, with a lot of quick athletes out there. This forced Dials to play way too many minutes at the point this year, and kept us from being as good a team as we could have been. I'm hoping we can get it together and win this tournament for some redepemption, but I am afraid we might have some lean times ahead of us next year.SoFlaZip...you definitely win the ultimate optimist award. Bardo will develop into NBA talent, and Brett M. will be one of the best players in the MAC his sophomore year?...wow. You must have been drinking last night like the rest of us.

Just like most of these tournaments go down, it will come down to playing well on Thursday, and carrying the momentum through the weekend.

My girlfriend calls the guy that comes out during timeouts "Akron's Ryan Seacrest". I think that's pretty funny.I don't think Dials' intensity affects his play. I love how he gets the crowd going.As far as the refs go...I just still don't understand how Can't can block shots while hitting with the body. And Akron cannot. Both games were called the same way with this call. It's a call that needs to be consistent, and it is not.I'm also a little puzzled by McNees' lack of development.That starting lineup decision might have been a big mistake. It clearly cost of us continuity for the first couple of minutes of the game, and set the tone for the first half.The people I was sitting with clearly remember a Hamin foul getting changed, and one later that should have been called against him, and got put on someone else. He had 7 fouls tonight. Not to mention the blocked shots where he runs over someone while swatting with his arm. Unbelievable. That's a foul anywhere in college basketball.McFly....Roberts had 4 turnovers, and scored no points on 0-4 shooting. You seem to be impresed with him, but other than his speed defensively, he really hurt us tonight. But...McFly....I also heard the idiot yell out during the national anthem....yet another typical Can't State move.

Ouch

It seems that it's always been that way. A history of lower standards.

By the way...I loved the Rowdies sign that said .....WE DON'T THROW THINGS. In fact, I've never seen anyone throw anything in 30 years of going to games at JAR.

Ya, I know that people change words at the end of the anthem. But, someone yelled out during a break in the middle of it. I thought it was quite tasteless.

Something that didn't get discussed yet....Did everyone in the place hear the moron yell "Go Can't State" in the middle of the natonal anthem?That kind of thing would still tick me off, even if it was a Akron fan. The fact that it was a Can't fan...well....I'm not surprised. But I still find it incredibly disrespectful. And if I were a military veteran, I can only imagine how irrate I would have been.

I'm with you Woot. I actually wish that we'd show some pressure defense like that at other junctures of the game, besides the last 2 minutes. Everyone I go to the games with wished we had shown more urgency with some pressure earlier in the half. I agree.

Zipfan81...please read my post again. I list our 3-point shooting, and the lack of continuity at the beginning with the odd starting lineup as TWO SEPARATE FACTORS that contributed to our poor play tonight.I DID NOT SAY that Quade and Goddard starting caused us to shoot poor from 3-point range. wOOt...we survive some poor shooting nights because we play good defense. If it wasn't for that, we could have been pushed right out of this game very, very early.

Bottom Line....this team is not equipped to shoot 13% from 3-point land and beat anyone, let alone Can't. Yet, we defy all odds and almost score a miracle comeback.I do have to question the Goddard/Milum starting lineup. Sure, it was only a couple of minutes, but gosh was that a critical couple of minutes, and took away all of our starting momentum. I hate to say this, but Can't can make some plays defensively that a lot of teams in the MAC cannot make because of their speed and athleticism. That caused problems for us in both games.I still think that the refs let Can't block shots and make contact with the body, yet we are not allowed to do that on the other end. That also happened in both games. I just want to thank the team for showing some hustle at the end, and giving me some excitement for my money. I'll look forward to the tournament. Go Zips !!

The weather will be cleared out, and everything will be fine.As someone who went to school at Akron 25 years ago, my view of the Rowdies has always been "wow..this is a cool idea". The problem is, me and my fellow alums see about the same 20 guys every game. We can see that it's always the same few people. Beyond that, the games seem to vary from nobody else, to possibly another 50-100 or so, depending on the opponent. It just amazes me that AT LEAST 400-500 students do not have an interest in sitting in floor seats EVERY game. I was in school during the early part of the Huggins era. Everyone I know would have BEGGED AND PLEADED for the opportunity to sit on the floor. And, In case some of you don't know, we all congregated in the upper bleacher sections back then. I just still don't get it.

Some good thoughts. The problem is, the few top guys, THE ONES THAT YOU REALLY WANT TO GET, are always gravitated towards the top teams. So, you are always going to be competing for the 2nd tier.

I think Zipfan81 was asking if anyone knows if KD has any history in these Senior Night games, as far as whether he historically has pushed all of the seniors into the starting lineup for a brief time at the beginning of the game. Frankly, I have no idea. Does anyone know?

BigZip..we tend to think alike on a number of different things. You must be one of the old timers too.I guess you always want to be in a stronger conference because it usually elevates your visibility, and your recruiting, and putdyou closer to a national stage. But, since getting to the tournament is the ultimate goal, maybe choosing the easiest path (i.e. an easier conference) is a thought. But at the same time, we probably wouldn't have the talent we have now either. I love your point about football. Unlike basketball, if you are a D-1 school, and win more than you lose, you are probably going to a bowl game. Who you play doesn't seem to have much bearing on that. Unless, of course, you want to continue to get into better and better bowl games. But as a short term solution to getting to bowl games, your theory works.

Ok...let's take your "what if" and give Akron a full 3 more wins, and put their record at 24-5 instead of 21-8. Even though we had some close wins that could have gone the other way as well. But..let's take the best scenario and look at it. That bumps our RPI to somewhere in the neighborhood of the 45-50 mark. Can't State is at 31, and may have possibly blown their last chance by getting their 6th loss last week. Plus, we don't have similar schedule strength. Can't's schedule strength is ranked 35 spots higher than ours.Listen...I joined people like you in a display of total disgust when we didn't get a bid to EITHER tournament last year. I don't think it's right, but this is the game we are forced to play. It's been this way for a long, long time. Even if we had squeaked out a couple more wins, we're right about in the same boat as last year, which didn't get us one of the 96 spots available for post season play, let alone a spot in the top 64 field. Do you really think anything has changed in a year?Plus, we're still not factoring in the idea of just how hard it is for a coach to get college kids to play consistently enough to win 85% of your games in a given season. You are always going to lose games you should have won, and those losses are devastating. I'm not totally disregarding your opinion. I'm just demonstrating that it's going to take much bigger changes than what some people are proposing to eliminate the "if only we....", and give us some legitimate chances at NCAA at-large bids.Again, look back at CraftyMFer's post. I believe he probably has the right mix for OOC scheduling that would get the job done.