GP1

There can be parallels between UC and UofA, but not equal proportions.I just want UofA to be the best it can be with what it has. I just want to be us.

It's hard to learn anything on scout team.Exactly. It's a world of difference between playing on the scout team in practice when you know there's no way you'll even dress for a game the whole season to suddenly trying to compete with the starters.All true. In addition, coaches don't spend a lot of time in practice trying to "coach" red shirts. Their coaching time is spent preparing the players who will play in the game that week. The job of a red shirt on scout team is basically to show up for practice, read a card with the other teams play on it and run that play for the defense.Now, if the Zips would just get their butts in gear and make a bowl game, the coaches could spend an additional month preparing red shirts and non starters for the next season. We really need to at least make one of the MAC bowl games this year.

It's hard to learn anything on scout team.

yeah what happens when we lose to them the start our home season, won't that be embarrassing? That would destroy the whole season in terms of fan support.Let me be the first to say: I hope we don't lose to them. Let me be the first to say: We will NOT lose to them. CJ 7 will have 4 turnovers and the Zips coast to a 45+ point victory.

I like this schedule. My only two points of concern are:1. Three road games in a row is difficult for any team.2. Central Michigan on the road....again.Akron will be 1-1 after the first two with a chance to beat a bad Big 10 team in the third game. I'm not scared to play Syracuse on the road next year. I feel good about this schedule. Now the players need to step up their game and start winning.

I think that is a pretty good observation. The one thing that I would add is that sometimes a "good" coach gets a great player and that is what helps him win the big one. Cowher never won the big one w/o Ben. Will Zeke be KD's Ben? I hope so.Keep in mind that Cowher did lose an AFC Championship game Ben's first year, and they lost badly. Blasting Bettis into the line for he entire first quarter hoping to win a low scoring game did nothing. Offense scoring in bunches wins championships. Cowher finally realized it after 15 years and now I think it has only taken KD 5 years to realize what it took Cowher 15 to realize. Actually, this is proof that a degree from UofA is more valuable than a degree from NC State. As far as talent, you are correct. Good players make coaches good. Akron has a lot of good players on the team right now and they are good. Surprise!!!!! KD is somehow a genious with a great plan for the future all of the sudden. He had Lebron Freaking James at St. V and he became a great coach. Hell, I could have won coaching St. V with the greatest BB player on the planet. The best thing KD is doing right now is getting good players to come to Akron. If he keeps it up, my prediction is he will continue to be a genious. If he doesn't, he will just be another mid major coach. I hope he is on a recruiting trip today. "You don't win with X's and O's, you win with Jimmies and Joes."

Interesting last few posts.Sports are a funny. A few plays go the right way for you here or there and the coach is a genious. When they don't go your way, the coach is average and the program can't get over the hump. It kind of proves what I always say about coaches. There are few great coaches. There are few terrible coaches. Most are somewhere in the good category because they all go to the same seminars and learn the same things and have made coaching their career.I think KD is a good coach. I don't think he is a great coach or some great visionary that saw the path to success at Akron (Akron has been good in the past before he got here, let's not kid ourselves). I think the last two games of the year were an eye opener for him as he realized offense wins big games and defense beats average to bad teams. Trust me, I watched Bill Cowher do it for years with the Steelers. He won a lot of games with defense and a good running game in low scoring games, but couldn't get over the hump in the big games until he had an offense that could score a lot of points in big games. Not only did he have the offense, but he took the chains off of the offense and let them score. To KD's credit, he did that in the Championship game. Hats off. The Zips went on a roll at the end of the year which is the sign of a good team. Was there some luck? Of course, but you need luck also if you want to win a championship. Luck, however you want to define it, is nothing to be ashamed of. The Zips had the perfect storm this year.....a little luck, some hard working players, experience in the championship game, Buffalo forgot how to play basketball and a good coach. I don't think winning tournament games is as much of an indicator of a program's current state as what they do during the regular season. The Zips played well this season with a very young team. This team has been good for a few years now, they just weren't able to get over the hump. All I ask out of the Zips basketball team is 20 wins a year and a strong showing in the Tournament with a championship sprinkled here or there. The past few years they have satisfied what I want. If you remain good year after year, championships will follow.

When I first saw this topic, I thought to myself, "Self, that's awesome, someone has the door from the men's room stall on the home side of the Rubber Bowl." Then I thought to myself, "Self, that's a really stupid idea because there would be nothing to own."

It's amazing what a good coach Waters is. He can take a group of previously poorly coached great athletes and turn them into something good.Cedric Jackson was absolutely great last night. In big games, a lot needs to go right and you need your best player to be at the top of his game. CSU got both and now they are on to the second round.

For the first 30-35 minutes of the game, UofA played the most exciting brand of basketball I have ever seen them play in the KD era. They executed great on the offensive end and made open shots when presented. There was a little of everything last night and the game was fun to watch. If they play that exciting brand of basketball next year and people don't go watch, they will never go watch. It would be a shame if that happened because that is good entertainment. Well worth the money!

Zeke is one of the most talented players in the country. He should be placed in the starting lineup the second he walks into the first practice. It is his job to lose.I absolutely disagree. Look, noone is talking about redshirting Zeke or anything like that. But this team is built on 5 guys on the floor playing as one. No one player on this team is bigger than the rest of the team and that attitude shouldn't change just for Zeke. Now if Zeke comes in in Fall practice and earns the starting spot more power too him. But for now our starting lineup is Humpty, Roberts, Conyers/B.McKnight, C.McKnight and Cvetinovic. From what I understand of Zeke and his mindset and work ethic he shouldn't have any problem with this.I don't think we disagree. My point is he gets the starting spot at the first practice. If he is not up to the task or if he is simply out played by someone else, then someone else gets it. Either way, he has to earn it.

Zeke is one of the most talented players in the country. He should be placed in the starting lineup the second he walks into the first practice. It is his job to lose.

Fantastic effort by the Zips tonight. I don't know what else they could have done differently. Sometimes the other team is just better.

Yes it was. One or two plays per game can be the difference between a two point loss or a two point win.

Good! The Big Ten and Pac 10 do just fine without one.

The tournament should either have fewer teams and force teams to win their conference tournament or keep it the way it is. I like it the way it is. Expanding is not the answer. In the end, the cream TENDS to rise to the top in the tournament. Teams that get left out always cry about it. South Carolina threw a fit and they lost to Davidson last night in the NIT. They would go nowhere in the NCAA tournament.

The MAC is already insignificant. The league has been around since 1946.For those of you who think a president of the MAC can reform the league by negotiating better outcomes with BCS schools, answer this question. What bargaining power or position of strength does a MAC president have against the larger BCS schools? Below are the answers I came up with:1. Get mad2. Get really mad3. Stomp feet4. Pound fist5. Pound table6. Pound table and stomp feet simultaneously7. Hold breath until face turns purple8. Tell BCS ADs they are being mean

Wouldn't it be a lot better if the MAC just had 10 teams and they all had to play each other. That would only make three non-conference games. Every other year, it would guarantee five conference home games and each team could have up to seven home games with non-conference games. Every other year, they may only have six home games, but that is OK with me as long as six is the minimum. This whole last minute scheduling is a complete circle jerk. 10 teams and screw everyone else. If the BCS teams want cupcakes, let them pay through the nose for them.

If there was ever a fan that has earned this trip, it is ZipsWin! I'm glad to see you are going.

I know you won't like this answer but AMTRAK can get you out and back for $193 (before taxes I think) each way. 45 HOURS to do it each way so you'd probably have to be on the 3:45AM train that leaves in about 8 hours. Haven't checked Greyhound .$7.50 per hour in travel time savings.

Portland is almost sea level. They will actually have more oxygen there than in Akron.

You are one of the biggest BB fans out there. Shame on you for even asking. Pay the freaking money and go enjoy yourself.

To answer the question, yes it is winnable. On any given day, the Zips can beat any team in the tournament.I'm not so concerned about the Zips traveling west. I'm concerned that Gonzaga can take a bus from their campus to Portland.I like that the game is on Thursday and not Friday. I'm a big believer in momentum and the Zips have it right now. Hell, I'd like the game to be sooner than Thursday so we don't lose any momentum. I don't like that I heard a guy on ESPN radio say just last week that this is the best Gonzaga team ever.I like that I believe we have the best Zips team ever.This game is going to be a good test for the program. By the end of this game, we will know whether we are ever capable of being the Gonzaga of the east, or if we are just the best team in a bad conference. Either way it turns out, it will be a good dose of reality. I really don't mind being the best team in a bad conference. Let's just be UofA. Last night was a lot of fun and we need more of it in lieu of the pushing boulders up hill like we have been for decades.

I agree completely. If the Zips get blown out this week, the effect of last night will be over within a week. The Zips need to play really well this Thrs/Fri. I'm not saying winning is a must, but they need to play well. A win would be HUGE!After last night, I think the Zips will be much more entertaining for the average sports fan to spend their money on. They were fun to watch last night. They have some really young scorers on that team and they will be worth the money.

Sorry if my opinion breaks the usual paradigms on this board about the Zips defense. When I say it was average, I'm not saying it was bad. It was just feh. The Zips offense was playing so well last night I felt no threat when the Bulls pulled within 10. In fact, with 10 minutes to go in the first half I told my wife I thought the game was going to be a blowout. The Zips offense was rolling last night and it had nothing to do with great defense. Maybe average defense, but not great. Buffalo's inability to hit shots made the Zips defense look better than what it really was.