GP1

The make up sex between mwilly and Big Zip is going to be great after this thread is over. Anyhow, I am still hopeful about the remainder of the season. We learned some real good lessons about what Akron needs to do if it wants to compete outside of the MAC.First, Akron has enough athletic talent to compete in the MAC and win the MAC, but they don't have enough to compete against really good programs. On a less ass kicking scale, Can't did the same thing to Akron a couple of weeks ago that Nevada did last night. More athletic players beat slower players almost every time. There is nothing more KD could have done to win the game last night, the team was just out-playered.Secondly, Akron needs to have more consistent shooting. The only solution to this I see is playing Peterson more. Good shooters need to shoot to get a rythm and he needs to be given the chance.Thirdly, Akron needs size badly. We got killed last night in side (in addition to everywhere else).I say burn the tape of last nights game, unless you want a lesson on how a more athletic team beats a less athletic team then watch it all day. There are still a lot of games to go and I still think as long as Akron does not have to play Can't until the finals of the MAC tournament, they have a good shot of winning it all. Can't is the only team with such superior athletes that they worry me against the Zips, but in the finals anything could happen. The last game of the season will tell us all a lot.

This is the best report on the project yet. The facts are almost 100% correct (the seating will be a little bigger).

WOW, this is a stupid idea. ZA, you should be ashamed of yourself. It was such nonsense that I actually had to go read the article to make sure Pluto didn't really write it, because it is just the type of stupid idea he would have.When did UofA become the class reunion spot for former St. V. players? To be quite honest, I could have cared less about The James Gang when they were all at St. V. I didn't waste any time going to the games then and watching Akron play a game against an NAIA school in order to satisfy the over-bloated egos of St. V. graduates amounts to nothing but a waste of two hours plus the cost of the ticket plus travel time. No thank you!

Rick Minter is a good coach and someone who would be good to learn under. He is doing a real good job at Notre Dame. I think this is a good pick up.MTSU was a real athletic team last year. I'm still amazed we beat them. For all the carping everyone did last year about losing to Ball State and Army, MTSU could have easily been a loss given the talent they had.

I don't believe for one second that adding additional seats will bring out more people. That would just be 2,000 more empty seats.I'll be interested to see how the attendance improves when more weekend games are played. We had a lot of weekend games early in the season and they seem to have tapered off the last two or three weeks. The last weekend game I went to was on a Saturday when the football team was the halftime event and the place was packed.There is no excuse for students not going to games. I really can't put my finger on that one other than general apathy. Maybe with the student Rec. Center and other improvements on campus, they are offered more options for how to spend their free time. The snow Wednesday may have hurt the attendance. It was snowing pretty hard prior to the game and during the game.I go on weekends because I travel for work Tuesday-Thursday, but I also refuse to go to a game and sit in the seats high up. If I can't get two chair back seats down low, I'm not going to break my back for two hours sitting up high. So far, I have been able to sit down low each game I attended.One thing they (UA and the Beacon) should stop doing is talking down to the general population around Akron about how there is no excuse for them going to games. People don't like to be told how to spend their free time and money. It is the same as me telling one of my customers, "Look how great my product is. You're and idiot for not buying it." I can't see that improving my sales. Akron just needs to keep winning. The rest will take care of itself.

I must have missed those glory days...... Only TR would be stupid enough to believe 19 wins in four years is great.

You can have it....

All you guys are talking about running up the score. Hell, at this point I would take a one point victory.

It's too bad you made that wish out loud. I think Miami is on the down swing and Akron is on the up swing. You don't need to trade a win against Can't to beat them. I predict Akron will beat them next year at the RB.

For Akron, it just shows that the theory of recruiting local talent does nothing to draw people to games in either basketball or football. CK is correct. Winning will draw a crowd.

Really good post. I don't know much about basketball, but I do think I know a little about athletic talent and effort. KD is getting 100% effort out of the players he has. I think the second half problems (in games) are a result of teams making adjustments to our game plan and picking up their tempo. Akron is a team that is difficult to out coach and out effort on game day. I do think they are an easy team to out athlete. Linhart had difficulty Saturday because he is slow and each time he tried to make a move, a Can't defender was able to defend against him using superior athletic ability. I don't want to single out Linhart though because they were doing it to every player on our team on both ends of the floor. When Can't decided to pick up their tempo, Akron did not have the athletic talent to respond.If Akron does lack athletic talent, it will make the second half of the season much more difficult because everyone will have figured out how to beat Akron using quickness. Athletic talent is not something you can coach, most are born with it and you either have it or you don't.I think Akron will continue to do well though because the overall talent in the MAC is declining rapidly (in football also). I still believe Akron is a MAC semi-final team at least. After that, their athletic talent is going to hurt them, but maybe not doom them. There are still a lot of games between now and then though.

Ben is a winner. Nothing more needs to be said.I'm feeling very magnanimous after my beloved Steelers victory yesterday. So I will say this to all of you Browns fans. You should be optimistic. If you eat your vitamins, study hard and say your prayers...........................one day you may have a team as good as the Arizona Cardinals.

Hixon will not be drafted. The best he can hope for is to get with a team as a free agent and then make the team on special teams. This is a really hard way to make the NFL. I give him a 50/50 chance.

Have you looked at this class? Size and speed. Depth is key and with these quality recruits that's exactly what the staff has brought into the program. At least Coach Brookhart said depth was key. Maybe he was wrong? I don't think so! :macc: I actually agree with you. We need both size and speed. My point was not that we just need more good players, we need size on the team. I assumed that you meant "bigger" as in Penn State, OSU, etc. Without size, we will never be able to compete against those teams because if all we do is run out one undersized player after another, we can't win. Depth wouldn't matter at that point.

It always seems to me that good basketball teams have a fifth gear in the second half of a game. K-ent had a fifth gear today and Akron did not. I'm not certain that Akron does have a fifth gear. KD is getting all he can out of this team the entire game. I hope I'm wrong.

I have to respectfully disagree. What makes us different from our "bigger" opponents is our size. Akron needs bigger players, not just more of the same.

http://www.miamihawktalk.com/discussion/vi...pic.php?t=27150Someone on another MAC board posted this. It is an interesting analysis. Any thoughts? My initial thought is that Akron looks good in the analysis.

Nate Gerwig? Is he in his 15th year or something like that?

Thank you.

I'm out of town. Would someone please update the bb score. It should be over by now.

This has to be the answer. $20 million doesn't build much. Goodyear sponsors NASCAR and that has to be a huge outpouring of money for them. I really don't think they will spend much for a stadium for UofA.

I don't believe that will happen. The best opportunity was during the Motor City Bowl when everyone was thinking about football and recruiting season was starting.

This is EXACTLY the spirit Akron needs in the fan base. Akron fans have been conditioned to lose for so long, they don't see the possibility of success. There are some fans of different schools out there who can't fathom their school ever losing.Buffalo, Miami, OU and Can't State were all on TV here yesterday. I may not know much about basketball, but I know enough to see that Akron is just as good as, if not better than, each of those teams. Don't hope to win, expect to win. I'm with InTheZone and King Zip, Akron wins out.Stop thinking like Browns fans and Eeyore!

A very well thought out post. Well done. I totally forgot about the Getsy hand injury during the CMU game. It could explain a lot about the mid season misery.

I'm going to post a few facts about the 2004 and 2005 schedules, make a few comments and ask for your input. Below are the win loss records for the teams we have played the past two seasons. (Sorry about the look below, I can't get the two season to break out in columns. It is supposed to be a side by side comparison of the two seasons.)2004 2005Penn State 4-7 Purdue 5-6Middle Tenn. SU 5-6 Middle Tenn SU 4-7Virginia 8-3 Northern Illinois 7-4Can't State 5-6 Central Michigan 6-5Northern Illinois 8-3 Buffalo 1-10Buffalo 2-9 Miami 7-4UCF 0-11 Army 4-7Ball State 2-9 BGSU 6-5Marshall 6-5 Ball State 4-7Ohio 4-7 Ohio 4-7Miami 8-3 Can't State 1-10Total 52-69 (42%) Total 49-72 (40.5%)Wins/team 4.72 Wins/team 4.45The real question is, Why 6-5 both seasons? Most on this board would say that the talent level of the 2004 season was better than 2005, I'll reluctantly concede that point.. I really don't see much of a drop off in production at any position between the two seasons. I actually think the two teams would be evenly matched in a game and the 2005 team would beat the 2004 team the majority of the time because they had more winners on the team.Someone also wrote that the leadership on the 2004 team "pulled the team up by the scruff of their necks" to turn the season around after the first five games. That is laughable at best. The reason the 2004 team pulled the season together after the first five games when they went 1-4 is the schedule was easier the last six games. The first five games, our opponents finished at 30-25 (54.5%) and the final six games our opponents finished at 22-44 (33.3%). Only two of the six had winning records and the four losers only had four wins tops. Let's not forget also that the insertion of Biggs into the starting line up was the impetus for turning that season around. As bad as most on this board want to, don't kid yourself about "leadership" from the players that season.The first five teams we played in 2005 had a total record of 23-32 (41.8%) and the Zips went 3-2 against them. A simple ratio would tell you even though their opponents finished at a lesser winning percentage than the previous season, the percent increase in the Zips winning outweighs the opponents winning percentages. The last six had a total record of 26-40 (39.4%) and the Zips went 3-3 against them.I think we can all agree that there were a couple of game here or there both seasons that could have gone the other way if things worked out differently, but it is what it is.We all know my opinion on the seniors from the 2004 team. I believe they were all a bunch of underachieving losers. The only reason that season seemed like a success at the end was the long winning streak, but when they played an above average team at the end of the year for the divisional championship, they pooped down their legs.We all had a lot of frustration with the 2005 team, IMHO, because the losing was so spread out. It made the team seem worse than what it really was. Some of you were even calling for the usually program killing move of replacing the starting QB with a D-II QB. I think we are all gald that didn't happen now. In all fairness though, I think the 2005 team also underachieved in losing to Army and Ball State.Getting back to the question of the role of scheduling. In 2005, there was not a week off and I think that killed the team mid season. We were able to get our feet in the last two games with the week day games giving them a little break. I would hope that as the new schedules are formulated, some consideration would be given to having a week off during the season.I'll open it up for comments now. How important is scheduling? What were the differences in two seasons with identical records? Did leadership play a role? How should Akron set up future schedules to allow for rest? Am I missing something in the statistics above? Let's get some discussion going on this football page. It doesn't seem like there is much interest in the basketball team the way there is in the football program right now. That's too bad because the basketball team is playing great.That's it....the wife is spending the night in Cleveland with three of her friends and I was feeling a little bored. Time to get some Donatos (sp?).