Open practice tonight

[ZachTheZip]

FYI, the Zips are holding an open practice tonight at 7:30 in the JAR. Media and fans are all welcome.it's the first real chance to see the new look of the Zips. It's weird when you graduate 5 seniors. It's like a whole new team out there.

[ziptrumpet87]

basketball starts!

[Valpo Zip]

Can someone please attend and give us a detailed report with a lot of pictures?

[ZipsGpa]

FYI, the Zips are holding an open practice tonight at 7:30 in the JAR. Media and fans are all welcome.it's the first real chance to see the new look of the Zips. It's weird when you graduate 5 seniors. It's like a whole new team out there.

Are you sure? I don't see an announcement anywhere on gozips.com I would hate to take a drive and then for it not to be true, but I would love to see the new team.

[ZachTheZip]

FYI, the Zips are holding an open practice tonight at 7:30 in the JAR. Media and fans are all welcome.it's the first real chance to see the new look of the Zips. It's weird when you graduate 5 seniors. It's like a whole new team out there.

Are you sure? I don't see an announcement anywhere on gozips.com I would hate to take a drive and then for it not to be true, but I would love to see the new team.

Plain Dealer article

AkronThe Zips men's team practices today at 7:30 p.m. at Rhodes Arena. No official "Midnight Madness" festivities are planned, but the practice session is open to the media and general public, and is expected to run until approximately 10 p.m.Akron will hold a basketball "Meet The Teams" event on Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Rhodes Arena, which will lead into the Akron volleyball team's contest with Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. Admission and parking is free, and fans will be treated to complimentary food and drinks (popcorn, cotton candy and Pepsi products), while being able to mingle with players and coaches from both the Zips men's and women's squads.

There was also a mention in the Beacon Journal today, but I couldn't find a link on their website.It's also mentioned in Rasor's blog in his post about EMU.

[Zips Win!]

Just back from the hoops practice. There were about 20 fans/parents in attendence. Practice went from 7:30 to 10:30.Here are my observations:-Humpty is already my favorite. He hit the first 8 three pointers he hoisted up in shoot around. Seems to have a really nice form.-Bardo is in terrific shape. Led the way in many of the wind sprints. -Conyers looked good as well. I think he hit the weights over the summer.-B. McKnight seemed to have dropped some lb's. Can be dominant if he can play a lick of D.-My guess is that McClanahan, Sullivan and Parrish will redshirt.-It's unfortunate that the NCAA doesn't allow you to have 6 years to play 4. Swiech could use it. Don't count on him until his junior or senior year. Seemed to get in the doghouse early.-The matchups in practice were, with the 3's, 4's and 5's switching up quite a bit. Humpty and Ronnie going at it was fun to see. We won't know what to do with all this quickness.Humpty v. RonnieMcNees v. RobertsBrett v. ChrisConyers v. LinhartBardo and Nik C.The talent gets deeper and deeper. Thinking back just five ago....boy have we made some strides.I really liked Nik C.'s game. Has the body to play inside and showed great touch from 8-10 feet. Didn't see too many 20 footers go in, however.Two a days are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.Time for bed...Off to EMU in the AM.

[GoZips]

...- My guess is that McClanahan, Sullivan and Parrish will redshirt.- Swiech ... don't count on him until his junior or senior year. Seemed to get in the doghouse early.- Humpty and Ronnie going at it was fun to see. We won't know what to do with all this quickness.- I really liked Nik C.'s game. Has the body to play inside and showed great touch from 8-10 feet. ...Off to EMU in the AM.

Excellent post and observations. Ahem, your call on who red shirts matches mine from last Summer.I totally agree on Humpty and Ronnie. It will be exciting to see the dog fight at the two hole. Wordis that "kNees" is really with it. His game, attitude and presence of mind are top shelf.You are right about Brett Mac. If his defense comes up to speed this scoring machine will get lotsof minutes on the floor. Could make for an old fashioned Kevin Mackey "run 'n stun" game. I alwaysdid like Mackey's philosophy about the game. He won with less talent than EMU normally fields.Last thought. Most any other year the three likely headed to red shirt could easily play themselves into the rotation. The future bodes well. With Zeke they are complete.

[Dr Z]

Great update ZW. See me for you official ZipsNation press pass and camera.

[Buckzip]

Great update, but what's up with Sweich? When he was signed there was talk of what a huge pickup he was.

[ziptrumpet87]

Thanks for the update! I hope KD can get these guys working together quickly so they can be 'cause we all know !

[Valpo Zip]

Thanks for the update zips win. That's really sad to hear about Swiech. I had high hopes for him.

[Zip Watcher]

Thanks for the update Win ...But after one 3 hour practice at the start of his RS Freshman season, we've given up on Sweich? :puke:Are you all serious!!? Give me a break.Maybe we should see some games first.I've got mine on .. I suggest you get yours .. B) B) Go Zips! Go Zeke! Go Trevor!

[ziptrumpet87]

Thanks for the update Win ...But after one 3 hour practice at the start of his RS Freshman season, we've given up on Sweich? :puke:Are you all serious!!? Give me a break.Maybe we should see some games first.I've got mine on .. I suggest you get yours .. B) B) Go Zips! Go Zeke! Go Trevor!

SS is too big to give up on already; especially without seeing any game time. We're going to need some size somewhere in the season, and he's a big guy and has a nice touch from close in.

[Quickzips]

I have a hard time believing that anyone is outright giving up on Steve. I wasn't at the practice last night, so I can't say one way or another how he is looking, but we have to remember, this IS the first practice of the season and Steve did have a pretty major ankle injury coming out of high school. I would imagine there is still quite a bit of rust to knock off.The one thing I do wonder about is how well our bigs are going to do in more of an up-tempo system? Bardo and Steve both seem more like big bruisers inside than athletic guys who are going to run the floor a lot. I guess we can always run small more, but I'm really hoping with 2 guys in that 6'10" range we can figure out a way to use that to our advantage.

[Zip Watcher]

I'm merely referring to sentiment on this board. The staff has confidence in Steve, and I hope fans will find some patience with a first year player.

[Dave in Green]

-Bardo is in terrific shape. Led the way in many of the wind sprints.-It's unfortunate that the NCAA doesn't allow you to have 6 years to play 4. Swiech could use it. Don't count on him until his junior or senior year. Seemed to get in the doghouse early.

The one thing I do wonder about is how well our bigs are going to do in more of an up-tempo system? Bardo and Steve both seem more like big bruisers inside than athletic guys who are going to run the floor a lot. I guess we can always run small more, but I'm really hoping with 2 guys in that 6'10" range we can figure out a way to use that to our advantage.

My impression is that Bardo and Swiech are two very different bigs who should not be lumped together. The single most impressive thing to me from watching Bardo last season is that he runs the court a lot faster than I expected. If Bardo's in even better shape this year and leading the way in many of the wind sprints, he should have no problem with an up-tempo game. I'd be more concerned about Bardo's shooting touch than his ability to run.My impression of Swiech is just the opposite. Just from watching him in last year's warmups, he seemed to have a nice shooting touch, even if it is a bit awkward looking. But Swiech did not appear as if he could run the court nearly as well as Bardo. If Swiech's somewhat stiff movement on the court was due to recovering from an ankle injury, he may have a little more to show this year. But I doubt he'll ever move as fast as Bardo.Obviously, you'd like to have bigs who can do it all. But there aren't very many of them, and they typically end up playing for the best of the big schools. The fact that Bardo and Swiech appear to have different strengths and weaknesses can be an advantage if their playing time is appropriately adjusted to individual game conditions.