The Wing Man!

[xu9697]

It has become clearer and clearer to me that, in order for Akron to take that step towards being a consistent top 2 team in the MAC (at the very least) and perennial tournament team(say NCAA 2 out of every 3 years, NIT in those other years), it is going to come down to what we do at the 2/3 position.For the last bunch of years, we have brought in the gritty 4s..the Travises, McKnights, Woods, etc.We have had the smaller PGs and combo guard types..Middleton, Joyce, McNees, Dials, HitchensWe are getting better at the C position..Zeke (lots of room to grow, but it WILL happen) and even Bardo as a 6-8 minute spot time guy later in his careerI know Linhart was a very nice player. Took some time to really develop, but he built a heck of an all-around game. Conyers..showed moments at times this year..but, this is it for him.We need to land that 6-4 to 6-7 player that can create for himself and shoot the ball. Once we find that player that can play for 2+ years..boom, we are there. Certainly hope we can find and develop this kid by, at THE LATEST, Zeke's senior year. Perhaps we get lucky and that guy is in place by Zeke's junior year. That type of player with Zeke and an improved/settled down Hitches in 2 years...looking like a special team.I know this is not some sort of great revelation. I'm sure many have said it in the past and, if not said it, thought it. But after watching the last few games, it becomes more and more evident that this TYPE of player would be the last type we are missing from taking Akron to a different level.

[Dave in Green]

I don't see a slashing 3 on the Zips' near future horizon. But I do see possibilities of an interesting 3/4 combination in the near future.Cvetinovic is a good hybrid 3/4. He's big and strong enough at 6-8 to rebound like a 4, but quick enough and good enough ball handler to dribble drive to the basket around the slower players who typically guard him. So he can be a fairly effective slasher. But he lacks an outside shot.Similarly, incoming Dakotah Euton could be an interesting hybrid 3/4. He's also big and strong enough at 6-8 to rebound like a 4, and has a sweet outside shot and the potential to shoot treys at a near 40% clip. But he doesn't appear to have the quickness of Cvetinovic to dribble drive around defenders and go to the hoop.I could see a front line of Zeke, Nik and Dakotah potentially giving other teams a lot of matchup problems over the next couple of years.A lot will depend on how much Zeke and Nik improve next season, and whether or not Dakotah quickly adjusts to the college game. But I'm optimistic about Euton, and have just updated the thread on him in the basketball recruiting forum with a sample of his clutch performance in a high level HS game:ZN Euton Thread

[zip37]

There's Green [Dublin Coffman], and Egner [Jackson] I assume that one of the three incoming Fr. are expected to do the job, wis my guess, but I leave that sort of thinking up tto the staff.

[Dave in Green]

Good point on Green and Egner. There's no guarantee that Euton's HS skills will translate better to the college game than one of the other two. In a perfect world, you'd want to see all three making contributions in their first season with the Zips. It will be fun to watch all three develop.

[xu9697]

I will be pleasantly surprised (or maybe disappointed if we haven't found an athletic wing) if Euton, Zek and Nik are playing together. I see those 3 being the rotation at the 4/5, with McKnight getting minutes at the 4 and MAYBE the 3 if he works on some things.I think it might come down to one of the other freshmen, especially Green based on what I have read. I know he was playing at center but working on becoming more of a wing. Of course, he might run into some of the same issues as McKnight, but I really don't know enough about him to make a very educated guess.As we should, our concentration should be on this year. But definitely some things to look at as the program looks to continue to grow and get stronger.