Make the case for me

[wadszip]

I don't think "rolled by a bunch of jucos" is completely correct. Geno has 3 HS guys entering next year and 2 Junior College boys. I think as far as PF's, Keith has outdone Geno big time by getting Dakotah Euton (Dakotah is a 6'8" bullseye shooter as compared to geno's 6'6" Juco DeAndre Nealy. I'll take Dakotah all day in that battle. Can't also has a HS kid Knight at 6'6" they've recruited as a power forward, and once again I think we're getting better talent at that position.) At this point I think that our front court is stacked with a bunch of size and will be able to hang with nearly anyone in the nation. But it's the back court that gets those guys going and really makes things go in the MAC and we need to get some guards with size back there... Not knocking our "smaller" guys but we need some slashers for Zeke. Zeke is going to make it all go, so we need to surround him with what he needs. (i.e. outside guys that can slash and just throw darts, thus spreading things out). Despite his size I think Humpty absolutely has that ability. That kid is a big time athlete. I don't think you're wrong for asking that question though. Can't does exercize the JUCO option and we have not gone that route, although I've heard Coach D say that he was not totally in opposition to taking a JUCO player. But I do think that Dakotah and Egner will easily "athletically" compete with the "JUCO" stuff that Crap bag State U has coming in. Although they do have a few more scholarships to offer than the Zips do.Screw off frat boy state.Go Zips,Z4P

I also don't even think it's solely a JUCO vs. high school thing, even though that is the most glaring difference between the two programs. Yes, it's true that Can't isn't shy about going after JUCO players. Like you said 40 percent of next year's class are JUCOs, 5 of the 13 players on this year's roster are also JUCOs. Overall, though, it has to do with taking a couple of educated chances. Can't is more willing to take a chance on a player who has tremendous talent, but may have some off the court question marks (a lot of JUCOs have that stigma, though some also go that route for different reasons). I'm more talking about players like Chris Singletary. He's taken a beating (and deservedly so) on this board and probably every other MAC message board. But the guy has talent. He's made his mistakes. But he also has/or will graduated (according to Elton). There is no way Keith Dambrot touches somebody like that.And with Can't, while they recruit a lot of JUCOs and may take some chances on some kids with questionable character, they also recruit kids that don't have those kinds of warts. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Justin Greene, Randall Holt, Rodriguez Sherman, Mike McKee were all high school recruits without any baggage. Look at the Henniger kid they have coming in, he's a preacher's son. As much as some us want to paint them as a renegade program, they really aren't.They seem to have a good mix of four-year character high school players, some JUCOs who may be more ready to contribute right away and and a couple of guys with a crap load of talent but came in with questionable character (Tyree Evans ... JUCO) and Singletary (HS, 4-year guy). As for Dambrot, he seems dead set on going after 100 percent high charcter 4-year high school kids. In theory, there is nothing wrong with that. Knock on wood, but I don't think Akron fans have to worry about any of our current players embarrasing the program by their off the court conduct. But, personally, I think Dambrot should take a chance (whether real or perceived) on a couple of kids who may have some question marks, which is why they would be overlooked by the biggers schools. Surround that player or two with the type of kids that Dambrot has been recruiting and there is a very good chance it will pay off.Don't get me wrong. Akron has recruited a lot of good players. Even by playing a weak schedule, you don't win 20-something games every year without having talent. But to take the program to the next level, I think that Dambrot is going to have to start taking a couple of chances (whether JUCO or a talented high school kid with character/academic risks) and hope they pan out.Let's face it, a kid like Zeke Marshall (7-foot, highly rated, high school, flawless character) is only going to come around once every 15-20 years, if that. You can't bank on situations like that.

[Dr Z]

Because I'm seriously considering skipping the tournament after that uninspired crapfest. If that is how this team is going to continue to perform in big games, why should I bother? So make the case for me, is there a reason to go up to the tournament?

Somebody else could beat Ken+. We obviously can't. But if somebody else beats Ken+, we are as good if not better than anybody else. I'll be there. You should too.

[Dave in Green]

I'll repeat what I said in the pre-game thread. The Zips could have beaten Can't if the Zips had played as well as they did against Rhode Island, a more athletic, higher-ranked team than Can't. The Zips led half the game against Rhode Island, were behind by just 2 points with 2 minutes left and lost by 5. But instead of bringing their Rhode Island game last night, they brought their Eastern Michigan game.The Zips are always going to be an underdog against Can't or any other higher-rated team. Nothing novel about that. Lower-rated teams are supposed to lose to higher-rated teams most of the time. The point is that the Zips are fully capable of beating any team at the Q, including Can't. It would be an upset. But the Zips surprised everyone at last year's MAC tournament, and there's no reason it can't happen again. That's why I'll be at the Q.One more game like last night and the season's history for the Zips.

[skip-zip]

If I had to choose what is most upsetting to me right now...We all spent the last year expecting certain things when we knew we'd be returning nearly every player, and adding a highly-touted 7' center. But in my opinion, we didn't get much better. Ken+ has gotten a lot better over the course of the last two seasons. They now appear to be a mismatch for our personnel, and that's not going to change over the next week. But, what's also not going to change is that anything can happen in the MAC tournament. I'll certainly hope that Ken+ gets knocked out by someone else. And I don't want to play OU either, after what I saw from them in our house a couple of weeks ago. We probably didn't have a team in our league who was this much better than us last year...but I'll hope for everything to fall our way again from a very favorable #3 spot.

[GP1]

I'll certainly hope that Ken+ gets knocked out by someone else.

So do I because we can't beat them. I would have never thought going into this season with everything we had going for us I would be hoping for such a thing. I really thought we were going to destroy the MAC this year and are out class everyone. Man was I wrong.

[The Hip Zip]

QZ, I feel the pain, I really do. I am so disappointed and I had many of the same thoughts as you for awhile. I just think that there comes a time when we have to accept that we were beat by a better team that was really on their game last night. Can we beat them in Cleveland ? Probably not, but if all our guys are on and they are not, it's a possibility. That is the beauty of sports. That is the reason that I will be in Cleveland.I have been a Zip fan for far too many years to count and one ugly loss is not going to toss me from the ship.WadsZip, Pretty much spot on. Nice to have a new and very reasonable voice here at Zip Nation.

[meatwad]

But in my opinion, we didn't get much better.

AMEN.I feel that McNees and Conyers are the only players that have improved year over year. The McKnights have stayed flat and Humpty seems to have regressed somehow. That's what's the most frustrating thing for me.

[Valpo Zip]

Our problem is not with recruiting. Can't does not recruit better than us as far as talent. Coming out of HS, Geno would have loved to get Zeke, Humpty, or Cventinovic. The problem is what we do with kids after they are here. This is college and not pro basketball. In college, you can't expect a polished player. You get the talemt but then there is a lot of learning and development to do. It usually starts with a jittery freshmen getting limited minutes, a "starting to get comfortable" sophomore, and then a "dominant, leading the team" junior and senior. That's not the case here. last year with the way Cventinovic, Humpty, and Nitro played, you would think that with a year of experience under their belt, they will be unstoppable. I can't say that those 3 sophomores grew at all from their fresh year. Heck Nitro might have gotten worse.Look at Swiech (3 years in the program) and Sullivan (2 years in), did they have the talent coming out of HS? they sure did. Otherwise, why did we recruit those kids? Is KD and the program failing to develop them the right way?

[GP1]

Is KD and the program failing to develop them the right way?

You don't develop good players sitting them on the bench.I go back to Zeke. The kid was a HS All American. If we are waiting to see a little more improvement from him next year, there is a problem. He should dominate this horrible league right now. Other programs that get HS All Americans start them from day one. Major programs get all Americans and they are in the NBA in two years.

[ZachTheZip]

Is KD and the program failing to develop them the right way?

You don't develop good players sitting them on the bench.I go back to Zeke. The kid was a HS All American. If we are waiting to see a little more improvement from him next year, there is a problem. He should dominate this horrible league right now. Other programs that get HS All Americans start them from day one. Major programs get all Americans and they are in the NBA in two years.

Dambrot is afraid of Zeke fouling out. The only way to learn not to foul out is to play more and learn from mistakes. Dambrot's rotation never lets any player learn from their mistakes, Zeke included. It's not the number of players in the rotation that's a problem, but the frantic substitution. Leave Zeke in if he has two fouls in the first half. leave a guard in instead of yanking him the minute he makes a good shot. Players make an impact in one portion of the game, whether it's offense or defense or changing the pace. Leave them in if they're making that impact even if they're not perfect in other areas. Zeke gets pulled because he makes a dumb move in a part of the game that's not his strength and then you lose the great impact he has around the rim on offense and defense in exchange for a player who makes less of a impact but is a better all-around player. Not every player is LeBron where they can play any position better than any player on the opposing team. Zeke can't play SG or SF, but Dambrot has him playing those defensive assignments. Brett McClanhan isn't a PF but he gets put into that role at least one possession per game. Dambrot needs to find the right combination of strengths and weaknesses for the five players on the court and then don't change that by substituting players that put their teammates in awkward positions.There's my direction-less rant for the day.

[Dave in Green]

Players are like snowflakes. No two are exactly alike. There are early bloomers, late bloomers, and all kinds in between. Zeke is a late bloomer. He started playing basketball late and then had a huge growth spurt. He's still learning the game and the limits of his frame. Those most familiar with his situation had the lowest expectations for what he would accomplish in his freshman season. Zeke has huge upside basketball potential if he really wants it and focuses on it. But he's also a smart computer nerd. He could decide that computers mean more to him than basketball.

[ZachTheZip]

Zeke needs to play 30 minutes on Thursday. Dambrot had better find the rotation that best compliments having a 7' center on the court, because that's the future. It could also be the present if done correctly.

[RootforRoo44]

Well that's $15.00 I'll never get back.....anyway.....Choke? I completely disagree. We were beat by a taller, quicker team tonight. They were all over us and forced us into rushing our three's. The type of player we are recruiting is not going to cut it. Next years class looks more like the same to me. I would not even be disappointed if this team does not see the finals because no adjustment in the world is going to address our personnel issues. And if anybody thinks Can't will take the night off against their arch-rival they are gravely mistaken. I'm sick of being the little engine that could every year, but this is getting embarrassing the way we play Can't. We're laying enough eggs this year to make the easter bunny jealous. Can we please stop griping about attendance now?

Ummmm... Yes they completely choked. Not sure where you get this bizarre kant state recruiting advantage from. We've got the same "level" of mac "players" as we've had for the past five years and then some. And I'm not sure where you get this "taller" idea from, except for maybe our back court, but this loss has nothing to do with our shorter, quicker back court players. We've got all the size and athleticism up front that we want against some team like pansy frat boy state. From what I've seen over the years is that THIS particular Zips teams gets a lot more rattled than those teams we had a few years back. It just seems to me like when this team gets the screws tightened against them every guy that gets the ball feels like he NEEDS to make a play. That's completely wrong, Akron is based around the team concept, they need to TRUST THE SYSTEM and play the team basketball that Coach Dambrot has laid out for them. I know we have a deep offensive playbook but in order for it all to work we need every single player firing like pistons in a row, exactly where and when they are supposed to fire, the complete team game, in order to put any "legitimate" competition in their place. Didn't happen tonight, adrenaline and bravado got in the way of the "business" that the Zips usually conduct. Make the pass, find the open player, Kant give a Sh*t U is no different than anyone else in this conference. Execute the game plan without the jitters or nervousness that goes along with the spotlight and this team can hand it to anybody in the conference, it's been done before in the Dambrot era and can easily be done again, just TRUST THE SYSTEM AND PLAY TEAM BASKETBALL, BECAUSE YOU GUYS REALLY ARE BETTER THAN KANDY-AS$ STATE UNIVERSITY.. Just play TEAM AKRON basketball. We saw it against Texas A&M for god's sake, can't read U is NOT better than Texas A&M.. Just trust yourselves guys, you've got it as long as you want it.

Degrade all you want. Your players are inferior. It shouldn't be hard for you to see this. I am not even trying to be funny. Nik and Marshall could be pretty good down the road, but guys like McNees, McNights, even Bardo (if he had played) are outclassed. From an overall basketball standpoint, they are not in the basketball class of guys like Singletary, Simpson, Greene, and Sherman.

HAHAHAPost of the year. I can't believe he spelled so much of it right.

[RootforRoo44]

Zeke needs to play 30 minutes on Thursday. Dambrot had better find the rotation that best compliments having a 7' center on the court, because that's the future. It could also be the present if done correctly.

I agree...Zeke is one thing that we definitely under use. It's getting ridiculous seeing us killed on the boards and down low when we have a 7 footer sitting on the bench.

[MDZip]

Akron is vastly better than Ohio.

Still want to stick with that one?

[Dave in Green]

Zips were demonstrably better than Ohio on Jan. 13 and Feb. 14. Unfortunately, March is the time a basketball team needs to be at its best.