Top 10 Reasons We Lost to Wisconsin Green Bay

[Captain Kangaroo]

#10 - Humpy aggravated his ankle sprain jumping on the inflatables during a 1st half time out.

#9 - Letting guys go off for 35+ seemed like a sound strategy at The Q?

#8 - For the first time all season, we were soft around the rim and couldn't finish?!

#7 - Steve McNees heard Joe Dunn call him "One of the best point guards in the midwest" and got a head bigger than the one the Rowdies hold up.

#6 - It was the refs. Ohhhh the refs...they did it to us again.

#5 - Losing at home is a lot easier tradition to uphold than winning at home.

#4 - KD was jealous of the flack the coaching staff got on the football board and wanted some for himself.

#3 - No CBI gear in the team shop.

#2 - Brett McKnight was saving himself for a Conyers-esque breakout in his senior season.

and the #1 reason we lost to Wisconsin Green Bay is...

#1 - Wisconsin Green Bay was simply too athletic for us.

Thanks, folks. Drive home safely.

[Let'sGoZips94]

DID CK JUST USE THE "A" WORD!?

[akronzips71]

DID CK JUST USE THE "A" WORD!?

They played with no heart, no movement. What a sour note to end the season.

See y'all next year.

[Z.I.P.]

DID CK JUST USE THE "A" WORD!?

They played with no heart, no movement. What a sour note to end the season.

See y'all next year.

Are you joking? Maybe not.

[Blue & Gold]

After watching our regular MO for for a few minutes - just passing and passing and passing the ball around the perimeter untill we launch a 3-ball - I decided to keep track of how many times we possessed the ball & settled for a 3 without either passing the ball into the post, or attempting a drive in the lane. I began counting with 15:36 left in the first half and, by halftime, counted 9 such possessions. That, by anyone's definition, is not good basketball.

The problem is that is our standard MO. I thought our offensive philosophy was to work inside-out? What we do in practice (over theory) is work outside-outside-outside-outside-out-launch a 3. Did we have a guard drive and dish a single time tonight?

And we're losing Jimmy next year?! Good grief. I'm honestly more concerned about next season in losing Jimmy than I was about this season in losing Linhart.

I'm getting season tickets, but in all honesty, we really may be in for some rough sailing next year. And the year after. Can KD say "JUCO?" We DESPERATELY need a guard who can penetrate and either finish @ the hole or dish it off. We need a guard to break that defense down. That guard (save Humpty - but we know he struggles to finish) is not on the team and isn't comung in next year either.

Like I said before, I'm a diehard & will be @ as many games as I possibly can, but in all honesty, for the first time in the KD era, I'm not too optimistic about our prospects for next season.

[zipsfan13]

After watching our regular MO for for a few minutes - just passing and passing and passing the ball around the perimeter untill we launch a 3-ball - I decided to keep track of how many times we possessed the ball & settled for a 3 without either passing the ball into the post, or attempting a drive in the lane. I began counting with 15:36 left in the first half and, by halftime, counted 9 such possessions. That, by anyone's definition, is not good basketball.

The problem is that is our standard MO. I thought our offensive philosophy was to work inside-out? What we do in practice (over theory) is work outside-outside-outside-outside-out-launch a 3. Did we have a guard drive and dish a single time tonight?

And we're losing Jimmy next year?! Good grief. I'm honestly more concerned about next season in losing Jimmy than I was about this season in losing Linhart.

I'm getting season tickets, but in all honesty, we really may be in for some rough sailing next year. And the year after. Can KD say "JUCO?" We DESPERATELY need a guard who can penetrate and either finish @ the hole or dish it off. We need a guard to break that defense down. That guard (save Humpty - but we know he struggles to finish) is not on the team and isn't comung in next year either.

Like I said before, I'm a diehard & will be @ as many games as I possibly can, but in all honesty, for the first time in the KD era, I'm not too optimistic about our prospects for next season.

+1. In a way I'm relieved that this season is over, because I have never been so irritated with a team as I have been with them at times this year. However, I'm really starting to worry about next season. Like many people, the guards are my major concern. I had high hopes for them this season, but was really disappointed, and next year doesn't look any better.

[Captain Kangaroo]

DID CK JUST USE THE "A" WORD!?

It's funny how people screamed for athleticism after we lost to K.e.n.t. I said we need guys that can flat-out ball.

Now we lose to a very earth-bound, slow, mediocre mid-major at home, and it is proven again - we need guys that can ball.

We have a bunch of role players. We have no bad-ass MFer's that can flat-out ball. We can't even defend anymore.

If Euton, Egner or Green can shoot, I'd give them 30 minutes/game next year, right off the bat. If they can hold an opposing guard under 30 points, I'd give them 40 minutes per game.

[Let'sGoZips94]

DID CK JUST USE THE "A" WORD!?

It's funny how people screamed for athleticism after we lost to K.e.n.t. I said we need guys that can flat-out ball.

Now we lose to a very earth-bound, slow, mediocre mid-major at home, and it is proven again - we need guys that can ball.

We have a bunch of role players. We have no bad-ass MFer's that can flat-out ball. We can't even defend anymore.

If Euton, Egner or Green can shoot, I'd give them 30 minutes/game next year, right off the bat. If they can hold an opposing guard under 30 points, I'd give them 40 minutes per game.

And if they can do both, by my calculations (yes, I'm going to go to Akron, not Can't, so I can count), they should get 70 min!

[RACER]

the problem is we already used up are three scholly's.unless someone transfers,or quits we are stuck for next year.

hopefully the guys coming in can help right away.the kid from kentucky seems to be able to hit the three ball.

i like our starting five next year,but we have no frontcourt depth.any foul trouble with our big guys means

trouble.

[Zipmeister]

DID CK JUST USE THE "A" WORD!?

It's funny how people screamed for athleticism after we lost to K.e.n.t. I said we need guys that can flat-out ball.

Now we lose to a very earth-bound, slow, mediocre mid-major at home, and it is proven again - we need guys that can ball.

We have a bunch of role players. We have no bad-ass MFer's that can flat-out ball. We can't even defend anymore.

If Euton, Egner or Green can shoot, I'd give them 30 minutes/game next year, right off the bat. If they can hold an opposing guard under 30 points, I'd give them 40 minutes per game.

I wonder if Peter North has any eligibility remaining?

[zippy_ua_00]

DID CK JUST USE THE "A" WORD!?

It's funny how people screamed for athleticism after we lost to K.e.n.t. I said we need guys that can flat-out ball.

Now we lose to a very earth-bound, slow, mediocre mid-major at home, and it is proven again - we need guys that can ball.

We have a bunch of role players. We have no bad-ass MFer's that can flat-out ball. We can't even defend anymore.

If Euton, Egner or Green can shoot, I'd give them 30 minutes/game next year, right off the bat. If they can hold an opposing guard under 30 points, I'd give them 40 minutes per game.

I understand everyone is upset that we lost a game when we were up 7 points with 5 min left in the game, but to be upset because of the team we lost to? WGB is a decent team and would probably compete every year for first in the MAC. dont forget they did beat a ranked wisconsin team this year and also beat Can't at the MACC, the same Can't team we couldnt beat or even lose to by single digets. WGB also finished 3rd in the horizon, which IMO, is a better conferance than the MAC. all in all we shouldnt be too upset about our season, we won 23 games, made it to the championship game, and a post season tournament, even though it was the CBI, but at least we arent toledo.

[Big Zip]

I'm going to go on the record and say this team doesn't win 20 games next year. I just can't see it happening with C McKnight and J Conyers gone this team is going to take a serious hit. B McKnight who at one time early on looked like he would be a great player here has not developed at all and IMHO has regressed. Nik plays to sporadic for me and with little to no control....he was terrible in the tournament when we really could have used him. The guard play will stay the same, but we are certainly going to be needing Steward to take a step forward next year. Zeke will hopefully be a year better, but watching players not get better year in and year out doesn't provide much promise to me.

I had a coach with me at the MAC Championship game and he commented a few times about the offense Akron ran and how he didn't like it at all. I'm not a coach, but to me it hardly looks like they run an offense at all. I sure hope this team works hard to leverage Zeke next year and the inside out game.

[Captain Kangaroo]

...but at least we aren't Toledo.

God Bless you if being better than 4-28 Toledo is your bar. I really wish I could have that mindset. Life would be so much less stressful.

The good news for you - I think we will be better than Toledo next season too. Party on, Dude.

[mivid12]

...but at least we aren't Toledo.

God Bless you if being better than 4-28 Toledo is your bar. I really wish I could have that mindset. Life would be so much less stressful.

The good news for you - I think we will be better than Toledo next season too. Party on, Dude.

Let's see, Dambrot wants this program to be known as the Gonzaga of the east, however here are some bad realities:

If the NCAA expanded the field to 96 THIS year the Zips still would not have made it based on the field + the 32 NIT teams

can't beat wisc-gb on your home floor is some manufactured crappy tourney

gutless OCC schedule and a piss poor explantion from the HC as to why he schedules the way he does....now we know better thanks to zachs great website find about schools looking for home and homes

lose 3 out of 4 MAC Championship games is NOT the way to become any type of "known" program

meanwhile Can't wins their NIT game and now will face a big ten school (Ill) on espn2..more national exposure

long way to go folks....

[Dr Z]

WGB is a decent team and would probably compete every year for first in the MAC

Please. Give me Akron's team, I'll play a 5 game series with them and beat them 4 times by double digits. I'll also tell them exactly how I'm going to attack them and they still won't be able to contain my team. Congratulations to WGB, they were the better team last night (on the road no less) and deserve to play another game in the CBI.

[UAZipster0305]

11. KD and the gang didn't want to distract from other programs' new found success (i.e. woman's basketball and tennis) by making a deep run in the CBI.

[RootforRoo44]

DID CK JUST USE THE "A" WORD!?

It's funny how people screamed for athleticism after we lost to K.e.n.t. I said we need guys that can flat-out ball.

Now we lose to a very earth-bound, slow, mediocre mid-major at home, and it is proven again - we need guys that can ball.

We have a bunch of role players. We have no bad-ass MFer's that can flat-out ball. We can't even defend anymore.

If Euton, Egner or Green can shoot, I'd give them 30 minutes/game next year, right off the bat. If they can hold an opposing guard under 30 points, I'd give them 40 minutes per game.

If Euton isn't playing upwards of 25 minutes per game i'd be either concerned why we are losing without playing him or shocked that someone actually stepped up.

[GJGood]

I'm getting season tickets, but in all honesty, we really may be in for some rough sailing next year. And the year after. Can KD say "JUCO?" We DESPERATELY need a guard who can penetrate and either finish @ the hole or dish it off. We need a guard to break that defense down. That guard (save Humpty - but we know he struggles to finish) is not on the team and isn't comung in next year either.

I am still of the belief that Steward can be that drive and dish guy you are looking for. The guy just hasn't had enough minutes on the floor. Its easy to forget that when they arrived on campus Ronnie was the starting PG over Hitchens. The Steward had the injuries and has been nothing more than a minor role player. Right now i think he is largely an untapped resource. He not only needs more minutes for experience but for confidence. Hopefully next year will be his "coming out party" like Conyers' was this year. If it is i think you'll have a Dru Joyce type player that isn't afraid to drive the lane.

[Dave in Green]

Extremely disappointing performance. I'm not sure how much of the underachieving performance was a result of the coaching and how much falls on the players' shoulders. But together they resulted in a sorry end to a mixed season. There were some good individual performances. But the team as a whole just didn't have it in the end.

I don't think it's necessary to try to minimize WGB to try make the Zips look worse than they were. WGB may have been rated slightly behind the Zips on their body of work this season. But they did beat Can't at Can't, which the Zips proved they could not do, and they did beat Wisconsin, which we all know this Zips team could not have done.

If the Zips had played with the same level of intensity and urgency as WGB, and if the Zips had run an optimum game plan to their team strengths the way WGB did, I think the Zips could have won even without Humpty. But they didn't. And that's the puzzle that KD has to solve before next season, or things aren't going to get any better.

I can see every team in the country with a half-decent backcourt wanting to play the Zips and watch their guards turn into all-stars. This is truly a joke and an embarassment. I cannot imagine this happening with Nate Linhart on the floor. As great a job as Jimmy Conyers has done this year, I think the Zips may have missed the intangibles that Linhart brought to the team more than we could have imagined. I sure hope that one or more of the incoming freshmen can help rekindle that fire.

I tried to remain optimistic here even though I had some of the same doubts that others had expressed. There's no telling when a team will wake up and begin performing like champions, as the Zips did at the Q last season. But this year's team obviously did not peak at the right time, and other teams that did peak at the right time blew by them in the last two games.

I don't think that anyone ever thought the Zips were going to be a powerhouse this season, and they weren't great but they were in contention in the MAC all the way to the bitter end. The fact that they were the only team that made it all the way to the two games that decided both the MAC regular season and tournament championships is good. But they lost both, which is bad.

I was already preparing myself for the Zips to lose to a better team in St. Louis. But they didn't even get there. Losing a home CBI tournament game the way they did just magnifies the frustration from the two previous losses to Can't and Ohio. The Zips started the season slowly, played decently in the middle and then fell apart at the end. They had a decent overall season. But they did not live up to our highest hopes and expectations.

The Zips remain on a plateau of winning about two-thirds of their games with an SOS that is almost exactly at the 50th percentile -- somewhat above average results with a dead average schedule. That may be OK for casual UA alumni, who are pleased that their school team is not a total loser. But it's not enough for hardcore basketball fans, whether they be UA alumni or just Akron area sports fans who love basketball but have no ties to UA, like me.

While I generally like KD as a coach, I'm ready to see him blow up whatever he's been doing and make significant changes for next season. But that's a discussion for a different thread about the future. This season is done. The Zips had a decent season punctuated by 3 painful losses at the end.

[Zip_ME87]

While I generally like KD as a coach, I'm ready to see him blow up whatever he's been doing and make significant changes for next season. But that's a discussion for a different thread about the future. This season is done. The Zips had a decent season punctuated by 3 painful losses at the end.

+1

[ZachTheZip]

One of Dambrot's problems is that he refuses to have any expectation of his freshmen to perform. That HAS to change next season or we're sunk.

[Big Zip]

KD refuses to have any expectations of his team in general accept to compete. He is already planting the excuses for next year with the we need to Zeke to come along we'll go as far as him. He's always talking about the MAC is only getting one bid it doesn't matter what we do as long as we win the tournament. He needs to demand more from his players. He does it from a character perspective but it doesn't seem to go much further...when i listen to the radio program and the post game interviews that is simply what I hear time and again.

[BirdZip]

Chris McKnight Congrats to Chris on a great individual performance amongst teammates that looked like they just didn't care.

Steve McNees and Darryl Roberts Not great but a decent effort.

Zeke, both Bretts, Nik, and the rest Did you know there was a game last night? If so, you probably should have shown up. No help defense at all--not hard to set a personal record on scoring when you're taking wide open 3's and uncontested lay-ups. And by the way, 2-ft shots should go through that round orange ring.

Dambrot I've supported KD and I think for the most part his moves are OK, but this was embarrassing. Green Bay's #10 (don't have the energy to look up his name) was hot so you know what their coach did? He worked the ball to him! Great concept. Let's not do that with Chris McKnight yesterday--let him get his "naturally" and instead keep focusing on his brother who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Maybe change your defense if it fails to work 27 possessions in a row. Oh, and when #10 gets his 4th foul, you might want to focus on him and either foul him out or take the easy points that he is forced to give you. (P.S. Still want you as the coach, but do it smarter, dang it!)

Bottom line is that we should have trounced Green Bay but instead looked like we didn't give a crap. If my tickets were free I would have overpaid.

Oh, and one more thing. The concept of a Steve McNees last second 3-point shot re-creation as a contest--great. Execution--not great. Play the video while they're doing it or something.

[zippy5]

I don't care about the loss. It was the stinkin CBI. The players were disappointed from Saturday, and I'd imagine it would be quite a stretch to expect them to get up for a CBI game against Wisconsin-Green Bay in front of 878 fans when we were 15 seconds away from being in the Dance. Can't really blame anyone for this loss, nor can I really even get upset over it.

[Dave in Green]

I don't care about the loss. It was the stinkin CBI. The players were disappointed from Saturday, and I'd imagine it would be quite a stretch to expect them to get up for a CBI game against Wisconsin-Green Bay in front of 878 fans when we were 15 seconds away from being in the Dance. Can't really blame anyone for this loss, nor can I really even get upset over it.

I really think that is a losing attitude that should not be encouraged among Zips fans. If we think our team can't get up for a tournament, we should decline the invitation as other schools did. If we accept the invitation, we should play our guts out.

I'm a shades-of-gray kind of guy. But I see this as a pure black-and-white issue.