Rasor on the Zips

[Dr Z]

I thought Mike wrote a pretty nice piece, click here for the whole thing. Feel free to comment here or on his page.

1) Transfers — At the end of last season, this blog preached extensively about the need to improve the athleticism on the floor. I trust Keith Dambrot to "coach up" just about anyone, so why not go after some riskier transfers? The coach must have been seeing the same thing, because Akron received three transfers since last season ended. Although only Quincy Diggs is eligible this season.

2) Crunch time option — If the MAC Tournament taught us anything, it's that Steve McNees is an assassin. He pulled out some of the

, gutsiest plays you've seen in March. Leading up to the tournament, the Zips had lost several games because Dambrot ran a play for Brett McKnight when the team needed a basket with one possession left. Nothing against Brett, but he's just not that kind of player. McNees showed he is. Will that carry over to this season?

3) Zeke Marshall — The most anticipated freshman in the program's history led the MAC in blocks and made the All-Freshman Team. We wanted more. We wanted a back-'em-down center who would not get out-muscled by the Kenneth Van Kempens of the world. Word out of Zips camp is that Marshall put on some weight with the help of Mom's spaghetti. Will that extra strength translate to results?

4) Leading scorer — One of the tenets to the Dambrot system is that no one player will be among the league leaders in scoring. Sometimes I wonder if it's intentional. Sometimes I wonder if it helps Dambrot better control the team if he does not allow the team's scoring needs to rely solely on one ego, or to provide more predictability for the team's hopes not to rely on one shooting arm. Heck, even LeBron James wasn't a totally dominant scorer under Dambrot. Last season, Jimmy Conyers led Akron in scoring with 10.1 points per game — only the 29th highest average in the MAC. It appears that trend will continue this year, but if there is an offensive weapon on this team, it's probably McNees or McKnight.

5) Shut-down defender — Lately, the Zips have had the luxury of a shut-down defender at the swingman position. It was Nate Linhart, then Conyers. At first glance, it doesn't look like Akron has a replacement for that role. If either Brett McClanahan or Diggs can become that player, it will be a sure way to get extra minutes.

6) Attendance — Can I speak to harsh truth with you, Zips fans? We do not have a very good fan base. Akron's home attendance was sixth in the conference last year, despite it being the sixth-consecutive year of exciting, winning basketball. Our arena is not conducive to having a wild student section, but the tiny student section we have is not always full.

7) Freshmen forwards — Akron recruited three forwards in this class. It looks like Dambrot will need to use at least one. The easy pick would be Dakotah Euton, the former Kentucky recruit who can bruise you and stroke 3s (like Antoine Walker, without the bankruptcy). Michael Green has a Conyers-like skill set. Ironically, like Conyers often did, Green is also lacking confidence so far in camp. Josh Egner is a high-motor, high-athleticism defender. My guess is that Euton and Egner will play and Green will redshirt, but I reserve the right to change that opinion after seeing the exhibition game Thursday.

8 ) Alex Abreu — The Zips have lacked a true point guard since Dru Joyce. If there is one definition for Abreu, it's "true point guard." Dambrot's biggest complaint is that Abreu isn't only "pass-first," he is pass-second, -third, etc. However, he will learn under ideal circumstances — under McNees, a senior who is unafraid to chuck it up from 25 feet at any moment. The question is, can Abreu advance this season to the extent where he can take over the PG role by next season If you look at the prospective 2011-12 roster, you'll see Dambrot is really counting on it.

9) MAC East competition — The MAC media is either 1) not paying attention, or 2) getting paid off by Dambrot, in order to give his team bulletin-board material. They picked the Zips third in the division behind Ohio and Can't State.

10) Cvetinovic — Another story out of camp is that Nik Cvetinovic has calmed down and become a team leader. It sounds to me like a Major League II storyline (i.e. "Wild Thing" Rick Vaughn goes Wall Street). But I hope it's true. When Cvetinovic plays with poise, he is a great steadying player in the Zips rotation. He grabs important boards and comes up with clutch baskets.

[MDZip]

I have to give Mike credit, well done. The part I liked the best, however, was his player rotation.

PG: McNees, Abreu

SG: Roberts, McClanahan

SF: McKnight, Diggs, Egner

PF: Cvetinovic, Euton

C: Marshall, Bardo

Loved seeing that Egner might get some playing time. Really want to see him in action.

[Captain Kangaroo]

9) MAC East competition — The MAC media is either 1) not paying attention, or 2) getting paid off by Dambrot, in order to give his team bulletin-board material. They picked the Zips third in the division behind Ohio and Can't State.

This is my only disagreement with what is a very well-written piece --

OU and K.e.n.t. were better than the Zips last season. I think it is very fair, for pre-season purposes, to rank the Zips behind them.

[Zip Watcher]

Can't was better. OU was in general NOT better than the Zips. The Zips beat them twice in the regular season, and OU finished well back of the leaders in the regular season, needing to go on the road to earn their way to the Q.

OU then had the best March by a MAC team in some time.

[Quickzips]

9) MAC East competition — The MAC media is either 1) not paying attention, or 2) getting paid off by Dambrot, in order to give his team bulletin-board material. They picked the Zips third in the division behind Ohio and Can't State.

This is my only disagreement with what is a very well-written piece --

OU and K.e.n.t. were better than the Zips last season. I think it is very fair, for pre-season purposes, to rank the Zips behind them.

Preseason rankings don't mean a whole lot to be honest (has the preseason MAC favorite ever won the conference tournament?), but to be fair, Mike has a point. OU was a middle of the pack East team all year that we beat twice. They had one player get outrageously hot at the right time and buzzsawed their way through the conference tournament. That one player is now gone, as well as the player they were counting on to replace him, their only legit big man, and the player they were counting on the replace that big man. Color me un-impressed. As far as Can't goes, they were, by all indications, a better team than us last year. But you look at what they have this year and it is hard to say they will be able to repeat that. Singletary, gone. Evans, gone. McKee, gone. Simpson, gone. Henry-ala, gone. Parks, gone. Now I know Can't always seems to be able to re-load with some obscure JUCO that comes out of nowhere and keeps them going, but you can't always count on that. Especially when you just lost six guys out of your rotation and your four leading scorers.

As far as the rest of the article I think it is pretty well done. I particularly like the point about running end-of-game plays for McNees this year as opposed to Brett McKnight. Brett just hasn't shown the ability to consistently hit those big crunch time shots for us. McNees has a much better track record with them. Unless someone else emerges from the newcomers that is even better in those situations, Steve should have the opportunity to take those big shots at the end of games. I'm also very concerned about our wing defense. We've been spoiled a bit in the past with Nate and Jimmy being able to take on our opponents best perimeter player. I don't see that kind of potential at all from McClanahan, I know Brett McKnight doesn't have it. I'm hoping that Quincy Diggs can become that guy for us. By all accounts he has the length and athleticism to be a lock down defender if given the opportunity.

[skip-zip]

Can't was better. OU was in general NOT better than the Zips. The Zips beat them twice in the regular season, and OU finished well back of the leaders in the regular season, needing to go on the road to earn their way to the Q.

OU then had the best March by a MAC team in some time.

I think people forget that. OU beat us once in three games last year, and it was a victory that needed extra time to accomplish.

As far as OU coming out of nowhere, our only comparison is probably what we did the year before. Strange that the lowest two seeds to ever win the MAC tournament happened in the last two years. I guess it tells us to expect anything.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Can't was better. OU was in general NOT better than the Zips. The Zips beat them twice in the regular season, and OU finished well back of the leaders in the regular season, needing to go on the road to earn their way to the Q.

OU then had the best March by a MAC team in some time.

I think people forget that. OU beat us once in three games last year, and it was a victory that needed extra time to accomplish.

As far as OU coming out of nowhere, our only comparison is probably what we did the year before. Strange that the lowest two seeds to ever win the MAC tournament happened in the last two years. I guess it tells us to expect anything.

If the Browns beat the Steelers twice in the regular season...and the Steelers beat the Browns in the AFC Championship game to go to the Super Bowl...who was better? Who had the more successful season?

Teams either get better, or get worse as a given season progresses. OU got better over the course of the '09 - '10 season. In March, they were playing better basketball than the Zips. And that's when it counts. Not January.

[Dr Z]

I'll say OU was better than Akron, because of this!

If Akron ever beats a 3 seed in the tournament, nobody will convince me that anybody in the MAC was better, unless they advance further.

[RowdyZip]

I think you could make a case for any of the top 3 in the East to be the favorite. Can't had the most significant losses, Akron had the most transition, and OU just had the most...surprises.

Anyone out there buy a family plan this year? If so, PM me. I have a question for you.

[ZachTheZip]

OU won't take anyone by surprise this time.

[skip-zip]

Can't was better. OU was in general NOT better than the Zips. The Zips beat them twice in the regular season, and OU finished well back of the leaders in the regular season, needing to go on the road to earn their way to the Q.

OU then had the best March by a MAC team in some time.

I think people forget that. OU beat us once in three games last year, and it was a victory that needed extra time to accomplish.

As far as OU coming out of nowhere, our only comparison is probably what we did the year before. Strange that the lowest two seeds to ever win the MAC tournament happened in the last two years. I guess it tells us to expect anything.

If the Browns beat the Steelers twice in the regular season...and the Steelers beat the Browns in the AFC Championship game to go to the Super Bowl...who was better? Who had the more successful season?

Teams either get better, or get worse as a given season progresses. OU got better over the course of the '09 - '10 season. In March, they were playing better basketball than the Zips. And that's when it counts. Not January.

And here we are again....back to the argument that will be waged until the end of time.

Who is better? The team that played better during the course of the regular season? Or the team who played better in the conference tournament?

[Dr Z]

Who is better? The team that played better during the course of the regular season? Or the team who played better in the conference tournament?

There is zero question in my mind. I hope the goal for the basketball team is to make it to the NCAA's. There is no bigger reward. You MUST play good in the tournament to make it there. I don't give two squirts about the regular season. To be "better" than another team, you must play well when it counts. Ask KD what his goal is this year. If it's not the NCAA tournament, I want a new coach.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Can't was better. OU was in general NOT better than the Zips. The Zips beat them twice in the regular season, and OU finished well back of the leaders in the regular season, needing to go on the road to earn their way to the Q.

OU then had the best March by a MAC team in some time.

I think people forget that. OU beat us once in three games last year, and it was a victory that needed extra time to accomplish.

As far as OU coming out of nowhere, our only comparison is probably what we did the year before. Strange that the lowest two seeds to ever win the MAC tournament happened in the last two years. I guess it tells us to expect anything.

If the Browns beat the Steelers twice in the regular season...and the Steelers beat the Browns in the AFC Championship game to go to the Super Bowl...who was better? Who had the more successful season?

Teams either get better, or get worse as a given season progresses. OU got better over the course of the '09 - '10 season. In March, they were playing better basketball than the Zips. And that's when it counts. Not January.

And here we are again....back to the argument that will be waged until the end of time.

Who is better? The team that played better during the course of the regular season? Or the team who played better in the conference tournament?

Answer this question - Would you trade the Zips 2009-10 season for OU's 2009-10 season?

If the answer is "yes," then OU had a better season.