YSU Saturday

[ZachTheZip]

I have to complain about our crowd. What a bunch of boring old people. Did we open a retirement home on campus? Are those blue plastic chairs so comfortable that nobody wants to stand up with the game on the line? Come on. No noise outside the student section (which was halved thanks to the band deciding to take over an entire side), and even the students find it hard to keep up the noise when every little sound dies the moment it hits the reserved section. It's like the quietness presses in on you, like you get the feeling that making noise is frowned upon and it takes the students' momentum away.

[ejcool27]

A lot of angry Rowdies tonight. The Band has moved from the south side to the north side seats and is taking up the entire side nearly. It's kicked out a bunch of regulars on the North side (me included). I'm not too worked up over it but a few others are. It makes you wonder why they dont just sit up top in their designated area?

Yes. They could have at least provided a warning that they were going to double in size and then kick out about 75 Rowdies from sitting down below.

If their job is to fire up the crowd then they need to move closer to the part of the crowd that actually needs firing up, not next to the group that would make noise regardless of the band's proximity.

That was actually Coach Dambrot's Idea...It was a high school pep band day? in response to the band day experience to make a long story short they were gonna make all the high schools at the football game pay for their own food at the stadium till Coach Dambrot told the AD i assume that we invited them we should feed them...so he told the band we should do a high school pep band day...Yes I agree we/they should've gave you a warning though.

Glad to hear we won couldn't make the game cause of a family event!

[RootforRoo44]

couldn't agree more Zach...I wonder what kind of effect it has on the players when they look up and see one middle aged woman standing up and clapping and attempting to get the crowd into it but the rest of the crowd just sitting on their hands.

The students were good though, maybe a little too good as they really got into the officials' heads. The one referee was FURIOUS when the guy in the stormtrooper helmet threw the ball back to him high over his head.

Guess that's what they deserve when they are so piss poor at their jobs. So many bad calls it's impossible to count, and yes they went both ways. Just terrible.

[eguins]

Dammit lol! I wanted that one so so bad. YSU nearly pulled off a win that most thought was improbable. Tremendous effort by my Penguins, but like they always say, the game isn't over until the last second ticks off the clock and boy did that just have to happen tonight.

Wright State at the buzzer last year, this year it is Akron.

YSU looks strong this year, good luck against CSU on Wednesday. They, in my eyes, are the best team in the Horizon this year.

[ZachTheZip]

Dammit lol! I wanted that one so so bad. YSU nearly pulled off a win that most thought was improbable. Tremendous effort by my Penguins, but like they always say, the game isn't over until the last second ticks off the clock and boy did that just have to happen tonight.

Wright State at the buzzer last year, this year it is Akron.

YSU looks strong this year, good luck against CSU on Wednesday. They, in my eyes, are the best team in the Horizon this year.

You guys are much improved, but lack the experience to close out those barn-burners. I hope you win lots of games this year.

If the Zips want to beat CSU, they'll need to play with the effort shown against Dayton. Playing so lackadaisical like tonight won't cut it.

BTW, can the Rowdies please start some MVP chants for McClanahan?

[Dave in Green]

Sorry you couldn't hear me from up in the nosebleed seats. My voice is gone from screaming.

Well, the Zips dodged a loss tonight to an energetic YSU team that ran circles around the Zips defense for much of the game. The Penguins were scrappy as heck and may surprise a few teams before the end of the season. The Zips offense was fairly good, but most of the players looked like they were a step slow on D.

Nitro officially joined the Jimmy Conyers club tonight with great shooting, rebounding and all-around hustling. The 3 he hit that saved the Zips' bacon and sent it into overtime was a thing of beauty. But I was just as impressed with several drives to the basket where he flew through the air and used the backboard to perfection to bank the ball in. Nitro is not yet as good as he's going to be, but he's good enough to be a starter and a finisher on this team. Hard to believe he led the Zips in rebounding again tonight with 10, and is also the leading rebounder over the first 3 games.

Nik played the game of his life. His drives to the basket left YSU defenders glued to the floor, and earned him a brilliant 10 of 12 from the field. I take back what I said last week about Nik not finishing at the basket. He was brilliant tonight. Not only that, he swished his last 6 free throws, including 4 in OT that helped seal the deal. At one point there was a questionable call against Nik, and he started to walk toward the ref. One of his teammates tried to pull him away, but Nik broke away and got up next to the ref. Nik said something (apparently nice) to the ref, patted him on the back, smiled, and trotted over to the bench. When Nik is cool and calm, he can be deadly on the court.

KD said he wants Zeke to develop a 12-15-foot jumper, and Zeke tried mightily tonight. But he just couldn't get the shot to fall. His hooks went down a little better, and helped him to an 8-16 shooting performance. He played 34 minutes, and actually seemed to be playing stronger at the end than in the first half. His conditioning has really helped him.

Roberts and McNees had fairly quiet games, but between them generally ran the offense pretty well. The scoring focus was more on the inside game as YSU appeared to be focused on stopping the 3-point game after what the Zips did at Dayton.

The bench got a total of only 38 minutes, as the Zips never had enough of a lead to let the starters have much of a breather. The highlight for the bench was Bardo sneaking through the lane, getting a bounce pass from McNees and scoring an easy layup. Honestly, whatever anyone thinks of Bardo, KD is not kidding when he says Bardo really is improved this year.

KD said in the postgame interview that the freshmen will be getting more PT come January.

I'm all worn out from this one.

[RootforRoo44]

Dammit lol! I wanted that one so so bad. YSU nearly pulled off a win that most thought was improbable. Tremendous effort by my Penguins, but like they always say, the game isn't over until the last second ticks off the clock and boy did that just have to happen tonight.

Wright State at the buzzer last year, this year it is Akron.

YSU looks strong this year, good luck against CSU on Wednesday. They, in my eyes, are the best team in the Horizon this year.

You guys are much improved, but lack the experience to close out those barn-burners. I hope you win lots of games this year.

If the Zips want to beat CSU, they'll need to play with the effort shown against Dayton. Playing so lackadaisical like tonight won't cut it.

BTW, can the Rowdies please start some MVP chants for McClanahan?

i'm guessing that was a jab at McClanahan in the postgame?

[ZachTheZip]

Dammit lol! I wanted that one so so bad. YSU nearly pulled off a win that most thought was improbable. Tremendous effort by my Penguins, but like they always say, the game isn't over until the last second ticks off the clock and boy did that just have to happen tonight.

Wright State at the buzzer last year, this year it is Akron.

YSU looks strong this year, good luck against CSU on Wednesday. They, in my eyes, are the best team in the Horizon this year.

You guys are much improved, but lack the experience to close out those barn-burners. I hope you win lots of games this year.

If the Zips want to beat CSU, they'll need to play with the effort shown against Dayton. Playing so lackadaisical like tonight won't cut it.

BTW, can the Rowdies please start some MVP chants for McClanahan?

i'm guessing that was a jab at McClanahan in the postgame?

Maybe.

[skip-zip]

I'm looking forward to seeing Euton, Egner, Abreu and Diggs getting lots of PT tonight. They all need to develop quickly for the Zips to have a good season. After tonight, 4 of the next 5 games will be among the toughest of the season. For the 3 freshmen especially, it's going to be a challenge facing Cleveland State, Detroit, Temple and Minnesota over a 3-week stretch.

I was looking forward to it as well. Unfortunately, you can chalk this up to a missed opportunity at developing these guys. Besides possibly Egner, these guys collectively showed their inexperience, and forced our starters to play a lot of minutes tonight.

[GoZips]

A lot of angry Rowdies tonight. The Band has moved from the south side to the north side seats and is taking up the entire side nearly. It's kicked out a bunch of regulars on the North side (me included). I'm not too worked up over it but a few others are. It makes you wonder why they dont just sit up top in their designated area?

Yes. They could have at least provided a warning that they were going to double in size and then kick out about 75 Rowdies from sitting down below.

If their job is to fire up the crowd then they need to move closer to the part of the crowd that actually needs firing up, not next to the group that would make noise regardless of the band's proximity.

Disgusted with the band arrangement. Was told that it is for just one game. A number of St. V band

members merged in with the Zips regulars.

What I don't like is the loud and often ill timed band playing in the ears of the Zips players and

coaches during time outs. The overly aggressive band leader seems to think the game is about him.

Fire the band. Bring back the Rowdies.

[GoZips]

This pissed me off royally. Perhaps it was me that KD whined about in the post game interview.

The whine about "nay sayers". Well, I am no nay sayer; just a moderately well informed fan.

I saw an awful lot tonight that really bothered me. First off, kudos to Brett McClanahan for his game

saving shot. Now, if he had squared up on his man through out the game instead of playing fifteen

feet off of who ever he was "guarding" a fair number of YSU's threes would not have been scored.

Brett plays defense a lot like Brett McKnight use to. That is, none.

Akron showed its famous "hands in their pockets" defense again tonight. Its part of the reason that

they suck at rebounding. It takes two hands to gather in a rebound.

Some one needs to teach the Zips what a bounce pass is. Chest to chest passes get intercepted far

more often than bounce passes do

No in your face ball hawking. No dribble drives. Whining (yes, you, Nikola) to the refs. Screw the refs.

Refs have never liked the Zips and tonight was no exception. Just play hard.

Pleased to see KD force a technical out of the lazy refs. He was constantly harping about how YSU was

fouling Zeke and no calls. Conversely, YSU's #44 cleared with his elbows every time he dribbled the

ball. I mentioned it to the refs at half time, but, to no avail.

I suppose a "win is a win". There is an awful lot of room for improvement. This game was a regression

for Akron. They played their hearts out in Dayton and played floppsie against YSU.

I hate to say this: Get Steve McNees off the point. He nearly cost Akron the game tonight. Steve

is not now, nor ever has been a point guard.

KD moved Steve to the two guard and Steve responded by continually passing up open shots so he could

run his sorry version of a point guard imitation. Steve ... play the two guard. The Zips need your

fantastic scoring.

I could whine a whole lot more. Why bother? This team needs to get better in a hurry.

I suspect that Brett McKnight is history. His name was not on tonight's line up card.

One last thing. Mike Bardo is a great kid. His on the floor performance in games continues to suck.

Why invest minutes in a poor playing senior when there are freshmen who are already better than

Mike will ever be. Save big Mike for mop up time.

[RootforRoo44]

Fire the band. Bring back the Rowdies.

Well don't fire them, just move them! lol

ASN Coverage of game

[Valpo Zip]

Last year, KD said that the late emergence of Jimmy Conyers was his fault because he kept him on a short leash the previous years. As a result, we only got to see one great year of Conyers.

Today, KD talked about Nitro improving a lot from last year when he was on short strings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone see a pattern there? If you keep yanking Egner and Euton after every tiny mistake they make, we're going to waste 2-3 years of their eligibility and hear the same short leash/string story few years later.

[RootforRoo44]

Last year, KD said that the late emergence of Jimmy Conyers was his fault because he kept him on a short leash the previous years. As a result, we only got to see one great year of Conyers.

Today, KD talked about Nitro improving a lot from last year when he was on short strings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone see a pattern there? If you keep yanking Egner and Euton after every tiny mistake they make, we're going to waste 2-3 years of their eligibility and hear the same short leash/string story few years later.

I've honestly been saying this for years. Don't forget that Linhart was a similar thing as well.

There are a few questionable things that Dambrot continues to do that really hurt us(short leash on players, inability to figure out what to do with a center).

He needs to start realizing it, and i'm sure he will. He did go out and get some athletic players this past offseason at least, so i know he can figure this out.

[yazan07]

A lot of angry Rowdies tonight. The Band has moved from the south side to the north side seats and is taking up the entire side nearly. It's kicked out a bunch of regulars on the North side (me included). I'm not too worked up over it but a few others are. It makes you wonder why they dont just sit up top in their designated area?

Yes. They could have at least provided a warning that they were going to double in size and then kick out about 75 Rowdies from sitting down below.

If their job is to fire up the crowd then they need to move closer to the part of the crowd that actually needs firing up, not next to the group that would make noise regardless of the band's proximity.

Disgusted with the band arrangement. Was told that it is for just one game. A number of St. V band

members merged in with the Zips regulars.

What I don't like is the loud and often ill timed band playing in the ears of the Zips players and

coaches during time outs. The overly aggressive band leader seems to think the game is about him.

Fire the band. Bring back the Rowdies.

First of all, as someone mentioned earlier, this was for only one game because we were joined by high school kids, which was KD's idea in response to someone in athletics wanting to charge the highschool band members for being at highschool band day for football. So you can yell at Dambrot for inviting the highschoolers. I personally find it to be an excellent recruiting tool. And it was just for tonight

Next, we were originally told that we would be in the upper former band section, and started to set up there, until were were told by someone in facilities that we were going to be on the floor on the north side. This all happened before our director showed up, so don't act as though he just decided we were going to do that ourselves.

Also, I don't know how we have been "playing in the ears of the Zips players and coaches during time outs," when we are never on the same side as the team. And as far as our "overly aggressive band leader," he is often times responsible for starting cheers that the ROWDIES will join in on, sometimes. I also don't really know if I should aplogize for us being loud, you know, since we are a pep band.

As far as notifying people about our temporary placement, I texted one of my friends on the ROWDIES board at 5:50 telling him about it and he told me that he already knew. So really they could have communicated it to you, but I think they probably thought what everyone else thought, that it wouldn't really change anything. The spots were not available either way, sorry.

I don't know why you would recommend firing the band and bringing back the ROWDIES, as though us existing has somehow reduced the number of ROWDIES. If there is a lack of space then that is failure of the facilities, not us. If people can't cheer because they aren't on the floor, they are bad fans. I know I cheer for the whole game, so I am not taking away from anything another ROWDIE would bring. I also try my best to get other fans in the stands to chant but they are lazy and passive and only care when something big happens. Also, I think that the games would be pretty quiet without a band, maybe that's just me though. If that isn't enough for you, we have been told by players that they enjoy having us there.

Finally I would like to say that this isn't coming from some random band kid who only comes to games as a member of the band. I am in the ROWDIES and have stood directly behind the goal screaming durning every soccer game this year. I am proud to be a member of both of these groups.

Thanks

[Hilltopper]

A lot of angry Rowdies tonight. The Band has moved from the south side to the north side seats and is taking up the entire side nearly. It's kicked out a bunch of regulars on the North side (me included). I'm not too worked up over it but a few others are. It makes you wonder why they dont just sit up top in their designated area?

Yes. They could have at least provided a warning that they were going to double in size and then kick out about 75 Rowdies from sitting down below.

If their job is to fire up the crowd then they need to move closer to the part of the crowd that actually needs firing up, not next to the group that would make noise regardless of the band's proximity.

Disgusted with the band arrangement. Was told that it is for just one game. A number of St. V band

members merged in with the Zips regulars.

What I don't like is the loud and often ill timed band playing in the ears of the Zips players and

coaches during time outs. The overly aggressive band leader seems to think the game is about him.

Fire the band. Bring back the Rowdies.

First of all, as someone mentioned earlier, this was for only one game because we were joined by high school kids, which was KD's idea in response to someone in athletics wanting to charge the highschool band members for being at highschool band day for football. So you can yell at Dambrot for inviting the highschoolers. I personally find it to be an excellent recruiting tool. And it was just for tonight

Next, we were originally told that we would be in the upper former band section, and started to set up there, until were were told by someone in facilities that we were going to be on the floor on the north side. This all happened before our director showed up, so don't act as though he just decided we were going to do that ourselves.

Also, I don't know how we have been "playing in the ears of the Zips players and coaches during time outs," when we are never on the same side as the team. And as far as our "overly aggressive band leader," he is often times responsible for starting cheers that the ROWDIES will join in on, sometimes. I also don't really know if I should aplogize for us being loud, you know, since we are a pep band.

As far as notifying people about our temporary placement, I texted one of my friends on the ROWDIES board at 5:50 telling him about it and he told me that he already knew. So really they could have communicated it to you, but I think they probably thought what everyone else thought, that it wouldn't really change anything. The spots were not available either way, sorry.

I don't know why you would recommend firing the band and bringing back the ROWDIES, as though us existing has somehow reduced the number of ROWDIES. If there is a lack of space then that is failure of the facilities, not us. If people can't cheer because they aren't on the floor, they are bad fans. I know I cheer for the whole game, so I am not taking away from anything another ROWDIE would bring. I also try my best to get other fans in the stands to chant but they are lazy and passive and only care when something big happens. Also, I think that the games would be pretty quiet without a band, maybe that's just me though. If that isn't enough for you, we have been told by players that they enjoy having us there.

Finally I would like to say that this isn't coming from some random band kid who only comes to games as a member of the band. I am in the ROWDIES and have stood directly behind the goal screaming durning every soccer game this year. I am proud to be a member of both of these groups.

Thanks

Right on Yaz. The band does a great job of both playing and cheering for the team. The Rowdies have nothing on the band, but dare to complain? Until I see more than a few hundred Rowdies show up, I'm with the band.

[Hilltopper]

BTW, that was a heck of a game.

[Zip Watcher]

Game thoughts a little bit later, but from my seat, having the band on the opposite end from the more involved / organized rowdies seems to me to be a better arrangement.

I'm not commenting on the back struggle that appears to be concerning people, but just from a noise and activity perspective, the band and the south rowdies are active and engaged perhaps just by their numbers. So it was a noticeable change to have loud activity on both ends.

I understand that having the band at the Zips end might not be ideal for the Zips themselves.

I also figure that the some of the active rowdies are better off near the opposing bench.

Just saying it was cool to have both endzones packed with loud fans.

Go Zips.

[GP1]

KD said he wants Zeke to develop a 12-15-foot jumper/quote]

The only time Zeke should be shooting from this far away is when he is taking foul shots. Put the kid inside and let him stomp a hole in the collective butts of horrble MAC centers.

[Quickzips]

First time I've seen the Zips in person this year. Game had its ups and downs. I felt like the Zips came out and played down to the level of their competition. They were very sloppy for most of the game, especially in the first half where they were turning the ball over like crazy, giving up 2nd, 3rd and 4th shot opportunities and just generally not hustling at all. Really, they were darn lucky to get out of there with a win. I said it earlier in the week, YSU always gets amped up to play the Zips (and Can't State for that matter). They have something of that little step-brother, I'll show you I belong attitude when they walk in and you can't sleep walk against them. The Lithuanian kid is a baller and gave us all kinds of problems on the offensive end, and when their 3 point shooters got hot in the 2nd half we were in for a dog-fight. Reminds me a lot of what we did to Dayton on Tuesday night. In the end the Zips pulled it off, but it wasn't pretty. They'll learn from this one, but they will need to grow up pretty quick as they have a much better Cleveland State team coming in on Wednesday. If we come out with that kind of effort against the Vikings we will be handed a double-digit loss at home. No doubt.

The story of the night was McClanahan's big night and game saving three. The crow tastes pretty good to be honest with you. Nitro had a great all-around offensive game tonight and displayed a diverse set of talents. Three point shooting, pull up jumpers, dribble-drives for layups. If Brett can pick his defensive effort up just a little he will be an All-MAC candidate before this season is over.

Nikola had a very nice night on the offensive end, but got abused on defense. Can't complain with the 27 points, and after calling him out earlier in the week for not finishing around the rim he definitly picked it up. I don't remember many sloppy shots or misses around the rim for Nik. It is so nice to see his Free Throw shooting looking better again. On defense, well......Nik got abused by the big Lithuanian kid for the Penguins all night. Not sure if it was just an effort thing or what but 44 was driving around Nik like he wasn't even there. He also got burnt pretty badly on the boards (as all of the Zips not named McClanahan did). I was impressed by his demeanor tonight though. Sure he argued with the refs a bit, but he didn't let it affect the way he was playing on the floor. Last year that blocking foul that was called on him late in the second half would have sent him into a tailspin. Last night he managed to shake it off and still be productive on the floor. Maybe he has matured a little bit.

Zeke's game was up and down. He scored a career high, but there is still a lot of work to be done. On offense, he needs to be a little more patient. When he took his time and set up his shot it seemed like those little hooks were falling. When he rushed them they were missing badly. I know KD wants him to develop a jump-shot, but it isn't there right now, and he shouldn't have the green light to take that shot right now. On defense, he still needs to work on not going after the shot block so many times. If I'm a Zips opponent I tell my guys to crash the offensive glass hard any time Zeke is on the floor as he goes after too many blocks that he has no chance of making and gets himself out of position for some easy rebounds. There is a fine line somewhere in there that Zeke needs to find.

If anybody knows where last years MAC Tournament Steve McNees is hiding could you please contact him and tell him we need him down at the JAR. GoZips said it well earlier, we need the gunslinging 2 guard McNees back. This dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble 35 feet from the basket McNees who looks scared to shoot the ball is difficult to watch. I don't know what is going on with him right now, but he looks tenative and out of sorts on the offensive end. We need him to get back to playing his game and knocking down those big 3's.

Roberts had a quiet but effective night. He was more aggressive going to the hoop which I was very happy to see, and his free throws late were clutch. Sometimes you forget he is out there, but there is hardly a night where you can say that he did anything to lose the game for us. I suppose that is nice to have, although I still feel like there is more to Daryl's game that we just aren't seeing.

I actually thought Abreu did a relatively nice job at the point tonight. He wasn't dynamic, but he was effective most of the night. I think the biggest thing he gives us is the ability and the willingness to get into the teeth of the defense, flatten them out and make good passes. When he's on the floor we see a lot less of the pass around the 3 point line for 20 seconds hoping for a guy to get open for an entry pass offense. I like that. He still has some work to do, but there is definitley some talent there.

Quincy Diggs was horrible tonight. Of all the newcomers he seems to be struggling the worst. The lazy perimeter pass he made followed by getting posterized on the run out was, quite frankly, embarrasing. He has a LOT of work to do.

Euton wasn't particularly effective last night, but I would have liked to have seen more of him and less of Bardo. I think we could have used his rebounding abilities a little more. For what we needed last night though, playing Egner a little more was the ticket. Josh is still a bit of a bowling ball out there, but he had a better night than he did in Dayton. He needs to work on finishing around the rim, and like most of our big guys, his free throw shooting needs a lot of work, but the talent is definitley there.

Mike Bardo is such a frustrating guy to deal with as a Zips fan. I want to like him, I really do. From all reports he is an upstanding kid, a great student, and an ambassador for Zips basketball. But on the floor....yikes.

Overall, you'll take the win, but it didn't taste as good as it should. I guess we just have to move on to the Vikings and hope that the baby Zips can learn from this one.

[RootforRoo44]

I think an interesting stat in the game is second chance points considering the Zips allowed YSU to grab 15 offensive rebounds to their 11:

YSU: 7

ZIPS: 12

Then again, who know's if the "official boxscore" on gozips.com is ever right.

So far through two home games we've seen a combined 6 fast break points between both teams in each game.

That cannot be right.

[Zipmeister]

Dammit lol! I wanted that one so so bad. YSU nearly pulled off a win that most thought was improbable. Tremendous effort by my Penguins, but like they always say, the game isn't over until the last second ticks off the clock and boy did that just have to happen tonight.

Wright State at the buzzer last year, this year it is Akron.

YSU looks strong this year, good luck against CSU on Wednesday. They, in my eyes, are the best team in the Horizon this year.

Have your eyes checked after you play Butler.

[eguins]

Dammit lol! I wanted that one so so bad. YSU nearly pulled off a win that most thought was improbable. Tremendous effort by my Penguins, but like they always say, the game isn't over until the last second ticks off the clock and boy did that just have to happen tonight.

Wright State at the buzzer last year, this year it is Akron.

YSU looks strong this year, good luck against CSU on Wednesday. They, in my eyes, are the best team in the Horizon this year.

Have your eyes checked after you play Butler.

I know more about the Horizon League than you do. Luckily our league has an online video network: HorizonLeagueNetwork in which you can see all the teams play their home games live for free. I've seen a great deal of basketball on there the last two years and I am telling you: Butler, Detroit, and Cleveland State will duel it out for the #1 spot in the Horizon this year.

Hell Dickie V even went out on a limb to say that Detroit could be this year's Butler and make a deep run in the tourney. Expect 2, perhaps 3, from the HL to make the tourney this year.

[RootforRoo44]

Dammit lol! I wanted that one so so bad. YSU nearly pulled off a win that most thought was improbable. Tremendous effort by my Penguins, but like they always say, the game isn't over until the last second ticks off the clock and boy did that just have to happen tonight.

Wright State at the buzzer last year, this year it is Akron.

YSU looks strong this year, good luck against CSU on Wednesday. They, in my eyes, are the best team in the Horizon this year.

Have your eyes checked after you play Butler.

I know more about the Horizon League than you do. Luckily our league has an online video network: HorizonLeagueNetwork in which you can see all the teams play their home games live for free. I've seen a great deal of basketball on there the last two years and I am telling you: Butler, Detroit, and Cleveland State will duel it out for the #1 spot in the Horizon this year.

Hell Dickie V even went out on a limb to say that Detroit could be this year's Butler and make a deep run in the tourney. Expect 2, perhaps 3, from the HL to make the tourney this year.

Dickie V is out of his mind as well.

And I may know more about Pontiac Trans Am's than you but I wouldn't state that they are faster than the Bugatti Veyron.

So let's be real.

[ZZZips]

Last year, KD said that the late emergence of Jimmy Conyers was his fault because he kept him on a short leash the previous years. As a result, we only got to see one great year of Conyers.

Today, KD talked about Nitro improving a lot from last year when he was on short strings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone see a pattern there? If you keep yanking Egner and Euton after every tiny mistake they make, we're going to waste 2-3 years of their eligibility and hear the same short leash/string story few years later.

I've honestly been saying this for years. Don't forget that Linhart was a similar thing as well.

There are a few questionable things that Dambrot continues to do that really hurt us(short leash on players, inability to figure out what to do with a center).

He needs to start realizing it, and i'm sure he will. He did go out and get some athletic players this past offseason at least, so i know he can figure this out.

Your Linhart reference and example is preposterous!

If KD had such a short leash on Linhart and diminished his career at Akron, how did Nate:

Appear in 134 games (#1 all-time at the time of graduation)?

Score 1,023 career points?

Record 186 career steals (#3 in team history)?

Become #8 in career blocked shots?

Rank #2 all-time in Freshman free-throw percentage?

Rank #3 all-time in Junior year steals?

Rank #3 all-time in Senior year steals?

Make the 2006 MAC All-Freshman team?

Become the 2009 MAC Defensive Player of the Year?

Get voted the 2009 MAC Tournament MVP?

Have one of the highest minutes per game average during all four of his years?

That’s my case for disagreeing with your assertion about KD. I think KD distributes minutes to the players ready to play each night in light of the matchups at any given time on the floor. Nate was ready almost every night and relished taking on the toughest defensive assignment each night.

I’ll await Roo44’s argument on Linhart’s diminished career caused by Coach Dambrot.