Green As Grass

[GoZips]

Longs and shorts.

Speaking of shorts get a load of Alex Abreu; clearly the most improved player over the Summer.

Alex lost eleven pounds and packed on a ton of muscle. Did not hurt his quicks a bit. He looks ready

to start the season as the starting point guard.

But, Alex has strong competition from Brian Walsh who was in relatively good shape. Brian turns

the ball over a bit much for my liking. That's for another day. Practice just started.

The two freshmen are stunning. Justice is a fantastic pure shooter and Adedeji (Degeh) Ibitayo is

pure basketball player. Frankly, red shirting either of these guys will be a gut wrenching decision.

Josh Egner, Demetrius (Tree) Treadwell and da big man make up the bigs. Zeke has developed

a lot of upper body strength and muscle. The strength coach states that Zeke is strong as a bull.

He and Tree were sucking wind a third the way into the practice. Got to get tougher, guys.

Quincy has sold me on a fresh, well developed three ball shot. No more heart in your throat

when he fires from outside. The shots are smooth, good follow through and best of all; they

go in.

This practice was 80 percent defense drills. A lot of break downs and missed communications.

Still, foot work looked good and the players were paying attention for the most part. A couple

of them seemed to be in lala land most of the practice. The coaches spotted it and will light

some fires under lazy butts.

Practices are closed. Except, you can get permission to watch by showing up 30 minutes

early and pleading with KD. These practices are two a days. Morning practice is at 9:30

and afternoon is at 3:15.

The team leaves on the 11th for the Canadian trip.

Go Zips ... !!!!

[Quickzips]

Zeke has developed

a lot of upper body strength and muscle. The strength coach states that Zeke is strong as a bull.

Best news I've heard in a while. If/when Zeke develops the strength to not get pushed around by the wide body types the sky is the limit.

[Blue & Gold]

Any insights into Harney's game? Or was he one of the players still in pre-season la-la land?

[ZachTheZip]

Is Nik not practicing since he isn't allowed to go on the trip?

[dboze]

Is Nik not practicing since he isn't allowed to go on the trip?

Nik is in Serbia and will return to Akron later this month.

[skip-zip]

Zeke has developed

a lot of upper body strength and muscle. The strength coach states that Zeke is strong as a bull.

Best news I've heard in a while. If/when Zeke develops the strength to not get pushed around by the wide body types the sky is the limit.

That's always good to hear. But, expect that to be more of a mental barrier than a physical one. When will he BELIEVE that his best option is to aggressively attack the basket, as opposed to avoiding the defender for a hook shot? And it's not just strength, but also confidence that your feet can beat the defender to a desirable offensive position too.

[GoZips]

Any insights into Harney's game? Or was he one of the players still in pre-season la-la land?

Nick Harney was more lost in awe than cruising in lala land. He will be just fine.

[GoZips]

Is Nik not practicing since he isn't allowed to go on the trip?

This is a little convoluted. Nic is still over in Serbia. He could make the Canada trip

if a few strings were pulled. The coaches think this is a good test and a chance to

see how every one performs without the big Serb.

Tree and Josh need the playing time. Let them develop.

[ZachTheZip]

It's not so much the playing time as the extra practices. But if he's over there mixing it up with Euroleaguers, that's fine. Still couldn't hurt to develop a little more chemistry after so much turnover.

Also, Egner noted on Twitter after the first practice today how much athleticism is on the team. "Running and jumping".

If you want occasional updates, follow @AkronZipsMBB on twitter.

[hoopster]

Nik has been selected to represent his country in upcoming World University Games hosted by China.

[Blue & Gold]

It's not so much the playing time as the extra practices. But if he's over there mixing it up with Euroleaguers, that's fine. Still couldn't hurt to develop a little more chemistry after so much turnover.

Also, Egner noted on Twitter after the first practice today how much athleticism is on the team. "Running and jumping".

If you want occasional updates, follow @AkronZipsMBB on twitter.

Hey Zach, thanks for the update from Egner. You're great at following the various guys on twitter. Me? Not so much. Could you post any twitter info you think we'd appreciate?

[Blue & Gold]

It's not so much the playing time as the extra practices. But if he's over there mixing it up with Euroleaguers, that's fine. Still couldn't hurt to develop a little more chemistry after so much turnover.

Also, Egner noted on Twitter after the first practice today how much athleticism is on the team. "Running and jumping".

If you want occasional updates, follow @AkronZipsMBB on twitter.

Hey Zach, thanks for the update from Egner. You're great at following the various guys on twitter. Me? Not so much. Could you post any twitter info you think we'd appreciate?

Btw, I just signed up to follow @AkronZipsMBB. Thanks for the tip.

[Blue & Gold]

Oops. Obviously, that above post was intended to be an Edit, not a Reply.

[johnnyzip84]

Nik has been selected to represent his country in upcoming World University Games hosted by China.

Outstanding! It looks like he'll be joining his Serbian squad in POOL B for the games. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Hopefully this will help him in preparing for BOTH the 2011-2012 Zip season AND his subsequent European career.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Nik has been selected to represent his country in upcoming World University Games hosted by China.

Outstanding! It looks like he'll be joining his Serbian squad in POOL B for the games. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Hopefully this will help him in preparing for BOTH the 2011-2012 Zip season AND his subsequent European career.

I hope the Serb coach teaches him the art of the lay up. He'll increase is scoring average by 6ppg this season if he can consistently make the 2-ft bank shot.

[johnnyzip84]

Nik has been selected to represent his country in upcoming World University Games hosted by China.

Outstanding! It looks like he'll be joining his Serbian squad in POOL B for the games. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Hopefully this will help him in preparing for BOTH the 2011-2012 Zip season AND his subsequent European career.

I hope the Serb coach teaches him the art of the lay up. He'll increase is scoring average by 6ppg this season if he can consistently make the 2-ft bank shot.

No doubt! Here is the Serbian roster for the games. He and another Nikola from URI are the only US college players.

[Zipmeister]

Nik has been selected to represent his country in upcoming World University Games hosted by China.

Outstanding! It looks like he'll be joining his Serbian squad in POOL B for the games. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Hopefully this will help him in preparing for BOTH the 2011-2012 Zip season AND his subsequent European career.

I hope the Serb coach teaches him the art of the lay up. He'll increase is scoring average by 6ppg this season if he can consistently make the 2-ft bank shot.

No doubt! Here is the Serbian roster for the games. He and another Nikola from URI are the only US college players.

Good link. It helped me learn some Serbian. I had no idea that "pictured below" in Serbian is "in BOLD letters."

[johnnyzip84]

Nik has been selected to represent his country in upcoming World University Games hosted by China.

Outstanding! It looks like he'll be joining his Serbian squad in POOL B for the games. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Hopefully this will help him in preparing for BOTH the 2011-2012 Zip season AND his subsequent European career.

I hope the Serb coach teaches him the art of the lay up. He'll increase is scoring average by 6ppg this season if he can consistently make the 2-ft bank shot.

No doubt! Here is the Serbian roster for the games. He and another Nikola from URI are the only US college players.

Good link. It helped me learn some Serbian. I had no idea that "pictured below" in Serbian is "in BOLD letters."

[Captain Kangaroo]

How many C's are in a Serbian Scrabble game? 90?

It should be worth 0.3, not 3.

[Zip_ME87]

Nik has been selected to represent his country in upcoming World University Games hosted by China.

Outstanding! It looks like he'll be joining his Serbian squad in POOL B for the games. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Hopefully this will help him in preparing for BOTH the 2011-2012 Zip season AND his subsequent European career.

I hope the Serb coach teaches him the art of the lay up. He'll increase is scoring average by 6ppg this season if he can consistently make the 2-ft bank shot.

No doubt! Here is the Serbian roster for the games. He and another Nikola from URI are the only US college players.

Good link. It helped me learn some Serbian. I had no idea that "pictured below" in Serbian is "in BOLD letters."

Hey, give them credit...they got The University of Akron correct but not URI. I wonder if the URI folks hate "RIU" as much as UA folks hate "AU"? (I think our Nikola took care of us.)