Men's Basketball '11 - '12

[Hilltopper]

Dambrot believes it helps...or so he says. But more important...tell me how it can hurt.

I didn't say it hurt, I asked how it helped. If it helps, there must be multiple examples of how it does, I just don't know of any, and was wondering what those examples were.

I would think that just the possibility of working out and scrimmaging against top flight NBA talent would be a definite plus in the eyes of most HS players. Even though us adults will likely never forgive LBJ, in a few years the average HS player won't even know anything about "The Decision".

[ZachTheZip]

LeBron, Kevin Durant and Brandon Knight worked out with the footballers.

Maybe they're gearing up to play for the Browns.

[skip-zip]

I heard from a reliable source the LeBron and the other two Miami guys were lifting on campus with the football team a couple weeks back as well. This guy's presence on campus is nothing but good for the programs (even though I don't like him).

+1 and I don't like him either.

Other than a possible recruit hearing that LBJ occasionally comes around, how does his presence on campus benefit the "program?" Do you think a recruit comes to Akron instead of (fill in the blank) because LBJ stops in once and a while? If you answer yes, can you name me this recruit?PS If I were in UA Marketing, I would get some video of LBJ playing ball and "leak" it to the media tonight.

Give us a list of recruits who say that the LBJ connection was NOT a factor in their decision. Come on. Most of us are aware that a whole host of factors could sway a recruit. We have possibly the biggest player and celebrity figure in the NBA hanging around our gym, and talking about it. You can't buy that kind of publicity with every dollar you have in your budget. There's people who have never even heard of Akron if it weren't for LeBron. Everything helps. There's a big reason why you see pictures of KD and LeBron so often in things that pertain to Akron Basketball. And there's plenty of secondary benefits as well. Would KD have ever ended up in a movie wearing an Akron Basketball shirt if it wasn't for LeBron?Would he be getting interviewed on ESPN wearing an Akron Basketball shirt if it weren't for LeBron?How about his quotes in newspaper articles about Akron's support for LeBron that appeared around the time of the NBA finals?

[Dave in Green]

Other than a possible recruit hearing that LBJ occasionally comes around, how does his presence on campus benefit the "program?" Do you think a recruit comes to Akron instead of (fill in the blank) because LBJ stops in once and a while? If you answer yes, can you name me this recruit? .....

Trick question. How would we know if any recruits were affected by LeBron's presence unless the recruits happened to volunteer that information for public consumption?We do know because it has been documented elsewhere and discussed on this forum that at least one college basketball recruit had his decision influenced by the appearance of a team's uniform.So, yes, I think even the small things can add up to influencing the decision of some college recruits.

[Dave in Green]

@GoZips, Kevin Durant played for Montrose Christian.

[Quickzips]

More important to the future of men's basketball is the person who did watchtoday's practice. I do not know if I am allowed to state who he is because I didnot ask. He was wearing a Montrose Christian warm up suit.

Wouldn't have been Carmelo Betancourt would it? I can't believe you wouldn't be able to discuss him, as his name has been associated as a Zips verbal for quite some time now.I'm going to hope it is 2012 6'9" 240lb Centerr Kevin Larsen.

[Zip Watcher]

One of our Verbals DID go to Montrose.

[mes102]

Boy oh boy, the rumor mill is running at full tilt.LeBron, Kevin Durant and Brandon Knight worked out with the footballers.They did NOT visit the Zips practice this morning.More important to the future of men's basketball is the person who did watchtoday's practice. I do not know if I am allowed to state who he is because I didnot ask. He was wearing a Montrose Christian warm up suit.All I can say is that this kid can play.Next good time to catch a men's practice is Wednesday morning. The kids arepretty tired right now and it is iffy whether there will be a Tuesday practice.I am betting no. The men's practices are usually scheduled from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM.For MES and those interested, the Lady Zips practice schedule is daily1:00 PM to 3:00 PM with usually Wednesdays off. They will also practiceSaturday mornings.

thanks GoZips. I actually talked to Coach Kest today. Got to see the first hour and a few minutes of their practice. Don't know what I can and cannot say from that practice, so I'll just leave it that this team could be special come MAC tourney time...

[GoZips]

@GoZips, Kevin Durant played for Montrose Christian.

Kevin Durant was not the person I saw in the Montrose Christian togs. It was .....Carmello Betancourt.

[Dave in Green]

Good to see Betancourt here for an early look at this year's team. He's going to play an important role in the near future, especially if Walsh only has two years of elibilbility instead of three, as just mentioned in the Scholarship Thread in the Recruiting forum:Walsh Eligibility?

[dboze]

One of the interesting questions posed to Coach Dambrot last night on the Live Broadcast was 'who is going to back up Alex Abreu at point?'. His response was either Deji, Walsh, or Q. He also stated that unlike past years, we will be big at the guard position. So after Alex, we could have a 6"3' (Deji), 6'5" (Walsh), or 6'6" point guard in addition to McClan will move back to the shooting guard @ 6'5".

[GoZips]

One of the interesting questions posed to Coach Dambrot last night on the Live Broadcast was 'who is going to back up Alex Abreu at point?'. His response was either Deji, Walsh, or Q. He also stated that unlike past years, we will be big at the guard position. So after Alex, we could have a 6"3' (Deji), 6'5" (Walsh), or 6'6" point guard in addition to McClan will move back to the shooting guard @ 6'5".

Remember that Dambrot cannot talk about Betancourt until after he is signed. Thus the response he gave.Deji and Blake Justice are likely candidates for red shirts. As far as I know Brian Walsh is slotted to be the back up point.Walsh, like Diggs and Gilliam are all multi-position capable players.Micheal Green can come in and pop treys like rain drops. Mike isgetting better by the day.Found out that I am not alone in hoping Diggs can step up and playthe sixth man. Quincy has good overall abilities and can play theone, two or three spot comfortably. If Quincy does not play thesixth man it is likely to fall to Brian Walsh or possibilly ChaunceyGilliam.IMO, Nick Harney will become the starting small forward by the timeconference play begins. This would then limit Diggs minutes. Thatis unfortunate as the Q-man brings a ton of intensity with his game.It is way too early to even speculate about the depth chart. I will say that talk now is that the Zips may be able to go twelve deepand play intense defense using a player rotation like a hockeyteam does with multiple lines.Some of you remember Cleveland State under coach Kevin Mackey.Mackey employed the deep rotation quite effectively. CSU wentdeep in the NCAA tournament with a pack of pretty ordinary players.An ordinary player that is rested is tougher to beat than an exhausted"star".For those who have seen Zeke you now know what I am saying is fact.Zeke has matured into a "load". Sure, he still needs work; theyall do. But, this is not your father's team. This team is going torattle the rafters.

[Dave in Green]

@GoZips, any update on Tree? Does he appear to be playing with a little more intensity? I still see him as an important cog in playing against teams with big frontcourt players. The Zips lose some frontcourt height and bulk with Egner replacing Bardo at backup center, and Tree could help that situation a lot if he can translate his HS success at rebounding, blocking and inside scoring into the college game.

[GoZips]

@GoZips, any update on Tree? Does he appear to be playing with a little more intensity? I still see him as an important cog in playing against teams with big frontcourt players. The Zips lose some frontcourt height and bulk with Egner replacing Bardo at backup center, and Tree could help that situation a lot if he can translate his HS success at rebounding, blocking and inside scoring into the college game.

Let's be fair to Treadwell. He is not use to playing against men his size. Is hemaking progress? Yes. How much? That is up to him.At this time "Tree" has a lot of work to do. He is no where near ready, ... yet.

[Derrt]

@GoZips I doubt Diggs' minutes get cut by conference time. In fact he'll probably will get moved to the 2 guard while Nick is in.

[Derrt]

Great Im a Jr. Zippy now. Moving on up i see http://zipsnation.org/forums//style_emotic...efault/wave.gif

[GoZips]

@GoZips I doubt Diggs' minutes get cut by conference time. In fact he'll probably will get moved to the 2 guard while Nick is in.

You are making a miscalculation. Is this because Quincy is your brother?While Diggs is continuing to improve as a player (his shooting stroke is vastly improved over last year, his work ethic is outstanding, and he sees and reacts to the floormuch better than before), he still has two other factors that affect his playing time. First, Chauncey Gilliam and Brett McClanahan anchor the shooting guard slot nicely.Second, Q is still showing signs of getting frustrated with himself and losing his cool.While it is only my opinion, I still would love to see Quincy take on the sixth man role.He would get more minutes at the six than he will at the three. You are underevaluating just how good Nick Harney is. I watch these kids practice. Do you?Playing Q on the point would allow a sweet and tall three guard line up. Whichis another excellent option. Personally, I do not want to see Diggs relegated to a reserve role backing up the three spot.He needs and deserves to be a twenty-five minute man. That means playing him where he contributes the most. Quincy and Keith Dambrot will decide that.

[Roo]

@GoZips I doubt Diggs' minutes get cut by conference time. In fact he'll probably will get moved to the 2 guard while Nick is in.

You are making a miscalculation. Is this because Quincy is your brother?While Diggs is continuing to improve as a player (his shooting stroke is vastly improved over last year, his work ethic is outstanding, and he sees and reacts to the floormuch better than before), he still has two other factors that affect his playing time. First, Chauncey Gilliam and Brett McClanahan anchor the shooting guard slot nicely.Second, Q is still showing signs of getting frustrated with himself and losing his cool.While it is only my opinion, I still would love to see Quincy take on the sixth man role.He would get more minutes at the six than he will at the three. You are underevaluating just how good Nick Harney is. I watch these kids practice. Do you?Playing Q on the point would allow a sweet and tall three guard line up. Whichis another excellent option. Personally, I do not want to see Diggs relegated to a reserve role backing up the three spot.He needs and deserves to be a twenty-five minute man. That means playing him where he contributes the most. Quincy and Keith Dambrot will decide that.

Why not answer the question without a personal attack? it makes everything else you say seem pointless. The quality of conversation on this forum has really gone down the hill the last two years...it's either I know more than you and I am right or I am more of a fan than you. Quite old....

[Dave in Green]

We saw how much Q grew over the course of last season and how good he was at the end of the season. If he's even better now, then we would expect to see him get even more PT this season.I think what GoZips is trying to tell us is that the Zips' talent level at the 1-2-3 positions -- the three spots Q can play -- is a lot higher than last season. So even though Q will be even better this season, he has a lot of company now to help him out.If we look at it from the team point of view instead of from an individual player point of view, it's really good news that the Zips won't have to play Q long minutes in order to be successful.I understand that some people have favorite players who they want to see on the floor for 40 minutes, and that's OK.But it's a lot more exciting to me to think that the Zips have 10-12 players who can sub in and sub out with no noticeable drop in team effectiveness. If the Zips have a lot of players who can go all-out for about 20 minutes each, they could really be a tough team to match up against.

[GoZips]

@GoZips I doubt Diggs' minutes get cut by conference time. In fact he'll probably will get moved to the 2 guard while Nick is in.

You are making a miscalculation. Is this because Quincy is your brother?While Diggs is continuing to improve as a player (his shooting stroke is vastly improved over last year, his work ethic is outstanding, and he sees and reacts to the floormuch better than before), he still has two other factors that affect his playing time. First, Chauncey Gilliam and Brett McClanahan anchor the shooting guard slot nicely.Second, Q is still showing signs of getting frustrated with himself and losing his cool.While it is only my opinion, I still would love to see Quincy take on the sixth man role.He would get more minutes at the six than he will at the three. You are underevaluating just how good Nick Harney is. I watch these kids practice. Do you?Playing Q on the point would allow a sweet and tall three guard line up. Whichis another excellent option. Personally, I do not want to see Diggs relegated to a reserve role backing up the three spot.He needs and deserves to be a twenty-five minute man. That means playing him where he contributes the most. Quincy and Keith Dambrot will decide that.

Why not answer the question without a personal attack? it makes everything else you say seem pointless. The quality of conversation on this forum has really gone down the hill the last two years...it's either I know more than you and I am right or I am more of a fan than you. Quite old....

You know, Roo, you are quite right. I should never ascertain the relationshipof a poster to a player. And you should refrain from attacking me or any other poster.I asked a question based on previous comments made by Ispeak who seems to have someclose ties to Quincy Diggs. Knowing Ispeak's relationship to Diggs would help me.BTW, my post is not diminished by my statements. If you do not like what I write, pleasefeel free to ignore my posts.

[Derrt]

No I don't see them practice, I did watch some of the games played in Canada. I saw that Nick is a great player. I said in a previous post that nick, q, alex, zeke, and the serb would make a nice combo. In fact Q, Nick, and Cj confused me a lot while watching the Canada games because they play similarly and of course the afros. You however seem to throw shots at my Q all the time, then try to justify it with a compliment. I must say your 6th man talk all the time gets on my nerve

[Derrt]

I am Q's GodFather if you must know.

[GoZips]

I am Q's GodFather if you must know.

Thank you. The Diggs family seems quite defensive of Quincy. I had a run inwith his sister during one of the play off games. I was hollering for them to take him out because he was playing out of control. His sister went off on me as you once did implying something racist. Which is absurd. I love Akronbasketball and I don't give a damn what color a kid's skin is.If I seem to get on Quincy it would be because he was not playing up to hispotential which is huge. Losing your cool out there is like taking a man off the floorand your opponents seize the opportunity to get you completely screwed up.Kindly show me where I said anything negative about Quincy. An honestevaluation of what I see is never based on the kid's personality or anythingother than using his skills.You, sir, need to get an update on modern basketball game planning. Thisis no longer the era of five iron men. You play a rotation. Most coachesuse a six man rotation dividing up about twenty-five minutes per the top six.That gives you 150 of the 200 minutes. The rest of the minutes go to theseventh and eighth man and to any players in the top six who are havingan exceptional night. Being the sixth man is not a put down. It is an honor. Usually thesixth man is the fourth or fifth best man in the six man rotation. This isbecause you never want a let down when you sub in. These days teams and conferences give awards to the best sixth man. Quincy has the skillsto play well three positions. That is an attribute which makes him a greatcandidate to play the sixth man.Last season Quincy was the most athletic player on the team. Today he isthird or more likely fourth most athletic. That is not a knock on him. It is an awareness that the incoming players have great athleticism. Probablythe most athletic player on the team will be red shirted (Deji Ibitayo).He is an in coming freshman.As an example, please explain to me how moving Q to the shooting guard when Harney subs in helps the team. We have two excellent shootingguards in McClanahan and Gilliam. When Q comes out of the game it is to give him a rest. We can do it your way and only play Quincy at the smallforward; or we can play him at all three positions for more minutes anda much tougher to defend player. Its your call.Now early on, Q should start at the three because he is currently themost experienced player at that spot. As Nick Harney comes up to speedhe will probably take the small forward away from Quincy. Nick istaller and more athletic and a slightly better shooter. Q has experienceon his side.Conversely, I love the idea of Q playing the point in a three guard line up.This gives you Quincy at the point; Gilliam as a shooting guard and BrianWalsh or McClanahan as the swing guard. All are over 6'-4". Sweet.And, I agree with you about C J Oldham and Nick Harney. They are like book ends and hard to tell apart.Thank you for clarifying who you are.

[Zip Watcher]

Please tone it down, GoZips.Gilliam is not a 2. He's a 3 man in the style of B McKnight.

[ZachTheZip]

I doubt we're going to see a traditional rotation anyway.