YSU at Akron

[Blue & Gold]

Just like YSU is better than last year. Should be a dandy this evening. Any particular spot I should look to purchase a ticket?

Just ask for two in the first row of the loser's section.

You can say that again!!!

We're clicking tonight (why can't we click every night? some night's we're awful.) and so YSU is running into the proverbial buzzsaw. But YSU is a good looking team - athletic, quick & can definitely shoot the 3. They lack bigs. But I can see why eguins is excited about this team. I'd love to see Eargle sporting blue and gold (and grey ).

[jjackson123]

Thoughts and some info that you may or may not know...

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class. Though he did seem to be somewhat involved in the game and cheering on his teamates, just something that ticked me off.

Alex is having his surgery tomorrow, 10 day to 3 week recovery period, VCU will be the 10th day... But he wants to play vs VCU so im sure he will give it a go

KD said postgame that the reason of the blowout was because YSU has little depth and they played Saturday and play again Thursday. YSU sat two of its best players over the last 5-6 minutes, had they went full go the whole game I bet the score would have been a 10-15 pt win (for Akron).

KD is my hero, I love him... 4 min left up 25 and he was stomping like a madman after we gave up a 3, I know everyone is used to that but I still love to see stuff like that. He also had CJ step out of bounds with a minute left to get a dead ball and a chance to put Kyle in, Ive never seen that.

CJ Oldham is my second hero, he shows a lot of energy on the bench despite little playing time.

Go Zips

[jdurbinakron]

Thoughts and some info that you may or may not know...

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class. Though he did seem to be somewhat involved in the game and cheering on his teamates, just something that ticked me off.

Alex is having his surgery tomorrow, 10 day to 3 week recovery period, VCU will be the 10th day... But he wants to play vs VCU so im sure he will give it a go

KD said postgame that the reason of the blowout was because YSU has little depth and they played Saturday and play again Thursday. YSU sat two of its best players over the last 5-6 minutes, had they went full go the whole game I bet the score would have been a 10-15 pt win (for Akron).

KD is my hero, I love him... 4 min left up 25 and he was stomping like a madman after we gave up a 3, I know everyone is used to that but I still love to see stuff like that. He also had CJ step out of bounds with a minute left to get a dead ball and a chance to put Kyle in, Ive never seen that.

CJ Oldham is my second hero, he shows a lot of energy on the bench despite little playing time.

Go Zips

I agree that Harney wearing the headphones was in bad taste. Also, I notice he did not come out with the rest of the team after the half. He seemed like he did not care. He needs to re-assess if he wants to be on the team or not. Lately it seems like he does not want to be a zip.

[akzipper]

Hopefully we bring a couple hundred fans tomorrow for this game. I think you are clearly the favorites, but think we can definitely win.

You will notice we LOVE the three ball. We shoot it a ton and make a ton, but I think we shoot it a bit too much. Our bench has been lacking until the Toledo game last night.

I think it should be a war between us! We have not forgotten last year.

See you all there!

I'm guessing this is supposed to imply that they would be seeking revenge from last year? dang good fight! losing by almost 30 points will sure teach us a lesson!

we probably won't be seeing much from this guy in a while...either that or he will show up flinging excuses

but quite frankly a blowout shows that we are on a completely different level than YSU

[eguins]

Hopefully we bring a couple hundred fans tomorrow for this game. I think you are clearly the favorites, but think we can definitely win.

You will notice we LOVE the three ball. We shoot it a ton and make a ton, but I think we shoot it a bit too much. Our bench has been lacking until the Toledo game last night.

I think it should be a war between us! We have not forgotten last year.

See you all there!

I'm guessing this is supposed to imply that they would be seeking revenge from last year? dang good fight! losing by almost 30 points will sure teach us a lesson!

we probably won't be seeing much from this guy in a while...either that or he will show up flinging excuses

but quite frankly a blowout shows that we are on a completely different level than YSU

Horrible, despicable, and inept are three words to describe YSU's effort. Akron is clearly the better team, but that is without a doubt the worst performance I've seen YSU have since the 30pt loss at Robert Morris last year.

Best of luck this year. You guys are going to cause people havoc with the height down low.

[ZachTheZip]

Hopefully we bring a couple hundred fans tomorrow for this game. I think you are clearly the favorites, but think we can definitely win.

You will notice we LOVE the three ball. We shoot it a ton and make a ton, but I think we shoot it a bit too much. Our bench has been lacking until the Toledo game last night.

I think it should be a war between us! We have not forgotten last year.

See you all there!

I'm guessing this is supposed to imply that they would be seeking revenge from last year? dang good fight! losing by almost 30 points will sure teach us a lesson!

we probably won't be seeing much from this guy in a while...either that or he will show up flinging excuses

but quite frankly a blowout shows that we are on a completely different level than YSU

Horrible, despicable, and inept are three words to describe YSU's effort. Akron is clearly the better team, but that is without a doubt the worst performance I've seen YSU have since the 30pt loss at Robert Morris last year.

Best of luck this year. You guys are going to cause people havoc with the height down low.

Akron's length and athleticism will cause problems for a lot of teams. YSU got unlucky because they caught the Zips at a time when they were really gelling. YSU looked like a decently talented mid-major with some depth issues.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class.

He was probably just listening to Frenchy and Dunn.

[akzipper]

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class.

He was probably just listening to Frenchy and Dunn.

I don't see it as that big of a deal, and I'm sure if it were KD or one of the other coaches would have said something to him about it.

Having graduated from UA a few years ago, I consider myself part of the same generation. Something older generations might be bothered with is just common practice now. It's not like the guy was sitting at the end of the bench ignoring everyone and playing angry birds on his phone. He wasn't going to be playing and if he wants to listen to some music. You can still hear whats going on when wearing ear buds. Hell I used to have headphones on during lectures and was a B average student. Not to mention pro athletes tweet during games! Even a high character guy like Scott Fujita has been tweeting during the past few Browns games, since he has been sidelined with his injury.

Just give the kid a break. Don't judge him by saying he doesn't care of is low class just because he was wearing headphones...

[lumberjack]

I'm glad to see ChaUncey get the start tonight.

Lumberjack will be glad to see that I've learned how to spell Chauncey's name.

I just want the team to play well as a whole...I'm starting to understand what Akron basketball is all about. Tonight as a team they played well as one unit...

[UAZips]

2:06 is just gorgeous.

[Blue & Gold]

Man, look @ Zeke's muscular shoulders and arms in this picture. He's really turning into a giant.

[Captain Kangaroo]

It seems last night was a re-preview of what is possible with this edition of the Zips, when we can field a consistent, drama-free line up for a couple consecutive games. The preview was Mississippi State.

Now we lose Abreu. Fingers are crossed that he is good-to-go for VCU. Even at 70%, he'd be a major contributor.

It will also be interesting to see how Harney's return affects this 1/3rd-of-the-way-through-the-season chemistry that's developed. When Brett McKnight returned last year, things regressed before getting better. Cventinovic seems to have snapped out of his funk and begun using his strength to his advantage again (God, did he crush that little YSU guard on the way to the rack last night). I think Harney will need to work a little before getting and of Nic 2.0's minutes.

I watched Abreu and Treadwell last night and wondered how different the West Virginia game would have been. We really have the guns to compete with them...if we have all the bullets in our chamber. So I love the mid-majors beating the BCS programs, and the way we lost that game still bugs me a little...sue me.

Boy does Walsh have strong hands. Seems like he comes up with every loose ball within his reach.

Off for a Carolina Christmas Cupcake tomorrow, then back to the grind...

[Dave in Green]

I just want the team to play well as a whole...I'm starting to understand what Akron basketball is all about. Tonight as a team they played well as one unit...

Yep, Akron basketball is all about the team. There are no big stars, but someone different stepping up every game. Focus on playing tough D, and you earn more PT to show what you can do on offense. You can see it starting to sink in with the newer players. Everyone is trying harder on defense. And on offense, many of the turnovers in this game were from trying to get an extra pass to the player who was most open. Lots of unselfishness on this team, which will pay big dividends later in the season as everyone gets familiar with everyone else and the timing gets polished. Defenses will not be able to sag off any Zips player.

One thing that stood out to me in this game was Brian Walsh's rebounding ability. For a guard, he does a great job of positioning himself, he has a pretty decent vertical leap, and he is sure-handed. Along with his 50%+ shooting percentage and ability to handle the ball, he's a real multi-dimensional player who's going to be contributing a lot to the Zips over the next three years.

I spent much of this game focusing on Nitro, especially on defense. If you want to know where Nitro's value to the team is, pay attention to how closely he guards his man and how infrequently his man gets around him to the basket. KD rewards the best defensive players with more PT. That's why Nitro is on the floor a lot. On offense, he's also steady and reliable. He has a good assist-to-turnover ratio. His 3-point shooting can be streaky, but that's the way it is with most shooters. He's also shown a few nice drives to the bucket, scoring a few and having a few go in and out. He doesn't have a lot of bad misses. I think he will really step up in conference play.

The Zips have a great mix of scorers, rebounders, ball handlers and defenders. Some are flashy and some are steady. There's only one true PG and one true C, so team performance may drop a little when Rico and Zeke are on the bench. But the Zips are really deep at the 2, 3 and 4 positions, so team performance is not hurt when there are subs at these positions.

These last few games have shown how well this team can perform against lower-ranked teams. The VCU game will tell us how they can perform against a team with a similar level of athleticism, talent and coaching.

[Pack_The_MAC]

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class.

He was probably just listening to Frenchy and Dunn.

What problem I had was he had a hat on as well. He clearly did not look like a professional. It's not a huge deal but I would have liked him to show some respect towards his teammates and the program.

[GP1]

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class.

He was probably just listening to Frenchy and Dunn.

What problem I had was he had a hat on as well. He clearly did not look like a professional. It's not a huge deal but I would have liked him to show some respect towards his teammates and the program.

A hat as well? Well, that settles it....someone call the cops. How is listening to music and wearing a hat not respectful to his teammates? Yikes, did it turn into the 1950s in here again?

[Blue & Gold]

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class.

He was probably just listening to Frenchy and Dunn.

What problem I had was he had a hat on as well. He clearly did not look like a professional. It's not a huge deal but I would have liked him to show some respect towards his teammates and the program.

A hat as well? Well, that settles it....someone call the cops. How is listening to music and wearing a hat not respectful to his teammates? Yikes, did it turn into the 1950s in here again?

On top of it all, he was wearing neither a tie nor a sportcoat.

In all seriousness, slightly older folks are generally dismayed at how casual our society has become. I don't think it's either here nor there, but I see this attitude in church as well. The younger folks dress very casually, whereas the older folks still dress-to-kill; of course they say they're just showing respect to the Lord by dressing to the nines. It's a generational thing. I seriously doubt Harney was intending any sort of disrespect in sporting an iPod & hat.

[Doug Snyder]

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class.

He was probably just listening to Frenchy and Dunn.

What problem I had was he had a hat on as well. He clearly did not look like a professional. It's not a huge deal but I would have liked him to show some respect towards his teammates and the program.

A hat as well? Well, that settles it....someone call the cops. How is listening to music and wearing a hat not respectful to his teammates? Yikes, did it turn into the 1950s in here again?

On top of it all, he was wearing neither a tie nor a sportcoat.

In all seriousness, slightly older folks are generally dismayed at how casual our society has become. I don't think it's either here nor there, but I see this attitude in church as well. The younger folks dress very casually, whereas the older folks still dress-to-kill; of course they say they're just showing respect to the Lord by dressing to the nines. It's a generational thing. I seriously doubt Harney was intending any sort of disrespect in sporting an iPod & hat.

I was just happy to see he could hold the baskeltbal with 2 hands and his pants did not fall down. My standards have dropped quite a bit in this area.

It seemed that Harney was trying not to be noticed. He did not come off as disrespectful. From my perspective...he seems like a good kid.

[Blue & Gold]

From my perspective...he seems like a good kid.

I agree. Whenever I've been able to watch him in an in-game timeout huddle, he's always got his eyes glued to KD & hanging on every word he says, or any of the coaches say for that matter. He really seems like he wants to learn as much about b-ball as he can.

[Dave in Green]

If the team has a dress code for players who aren't suited up, then all the players should follow the rules. If there's no dress code, then it's nobody's business what any of the players wear.

I'm older than most of you, and I didn't give a second thought to what Harney was wearing when I saw him at the game.

Back when I was in my 50s and working for one of American's biggest and oldest corporations where men were always required to coats and ties, I presented a proposal that this traditional old corporation would be more attractive to talented young people if the dress code was loosened. I was an advocate for 100% business casual while another person proposed having casual Fridays and maintaining coats and ties the rest of the week.

We made our cases to a group of senior executives, and I made a better case for business casual all the time, so that's what the corporation adopted. After that, a lot of the younger employees thought I was pretty cool for an old guy.

[akronzips71]

When I was a freshman at Akron I lived in the dorms and ate in the mess hall. We were required to wear jacket and tie for lunch and dinner.

It was after an article in the newspapers that HARVARD had relaxed their dress code that we were able to get it changed.

By the way, Harney is not a professional. He is a college kid.

[lumberjack]

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class.

He was probably just listening to Frenchy and Dunn.

What problem I had was he had a hat on as well. He clearly did not look like a professional. It's not a huge deal but I would have liked him to show some respect towards his teammates and the program.

A hat as well? Well, that settles it....someone call the cops. How is listening to music and wearing a hat not respectful to his teammates? Yikes, did it turn into the 1950s in here again?

On top of it all, he was wearing neither a tie nor a sportcoat.

In all seriousness, slightly older folks are generally dismayed at how casual our society has become. I don't think it's either here nor there, but I see this attitude in church as well. The younger folks dress very casually, whereas the older folks still dress-to-kill; of course they say they're just showing respect to the Lord by dressing to the nines. It's a generational thing. I seriously doubt Harney was intending any sort of disrespect in sporting an iPod & hat.

I was just happy to see he could hold the baskeltbal with 2 hands and his pants did not fall down. My standards have dropped quite a bit in this area.

It seemed that Harney was trying not to be noticed. He did not come off as disrespectful. From my perspective...he seems like a good kid.

This is my take:

Our society has become very opinionated about everything. Forget what Harney did (headsets/hat on at game) and just for a minute put yourself in his shoes. He's a young who made a mistake on top of a mistake and has to deal with it all. Also college is designed to teach one to know what is appropriate and what’s not. This is an urban kid who main focus was trying to eat and survive having the opportunity to better himself going to college. I say its hard for him to be forced to sit on that bench probably humiliated and wondering what people are thinking about him and what is being said. This is not a communist nation but democratic (live and let live). I think we would be better as fans, society, and world if we stop forcing people to live for what we think. So Harney had on headsets on the bench. He's under a lot of pressure and all we should think about is how will he contribute to the team when he return and most of all how we will receive him when he return. I say lets be positive and encourage all these young men to do the right thing and stop being so overly critical for small insignificancies (If not for grace). In addition we need to remember all the dumb stuff we did while in college that we learned from. Oh and by the way God wants your heart not your clothes.

[Districtballer]

These last few games have shown how well this team can perform against lower-ranked teams. The VCU game will tell us how they can perform against a team with a similar level of athleticism, talent and coaching.

This is patently false. VCU are a bunch of bums. Don't worry about us.

[Pack_The_MAC]

Hated to see Harney with headphones on on the sidelines, just low class.

He was probably just listening to Frenchy and Dunn.

What problem I had was he had a hat on as well. He clearly did not look like a professional. It's not a huge deal but I would have liked him to show some respect towards his teammates and the program.

A hat as well? Well, that settles it....someone call the cops. How is listening to music and wearing a hat not respectful to his teammates? Yikes, did it turn into the 1950s in here again?

The fact that he is wearing a hat indoors is disrespectful. Do you not know anything about manners?

[akronzips71]

Only in the army.

[Z.I.P.]

If the team has a dress code for players who aren't suited up, then all the players should follow the rules. If there's no dress code, then it's nobody's business what any of the players wear.

I'm older than most of you, and I didn't give a second thought to what Harney was wearing when I saw him at the game.

Back when I was in my 50s and working for one of American's biggest and oldest corporations where men were always required to coats and ties, I presented a proposal that this traditional old corporation would be more attractive to talented young people if the dress code was loosened. I was an advocate for 100% business casual while another person proposed having casual Fridays and maintaining coats and ties the rest of the week.

We made our cases to a group of senior executives, and I made a better case for business casual all the time, so that's what the corporation adopted. After that, a lot of the younger employees thought I was pretty cool for an old guy.

Doggone it, this has made my mind up for me! I have to do my part to upgrade the Zips' sideline attire. I have a number of men's size large aloha shirts that I just don't have room for in my closet. I'm going to put in a call to Keith and let him know that a "goodwill package" is on the way -- Sorry, I don't think I can get it there before Xmas, but it should arrive in time for the start of MAC play. Or, if KD thinks he can't wait that long, or in case he fears one of his player's pants will fall down during the anthem, I believe Gozips can lend his circa 1974 Tory Richard collection. Hope the guys don't mind the stains from kalua pig and shoyu spills.