Handing Out Report Cards

[sgm405]

I'm not sure if they'll get an NIT bid or not, but let's all throw out our report cards for the Zips this season. Here is mine:ROMEO TRAVISCOMMENTS: Romeo had a solid year and had some very nice games. Sadly, he is nothing more than a very good college player. He's no star, not even for the MAC. He's still soft inside, struggles with free throws at times, and lacks the ability to take over a ballgame. As I said, very good college player, but not the leader this team desperately leads. Still, he gets a B for a solid year. GRADE: BDRU JOYCECOMMENTS: Dru has turned out to be a much better player than I imagined he would be. He doesn't turn the ball over (except last night), can hit some big time threes, and controls the team well. He does have the tendency to pound the ball too much at the top of the key, drive with no real chance of finishing, and gets beat quite a bit by quicker, bigger players. Still, he had a solid seasonGRADE: BNICK DIALSCOMMENTS: Nick was a welcome addition this year. I loved his hustle, his spark, his fire...it's always good to see a guy play the game with passion. He put up decent numbers, even though I do believe he struggled late in the season due to fatigue. He does get cold at times, and he played poorly yesterday, but I’m excited about 2 more years of Dials. Again…another guy who’s not a star, but a solid effort.GRADE: BCEDRIC MIDDLETONCOMMENTS: My breakthrough player of the year for this team. Ced seemed to get better with each game. He accepted his role off the bench and provided a spark plug every game. He became a better outside shooter, played great defense, and like Dials, hustled his ass off. In fact, I believe Ced should start next season…but more on that later. GRADE: A-ROB PRESTONCOMMENTS: Rob was much more important to this team that I expected him to be. He’s quick for a big guy, while also being an outside threat. His only downside is being a bit soft inside, and his inability to make a good foul when needed (how many and-one’s did he allow Can't State to get in Can't?). He’ll be missed next year…a very solid role player. GRADE: B-DARRYL PETERSONCOMMENTS: What do you say here? Darryl can be thanked for the Can't game and a few other performances, but aside from that wasn’t much of a factor…but that wasn’t his fault. Don’t buy the injuries BS...Dambrot simply didn’t like the guy. Sad to see his Zips career end like this…it was once very, very promising. GRADE: INCOMPLETENATE LINHARTCOMMENTS: I think when looking at Linhart you have to remember…he wasn’t supposed to play this much so fast. Bubba was supposed to be there as was Jimmy Conyers…Linhart should have been a 10 minute-a-game guy this year. He does some things well…pretty good rebounder. I think he was the potential to be a Rick-McFadden-like role player for this team, with more athleticism than Ricky gave us. GRADE: CMATT FUTCHCOMMENTS: Matt Futch is another who was placed in a role he shouldn’t be in, as starting center. That was supposed to be Jeremiah Wood, with Futch being a great backup. Still, he played well at times and provided a desperately needed presence down-low. GRADE: C+QUADE MILUMCOMMENTS: I wish Quade would start hanging out with Barry Bonds. He was decent at times, but didn’t bring too much to the table. His potential is off the charts if he ever gets bigger…but will he? GRADE: D+CHAD MRAZ, JOHN RYBAK, ZACK SOWERS, NICK GODDARDCOMMENTS: Mraz played for the right high school, so he got a little bit of game time. He doesn’t really do much and really isn’t a D1 player. Rybak gets a lot of love from those who have seen him in practice every day, but I just don’t see it in games. I cringe when he enters games. Hopefully it’s just nerves that will wear off and these Rybak supports will be proven right. Sowers didn’t get much action, while Goddard got some in garbage time. Both would be wise to transfer to a smaller school where they could be major players…neither has much of a future here. GRADE: INCOMPLETEKEITH DAMBROTCOMMENTS: I think those who have hated on KD need to look at the bigger picture. He won 22 games this year with a young team without a true star player. We played some tougher teams and hung in with most, and only suffered losses to good teams. (Yes, Toledo is a good team). We stayed undefeated at home, beat Can't once and almost twice, and made it further in the MAC Tourney than ever before. And we did this while dealing with losing Wood and Conyers before the season (HUGE) and dealing with the transfer of Bubba Walther. He is a great coach who will do wonders for this university. That’s not to say he didn’t have his negatives…the whole not playing DP thing was stupid (MAC regular season champs if DP starts), and a few times his substitutions had me scratching my head. But he is a winner and has more basketball knowledge in his pinky finger than I do in my entire body…so I’ll remain faithful in the guy. He needs a strong recruiting class next year to keep building the momentum. GRADE: A-THE FANSCOMMENTS: This year overall was a step up for fans. When I started at Akron in 2000, the athletic department had to beg kids to sit down low. Compare this to the year end game against Can't, where tons of students stood outside for an hour (or 5 minutes if you were one of the shithead cutters) to get down low. The AK-Rowdies came alive at times, although it’s obviously a work in progress. For the most part, we were loud and proud, having a serious affect on the game. The Can't thing was great…probably didn’t work out like exactly planned, but the Can't State students were still in shock. I’m not sure the cheer sheets are the way to go…seems to me like it’s a waste of a tree, especially when the player chants (Romeo, Dials) and regular chants (defense, Duke’s noise making, let’s go Akron, etc) work just fine. We need to stay classy. I was upset to hear a few bullshit chants, along with some people yelling “Fuck Can'tâ€. Don’t do that, that’s not us…that’s Can't. Please, God, don’t let us become as classless as their student section, where all we can do is yell that everything sucks while swearing and throwing up middle fingers. We’re better than that. We also need a bit more common sense. Yesterday we have everyone together in one section. Although it was a little higher up, everyone was together. So what do we do (including a few leaders of the team)? Spread out! So instead of having everyone together in one section, which would have led to organized, loud cheers, we have people spread out over the different sections, often times doing two different cheers. Props to Newhouse though for getting the ball rolling in a big way…we finally have a student section that matters. GRADE: BOverall it was a great year, a big step forward. This wasn’t supposed to be the year…next year was. And yet, this year came close to being it. Just think, a 22 win team gaining more experience, a healthy Jeremiah Wood, an eligible Jimmy Conyers, and a (hopefully) good recruiting class? Next year should be very, every memorable folks!Oh yeah, my depth chart for next year:C-Wood/Recruit/PF-Travus/Recruit/MilumSF-Conyers/Linhart/RybakSG-Middleton/DialsPG-Joyce/RecruitNOW YOU FILL OUT YOUR REPORT CARD AND/OR DEPTH CHART FOR 06-07!

[Valpo Zip]

Ok here's mine !Romeo Travis: Was a dominant inside player at the end of last season and the beginning of this one. But as soon as other teams became aware of his abilities and started double teaming him, and anytime we are playing a big inside team, he fades away. Part of his success is due to the assists he gets from Dru, unable to create his own play, besides the toledo game, good rebounder and FT shooter.Grade: B- Dru Joyce: very good ball handling, especially under pressure. very good 3pt shooter and good passer. Little bit slow (especially in transition deffense), some ill-advised decisions when we approach the shot clock timeGrade: B+ Cedrick Middleton: Fastest, most athletic and smartest player on this team. Very good shooter, fierce deffender, excellent ball steeler, and seems to be the only player who can drive and lay the ball up in the hoop. No downside at all. Grade: AMatt Futch: It is a must to have a big guy like him in every team to futch* some jacka$$es in the opponent teams (especially when your rival team has players of the like of Gerwig). Not a lot of basketball skills but a stud in the deffense and became fairly dependable on offense in his senior year.Grade: C+Rob Preston: Excellent role player, great attitude, very good shooting (both FT and FG), fair rebounding and came out with a lot of blockshots in his senior year. Great decision making and seemed to be tremendously improving year after year. If only he had another year of eligibility, i would say that he would be a NBA PF prospect after next year.Grade: B+Nate Linhart: Very athletic, very smart, knows where he is supposed to be on the floor, Draws offensive fouls and seems to be the only guy who goes after Offensive rebound and can both shoot the ball and drive to the hoop which makes him very hard to guard. downside: gets in foul trouble and seemed a little nervous some times. which is not surprising considering he is only a freshmen.Grade: A- (He is still taking Gen. ed. freshmen classes).Nick Dials: can shoot the ball but not very consistent, can pass the ball and bank some nice assists (only when he tries to). can deffend and draw the offensive foul (when he goes back to play D in transition and quit whining to the officials)... to summarize, good potential but a moody player with a lot of bad decisions.Grade: B- (considering, he is only a sophomore).Derryl Peterson: Excellent player, can both shoot and drive and excellent FT shooting, might be a tiny bit slow on Deffense. I am still waiting to hear KD's explanation about his PT.Grade: A-Quade Mylum: a wasted scholarship.Grade: FJohn Rybak: I don't attend practice, but he got significant PT and showed nothing in his first year, the only reason i will not give him and F is because he is still a freshman.Grade: D-Zach Sowers: seems to be the most valuable amongst the walk-ons. Seems to be very athletic and did a great job in the 5 or so minutes he played during this season. Yet KD doesn't give him any chance to showcase his talent.Grade: Incomplete.Nick Goddard, Chad Mraz: I have no clue.Grade: Incomplete.Next year's depth chart:PG: Dru/Darryl Roberts.SG: Ced/Dials. SF: Linhart/Conyers. (In no particular order for the SF position).PF: Romeo/Mcknight.C: Wood/Bardo. (I am a little worried about the C position, because i am not sure how would Jeremiah deal with the bigger mac guys while he is only 6-6). I hope KD can find a bigger JUCO guy.

[Balki Bartokomous]

Romeo Travis: He is tissue paper soft in the paint and watching him shoot free throws is like watching your girlfriend make out with your best friend. Its just plain painful. With that said he still gave teams someone to think about. He would come down with the occasional offensive rebound and would put pressure on the other team's big men. He seems to have a decent knack at making the turn around mid-range jumper. Hopefully he gets rid of that damn mohawk. The season started going down hill once the 'hawk showed up.B (mohawk gets an F-)Dru Joyce: He looks like he is in a video game when he is bring the ball up the court. He is quick and he has some decent moves. For a guard he is a good rebounder. He needs to stop shooting 30 foot three pointers. He has good vision and provides decent defense. Next year should be more of the same. I don't see him getting much better than he is now. His numbers will go up a little, but he won't be a deandre haynes.B+Nick Dials:He was two different people this year. The first 3/4ths of the season he was a good player. Once the games got big and teams started putting alot of pressure on him, forget about it. Dials disappeared quicker than food infront of Tim Crouch. Akron will have to replace the backboards at the JAR with all the bricks he heaved at them. He needs to understand that there are more things in life than shooting three pointers.B- (first 3/4 of season) D (last 1/4 of season)Matt Futch:Someone should have chained him to the hoop. I loved how he wouldn't put up with anyones shit and just drilled them with an elbow. He spent too much time hovering around the three point line and didn't rebound all that well.C+Rob Preston:Sweet shot from the outside for a big man. Wasn't very tough on D and when it came to rebounding he was better off letting someone else try. Showed real leadership in coming off the bench and not once complaining about it. He will be missed next year.B-Cedric Middleton:What a player he is going to be. He can drive to the hoop and he can play some defense. Quick and agile. By the time he is a senior, he is going to be a player of the year type of guy. He had better be starting next year over Dials. Fear the 'froA-Darryl Peterson:I should give him an "A" just for not punching Dambrot in the face for not playing him. He was hurt some of the time, but still didn't play when he wasn't. In the biggest games this year, he came out firing in the first half and leading the Zips, only to see nothing but pine time in the second half of the game. DP should be thanked for being a solid player his whole career at Akron. Another guy who will be missed next year.A (just for keeping us in the K ent game at home)Nate Linhart:Anyone who thinks Nate Linhart isn't going to be great should pack their stuff up and transfer to Can't because they are retarded. He drives to the hoop. He looks to create on the baseline. He draws fouls. He doesn't shoot 25 threes a game. He has basketball smarts. He seemed a little nervous at times, but he is a freshman. By the time he is a senior, he will be Akron's first option on offense. The kid has some major upside. We will go dancing in the near future with the likes of Linhart and Middleton on the team.A-Quade Mylum:Gain 150 pounds and we'll talk about fearing the stache.D (at current size) could top out around a B if he would put on some size.Sowers, Rybak, Maraz, Goddard:They sat the bench like pros. I didn't see one chair tipped over all year. Good job bench squad. Hopefully they will continue to provide decent opposition in practice so the real team can get better.C- (they should have cheered more)Next year:PG: JoyceSG: MiddletonSF: LinhartPF: Romeo (sans 'hawk)C: Wood (provided he doesn't blow out another knee or something)