Belated Watchers View: MAC Tourney Notes

[Zip Watcher]

Been on the road & away from PC for a few days & didn't have time to post earlier. Writing this on a plane early in the week after the MAC tourney. Some of this has been posted, but I'll download some thoughts anyway just to go on the record. Most of this written prior to the NIT beginnig & having only the MAC tourney on my mind:- The Zips laid an egg in the last 25 minutes of the UT game. That's clear. The first 15 minutes of the game might have been the best execution I've seen from a Zips hoop team in a LONG time. Total and utter domination. I believe the wheels started to come off in the last 5 of the first half. I recall at least 2 or 3 fast breaks that yielded silly turnovers and no good shots. Should have been up 12 or 15 at the half.- The ZipsNation laid a similar egg in the subsequent 48 hours or so. I won't comment on much of what was posted because I think a lot of it was garbage and doesn't merit further discussion. Seems like everyone calmed down mid-day on Sunday. I've always felt that this, like the Dreamwater blue boards before it, was a haven for objective, clear headed discussion of Zips sports without going off the deep end of player/coach attacks .. a la Bobcatattack.Com or MACbbs. I think we now know that ZN.O has a strong foothold in the Zips Nation .. lots of emotional posts .. lots of passion. I guess I'll take the bad with the good on that front, but I think there was a ton of crap posted around here for a few days. Nice activity level though.- Zips fans started circling the punch bowl on Friday and Saturday for the first time similar to the OU pattern whenever Tim O'Shea loses a game. TOS wins one in a row and he's the savior of Athens. TOS loses one and he's the biggest waste of a coach they've ever had & should be fired. Go back to last season at the MACbbs & you'll see the same regarding Jimmy Christian. I hope we don't degenerate into that. Coaching changes are spurred by long periods of under performing or under representing the UA community. IMHO, one bad night doesn't merit slitting one's wrists over a coach who's won 40 games in 2 years. I certainly agree that the bad night came at a HORRIBLE time .. but it was just that .. one bad night.- The MAC isn't a very good hoops conference right now. It just isn't. Most teams don't have a healthy balance of inside & outside scoring. Few have any inside punch at all. There were also some dubious coaching decisions at the Q all weekend.- I thought the attendance was nice. To have the Friday crowd outnumber the Saturday is a clear indicator to me that the Nation was out in force on Friday and ready to fill the place up on Saturday. It was a missed opportunity for the Zips to not make the final. I don't feel like this will hurt the growth of fan support for next year. A good NIT performance will erase Friday, provided it's covered in the paper and people know about it.- OU consistently brings the best Band / Cheerleader / Dance Team package to the Q. It's not even close. I thought the UA groups were solid & in the top half of the 8 we saw, but OU puts the rest of the conference to shame. Their dance team does lots more situps than any of the others .. maybe combined.- Even one of our top posters had a tough game on Friday, I think it was during the Can't game. Opportunity to display the Roo flag during the Can't State game gone awry. I guess we were all off of our game that night.- Glad they renewed with the Q for 5 more years. This is my favorite week of the year. Thursday is an annual company holiday for me and my guys and I enjoy it immensely. It's even better when the Zips are there.Team related notes from the tourney:- Zips are a good team .. pretty solid .. but not spectacular. When I consider the roster evolution that will happen this offseason, I think they're going to be a whole lot better in 2 or 3 years than even this team was. Do yourself a favor and jot down your 2 deep rotation for next year. You can consider Wood or not .. but after the season is really over & the dust settles, I think we'll have a lively discussion on next year's rotation. I'm pretty pumped for it already.- I'm thrilled to see a 2nd senior class in a row finish strong. These guys played hard and ramped it up as the season began to close. There wasn't any quit in them, and they were complete sold on the team concept. I'll miss all three. I thought that Futch especially was a factor late in the year. DP clearly brought it late season, and demonstrated once again the concept of the "Jawanza Moore Effect" (more on that next week or so).- Cedric continues to improve and impress. He needs to be on the floor with the freedom to attack the basket. He's one of our best creators and a guy that won't get out quicked very often, and probably never in conference.- My opinion here --> If you think Nate Linhart is just a slow white player that isn't worthy of minutes on a good team, then you're nuts & you're not watching the same guy I see. Nate had a tough second half after he hit the freshman wall. But NO ONE goes to the MAC tourney and pulls down 14 boards in a single game without quickness, anticipation and good basketball sense. I'm thrilled this guy is only a Freshman & that we have him. With some strength, and a little quicker release on his jumper, I think he has the potential for 2 All MAC selections in the next 3 years. He could be that good. You can't teach what he's got in court awareness & anticipation. And he's NOT slow. There's 2 guys on this team that are able to put the ball on the floor and consistently get to the rack. Cedric's the first`and Nate's the 2nd. Lay off the kid and be glad he's here.- I think if Rome improves his shooting from inside 10' by using the glass all summer, he could dominate this league inside. There's just not any guy that can check him one on one. And if he can start using the glass and get his percentage on the bunnies up (I know he shot well all year), he'll demand the double team all the time, and the mid-range shooters & outside shots will be open all game. - I do think they played a bit dumb in the second half .. and then they panicked. Not sure if that's inexperience or what, but they just weren't able to right the ship. Toledo was just good enough to take advantage of it. The small gap that still existed this year between Can't State and UA was evident in how the flushes handled a very similar situation on Saturday .. they pulled it together just enough to hold of UT and take the game. Friday night will prove valuable down the road, though it sure stings now. There was evidence of difficulty putting teams away back in January & it certainly bit the Zips on Friday.- The NIT's a nice opportunity for this team. It isn't the NCAA, but a great chance for some more court time and experience with playing in tough win or go home situations. Look at the bracket .. it's a bunch of good teams. I'd take 6 games against any of these teams as our non-conference schedule & feel like we have a nice schedule. To say the NIT is not worth going to .. or just for losers .. is missing the opportunity entirely and is a misinformed opinion, IMHO.That's it for the MAC Tourney for me. I'm turning the page & looking forward to more Zips hoops. A bitter finish, but the NIT will dull that for me. I love the direction this is headed, with these players & this coach. This is the brightest the future has looked in 20 years, and it won't take much for KD this group to far eclipse the achievments of Huggins et al. in the 80's.Go Zips!

[zipboy]

Good post ZW. Someone started an earlier post with grading the season. If I had to give a grade for this year, it would be A-. This was the best season in my 15 years of being an Akron fan. For being a finesse team, I thought that we showed a lot of toughness this year. With Wood and Conyers out, I expected 18 wins similar to last year. Unfortunately, MAC teams are judged by what they do for the 3 days in Cleveland. And that was a clunker. Some thoughts on the players and next year.Joyce - The 3rd best PG in the league this past year behind Hatcher and Haynes. He finished strong unlike last year. Generally, he is a step slower, 20 lbs lighter, and an inch or 2 shorter than anyone he goes up against. Yet he outplayed almost everyone this year. He also was the one guy who continually stepped up looking for the ball at the end of the game. I don't think he is our best option at the end, but he played fearless for the most part (sans last 10 minutes vs Toledo) and wanted the ball with the game on the line. He played 33 minutes this. I would love to see Roberts come in and play 10-12 quality minutes per game similar to what Mincy did for Can't. Dru at 25 minutes a night with little drop off from the bench makes us stronger and allows more uptempo play.Dials - Played on 1 leg, came back early, played hard. I think he hit a wall this year. The last month of the year he struggled and it showed. Too many times he was frustrated with no calls, mad at himself for missing shots, had too many turnovers. He has got to learn to control his emotions. His fiery side can be an asset but not if it clouds his judgement and ability. I did like him at the point at times. He is the only other guy I trusted besides Dru at the point. I look for bigger things next year.Cedric - I love Dambrot, but if Bubba was still here, would he have only gotten 10 minutes per night? The only guy who could break someone down on the dribble. As he learned to play aggressively in control and his confidence increased, he really got dangerous. I hope we see just as much improvement from year 3 to 2.Romeo - Another solid year, but the one guy on the team who has the ability to raise his game another notch. Last year there were times that he just took over a game on both the offense and defensive end. I did not see that this year. I would love for him to be the go to guy with game on the line, but I just don't have enough confidence in his shot. We need more games like Creighton from Rome. Given our size, he needs to just dominate the boards. He has the ability to separate from good to great.Linhart - I echo that he will be a very good player. Biggest thing for him is add 20 lbs and don't hit the wall next year. I brought a lot of different people to Zips games this year. They saw maybe 1-2 games. Interesting that several people whom I trust in knowing about basketball all commented afterward how good of a player Linhart is going to be.Quade/Rybak - They both need to give 10 minutes of solid play next year. Quade showed flushes vs Temple and Nevada. He is athletic, can run and jump. He has got to show the consistency. John knows now what you need to play Div 1 ball. Hopefully he gets quicker and stronger over the summer. All good teams need a shooter. We lose Preston and Peterson next year. The seniorsDP - Very productive for the minutes he got. I didn't have a problem with the limited minutes throughout the season due to the back and Linhart's good play. If his shot was not on, we also were a better team with Nate than DP out there. But one on one, nobody in the league could stop him in the post. I wish that he would have gotten a few more minutes vs Toledo. Thanks DP. Glad that you have the record for most games in Zips history. Preston - He added another dimension that will be missed. Kind of the unsung hero and my vote for 6th man of the year probably more so than Romeo for 1st team all MAC. It was neat to see him mature over the past 5 years. I think he epitomized the team as a finesse guy who was pretty tough. Wish the Cavs had that toughness.Futch - I count 1 other guy whose best year was his senior year, Nate Schindolwolf. Maybe Scott Gooden as well? Everyone else over the past 15 years got worse in their Zips career not better. Futch is now the 2nd guy who got better. His 1st year, if he made a quarter of his layups, we were lucky. A tough hard nosed guy, who played good, solid minutes. Except for that 3 pointer he would throw up every game, he really played within himself and gave good minutes. It was fun to see him develop as well.KD - Everyone knows I love the guy. He isn't perfect, more minutes for Middleton and DP would have been nice. But the last 2 years have been pretty fun. He has quickly instilled a toughness, confidence, and high expectations in the team and the community. He is the type of guy who I think really can lead Akron to the promised land. We have about 45 minutes to replace next year. Ideally, no starter gets over 28 minutes per game. That would mean about 55 minutes to divvy up for5 new people. I would love to see 10 guys get 10+ minuetes per game. And maybe not always the same 10. With 5 new guys coming in, that should be realistic.Also, I don't see many 6 foot 10 inch JUCCos guys who can play knocking on our door. You can with 6ft 8 in guys who can play. You just need several of them.Let's get some good OOC games and beat some people. Go Zips!

[GP1]

- The ZipsNation laid a similar egg in the subsequent 48 hours or so. I won't comment on much of what was posted because I think a lot of it was garbage and doesn't merit further discussion. Seems like everyone calmed down mid-day on Sunday. I've always felt that this, like the Dreamwater blue boards before it, was a haven for objective, clear headed discussion of Zips sports without going off the deep end of player/coach attacks .. a la Bobcatattack.Com or MACbbs. I think we now know that ZN.O has a strong foothold in the Zips Nation .. lots of emotional posts .. lots of passion. I guess I'll take the bad with the good on that front, but I think there was a ton of crap posted around here for a few days. Nice activity level though.- My opinion here --> If you think Nate Linhart is just a slow white player that isn't worthy of minutes on a good team, then you're nuts & you're not watching the same guy I see. Nate had a tough second half after he hit the freshman wall. But NO ONE goes to the MAC tourney and pulls down 14 boards in a single game without quickness, anticipation and good basketball sense. I'm thrilled this guy is only a Freshman & that we have him. With some strength, and a little quicker release on his jumper, I think he has the potential for 2 All MAC selections in the next 3 years. He could be that good. You can't teach what he's got in court awareness & anticipation. And he's NOT slow. There's 2 guys on this team that are able to put the ball on the floor and consistently get to the rack. Cedric's the first`and Nate's the 2nd. Lay off the kid and be glad he's here.

ZipWatcher,I have to respectfully disagree that it was a bad 48 hours for ZipsNation. I thought last weekend was one of the best moments in the history of ZipsNation. Since I started coming on this board about a year and a half ago, the quantity and quality of posts has improved drastically. Last wekend Zips fans said, "We're mad as Hell and we're not going to take it any more!". Instead of going home mad and sulking until next season trying to gain some hope from the early season wins against Dennison and a bad conference this season, Zips fans stood up and let their voices ring out. I've been through enough losing in my years with Akron sports and I want some winning of championships. That means having a team show up and show some balls against a bad team like Toledo. If the players and coaches can't take some fan criticism, they should go to a DIII school where nobody gives a crap. I would bet that there are some posters out there like Captain Kangaroo, Zips Win! and King Zip that are almost as pissed off today as they were last weekend. Thank God for people like that.Nate Linhart? Will he improve? Probably. Does he have the natural ability to make significant improvements? Probably not. I asked the question last weekend pertaining to whom he could get playing time in front of at Can't State. I'm still waiting for an answer from anybody who thinks he could. Nate, because he was on the all MAC freshman team now has a bullseye on his back from every team we play. If you were another team, do you think he would be a difficult guy to shut down? As he gets older, he will need to become the "go to" guy for Akron. Does the prospect of that make anyone comfortable? Akron doesn't need a steady influx of "suburban" (you said white, not me) kids lacking the athletic talent to take them to the next level, they need studs who even on an average day are still better than the nonathletic players. We saw the benefits of "suburban" players during the Owens years in football, nine years of that misery was enough.

[msopher]

That means having a team show up and show some balls against a bad team like Toledo.

If Toledo was such a bad team, explain this:Akron 69Toledo 77

[zippyrifle32]

That means having a team show up and show some balls against a bad team like Toledo.

If Toledo was such a bad team, explain this:Akron 69Toledo 77

luck.

[KNCLZip]

That means having a team show up and show some balls against a bad team like Toledo.

If Toledo was such a bad team, explain this:Akron 69Toledo 77

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while..... So when a 12 seed beats a 5 in the NCAAs, does that mean that the 12 is the better team, or just that the 12 seed found a way to beat a superior opponent that day?If Toledo were a better team, why were the Zips invited to the NIT and not Toledo?

[zipsbandman]

It was a tournament. Upsets happen. Unfortunately, we were the ones upset. I would not say Toledo is a bad team at all though. I thinl they will be formidable next year.

[ZipAnalyst]

Analysis, analysis, analysis! Passion is for cheering on your team at the game. Unbridled passion has no place in this forum or at court side.ZIPSNATION.ORG will catch the attention of those who make decisions on the future operations, recruiting and scheduling for the BB team, if reason is the predominant characteristic in thiis forum.Otherwise, it will be dismissed as the haven for "know nothings" who are ardent "know nothings!"It is up to those who participate in ZIPSNATION.ORG to made it credible and "value added" fan input.A number of the posts on this topic are clearly headed in the direction I want ZIPSNATION.ORG to going in.

[ZipAlumn]

- If the players and coaches can't take some fan criticism, they should go to a DIII school where nobody gives a crap.

That's news to me .... Division III coaches and players don't "give a crap". Now why would they play if they don't care. When Akron was Division II why did I go to Eveansville to watch the NCAA D-II Finals. Why did I drive to Tennessse to watch Terry Bradshaw and Lousianna Tech beat Akron in the Rice Bowl? Trust me everyone cares it's just a matter of what level you play at. The criticism should be intelligent and constructive not emotional and destructive.

[mrelegazna]

- The ZipsNation laid a similar egg in the subsequent 48 hours or so.  I won't comment on much of what was posted because I think a lot of it was garbage and doesn't merit further discussion.  Seems like everyone calmed down mid-day on Sunday.  I've always felt that this, like the Dreamwater blue boards before it, was a haven for objective, clear headed discussion of Zips sports without going off the deep end of player/coach attacks .. a la Bobcatattack.Com or MACbbs.  I think we now know that ZN.O has a strong foothold in the Zips Nation .. lots of emotional posts .. lots of passion.  I guess I'll take the bad with the good on that front, but I think there was a ton of crap posted around here for a few days.  Nice activity level though.- My opinion here -->  If you think Nate Linhart is just a slow white player that isn't worthy of minutes on a good team, then you're nuts & you're not watching the same guy I see.  Nate had a tough second half after he hit the freshman wall.  But NO ONE goes to the MAC tourney and pulls down 14 boards in a single game without quickness, anticipation and good basketball sense.  I'm thrilled this guy is only a Freshman & that we have him.  With some strength, and a little quicker release on his jumper, I think he has the potential for 2 All MAC selections in the next 3 years.  He could be that good.  You can't teach what he's got in court awareness & anticipation.  And he's NOT slow.  There's 2 guys on this team that are able to put the ball on the floor and consistently get to the rack.  Cedric's the first`and Nate's the 2nd.  Lay off the kid and be glad he's here.

ZipWatcher,I have to respectfully disagree that it was a bad 48 hours for ZipsNation. I thought last weekend was one of the best moments in the history of ZipsNation. Since I started coming on this board about a year and a half ago, the quantity and quality of posts has improved drastically. Last wekend Zips fans said, "We're mad as Hell and we're not going to take it any more!". Instead of going home mad and sulking until next season trying to gain some hope from the early season wins against Dennison and a bad conference this season, Zips fans stood up and let their voices ring out. I've been through enough losing in my years with Akron sports and I want some winning of championships. That means having a team show up and show some balls against a bad team like Toledo. If the players and coaches can't take some fan criticism, they should go to a DIII school where nobody gives a crap. I would bet that there are some posters out there like Captain Kangaroo, Zips Win! and King Zip that are almost as pissed off today as they were last weekend. Thank God for people like that.Nate Linhart? Will he improve? Probably. Does he have the natural ability to make significant improvements? Probably not. I asked the question last weekend pertaining to whom he could get playing time in front of at Can't State. I'm still waiting for an answer from anybody who thinks he could. Nate, because he was on the all MAC freshman team now has a bullseye on his back from every team we play. If you were another team, do you think he would be a difficult guy to shut down? As he gets older, he will need to become the "go to" guy for Akron. Does the prospect of that make anyone comfortable? Akron doesn't need a steady influx of "suburban" (you said white, not me) kids lacking the athletic talent to take them to the next level, they need studs who even on an average day are still better than the nonathletic players. We saw the benefits of "suburban" players during the Owens years in football, nine years of that misery was enough.

It's not that criticism is uncalled for. It's not even that some of the criticism of KD's coaching wasn't reasonable (althouth I disagreed with most of it personally) It's that honestly asking whether KD is the right for this team, and implying that he's not, is just patently ridiculous considering we accomplished some things that we hadn't since 1989 and other things that we hadn't since joining DI. If this season wasn't good enough to vindicate the coach, then you're gonna run through a LOT of coaches in your neverending quest for a coach that never makes mistakes, or only makes on or two a year. They were emotional posts after we were angry after losing to Toledo. Those who want to fire the coach after every bad/tough loss probably aren't in a good position to evaluate mental toughness themselves.As for Linhart, it's news to me that he's gonna have to be our "go-to" guy, ever. I guess the rest of the 11 or so on the roster, as well as the recruits we have coming in and will have coming in the next three seasons, aren't as good as I thought they could be.And he'll have a target on his back because he made the all-freshman team? Give me a break. When MAC play rolls around next year, ask a few random players from different teams to recite last year's all-freshman team. The only ones they might get are Aker (who won Frosh of the Year) and anyone from their own team who might've made it.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Unlike Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life," we'll never have the opportunity to know what effect that loss to Toledo, and the subsequent absence for the MAC finals in Cleveland, had on the Hoops program. Maybe when I die I'll ask God that one? Hey...Did I just have a "Pluto Moment?" One thing for certain...we'll never truely know until we reach a title game.In a broad sense...the effect will be minimal, as long as KD keeps the program rolling in the positive direction...and I have every reason to believe he'll do that. But that game...a championship...Akron vs. Can't...big venue...national TV...was a huge opportunity lost for the program. I'll leave it at that. We still only have one MAC Tourney win in Cleveland to show for 8 years of toil. That's an amazing/alarming stat, and it's one "monkey" we still need to shake from our back. I also am concerned with how our team competed vs. Toledo. The simply out-hustled us the latter half of that game. I wouldn't trade our roster for theirs. Not a chance. But Toledo showed a killer instinct....a fight-for-your-life desperation in that game that made me envious. Coming back to beat Temple was very impressive. The thread above mentioned mental toughness. To blow the Toledo game as we did, and to come back and beat Temple on the road, is one thing that heartens me when looking towards next season.I see where Wichita State...George Mason...Wisconsin-Milwaukee...Bradley...Northwestern State..etc. are I believe the Zips aren't very far away from competing at that level. Conversely, I see how Can't State got waxed by Pitt...a Can't State team that was slightly better than Akron's this season... and I see how far we need to go to reach that level.Lunch break's over. I contradicted myself several times above. I'm still scratching my head to figure out where we stand at this time. Yes, we're standing "good." But how good, I still don't know.

[GP1]

Analysis, analysis, analysis! Passion is for cheering on your team at the game. Unbridled passion has no place in this forum or at court side.ZIPSNATION.ORG will catch the attention of those who make decisions on the future operations, recruiting and scheduling for the BB team, if reason is the predominant characteristic in thiis forum.Otherwise, it will be dismissed as the haven for "know nothings" who are ardent "know nothings!"It is up to those who participate in ZIPSNATION.ORG to made it credible and "value added" fan input.A number of the posts on this topic are clearly headed in the direction I want ZIPSNATION.ORG to going in.

If there are people out there making decisions based upon what us knuckle heads write on this web board, we are in deep poop. Fear The Future if that is the case.

[Zip Watcher]

GP1,A clarification on my post. I don't disagree entirely with your first paragraph of your first reply to this post. I agree that the passion & energy on the board was nice that weekend. What disappointed me was the movement by some posters to move into the "this coach isn't going to get it done" area .. and the "our players suck and aren't good enough for me" rants. I stand by my position that these are not productive energies here. Be angry the Zips laid an egg .. fine, that's part of being a fan. But to start the drumbeat of "I want a new coach" after seasons of 19 and 23 wins in years 1 and 2 is ridiculous.I will continue to disagree with the "slow" criticism of Linhart. From day 1 I have been in the "Middleton can really play" camp (go back to early last year), and I stand by that now. I will also stand by my opinion that Nate will become one of our best players. Not because we don't have better talent .. or because we stock up on suburban LO type players. No. It will be because he has some uncoachable attributes. It will be because he has size, hoops sense, anticipation .. and quickness. The guy is a DI talent athletically. He belongs .. and I think he'll continue to prove it. I don't think he's too far from what Andy was (pre-back injury) .. and I venture to guess that most of us would love to have that type of player be here and reach his potential in this system.My big issue in a nutshell:I don't think it's fair for us to burden these players and this coach with the failures of past regimes. I refuse to do it. - This is YEAR 2 of the KD era. That means more to me than year 17 post Huggins ... 8 years of MAC futility .. etc. The rest is irrelevant to this team here and now. They weren't here for those years .. and they're not here to undo those years. They're here to be successful NOW, and they're on the way.- The 2008-09 season will be the earliest year that I can consider the whole roster "KD's Guys." I know he was Hip's top recruiter for the 2 years before he got the top chair. But in those years, he was recruiting for an entirely different system than he's implementing here. Cedric is his first recruit. I think until he gets 2 more classes in here, I'll be slow to criticize him for the talent levels. These guys are talented .. sure, but they might just be better suited to the motion / triangle half court offense side of things, rather than the run, gun & defend system of KD.- Year 1: 19 wins, MAC Quarters, no postseason.- Year 2: 23 wins, MAC Semi's, NIT bid, 1 NIT winThat's a pretty damn good start in my mind. And that's what it is. A START of things .. this isn't a continuation of anything, good or bad. It's a new start.At least that's how I see things.Finally

If there are people out there making decisions based upon what us knuckle heads write on this web board, we are in deep poop. Fear The Future if that is the case.

Now THAT is extremely well said / typed!!Go Zips!

[GP1]

GP1,A clarification on my post. I don't disagree entirely with your first paragraph of your first reply to this post. I agree that the passion & energy on the board was nice that weekend. What disappointed me was the movement by some posters to move into the "this coach isn't going to get it done" area .. and the "our players suck and aren't good enough for me" rants. I stand by my position that these are not productive energies here. Be angry the Zips laid an egg .. fine, that's part of being a fan. But to start the drumbeat of "I want a new coach" after seasons of 19 and 23 wins in years 1 and 2 is ridiculous.I will continue to disagree with the "slow" criticism of Linhart. From day 1 I have been in the "Middleton can really play" camp (go back to early last year), and I stand by that now. I will also stand by my opinion that Nate will become one of our best players. Not because we don't have better talent .. or because we stock up on suburban LO type players. No. It will be because he has some uncoachable attributes. It will be because he has size, hoops sense, anticipation .. and quickness. The guy is a DI talent athletically. He belongs .. and I think he'll continue to prove it. I don't think he's too far from what Andy was (pre-back injury) .. and I venture to guess that most of us would love to have that type of player be here and reach his potential in this system.My big issue in a nutshell:I don't think it's fair for us to burden these players and this coach with the failures of past regimes. I refuse to do it. - This is YEAR 2 of the KD era. That means more to me than year 17 post Huggins ... 8 years of MAC futility .. etc. The rest is irrelevant to this team here and now. They weren't here for those years .. and they're not here to undo those years. They're here to be successful NOW, and they're on the way.- The 2008-09 season will be the earliest year that I can consider the whole roster "KD's Guys." I know he was Hip's top recruiter for the 2 years before he got the top chair. But in those years, he was recruiting for an entirely different system than he's implementing here. Cedric is his first recruit. I think until he gets 2 more classes in here, I'll be slow to criticize him for the talent levels. These guys are talented .. sure, but they might just be better suited to the motion / triangle half court offense side of things, rather than the run, gun & defend system of KD.- Year 1: 19 wins, MAC Quarters, no postseason.- Year 2: 23 wins, MAC Semi's, NIT bid, 1 NIT winThat's a pretty damn good start in my mind. And that's what it is. A START of things .. this isn't a continuation of anything, good or bad. It's a new start.At least that's how I see things.Finally

If there are people out there making decisions based upon what us knuckle heads write on this web board, we are in deep poop. Fear The Future if that is the case.

Now THAT is extremely well said / typed!!Go Zips!

Fair enough.Have a good weekend eveyone.