@ Miami (OH) Saturday 1pm

[PB1719]

It seems that too often we play to the level of our competition

[GP1]

If today's game is any indication of the results of a pre-game speech, KD might want to quit trying to inspire his team by telling them stories of his high school coaching days when Lebron was 14 years old.

Anyhow, Miami is an absolutely horrible, horrible, horrible team. We should have beaten them by 20. Other than getting a win, there wasn't much positive about the game today.

[bUAkronG]

It seems that too often we play to the level of our competition

this. The proof is in the pudding. OU is a good team, and we played great. CMU and Miami are 2 of the worst teams in the MAC and it took a huge effort to win.

[Dave in Green]

Well, the Zips' stats took a big hit today. They're going to drop several spots in the Pomeroy rankings due to poor performance. But folks around here tell me the only stat that matters is wins, and the Zips have just extended the nation's longest current winning streak to 15. So don't worry, be happy.

[akronzips71]

Well, the Zips' stats took a big hit today. They're going to drop several spots in the Pomeroy rankings due to poor performance. But folks around here tell me the only stat that matters is wins, and the Zips have just extended the nation's longest current winning streak to 15. So don't worry, be happy.

I'll take it!

[MDZip]

We're not the only one. Ohio only up on BGSU by one at the half.

[zippy5]

I understand we have a target on our back, and are going to get our opponent's best game nightly, but I just have trouble giving credit to teams that arent good.

meh, I said I didn't think we'd go undefeated because eventually we'll have a bad game and someone will play their best game. So far, that's happened multiple times (Ball St, Buffalo, arguably today). We have won all of those games. I'd love to see us play our best game, but I'm also okay with that best game showing up against the best teams we play (See: OU). We won fifteen in a row, I find it a little greedy to complain about how we won them. Good teams win, and we are winning. I'm just going to enjoy this ride!

[johnnyzip84]

The Harney-Treadwell-Marshall inside passing game just wasn't clicking today. It's been the SECOND pass that has been effective with those three, so I hope they work on that ASAP.

I agree with the criticism of Alex's 1st half defense, but he did a better job staying in front of his man in the 2nd half. That points to effort, so I hope he can ramp it up some. He won't have many games like this where his shot simply won't fall, so I'm not too concerned about his offense. Of course, it doesn't help that he's still called on to play mega minutes every game.

EMU still scares me, both from a style standpoint and their roster. Having all those transfers early on no doubt caused some cohesion issues for Rob Murphy, but now that the season is far enough along they very well may be coming together some. I don't think the Zips need to play GREAT on Wednesday, but they will have to play a GOOD game. Today's effort and execution won't cut it.

ps. was it common knowledge around here that Nick Harney's uncle is Ron Harper? If so, I'm not sure how I missed that.

[zen]

I can't help thinking back to the speach that they televised Coach giving before the Ohio game. He said to stay even.

I think this is what he needs to instill in them in every game.

I was looking in the Zip's players faces today. The burden of the streak is making them want to do too much too hard to fast.

They have the talent to play even and let the game slow down.

I'm not talking about tempo, or execution. I'm talking about mindset. Confidence is trusting your skills. No need to think about streaks or recognition or anything else. Just be even.

[akzipper]

We're not the only one. Ohio only up on BGSU by one at the half.

I'm sure they will pull away. Shouldn't have any problem beating BG.

[ZachTheZip]

Zeke needs to take his time at the FT line. When he does that, he's money. When he rushes, you get what we've seen the past few games. Same as early in his career.

Harney needs to not be starting. If Chauncey still isn't ready to go, then start Kretzer or McAdams.

[phil]

The only redeeming thing about this game was that Walsh had a great game with 5 of 7 shooting and some great rebounds and defensive plays. It is tough winning on the road and tough bringing your best game to the floor each time. But the Zips still won. Early in the game they had a 3 on 1, tokk 3 shots and did not come away with any points. I thought it was going to be a tough game.

When Zeke gets tired, his foul shots are short. His last one did not hit the rim and he played over 30 minutes. We did not get a great deal from Chauncy and this is his 3rd weak game in a row. His knee must still be bothering him because he is not moving very well. I hope he gets better because this is his senior year and would love for him to have a great year. He can slash to the basket but have not seen him do it this year.

Hopefully, we can keep this streak going on Wed. Go Zips!

[Hilltopper]

A win is a win is a win.

[acstorfer]

Good teams win ugly games. It's really not a bad thing watching a bad game, but the team still wins. Ugly wins build character and it gives teams who have to grind some confidence.

[ZachTheZip]

Good teams win ugly games. It's really not a bad thing watching a bad game, but the team still wins. Ugly wins build character and it gives teams who have to grind some confidence.

I'm afraid that they're tricking themselves into believing that they can do this every game. That they can turn it on for just five or ten minutes a game and come away with a win.

[Dave in Green]

"This is really inexcusable,'' said Demetrius Treadwell

[skip-zip]

Abreu is a sieve on defense.

You just noticed? And it's exposing itself even more this year with his apparent lack of conditioning. This is why Harney's play against Cooper was so critical in the OU game. It's also one of the key areas where we really miss Quincy sometimes. And it's also why we really need Carmelo to grow a little more offensively so we can have him on the court more to defend opposing guards.

And we should stop right there since someone will surely say that fans are not allowed to be critical of players when you've just won 15 games in a row.

[gozips19]

The Harney-Treadwell-Marshall inside passing game just wasn't clicking today. It's been the SECOND pass that has been effective with those three, so I hope they work on that ASAP.

I agree with the criticism of Alex's 1st half defense, but he did a better job staying in front of his man in the 2nd half. That points to effort, so I hope he can ramp it up some. He won't have many games like this where his shot simply won't fall, so I'm not too concerned about his offense. Of course, it doesn't help that he's still called on to play mega minutes every game.

EMU still scares me, both from a style standpoint and their roster. Having all those transfers early on no doubt caused some cohesion issues for Rob Murphy, but now that the season is far enough along they very well may be coming together some. I don't think the Zips need to play GREAT on Wednesday, but they will have to play a GOOD game. Today's effort and execution won't cut it.

ps. was it common knowledge around here that Nick Harney's uncle is Ron Harper? If so, I'm not sure how I missed that.

Good points JZ84. I'll add on by saying that Akron hasn't figured out its spacing the past few weeks. Most teams will pack it in on D the rest of the way. Akon needs to hit some shots to truly fix this. But, they can take better angles on getting the ball into the post. Akron also needs to figure out the high low game. Would like to see Tree and Harney getting the ball in the high post. Should lead to better looks for them and Zeke. Not sure what happene to AA today. Hoping they figure this out sooner raher than later.

Didn' know tht about Harey and Harper either JZ

[Dave in Green]

..... And we should stop right there since someone will surely say that fans are not allowed to be critical of players when you've just won 15 games in a row.

Constructive criticism should always be welcome, because it's in the best interests of the team as a whole. The Zips have won 15 games in a row because their strengths have outweighed their weaknesses. Doesn't mean they don't have weaknesses that shouldn't be pointed out and discussed. Rico has strong and weak areas like every other Zips player. His ability to guard a faster player is a widely recognized weakness that he helps offset with other strengths. But that doesn't mean it's unfair to point out where we'd like to see him improve his game. Coach Dambrot isn't shy about saying where he thinks each of his players excels or lags. He also gives credit where credit is due, which is something that some critics forget to do.

[2Ball]

Not a good lineup decision once we got it back to 4 down, IMHO.

Need more McAdams, less Melo and Deji.

We need more McAdams and Gilliam and NO Melo and NO Deji.

[akronzips71]

We need more McAdams and Gilliam and NO Melo and NO Deji.

No Gilliam. He is not healthy.

[Valpo Zip]

While I can understand the frustration with Melo, you have to see the potential in him and you have to believe that his future is bright. Deji is the one I can't figure. What does KD see in him? He's too slow to defend a PG and has an average of around .002 points per game. Why does he come off the bench before Reggie? Or even better question: why does he come off the bench at all?

[wadszip]

You just noticed? And it's exposing itself even more this year with his apparent lack of conditioning. This is why Harney's play against Cooper was so critical in the OU game. It's also one of the key areas where we really miss Quincy sometimes. And it's also why we really need Carmelo to grow a little more offensively so we can have him on the court more to defend opposing guards.

And we should stop right there since someone will surely say that fans are not allowed to be critical of players when you've just won 15 games in a row.

No, I haven't just noticed Alex's lack of being able to stay in front of his opponent, but today may have been his worst effort of the year (and maybe his career).

Other than that, I mostly agree with everything you said. ... though Carmelo is still way too raw offensively to trust in key situations. However, you can live with that if you have a lead and are trying to maintain it for a 3-4 minute stretch to give Alex a break. Problem is, this team has played so much catch-up of late that KD has had to keep Alex in more due to his offensive ability (mainly 3-point shooting), which is wearing him out more and making him just that much more of a liability on defense.

I love that this team doesn't panic when facing an early deficit ... and anybody who has watched Akron basketball under KD, this a big change. Before, I would joke to friends who don't really follow the program that you know how a game was going to go in the first 10 minutes. If a team got the Zips down early, they never came back and won. This team doesn't panic when facing a deficit, but they aren't talented enough to continue to pull themselves out of holes like that. They got away with it this week due to playing two bad basketball teams, but they do that in Athens, it's a repeat of last year.

[skip-zip]

Constructive criticism should always be welcome, because it's in the best interests of the team as a whole. The Zips have won 15 games in a row because their strengths have outweighed their weaknesses. Doesn't mean they don't have weaknesses that shouldn't be pointed out and discussed. Rico has strong and weak areas like every other Zips player. His ability to guard a faster player is a widely recognized weakness that he helps offset with other strengths. But that doesn't mean it's unfair to point out where we'd like to see him improve his game. Coach Dambrot isn't shy about saying where he thinks each of his players excels or lags. He also gives credit where credit is due, which is something that some critics forget to do.

Dave,

Thanks for weighing in on the critique issue. But unfortunately for the Zips, this isn't a matter of delicately pointing out an area where someone can "improve their game". A twenty-some year old basketball player who doesn't have the ability to stay in front of an opposing player doesn't just suddenly develop that skill. In fact, some other circumstances that have been mentioned will likely only add to the problem. That's why I am pointing out a couple of options where we can compensate as a team for that deficiency. I anticipate that we'll continue to see the staff find even more ways to compensate.

[GP1]

You just noticed? And it's exposing itself even more this year with his apparent lack of conditioning.

A guy indulges in a little bit too much paella this year and everyone is all over him....