Our team next year

[Valpo Zip]

Up to my knowledge, here is how the depth chart of our 06-07 basketball team looks like:PG - Dru Joyce, Steve McNees, Darryl Roberts, Jeremy Sallee, Chad Mraz.SG - Nick Dials, Cedrick Middleton, Jimmy Conyers, Zach Sowers, Nick Goddard.SF - Nate Linhart, John Rybak.PF - Romeo Travis, Chris McKnight, Quade Milum.C - Jeremiah Woods, Mike Bardo.We have 5 players for each of the guard positions and only two for the forwards and the Center. Our biggest guy is Bardo at 6-9, and he reportedly needs a lot of work. I was really hoping to see this last scholarship go to a 6-9+ guy instead of another guard. But Oh well in KD i trust !

[ZipAlumn]

Up to my knowledge, here is how the depth chart of our 06-07 basketball team looks like:PG - Dru Joyce, Steve McNees, Darryl Roberts, Jeremy Sallee, Chad Mraz.SG - Nick Dials, Cedrick Middleton, Jimmy Conyers, Zach Sowers, Nick Goddard.SF - Nate Linhart, John Rybak.PF - Romeo Travis, Chris McKnight, Quade Milum.C  - Jeremiah Woods, Mike Bardo.We have 5 players for each of the guard positions and only two for the forwards and the Center. Our biggest guy is Bardo at 6-9, and he reportedly needs a lot of work. I was really hoping to see this last scholarship go to a 6-9+ guy instead of another guard. But Oh well in KD i trust !

I am not sure of the depth chart, but I agree with you on the number of guards versus forwards and centers skhorbotly. I think that the lack of height and maybe athletic ability is the only thing keeping this Zip team from taking the next step and not only making the big dance, but going several games into the tournament. But good big men are harder to find than guards, especially when you see 6'6" guards all over the place.

[sgm405]

Jimmy Conyers as 3rd string shooting guard? He'll start at the 3...

[zipfan 81]

Chad Mraz is not coming back as far as I heard. But I see in the Beacon today we have another preferred walk-on from Buchtel joining us next year, and yes, he is a 6'2 guard...

[Captain Kangaroo]

Up to my knowledge, here is how the depth chart of our 06-07 basketball team looks like:PG - Dru Joyce, Steve McNees, Darryl Roberts, Jeremy Sallee, Chad Mraz.SG - Nick Dials, Cedrick Middleton, Jimmy Conyers, Zach Sowers, Nick Goddard.SF - Nate Linhart, John Rybak.PF - Romeo Travis, Chris McKnight, Quade Milum.C - Jeremiah Woods, Mike Bardo.We have 5 players for each of the guard positions and only two for the forwards and the Center. Our biggest guy is Bardo at 6-9, and he reportedly needs a lot of work. I was really hoping to see this last scholarship go to a 6-9+ guy instead of another guard. But Oh well in KD i trust !

Sallee, Mraz, Goddard and Sowers don't count in my book. They're just space-fillers at the end of the bench and not on scholarship.

[Blue & Gold]

Chad Mraz is not coming back as far as I heard. But I see in the Beacon today we have another preferred walk-on from Buchtel joining us next year, and yes, he is a 6'2 guard...

I too, was surprised to read this in the BJ this a.m. To be honest, this Buchtel player - Ronald Garth - is a 6'2" forward. He's not nearly quick enough to play guard at the D-1 level. He'll probably just be a hustling 'practice squad' guy.

[GoZips]

PG - Dru Joyce, Steve McNees, Darryl Roberts, Jeremy Sallee, Chad Mraz.SG - Nick Dials, Cedrick Middleton, Jimmy Conyers, Zach Sowers, Nick Goddard.SF - Nate Linhart, John Rybak.PF - Romeo Travis, Chris McKnight, Quade Milum.C - Jeremiah Woods, Mike Bardo.

In my opinion, there are several differences in what I have learned and whatSKHORBOTLY lists.First, ZIPSFAN81 is correct about Chad Mraz. Coach Dambrot praised Mraz at thebanquet and mentioned that Mraz is NOT returning.Second, if you look carefully, the Zips are loading up on athletes. Any one who sawQuade Milum at the banquet has to realize that Quade has made major strides ingetting an athlete's body. As coach stated, Quade has the potential to be an impact player. From the conditioning he is investing in and the way he handled NBA boundTemple star Mardy Collins this is a genuine possibility.Third, walk ons are a great help to the team. Do not under sell them.My view:PG - Dru Joyce (nothing like senior leadership), Steve McNees (true freshman back up)SG - Nick Dials (sparkplugs the show), Cedric Middleton (best sixth man in the conference)SF - Nate Linhart (solid, aggressive, plays defense), Jimmy Conyers (going to be great)PF - Romeo Travis (all MAC), Chris McKnight (understudy), John Rybak (enforcer)C - Jeremiah Wood (all MAC), Quade Milum (showing he can earn it)redshirts - Darryl Roberts, Mike BardoLastly, replacing Bubba Walthers with Steve McNees is an incredible step up.

[zipfan 81]

Third, walk ons are a great help to the team. Do not under sell them.

Saying things like "space fillers" for these guys isn't very appreciative for guys that do everything the starters do except get their minutes. They practice just as hard and many times outhustle these guys. Correct me if I am wrong, but haven't walk-ons earned scholarships and minutes at DI colleges.

[Valpo Zip]

In my opinion, there are several differences in what I have learned and whatSKHORBOTLY lists.First, ZIPSFAN81 is correct about Chad Mraz. Coach Dambrot praised Mraz at thebanquet and mentioned that Mraz is NOT returning.Second, if you look carefully, the Zips are loading up on athletes. Any one who sawQuade Milum at the banquet has to realize that Quade has made major strides ingetting an athlete's body. As coach stated, Quade has the potential to be an impact player. From the conditioning he is investing in and the way he handled NBA boundTemple star Mardy Collins this is a genuine possibility.Third, walk ons are a great help to the team. Do not under sell them.My view:PG - Dru Joyce (nothing like senior leadership), Steve McNees (true freshman back up)SG - Nick Dials (sparkplugs the show), Cedric Middleton (best sixth man in the conference)SF - Nate Linhart (solid, aggressive, plays defense), Jimmy Conyers (going to be great)PF - Romeo Travis (all MAC), Chris McKnight (understudy), John Rybak (enforcer)C - Jeremiah Wood (all MAC), Quade Milum (showing he can earn it)redshirts - Darryl Roberts, Mike BardoLastly, replacing Bubba Walthers with Steve McNees is an incredible step up.

Whether Mraz is returning or not does not make a big difference here. All i'm saying is that we need to recruit bigger kids! If we go with your plan (redshirting Bardo), our biggest guy on the floor would be Romeo at 6-7 and we would have Jeremiah (who is originally a 6-6 PF) at center and his substitute happens to be a very inconsistent (until now) skinny Quade milum facing Can't's 7 footer and Buffalo's Ibdihi and other big Centers in the league not to mention outside the league.That's my concern !

[gozips19]

skhorbotly welcome to the world of mid major baseketball.... if you look at most rosters at this level there are two types of teams.... teams that have 2-3 athletic big's and a bunch of guards who can go after it for the entire game with out letting up like GW ... there is also the other kind of team that will be balanced at each pos. but most of the big's are prospects that take 2-3 yrs to develop... a perfect example of this is Can't... both work at this level but akron's is a little less risky. all it takes is a few big's to not pan out and sets your program back 5 years... (i'm sure the capt. will give a list of the numerous busts in zips history at some point )as for people redshriting the only guy i can see doing this is roberts... even is bardo plays 5 mins. a game it will still get him some game experience just like akron did with quade. this team will much more athletic and much deeper than this years.... they should be very dangerous!

[Captain Kangaroo]

Third, walk ons are a great help to the team. Do not under sell them.

Saying things like "space fillers" for these guys isn't very appreciative for guys that do everything the starters do except get their minutes. They practice just as hard and many times outhustle these guys. Correct me if I am wrong, but haven't walk-ons earned scholarships and minutes at DI colleges.

What I'm saying is you cannot state "we have too many guards" and include the three non-scholarship guards who barely saw a meaningful minute last season to prove that point. Those guys do not count because they have never been, nor will ever be part of our game day rotation...unless we're playing Dennison.Yes, walk-ons have earned minutes and scholarships at other schools. Hell...they've done it at Akron. Goddard, Salee, Sowers and Mraz will not get scholarships. MAYBE, if they stuck around for their senior seasons KD would reward one with a single year scholarship.

[InTheZone]

Walk-ons in basketball have it a lot tougher than walk-ons in football. While preferred walk-ons in football are usually guys who have D-1 talent but where left out in the cold when the scholarships were handed out, there's so many D-1 basketball programs in the country that if you didn't get a scholarship to one of them, you probably don't belong in the MAC. While some of our best football players over the years have started their careers as walk-ons (i.e. Ryan Myers) at the moment I can't think of one basketball walkon who has played a significant role on the hardwood for us.

[Zip N' Dots]

I think Conyers will be starting over Linhart by conference play. Conyers is more athletic, has a stronger frame, can play defense and can shoot like no one I have seen in a long while. Don't get me wrong Linhart is extremely valuable with his versitility. I expect him and Cedrick to come off the bench around the same time to spell the starters for an extended period of time which will help greatly come tournament time as players will be more rested.

[Zip Watcher]

Killing time while on hold, here's my depth chart:PG: Middleton, Joyce, RussellSG: Conyers, Dials, McNeesSF: Linhart, RybackPF: Travis, McKnightC: Wood, Milum, BardoThe backup to SF might be rolling into a 3 guard set a lot, so I'm thinking Ryback as a spot shooter is OK for SOME minutes at that spot. He is a big boy, but with the matchup 113 zone, they can handle it defensively against most 3's. Might need to go smaller if there's a quicker 3 on the other team when you spell Linhart.So the size of the team as starters:PG: 6-1SG: 6-5SF: 6-7PF: 6-7C: 6-7That's pretty good for a MAC squad. Lots of depth at the 1 and 2 should enable KD to really pressure the perimeter and take the 3's away, forcing the opponent inside, where generally, the Zips stack up pretty well against the conference.

[GoZips]

ZIP WATCHER, thanks for the belly laugh.Apparantly you do not follow basketball closely. Your position selections may well beyour views of how it should be. But, it is simply not going to fall that way. I tried togive as concise a position assessment as I could based on player experience, coachcomments, year in school, etc.Dru Joyce will be the starting point guard. This is fact. His back up is likely to be thetalented, tall, athletic freshman Steve McNees. With Joyce being a senior, a suitablereplacement for him has to be groomed.Junior Nick Dials is light years ahead of a talented Jimmy Conyers who has zero collegelevel playing time. Dials will be graduated before Conyers has that level of experience.Besides, Conyers is looking like the potential back up for the small forward position.Cedric Middleton who brings a ton of dynamite off the bench and can, when called upon,play the point is the experienced and talented shooting guard.Nick Dials is at Akron not because he could not cut it at Suckeye State, But because offormer coach Jim "where the hell am I now" O'Brien. Dials left OSphew prior to thearrival of current coach Thad Matta. In all likelihood, Dials would still be their startingshooting guard. He is an incredibly talented player.Russell? Russell who? I presume you meant to say Darryl Roberts. Roberts is a qualitypoint/combo guard that the Zips can afford to red shirt providing there are no seriousback court injuries.As of right now, Nate Linhart is the starting small forward. The staff will likely groomJimmy Conyers as the back up SF. Conyers already has an excellent guard game.Giving him time at SF makes him a stronger and better player over the long run.John Rybak, himself only a sophomore in the fall, is a big man body capable of playingthe power forward position. He will be taught more of the PF role so his aggression andlarge upper body can be used in an "enforcer" role. This does not mean a nasty player.Rather, a player who stunts opponents who attempt to dominate by intimidation.ZW, you have the 4 and 5 slots picked right. I my opinion, Bardo will be red shirted sothat his talents can be honed. He is not needed this coming year. He will be a muchmore effective player as fifth year senior.Chris McKnight will understudy Romeo Travis. Ten, fifteen minutes a game would allowTravis more rest and time to play the post when needed. Like the Joyce situation, Travisis a senior and a replacement player needs to be in the mix. This is Chris McKnight.IF Jeremiah Wood is as ready as claimed he will provide the bulk of the postplay. Quade Milum showed at Temple that he can play inside effectively. Look for Milum to see more floor time this coming year.The Zips should be the odds on favorite to take the MAC. They have the talent andcoaching to be a late season Top-25 team getting a lot of "ink". Expect it. Enjoy it. Just for the record: I, like many of you, would love to snag a big man. I had my hopespinned on getting a JUCO post player. This is coach Dambrot's team. Until such time as he screws up (23-10 is not screwing up) we need to relax and let him make thedecisions.

[Valpo Zip]

I agree with every thing GoZips said except redshirting Bardo. I never seen him play and i heard that he is not the greatest talent but i still think that we can not afford redshirting him because Quade is not very reliable. I know he played good at temple but he played horrible at Creighton. So i really don't feel like we can count on him to be consistent.