First game three weeks from today!

[ksu sucks]

We have included a realistic number for student attendance in the "countdown" you've seen on BackTheZips.com. We also used a "capacity" of 5,500 for that countdown. As a point of reference, the number we are aiming for is 4,059, the largest announced attendance prior to New Year's in Coach D's tenure. That is the announced attendance of the game vs. Dayton back on Dec. 6, 2008. The largest home opener in Dambrot's tenure was in 2005 vs. YSU (announced: 3,886). I'm confident we'll surpass that number, but we could sure use your help encouraging friends, family, neighbors, and strangers to attend!

Thanks for the info!

[Blue & Gold]

I don't think anyone's posted THIS yet. It's George Thomas' breakdown of the Bluffton scrimmage.

GT mentions something I noticed - the starting 5's lack of outside shooting ability. The starting 5 for the Bluffton scrimmage were Pat, Tree, Harney, Q & Melo.

I didn't like that combo. Only Q presented a real outside threat so Bluffton just packed it in on D.

IF Melo is running the point we really need to replace either Harney with Reggie or Tree with Kretzer.

Thusly, I think Nyles will win the starting PG job; maybe not against CC, but sooner rather than later. To make the defense play honest, we need our PG to at least be a threat from the outside & Nyles looked to be a legit shooter.

PG....Nyles..........Q

2G....Q...............Reggie

W.....Harney.......Kretzer

PF.....Tree..........Harney

C......Pat............Big Dog

Toss in a little Deji & Melo once in a while & there's my predicted rotation.

I love Kwan, but I still think KD's gonna redshirt him (I appear to be in the minority position on that).

[akronzips71]

I don't think anyone's posted THIS yet. It's George Thomas' breakdown of the Bluffton scrimmage.

GT mentions something I noticed - the starting 5's lack of outside shooting ability. The starting 5 for the Bluffton scrimmage were Pat, Tree, Harney, Q & Melo.

I didn't like that combo. Only Q presented a real outside threat so Bluffton just packed it in on D.

IF Melo is running the point we really need to replace either Harney with Reggie or Tree with Kretzer.

Thusly, I think Nyles will win the starting PG job; maybe not against CC, but sooner rather than later. To make the defense play honest, we need our PG to at least be a threat from the outside & Nyles looked to be a legit shooter.

PG....Nyles..........Q

2G....Q...............Reggie

W.....Harney.......Kretzer

PF.....Tree..........Harney

C......Pat............Big Dog

Toss in a little Deji & Melo once in a while & there's my predicted rotation.

I love Kwan, but I still think KD's gonna redshirt him (I appear to be in the minority position on that).

My take is that if he does redshirt him, it will be a big mistake because by the time the MAC season starts our weakness at center will be obvious and he will burn that shirt. So might was well have him available now.

[Staton14]

2200 tickets left. With pregame sales this week and walk ups I'd expect about 4,500 which is still fantastic for a game against coastal carolina in football season. Nice to see fan interest finally start to catch up to the quality of the team.

According to BackTheZips.com there are now only 1743 tickets remaining. Over 100 tickets sold since yesterday. This looks like its going to be close to a sellout before its all said and done.

[LZIp]

Question regarding the promotion this Friday. This first 2000 fans get the MAC championship replica rings, will the rings be passed out at the main entrance or both the student and the main entrance?

[ZachTheZip]

Question regarding the promotion this Friday. This first 2000 fans get the MAC championship replica rings, will the rings be passed out at the main entrance or both the student and the main entrance?

There's going to be a lottery.

[ZipsBrad]

Question regarding the promotion this Friday. This first 2000 fans get the MAC championship replica rings, will the rings be passed out at the main entrance or both the student and the main entrance?

The rings will be given away via scratch-off card. Every person who enters the JAR on Friday, beginning at 4:30 p.m. when the doors open for the women's basketball game will receive a card. We had to use this method because we didn't feel it was fair to give them to the first arriving fans since the doors open so early. The cards will be distributed at each entrance.

Go Zips!

-Brad

[LZIp]

There's going to be a lottery.

The rings will be given away via scratch-off card. Every person who enters the JAR on Friday, beginning at 4:30 p.m. when the doors open for the women's basketball game will receive a card. We had to use this method because we didn't feel it was fair to give them to the first arriving fans since the doors open so early. The cards will be distributed at each entrance.

Go Zips!

-Brad

Thank you! The timely responses are much appreciated.

[Hilltopper]

Question regarding the promotion this Friday. This first 2000 fans get the MAC championship replica rings, will the rings be passed out at the main entrance or both the student and the main entrance?

Every season ticket holder got a voucher with their tickets that guarantees them one ring. All others who show up will be given a scratch off card that will let them know if they are going to get a ring. There will be a table(or two) set up to turn in your voucher to get a ring.

[Staton14]

Every season ticket holder got a voucher with their tickets that guarantees them one ring. All others who show up will be given a scratch off card that will let them know if they are going to get a ring. There will be a table(or two) set up to turn in your voucher to get a ring.

Also, any student who attended more than 10 games last year are guaranteed a ring and are being recognized on the court prior to the men's game. Luckily, I qualify for this and therefore don't need to worry about the lottery.

[LZIp]

Also, any student who attended more than 10 games last year are guaranteed a ring and are being recognized on the court prior to the men's game. Luckily, I qualify for this and therefore don't need to worry about the lottery.

Well damn.. I'm pretty sure I qualify as well. Anyway to check? If not, how will they let us know?

[JeffQ78]

You should have gotten an email from the university if you qualify.

[LZIp]

Talked to a friend who purchased tickets today. She said her and her boyfriend tried buying them from UA, but was told they were sold out? They had to go through Coastal Carolina to get tickets, which is where her boyfriend went.

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me from what I've read on here and what BackTheZips.com says, but just reporting what they told me.

[Dr Z]

Talked to a friend who purchased tickets today. She said her and her boyfriend tried buying them from UA, but was told they were sold out? They had to go through Coastal Carolina to get tickets, which is where her boyfriend went. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me from what I've read on here and what BackTheZips.com says, but just reporting what they told me.

Here are two tickets for a dollar each

Lots of tickets here

[Z.I.P.]

Here are two tickets for a dollar each

Lots of tickets here

According to the map only sections 3B and 1A have tics available. That looks like a near sellout to me.

[Dr Z]

Here are two tickets for a dollar each

Dollar tickets gone.

[zippyfan34]

Dollar tickets gone.

I have extra $5 off coupons that I wasn't able to pass them all out to trick or treaters. Let me know if you need any. I will be at the soccer game tonight.

[Dave in Green]

Considering the drawing power of Coastal Carolina in Akron, a sellout -- or even a near sellout -- is the first baby step toward making a case for a new arena. The Zips need to cooperate by putting on a show for the fans and winning impressively.

[ZipsBrad]

According to the map only sections 3B and 1A have tics available. That looks like a near sellout to me.

There are plenty of seats available in the general admission sections with limited seats left int he reserved sections. The number on BackTheZips.com is updated as of a few hours ago.

Go Zips!

-Brad

[Dr Z]

Anybody care to guess the spread on the game?

[Hilltopper]

I think CC is in a for a little bit of the same thing that happened to the Zips when we played them last season. If you remember, it was the opening night for their new arena. The Zips were originally scheduled to play them later in the season but the game was moved up due to Marshall asking us to move our date with them. Throw into the mix the last minute suspensions of Tree and Harney and the loss of Q for the season and you had the perfect mix for an upset. I would think the team has a little bit of revenge in mind for Friday night. Now we will have a full crowd on top of all that. I love it.

[Dave in Green]

In addition to all of the above, there were still more elements working against the Zips in last year's CC game. Rico had a badly sprained ankle and limped around for only 29 of 45 minutes in the OT game, and Chauncey had an injured knee that would a few weeks later require surgery. Both were hurting and neither had a good game. The result was that Jake and Reggie, true freshmen playing in their first game against a D1 college opponent, were on the floor 42 and 34 minutes respectively. With the current full and healthy Zips roster, it's payback time.

[johnnyzip84]

Anybody care to guess the spread on the game?

That's a great question. Right off the top of my head, I'll go the 'Meister +1 (i.e. 15 points).