What if Abreu returned?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Bill Livingston says it may happen??!!

Akron’s Carmelo Betancourt, who shares being from Puerto Rico, anyway, with last year’s incumbent, Alex Abreu, scored no points Saturday. Abreu, on probation for drug trafficking, a stunning violation which sank Dambrot’s best team’s chances in the NCAAs last year, might be back, although no one knows just when.

Another interesting tidbit:

J.D. Weatherspoon -- recruited by Akron and then spurned when the scholarships ran out -- decided J.D. Weatherspoon had a point to make (20 of them in fact) and 14 rebounds to corral.

Didn't know that? Wonder who got that scholarship?

[tomzip]

Bill Livingston says it may happen??!!

Another interesting tidbit:

Didn't know that? Wonder who got that scholarship?

Could it be the kid from Jackson we let go? I forget his name. It was a 4 spot, the same as spoon..just a guess

[LZIp]

Would not be in favor of bringing Abreu back in 1 million years. The PG situation is rough, but at some point you need to hold morals above winning.

Interesting tidbit on Weatherspoon. Kind of like when KD chose somebody else over CJ McCollum as well.

[Dr Z]

Nice article.

If AA is truly sorry, and issued a real apology to fans for his wrong doing, I have no problem with him getting a second chance. I hope he is truly sorry, and is trying to get his life on track. Sometimes it takes something drastic to get your life in order. I know it's not apples to apples, but the Chris Carter story comes to mind. He would have to be mentally tough in road games.

Weatherspoon scored 20 yesterday for Toledo, if he were in an Akron uniform yesterday what do you think his point total would have been?

[UAZip0510]

I'd be all for Abreu returning - if he did so as a walk-on. Playing his final year as a non-scholarship player would show me he truly wants to make good on his past mistakes.

[tpsjugglerdude]

Bill Livingston says it may happen??!!

Another interesting tidbit:

Didn't know that? Wonder who got that scholarship?

I believe Daryl Roberts got his senior season paid for instead of 4 years of JD Weatherspoon.

[The Hip Zip]

I'd be all for Abreu returning - if he did so as a walk-on. Playing his final year as a non-scholarship player would show me he truly wants to make good on his past mistakes.

He'd have to move a lot of weed to afford that.

I do agree though. Though AA took it to the next level I'm sure that many of us did some really stupid things when we were his age.

[The Hip Zip]

Nice article.

Weatherspoon scored 20 yesterday for Toledo, if he were in an Akron uniform yesterday what do you think his point total would have been?

God only knows but the guy is freakishly athletic for a MAC player. A matchup nightmare for anybody.

[UAZip0510]

He'd have to move a lot of weed to afford that.

I do agree though. Though AA took it to the next level I'm sure that many of us did some really stupid things when we were his age.

He can take out student loans for it like I did (and most of us do).

[Dave in Green]

I don't understand what Livingston is talking about when he says that Weatherspoon was spurned by UA when the scholarships ran out. Weatherspoon was originally recruited by some high-majors as well as some mid-majors, including UA where he was recruited by Jeff Boals. When Boals moved to Columbus, Weatherspoon was offered by tOSU and accepted. Is Livingston trying to say that Weatherspoon would have selected UA over tOSU if the Zips hadn't run out of scholarships? There's no way Coach Dambrot would have given up his last scholarship as long as he thought he had a shot at Weatherspoon.

[Dave in Green]

Interesting quote from Juice Brown in Livingston's story: “Marshall altered all my shots. Glad he’s gone.”

[zippyfan34]

I don't understand what Livingston is talking about when he says that Weatherspoon was spurned by UA when the scholarships ran out. Weatherspoon was originally recruited by some high-majors as well as some mid-majors, including UA where he was recruited by Jeff Boals. When Boals moved to Columbus, Weatherspoon was offered by tOSU and accepted. Is Livingston trying to say that Weatherspoon would have selected UA over tOSU if the Zips hadn't run out of scholarships? There's no way Coach Dambrot would have given up his last scholarship as long as he thought he had a shot at Weatherspoon.

I think he has to be referring to when he decided to transfer from OSU, Akron must not have had an open scholarship but Toledo did.

[Hilltopper]

Livingston's story comes as no surprise to me. AA has remained close to the program. At the Cleveland state game he sitting in the seating section directly behind the bench and was warmly received by the players and administrators before tip off. If AA doesn't make a misstep I would fully expect him to be back on the team next season. I know there are people on this board who don't agree, but the main problem this year is no true point guard. Q is a great player who is doing his best to fill the void, but if AA was here no way does UT come into our gym and embarrass us. The whole chemistry of the team has been thrown out of whack.

[Dave in Green]

@zippyfan34, that makes a little more sense. Weatherspoon's transfer out of tOSU was reported on April 16, 2012, and his commitment to Toledo came a month later on May 15, 2012. Coach Dambrot was well aware of how talented Weatherspoon was from having recruited him before he committed to tOSU and would likely have had interest. I think there are still important details missing about what really happened.

[skip-zip]

Q is a great player who is doing his best to fill the void, but if AA was here no way does UT come into our gym and embarrass us.

Listen. I understand that having a more reliable point guard would help us. But, making such a definitive claim? We got whipped many times with Alex at the point. And we've now beaten OU twice without him, including a blowout in a title game and a win in Athens, and this is a team that he often struggled against. I'm just saying.

Again, I have to ask why a few of you weren't blaming our struggles early last year on Quincy's absence, the same way you are blaming it on Alex's absence now? As basketball players (not necessarily as point guards), I'd take Quincy over Alex in a heartbeat in terms of what they are able to contribute to our team.

[Dave in Green]

... Again, I have to ask why a few of you weren't blaming our struggles early last year on Quincy's absence, the same way you are blaming it on Alex's absence now? ...

Same answer as before:

I think there's a simple explanation for that. There were plenty of other legitimate reasons to blame for last season's early losses. Tree and Nick were ineligible for the first 2 games (both losses). Alex suffered a severe ankle sprain that took weeks to heal and slowed him down for many early season games while Chauncey started the season with a bum knee that required mid-season surgery, during which time the team had 2 more early season losses. All of that together would have put the team in a bad position even if Q had been playing. Once all 4 of those players were eligible to play and healthy, the Zips rattled off 19 straight wins without Q. The loss of your only effective PG is going to affect team performance more than the loss of a player at another position just as the loss of your only effective QB would affect a football team's performance. It's pretty obvious to everyone this season that lack of effective PG play is the team's main problem, and the loss of Alex is the cause.

[The Hip Zip]

I'm glad Dave brought up Chauncey's name. He didn't always light up the stat sheet but he had a passion for the game and the personality of a leader. We always talk about Zeke and Alex being gone but don't forget Gilliam. The guy is a winner and always left it all on the floor. He did it every single night and could pick us up when we were not getting anything from the perimeter. We could use a bit of his passion and offensive skills now.

[GP1]

I guess the question of whether or not to bring him back depends on one other question. How is the current point guard recruitment going? I would imagine if there is a PG out there with the talent to unseat the current group, we should make a huge effort at getting him and AA does not come back.

AA is better than what we have and he isn't exactly a world beater. My concern would be his ability to play after a year off. Q has extremely good athletic ability and AA does not. Q can take a year off and still have the ability. Not sure AA will be able to do the same thing.

In reality, Akron needs something different than AA if they really want to take the program to another level. One of the guys who owns the company where my wife works always say, "What got us here won't get us there." AA helped to get us to where we are (sadly, not always in a positive manner). Another year of him won't get us to where we need to be. Akron is only a couple of players away from being as good as Toledo, so it isn't like we can't do it or it is an impossible hurdle to get over.

Sorry if my belief that this team/program should be better in every way than they are now offends some.

[skip-zip]

Dave, look at your post from Jan. 1 again. Especially the last line.

We're 3-1 in conference play, including a huge road win. The only chance we had to be 4-0 was if we had kept Toledo off the glass on their offensive end. No point guard could have helped that, especially one that wasn't too skilled on the defensive end. A couple more baskets or a couple less turnovers wouldn't have given us a 4-0 record.

Let me add something else:

One of the asst. coaches talked to us in the T. Evans Lounge prior to the game, and talked about how a game in the 60's gave us our best chance, and if it got into the 70s or 80s, our chances diminish. I think that's going to be the pattern for the remainder of the year, and not just Toledo. I'll be surprised if we can beat any team in our league when we give up 75 points, like we did on Saturday. This could make the play of Pat on the defensive end the biggest factor from here on out. We'll have to see. But if we do need to match a team that scores 75+ on us, our chances are far better with Quincy vs. Alex.

[zippy5]

I don't have any faith that AA is staying in game shape like Q did during his suspension.

[Dave in Green]

@skip-zip, your last post ignores the point that if the Zips had a true PG capable of playing at a level at least as high as Alex that Q would be operating at the wing full time and the Zips offense would be much smoother and more effective in scoring points. The Zips held Toledo 8 points under their season scoring average and would have had a good chance of outscoring them with Alex at the point and Q at the wing.

Last season the pieces had to be moved around to account for Q's absence and this season to account for Alex's absence. The simple reality is that last season's team won 19 games in a row without Q while this season's team is incapable of winning 19 in a row without an effective PG. That's not a knock on Q, who's a brilliant performer at what he does best. That's just the nature of how disruptive it's been to this team to lose its only true, effective PG.

[Zipmeister]

Would not be in favor of bringing Abreu back in 1 million years. The PG situation is rough, but at some point you need to hold morals above winning.

Interesting tidbit on Weatherspoon. Kind of like when KD chose somebody else over CJ McCollum as well.

If we wait for over a million years to bring him back I'm concerned his skills may have deteriorated to the point where he would not be that valuable to the team. Of course with medical advances over that period of time some pretty impressive cybernetics could be installed to offset the aging process.

[skip-zip]

Dave, You know I agree with you that Quincy would be best utilized elsewhere. But, I don't think anyone could argue that the outcome on Saturday could have changed with a different point guard with the way we were physically dominated in the paint.

But lets throw this out there too. We did beat OU with the ball primarily in Quincy's hands late in the game and overtime, and he was brilliant in that stretch. So, wouldn't someone have a good argument to say that we could very well be only 2-2 in conference play with a different player at the point ? It's all about winning games.

[Dave in Green]

@skip-zip, yes, I believe we are in substantial agreement on many points. We can speculate on how things might have turned out under different circumstances, but we can't really know. I believe that this season's Zips team would be much more stable and cohesive at all positions with Alex at the point and Q at the wing, and, though I can't prove it, that the Zips would have entered the Toledo game with much more confidence that would have resulted in a substantially different outcome. I especially agree with your point that it's all about winning games. That's why I compare last season's accomplishment of a 19-game winning streak to what this season's team has shown it's capable of doing to date.

[skip-zip]

@skip-zip, yes, I believe we are in substantial agreement on many points. We can speculate on how things might have turned out under different circumstances, but we can't really know. I believe that this season's Zips team would be much more stable and cohesive at all positions with Alex at the point and Q at the wing, and, though I can't prove it, that the Zips would have entered the Toledo game with much more confidence that would have resulted in a substantially different outcome. I especially agree with your point that it's all about winning games. That's why I compare last season's accomplishment of a 19-game winning streak to what this season's team has shown it's capable of doing to date.

Oh, of course we agree on many things. And let me be clear that I DON"T think Quincy should be played heavily at PG. But, I will admit that his great stretch run at PG down at OU late in the game probably gave us a win in a game that we probably should have lost, and would have lost if someone else was running the show.