Dave in Green Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 UA is not the future of MAC basketball, according to Hustle Belt. They say the Zips' time in the spotlight is over, and that Toledo, Buffalo and OU are going to rule the MAC in the near future. They make strong cases for why these three teams will dominate. The only passing mention of the Zips is to credit Big Dog as a potentially good true center. No mention of first team all-MAC Tree. No mention of MAC 6th Man of the Year Jake. No confidence that the Zips can compete with three teams that are rapidly reloading with talented transfers. What does everyone think of this analysis?What's Next: The Future of Mid-American Conference Basketball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I think we need a true Point Guard.And if Tree does not return we are already done for next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 The Dambrot-era Zips have always had a fight in them. Now I do agree that I don't believe the Zips will continue the dominating style that we saw last year, only losing two conference games...however I do think the Zips will continue to be towards the top.The MAC has been a revolving door at the top, and the Zips have always been 2 or 3 right behind it over the past decade. As long as he program doesn't suffer a huge change like a new coach, I don't agree with Hustle Belt. It seems that New Coaches are what did the other top programs in...Dambrot isn't going anywhere. And I do believe that is a HUGE difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrt Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Hustle Belt writers are a bunch of idiots. Have a wonderful day ladies and gentlemen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Hustle Belt writers are a bunch of idiots. Have a wonderful day ladies and gentlemen.This^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Yeah I was in classes with one of the Akron writers. Not sure what makes him qualified.. It's nice to have people writing on the MAC, but hard to really take anything as gospel or anything close to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I think we need a true Point Guard. And if Tree does not return we are already done for next season.I heard that if he does not return we are dropping the sport of mens basketball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 If Evans and Betancourt are our primary PG's next year it will be like bringing back Clayton Moore and Patrick Nicely to split duty at QB for the Zips football team next year.KD will bring in another PG. A good one. He knows the status quo ain't gonna cut it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyzip84 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 While not exactly on topic, this story in the PD discusses the general future of MAC basketball as it relates to the future of MAC football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 "The Humble JAR, however is the setting for the current jewel of Akron Athletics..."Oh really Bill Linvingston? I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here and assume he's talking about the sping season...but how about the "jewel" being the Swimming team...or the Men's Indoor Track Team...or the Women's Basketball team. Two of which are already MAC-Champions, and the other is doing just as well as (if not better the) the Men's basketball team.If he's not talking about spring season...how about the Men's soccer team that's still doing quite well in College Soccer? I may be over analyzing him a bit...but every time I read Livingston I always feel like there is a sense of underlying loath for the Zips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 The Zips have played at a high level for a long time. It would take the wheels falling off or multiple years of not being one of the top 4 teams in the league to slow the momentum. The Zips are the present AND the future of the MAC for the foreseeable future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I may be over analyzing him a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I would like to see an addition to the staff, and a PG this offseason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Oh really Bill Linvingston? I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here and assume he's talking about the sping season...but how about the "jewel" being the Swimming team...or the Men's Indoor Track Team...or the Women's Basketball team. Two of which are already MAC-Champions, and the other is doing just as well as (if not better the) the Men's basketball team.If we are listing sports the general public could care less about, why not include Rifle?Men's football and basketball are all the masses care about. Soccer is a distant 3rd, with women's basketball an even further distant 4th.As a zealot and an alumni, I take pride in the accomplishments of all UA student-athletes. But Bill Livingston would look like a know-nothing clown if he pimped UA swimming or track. Those sports are for GoZips.com writers to pimp, not regional newspapers.And I'm with Dr. Z - Gimme a real point guard next year. Gimme gimme gimme gimme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdZip Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Gimme gimme gimme gimme.Now you sound like a student negotiating his / her attendance at a basketball game... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Geez. This talk of an Akron slide started even before we stepped on the court against Toledo earlier this year. They all want to see the King fall. It started way back in early 2011 when we struggled a bit, and then ended up making a late surge to win the title. They should be talking about Ken+, not Akron. They haven't won a title since 2008, and just missed getting out of the first round for the first time in over a decade. We just won 3 straight and got 20 wins for the 9th straight year. We only lose ONE senior. We have great stability as long as Keith stays. We may not be as good as some of the teams we've had in the past, but it certainly sounds very odd to be talking about an Akron downfall right now. Again....I really believe that there's just some people out there who want to be the great prognosticators who predict our demise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted March 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I could have sworn I put a link to Hustle Belt in my first post. But I just noticed it wasn't there, so I added it for those who couldn't find the blog. I did a little research on the blog's author, Bryan M. Vance. He just graduated with a journalism degree from OU, which may explain why he disses the Zips, and is currently looking for a real journalism job. I think he's eminently qualified to write a blog, because, well, isn't everyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I could have sworn I put a link to Hustle Belt in my first post. But I just noticed it wasn't there, so I added it for those who couldn't find the blog. I did a little research on the blog's author, Bryan M. Vance. He just graduated with a journalism degree from OU, which may explain why he disses the Zips, and is currently looking for a real journalism job. I think he's eminently qualified to write a blog, because, well, isn't everyone? Then maybe the guy should have been talking about how OU was at the top of the league, and won 2 titles in 3 years, and then lost 4 straight games to Akron, including a blow out loss in the championship game last year, and struggled this year just to get a first round home game?I think that's a little more indicative of a team that's moved backwards in recent times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Are we really upset about what an OU fan said? Regardless, I don't see that as a reason to diss Hustlebelt. Its a great source for MAC coverage. Let me correct myself, it's the BEST source for MAC coverage. We should be glad there are passionate enough fans to cover the conference and provides in-depth analysis that is for the most part free from bias. Well, at least free from a lot more bias that you will find on any given MAC member board.The truth is, we are going to need somebody to step up next season after Tree is gone. Sorry, Kretzer? Get out of here. I like him and am glad he won the 6th man award, but he is a spot up 3 point shooter and that's it. Not a player who is going to carry the team in the future. I have no problem with them questioning the future, because there are still a lot of doubts. However, I have a lot of confidence in our current crop of freshman as all around basketball players, not just specialists. I think we will be fine, and frankly, if we can't be a consistent top 4 team in the MAC, that's just sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJGood Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 The truth is, we are going to need somebody to step up next season after Tree is gone. Sorry, Kretzer? Get out of here. I like him and am glad he won the 6th man award, but he is a spot up 3 point shooter and that's it. Not a player who is going to carry the team in the future. I have no problem with them questioning the future, because there are still a lot of doubts. However, I have a lot of confidence in our current crop of freshman as all around basketball players, not just specialists. I think we will be fine, and frankly, if we can't be a consistent top 4 team in the MAC, that's just sad.I believe Tree and Harney are back next season and that we only lose Quincy. I'd wait to see Gladden and Jackson play next year before deciding what we need for the 2015-16 season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Seems a little questionable to be down about our team 2 years from now - that's two recruiting classes away plus Gladden and Jackson.. Of course it seems like the cupboard is bare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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