Late June Roster Musings ...

[Zip Watcher]

Never too soon to discuss the upcoming hoops season, is it?

This time of year drags horribly for me. 2 months til college gridiron. 4 until hoops.

Spent some time thinking about the 04-05 roster this evening. As I have it, we should have the full complement of 13 available players this year. 12 scholarships and 1 walkon, pending the academic status of Preston and the injury status of Peterson. Nick Dials is the 13th scholarship, sitting out his red-shirt transfer season this year.

By my understanding, we will have:

Seniors (3):

Collins

McFadden

Meyers

Juniors (4):

Futch

Peterson

Preston (?)

B. Hipsher (perhaps?)

Sophomores (3):

Joyce

Travis

Wood

Freshmen (3):

Middleton

Milum

Walther

By positions, that loosely gives us:

PG (3): Collins, Joyce, Middleton

SG (3): McFadden, Walther, Hipsher

SF (3): Peterson, Travis, Milum

PF (2): Wood, Preston

C (2): Meyers, Futch

Some questions for slugville (I'll weigh in later):

a: What's your first impression of the roster as it stands? Does it seem like a good team?

b: Are we balanced? What are the biggest strengths & weaknesses?

c: Can this team get out and run on people? Defend the full court?

I'm very curious to hear thoughts on the roster .. love to know what you think. After this, we can get on to considering line-ups & rotations.

Go Zips.

[Guest Howdy Doody]

Brian Hipsher is playing at Capital this year.

[zipfan maybe]

Nick Goddard is also on the roster as a freshman

[Captain Kangaroo]

PG (3): Collins, Joyce, Middleton

SG (3): McFadden, Walther, Hipsher

SF (3): Peterson, Travis, Milum

PF (2): Wood, Preston

C (2): Meyers, Futch

a: What's your first impression of the roster as it stands? Does it seem like a good team?

b: Are we balanced? What are the biggest strengths & weaknesses?

c: Can this team get out and run on people? Defend the full court?

I'm very curious to hear thoughts on the roster .. love to know what you think. After this, we can get on to considering line-ups & rotations.

Go Zips.

Seems like, if Dambrot is the coach we all hope for, we should expect 15 or 16 wins this season?

#5: Myers is better than Hipsher gave him credit for, but still is slow on D. Futch regressed as 2003-4 wore on. I liked him in December, then it looked like he quit listening to the coaches, slacked off on conditioning, and became possessed by the ghost of David Falknor...becoming a 6' 8", 300 lb three-point shooter. I wonder which Futch will show up in 2004-4...if any?

#4: Wood is awesome when in shape. His conditioning seemed to become a problem late in the season? If he can hit 65% from the stripe in 2004-5, we'll be a much improved team. BTW: I heard a rumor Wood is injured at the moment? Anyone have better info than me? Preston: Tough to say. Is he healthy? Are his grades ok? Has he bulked up at all? It wouldn't shock me if he had a break out 12 ppg, 6rpg 3blk pg season...it wouldn't surpise me if he had a stack of DNP's. Big wild card with Preston.

#3: Peterson - Is he healthy? He's our #1 scoring option if he is. After sitting out a full season, how long until he gets back into form...assuming he can? Travis: Has he worked on his hands at all? Has he added a short-range jumper? Will he stop with the silly reach-in fouls? To me, he had a "nice" Fr. year. For the Zips to improve as a team, Travis needs to add something to his game. Like Futch, a 65% free throw percentage would be nice. Milum: The book on him seems to be: "Phenomonal athlete, marginal shooter." I don't expect much from him in 2004-5.

#2: McFadden - Really came on last season. I look for him to have a senior year much like Schindewolf did...hitting big 3's and being a leader. Walther - The pic's I've seen of him remind me of a young Bryan Hipsher...shinny as a rail! I'm sure his "game" dwarfs Bryan's, but how many minutes can that skinny body log in MAC play? Goddard - Allegedly the dude can shoot. I saw the same type of player in Penno and Kowall under Hipsher...guys that could stick the 3 at will...and those guys rarely saw the court. It will be interesting to see how Dambrot utilizes such a player.

#1: Collins - Should be good for 10-12mpg. Joyce- Has he added any bulk? Can he penetrate as dish? Can he keep up with the DeAndre Haynes of the MAC on D? I'm curious to see how his game has progressed over the summer. Middleton - Seems like the minutes are there for the taking? He has great HS accolades...hope he's the real deal.

I'm happy with 16 wins and a trip to Cleveland in March. Anything beyond that is gravy.

[I_Miss_You_Trey_71603]

Brian Hipsher is playing at Capital this year.

Where did you hear he was going to play at Capital

[I_Miss_You_Trey_71603]

I think the roster looks pretty good. Walther I hope will gain more weight so he doesn't get shoved around left and right all the time. I think McFadden will have a good senior year. I think it'll be a good season.

[zipboy]

Nice topic starter ZW and good summary CK. I worry about the backcourt most of all. Joyce can't go 32+ minutes all year long. It is tough for any PG and his body still needs to develop. Mario had me pretty worried when he had to bring the ball up the court. I hope tht Middleton can give us quality minutes and take the pressure off. I shudder to think of Collins and McFadden bringing the ball up against the Buffalo press.

This team still needs some shooters. Peterson coming back is huge. He and McFadden may open things up. Otherwise I pack it in and make Akron shoot jumpers. Hopefully everyone is working on free throws.

With Tarver gone, there should be better ball movement. Dambrot likes to play a lot of guys, so maybe the defensive intensity picks up. I don't know what predictions to throw out right now. This team should be above 500 and will probably be called a darkhorse in the preseason.

[Zip Watcher]

Hadn't heard the Hipsher / Goddard things. I've got some feelres out for some confirmations.

My thoughts at this point:

a) should be a good rebounding team. I think with the apparent depth, defense could be good if they get after things.

b: Peterson is the key in getting balance here. We're REALLY in need of consistent outside shooting to stretch the defense more than last year. We don't need to be taking 20 threes a game, but we should be able to make some. It will open things up inside tremendously & help the rebounding and resulting fast break outlet passes. Shooting is going to be critical. An eligible Preston could help that a lot also. Pulling a big guy out to defend a shooter .. good matchup to have.

I think we're solid at point guard. Joyce for 25, 10 each from Collins & Middleton. I'll take my chances there.

I think we're near the top of the MAC at the 3, provided DP is back and healthy.

I think we can push people around at the 4 and 5 with some conditioning. Wood is the man, Futch is a load & I think Myers has

been underused to date. I look for Nick to add some scoring punch in the middle.

2 is the big ? in my mind. Rick had a pretty good year last year .. I like having him on the floor & hope his shooting comes around.

c) Seems to me that we have 9 guys with real game experience. To me, that's an indication of good depth. Let's assume that 1 of the 3 newcomers will see big minutes & be marginally productive. That's a workable 10 man rotation. With that, I think we should make sure we're well conditioned so that we can substitute liberally & wear teams down. If we can keep 10 guys in the loop on the court, we can defend and press. Most opponents will wear down in the 2nd half against good pressure, even against deep teams with marginal talent. Gary Waters and Can't State proved that 5 years ago.

[Big Zip]

Its my understanding Hipsher will attend one of two colleges next year -- Akron is not either. Colgate is one of the schools.

As for the health of the team -- I sent my nephew to the basketball camp a few weeks back and saw what appeared to be healthy basketball players. Travis, Wood, Preston, McFadden, Peterson and Futch -- all looked in pretty good shape. I don't think any of them were injured. Travis looks to have hit the weights more this offseason and it looked like Preston may have been there with him. It could also be that I'm used to seeing them from the stands and I was standing next to them when I picked up my nephew.

Interesting note Rashaun Brown was in attendance as a coach.

Overall I think the team is starting to come together. I don't know if this will be the year for football or basketball, but I feel confident we will see an advancement in both teams as we go forward. Both teams are in good hands and the change of pace is refreshing. I always thought Owens was in over his head, but Hipsher's lack of success was more disturbing. I liked him and thought he could be a great coach in this league. Turns out potential and success never came together.

Looking forward to Akron and Penn State -- hope I don't have to here that Lion roar as many times as I did a few years ago.