AK-Zips Posted September 19, 2006 Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 I cannot wait for the season to start. It's a great time be a Zips fan and i look forward to my trips at the JAR this season! what do you guys think about our probable starting 5 of Conyers, Dials, Joyce, Wood and Travis? i believe these guys will be solid but how deep is our bench. will Bardo play up to par right away? As hard as this is for me to type, i think we will miss the size of preston and futch. Note, i said nothing about their ability. Anyway, Go Zips and i look forward to some of the pre-season thoughts from my fellow Alums!There iso ne thing i haven't seen in a while..... oh wait... there it is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Watcher Posted September 19, 2006 Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 I think this year's club will be plenty deep. The rotations will be interesting to see how they pan out.I'd sure like to see less of the 3 guard rotation, given a somewhat shallow backcourt.Thinking about depth, there's plenty of bodies:Guards: Middleton, Dials, Joyce, McNeesSwings: Conyers, Linhart, RybakBigs: Travis, Wood, Milum, McKnight, BardoOf the above, the staff probably knows what they have in 8 of them. Not all are studs, but known quantities and guys that have been around long enough to know the system. Then, you've got 3 newcomers (not counting Jimmy) .. if one or 2 of those is able to contribute right away .. you might be able to go more than 9 deep.Other thoughts:- I'd sure like to see Jimmy in the backcourt rather than the 3 .. get the backcourt size & strength up. That would present matchups the MAC would struggle with, and give us a way to have more big guys on the floor.- Everyone who's in the know will tell you that Rybak can flat out shoot .. will he find the range and become the spot shooter KD needs for limited minutes? Would be nice to have a zone breaker like Faulknor.- Sounds like Bardo is bigger than we thought a year ago .. won't take much for a guy that size to be a space eater & post defender. Won't need lots of point from him early. Can he bring some D and rebounding? Or is he a year from contributing.- Gotta have Middleton on the floor as much as possible. The only guy that has shown the desire to penetrate consistently. A good enough shooter to keep people honest, also.- Looking forward to seeing Travis & Wood out there together again. There were glimpses of great teamwork right before Wood went down. The success of the team might hinge on how quickly they get back together. They used to have a pretty good sense of where the other one was .. and had good interior passing looks.- Nate will continue to impress & surprise people .. he'll be a key contributor all season. Speed up his outside jumper a bit, and he'll fill the Preston spot nicely.Here's my "Crunch Time 5" .. I'm sure this ISN'T what we'll see .. but I'd love to see KD try something like this:PG: MiddletonSG: ConyersSF: LinhartPF: TravisC: WoodRegardless, I'm certain Keith's got a good plan and the guys to execute it. He only needs one or 2 of the new faces to click and contribute, and they'll be better than last year.Looking forward to the outing on Saturday also .. Zips hoops only a month or so away. The only MAC team returning with a postseason win last year.Certainly soon, they'll be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgm405 Posted September 19, 2006 Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 I think this year's club will be plenty deep. The rotations will be interesting to see how they pan out.I'd sure like to see less of the 3 guard rotation, given a somewhat shallow backcourt.Thinking about depth, there's plenty of bodies:Guards: Middleton, Dials, Joyce, McNeesSwings: Conyers, Linhart, RybakBigs: Travis, Wood, Milum, McKnight, BardoOf the above, the staff probably knows what they have in 8 of them. Not all are studs, but known quantities and guys that have been around long enough to know the system. Then, you've got 3 newcomers (not counting Jimmy) .. if one or 2 of those is able to contribute right away .. you might be able to go more than 9 deep.Other thoughts:- I'd sure like to see Jimmy in the backcourt rather than the 3 .. get the backcourt size & strength up. That would present matchups the MAC would struggle with, and give us a way to have more big guys on the floor.- Everyone who's in the know will tell you that Rybak can flat out shoot .. will he find the range and become the spot shooter KD needs for limited minutes? Would be nice to have a zone breaker like Faulknor.- Sounds like Bardo is bigger than we thought a year ago .. won't take much for a guy that size to be a space eater & post defender. Won't need lots of point from him early. Can he bring some D and rebounding? Or is he a year from contributing.- Gotta have Middleton on the floor as much as possible. The only guy that has shown the desire to penetrate consistently. A good enough shooter to keep people honest, also.- Looking forward to seeing Travis & Wood out there together again. There were glimpses of great teamwork right before Wood went down. The success of the team might hinge on how quickly they get back together. They used to have a pretty good sense of where the other one was .. and had good interior passing looks.- Nate will continue to impress & surprise people .. he'll be a key contributor all season. Speed up his outside jumper a bit, and he'll fill the Preston spot nicely.Here's my "Crunch Time 5" .. I'm sure this ISN'T what we'll see .. but I'd love to see KD try something like this:PG: MiddletonSG: ConyersSF: LinhartPF: TravisC: WoodRegardless, I'm certain Keith's got a good plan and the guys to execute it. He only needs one or 2 of the new faces to click and contribute, and they'll be better than last year.Looking forward to the outing on Saturday also .. Zips hoops only a month or so away. The only MAC team returning with a postseason win last year.Certainly soon, they'll be I couldn't be more excited about this team. They basically lost:PetersonFutchPrestonThey added (in effect): ConyersWoodMcNeesMcKnightBardoThat's two starters added to a team that won 23 games and should've at least been in the MAC Title Game. And both players - in my opinion - will be two of the best three players on the team (along with Romeo). This is going to be THE year my friends... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Watcher Posted September 19, 2006 Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 This is going to be THE year my friends... I have to disagree with that last part of your post. This is going to be a nice & exciting year. But this thing is just beginning to build, and it's year 1 of Jimmy. The Zips are only on the uphill climb now. In a few more seasons, we're going to look at Keith's team then, look back to 05-06 and wonder how he won 23 games. There's a 30 win season in the Zips future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valpo Zip Posted September 19, 2006 Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 I can't wait either... This isdefinitely the year !Bardo is 6-10... That is one inch taller than Preston and he is wider... Even if he is not a pollished player (yet), his size should help depending on the opponents size.I hear a lot of great stuff about conyers, McNees and McKnight... I know a lot of great stuff about Dru, Ced, Dials and Rom eee oh...I expect a lot of improvement from Nate, Rybak and Bardo.And if Woods is back in the original shape, this winter will be hot in NE Ohio.I can't wait to attend every single game within 200 miles from akron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgm405 Posted September 19, 2006 Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 This is going to be THE year my friends... I have to disagree with that last part of your post. This is going to be a nice & exciting year. But this thing is just beginning to build, and it's year 1 of Jimmy. The Zips are only on the uphill climb now. In a few more seasons, we're going to look at Keith's team then, look back to 05-06 and wonder how he won 23 games. There's a 30 win season in the Zips future. By THE year I meant the year we finally get to the Dance. And why not? They could've made it last year but were missing two things: 1) a strong scorer, 2) A rebounding presence down low. Now, here comes Conyers (scorer) and Wood (great rebounder). Why not this year???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Watcher Posted September 19, 2006 Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 Let me restate ... getting TO the dance is a low bar for this program at this point. I expect them to dance this year .. I'm suggesting we all prepare to come to expect it, and expect more. Getting to the dance is a goal for lower mid-major program. Dancing deep is the desired and achievable target for the Zips.The Zips are building to be among the best in the nation (a slow steady process .. I know this), being the best in the MAC is just a step along the larger path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted September 19, 2006 Report Share Posted September 19, 2006 And if Woods is back in the original shape, this winter will be hot in NE Ohio. From what I hear Wood is in great shape. He has no pain and no swelling. The team has been conducting their own "mini camp" and bringing the newcomers along as to the level of effort needed to play KD's game. Mcnees is a little soft and will need some time in the weight room, but all in all things are looking great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgm405 Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Let me restate ... getting TO the dance is a low bar for this program at this point. I expect them to dance this year .. I'm suggesting we all prepare to come to expect it, and expect more. Getting to the dance is a goal for lower mid-major program. Dancing deep is the desired and achievable target for the Zips.The Zips are building to be among the best in the nation (a slow steady process .. I know this), being the best in the MAC is just a step along the larger path. I'm all about the thought that Akron could one day go deep into the NCAA Tournament. But I'm not sure that's something you can just expect to happen. How many times has Can't State done that during their run, once or twice? And I'm not sure that it's a "low-bar" for the program at all to simply make the Dance. All I'm saying is this...let's make it before we start talking about how deep we can make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Zip Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Holy freakin' a, I haven't heard the saying "jimmy hat" in a long freakin' time. Actually, I haven't used a jimmy hat in a long freakin' time either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippyrifle32 Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 peeked in the gym after i got off work...joyce was in there shooting three's with the auto rebounder. watched him for a few minutes and he was making 80-85%. he was MONEY! looking forward to another exciting year and extending our home win streak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipgrad1990 Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Since the Zips haven't made the dance since I was a freshman in 1986, I think just making the dance in '07 is a worthy goal.BTW in '86 my Freshman English teacher made us come to class (or she was going to give us 5 unexcused absences which would lower your grade by 2 letters) so we only got to watch the first half of the Akron - Michigan first round match-up. At least Akron was winning at the half 32-30. But we missed all the second half except for the final 30 seconds or so when it was already decided.This still pisses me off even today, so another NCAA tournament appearance would really help me finally get over it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoopla Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 I don't think that we should be talking about any tournament hopes just yet. Look at all the power we do have. Conyers, Dials, Wood, Travis, Joyce, Middleton. All but 2 are selfish players in their own right. This is going to be tougher than people think to go to the tournament. This is a heads up... don't be talking too soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckzip Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 I don't think that we should be talking about any tournament hopes just yet. Look at all the power we do have. Conyers, Dials, Wood, Travis, Joyce, Middleton. All but 2 are selfish players in their own right. This is going to be tougher than people think to go to the tournament. This is a heads up... don't be talking too soon. This sounds a lot lile the pre season of football. Look how that is going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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