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Zips seeking consistency before MAC schedule begins Jan. 10 at Miami
By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Saturday, Nov 29, 2008
The maturation process for the University of Akron basketball team moves to New Jersey this weekend.
The Zips (3-1) conclude play in the Legends Classic with a game against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night and a game against host Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday night, both in Hackensack, N.J.
Zips coach Keith Dambrot, whose team has six freshmen or sophomores in its 10-player rotation, said these are the type of November games needed to prepare for a more rigorous December and beyond.
''We just need to keep playing, getting better and getting ready for the hard stretch coming up,'' Dambrot said. ''Every time we go out, you can see us getting better in certain things. We are not great by any means.''
After the New Jersey experience, the Zips will have road games at Niagara, Virginia Commonwealth, UNC-Greensboro and Rhode Island and a home game against Dayton in preparation for the Mid-American Conference season, which opens Jan. 10 at Miami.
''We have some beasts coming up; we have a nasty schedule coming up, but that will be good for us,'' Dambrot said.
It will be good, because Dambrot said, ''The one thing I can tell you is that we have been consistently inconsistent.''
That should be expected, because UA is breaking in two freshmen — Ronnie Steward and Anthony Hitchens — at point guard and is relying on sophomore Mike Bardo and freshman Nikola Cvetinovic inside to complement some of the veterans.
A prime example of the Zips' inconsistency comes from sophomore forward Brett McKnight. He was 9-of-15 from the floor in scoring 23 points on Nov. 1 in an 86-67 loss to Pittsburgh. Then, on Tuesday night, he was 1-of-8 for five points in an 81-37 demolition of overmatched Urbana.
The inexperience and inconsistency of his Zips has Dambrot happy that the MAC sched
ule is six weeks away.
''This team needs this more than any team we have ever had,'' said Dambrot, who is in his fifth season as coach. ''They need to be put through some tests and some battles to get ready for the MAC season.''
Before playing the Zips, Eastern Kentucky and Fairleigh Dickinson will meet Friday night.
Eastern Kentucky (2-2), a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, is coming off a 91-43 victory over Division II Thiel in another Legends Classic game. Senior guard Mike Rose (21.8) leads the Colonels in scoring.
Fairleigh Dickinson (0-3), a member of the Northeast Conference, has had a rugged early schedule, losing to No. 4 Pittsburgh (86-63), Washington State (55-33) and Mississippi State (84-58).
Senior guard Eric Moore (9.7), a transfer from the University at Buffalo, is the team's top scorer.
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
The maturation process for the University of Akron basketball team moves to New Jersey this weekend.
Get the full article here.
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Posted 12:51 PM, 11/29/2008
lets go zips, pull it out
