The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-13-2011 12:37 AM)luckyflash Wrote:  

(03-12-2011 10:00 PM)AlphaFlash Wrote:  

(03-12-2011 09:50 PM)kyflash Wrote:  

(03-12-2011 09:48 PM)anti-zip Wrote:  Does anyone know if there is video of the fight at the end? I guess it wasn't shown on ESPN but from what we gathered it looked like Akron players celebrated over Rod while he lay on the ground igniting a full team fight. Someone, I think it was Porrini looked like he might have been really hurt, he was laying at the scorers table with trainers. Someone around us said they thought they saw at least one Akron player stomping on a Kent player possibly Rod, while the Kent player was on the ground.

I really hope that everyone is OK and we may have lost but at least we lost with class. That was a truly classeless display by Akron.

ESPN did show it. I need to go back and rewatch it, but either Porrini or Rod was laying on the floor, and the Zips' celebration circle stepped on him. Typical classless Akron bull****. I hope they lose by 90 in the first round.

I'm really not all up on Akron's case for this. From what I saw Porinni was laying on the floor. (I know he was emotional, but he was laying on the floor.) And we have all been on that floor in a post-game celebration. The Akron players stepped on him, unintentionally. Its not like they thought, "hey, there's Mike, let's go mosh on him." -He was laying on the floor.- Chetovich(sp?) actually tried pushing the Akron players out of Mike's way. Some of our players took it the wrong way. I don't see it as classless. I just see it as emotions going haywire.

just saw the replay again, thats what happened, incidental contact that probably looked worse then it was with all the bodies flying around and celebrating.

I can also tell you that I just had a conversation with someone who told me that Quincy Diggs came over to the bench area after the horn and was talking smack. That was absolutely part of the problem as well.

I HATE DIGGS. So much it's incredible. Hes not even good he just athletic and a dirty trash talker. Marshall really is not good at all either I don't know how many times I've said this. When they play a real big man his height in the tournement he will be eaten alive. Of course hes going to look OK in a league where there is no good big man over 6'8".

When in doubt, check the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYfuzwSJDBg

Porrini was laying in the middle of the floor and the celebration spills over there. His teammates come running over before Diggs is anywhere near the Kent bench. Emotions running high after a tough loss. If you think that's intentional you're crazy.

(03-13-2011 01:21 AM)Zip07 Wrote:  When in doubt, check the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYfuzwSJDBg

Porrini was laying in the middle of the floor and the celebration spills over there. His teammates come running over before Diggs is anywhere near the Kent bench. Emotions running high after a tough loss. If you think that's intentional you're crazy.

You are high. I have no doubt the incident with Porrini on the floor was unintentional. But you can clearly see Diggs get bumped off the pile and end up facing the KSU players. He said something that wasn't very sportsmanlike. Since he got tossed at Kent last week, got a technical last night against WMU, and tried to fight a bunch of KSU players in the hotel, everyone knows what that guy is all about.

I completely agree it was unintentional. I think anyone who didn't just see it live does. Great game. I'm glad it was against you guys because it is always more intense.

(03-13-2011 01:32 AM)naeskent77 Wrote:  I'm glad it was against you guys because it is always more intense.

I'm glad you think so. My wall on facebook was lit up overnight by Akron fans.

I actually blame myself for the loss. Friday I had a job interview with Akron. I think it tore a hole in the cosmos and nature didn't know how to react.

(03-13-2011 12:37 AM)luckyflash Wrote:  just saw the replay again, thats what happened, incidental contact that probably looked worse then it was with all the bodies flying around and celebrating.

I just watched the replay with a cooler head and I agree with you and others here in that it was probably accidental. Several of the Zips had their back to Porrini, and couldn't have seen him. But a couple others coming in to the pile were facing him and should have seen him, including the big balding white kid. It just seems like it's always something with Akron. I'll give Cvetinovic credit, he was playing peacemaker the whole time.

Mincy looked pissed in the middle of the pile, wonder if someone said something to him.

The fight at the end of game is a shame. Didn't see it so can't comment on it. I guess I'm glad I didn't see it. First of all, Kudos to Akron. I have tickets to the Friday games in Cleveland and hope they play Thursday so I can watch them. When you defend AND make free throws down the stretch in a tournament, good things happen.

As for our boys, what can I say? They played their butts off all season and I feel bad for them that it had to end that way. The bittersweet thing is that the season isn't over. From a fan's perspective I am glad that I may have the chance to get the MAC Center again and cheer for them. At the very least, I'll get to hear Ty Linder call (at least) on more game. During the winter months in Cleveland, these are a few of my favorite things.

Until 9:15 or so when we find out who/when and where....GO FLASHES!

(03-13-2011 12:42 AM)Zip Watcher Wrote:  Great game. Great effort by Geno & the guys. No one played poorly. No one had a bad night.

Big respect for Porrini after his weekend @ the Q. A little ways to go to be as good as Shaw was .. but he's a difference maker. Greene will again be the best player in the MAC next season.

Go win the NIT. It can be done.

Thank you. This is a classy post. As I stated on the main board, it s*cked to lose this game. But at the end of the day, you were one bucket better. Can’t deny that.

Any game that is a 1 point game in overtime has a million things that could change the outcome. However most of those things involve both teams. Yes a defensive stop at the end would have won the game but Akron had something to do with that happening (or in this case not happening). Free throws are totally within one teams control. Yes Akron shot free throws even worse than us but the fact remains had we shot our normal % we would have won in regulation. We controlled that and we did not get it done. It also was a problem throughout the whole tournament. We need to fix that and Porrini as a point guard especially hurts.
That and failing to get Marshall into foul trouble were the two keys. We allowed Dambrot to leave him on the floor for 33 minutes instead of his usual 22 or so.
Finally here's hoping Manns steps it up next year so Marshall has to guard him and not a 6'8" Greene. That might be the key to beating Akron next year.
Overall it was a good season but this team had some obvious warts and we could not quite overcome them in the end. That assumes you think winning the regular season is not overcoming them.

(03-12-2011 11:58 PM)flashesfan21 Wrote:  

(03-12-2011 11:53 PM)dannyb73 Wrote:  Enough with the Free Throws already. Akron shot a worse percentage than we did from the line and won. I understand it's painful, hell, I was looking for a bridge to jump from. The bottom line is we got beat tonight. We didn't lose, we got beat. It wasn't the free throws that cost us the game. We missed plenty of shots, damn, even Akron blew a few point blank layups. Sometimes the breaks go your way and sometimes they don't, but I refuse to blame this loss on some missed free throws.

Some missed free throws??

I’m with Danny. Enough on the free throws. These guys could stay in the gym and shoot until they have a .99 result and still miss shots when the legs and mind go but the nerves stay. PGA players who make millions on the tour don’t miss chip shot putts because they don’t spend enough time practicing putts. The shots just didn’t fall.

The way to shoot a better percentage at the line is, obviously, to recruit better free throw shooters. BUT,would those hypothetical recruits be better players? Kent State is not Duke, or North Carolina, or Kansas, or Kentucky, etc. when it comes to recruiting. The coaches have to recruit the best players available [b]that fit in with their program. What I mean by available is, for example, the Sullinger brothers. Kent State would have loved to have had all three, but only the middle one, the undersized one, was available to a Kent State. So, a mid-major, even a Kent State, is only going to get players, with RARE exceptions, that have flaws in their game. Sometimes that flaw is free throw shooting. I'm confident that free throw shooting, as is every other phase of the game, is coached well. But it is like everything else in life. Some can do it consistently well, and others just can't, no matter how hard they try.

I'm disappointed in the loss, obviously, especially since it was Akron,but only slightly disappointed, as this team met or exceeded what any of us could have reasonably expected at the start of the season, and even more so after it became obvious that Johnson and Nealy, two players they were counting on, were unable to contribute.

(03-12-2011 09:25 PM)dannyb73 Wrote:  We played a great game and got beat by a team that also played well. Both teams wanted the game and fought tooth and nail. I hate Akron more than anyone, but kudos to them for winning the only game of the season that really matters. Unfortunately because of the quality of our conference, this game is the only way for us to get to the NCAA tournament. Akron will get housed in the first round of the NCAA tournament because quite frankly, they aren't that good. The bitter taste in my mouth and the fact that the MAC doesn't get at-large bids makes me want them to totally eliminate the MAC tourney. Send your best team which is always going to be the regular season champs and not the team that pulls the upset in the finals.

On to the NIT we go! Doesn't matter what happens, you cut me and I will always bleed Blue and Gold.

BTW - to prove this point even further, in the bracket projections Akron is predicted as a 16 seed against ND. Akron is going to get hammered no matter who they play, but a 16 seed would be funny because it will piss them off to no end.

They are either one of the last 15's or the first 16's. Either way, they are going to see ND, Syracuse, UNC, etc. in the first round.

(And the bracket rules will prevent them for playing in Cleve. Those sites can only be given to the top seeds.)

(03-13-2011 01:21 AM)Zip07 Wrote:  When in doubt, check the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYfuzwSJDBg

Porrini was laying in the middle of the floor and the celebration spills over there. His teammates come running over before Diggs is anywhere near the Kent bench. Emotions running high after a tough loss. If you think that's intentional you're crazy.

Diggs is a loud mouth punk. That’s not hype. He has two T’s and an ejection in the last four games. Even Chris Singletary never matched that pace.

(03-13-2011 10:09 AM)axeme Wrote:  They are either one of the last 15's or the first 16's. Either way, they are going to see ND, Syracuse, UNC, etc. in the first round.

(And the bracket rules will prevent them for playing in Cleve. Those sites can only be given to the top seeds.)

I’m pulling for Akron vs. Notre Dame in Chicago. It’s a virtual home game for the Irish, who are p*ssed after the Louisville loss and have much to prove. Remember how the Indiana fans made the Elite 8 game look in Louisville? That’s how the UC will look if the ND fans invade.

I am speachless. I wasn't even going to read or post this morning. I could take losing to anyone but... them.

That said, I am surprised that no one has questioned having Porrini guard McKnight again. He schooled him the last time they played and this time was no different. I told my sons before the game that containing McKnight and McNees would be the key. They didn't do either and lost.

Oh, that and the free throws...

I don't know. A year from now it will probably Kent State and Akron all over again and odds are that next time it will go our way. But at the end of the day I don't care where Akron is seeded or who they play. I love the rivalry with them and I get more jacked up for a regular season tilt with them than I do for a semi-final with Ball State. BUT, what is there to have against Dambrot or any of his players? In fact, I love that Kent State's archrival is hard-nosed, well-coached and tough. At the risk of making this sound like some sort of Akron love fest I'll just say that I look forward to watching the MAC representative play in the dance next week.

The reason we lost was that our best player fouled out (Greene). Akron has players that have been to the MAC title game before. They kept their cool defensively while we had the ball late in regulation and the OT. Props to them. Both teams did not shoot the rock very well. Akron's McKnight was clutch on those last two free throws after air balling the prior one.

That was almost the greatest game I have ever seen. The atmosphere was tremendous, as expected. I'll be shocked if these two schools are not playing for this championship next year.

As in 2000, with the make up of our club, the NIT will bring valuable experience needed to go through the MAC wars next year. Expectations are extremely high going into the 2011-12 season.

Go Flashes !!!

After a night's sleep, and time to digest last night, I will give UA credit where it is due. In the end, they made shots, and free throws, when they needed them. Coach Dambrot always has that team ready when the bell sounds. Overall, Coach Ford and his staff did one hell of a job this season, and I am very proud of this group. Who knows, maybe we can make a nice NIT run! I must admit, I will not miss Steve McNees one bit after this season. Every time that young man touches the ball against us, it seems like radar just moved his shot into the hoop. Anyway, it was a great season, and here's to winning in the NIT. GO FLASHES!!