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One of the biggest issues in Akron's somehat disappointing 2013-2014 season was the lack of a true point guard. Quincy Diggs played the position pretty well, but it wasn't his most natural position on the floor. Carmelo Betancourt was also in the rotation, but he still wasn't the Steve McNees or Alex Abreu (before the arrest) type leader that Keith Dambrot wanted as his floor general.
Last season was also somewhat disappointing, but I, personally, felt better about it because the Zips were able to win a lot of games with numerous injuries and the abscence of their two best players (Diggs and Demetrius Treadwell) from the year before.
The future of Akron basketball is as bright as ever thanks to the former Nevada high school basketball player of the year Noah Robotham. It's hard to believe that he was able to step in and become as good of a leader as he did in his freshman season.
Before suffering a torn ACL in a home game against Miami near the end of the regular season, the young man they call the Robot Ham was just about everything he needed to be, and then some. On the season, he averaged almost ten points per game to go along with three rebounds and three assists. An assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.5 shows Robotham's ability to manage a game well on offense despite being a true freshman.
Robotham shot 39 percent from the floor last year and was impressive from the three-point line shooting 36 percent, making 40 of his 111 attempts from beyond the arc. He can change the game both offensively and defensively, as he also got just over one steal per game in his freshman season.
There is some concern that injuries could be an issue for Robotham, but he only missed one game (flu) before the season ending injury in February. As the season quickly approaches, it looks like Akron's starting point guard may not be ready to start in the exhibition game against Malone on November 5. If he can't, fellow sophomore Antino Jackson is capable of picking up the starting duties while Robotham gets his health to 100 percent.