Jump to content

Game 15- Western Michigan


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, akronzips71 said:

That team was bigger but they were not that athletic. Many missed bunnies, lived by the 3. Tree and Zeke were able to dominate the boards due to Zekes height and Trees hops.

This team is way more athletic and can play a faster game. We will see how they do.

I went to that game in Michigan and I remember how slow our guys looked against VCU.  Tree was the only one that looked good on the court and had the quickness to stay with an athlectic and hard pressing VCU team.  Zeke, as much talent as he had looked very slow on the court against a quick athletic team and was very ineffective.  The game was over midway throught the first half.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

OK, I have to jump in.  Not even close.  X has much better attitude and can actually make a 3 pointer on more than an occasion.

The comment was a 6'9" big that could run the court and handle the ball. I made no comment on his attitude or shooting

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kwan was one of the KD players that really improved from his frosh to his senior year.  As a frosh he did not rebound well or play great defense.  However, he turned himself into a great rebounder and very good defensive player.  His senior year he was playing amazing and many on this board thought he should be player of the year in the MAC.   However, he went into a slump and had a good year but not a fantastic year.  The only negative about Kwan is that he never had a great tournament in Clev and Akron did not win a MAC championship while he was with the team.

 

Tough to compare the two players since Williams has not even played a third of a season.  They are both good rebounders and play good defense.  I like it how Williams is taking better shots and his shooting percentage is way up.  I think Williams runs the floor better, drives to the basket better while Kwan could post up a player a little better than Williams.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nate Linhart was closer to X than Kwan. Kwan didn't possess the ability to drive and get to the basket, or didn't show it being hindered by the type of offense Dambrot ran. I don't recall Linhart driving AS MUCH as X, but 1) he had the ability and 2) Dambrot rarely ran a system with much movement on offense. I'll never forget Linhart crashing the boards for the circus-put-back to beat O-Who at the buzzer. 

 

Kwan developed greatly during his 4 years under Dambrot, and was key in keeping the Zips in games during his senior year. 

Edited by Let'sGoZips94
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Nate Linhart was closer to X than Kwan. Kwan didn't possess the ability to drive and get to the basket, or didn't show it being hindered by the type of offense Dambrot ran. I don't recall Linhart driving AS MUCH as X, but 1) he had the ability and 2) Dambrot rarely ran a system with much movement on offense. I'll never forget Linhart crashing the boards for the circus-put-back to beat O-Who at the buzzer. 

 

Kwan developed greatly during his 4 years under Dambrot, and was key in keeping the Zips in games during his senior year. 

Linhart was better than Williams and Cheatham.  Linhart got assigned the toughest defensive job guarding the opponents best player,  2-5.  Linhart can also take a punch.  

 

On offense Linhart played within 5 feet of the baseline. KD's offense feed off of him  shooting from the corner or driving the baseline.  He also crashed the boards much better than Cheatham.  Love how much Cheatham contributed and cant wait to see more of Williams this year,  but so far neither matches up to Linhart's four years of work.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, ZZZips said:

Linhart was better than Williams and Cheatham.  Linhart got assigned the toughest defensive job guarding the opponents best player,  2-5.  Linhart can also take a punch.  

 

On offense Linhart played within 5 feet of the baseline. KD's offense feed off of him  shooting from the corner or driving the baseline.  He also crashed the boards much better than Cheatham.  Love how much Cheatham contributed and cant wait to see more of Williams this year,  but so far neither matches up to Linhart's four years of work.  

Taking a punch.  All you ever need to know about PCCC basketball. They will show you who they are 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Taking a punch.  All you ever need to know about PCCC basketball. They will show you who they are 

I was at this game and remember being completely outraged.

 

The replay doesn't match my memory.  It doesn't look nearly as bad as I remember it, and it looks like Singletary was more putting out a hand to slow Nate's progress rather than an actual punch.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, RowdyZip said:

I was at this game and remember being completely outraged.

 

The replay doesn't match my memory.  It doesn't look nearly as bad as I remember it, and it looks like Singletary was more putting out a hand to slow Nate's progress rather than an actual punch.  

Looks like a punch to me.  Did Nate earn an Oscar that day...maybe?  I do know that on video especially when it's slowed down punches don't look as bad as they might feel to person on receiving end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, NWAkron said:

I think we all know how this goes and are having fun.  First opportunity in a few years.  

100% agree. After a 2 year hiatus we're back to watching the type of competitive basketball we'd come accustomed to watching during Dambrot's tenure. 

 

Is Ali a young "Deji"? Who's better, Kwan or X?  Antino or LCJ? Cheese/Banks or Noah? Big Dog or Riak. Ok, maybe I went too far, but you get the idea. ?

 

No doubt this team has the potential to reach the MAC finals. Hope they can stay healthy, out of trouble and continue to improve. 

 

Seems like this is the turning point where Zips fans do the 180 degree switch over from "Why in the world did we hire Groce?" to "How are we ever going to keep him?" 

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

100% agree. After a 2 year hiatus we're back to watching the type of competitive basketball we'd come accustomed to watching during Dambrot's tenure. 

 

Is Ali a young "Deji"? Who's better, Kwan or X?  Antino or LCJ? Cheese/Banks or Noah? Big Dog or Riak. Ok, maybe I went too far, but you get the idea. ?

 

No doubt this team has the potential to reach the MAC finals. Hope they can stay healthy, out of trouble and continue to improve. 

 

Seems like this is the turning point where Zips fans do the 180 degree switch over from "Why in the world did we hire Groce?" to "How are we ever going to keep him?" 

At the risk of sounding like a horrible rationalizer, if the Zips were going to have a basketball "recession" 2017-2019 was the time to do it.  There wasn't a MAC team that could legitimately compete with Canada.  I think KD knew that when he called it a day, and Groce   (Remember Groce's  first year meltdown and ejection from Canada's arena?)knew it as well and used that time wisely to install his will on the program. With string and glue, he got the Zips to Cleveland both years and got a first round home game last year albeit with the worst seeding possible.  As I've said on here before, I learned a lot more about basketball watching the Zips struggle and rebuild the last few years than I did watching the same program and the same method makes its way to Saturday night in March.  I'm realistic that as this grind moves on that there are going to be some ugly nights on the road and probably a shock at the JAR before this is over.  

Edited by NWAkron
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you remember, KD's teams would traditionally run like a buzzsaw through the first half of the MAC season but then begin to stumble & rarely felt like they had momentum going into the tourney.  It'll be interesting to see if Groce can keep the team's momentum cranking & peak at the right time.

 

I also appreciate, more than mere words can express, how Groce doesn't pull hot shooters from the game. ?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it would have been fun to field a better team to contend with Buffalo last year. For years Dambrot complained about how the decks always stacked against us because nobody good would ever come play at the JAR. There was actually for once a team last year in the MAC that would have given us a crack to get up to 2 tournament resume building wins. 

 

I heard over the years people saying they wanted Akron to become the Gonzaga of the east. People overlook another WCC that has capitalized off of Gonzaga's success to become one of the best mid-majors in the country. That team would be St. Mary's who used some wins over Gonzaga to help catapult them. Those two teams emerging also helped attract BYU to the conference, which made the conference even better. I'd love to see the MAC become a multi-bid league.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

I think it would have been fun to field a better team to contend with Buffalo last year. For years Dambrot complained about how the decks always stacked against us because nobody good would ever come play at the JAR. There was actually for once a team last year in the MAC that would have given us a crack to get up to 2 tournament resume building wins. 

 

I heard over the years people saying they wanted Akron to become the Gonzaga of the east. People overlook another WCC that has capitalized off of Gonzaga's success to become one of the best mid-majors in the country. That team would be St. Mary's who used some wins over Gonzaga to help catapult them. Those two teams emerging also helped attract BYU to the conference, which made the conference even better. I'd love to see the MAC become a multi-bid league.

I would love to see pigs fly. Both have about the same chances of happening -

SLIM and NONE.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...