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Big Green, congratulations on Marshall knocking off Virginia. I will be rooting for your team against Indiana .

Agreed. The last thing the Zips program needs it to toss a bunch of guys who've been riding the pine all season into the final two games and get blown out. There's a reason those guys haven't played, and it's because they aren't yet ready to contribute. If there is one lesson to be learned from this season, it's - The Zips need to learn how to win. A 1-1, or 2-0 finish to the season would be a huge building block for the 2023 Zips.

This game brings me ONLY confidence. Sammy is playing better, rebounding better, bad games from Trendon and Nate, whatcha gunna do. Bring me Nevada.

I think we found a new rotation member! Tavari is legit

You like how an undersized guard from Chicago penetrates the lane? De ja vu? 😉

Their fans?

I feel like with Greg on the floor, it's like having an NBA-quality 3-point shooter on your team. Unfortunately the shooter is Ben Simmons... 😉

Fantastic slate of games in this tournament. Win or lose (last year's FL tourney was hard to stomach), I love having games 3 days in a row, especially against a good mix of competition. Eastern Michigan goes to Florida to play in a tourney, only to play Indiana Fort Wayne? No thanks. They can get that anytime they want November/December. As others have said, looking to finally get that Nevada monkey off our back! Go Zips!

Brecksville HS PG. Listed anywhere between 5-11 to 6-2. Shooter.

This is the 12th scheduled game, but the actual 11th due to the postponement. I am very surprised that nobody has started the thread. The line for the game is NIU -10, but as I stated in other posts, I am predicting an Akron victory. Go Zips!!!

T Johnson feels like a secret weapon we are releasing. Fresh legs and bringing it while the opposing team is exhausted. We need him to keep it up in the 2nd.

Every damn three we’ve taken goes off back iron. So frustrating. Everyone is broke. But the defensive effort is great for 3rd game in 3 days. Winnable going into the 2nd half, but this feels a bit like yesterday.

We’d be in the top 50 if we were just an average shooting team. Defense travels though. Keep it up.

If Tavari can hang like this against Nevada he’s going to be fine come MAC play. 💪💪

I like how Tavari gets into the lane.

Kobe Mitchell is in.

If anyone is bored on this Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Morgan State is up on Loyola Marymount in the 2nd half. LMU is coming off of back to back wins against Georgetown and Wake Forest. This is an incredible, free stream on the West Coast Conference site. https://wccsports.com/watch/?sid=494116 Edit: #34 for LMU has a beautiful head of lettuce/mustache combination.

Groce is the exact opposite of Kowalchoke when it comes to March, so come January 1st, I will not be taking the Toledo futures bet to win the MAC Tourney. Not sure AAU ball will do well in the MAC if it isn't doing well against Bradley, Oakland, IPFW, and Winthrop. In their DI games, they've given up less than 80 points in a game just once - 74 to IPFW - and have given up 88, 89, 92 (OT), and 101 in the other 4 DI losses. Heath Ball is literally the exact opposite of Murphy Ball. Fixed it for him.

I am hopeful Mikal Dawson gets another year of eligibility due to his injury. I made that correction here.

Zips add Darrian Baker and Marvin Musiime-Kamali. Also, I am making an assumption that Ryan Prather Jr and Prince Mosengo are red-shirting.

As will I.

No such luck. You'd have to get a 1-month subscription which is $29.99. I got it as I thought it was worth it for 3 games, but one game?...

Nevada used only 8 players in 45 minutes, and three played 39 mins+. I can imagine Groce using Nate Johnson, Gavin Clarke and Tavari more and in an early rotation to try and wear them out. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401486461

He and X also very obviously have targets on their backs now as everyone knows they're the lynchpins to the Zips offense and direct their defensive attention to stopping them first.

Seeing the plan and executing the plan are two different challenges. Quite frankly, most teams should be able to shut down a 6'7" post player just based on sheer size difference, but they don't 95% of the time. I also trust that the coaching staff and Enrique will identify this "flaw" and work hard to limit its effect on Enrique's overall production. Making our perimeter shots will also go a long way towards opening up the game for Enrique.

I am afraid LSU has shown the world how to defend Enrique. Enrique has great footwork and is good to his back to the basket. To my understanding, the LSU defense was making him turn to the baseline and essentially making the baseline a second defender and it flummoxed him. The result was 1 of 6 from the field. I trust that if that defense becomes a pattern Groce and staff will figure it out, but I suspect the solution will depend on kicking it out for successful threes or Enrique making good passes to cutters.

I hate to see any conference lose a sponsored sport, it means one less autobid for what is usually the little guy. But once SIU-E went back to the MVC and WVU left for CUSA and now the Sun Belt the handwriting was on the wall. There wasn't but one program that didn't have a home (Chicago State) and no other program was going to leave a stable conference without assurances of MAC soccer not collapsing and that couldn't be said. The move for Akron though is a major upgrade in conference. I think for the foreseeable future the Big East and Sun Belt will fight for the 2nd best DI conference in the nation and will challenge the ACC on some years as the best conference.

Yes, Ali leaving is just what D1 has turned into. Losing Dawson was a huge blow. I was expecting this year to be a break out year from him and his perimeter shooting would certainly help open up things for others.

My 2 cents - Akron is playing for some sort of momentum to go into the offseason. Another angle the staff may or may not be looking at is getting younger players experience and seeing what the have in them, though I believe the focus should be on winning. On the other hand, NIU had an incredibly disappointing season and is probably ready to get it over with. I’m also kind of wishy washy on the Zips playing Buffalo. I want to see them play for my own benefit, but maybe it’s best just to get the season over with and concentrate on recruiting. The game is being played though, so it’s a moot point.

The 2 zip recruits each also had an assist in the game

https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/boys-club-standouts:-november-19-20_aid51557 Columbus Crew SC 05/04 MLS NEXT – Caleb Borneo scored two goals and Joshua Bartels added another in a 3-2 win over Minnesota United. FC Cincinnati 05/04 MLS NEXT – Alen Kapic and Ryder Mills scored two goals each as FC Cincinnati defeated Michigan Wolves by a 4-3 score. Ryan Hannosh bagged a brace for Wolves.

Through five games of the season now, IMO this offense does look better this year without Ali Ali. Thankfully I don’t think I’ve seen any isolation plays with the back to the basket yet by anyone. Although Ali did have better shooting stats compared to the likes of Sammy and Hank so far, having the option of multiple shooters this year pleases me way more than Ali at point last year. Even if the numbers aren’t there this year, by my eye test the offense is doing a good job, just gotta knock down some shots

Fun history with Nevada. Javale McGee was on the team that Romeo and Dru hosted in December of 2006. They were ranked at the time I believe, Dru had a shot at the buzzer to win it and missed. Nick Fazekas had about 400 points, hitting mid rangers off the back board like nobody I’ve ever seen. Zips went out there in December of 2018 as big underdogs, and newcomers Channel Banks and Tyler Cheese nearly grabbed the Zips a top-10 upset. They were ranked 6th at the time, and had just come off a deep tournament run. It would be awesome to finally beat them.

DB from Bucknell.

Glass Rockets crash late again. Lose to basketball power East Carolina by 11.

Skilled, big-bodied 6-3 guard.