Illini Zip

Since Groce is still floating offers we won't know the final 2019-2020 roster for a month or two. But going off of what we know today I am going to slot Dawson as the back-up point guard purely out of necessity (Cotton left a mess). When I watch Dawson's high school highlights I see strictly a shooting guard, but this years clips show me that he can handle the rock in traffic and on the move. I think his defense and decision making are works in progress. And time will tell if he is capable of running the show which will all play out in practice battles that we will not be privy to. Also, I initially thought Dawson was going to start packing on muscle like Duvivier and Utomi. But that has not been the case thus far. So that shoots down my power-guard theory. Though I still think he could very easily turn himself into a fullback at any point. Speaking of the weight room. LCJ needs to live in there. Being short is no excuse for being weak. Life on the road in the MAC is not going to get any easier next year and he needs to be able to take a bump. Even 10 pounds added to his frame would go a long way. Just as long as he doesn't lose his quickness. 2019-2020: PG: LCJ/Dawson/Cheese SG: Cheese/Banks/Roscoe SF: Utomi/Williams/Cheese/Toles PF: Williams/Reece/Poke/Utomi/Sayles C: Riak/Reece/Poke/Sayles Reece is likely the first guy off the bench. Biggest concerns: Roscoe's shooting was a huge disappointment and Sayles lack of reliability/consistency. And the center position in general. Ali Ali (redshirt)

When Akron announced the official signing of Mikal Dawson, Groce stated he is capable of playing all three guard spots. We shall see where he decides to play Dawson his first year. Groce likes to limit Freshman to one position since they already have a full plate.

We are such underdogs in this one that we are kind of playing with house money. I would like to see them come out and play loose, fast and together. And let the chips fall where they may.

Sound check!! I am not hearing any audio from this Groce post-game interview posted on the Akron basketball page. Can someone please test it and let me know if you are having any success? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZBW5n-O0YI

I did notice the poor sight lines for the people on the upper deck. Brutal.

I know the AK-Rowdies have snuck into enemy territory before, but what about you guys on here? Is attending a Zips game at Can't State considered convenient or sacrilegious? (Time to move over to the TV)

Let's go Zips!!

I was curious what Malcolm Duvivier was up to these days. He's back up there in his home country of Canada playing ball. I thought he came in and did a fine job for US last year. http://www.halifaxhurricanes.ca/sports/mbkb/2018-19/bios/duvivier_malcolm_pi69

1000 pts scored in 35 games averages to 29 pts/game. I think that's impressive at any level. Maybe the Zips have already found their much needed go-to scorer.

NWAkron had better hope LCJ never goes missing.

One of those turnovers led to Groce losing his freaking mind and calling a time out. Ivey was also pulled at that point. I don't want to sound like I'm throwing the guy under the bus, because he has made huge strides this year. Huge. And I concede he was effective on the defensive end. But he is the Senior leader on this team. The bar is set high for him and we are going to need his best down the stretch. Hopefully this was just an off day.

I can't argue with that. But he was not on the same page as everyone else with many of his passes. And I don't remember him leaving his feet and getting caught without an outlet like he did today.

Even though Ivey had a few good moments, this is the worst I have seen him play in a very long time. He just wasn't fully engaged today. Otherwise, great teamism from our Zips in a must win game.

I thought Parrish was really good with a huge up-side. We are not in practice, so we don't know if he was a distraction or not. But I do remember Groce riding him last year on his unwillingness to commit to the defensive end. So with Parrish this year we are probably better than a Kenpom #263 offense, but we are also not likely a Kenpom #21 defense. I think finishing last in the MAC in defense last year is why Parrish is no longer at Akron.

I would like to see Groce asked about that last play. Trapping might have been the answer and we are all disappointed that Riak wasn't in the game to rim protect. But Groce chose to go small even with LCJ on the court. That tells me he hoped to keep BG out of the paint altogether with a quick defense. And we all know now that didn't work.

I am obviously in the "sold on Groce" camp, but I think this is fair and understandable. And I realize in the end some people will still prefer the old Akron system. I get it. I would say that you are seeing most of what the defense has to offer, except for a lack of truly aggressive ball hawking. It was good to see Banks attack the passing lanes the other day. And when this defense is on fire you will see defense to offense transitions far more often. Also, the right athletic center will be able to cause a ton of havoc on the opposing guards way up top as well as at the rim (Similar to Riak in stature, but quick enough to stay in front of guards). As to the offense, I would say you have seen maybe 40-50% of what I have witnessed. And who knows what Groce has up his sleeve and was never able to install at Illinois. A main reason this offense is stalling out at times is because we are without bigs that can pull their defender away from the rim. Riak and E-man simply are not scoring threats. Once you open up that lane some, you give LCJ room to operate and the defense is then forced to scramble and rotate out of position. Eventually leading to some wide open looks.

Kudos to Roscoe. His effort off the bench kept this game interesting; 22 min, 16pts, 7rbs. LCJ has been worthy of criticism lately, but this was a solid game for him (offensively speaking); 30 min, 14pts, 6 rbs and 7A to 0TO.

Damn, that's getting old. The inability of this team to shoot is well documented, but we also lack the muscle to score inside on the road. We need a few guys on this team who can impose their will, contact or no contact. Hopefully, next years roster will provide some of that (I have a few players in mind). And maybe if we start getting some easy points around the rim it will take some of the pressure off our guards where they can at least make most of the wide open ones.

Banks had a game on Saturday. Maybe today is Roscoe's turn.

Let's go Zips!!

I bet "team-ism" is a "Groce-ism".

Wow, Jackson doesn't have a positive assist to turnover ratio? I'm pretty sure he hears about that plenty. That is one of Groce's biggest metrics. Especially as a point guard. He should be in the ballpark of 3 assists to 1 turnover as the lead guard. Not good.

After discussing Ali Ali, we should check in and see what's new with Mikal Dawson. He was harder to find and there is not much good video out there on him. He is using this gap year to develop with a group called Huntington Prep Post Grad (Gold Team) which I believe operates out of Marshall University facilities. The kid is indeed strong, especially for a guard and plays a hard nosed game. Anyway, the following video is a mess. There is camera lens fog for one thing and the operator doesn't follow the action well, but you get a sense of his ability and the level of competition he is running with this year. Blue and Gold team, #22: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3yb_Sxvs2g Program twitter page: https://twitter.com/HunPrepPostGrad

I agree with everyones comments, but I am all out of "likes" AGAIN. I vote for more "likes". I would just add, don't forget about Mikal Dawson. He is likely to only get garbage minutes at the start of next year, but unlike Ali Ali, Dawson has the strength to compete in the MAC on day one. So he will not be red-shirted, guards seldomly are. He will also be creating competition in practice and pushing the guards in the way Captain Kangaroo desires. It's possible by MAC play he could earn some real playing time.

Here are a couple of the latest high school games involving Ali Ali (East Noble #12) for anyone with the time and patience. I was curious to see how he is progressing. My assessment is that he flashes the skill and athleticism we desire from a small forward, but by no means does he take over games. He doesn't shoot much at all from the outside in these 2 games, but I know he has the range. I did see a very solid handle for a kid his size, 6'-8". He is quick when he wants to be and makes the difficult pass. And he has no problem dunking in the open court and he hits his free throws. I think it's possible he is a red-shirt candidate. Either way he needs another 15-20 pounds of muscle so he can hold his ground and battle inside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlkV7zFLRAk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmDnZlt3Qok