Illini Zip

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

Don't forget about Kreed5120 from his bleacher seat.

And this is why I have a level of confidence and understanding of Groce's system and coaching style. The man actually teaches the fan base along the way. After a few years of post-game interviews, you too can be as obnoxious as me.

Steve French isn't happy with the refs either. The Utomi foul was just ridiculous. Buffalo was the better team tonight, but I agree with Zipsrule that we are not far off from Buffalo's level.

Talking about the foul on Banks?

Somebody tie Buffalo's shoe-laces together. I'm exhausted just watching.

E-man did look to be set on that screen.

I can add to this. When Groce landed in Illinois, the 7 foot center Meyers Leonard decided to go pro. Meyers would have been a junior and averaged 13 pts/game his sophomore year, but he was not even close to a finished product. However, nobody could blame Meyers for leaving because he ended up being a first round pick in the NBA draft and his Mom needed lots of medical help. So getting paid was a high priority. But by him leaving, Illinois had a huge whole in the roster which Groce had to try to patch with a grad transfer. Years later Meyers Leonard was coming around the practice facility. I guess no harm, no foul. Personally, I thought not only would one more year at Illinois help his fellow teammates make a run in the tourney, the added experience at that level would have done wonders for Meyer's confidence and footwork development. Anyway, Groce has a healthy attitude towards these kinds of situations and he's a long-term relationship builder.

And if my memory serves me right, we gave Nevada all they could handle for most of the game. That day is coming, why not Tuesday. Go Zips!!

Aren't you the clever one.

We just moved up to the #24 defense on Kenpom.