Illini Zip

Cardiac kids pull it out. It's safe to look up NWAkron.

Utomi is really struggling. Good thing Cheese is stepping up.

Roscoe, you're killing me!!

Thanks for the compliment, but ahhh no. I admitted to being a bit of a homer long ago. I just want to see this offense take flight. Remember Ohio had mostly 2 star and NR recruits. Baltic was a 3 star and Offutt maybe a 4 star. I want to see Akron landing 4 and 5 star recruits to apply to this offense. I have a dream... Edit: Cooper was a 3 star as well.

You guys are all hitting on the right questions. NWAkron points out that stiff defense is our only route to victory, especially on the road. Last game we produced 6 points total from the center position. The rest of the MAC can read box scores too and that just adds more stress on our guards. When the Zips are on the same page defensively they are actually quite good and their Kenpom ranking (#57) bares that out. But they do have mental lapses and it's very frustrating to watch the opponent drive the lane untouched. But not only do I see "Angry Groce" flare up, but LCJ is starting to take over this team and holding teammates accountable. They know what needs to be done, but they are lacking consistency. If we are locking down so tightly on defense then we can not afford to take chances. I love the transition game, but most of it comes from steals from jumping the passing lanes. I am not seeing the guys gambling out there at all which is likely a coaching decision. It is very much like a defense in football ball-hawking when they are up by a comfortable margin. We do need to do a better job blocking out and everyone needs to put their body on their guy, but with this offensive style there is not going to be someone staying home under the rim to rebound. Our center on offense should be all over the court. For example, when Ohio had their run in the Tourney their starting center was 6'-8", Ivo Baltic, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alFzurcDB0E and you will see a similar skill set in Luka Eller, https://www.hudl.com/video/3/6276902/5aa83507478e590ee078ac4d a recruit who Groce is pursuing as part of his 2020 class. I will now go and give myself 1,000 lashings for linking to anything Ohio related. Please forgive me. Edit: I should add that our approach on defense, both attacking passing lanes and hitting the boards will have a lot to do with the opponent. If we are playing a team that likes to run themselves then you have to choose your battles and it often means prioritizing getting our butts back on defense asap.

Amen.

That was a scary fall by Ivey.

Let's get that first road kill today!!

This Scholarship Grid includes the 2017 - 2018 roster for reference. I had already forgotton all about Virshon Cotton so maybe this will be of value to others as well.

You're welcome guys. It wasn't a completely selfless act. I have been looking for this grid myself ever since I arrived. I am willing to keep it going so if anybody has updates or corrections you are free to private message me.

This should be good enough. A screen shot of all things. Who would have thunk.

New scholarship grid, enjoy. Go Zips!!

Oh, I definitely agree. But I am just saying that Ivey's game has improved so much even since last year when I thought he struggled driving the lane and handling the ball. So kudos to Ivey for putting in the work. ...and kudos to NWAkron.

I remember before any of us had seen the new players, we were guessing what the starting line-up might look like this year. NWAkron thought I was crazy, but I wasn't sure at that time if Ivey was guaranteed a spot in the starting line-up and that maybe LePear Toles could beat him out. But I did say that leadership was needed and if Ivey embraced that role he would be fine. I have to say the growth Ivey has shown from last year to now has been amazing, both as a player and a leader. I am very happy for him.

I have a mystery to solve. Not a big mystery, but still a mystery. Why did Ivey not start against NIU? He was back against Eastern Michigan. Usually if it has something to do with a violation of team rules a player will be forced to sit during tip-off, but would be allowed to start the second half. Ivey didn't start either half against NIU. So that's why I thought maybe Groce was shuffling his roster to maximize leadership/productivity. Say for example, that Sayles, Roscoe and Ivey really click together. Groce did that one year at Illinois with a bunch of young players. Anybody?

That's right. The departure of Cotton feels like ancient history to me already, but really not so long ago in terms of the recruiting calendar.

This is so very true. It doesn't make sense to not have a second point guard so it has me wondering. I watched Mikal Dawson highlights again and there is nothing there that screams point guard to me in terms of running an offense or ball handling. I see a shooting guard. But this 2019 class would be the right time to bring in a back up/alternate point guard. Thoughts?

Is it safe to breath?

I quite agree. I will make that change right away.

Hey 1981 Grad, good to hear from you. There is plenty for us to agree upon even if we end up with two different opinions. I totally agree with limiting minutes. Somewhere in the high twenties to low thirties seems to be the sweet spot for starters. The star player often plays in the mid to high thirties. But you can totally wear down your team going through the grind of conference play if you are not careful. Often coaches will go with light walk-through practices towards the end of the year. I personally would prefer Groce have a large active roster, especially if we get to the point where the Zips open up a running style. The common debate is when you get past a 9 player rotation will you start to lose team chemistry. Anyway, I think it's easy for us to forget about the insane recovery time of these kids. In 2017 the Michigan wolverines had their plane slide off the run way. The next day they got up at 6:00 in the morning, flew from Detroit to Washington D.C. for a noon tip off and in their practice uniforms beat Illinois. They went on to win the Big Ten Tourney (4 games in 4 days). So my opinion is that the Zips had plenty in the tank and in their legs on Saturday. Now as to the refs. I really hate talking about the refs. I am not one to play that card often. But on the same note, there are good refs and bad refs and they do effect games. And in my opinion the other night the Zips had to battle a team that was hitting on all cylinders in the second half while trying to figure out what the hell was a foul and what was incidental contact, etc. In the end, it's the Zips job to figure it out and overcome the refs calls no matter what. They ended up losing their composure and the game in glorious fashion. Hopefully, they will soon have the mental toughness and the horses necessary to overcome such a challenge. But I don't have a problem at all throwing lousy refs under the bus as part of my analysis.

I'm hearing that Groce is about to float an offer to a trio of JUCO transfers.

Come on guys. I leave for the weekend and the whole place burns down. Anyway, I did watch this disaster, twice. I noticed a roster change with Ivey coming off the bench for both halves. I imagine that's to balance the rotation so we always have leadership on the court. You might find this strange, but I am more upset with the Zips letting the Central Michigan game get away from us. This game was a tale of 2 halves and 3 schizophrenic referees. I really felt for our guys. There were 8 minutes left in the game and our Zips were so confused and frustrated it was ridiculous. All I ask from referees is consistency for 40 minutes. They were the worst team on the court Saturday. The first half was actually pretty impressive basketball from our Zips. Great ball movement. Drive and kick. We were hitting our floaters and lay ups. Free throws went down. We actually had some inside game. Our defense was solid with steals, diving on the floor and a half-court press that really messed with them. And even though our three point shooting started out ice cold we salvaged 27% by half and a 9 point lead. The second half NIU came out more aggressive and Eugene German was on fire hitting everything from lay ups to NBA three pointers. All the floaters and circus shots we made in the first half were now going down for them. Every broken play, hustle play, buzzer beater and friendly rim went their way. All of that in the first 5 minutes of the second half and we are still up 42 - 38. You can throw in some of our mistakes now; bad passes, not blocking out, defensive breakdowns, poor shot selection, stalled offense without LCJ on the floor and moving the ball side to side instead of attacking the defense. Even with all of that we are now at the 12:00 minute mark, still battling and only down 45 - 44. Somewhere between then and the 8:00 minute mark our spirit was broken. From there on out we were completely rudderless and chucking up three pointers in desperation. And the last minutes were total garbage. I would argue the refs had a lot to do with that. I will spare everyone the details, but I did write them down. That said, we have to play the game that is in front of us. And if the nature of the game changes we have to adapt. The problem is we are currently a one-trick pony. This offense may be guard heavy, but it should not be guard only. The fact that we get so little offense from our bigs kept us from overcoming the more physical play in the second half. It's tragic that we have to discuss Gueye's departure because a guy like that could make all the difference. There are better days in store for the Zips offense. I promise. A better three point percentage I can not promise. One last note. I hope the Zips have a Eugene German effigy pinned to their board. He's a great player, but he's a punk-ass. He's also a junior so we get the pleasure of playing him another year. I don't believe in dirty play, but I do believe in hard fouls. That dance after hitting a three pointer was beyond celebration, that was taunting and disrespectful. Also, he should have been T-up at the end of the first half for knocking the ball out of Ivey's hands. Yes, I would definitely send him a message when they come to Akron. Bring on Eastern Michigan. Go Zips!!

The announcer called it a 1-3-1 zone, but I thought we were running the half-court press which worked well in the first half. What ever it was it didn't slow down German's drive to the hoop. The second trip down the court we really didn't get set and we were in man-to-man by the third trip down.

I agree with this sentiment up to a point. It's not an impressive stat line at all. But I did read in the Gamecocks Central comments that he was late to the game of basketball. So it's possible that a sit out year of nothing but weights and post-up drills could have done wonders for him. And after watching this NIU game it would be nice to have a guy who can double as an aircraft carrier and dunk anything within 5 feet of the basket. I would be interested to learn exactly what we missed out on, if anything.

There is not much online about Gueye, but the following are some comments related to his departure pulled from Gamecock Central. Notice there is nothing pertaining to him having a bad disposition or history. Gonna miss him. Fun to watch. Hustled and gave it his all. He was too late in picking up the sport. Good defender. Did not have the strength or footwork to excel in the paint. Played 5 minutes per game, never scored on a team with a ton of potential playing time available. I wish him well, but he was dead weight. I admired Gueye's hustle as well. He passed the eye test. A great looking athlete. Unfortunately, after 2 years he never developed the footwork, coordination and confidence to compete at this level. He seemed to have regressed this season. He's a project big that didn't pay off. I wish him the best. Good, he's trash ( That comment raised the ire of plenty on the site )