Let'sGoZips94

If Hunter is putting the ball on the ground, you know it's a bad offensive possession.

I might Mike Tyson my own ears if I hear "stufferino" one more time.

I'd hate to face the scoreboard operator in a Wild West quick draw. Faster trigger finger this side of the Mississippi.

Ali Ali was practicing with the team this entire time. Two things... 1) That should allow for a pretty seamless transition with him in actual game play. 2) I wonder how much of our offensive woes in our losses are predicated around not exactly knowing how to play without Ali.

Holy smokes! Ali with the dribble drive, pass between defenders to Freeman, who dunks over 3 guys for the and-1.

At least. I forget which game it was - maybe Utah State? - but he had 2 within the same inbounds play. Not sure I understand why that isn't called out by the coaching staff, but ce la vie.

NKU has to miss at some point, right?

Interesting. Horizon League has early-season conference games. I like that. I wish the MAC would adopt that style, and play their out of conference throughout the year instead of two separate seasons.

https://twitter.com/ZipsMBB/status/1733548720925315531?t=bN6S7ykOM8OvFFmp6KaUrg&s=19 Nice arena.

The best part about this: PCCC lurkers might spend an entire day sounding out "ethnolinguistic". Should they figure it out, their next diss track will be... 🎶F Ali Ali... Ethnolinguistic too🎶 Thinking it's our new PG. Can't Read. Can't Write. Can't State.

I think what Ali Ali will unlock for the offense is taking the pressure off the guards. It's well documented my frustrations with Ali Ali's involvement in our offense in 2021-22; stagnant, little ball movement, and wasted possessions. That offense had a tremendous PG in X2.0 that this offense lacks. That offense didn't need the Ali Ali iso game. This offense actually might, at least for the time being. The ability to self-create takes the pressure off the floor general. We might see Scott, Thornton, and even Tavari play better knowing they don't have to be a go to scorer or facilitate open shots as much. Looking forward to tomorrow night.

He's also been practicing with the team from what I read.

"Why would he move away from his family for mental health issues?" Because the Groce & Zips family are also his family. Very cool to see.

This is f'ing awesome news! Screw you NCAA. Spineless, cowardly, evil bastards. Side note: in that video, sounds like one of the players quotes the Kent diss track "F Ali Ali". I had completely forgotten how much the adult preschool team hates him. I wonder if that animosity has remained despite Insincere and others graduating.

Tavari.

1 Enrique Freeman Akron Sr. 6-7 F 8 101 12.6 2 Hunter Dickinson Kansas Sr. 7-2 C 9 110 12.2 3 Armando Bacot North Carolina Sr. 6-10 F 9 107 11.9 4 Vonterius Woolbright Western Caro. Sr. 6-6 G 8 90 11.2 5 Zach Edey Purdue Sr. 7-4 C 9 101 11.2 Current leaders for Rebounds Per Game.

I thought he played pretty well inside vs Bradley. It was one of his stronger performances.

The portal doesn't discriminate. The only difference may be the winning programs losing 2nd or 3rd string guys vs starters leaving losing programs. At least Cephas & Mumpfield produced at the FBS level. P5 rejects were P5 for a reason, regardless of their production, whether it be size, speed, athleticism, etc. Lingard's production at Miami FL & Florida was nonexistent, but we saw how much of a stud he was at Akron. If these FCS/DII players Garner competitive G5/P5 offers in addition to ours, my tune will change, but until then I'm skeptical. Part of the competitive turnaround (despite the record) has been due to replacing entire position groups with P5 transfers.

Other guys being from Utah Tech, Savannah State... I'm gonna need to see some more offers to guys from P5s and competitive G5s. Otherwise, this is Arth-level attraction.

It was absolutely the plan. Ali Ali would've covered the team as they figure out the backcourt. That's the biggest deficiency on the team. Lack of scoring, lack of assists, and a higher turnover rate is not a backcourt recipe for successful college basketball. X2.0 took a bit to figure it out in 2021-22. It wasn't until the 2nd half of the MAC season that he began to step up as a go to scorer. Ali Ali helped cover for him prior to that time period. Scott & Thornton stepped up a little bit last night, but it wasn't a floor general type effort. Scott was borderline invisible on the stat sheet, but he was visibly productive and didn't turn the ball over. Thornton had 3-1 assists to turnovers, 6 pts, and 4 rebounds. These are steps in the right direction. I think Prather could be a key to unlocking the offense a bit. 6'5" guard that can allegedly shoot. As long as he proves to be a shot maker, that will take the pressure off of Tavari, Thornton, and Scott. Him, Dawson, and Johnson would be quite the formidable 6'5" +/- trio. Ali Ali was definitely the plan, though.

I think you answered this with your second point. Groce going down to a 7 man rotation without Lyles and Tavari means this was a must win - not an experimental game - and he stuck with the guys he trusts the most. A redshirt freshman coming off an injury didn't really have a spot in that game last night. I expect to see Prather get ramped up maybe at Northern Kentucky, but definitionally with Miami Hamilton.

This one hurts. He may have been the cause of multiple penalties, but his teammates said he might be the hardest worker on the team. Big big loss. We don't even sniff competitive games the second half of this year without him.

You wanted to hear that gas expulsion just to feel something again, didn't you?

21-18 stat line for Enrique. #25 needs retired.

Thornton with the most ill-advised 3 I've seen in quite some time... And he makes it by playing pinball inside the rim. Go figure.