clarkwgriswold

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2022/02/02/college-sports-university-akron-makes-commitment-athletics-programs-facilities-charles-guthrie/9316111002/ Some news here on the new basketball facilities and the JAR.

Amen. No more smaller and faster (and manhandled) on the lines.

On the heels of Michigan/Hoban's Nolan Rumler.

Miami got it back to 11 then let it get back up to 13 at the end. Miami has some talent but it's not translating into being a very good team at this point.

Wow, PCCC took it up to 30 at the beginning of the half now Miami has scored 17 straight to get it down to 13!

Yikes. Down 26 at the half! Looking back, before losing to EMU by 10, they lost by 17 to Ball State, beat an awful NIU team by 3 in OT and lost by 23 to OU. I suspect the Jack Owens watch has commenced.

I misread the schedule, they are at Oxford against PC A & T.

It is refreshing to see kids the Zips are hosting or that have committed and have a sense of excitement as opposed to asking "who?" as we often did with the prior staff.

Miami plays at Portage County A & T Tuesday night so they probably plan to stay up here rather than travel back to Oxford then back up.

5 games in 11 days, then a week off, then 4 games in 8 days. You can't make this stuff up.

I really need to keep reminding myself that this is not the team Groce came into camp with, nor is the team that started the season. This team may well have been 10 to 12 deep squad with pressure on defense and an up tempo offense but between the injuries, Covid, Walton's meltdown and Wynn, the team had to really make some major adjustments and changes and maybe that's where the staff deserves some credit. Despite all of that, they're still 13-6/6-3 and in the mix.

Yikes. Grant and Lairy combined for 18 points. That's a recipe for disaster for them.

All of the other top MAC teams have that guard that gets them 18 to 20 points every night. Toledo has Rollins; OU has Sears; Brimfield has Insincere; and Canada has Williams. Don't get me wrong, I like Castaneda but he hasn't been that guy and Trimble is a streaky specialist. I like that they share the ball but the fact than no one on the team averages 14 points is troubling.

The Zips host Miami on Friday then hop on the bus and head to Oxford for a Sunday afternoon game versus the Redhawks. The Zips will head into the game with a week's rest while the Redhawks face EMU on Saturday and PCCC on Tuesday. Currently, the Redhawks are 9-9 overall and 3-4 in the MAC. 6'2" junior All-MAC guard Dae Dae Grant leads the Redhawks at 17.4 ppg with mighty mite senior guard Mekhi Lairy scoring 14.1 ppg. Rebounding is led by 6'7" 5th year Dalonte Brown who pulls down 6.6 rpg while scoring 12.5 ppg. Miami's coach, Jack Owens, had a 56-65 career record coming into the season. They were 12-11 season last season and 9-8 in the Mid-American Conference. This season is looking very similar to other Owens seasons. This is the type of opponent the Zips have to beat to maintain a decent seeding. A weekend sweep would take the Zips to 15-6/8-3 heading into the last month of the season.

This team, at least right now, is exactly what the MAC Pre-season Coaches Poll predicted them to be- the 4th or 5th best team in the MAC. That means they're going to lose some games that will frustrate us. In reality, we've all been a little spoiled as Zips fans. That doesn't mean they can't make a run when the time comes. In reality, as long as they make it to Cleveland we all know that what happens between now and March 4th makes little difference.

Well, they showed a ton of heart fighting their way back into the game.

19 down to 6. As goes Trimble...

They're nice players but they're not even in the top 14 scorers in a pretty average MAC.

How we see how much pride, heart and fight these kids have in them

Exactly. No leader, no standout. Just a bunch of 6s and 7s on a 10 point scale. Nice players, no stars.

These are the games I am happy to not get CBS Sports Network, This way, I at least don't have to see it.

We can only dream of a crowd like that.

I resemble that remark.

Wow, nice finish to the half. Yikes. The Zips have up a 63 FG% that half while shooting 45%.