clarkwgriswold

The 9-8 Toledo Rockets come into the JAR Saturday night fresh off a 74-67 loss to Central Michigan. The Rockets entered the season with high hopes as the number 1 West Division team in MAC Preseason Coaches Poll, however, they have had a rough spell since mid-December losing 6 of their last 7 (Kansas City, Wright State, Bradley, Ball St., PCCC and CMU). Junior guard Marreon Jackson and senior center Luke Knapke were named the All-MAC West Division Preseason team. Jackson averages 17.2 ppg along with 4.1 assists. Koepke scores 15.2 ppg while kicking in 8.1 rpg. Willie Jackson scores 11.5 a game and rebounds at an impressive 12.5 rpg. This game worries me. Toledo appears to have as much individual talent as any team in the MAC. Let’s hope they don’t come together in the JAR. The game is also a fundraiser for Norton teen Emma Pfouts. If the Zips have half the fortitude of that little girl, we're in for a great season.

Another solid road win.

Jayden with some solid minutes tonight in Reece's stead.

LCJ in the first half, Cheese in the second.

"You know what momentum is? Momentum is a choice." This color commentator is making me ill. ? Wake the hell up Zips. Stop the easing up with a big lead.

After resetting it on an airball. That guy's on his game.

19-3 run just when it looked like NIU might get back in it.

It sound like the color commentator went to the Kenny Rota Correspondence Broadcasting School.

Montgomery's first sentence in the huddle- "DID WE NOT TALK ABOUT THIS?"

Facing it from my recliner, it looks ugly as hell.

That was an enjoyable read, but the Ball State drunk guy last week is hard to beat.

I will not peek at the polls...I will not peek at the polls...I will not peek at the polls... Okay, but just a little.

I suspect Banks will spend a lot of time on German as opposed to LCJ. On the topic of Banks, has anyone else had the sense that he's hurt? He just doesn't look comfortable.

Ooooh yeaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh Blue & Gold. Glad to see there are others in here with my "cultured" background!

My guess is that they'll win 22 or 23 games, lose in the semis of the A10 tournament and be on the edge of an NCAA berth.

Did it have an open top like those big city tour buses?

I love the Civic Center. Not pretty bu very functional. The answer to your question is very simple- no one wants to pay for it.

True. I think some of that's Groce's design by necessity, driven by the lack of quality offensive bigs.

That's my biggest fear. I cringe every time someone passes the ball to Riak. Reece is more competent offensively but is undersized against some bigs. I will give Reece credit for knowing his offensive limitations as well as always going up strong. After those two, there's no depth. On a night when the 3 ball's not dropping, they could run into some trouble. On a related note, Mark Kostelac has played in 5 of 15 games at Walsh, averaging 7 minutes and 1.6 points a game.

I assume the game ended too late to get to press. Last night's game was fun. Nice to see the crowd get into the game. It appears that the Zips are finally starting to gain some attention from their success. Some day, when I get a little time, I want to go back a couple of years and find some of the very critical posts about Groce as he was struggling with a roster thrown together at the last minute. It should be entertaining for those of us who encouraged patience and painful for the "Chicken Littles" who were so critical.

The Zips head to lovely DeKalb, Illinois to face the Northern Illinois Huskies Tuesday night. The Huskies were picked to finish second in the MAC West in the MAC Preseason Poll, with senior guard Eugene German being named to the All-MAC West team. Northern Illinois won 17 games last season and advanced to the MAC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2003. They stand at 8-7 going into Saturday's game with Eastern Michigan. German leads the Huskies and the MAC at over 20 ppg, while dishing out nearly 4 apg.

That's the most fun I've had at the JAR in a while. That's just the type of game I was expecting from X. I think the MAC knows the Zips are here now.

I would prefer for them to continue to step on their necks than try to eat clock.

Nice moment when Reese came off of the floor. Groce took him aside put his arm around him and talked to him for about 30 seconds.

Damn refs.