clarkwgriswold

I'd have to read it Danny (other than the first and last line), and at an obvious 500 words plus of stuff we've most assuredly read before, that's very unlikely.

The 4-2 Zips welcome the 5-3 Merrimack Warriors into the JAR the day after Thanksgiving. Merrimack, after having some success in DII, is in their first year of D1. The highlight of their season appears to be a 71-61 win over Northwestern at Evanston. The rest of their wins appear to be against pretty pedestrian teams. 6-4 senior guard Jaleel Lord leads the Warriors at 11.9 ppg, while 6 foot guard Juvaris Hayes leads rebounding at 5.9 rpg. Here's a nice preview of the Warriors from the Merrimack website- https://merrimackathletics.com/news/2019/11/5/2019-20-mens-basketball-season-preview.aspx I am out of town next week so I expect all of you to take over screaming important directions to the refs, coaches and players so that they don't miss me.

X is still shaking off rust. Hard to put it on one player. If he makes more and stays out of foul trouble, maybe Banks and LCJ don't get as many opportunities. You just never know.

Louisville will beat a lot of good ACC teams worse than they beat the Zips. Promising performance by the Zips. Mack's a good coach, but damn, he didn't come up with a single good out of bounds play down the stretch.

Zips showing some grit. Obviously outmanned but playing hard with a lot of heart.

X is just out of sorts tonight. He's also the focus of Louisville's defensive attention.

Zips starting to look tired.

Awful damn call against LCJ. Banks is sure showing his value to the team tonight.

They are so good everywhere and just keep coming. They will be in the final mix in March.

That Nwora kid is as advertised.

X with two fouls early.

I see Chris Mack and John Groce use the same barber.

Youtube TV has the ACC channel.

Old Bob likes to swing at the low hanging fruit. Fortunately, his average is below the Mendoza line. He's a columnist looking for readers. His analysis is paper thin. I read the piece and thought "ummmmm, so what does this offer that we didn't already know?" The stadium is bigger than they need. Check. Arth cost UA money. Check. The football team has sucked. Check. Thanks for all that insight Captain Obvious. What's next, and expose on the end of the Kostelac era at UA?

Plus $4 for about every concession item.

Top 5 InfoCIsion Crowds this year: 1. Hoban/Massillon 2. Hoban/SVSM 3. Founders Week Gathering 4. UA Basketball Ice Cream Social 5. Neighborhood Kids breaking into stadium to play football

...and case was dismissed yesterday. Unfortunately, by the end of next season, someone on a larger scale than Akron will have him in their commitments. His size will keep him from a top P5, but I could see him at a Cinci level program.

Good call on Mack. With all of the mess with Pitino and the wild restaurant nookie, assistant coaches involved in the Adidas scandal and strippers for recruits and the Papa John's fiasco, he's done a great job of keeping them afloat and returning them to an elite program.

I'm tempering my excitement for now. We were all frustrated with them less than a week ago after their lackadaisical efforts against Malone and NCC. X is the best player on the team and we have yet to see him at his full potential as he's just 5 games in after sitting a season and a half. He should be an All- MAC first teamer at the end of the year. I'd like to see him use his length in the post more and also see him drive to the basket more often. He's not only a nice player but seems to have a great attitude on the floor. Reece is what I hoped he would be, a blue collar defense and rebound guy. They don't have to create offense for him and he seems content to get his points through hard work. Every team needs that guy. It's something Groce's UA teams have lacked. Cheese is the second best player on this team and the best at creating his own offense. 10 seconds left and down one, he's the guy I want with the ball. His shot has also vastly improved since he showed up in Akron. He also seems like the rare Zip with a little attitude (in a good way). LCJ continues to be streaky and I suspect he always will be. I wish he'd try playing at 90% speed and more under control at times rather than pushing the ball into a turnover, blocked shot or a quick three. He's a guy that I would love to see bring energy off of the bench if the Zips were deeper. I'm surprised his lack of size hasn't been more exploited by opponents, but that is also a testament to how hard he works. To his credit, I've seen him on multiple occasions work very hard in the post on a bad switch, to the point that I said to my wife that I wished our big men worked that hard. Banks appears to finally be getting his shot back after losing it last year. He also is our best perimeter defender. He's very good at getting in passing lanes for steals, without getting out of position. I think he's a guy that could really help the team down the stretch if his shot is on. I don't share akronzips71 enthusiasm about Riak. Don't get me wrong, I think he is an asset to the team and he works hard. I just think he's the very same player he was at the start of last season. I sure wish he had better hands and I cringe every time he takes a 3 pointer. The guy gets his hands on more balls that he doesn't eventually control that anyone I have ever seen. Ali is like a young gangly deer bouncing around the woods uncertain of the world around him. It's really going to be fun watching him grow as a player. He could be a good one in time. I am most impressed by the fact that he knows and has accepted his role. Tribble has a chance to be special. He's very athletic and is fearless. His game will really grow if he can develop a consistent outside game. Sayles appears lost. It is tough to tell whether he doesn't have a good natural sense of game flow and positioning or whether he's just overthinking it. I really had high hopes for him when he arrived but he seems to have gone backwards. Hopefully, its rust from all of the injuries as I think he has the frame and footwork that could make him a valuable extra big for he Zips. I like to sit up above the bench and watch what's going on. One kid that has impressed me without playing a minute is Maishe Dailey. He is actively engaged with his teammates and is involved without being on the floor. I saw some of that from X last year. I think he'll be a huge help next year. Also, Scotty Walter is involved despite not dressing on game night. This team also seems to really like each other which goes a long way. I don't see any Cotton or Harney like bad attitudes on this squad.

The Zips head off to Louisville this Sunday to face the #2 Cardinals. Louisville has recovered from Rick Pitino carousing with floozies on restaurant tables and assistants providing strippers for recruits. The Cardinals are projected to finish third in the ACC, behind Duke and North Carolina, and were ranked 5th in the AP preseason poll. Junior forward Jordan Nwora was the 2019 ACC Most Improved Player and was named ACC Preseason Player of the Year. Louisville returns six of their seven leading scorers from last year. Interestingly, they have had 3 common opponents with the Zips in the young season, beating YSU 78-55, NCC 87-58 and SCU 76-50.

I realize Riak occasionally makes a three but I have seen enough.

Intense defense, good shooting and pushing the pace.

Rolling now. Cheese's threes woke them up.

Tyler waking them up now.

Zips unspectacular this half.