clarkwgriswold

I keep hoping some of these kids will have uniform numbers in the 60s or 70s!

You owe me for the Coke I just sprayed all over my monitor.

That's a pretty sold assessment akronzips71. I spoke to Groce at the Ice Cream Social and told him that I appreciated how the team had steadily improved in his time here. He told me that when he was contemplating taking the job he spoke to his assistants and they all believed the team could come up to speed fairly quickly because of the core of the team left after the season. By the time they got here, they were down to 5 kids and really had to scramble. From then to now, they've steadily improved. This should be the year they start to really become competitive.

I don't think anyone believes Groce's squads are better than KD's. Many of is do believe, however, that Groce's teams have improved every year.

Nope. Larry Williams bound him, gagged him, put him in his trunk and dropped him at the doors of Duquesne's gym.

He played a little as KD tried to figure it out and was a major name in the rumor mill as to what they would do. Even rumblings of McAdams. Aaaaaah, the good old days.

Oh no, you said the H word. Shudder.

Malone threw on a press last night and while the Zips didn't turn the ball over against it, they didn't look comfortable bringing the ball up against it. I still have PTSD from the Zips facing the VCU press without a PG.

I think at this juncture, that's all we're left with- hope, because UA can't afford to pay 3 head football coaches. The solution may well be '"do better in the future" and "don't repeat past mistakes" but there's no going back to fix it. If the Arth era ends up the disaster many of you suggest, all any of us can do is hope the administration, trustees, AD and boosters learn from their errors.

I just thought he's a little over the top. I prefer a simple informational announcer without flair. I also don't care for blaring hip hop. Oh, and get off my lawn.

I bet you were a lot more relaxed with the t-shirt cannon still in storage. What did everyone think of the new announcer?

So, we're their Malone? ?

I'd be very surprised if that's the starting 5 going into the "real" games.

This game should be a much better barometer of what the Zips have than the Malone game. You got the sense with Malone that they played down to the competition and thought they could just turn it on when needed. They won't have that luxury at West Virginia.

As far as guys we haven't seen before, X, Reece, Ali and Tribble. As far as vets, we saw LCJ, Banks, Cheese, Riak, Roscoe and Sayles. I think they'll be better than last year. They'll certainly score more points as they're pushing the ball much more. As for the new guys, X is really a stretch 4. He shot quite a bit from outside, though he was able to put the ball on the floor and go to the hoop. Reece was strong inside. I think we'll grow to like him as he's a real blue collar guy. Tribble and Ali did a good job of assimilating themselves and didn't hurt themselves by trying too hard. On the down side, they could be in trouble on the nights the 3 point shot isn't falling and the rebounding was really sketchy. Each team ended up with 26 rebounds, which shouldn't happen given the disparity in talent.

The victim or the perp? I was not impressed with the rebounding. Recce seems to be the only person at this point getting his body on someone when the ball goes up. We also see the continued decay of the mid-range game in college hoops. Everything is at the basket or at the 3 point line.

The Zips head to Morgantown Friday night to face our old friend Bob Huggins. Here are a couple of previews for the Mountaineers: https://247sports.com/college/west-virginia/LongFormArticle/WVU-basketball-preview-2019-20-137467595/ https://wvsportsnow.com/west-virginia-mens-basketball-2019-20-preview/

I see Ali playing as similar to Deji starting for KD early in his career in a first game years back. Not a permanent thing but more of a test. I thought they looked sloppy and disjointed at times, but they looked to be trying a lot of things out. X and Reece look like they will be welcome additions. Banks seems to have his shot back. Riak is the same player as last year. Surprised by the lack of time for Sayles.

Some awful sloppy play right now. 66-51, 5:34.

Sayles finally got in.

I like how Reece always goes up strong with the ball.

X now leading scorer with 13.

Very raw but not afraid while not pressing. Good showing.

63-43, 9:10.

58-39, 11:53 left.