clarkwgriswold

Saw that game at the Canton Civic Center. That place is not great, but I love watcning games there.

And it really was a momentum changer. I referenced it above, but the whole story on Lillard was that in the 2015 DII championship game Lillard and Cleveland Central Catholic were ahead 37-35 in the fourth quarter with 45 seconds left he drove to the basket and threw down a beautiful monster dunk to give CCC a four-point lead that Defiance would have had a very tough time overcoming. Unfortunately, he realy hung on the rim with his feet coming up nearly level to the bottom of the backboard, and the referee T'd him up for hanging on the rim. Defiance went to the other end hit the two free throws then scored to tie the game, eventually winning in overtime. Instead of a two-possession lead, the technical let Defiance back into the game. Here's a link with the video. The lesson for Lilland is that "dunks are bad." https://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/03/ohio-state-championship-controversial-call-cleveland-central-catholic-antwon-lillard

The rivalry will be revisited Friday night as the Zips head into the arena with the worst sight lines in college basketball and fans in the GA seats look on in bewilderment unable to see what happens on the near sideline. Mr. Pinky's Flushes enter the game at 21-9, fresh off of a win over Miami. They are 10-7 in the MAC. The PCC offense revolves around guard Jaylin Walker who averages 21.9 a game. The Zips held him to 10 points on 4 for 19 shooting (0 for 10 on 3 pointers) in the 72-53 Zips win on February 8th. Let's hope Jimond shuts him down Friday as the Flushes tend to go as Walker goes.

Wow, where's that offense been all year? Let's hope Groce was right that the shots would eventually start falling. Great finish for Jimond. I went up to his dad at half, congratulated him on his son's accomplishments and told him how much we've appreciated Jimond in his time at UA. I'll sure miss that kid next year.

Nice missed dunk by Lillard. Ohio high school basketball fans will remember him as the guy who got called for a technical in the state championship game for hanging on the rim that gave the opponent the ball and free throws to tie the game and take it to over time where they won

...or the lack of offense has returned.

C'mon Zips, don't screw this away.

Awful...just... awful.

Feeling a big second half for Utomi.

Best Zips offensive first half in a long while.

I think I prefer E-man tonight anyways.

E-man being a defensive presence tonight.

Bad crowd, even with the Dean's Club athletes.

LCJ apparently got the message from Saturday.

I hate to say it, but I see this year as a relatively difficult year of transition. With any luck, the veterans are able to pull the team through to 5 wins, but I see it now as a 3 or 4 win year. Rome wasn't built in a day!

Groce has said that this is one of the better 3-point shooting teams he has had and that the shots will eventually start falling. He must see something very different in practice than we see in the games. I watched Cheese and Banks quite a bit in the early season in warm ups and came to the conclusion that Cheese's shot was spotty while Banks was a real shooter. They have gone in clearly opposite directions. Watching Banks now it looks like the ball is coming out of his hand inconsistently. It is also very obvious that he has completely lost the confidence in his shot.

I remember an interview of Bob Huggins three or four years ago where he essentially said that most college offenses come down to 15 to 20 seconds of running your offense that fails because the other team has scouted you followed by a pick and roll. Unfortunately, our pick and roll has not worked. Our ball handler comes off of the pick and very seldom successfully gets the ball to the big man. A part of that is defense, another part is that we don't have big men that can finish. I can't remember the last Poke lob. They also tend all too often to get bogged down with one guy pounding the ball while 4 guys stand and watch. That makes me crazy. As for Scott Walter, I don't think he was put in as a solution. He was put in to send a message. Some MAC offensive rankings- the Zips are 12th in offense/average points scored; 12th in field goal percentage; and 10th in 3 point shooting percentage. Just imagine how much better this team could be if they were in the middle of the pack offensively as they dominate the defensive team categories.

...and at times, it seems like their shooting from inside the restricted area arc is as bad as their shooting from outside of the three point arc!

Nothing like losing 5 of 6 to temper the enthusiasm in here. Not sure what to expect for a crowd tonight. Hoping for a lot of people who promised their kid a game this year to make good on their last chance. I certainly hope at least for an enthusiastic crowd for Ivey as that kid has given his all for the Zips. I have been critical of the Beacon and George Thomas but I have to admit he has been better over the last month or so.

Anybody ever notice how the recruiting threads pick up when the team is playing poorly. So much for living in the moment!

I am curious to see what happens with LCJ Tuesday night. Will he still be the predominant ball handler or will his banishment to the bench Saturday afternoon carry over? They've ridden that horse all season, so I don't anticipate a huge change, but I think we may see more of the setup where Cheese is the primary ball handler.

At some point, the cheerleaders became an afterthought to the dance teams. I blame the Laker Girls.

I too am questioning Groce right now. It's an easy thing to do when the Zips have lost 5 of 6. That being said, let's not act like we lost some great talent in K-lac. Great kid yes, prime D1 basketball talent, nope. K-lac was a 7 footer who never made the All North Coast League team. That's the North Coast League, a league of a bunch of very average basketball programs (with the exception of VASJ and CCC). He ended up at IMG because he didn't have the game for college basketball when he graduated and ended up at UA because he was a 7 footer and UA was desperate for recruits. He played hard and showed some flashes, but his hands were awful and he was a defensive liability at times. If he's smart, he'll head to a place like John Carroll or Ashland where he can contribute. Otherwise, he's destined for the end of the bench in any reasonable D1 program. I agree the Zips need to recruit another Zeke, Bog Dog and Tree. Every team could afford to again recruit their best 3 players in the last 10 to 15 years.

I've noticed that when the Zips are playing well I refer to them as "we" and when they play poorly they are the "Zips" or "they." The ZIPS need to play better Tuesday night than THEY did today. If they win, WE will have to carry it over to the PCCC game.

She was the only person from Akron that showed any talent on the JAR floor today!