clarkwgriswold

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.

Best Zips half of the season.

Tribble's game and confidence growing with every game.

Good start. 12-5 Zips, 14:42. My favorite 5 had a nice run.

This year's attendance of students hasn't been great, but it has been better than in the past. They are filling up most of the seats behind the basket and there have been 60 to 100 up by me in the north cheap seats. Still paltry but better. The awful showing thus far has been in the blue seats.

Zips- 76 Penguins- 64

Bob, I'll guess 14,267.

Banks is also one of the Zips better perimeter defenders.

Today's ABJ content from GT- Zips-Penguins Scouting Report- https://www.beaconjournal.com/sports/20191121/college-basketball-akron-vs-ysu-scouting-report Review of Tom Hanks new Mr. Rogers movie- https://www.beaconjournal.com/entertainment/20191121/tom-hanks-makes-neighborhood-place-worth-visiting I feel much better informed about the movie than I do about the game.

I think he's still working at figuring out what combinations work best together. I think what will be most telling is who the Zips have in the game at crunch time. That's when you will see who the real top five are. I think it's LCJ, Cheese, Banks, X and Reece are your crunch time 5.

They gave up 12 sacks while the defense held Miami to 8 points less than their MAC average. I think both lines are awful, but the defense wasn't the primary issue when the O-line is a sieve like it was last night.

...and remember, the key to ZNO serenity is the judicious use of the ignore feature!

Amen. That would make 2 NEO College teams they out-efforted in 4 days.

YSU got by NCC 66-60, led by 6-6 junior forward Naz Bohannon's 19 point and 11 boards.

FF: 8 or 10 years ago, I had a rough night after consuming a bad cheesesteak in Oxford. Thursday night will be a similar experience.

Here's hoping! It would be a nice story.

When you play college basketball titans like NCC and SCU, you play on THEIR schedule!

You should have skipped class!

Yes, but that Bowden name is known by every football playing teen in the United States. ?️ This guy gets a vote when he can tell me a Zips game he has watched in the last couple of years.