clarkwgriswold

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!

The 20-9 Falcons come into the JAR Tuesday night for the Zips Senior Night. Since topping the Zips on February 19th, the Falcons lost to OU and Buffalo and are coming off of a win over PCCC. Justin Turner, who killed the Zips in the second half on the 19th, continues to lead Falcon scoring at 18.7 ppg while Wiggins leads rebounding at 11.2 rpg. I think we find out a lot about our Zips Tuesday night. Will they come out with some fight in them after Saturday's abomination or will we see a team with a damaged psyche?

Very good points Let'sGo. Frustrating damn day across the board.

They fell to one game over .500 in a down season in the MAC with a huge group of pansies on the OOC schedule by losing to what may be the worst OU team I have seen in years. Having a tough time putting a positive spin on that one. I realize it is only one game and we've seen some good effort this year, but to lay that egg against a bottom dwelling team in such an important game is disheartening.

Just listened to the post-game. Groce told us the obvious- Ohio U was better physically and mentally and played with more heart. He left out that they were better coached. That was a heartless effort. Nobody seemed to much give a $h!+. Ivey and LCJ got introduced to the bench early and deservedly. Shame the didn't have enough players available to sit Utomi, Riak, Cheese, Banks and Roscoe with them. Too bad they won't dress Lucas Smith. He'll at least put up a fight. The next time I see the bench crew having a party during a loss, I will start screaming at them from the rail. I realize this loss was an ugly one and the exception to the rule, but today I am left to wonder where the progress is in this program. This sure as hell better be a wake up call. If we see the smallest modicum of this Tuesday night, we can pack it in.

Guys at the end of the bench dancing and yucking it up during the time out. Grrrrrrrr...

Finally fed up, Scott Walter coming in.

No fire.

I was in the bed with the flu two Saturdays ago and that was more fun than this. Same stomach issues from both.