clarkwgriswold

I think Sayles wore out his welcome last night when a CMU got an offensive rebound on a free throw by just going around him. I watched E-man last night and he actually seeks out a guy to put his body on before he goes for a rebound. He needs to teach Sayles.

Well, another ugly win, but I'm not giving it back. Awful night for Utomi, yet he played 33 minutes. It was pretty obvious the coaching staff was fed up quickly with Jaden tonight. Riak was more of a rebounding and defensive presence tonight. Cheese should play at least 30 minutes a game from here out. He's the only guy on the team aggressive with the ball.

Is this what they call "MACtion"?

It's the offense the Zips run 90% of the time after 15 seconds go by on the shot clock and they've made no progress with the normal offense.

Has any Zips big man actually been passed the ball off of the pick-and-roll this year?

I've seen statuaries with more movement than the Zips offense.

Wow, how are the Zips up after that half? The Chipps were super awful. Let's hope the Zips don't follow their trend of playing worse in the second half.

I just don't think Riak has much talent on offense. His career numbers demonstrate that. However, they ought to at least try to get the ball in to him occasionally to keep the defense honest and he needs to be more aggressive with his opportunities. I think Sayles has some talent, but his tendency to disappear at times coupled with his hands of stone make me crazy. I'm beginning to think Deng is George's long lost nephew as that's the second time he's made a comment along those lines.

Yep, I see another nailbiter, down to the last couple of minutes.

...meeting up with Captain Kangaroo before a Zips game..........Priceless.

Exactly. I got in early enough to get them at $60 a piece. That's a bargain, even for bad basketball.

$87. Unbelievable.

George's article from today's Beacon on the awful 3 point shooting. I like how he wraps it up- "Until then, they’d be wise to take advantage of the size they have on the inside in Deng Riak, their 6-foot-10 center, who has been woefully underutilized at this point, and his backup Jaden Sayles." I really wish he'd stick to just giving up the facts and some quotes from the coach. https://www.ohio.com/sports/20190121/university-of-akron-basketball-poor-3-point-shooting-adds-to-offensive-woes-for-zips George apparently sees some offensive skills in a guy who scored 3.2 ppg in 21 minutes of play per game in his last season at ECU and a guy whose limited shooting range makes the restricted zone arc look like the 3 point line.

Woohooo. Rally towels.

No, they'll turn into DB Cooper and Angela Bassett.

I'd like to see them get out and run a little, but they seem content to play on offense the same slow deliberate pace they try to get other teams to play through their defense. Jackson, Cheese, Banks, Ivey and Sayles are all very good in transition. Unfortunately, the offense now seems to focus on passing it around the perimeter until they get a three point opportunity.

Not exactly a chamber of commerce weekend in Akron!

Good call. He was really working hard in the EMU game the other night. It has to take it out of you. I guess we should be happy that his man isn't at least 6 inches taller than him like LCJ.

Taking the prior CMU OT game out of the mix, the Zips have averaged 56 points a game in the MAC. Ugh.

Yep, scoring can be a skill thing. Defense and rebounding are effort and technique things. When I used to coach, I had this awful drill when my kids weren't rebounding. I'd match kids up three on three, into three pairs and put them around the circle. I'd put three inside and three outside, put the ball in the middle of the circle and blow the whistle. The three inside guys had to get their keesters on the outside guys and keep them from getting the ball and long as possible. It occasionally got close to violent, but they sure as hell learned to box out.

Bad weather + walk from the deck+ bad basketball = low attendance

To be fair, we're as crappy as any team in the MAC right now.

%#@*&^!@#$%^&%$#!!!!! This is the point at which the program should be starting to turn the corner. Instead, they can't even seem to find the corner. This team is just awful on offense right now. Just plain damn brutal.

The Chippewas come into the JAR Tuesday night to face the struggling Zips. On January 8th, the Zips fell to the Chipps by 2 in OT at Mt. Pleasant. The Chipps are 14-3 (not including today's Ball State game). 6-2 senior guard Larry Austin continues to lead their scoring at 17.6 ppg while 605 junior guard Kevin McKay leads rebounding at 7.3 ppg.

To his credit, Stow has little else so he sees a lot of double teams and his coach isn't much one for altering a game plan.