1981 grad

You hit the nail on the head!!! How many times after a MAC game has Scott or Thornton been on the post game? By my count zero. Plus you have Nate getting injured and Dawson struggling on offense. If you add in Hunter having an off night it is just too much pressure on 3 guys.

How come teams are on to a lot of things we do but we don't seem to be on to things other teams do?

The only problem I noticed on defense on Friday is that Hunter looked very slow especially when Freeman was out with foul trouble and Ali tried to do too much and came off his man to help on defense that led to other problems. We just do not seem to be especially quick on team defense.

Maybe we should take a drink for each one we miss to numb the pain.

Griswold, Great question that deserves its own thread. What else do diehard Akron fans have to do until Thursday? I am not sure this is fixable because there is just a lack of offensive talent on this team after you get past Freeman in the paint, Ali backing down his defender and shooting over him, and Tribble with his floater attacking the basket and hitting the 3 pointer over 40%. If Hunter is on with his 3 point shot, great. If not, we are in trouble because he struggles inside the paint to score and has not been very physical and at times and looks slow on offense and defense. First solution: Play Dawson less. Groce loves his defense but he cost us the game at Eastern by not boxing out. He also did not box out in the Kent game. But most importantly, he gives us nothing offensively. He does not attack the basket and is a poor 3 point shooter. I think he may have 1 or 2 games in double digits. Groce loves tough physical players. Terrible stat on physicallity: 28 games, 11 starts, 400 minutes played and 2 foul shot attempts. (He played much better before injury last year) Second solution: Take Nate out of the starting lineup. He has struggled since coming back. Missed a wide open 3 last night and missed a couple of reverse layups the last 2 games. Last night his reverse layup went over the backboard. Has had some really bad turnovers since coming back. (He played much better before injury this year) Third solution: Realize that you struck out in the transfer portal this year. I think every Zip fan would agree that Thornton and Scott were misses more than hits. Scott finally scored in double figures last night. But almost all of his points came in the last 2 minutes when the Zips were out of it. None of these guys has shown any ability to break down defenses during MAC play and attack the basket or have consistent scoring ability from the 3 point line. (I stand corrected that Prather is a red shirt frosh so has room to grow and improve) Fourth solution: Start Tavari and see if he can add to the offense. Desperate times call for desperate measures. He has had 4 games where he has scored in double figures averaging less than 20 minutes. Three of the games were on the road. Statistically he is our best 3 point shooter. He is our quickest guard and can break down defenses and is not afraid to attack the basket. Even if he misses he draws Freeman's man and gives Freeman an offensive rebound. I know his defense allegedly sucks but his defense cannot be any worse than what we saw last night in the 2nd half when he was not on the floor. Look forward to hearing from other Zip fans. Go Zips!!!!

Hey, if being a Zip fan was easy, everyone would be one. Football sucks, soccer sucks, and now basketball, you guessed it, sucks. I just feel bad for Freeman, Ali, and Tribble. If one of them has a bad night we are hurting. As somebody indicated earlier, we play best when someone other than these three has a big night. Hunter started out hot in the first half then lost it in the 2nd half.

Nope, Tavari sat the entire game. Still think he has more talent than what Groce puts out there but Groce knows best.

That was Ali who missed the box out. He came off his man and him and Dawson were boxing out the same man leaving Ali's man wide open. Ali looks totally frustrated and is just all over the place. Once again our inability to hit the three ball killed us this half. We have 3 players that can score consistently, Ali, Tribble and Freeman. One has fouled out, the other is frustrated and settling for three balls and Tribble has made it to the line but has missed some baskets.

We get no offense from Dawson and Scott and it just kills this team when Hunter loses his shot and Freeman is in foul trouble. Now we are just chucking up three balls where in the first half we were scoring from the paint.

What a terrible lineup. Glad to see Thornton making a jumper. Scott went up in the air with nowhere to go. Nobody being aggressive and picking up the ball under the defensive basket.

Our offense looks so much better when Hunter or anybody sinks a 3

I think we found a cure to our bad 3 point shooting at the start of the game. Take more 2 point shots. I think we have taken only three 3 point shots. Tribble with the bank and ALI and Freeman with misses. Really surprised about Ali's poor percentage from 3.

We just gave up 4 points on offensive rebounds when Freeman goes out. Not a good sign.

I just wonder if Groce has Tavari playing more. He has provided some scoring on the road when we have played Buffalo and Kent. This team needs some offense. Might be time to bring in a good 3 point shooter even if his defense is not up to par

Yes, He has been a disappointment. I cannot remember a point guard who can't even hit 50% from the free throw line. He average 8.8 points at Northern and now 3.5 points for Akron. He rarely penetrates and really adds nothing to the offense.

On the post game, Groce indicated that we lost the game because we lost the turnover battle and the battle on the offensive boards. But I thought Joe Dunn had a better incite in that we just don't have players who can shoot. It seems like every game I look at the stats after the first 10 minutes and we are 0 for 10 on the 3 ball. The guys in the starting lineup and the first subs cannot make a 3. I am firmly convinced that Tavari should be inserted into the starting lineup if no other reason than he is the best of the rest.

I think we are safe that Groce will be staying at Akron.

Remember in the Kent game when I pointed out how Dawson was ball watching at the 17:00 minute mark and did not box out his man and Groce did not pull him and Tavari got pulled when he did not fight through a screen. I got a bunch of negative comments. Well, here you go again. Dawson did not box out his man again. And this time it cost us the game.

Each of these players have improved their game over their time with Akron. I remember Freeman's first game. We will never see a player improve as much from his first year to his senior year. Tribble would be a close second. Nobody on this board ever thought he would be an offensive threat. He has worked on his game and has developed his scoring in the paint and his 3 point shot. Both him and Freeman have developed into good free throw shooters Ali has also improved his senior year being deadly in the paint with a short jumper and taking advantage of smaller guards. I wish Groce could clone their work ethic.

Not only that they now have to play music during the breaks and all you hear is the base that cannot be handled by the speakers. I would like to strangle the idiot who decided we have to listen to loud music that cannot be handled by the speakers at football and basketball games.

How many games have we opened with 0 for 8 or 0 for 10 from the 3 line. Most are open looks based on the triple team of Freeman. Meanwhile, Tavari who is our best 3 point shooter does not come in until 3 minutes left in the half and drains his only 3 and we do not see him in the 2nd half. I know that his defense allegedly sucks but this team needs a shooter and there is one thing I do know, stats don't lie.

Thanks!! That is the guy.

Will somebody please tell Groce to stop recruiting from Northern Illinois. First, Trendon Hankerson and now Thornton. My apologies on Hankerson. He was a solid player for the Zips. I was thinking of another player that I believe transferred from Northern Illinois (maybe it was another school) that left the team in the middle of the season. He was a good guard that liked to drive to the basket and never shot a three ball. I cannot remember his name but turned out to be a fifth year transfer that just decided to quit.

I agree that Groce has recruited top notch student athletes and that should be his number one priority

Will somebody please tell Groce to stop recruiting from Northern Illinois. First, Trendon Hankerson and now Thornton.