1981 grad

For those of us who have been on this board for a long time, we always used to drool over the great guards in the MAC and wonder, why cant KD and Akron find these players and get them to Akron. Well, with the play of LCJ and X, we have had the best guards in the league 4 of the past 5 years. Groce has an eye for guard talent. Meanwhile, KD seemed to have an eye for great centers and big men such as Big Dog, Zeke, and Treadwell. (Groce did not recruit Freeman, he walked in from the cafeteria).

I just looked at the box score and Nate had 5 rebounds so what game was I watching. However, I saw at least one play where he did not go for a rebound and it resulted in a Ohio layup and a play where he did not stay in front of his man and gave up an easy layup.

Groce went with Nate Johnson instead of Hunter and I know he had one nice drive and dish in the second half but he is very hesitant on offense and needs to learn to go for the ball and rebound. I cannot remember him pulling down a rebound tonight and he probably played 30 minutes. He is a frosh but I just don't understand when you get a chance to shine you do not play with more aggressiveness.

At least they are fighting hard until the end. We played some bad basketball and may lose by single digits.

Sammy Hunter is back to being the popcorn player. Cannot hit no matter how wide open. Hankerson is struggling also. We have seen this movie before but Bobcats are just hitting everything.

They shoot an air ball and their guy gets a layup. That is just plain luck. Tribble letting his man cut to the basket and ball watching, that is bad defense.

All the baskets in the 2nd half have been near the basket. Nothing outside. When Freeman goes for the block Nate Johnson needs to get the rebound.

I do not think the defense is that bad. Ohio has hit 6 of 9 from 3 point and a lot of those shots are contested. They will not continue that in the 2nd half.

We started off slow again when Hunter and Hankerson cannot hit a shot in the first 5 minutes. Same thing happened against Toledo. Hankerson ran 2 very nice fast breaks with passes to Tribble and Freeman for dunks although Freeman got fouled. When Freeman gets the ball down low we always run somebody down the lane for a give and go and it never happens. All it does is jam up the lane. Nate Johnson cannot play defense by giving up the baseline drive. I just don't understand how he can play defense that way. The Zips are struggling on offense and Ohio is hitting their 3 ball. Not looking good.

It will be interesting to see how the Zips respond after the loss on Tuesday. They didn't play badly, they just did not play well enough to beat a Toledo team that seems to always shoot well at the JAR. I would like to see Groce do what he did in the Kent game, have a set play go to Freeman or X that will result in an easy shot to get the lid off the basket. Against Toledo we had another slow start and it helped cost us the game.

I heard Groce on the post game and he hit it right on the nose. We cannot start out the game 1 for 15 and play catch up against a good team like Toledo. Offensively we played much better the 2nd half but down the stretch they made some great shots and Freeman turned the ball over twice and Hunter missed a 3 and a shot jump shot from 5 feet. The refs did not do us any favors tonight and they shot 15 more fouls shots but they were the better team tonight and deserved to win. I think they beat us at home 2 years ago and seem to always play at a high level when they play the zips.

And in years past we would be talking about an at large bid. Ok, why not. If Akron wins out and loses in the final, do we get an at large bid? (LOL)

I think the last 2 games the Zips have been playing their best ball of the season especially offensively where they have struggle all year to be consistent. If the Zips can keep shooting over 40% from the field they should be competitive in every game. I thought everyone played well in the Kent and Buffalo game and Clark had his best game of the season. It will be interesting if they can keep this level of play.

I am watching the Butler game v. Marquette and Butler was keeping it close until Ali picked up a technical foul when he hit a Marquette player in the back and got a technical. And then on the next play with 2 seconds left in the half he had his back to the guy inbounding the ball and it went to his man who sunk a 3 pointer. Butler now down by 12. Up till that point he was playing ok with a 3 pointer and a nice assist and a nice jump shot for 2. Just a stupid play to smack some guy in the back. Totally unnecessary. Didn't he pick up some stupid techs when he player for Akron?

I know this will not be a popular comment, but I thought both teams respected each other and played a physical but very clean game. I did not see any taunting and I remember on one play Tribble was knocked down and the Kent player offered his hand to get him up. I hope this sportsmanship continues when we play them in Kent.

I don't know how you can blame the coach. I sit behind the bench and after I time out I saw him draw up an inbounds play and when the Kent players took the court they lined up 4 in a row at the foul line and one player had his hands up like he had no idea what was going on. Kent took a time out to avoid the 5 second rule and Pinky lit into his players and I think Sallinger finally gestured like it was his fault. Out of the timeout they ran an inbounds play and scored. My point is that a coach can only do so much. I thought Akron played well and when they shoot 40% or better they are tough to beat.

And Ali Ali scored 4 points, had no rebounds and 2 turnovers in a 21 point loss to Seton Hall where he played 26 minutes and Butler lost their 4th straight game. In those 4 losses they have lost by an average of over 20 points although they have played a couple of ranked teams.

I think Groce had a great game plan, double team Carry and let somebody else from Kent beat you. Freeman was often out on him chasing him around the perimeter on the double team and it forced Carry to pass the ball or take a rushed shot. I think he shot 2 for 13 from the 3 line. No dancing Carry tonight!!! I think the Zips shot the ball very well from the opening tip. When I looked at the scoreboard we had balanced scoring the first half. In the 2nd half Freeman and X took over the offense. We had a period of about 6 minutes late in the game when we did not score a basket but we got to the foul line and made our foul shots. It is amazing how the cream rises to the top in the big game and Freeman and X both had great games. Cannot wait for rematch at Kent.

I just watched this game on replay and it was the best shooting from the Zips in a long time. If we can shoot like that against Kent this will be a great game. That had to be the best game by X. However, the whole team played well offensively.

I remember when we played them in Kent at their gym and Trimble was defending against Carry and it was a complete mismatch. I cannot remember if he was switching or he was assigned to Curry but that was a factor. Much different defense when he was we played in Clev.

I am sure he is a great guy. I would take Ali over Hankerson or Hunter because Ali could score inside driving to the hoop or backing his player and getting a layup. (He did dribble too much and turn over the ball but he could penetrate and shoot) Unfortunately, both Hunter and Hankerson are turning into three point specialist (Trimble but with defense and better attitude) and when they are on the floor at the same time and cannot hit a 3 ball we start out like yesterday with 2 points in the first 5 minutes and 6 missed three pointers. There has been a pattern of slow starts when we cannot bury the 3 ball. They do not get to the foul line because they are both perimeter players with no inside game. I will give Hunter credit he made 2 short jumpers and had a dunk on a great feed from Tribble yesterday. For this team to repeat we will need Hunter or Hankerson to become better shooters, one of the Johnsons to step up and be consistent player, or maybe Kobe is the answer to our shooting problems.

I agree with you that our defense was not very good last night as Miami shot over 50% last night. However, Hankerson was not hitting the 3 point shots as he went 2 for 10. At the end of the game X was scoring from the outside when our center would set a screen and their center, all 300 pounds of him, was slow to get around the screen leaving X with some wide open looks. I have been disappointed with Hankerson's play in that if he is cold from the outside he has no inside game. At least Hunter scored a couple of baskets inside when he kept drawing blanks from the 3 line.

He hit a 3 that gave him confidence to drive the middle and shoot the floater that was short. The pass was just stupid. Hankerson went 2 of 11 and played 36 minutes. He took one shot that was not a three off an offensive rebound and it was it did not draw hoop. He drove the middle one time and did not take it to the hoop. He never draws a foul. Groce has a long leash with some players. Kobe Mitchell did look good tonight and probably played the most minutes in his young career.

Yikes! I never expected Kent to lose. So, as bad as we played tonight we are tied for first?

That is the game where Tavari scored 21 points in 27 minutes on 9 of 10 shooting. Compare that to how he is playing now. If I am Groce I tell Tavari to shoot the ball more and find his shot. He is the missing piece for this team to step up their game.