1981 grad

I guess the idea of the zone is to slow down the game but it lead to some wide open threes and then Ohio developed some confidence in their shooting. Not sure if that was the best move. Great win for the Zips. We are undefeated after Trimble left the team. Coincidence?

I am starting to feel really good about this one. Back to back great plays by Tribble.

Great steal by Dawson. Unfortunately, our zone defense often leads to open threes.

You knew that Ohio would make a run. We just need to keep our composure. I would love to see X take control of the game and make a couple of shots. Rare miss by Freeman down low. Once again I would love to see Tribble take that wide open jump shot.

I replayed that moving screen call on Freeman and it was very weak. He moved his foot an inch and the ref called it. Did not effect the play.

I liked that Tribble took the open 3 although he did not make it. He has to start taking the open shot. He passed on that same shot in the first half. I still think he can hit some open jump shots.

The Zips are really taking care of the ball and a lot of crisp passing leading to easy points. I can only remember one turnover the entire half which was a bad pass from Wynn to Freeman. They are shooting well, passing well and not turning the ball over. Who said our offense is boring? Can we duplicate this effort in the 2nd half?

One of the best halves for the Zips all year. Everyone is playing well. Great passing and sharing the ball. We only had one shot at the end of the shot clock. However, I know this game will get closer in the 2nd half. The Zips have to keep the peddle to the metal in the 2nd half. I like to trapping defense.

Great start for the Zips. Another transition 3 for Clark!!

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Clark and Dawson had their best games of the season. As someone mentioned earlier, the transition 3 from Clark has been a long time coming. We outrebounded BG big time. Great to see everyone looking to rebound. Azziz struggled on defense and did not play a great deal tonight. This is the 2nd game that X fouled out. Weird that X is fouling out and I think Freeman had only one foul. The Zips looked really good the 2nd half on offense and it was fun to watch them making shots. Not sure if BG's defense was that bad or the Zips were playing that good. Freeman was a beast on the boards again. Tribble also had some really nice rebounds. I would still like to see him shoot more. He keeps passing up wide open shots.

Saul Philips ended up at Northern State in South Dakota. I believe they are division 2 basketball. It is a step down for him but the team has been doing very well.

If Trimble is gone, this team will win if the guards play better. X should be a double digit scorer every game. He cannot disappear in a game and needs to take 10-12 shots a game and hit 40% from 3 and get to the foul line. Tribble needs to up his game. He has to hit a couple of jump shots. They do not need to be threes but anything from the outside will help. I am not big on Clark but he has some quickness. I hate to see him dribble out the clock. He needs to go to the basket and not laterally. Last year he penetrated and this year it has been dribbling without the penetration. He also does not have a good shot and that really hurts our team.

Interesting article. By indicating that Trimble is not suspended, it looks like Groce is leaving up to Trimble whether he wants to return to the team and become a coachable player. I thought one of Trimble's best game was against Ball State where he went 1 0f 7 from 3 but then decided to abandon the 3 ball and score around the basket and went 7 of 8 from the field. I remember posting that Trimble would be so much better for the team if he did not shoot the 3 ball exclusively. However, after that game it was sink or swim on the 3. Lately, it has been mostly sinking. I could see where Trimble' might be upset with Groce since Groce has given him the green light to play as a 3 point specialist his entire career with Akron. After the 3 game slide, Groce probably wanted more and took him out as a starter. He might have felt singled out for the losing streak when this is the way he has been playing his entire career under Groce. When I look at Trimble's stats for the year, one stat really struck me in that he has one offensive rebound in 656 minutes. if you multiply Wynn's stats to the same playing time as Trimble, he would have 40 offensive rebounds. As people have pointed out on this board, this is not the most talented team so we need to be scrappy. If Wynn gets more playing time, it might improve the team if he plays well. I certainly hope that Trimble sees that he can add value to the team and decides to rejoin the team. However, he also knows he can leave the team and play somewhere else next year. Such is life under the new transfer rule.

Williams is having a nice career in Greece playing for Aris basketball club and their arena holds 5,000. I just hope they do not have a track in the middle of the stands. Glad to see X is doing well.

Before yesterdays game, many on this board thought we would lose yesterday. Rather than give up on this team, it made me think about the weaknesses of this team compared to previous Zips teams. No right or wrong answers, just your opinion on the teams weaknesses and what the coach can do about it. Here are 3 points that I see: Need more quickness on this team: First, the big difference in Groce teams and KD teams is athleticism. Groce has always recruited athletic quick guys. I do not see any of our current team being particularly athletic except for Freeman based on his size. (not a Groce recruit). Freeman is very quick to the ball for his size and that is why he such a great rebounder and shot blocker. I do not believe there is anyone in the MAC that compares to him. However, our guards are not particularly quick or athletic. LCJ was quick and was able to score with that floater. Tribble is probably the most athletic of the group and is a great leaper but struggles to penetrate. X does not consistently penetrate to the basket. For this team to succeed I believe X is the one player who could carry this team because he has shown the ability to penetrate, shoot and get to the foul line. If he struggles, we struggle. Tribble can penetrate but has not shown any ability to hit a consistent shot. Clark has the worst shooting percentage on the team. Because we are lacking in team speed we rarely score on the fast break. Fast breaks lead to easy points on layups. Tyler Cheese was the best on the break. Although we are long, we are not a relatively quick team. Need to do a better job on opposing guards: Which leads to my second point, the Zips weakness has been opposing guards scoring points. With Kent it was Carrey and yesterday it was Farrakahn, a frosh who scored 21 points. Our defense simply has difficulty keeping these guys from scoring. Clark needs to learn to move his feet on defense. I watch Farrakahn blow past him numerous times. Our lack of team quickness hurts this teams staying with quicker guards that can shoot, especially from the three. Countless time I see Azziz coming out to defend a guard and he gets burnt on a three. Groce has tried to double the guards which is great. However, I have also seen our players collapse to the middle from the weak side and leave their man. If you are getting killed by guards, stay with him all the time. We have rim protectors with Azziz and Freeman. This team needs to do a better job staying with quicker guards. Hit the boards, especially the offensive boards: Finally, I like the effort of this team except on rebounding, especially offensive rebounding. Rebounding should be a team effort. There are a lot of offensive boards that are long rebounds and our players stand and watch when a shot goes up. That is why Wynn and Dawson can be effective. I would like to see everyone hit the boards. Many times Freeman is the only one to hit the offensive boards. Needs to be a team effort.

That is coach speak for Trimble is not listening to me anymore and I am not putting up with it anymore.

Nothing on Trimble is not a good thing. If he were hurt I think he would have so indicated.

You jumped ship a tad early but we will throw you a life line and let you back on board. Go Zips!!!!

Winner Winner Winner!!!!! I got the win with X scoring double digits but did not see an Akron blowout.

Am I the only one that hates it when Ali dribbles with his back to the basket for 10-15 seconds. It seems everyone stops and just watches. Need to move the ball on offense.

Why not?

Eastern is starting to make some shots. Great 2nd effort by Freeman. Once we get the ball to him I see our players cutting to the basket but we never seem to find an open cutter.

Anyone listen to the pregame or have any idea why Trimble is not playing?

And take Tribble with you!