1981 grad

I liked how we were able to get the ball inside to Ali and Freeman. Trimble is a great player but because the bench played so well I did not feel like we missed him. Nice to see Clarke get extended minutes. He had some nice steals but he needs to move his feet quicker as he still gets beat off the dribble on defense. Nice to see him drive to the basket and dish the ball to a big. He was doing that last year and has not been driving to the basket this year. This team really needs good minutes from the bench if we are going to do anything in Cleveland. I was very surprised that X did not take control of the game in the first 5 minutes when we scored only 5 points. I have seen this all year that if Trimble starts cold we will be down 7 points in the first 5 minutes. We are notorious for our slow starts.

I sit behind the visitors bench and I agree that this was an awful T. This was the most positive coach in the MAC. He did not yell at his team or the refs. Whenever a player came out he patted him on the back. He just reacted to what he thought was a bad call. I think he may have crossed over half court by an inch and that may have been the T. It clearly was not anything he said.

Please note that the game is at 6:30 and not 7.

Actually, the 1st and 4th fouls were compete garbage calls. The were away from the play and did not effect the play. It was almost like the refs wanted to take Freeman out of the game. The 2nd foul was legit and the 3rd foul could have gone 50/50 although the commentators indicated it was not a foul. However, the refs did not foul him out and there were some plays where they could have blown their whistle. They seemed to give him a little leeway after the 4th foul.

We made a nice run with Clark in and he had a couple of steals. Glad to see him stay on the floor the 2nd half and get some minutes.

I don't have the stats but we missed a ton of foul shots. I think the Zips played well enough to win against most teams in the MAC but Toledo is the top team and we just did not play well enough. Although I was critical of the refs, they did give Freeman some leeway after his 4th foul and did not foul him out. The key would have been Clark making that 3. He played well defensively but just is a step slow on offense. On that 2 on one fast break he needs to finish at the basket instead of going for the Alley Oop and slam to Freeman. Glad the team showed heart.

They are a good shooting team. I think their weakness is their defense. Zips have had a lot of open looks down low.

This team has heart!! Can we keep having stops on the other end? Great comeback. Now lets finish!!

Another weak call on Freeman. Looks like the refs want to keep him out of the game. I am really proud of the way the team is staying in the game. They are playing well offensively but need some stops.

I disagree. In the close games the leader has been x or ali.

I do not understand Groce. We always start the 2nd half with a long 3 from Trimble and he misses. Well here we go again. A long 3 by Trimble followed by a long 3 by X and we are done for the evening. I replayed the first foul called on Freeman and it was 12 feet from the basket and Freeman had his hand on the player and it did not effect the play at all. Ticky tack foul called by a ticky tack ref.

On that last play Trimble has to go to the ball and he hesitated a second causing the layup. A mental error. We started to struggle when Freeman picked up his 3rd foul. The commentators indicated he went straight up and it was a bad call. Two weak calls against Freeman and took us out of our game.

How can Aziz keep missing these wide open dunks? He has to hold onto the ball. Needs to work on his hands. Great foul shooting.

I hate to complain about the refs but I have seen a lot of contact against Freeman and no whistle and that is fine. But then we have had a bunch of touch fouls on the other end against Akron.

And Clark strikes again. I have seen him be late on passes all season. He just seems to be a step behind the other players. Glad to see Groce pull him immediately after that pass. Great to see Dawson hit a three. Or players must rebound better. Ali and Trimble need to be more aggressive. As much as Ali has improved he needs to be better on the boards. Need a big game from Freeman.

As I read these posts, I agree with everybody. We need to play our best game and we are dependent on Trimble to shoot well from 3 when he has been terrible in 5 of his last 6 games. I liked his game against Western Michigan where he stopped shooting the 3 and was 5 of 6 from the field and driving to the hoop and taking short jumpers. However, he keeps going back to the 3 ball. Also, in the last game he could not get by the screens and he really hurt us on defense. If the Zips play with energy, rebound well and shoot better than 40%, I think this could be a competitive game. Otherwise, I believe we will see a double digit loss or maybe a loss by more than 20. My problem is if the Zips could not get up for the game against Kent only 20 minutes away, what makes me think they will get up for this game 2 hours away.

We have certainly learned to close out games. X with a clutch 3 and Ali with clutch free throws. Tough defense on the last possession. I can't tell you how many past Zips teams would have folded. We really had some bad turnovers tonight. I cannot remember X throwing such a bad pass and Ali not going hard to the ball on the turnover to start the second half. I commented on Saturday that this team did not look tired but I thought tonight they looked tired with those lazy passes. Also, we got beat on the boards tonight which is an indication of a tired team. How many balls seemed to bounce off our hands tonight? We will get hammered if we play this poorly in Toledo.

Trimble has really struggled on defense tonight fighting through screens and then having guys blow past him. This team is better with him off the floor tonight.

We are looking for some offense. Dawson missing an open 3, X missing an open 3 and not getting the ball down low to Freeman. This is a struggle.

Azzis keeps laying off a 3 points shooter. I understand it the first time but not the second time. Trimble just getting beat on defense. Need to get Freeman back in and sit Azziz

Ali has been so much better when he attacks the rim from the sides. That scoop shot has been gold for him the last few games. We need him to score when Trimble is cold. Freeman has been amazing on defense. He is so quick for a big.

Clark with a really dumb turnover to end the half. Instead of going up double digits we end up only 7. This team started scoring when Trimble hit the bench. It is really tough to develop an offensive rhythm when you have cold shooter going 0 for 6 from three. Freeman is tough inside. I would attempt to keep feed the ball inside to him. Nice give and go.

For all those George Thomas critics, here is a nice relevant article on the Zips. Ali needs to be a consistent scorer for this team to win. Trimble is going to have his on and off games. We can win when he is off but we cannot win if both he and Ali struggle offensively.

On one of the long time outs, he spent the entire time talking to the ref. The assistant coach kept looking at him. The team was sitting in the huddle but nothing was said to them the entire time out. Obviously, the asst. coach did not want to overstep his bounds and the team just sat in the huddle without a word being spoken. I don't think I have ever seen that before, not even from Hurley.

I still remember Pattons last game, Gorce's first season. We were at the Q, had blown a 17 point lead and were down 2 with 2 minutes remaining. We had just made the first foul shot and I thought that if we missed the 2nd and get the rebound, we could tie the game. Patton had come up with several rebounds off missed foul shots during the season. Instead, Groce subs Kostelac for Patton. We miss, Klac does not even attempt to get the rebound and runs back on defense. On the next 2 possessions he misses a layup and commits a turnover. Game over. I think Cotton had a meltdown that game and he also left nest season. Went home pissed at Groce. I always liked Pattons game and glad to see he had a great career.