1981 grad

Last week I turned off the game after the first half and was surprised to see a Zips win. This week I was going to be optimistic and watch the game. I had to work and tuned in the game with 6 minutes left in the half and watched Miami score an easy touchdown to make it 21-7. I then watched Gibson throw some nice passes and we were driving when we ran the ball one time and the back fumbled. I watched the second half and there was a key third and five. Miami threw an easy 10 yard pass in front of our safety. Why can't we play man on short yardage and at least make the quarterback work for the first down. The next play they score on a handoff. We get the ball back and Gibson throws a nice pass for a first down and there is a holding penalty that negates the play. On that same series the same lineman that holds has an illegal procedure penalty. The next play a personal foul. It is 4th and a mile and we punt. I turned off the game. I watched a quarter and saw 4 mistakes. This team does not have the talent level to make 4 mistakes in 12 minutes.

I usually don't post anything in football because I do not want to be negative and lets face it, the last 3 years have been difficult. Although the competition was not division one, I enjoyed todays game. This is the first game in a long time that I can remember a Zip receiver not dropping a ball. Further, the one handed grab in the end zone was fantastic and the long touchdown pass was a good throw and catch. Irons was simply too quick for Bryant and made some nice runs that simply will not happen in division one. The running game looked decent and our back and recievers usually did not go down on first contact. Can someone tell me why on fourth and one we cannot put a quarterback under center and used our superior size to get one yard.

I am glad we got K.J. A player that does not shoot the 3 ball. I like him already. However, it just not feel right to be poaching a player from another MAC team. How would we feel if our LCJ decided to transfer to Kent for his senior season last year? We are going to see a lot of transfers in the future so no complaints when it is our turn to lose a quality player.

Most schools put a clause in the coaches contract that if they leave for another school they must pay a certain sum, a penalty, for breaking their contract. I like the one year rules because it made the player also pay a penalty and think before leaving. Because the coach had the player on scholarship while he could not play for a year, it also put pressure on the coach to make sure a player was worth the scholarship since he would have to wait a year before benefitting from the transfer. A lot of these players were superstars in high school. If they don't get adequate playing time as a frosh they threaten to leave. Puts a lot of pressure on coaches to keep players happy. It looks like the Zips will be living or dying with transfers. Last year Groce had X man and this year we had.... not X man. I think the era of the 4 years player will be history. Glad they implemented the one-time cap.

Bo Boroski doing the NCAA finals. Who would have thunk it. I actually think he is a good ref. Nice to activate a topic that is 6 years old.

I was curious to see if Harney was still playing and the past 3 years he has been playing professonal ball in Mexico averaging around 12 points per game.

Does anyone think that Dailey will stay an extra year?

You also have to wonder how heavily he will be recruited off of a serious knee injury.

You make a fair point. I took my 2 sons with me to the game and there were some highlights to the trip: Saw a really good game before the Akron game that was between Michigan and South Dakota State, saw the Henry Ford museum, and my kids loved the mall near our hotel. Unfortunately, the Akron game was not one of the good highlights of the trip. However, I do remember the excitement of the people on this board that Akron got a game close to home and we had a lot of Akron fans at the game. Glad to see that you also made the trip.

Not sure why there why there is all this hate against Shaka. I went to Michigan to watch that game and his team played extremely quick and just were much better than us. I thought Tree was the only player for Akron that looked good. I guess people thought that Shaka ran up the score but that was just their style of play. They played pressure and put the ball up quick. I believe they stopped the pressure the last 5 minutes of the game. I remember KD was not upset by their style of play after the game.

I have been saying that since KD became coach. It just never happens. Last year may have been our best chance.

I dont know if this is the reason we see college athletes with weird shooting forms but when I am in the gym and watch these young kids hoist up 3 point baskets and nothing else. When they are young, they do not have the strength to get the ball to the hoop so they shoot from their waist or develop an odd shot. I really think the 3 point shot has hurt young players to develop because all they want to do is shoot the 3 ball.

I should add he was very good at drawing offensive fouls and that is one of the few times his size actually helped him on defense. I give him a great deal of credit for standing there and getting run over by guys who outwieighed him by 100 pounds. He was also great drawing fouls on the offensive end. The officiating crew in the last game would not give him any calls on his drives and you could actually hear his frustration.

I agree that our defense should be stronger without LCJ. As good as he was on the offensive end, he was not a great defender. I think part of it was his size in that he had difficulty getting through screens but I also saw him get beat off the dribble. I also saw him come off his man to help out leaving his man open for a 3 pointer on the wing. Never quite understood Groce's thinking on that move. When he got posted up down low an Akron defender would always have to help out. Tribble is a much better defender and can also jump out of the building for rebounds.

You were 100% correct. I was curious about this issue and found the answer. The Zips could keep the seniors on scholarship but the school would have to fund the extra scholarships. Based on what we are seeing and Akron's financial situation, I do not believe Akron is willing to fund the added scholarships. Also, I could see this being a problem if you are an incoming frosh and find out that a senior is staying and playing an extra year it may change how you feel about playing for that school. Here is a link to the article https://www.ncsasports.org/coronavirus-sports/ncaa-eligibility-coronavirus

I wonder if that is by choice or if Groce did not want him back because he did not have a scholarship for him. I liked Reese in that he had some great post moves and was very strong underneath. However, the team did little to get the ball to him and I have noted before he seemed to disappear on offense. It make mes wonder if there are other senior players who want to play another year but the coach has told them he does not have a scholarship for them. Will we see another senior transfer from a big program next year?

It is not a complaint. Freeman has natural ability and he has merely scractched the surface with his talent. If he stays in the gym this off season and works on this game he could be a 20 point scorer next year. I would say that 80% of his points came from feeds from LCJ who will not be with the team next year. You see his game from this year. I am thinking of what his game could be next year.

He hardly played at all and no surprise. I thought he played hard when he did enter the games late in the season and made the big three point baskets against Bowling Green. It is weird how much basketball has changed where players keep floating around colleges trying to find a place where they will make an impact. Is anyone counting how many players have drifted through Akron since Groce became coach? Not saying this in a negative way but it has been a revolving door with players. If the NCAA gets rid of the transfer rule (one year waiting period) it will only get worse. It makes a mockery of the word student athletes. It should be athlete student or just athlete.

I really don't understand this conversation. Why worry about something you cannot control. Freeman has almost no offensive skills and would be a project for any big time program. The best place for him is Akron where he will use the off season to develop an offensive skill set to match his defense. This young man has to put in the hard work to get better. Does he have the mind set to get to the next level. Time will tell.

I am glad that Buffalo and Toledo got into the NIT but I am also upset that there are 3 teams in the MAC still playing and we are not one of them. Before the losing streak we were talking about beating Toledo and getting the number one seed. What is weird is that in the game against Ball State LCJ had his worst game of the season and everyone else stepped up and played great. Ali had a career game. After that game things went into the dumpster. We could all see the same thing, everyone became dependent on LCJ which led him to shoot more and players standing around. The offense struggled and in 4 of the last 5 games we shot 25% or worse from the 3 line. LCJ taking 30 shots in the last game against Buffalo says it all. The one player I thought had a great inside game that could have helped the team was Reese. He was very good around the basket but he never got the ball and rarely looked like he wanted the ball. Both he and Freeman were asteriks on our offense and when we could not shoot from long range it would be nice to get the ball inside for easier shots. Finally, I think everyone on this board has commented on the obvious, Groce did not bring in impact players that helped this team down the stretch. Riak, X man, Banks and Cheese were exceptiional transfer players. It just did not happen this year. I am hoping that some coach will get Tribble to change his shot. He has to develop an outside shot to set up his slashing to the basket. I think the future is bright with Clark, Dawson Freeman, Ali and others and that we will get better.

How do the scholarships work if a senior decides to stay and play one more year. Does that scholarship not count since the player is getting an extra year?

I feel good for Jeff Boals. I met him and his parents after the game last year and he was very nice guy. Last year Ohio had us on the ropes the first half and we wore them down the second half and won the game. I complimented him on his team's play and he was very gracious.

I am bummed out this morning that we are not in the finals and I am sure that everyone on this board feels the same way. What is especially frustrating is that the Zips played well enough to win. They played with determination and grit. Although they did not shoot well, during most of the game we saw a lot of movement without the ball and some great drives and scoring in the paint. Once again, our three point shooting sucked and we shot 25%. That seemed to be the achilles heel of this team late in the season. What is especially disappointing is that all year long we knew that with the game on the line, we want LCJ to get the ball and finish the game. He had the open shot and rushed it and did not draw rim. It was a difficult shot but one he made before in our last game with Buffalo. The fact that he did not draw rim showed me he was exhausted and we floundered in overtime. I think LCJ will always go down in Akron history as our best guard but this season we never developed that consistent second scorer on this team to take pressure off of his 5 foot six inch frame. I hope everyone can see the irony in the past two seasons. Last year we got to attend every game but no tournament. This year we could not attend any game except for the tournament. Looking forward to next year and hoping that Freeman develops an offensive game to match his defense. That will worth the price of admission just to watch his development.

We kicked Buffalo's butts the second half of the game and it was not on long range shooting but driving to the hoop. If we can penetrate it will open the floor for the 3 ball. Great sign that Ali and Trimble came out of their slump. If Marshall contributes again this should be a close game. I still think the key is shot selection. If the shot clock gets down below 10 we get into trouble. We do not need LCJ dribbling the clock down. Instead we need movement and penetration. There were a lot of long rebounds last night and everyone needs to rebound, especially the guards. Go Zips!!!

I just looked at the stats and we only had 6 turnovers the entire game. That has to be a season low. LCJ must have a better game shooting from distance if we are to beat Buffalo. He was only 2 of 9.