1981 grad

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.

Great to see Marshall playing well. He got some playing time the last few games and really played with some hustle.

After Trimble made that 3 I would have liked the Zips to get the ball right back to him to see if he could get hot from the 3 line.

They started the half with a set play for Trimble and he missed the 3. Ali is making some baskets!! Need somebody else to score besides LCJ.

LCJ has 19 of Akron's 34 points. Would like to see somebody else step up. I believe he is 4 of 13 so he is not shooting that well. Just nobody is stepping up. Good to Ali make a few shots. We need to have more scoring from some of the other players. Dawson took a three and did not hit rim. I think this is going to be a very close game unless the Zips end their shooting slump. Would love to see Trimble drain a couple of three balls in a row. Go Zips.

Glad to see Trimble finally hitting a 3. Ali hitting a few shots. Surprised that we have not tried to get the ball to Freeman or Reese for some inside scoring. If we could shoot the ball well we would be blowing them out. Not sure they can keep up this defense the whole game.

I think there would be more excitement if we did not drop our last 3 games and 3 of our starting 5 are in a shooting funk and have been in a defensive funk the entire season. This team can be really good when Trimble, Ali, and LCJ are making their 3 ball. But we struggle when the 3 pointers are not going into the basket. If we win on Thursday and get out of our offensive woes I think this board will pick up.

Thanks, I edited my first post to omit the time of the game.

I guess the seedings are already set in stone. The MAC tournament schedule has us as a 3 seed playing Bowling Green as the last game on Thursday. Here is the link to the other seedings. https://getsomemaction.com/tournaments/?id=145

Maybe next year we will have a special night and get to honor the seniors from this year.

The Zips have shot 25% from the 3 line the last 3 games. For us to have a chance Ali, Trimble LCJ or somebody else on the team is going to have to find their range and start making the 3 ball. That has always been the strength of the Groce team and we struggle when we can not hit from long range. All season Trimble has made very long 3 balls. Coach should work some plays to get him open looks from just behind the 3 line to get his confidence.

Dawson played good defense yesterday. He was in the lineup when they held Buffalo scoreless.

The starters except for Freeman have not played well. LCJ hit about 30% of his shots today and made his last 2 three balls. Ali and Trimble have been terrible the last couple of games. It seems like these guys play tough defense the first 8 minutes of the game and their offense sucks. Because this team is built on transfers, these guys have not played a whole season and might be getting tired and not used to the grind. The bench players played much better than Ali and Trimble and I think it is time to let the bench play more. Let Trimble and Ali come off the bench and see if that helps.

LCJ and Clark were the guards, Dailey and Dawson and Freeman and Wynn and Tribble. The team was most effective when Trimble and Ali were on the bench.

It was not a dunk but he laid it in over his head. Freeman was by far the best Zip on the floor today, especially when he picked up 2 fouls early.

I really like the lineup that the Zips played the last 10 minutes. I hope Groce sees who is playing hard. We have some players that can are not afraid to slash to the basket and play hard nose defense.

Can't believe they reversed that call. Down 4 with 35 seconds left. Miraculous finish?