1981 grad

The defense was horrible today. You cannot just leave your man standing by himself at the 3 line and then wonder why they go in. This team has been winning because of their offense, shooting the ball well. That did not happen today. Ali was taking the early shots and kept missing. Dailey regularly takes 4 shots a game and makes one. Trimble vanished in the first half and we had trouble penetrating to the hoop. Not sure if the team travelled today but it sure looked like it. I remember another game where we went down to OU and got killed where it was not even close. At least there was no crowd there. I remember they used to fill that place several years ago. Hopefully, they can shake it off.

They have Tribble playing the point instead of Clarke. An upgrade on defense although difficult to say that today.

Ali went from dependable 2nd scorer to cannot hit a barn. When guys cannot hit a 3 drive to the basket and hit a 2. Sometimes it seems that when we cannot hit a 3 we just keep shooting the 3. Hopefully they will start dropping.

LCJ is just playing horrible defense. He is not staying in front of his man and letting him drive to the basket. When a man is driving to the basket Reese has to challenge him and not let his have an uncontested layup. After cutting the lead to 1 we let them get back to 9. This game is going to be a struggle.

I just do not understand why we keep leaving the guys wide open at the 3 line. Bad Defense

Where is Trimble. Have hardly seen him today. LCJ cannot drive to the basket. Really struggling on both ends of the floor. We have seen this before and we always seem to come back.

Once again LCJ left his man for an open 3. Stay with your man. These are all open looks.

It think that Ali after that big game was told to shoot more. Unfortunately, coming up empty from 3. On Ohio's first basket, no reason for LCJ to come off his man. The ball is in the corner. He needs to stay with his man. That is just bad d.

I thought we are much worse defensively this year so I checked the stats from last year to this year and was amazed how similar the stats are from last year. Last year our average win was by 8.8 points (75.7-66.9) and this year it is by 9.4(79.3-69.9) points. Last year we shot .428 from the floor and this year we shot .461 from the floor. However, last year out opponents shot .40 from the floor last year and now shooting .44 from the floor. Last year we shot 305 from 3 pointers and this year we improved to .351. However, our opponents improved from 303 to 361. This season is very much last season except we are better offensively and worse defensively but not by a great deal.

Buffalo looks a lot tougher and more physical than Toledo. It seems like they are coming up with every loose ball. Listening to the Zips and then Dakich makes me realize how much better the commentary was in the Zips game. They talked about the teams so much more. Took 5 minutes to figure out the T because they were too busy talking about anything but the game.

LCJ with that last turnover has probable turned the ball over 4-5 times this game. Of course he also has 10 assists. This is probably the best game I have seen Ali play and they needed that game tonight. We have really been controlling the 2nd half recently ever since the Kent game.

Tribble has played outstanding ever since you made that post. Love the inside scoring. Reese loves to dunk. Can we close this game strong?

Ali Ali Ali Ali Ali Trimble

LCJ having a real bad first half and we are still in striking distance, a good sign. Our defense has picked up. They have Tribble playing point guard and he just had a great assist. Although Dailey made his first 3, had been bad since then forcing shots. Surprised how Groce sticks with him. Is his defense that good? I just don't see it.

Thanks for the memories

It seems like we are a step slow on defense, especially on the defensive boards. I think that is why Tribble is out there is that he is playing with the motor running.

Also, still getting use to the commentary that is strictly on the game with no insights into MAC basketball from 20 years ago and degrading comments about the players. Jackie and Reghi are doing a great job.

Although Ali just made a 3 bouncing off the rim, he and Freeman have been quiet today on offense. Rare that Freeman does not get loose for some putbacks or baskets on the give and go. Northern Illinois looked good the first half. A lot of motion on offense and great shooting. They have had some stupid turnovers or this could be much worse.

Do you think we should cover number 12 instead of leaving him wide open at the 3 line?

I have been posting on this board for several years and there are certain discussions that seem to pop up year after year. However this year is different. Here is my list of threads we will not see this year. Please feel free to add to this list: Akron does a terrible job of promoting Akron basketball and getting butts in the seats. The fans in the blue seats sit on their hands and show little enthusiasm for the team. Which Akron player do you want to see with the ball at the end of the game with the game on the line? Which Akron player has shown the most improvement from last year? Why can't Akron recruit a guard who can control the game like D. J. Cooper? We need a new coach that can win a NCAA tournament game.

No idea what Dakich was talking about but he did have one coaching point that I thought was worthwhile. At the end of the half we ran a set play and Dakich indicated that we should set up Dailey to shoot from the left corner since he had just made a 3 from that spot on the last possession. We ran a play and LCJ shot from the left corner and missed. Considering Dailey's shooting slump, I thought that was a great idea to reward a player who just made a 3.

Toledo lost on the road to BG. They are 11-3 to our 10-3. And according to another post we would own the tie breaker. Things are looking up!!

I remember that shot and Cooper was leaning into the basket while LCJ was fading away from the basket. I also think that LCJ was a little further away from the 3 line. Both were great shots but for difficulty level I would go with LCJ.

They were better than last week. The last 10 minutes they kept it on the game.

Jackson just showed why he was the MAC player of the year last year. Great finish!!!