1981 grad

I think I am starting to see a trend with Dailey. Except for the Kent game, he has had solid games at home. However, he has really struggled on the road.

Did not say that. Move Freeman to the wing where Ali is playing. Freeman could run the baseline while Ali is drawing everyones attention in the paint. That is what happened yesterday.

Glad to see Dailey have a great game. Highlight for me was watching him smile when he hit his first 3 ball. I know that he also scored inside. Ali was beast in the paint. Maybe he should be our post up player instead of Freeman. He had some nice moves inside with some great fadeaway baskets. I agree that the subs really brought the energy on defense and on the offensive boards. We killed them on the boards. When is the last time anyone said that about an Akron team. It looks like these guys will be tough to beat at home. We have to keep bringing it on the road.

Thanks, I will bet the school website is wrong. We usually play our games at 7.

The game tomorrow is at 7:30 and is on ESPN 3. I can just feel the excitement growing on the board now that we have won 4 games in a row. We sucked against the zone in their gym. I expect a better result tomorrow since we seem to shoot better in our own gym. If our outside shots are not falling we always seem to struggle. Looking forward to another Zips win.

Thanks! I do try to be fair. The last 2 games show how important LCJ is to this team. In the Bowling Green game, Dailey, Trimble and Ali were making their shots and he scored 13 points and had 10 assists. Yesterday, those three could not find their shot and in the second half LCJ dominated the game and scored 32 points. He did it by driving to the basket and drawing fouls. He was 13 if 14 from the foul line. You are not going to get to the foul line standing on the wing shooting the 3 ball. Of the starters, Trimble (6) and Dailey (12) have take the fewest foul shots because they are not attacking the basket. When your shot is falling, shoot the 3. When you are cold, take it to the hoop and score, get fouled or create for a teammate.

I have been critical of Dailey not because I do not like him as a player. I see the Zips struggling against bad teams on the road and one of the reasons they struggled today is that you have too many one dimensional players who only shoot the 3 ball and when they struggle shooting this team struggles. Ali, Dailey and Trimble shot a combined 3 for 17 from 3 point land and 17 of their 19 shots were 3 pointers. In the starting rotation you need someone who can penetrate to the basket or at least try to penetrate. I hope Dailey finds his shot but right now he is shooting well under 30% from the 3 point line and at least one of his 3 pointers today did not even draw rim.

LCJ took control of the offense in the second half and he is a big reason we won this game. Really happy to see Dawson with all that energy on defense. He played a great deal in the 2nd half and deserved every minute. I also thought that Tribble brought energy to this team that was sorely missing. I have complained about Dailey before and I will say it again, I just don't think he should be a starter. He and Trimble have the same game, 3 point shots from the wing. When our 3 perimeter players are not hitting it is all on LCJ and Freeman on the pick and roll. Dailey is also not a great rebounder and not a great defender. I will be curious if Dawson can repeat next game.

I like Dawsons energy on defense and he made a nice layup. I would like to see him out there more with that type of energy on defense. Glad to see the Zips pushing the ball inside.

Trimble, our number 2 scorer has been quiet, Ali has not made a basket, Dailey has not made a basket. We do not have anyone that can drive to the basket except for LCJ and Tribble. Everything is a 3 pointed or a jump shot. Need to attack the basket when the shooting is off.

We live by the 3 and are just not shooting it very well. Dailey did not even draw rim on his last shot. We had difficulty against the zone and just playing poorly. However, Western is shooting the ball well and has made some nice baskets. Hopefully, our shots will start falling in the second half. Like to see LCJ take more control of the offense. Not driving to the basket.

Zips with another slow start missing on the 3 ball. Love the give and go with Freeman. Dailey got a quick seat on the bench after missing a long 3. Looks like Western is short handed. No reason we should lose this game.

The NIT is still on for 2021 and the conference champion gets an auto bid to the tourney so it gives more meaning to winning the conference.

Great win for the Zips. They looked very balanced out there. Good 3 point shooting, lots of assists, good rebounding, and a lot of layups on the and dunks on the give and go. I think we went 10 deep tonight and everyone contributed. I like that we are not just relying on the 3 ball. Trimble is just a streak shooter. We have our second scorer. LCJ was very happy to dish the ball tonight. Really enjoyed the game and started to figure out the skill set of the payers on the team.

I really like how Central Michigan can slash to the basket. Very athletic team and some great moves. They just don't have any outside shooters. And just when I give Freeman credit for great hands he fumbles one. However, the player climber his back and it should have been a foul.

I love Freeman's hands on the pick and roll. Okay Akron fans, how many of our centers could not hold onto the ball on the pick and roll. Too many to name. Great to see the teamwork and dunks.

If he were playing near his potential I would not even ask the question. He was getting beat on defense, on the boards and did not contribute on offense. I do not believe he was on the floor the last 8 minutes when the team looked the best. Another game like that and I would not start him.

What do you think about starting Reese over Dailey? They played about the same minutes on Tuesday and Reese clearly outplayed Dailey. Reese has the best post moves on the team and gives us some inside scoring. He also is a stronger rebounder. My only hesitation would be that it would send Freeman to the wing instead of the center position. Not sure if those two have been on the floor together. I think Reese usually comes in for Freeman. Hopefully, Dailey can play better than he did on Tuesday where he had no points and 2 turnovers. His man also beat him on the boards.

When I read the ABJ article about Freeman I do not think it was about recruiting but it seemed like after high school Freeman wanted to be done with competitive basketball. I know many gifted high school athletes that have been playing their sport since kindergarten and are tired of the grind and just want to be done. He had an academic scholarship and it seems like he did not seek to play competitive basketball. It was only after arriving on campus did he decide that he wanted to "try out" for the team. K-lac did not receive a scholarship out of high school and went to a Florida sports academy to work on his game. Groce gave him a scholarship when he was first hired and gave his a chance to play division one. I never thought K-lac would be a contributor because he was slow and did not have basketball instincts for the game and just never learned from his mistakes. The guy got called for a moving screen a dozen times and constantly was in foul trouble. Todays game is about quickness and athleticism and you can see it in Groce's recruits and in Freeman. Look at the matchup between Swingle and Freeman last night. Freeman dominated even though he gave up 4 inches and 100 pounds.

That is good enough for me. If I am Groce I would hire you as a scout because you have an eye for hidden talent. It is difficult enough to predict which high school superstar will excel in college but predicting a walk on to contribute is exceptional.

Thanks! I remember his playing last year and he did not get any meaningful minutes and when he did play he did not stand out. I do not see how anybody would predict this guy would get any playing time this year no less a starter. That is what makes his story so amazing. (and he can shoot foul shots)

Please do not take offense but I do not remember you or anyone indicating that Freeman was going to be this good. Can you show me the post?

Nobody could see how good Freeman would be. I watched him last year and the only thing that stood out was that he had skinny legs. I fully expected him to be a player that only got into the game during blowouts. He decided to take basketball seriously and has amazing talent as a rebounder and shot blocker. One of my favorite Zips this year.

A bank shot from the corner, you do not see that every day.

I was surprised to see Tribble in the game at the end but he is very athletic and played great defense. I also want to compliment Ali. He had a great game. He played great defense and made a nice three and just always seems to be in the right position. He even got to play a little guard tonight bringing the ball up at the end of the game. He has really improved from last year. I know the game was sloppy but I thought we played great the last 8 minutes when we put the game away. I also thought Reese had his best game of the year. I would like to see him get more minutes because he has the best post up moves of any of the Zips. We need inside scoring. Lastly, I am glad we did not get Swingle. He did not score and Freeman just ate him up on the boards. (That's a lot of eating)