1981 grad

On their game winning basket Riak needed to step up quicker. I did not see a push off but Jackson needs to keep his man in front of him. His second half defense was bad and he put pressure on our big men as a rim protector. I still think this team will get better and we will close out a close game this season.

This team still needs to learn to close out games. We were terrible on the pick and roll on the second half. Jackson saw the screen and started leaning that way giving his man an open path to the basket. I still like the way this team plays. Ivey made a couple of clutch free throws. What are the chances of an air ball rebound and then nice fake on the 3 ball. Just bad luck.

That finish by Banks was amazing. Little room to work with and still was able to finish at the hoop. Love to watch Cheese, Banks and Ivey finish at the basket.

Utomi still missing 2 wide open 3 balls and no defense on the inbounds play. This team did not come out ready to play defense after the half.

Considering that I cannot remember our leading scorer Utomi scoring a basket, I think that it was a good half for the Zips. I really like how we have taken the ball to the hoop and playing good defense. Ivey is having another great game. If Utomi can find his range in the 2nd half we will be looking strong.

That last run was the best sequence of b ball from this team. Taking the ball to the hoop with our quickness and ability to finish at the hoop!!

I like this teams defense and the way they push the ball up the floor. Poke with a put back. He gives up a basket on defense but comes right back and scores. I agree with the commentators, try to work the ball inside. Most of our points have come on drives to the basket. Utomi must be 0 for 5 on 3 pointers.

Looking forward to tonights game but it is difficult to predict a win considering this is almost a completely new roster, we were terrible on the road last year and lost our first 9 MAC road games, our shooting sucked last game and we have been unable to win a close game. The good news is that we are playing good defense, have a very athletic team that pushes the ball up the court, Ivey played like a beast last game, and Central has played a very weak out of conference schedule. Being an optimist I am going to predict a win in a close game with Ivey, Banks or Jackson making a clutch shot. Go Zips!

I noticed the same thing. Our spacing sucked. Our center stood near the basket and their center just stood in the lane and double teamed the ball when it got to the lane. We could not get the ball to our center.

I thought Ivey had one of the best all around games I have ever seen him play. He was all over the floor on offense and defense. He had a great block from behind when the Western player had a clear path to the basket for a layup. I liked the first 5 possessions which were all layups. I remember looking at the score with 15 minutes in the half and the scored was tied at 11. I thought this was going to be a high scoring game. Then neither team could make a shot for the next 10 minutes. A lot of these shots were bunnies. I saw Sayles make a great drop step move and then miss an open layup. We missed a lot of easy shots close to the basket. I guess the theory in today's game is that if you cannot make the short shots then you can make the three ball. Riak took a 3 shot and then the next possession their center shot a 3. It was ugly basketball. We could not shoot the 3 ball today. After taking one or two 3 balls in the first 5 minutes we then took 28 for the rest of the game. I am still not convinced that this team is a good shooting 3 ball tea. I thought we son this game because we more more athletic, quicker to the ball, played better defense, and Ivey had a great game. The old adage is that defense can win you games. I think we saw that today.

Our strength is in our wings, Ivey, Utomi, Banks and Cheese. I was a little disappointed with LCJ the last game. With his quickness he should be able to beat just about anyone off the dribble. Would like him to take it to the hoop or pass off to a center for a dunk. Our weakness is our 5 position. We keep waiting for someone to have a breakout game and it has not happened. I agree that E man has regressed. He was a great shot blocker his first year and had shown spurts of offense but this year he has struggled and is our 3 or 4 the center. He was off B ball for 9 months and I think he would actually benefit from a red shirt. The key to the game is whether this team will get off to a quick start. We always seem slow out of the gate. Also, this team loves the 3 ball. If we can shoot the 3 ball at or near 40% I think this team will be tough to beat. The other key is rebounding. This team sometimes forgets to box out. We need to pound the boards and need everyone to rebound. Hoping for the Zips to blow Western out. Go Zips!

Cotton won at least 2 games for us on clutch plays. We have lost several close games when we have not had a player who can make a game winning shot. Who will finally be the player this year to step forward and win us a game. I am banking on Banks. My pick to take the game winning shot.

I sat with a dad of the center from Carnegie Mellon, minimum s.a.t. score 1350, and he filled me in on the team. He told me that the team plays division 3 in an academic league with other "smart schools" and that they play in an old gym that was built in 1920 and that they usually draw about 250. (smart kids don't watch hoops?) His son was the center and played very well. When he got the ball he took the ball straight up even though he was against our centers who were far bigger, more athletic, quicker, and stronger. He told me that this was the only division 1 team on their schedule and was the super bowl. Watching this game it reminded me how offensively challenged we are with our 4 centers. E man does not look the same from last year and the 9 months off from b ball has really hurt his game. After I indicated that Klac would transfer he looked good against this team and it helped his confidence. Riak and Sayles should have dominated but it did not happen. Riak had 3 points in 23 minutes. Jackson did not have a very active game. He is so quick he should have been able to attack the basket at will. When he did drive he never finished at the hoop. He needs to take the ball up and stop circling the hoop. Our team needs to learn to finish at the hoop. I see Utomi doing the same thing. He gets position under the hoop and then hesitates or fades away from the basket. He has a strong body and needs to finish strong. When you drive to the hoop you draw fouls. Our wings, Cheese, Banks and Ivey are the strength of this team. If this team can shoot 40% from the 3 line in Mac play we will be tough. I would just like to see one our centers develop an inside game. How I miss Big Dog.

My feelings exactly, you beat me to posting. See above.

I see him transferring unless there is dramatic improvement this year. I always hope I am wrong but I just never saw him as a division one player. In our last game at the Q last year with about 2 minutes left Groce put him in when we were down a basket and we were at the foul line. Our player missed the foul shot and Klac instead of trying to get the rebound was already running down the court to play defense. He did not understand that we needed that offensive board. HE then fumbled a pass next time we were on offense and game was over. I always thought Groce may a dumb move putting him in that late in the game. He is slow on defense and on occasion picks up a foul a minutes, especially on setting screens. He then looks at the ref as though it is the refs fault. Despite his great size, he is a step slow, not athletic, and does not have great b ball instincts. He just does not fit well with this athletic team that is always pushing the ball down the court. Our center play has been a weakness and he still cannot get playing time, If he was showing anything in practice I think he would be on the floor. . I think if Klac was in our future he would red-shirt. Now I think Groce will keep him just in case there are injuries at our center position and he needs to bring him in like last year.

I had no plans to watch this game in order to watch football but all the good football games have been moved to 4:30 so that we can attend this game. I may regret it but planning to attend.

I have seen Sayles get blocked on layups or dunks at least 5 times this season. He needs to go up strong and more quickly. However, he seemed to have his best game last night. On one sequence he got blocked, got the rebound, missed a shot and got the rebound, and then missed a bunny. He seemed to play with some aggression. Something I have not seen since last season. We actually tried to get the ball to our center last night. Poke has not looked good all season and Klac will probably sit the bench. I think we will see more of the Sayles.

Has Akron ever beat a ranked team?

We shot the ball well but this was some pretty ugly basketball. A lot of stupid turnovers from both teams. There was very little continuity to this game. At least we saw a couple of our centers score although Sales and Poke had dunks that were blocked and Deng missed a wide open bunny. The commentator indicated that we have 4 centers and Groce is waiting for one of them to step up. After tonights game he is still waiting. Looks like he might be waiting all season.

Live or ESPN3? I will take your barbershop quartet and raise you the same Arbys commercial over and over and over and over again during every commercial break. Makes me wish I went to the game.

I still remember when the basketball crowd gave Bowden a standing ovation. Bowden was so excited I thought he was going to have a heart attack.

I thought the Roscoe foul was dumb because he pressed his defender at half court. However, we were not in the penalty and Roscoe was attempting to be aggressive on defense. Not the worst play in the game. I hate to see Groce upset when a guy is being aggressive, even if it was a stupid foul. I thought Cheese had his best game. However, he also had the worst shot of the night. He took the ball up the court and took an off balence 3 without passing the ball. Marshall got the rebound and Cheese's man beat him down the court for a dunk. Cheese remained in the game. I am really disappointed in our big men. Once again got nothing offensively. I thought Sayles looked better last year than this year. He looks a step slow and there were 2 times he just stood there and did not go for the rebound after a missed shot. He also got an offensive rebound 3 feet from the basket and did not take it straight up. Riak is the best of the bunch but that is a weakness offesively. I was really disappointed in the last shot. Groce indicated he used that play in Illinois to beat a ranked team. All I saw was a desperation 3 when we were down by 2. A 3 pointer should not have been an option when we only need 2 points to win. Poor Coaching!!!!!!

I am glad to see that Deng will be back. Since he has been injured I was hoping one of the other big men would step up. Unfortunately, very little offense from our big men. In out last game the two big were a combined 1 for 6 and missed 2 foul shots. To say that we got little from the center position would be an understatement. I put some blame on Jackson. Early in the season he was driving the lane, drawing a double team and then dishing to a big man for a slam. Now when he drives he then passes outside for a 3 pointer. We need to get the big men involved in the offense. The other thing I noticed is that Channel is shooting much better than Cheese. Channel is shooting 45% from the field and 40% from the 3 line. Cheese is shooting 38% from the field and 24% from the 3 line. We are shooting 33% from the 3 line. That number needs to get higher if we keep on lighting it up from the 3 line with little from our center.

Zeke was always a class act when he was at Akron. Who knows why he left the team. I hope that if he still wants to play professional basketball that he finds the right opportunity. If he decides to hang them up, I wish him nothing but the best of luck.

First, the Zips got the benefit of a 50/50 offsides call at the Wake Forest game so I realize that we have to live with the referee's good and bad decisions. However, most penalty kicks are awarded on flagrant fouls in the box that deprive the team of a clear scoring opportunity. The first Pk was on a dangerous play that was barely in the box and it did not deprive Maryland of a clear scoring opportunity. The Maryland player was not injured in any way and clearly sold it. I have seen referees ignore hand balls in the box because they were unintentional and did not deprive the team of a scoring opportunity. Most referees considering this was a national championship game tied at zero and that the PK would decide the outcome of the game would have not awarded a penalty kick. Similarly, the red card was also a questionable call considering it was not a clear breakaway where the Akron player dragged the opposing player from behind. I know this is sour grapes but the ref made 2 questionable calls that helped decide a national championship game.