1981 grad

I agree that Sayles has been a good team player in that he has not played the last 2 games. However, he got significant playing time against Eastern Michigan and was in the lineup at the end of the game. He has lost some weight and put on some muscle. It looks like he has bought into the Groce program and I think he will stay if Groce wants him to stay. Since we are losing Riak that means that Sayles has an opportunity to get more minutes next year. He just needs to work on his game. When he has been playing he is playing with more intensity that last year. You just wonder how his career might have been without the injuries.

I like Riak as the starter. Why mess with success.

Playing the bench guys in the first half is really making a difference. These guys are closing out games because they are getting some rest in the first half. Groce has found a great rotation. Reese has really been playing well. We often wondered how good Akron would be with a dominant point guard and Jackson is that guard. I can't recall a player improving so much from one season to another. HE is doing everything right from not turning the ball over to shooting the ball well, hitting shots in the paint and shooting the ball from 3. Adding that runner to his game has really made him almost unstoppable at times. Fun game to watch.

Groce is really using his bench a lot more the past few games. I think it really helps the team in the last 10 minutes of the game if all the players are not playing 30 plus minutes. I saw a nice play by Ali and then watched Tribble and Ali look at each other on an easy rebound that turned into 2 points for Central Michigan. Jackson is having an outstanding game. Once again we started out cold from the 3 line and started 1 of 7. The last 3 games we have started very cold from the 3 line. Central Michigan has a bunch of offensive rebounds but many are off of long rebounds where the Zips have inside position. This looks like it is going to be a close game the rest of the way.

The 1 seed gets us an NIT bid which is a nice perk if we bomb in Cleveland. By winning tonight we put our destiny in our own hands.

It is a Friday night game at 7 on ESPNU. The Zips get to play on national TV!!

After losing some close games it was nice to see 4 clutch plays at the end of the game by our big four players. Cheese hit a long 3 pointer, LCJ hit a floater in the lane, passed the ball to Williams and fell down in front of Williams so the the defender could not get in his face, Williams made the 3 with 4 seconds left and Banks made the defensive play at the end of the game. This team needed to win a game by playing well in the last minute.

After the game I went to the scorers table where they were replaying the block in slow motion several times and there was no foul. Banks got 2 hands on the ball and just held onto the ball. That is why he hit the floor so hard because he did not use his hands to break his fall. It was a great defensive play!

The lack of a bench and poor 3 point shooting were our doom last night. Ali only played a minute and had a turnover, Tribble had 2 turnovers and no points, and Sayles was out there 3 minutes. I thought Williams looked a little tired toward the end of the game. It is hard to believe that Ali was a starter at one point in the season. Basically, this is a 7 man rotation with Reese being the only bench player that contributes any points. We need better bench play if we are going to win in Cleveland. Tribble does not seem to have any confidence and Ali looks lost while Sayles cannot play well enough to gain any significant minutes. Groce needs to do something to get Tribble more involved.

Right now I think Reese is playing better than Riak. On Kents last basket the Kent player just pushed Riak out of the way, got the rebound and made the basket. Riak is just not strong enough to hold his position.

Why can't Riak ever hold onto the ball?

I knew that in the past 5-6 games that Akron has been on a tear shooting the 3 ball but I was surprised to see that we are now ranked 11th in the country at shooting the 3 ball at 39.3%. What is amazing is that last year we were last or close to last last year in shooting the 3 ball percentage. The most bizarre part of the story is that we lost our best 3 point shooter last year, Daniel Utomi when he transferred. Although we picked up the X man, somewhere between this and last season Banks, Cheese and LCJ are now shooting lights out behind the three line. I do not know if the guys are passing the ball better with a year long experience, they worked on their shot on the off season, or Groce had them all fitted with contact lenses. If the Zips keep up this shooting percentage this team will continue to win.

Yes, it was a typo. My mind was thinking LCJ and my fingers typed Ali. In a couple of years maybe Ali will become a scorer. Not there yet. I corrected the typo. Thanks for reading!!

This team is just shooting the basket amazingly well. You have 4 players, Williams, Banks, LCJ, and Cheese that can score from behind the arc or just about anywhere. I saw Miami play good defense and Akron not able to do anything and LCJ just squares up and hit a deep three. There is nothing you can do about that. We are blowing teams out on the road. Remember last year when we could not win a game on the road. I watch William come around the pick on the inbounds play and square up and shoot a 3. The guy just exudes confidence when he shoots. LCJ is just playing smart basketball. The one thing I have noticed is that in the beginning of the season we pushed the ball down the court and we were always looking to score in transition. Now we push the ball down the court but always work the ball for a good shot. Right now this team is fun to watch!

I think the attendance will be a problem no matter how well this team plays. A popular coach leaves, have 2 years of mediocre basketball, never get past the quarter finals in Cleveland, get blown out in Cleveland by Buffalo last year. There are a lot of fans who left the program. Akron has done absolutely nothing to get these fans back into the building. No publicity, no marketing, nothing. I saw that Norhern Illinois was marketing 5 tickets for $25. That is more marketing than Akron has done. Akron tickets are $15 per game. They offer a season ticket program that gets worse as the season progresses. It would be nice if Akron did some marketing to get butts in the seats.

Thanks. Not having him in there really hurt although they should be able to play better without him.

I do not think I have seen Williams in the second half. Reese got hurt. Sayles and Ali look horrible on offense.

Wow!!!!!! LCJ is having his best game as a Zip. What an ending to the half. Not sure if I can remember any Zip being that dominant in a half. Three steals, 4 or 5 3 pointers, 18 points. The 3 pointers have been from distance. I am getting used to the annoucers. They seemed worse in the beginning of the game. How about the time keeper not starting the clock when there were 2 seconds left on the time clock. He must have worked for the Astros before taking this job.

Zips cooled off from the 3 line. It had to happen. Surprised to see Tribble miss that layup. I think the frosh have a more difficult time playing on the road.

No, just a comment on the discussion above about the possibility of Jackson transferring to a major program. No guarentee that success at a mid major will lead to success at a higher level school for a player. (might say the same thing about coaches)

Speaking of Utomi he is coming off the bench at USC and averaging 5 points per game and playing 20 minutes. Do you think transferring to USC has improved his chances of picking up a pro contract in Europe?

In yesterdays game the team got the ball to Riak on 4 of the first 6 possessions on pick and rolls and he either missed the shot or fumbled the ball. I keep hoping that he will develop into a better offensive player. But he is a great defender and has been making his foul shots. However, we do have inside scoring with our players driving to the hoop and scorig or dishing off to a big man. Not having a post up player clogging the lane works to our advantage with this team in that it keeps the lane open to make it easier to drive to the basket. Watch LCJ drive to the basket and you will see how the lane is open when he starts to the basket and then the defense collapses to the lane leaving somebody open on the wing. I wish Klac the best of luck but most people on this board recognized that he did not have division one speed. He always seemed a step slow to the basket.

Not sure if Jackson and William can play any better than tonight. I love the way Jackson controls the game. He is quick and can get to the basket. He has developed a nice floater and now is stopping short and taking a short jumper. Williams has been on a tear from the 3 line the last 3 games. In the first half Ball State played great defense creating turnovers and forcing the Zips to rush some shots. We also missed a lot of open three balls. The Zips usually come out flat in the second half but tonight that dominated the second half. Cheese is so good around the basket. The team has some great balence the way they are moving the ball. Looking forward to the next game.

And they said that KD did not know how to draw up great inbound plays!!!