1981 grad

No penalties and we are looking good. Kato has made some great throws and nice plays with his feet. We are making this competitive!!

I was upset that this game was not on TV. It took me 15 minutes to get the stream working and the first play I see is our center taking a cheap shot clearly after the play was over and getting a 15 yard personal foul. I would have sat that guy down immediately. Why is there no discipline on this team. The personal foul on the kickoff set up the last touchdown. The commentatory is right, a MAC team cannot beat a big ten team playing with all these penalties. I expected a more competitive game. Maybe the 2nd half will be better.

I hated to lose an athletic guy that showed some potential as a frosh. It seems like a big step down from Akron. I wonder if he regrets his decision to leave.

Thanks for the reply. I do not know who is advising these kids but I think both had a future at Akron and would have only gotten better with experience. They both got extended playing time as a result of our depleted roster. If Parish left because he did not want to play defense good luck finding another school that does not want him to play defense. I thought Patton played his best basketball at the end of the year and I thought he needed to work on his outside shot but he could contribute next year. I hated to see these guys leave and I hope they were not pushed out for better talent.

I read somewhere on this forum that 500 b ball players are transferring this year. Are these student athletes getting an education or just looking to play b ball for their next team when they have a grievance with the coach. I understand why Cotton transferred. However, I was surprised by the Parish and Patton. Can somebody with some insight indicate why they left the program. It took me about half a season to figure out who was who on the roster and now it starts all over again. In the past we had kids transfer when they learned that they did not have enough talent to play division one and transferred out. It seems that we are recruiting kids who are transferring from another program. It makes me wonder if they were unhappy somewhere else will they be happy here. I want to praise Ivey since he will be our only 4 year senior next year. Thanks for staying with the program!!

Great win by Buffalo!! We played them better than Arizona and Buffalo had home court advantage.

I will give him an A for a nice goodbye tweet. I think it is best if he leaves no matter how talented if he is not going to respect and follow the coach's direction. It is weird in that on the post game after the Western Michigan win he thanked Groce for putting the ball in his hand at the end of the game and then he acts up in the Eastern Michigan game and he does not play at the end of the game.

I had this thought when I saw Antino not getting to the NCAA his senior year. Antino had a great game and led his team in scoring and always played his best basketball in the MAC tournament.. The Zips need players who are going to play their best basketball at the end of the season. I thought Utomi, Cotton, Parish, and Patten were playing their best basketball at the end of the season. That bodes well for the future.

I saw the box score and he led his team in points, had numerous assists and rebounds. Of the 3 guards that we lost, Antino was by far the best when it came down to tournament time. He was real competitor in the clutch. Even though he left I feel bad that he never got to play in the NCAA tournament.

I did not read that much into the T because in my opinion I thought all 4 techs did not have to be called. The coach got a T when his back was to the ref, Jimond for bouncing a ball hard and the Easter Michigan Ts were also weak. I still see Jimond separating the coach from the refs at the Buffalo game. I thought they were good. I trust Groce will get this under control since he will have the players he wants.

Why do you think he still had problems? After the win on Monday and the competitive game they played last night that was the last thing I expected. I did not see anything on the floor that looked like a bad attitude. The refs slowed down the game, we slowed down the game. And it caught up to us when they started hitting their shots and we could not make a basket. Not sure what you saw or heard.

This was a very up and down season. Toward the end of the season Groce had these guys playing good basketball, especially on the defensive end. But I was surprised to listen on the post game last night where he indicated he had some issues with the character of some of his players. I thought we were beyond that. Groce needs to figure out what players he considers to be problems and make a decision whether it is immuaturity that can be fixed on something else that cannot be fixed. I certainly do not want to hear about coachability next year. It is tough enough to win with guys who want to play for the coach. I think being down to our third string center hurt us all year and the last 2 minutes of the game certainly was an example of that problem. That should not be an issue last year. I think next year will be better.

I thought the game turned when they went to a full court press and we turned the ball over and they went on a 7 point run. The momentum changed. The T on the coach was after he was walking away and had his back to the ref. It made no senses. The call on Ivey was weak. However, they also had two t's so it even out. I thought Groce made 2 really bad moves at the end of the game. When Utomi was taking foul shots he put in Klac and took out Patton. Patton has rebounded missed foul shots on seveal occasions. Stupid move! Utomi missed the second one, Klac did not go for the rebound as was running down the court to play defense. He then missed a layup and turned the ball over when he fumbled another pass. No way this guy should have been in. Patton was having a good game. Finally, the only person I remember scoring at the end was Cotton. He hit a clutch 3. He should not have been on the bench when we needed somebody to make a basket. He showed he could play in the clutch on Monday, made a big 3 tonight, and then he sits on the bench. Just poor coaching. However, Groce did a great job getting this team to play well but hopefully he will make better game decisions in the future.

We have not played well against the zone this year. When we played them before I remember a lot of perimeter passing without any penetration. This team often runs down the shot clock. The last thing we want is to run down the shot clock against the zone and then have to force up a contested three. In the past we have been able to penetrate the zone by getting the ball to a player on the foul line and then letting him drive to the basket or kick it out. However, we had at least 2 guys with some height, Kwan and Big Dog. I am hoping that Utomi can get the ball at the foul line and then penetrate. He was not able to do it last time. What started our come back last game was some break out baskets after turnovers. Maybe we can run on these guys. Last game Groce basically went with a 6 man lineup, Klac and Smith did not get much playing time. It will be interesting to see if that changes coming into this game. Finally, we need to stay out of foul trouble. We cannot afford to have any stupid fouls. Very little room for error if we are going to win this one. Need to hit our outside shots. Go Zips!!

Is Sayles done for the season? I read somewhere he was supposed to return in March. I ddi not see him suited up so I assumed he is done but does anybody have an update? I watched Groce's TV show for the first time last night. They did a review of E man's injury and they expect him to make a full recovery and come back next year. The young man is an honor student and very well spoken. He is an asset to the team and the University. Groce talked about the improvements in Utomi's defense and Parrish's defense. I noticed that Parrish is rebounding the ball much better on defense. It is typical of frosh that they love the offensive part of the game but it takes them some time to realize that defense is what keeps them on the floor. He also indicates that Parrish anticipates the pass well and is often is position to make steals. The show was very good.

As bad as things were I never gave up on the Zips. I kept hoping that they could get it back down to 10 by the half. Never expected the 17-0 run. The Zips played some great basketball to get in it. I also knew when they had the 12 point lead in the second half this game was not over.

He has not been as aggressive going to the hoop. It seems like he is settling for the long 3 ball. He needs to score more in the paint and that will get him more room to shoot the 3 ball.

It is a shame that Western only had around 900 people in attendance to watch that game. It was a classic. I said early in this thread that this team revolves around Utomi and he had another amazing offensive game. The offense always seems to click when we play the ball through him. This team outrebounded us by 10 in the first meeting and this game the rebounding was even with a much smaller lineup. Like I said before, size does not matter. Groce has these guys boxing out and hustling for the rebound. Most of the defensive rebounds the Zips had 3 guys around the ball. I was really surprised to see that Parrish only had 4 points. I thought he played a great game. Patton and Cotton supplied the scoring. The Zips have now won 2 close games in a row with buzzer beater foul shots. I cannot remember that ever happening before. So much for refs swallowing their whistles at the end. We should have a moratorium on ref complaints considering the last 2 games.

Tonight Cotton reminded me of Antino his frosh year. Antino had a great post season and probably played his best basketball of the year in the MAC tourney when he was a frosh.

We have also struggled against the zone all year. This will be a true test.

This has to be one of the most back and forth games in Akron history. I cannot believe that we gave up the lead. I cannot believe the ref called a foul on that drive by Cotton. That never happens! Great game. The frosh came of age today. Just amazing. Great win Zips!!

Western is making their free throws. We need to step up. I wish Ivey did not foul out. We can use him.

We need to keep pouring this on. Do not want this game to get close towards the end. Love the aggressive defense.

We need to keep hitting our shots. Do not let them come back. Great drive by Cotton!! Great block by Parish!!

The Zips came back playing aggressive defense and getting some turnovers that lead to some fast breaks. Need to stay aggressive. The double team is working. Need to bring this one home!!