1981 grad

I agree with you that Sayles looks lost out there. He cannot hold onto the ball on offense. Had a couple of nice moves to the basket but could not finish. I think he played better as a frosh than as a junior. He is a step slow on this team and needs to be aggressive on offense.

Looking at some early stats it seems we are just a continuation from last year, the team that can't shoot straight. We are shooting 36% from the field and a dismal 29% from the 3 line. Remember, 2 of our 3 games were against weak competition. Our best shooters are Reese at 58% and Banks at 44% and 42% from the 3 line. X man is our gunner with 49 shots taken, 12 more than anyone else on the team but he is shooting 32% from the field and 29% from the 3 line. LCJ is shooting 16% from the 3 line. Maybe those 3 balls 10 feet beyond the 3 line are not a good idea? Biggest surprise of the year, we are shooting 83% from the foul line. (The starters are shooting free throws extremely well but our bench players are not)

That is one of the ugliest basketball games I have ever watched. Run down the floor, drive to the basket, dish for a three and miss the 3. A lot of turnovers tonight. If this team had played a decent team they would have gotten killed. I liked how we played in West Virginia, there was an offensive flow. Did not see anything like that tonight. The team shot 25% from the field and from the 3 line. They got bailed out by the refs and shot at least 10 more foul shots than the visiting team. I just don't know about LCJ. He kept driving to the basket and missing a layup or turning the ball over among the trees. LCJ got his points at the end of the game making foul shots. I just wonder if this team will be repeat of last year when we were one of the worst shooting teams in the nation.

Somewhere I coach is smiling and thinking I can do better than that.

He had some decent minutes last year. I was surprised that he got no time at West Virginia. Another bites the dust. It amazes me how many kids have transferred out of this program in a little over 2 years

I was very impressed with this team. We hustle and were scrappy. LCJ played much better in the second half and had some nice assists. I think this team should be able to compete well in the MAC. I like the pace of the team. We have some players that can really push the ball.

Williams missed open 3 to cut the lead to 3 and it has been down hill since then. Has Riak even touched the ball on offense?

No real post player to score in the paint. Drive and kick the ball outside. It will work if we can shoot the ball well. Our 3 point shooting is around 40%

Sayles looks slow compared to the rest of the team. I just not sure he is going to see a lot of minutes. LCJ already has at least 4 turnovers. He should know better then get trapped on the court. The poor shooting hit us again when we did not score toward the end of the second half. Not sure if this team can maintain this pace unless they get help from the bench. I don't think any of our bench as scored.

We are playing at a very fast pace. Really like the athleticism on this team. We look good on the open court. Can we play this fast the entire game without wearing down.

This team is shooting the 3 ball very well. Can they keep it up all game. If they can shoot the 3 ball at 40% we should be competitive. LCJ with a turnover and he just got beat on d. Needs to step it up.

I was at that game. But it was a great season getting there. You just listed all of the negatives in 10 years. In 2 years with Groce we had one event that tops all of the above and is now in litigation. When you are looking at all the empty seats at the Jar you will see that you are clearly in the minority when you think that this program is getting better after KD left. Groce has better athletes, better defense, and a much physically stronger squad. However, last year this team could not shoot the 3 ball and the offense was horrific. Last year we had 4 centers that had no offense. I wish somebody could tell me why so many athletes have transferred out of Groce's program. I hope you are right in that Groce will have a breakout season. Maybe I am gun shy after watching football. Go Zips!!

Thanks for showing it but it just makes me mad. I look at the roster and I see players that played 4 years for Akron and we might have had one transfer. I wish our Athletic Director had watched this video before he allowed KD to take his talents elsewhere. I just don't know if you can build a program based on other programs transfers. Groce has had close to 10 guys transfer out of our program in 10 years. I was not at the Malone game but if we cannot control the boards and have inside scoring against Malone i am not optimistic for tomorrow night. I hope I am wrong. This team needs better shooting then last year. Go Zips!

I have followed Akron sports for 40 years including their football, basketball and soccer programs. This year it has been a challenge to watch this team and each week they seem to get worse. But the question I had after turning the game off in the third quarter is whether Akron has truly had a successful football coach that was so good that other schools wanted to hire them. In basketball, we had coach Huggins who was so successful he was hired by another program. Kd was so successful he was hired by another program. (Still think our AD screwed the pooch on that one). In soccer, Coach Lolli and coach Porter were hired away to other programs. Has every Akron football coach been fired never again to coach in a division one program. Have we ever had a coach move on to a bigger or better program? Coach I, Coach Faust, Coach Brookhart, Coach Bowden were all fired and have never been hired again as a head football coach. Are we the graveyard for division one head coaches?

Forget about scoring a touchdown this game. Can we get a first down. Each week this team gets worse. An Akron fan can only watch so much of this "team."

Akron finally had a positive play for 8 yards and one of our players head butts another player and gets a 15 yard penalty. Another 3 and out. How much can an Akron fan take?

Last 5 possessions, three and out and two interceptions. How inept is this offense. Why throw across the field when it is this windy. Of course the second interception was in the middle of the field and way behind the receiver. Can't run, Can't throw. What can they do?

When you team has not won a game, is routinely getting blown out, and has not scored a touchdown since September, what bonus can he possibly obtain?

Each week I watch to see if there is any improvement. Each week we get worse. Besides being bad now we are committing penalties, delay of game, illegal procedure, illegal formation, hands to the face. Arth made a big deal in that we practice in bad weather because we play football in bad weather. Well, this quarterback cannot throw the ball in the rain. Everything is high. I wonder if there is some record for futility. How long has it been since we scored a touchdown? I wonder if this team will even score a touchdown the rest of the season. I thought the end of last season was bad. This is worse!

Can't they wipe off the lens during the time out.

The team sucks. But the play calling should not make things worse. Third and one and you need to keep the ball. Get the one yard with a run or quick throw instead of throwing the ball 30 yards down field to a receiver surrounded by 5 defensive backs.

Thanks for clearing that up. I started this topic when somebody told me that Nance Sr. wanted Kd to offer Larry and he did not offer. I did not know if this was true and indicated in my post. My point being that you never know who is going to excel in college. Coming out of high school Tree and Harney were great recruits for Kd.

I may be wrong but I think Wyoming might have been his only division one offer and that came from a Nance Sr. connection. I do not believe Larry was highly recruited and Kd went for Harney and Tree who probably had better high school careers.

I disagree! My point was that it is difficult to determine who will excel in college. Larry had some type of fatigue problem that was finally diagnosed when he was in college and after he got better his career took off. Tree and Harney were great recruits who had their issues at Akron. Tree is playing great ball in Israel. Not sure what Harney is doing. Glad to see Little Larry playing so well for the Cavs. I also agree that the Nance family is first rate.

Somebody told me that the year he recruited Tree and Harney was the year that Larry Nance went to KD and wanted Little Larry to go to Akron but KD had recruited Tree and Harney and did not have a scholarship for Nance and wanted him to walk on. I have no idea if this is true but if it is true it just support his theory that you never know what combinations will work out.