1981 grad

Really great Akron win in that this was a difficult zone and we really passes the ball well with a lot of patience and shot the ball well. Groce indicated that this might be his best shooting team. This is also probably his smartest team in the they really took care of the ball after the first couple of minutes and moved the ball around until they found the open 3. Glad to see Hardman finally hit a couple of three balls after missing 4 in a row. Seth Wilson also had a good shooting day and Tevari was just plain feeling it. This is a fun team to watch!!!!

I grimaced when I heard Groce say that because the last 4-5 possessions we used the whole clock and did not start any offense until there was 10 seconds left and the shot selections was not very good. It was the right play at the end of the game although our margin of victory went down from 20 to 12.

Great interview. Very lucky to have him as a coach. He has brought in a bunch of quality guys who are also good basketball players.

Freeman is back with the Pacers and played 4 minutes with 1 rebound and 1 assist. Glad to see him back with the Pacers after not being with the team for a couple of weeks.

Although my memory sucks, I am 99% sure last year they charged for parking in the deck and I had to show my season holder parking pass to get into the deck. I was surprised this year that they were not charging for the deck. If it was free why did the U send me parking passes for lot 1 as part of my season tickets? I think they made it free after they sent out the season tickets.

Looking at the stats, certain points just jump out. First, the starters were throwing up bricks from 3 point distance and went 0 for 12. Yes, I do mean bricks in that Wilson and Grey did not hit the rim on a couple of their attempts and most of the attempts were not even close. On a great note, our point guards played 50 minutes and had no turnovers after playing loose with the ball the last 2 games. The team only had 8 turnovers and that includes travelling and offensive fouls so I think there were only a few errant passes including one where Nate almost took out a fan in courtside seating. Nate is really struggling with his 3 ball and went 0 for 5. However, his inside fadeaway is unstoppable. I thought our big guys did a good job on Sparks and yes he was winded at the end of the game and it did effect his play. (I sit by their bench and he was sucking air when he came off the court). Ball State shot over 50%. Groce blamed it on the defense but I thought they were just making good shots. Great win and looking forward to the game Sat.

We wondered what would happen when we had a cold night shooting the 3. We made the 2 pointers. I thought Ball State was the best team we faced all year. The big play tonight was the Scott 3 point play which gave us our first 6 point lead. Groce indicated how well the bench played and that the starters did not have it. I did not think the starters played poorly but thought Ball State played well and we could not hit any 3 balls in the beginning of the game. I think we wore them down in the 2nd half with our pace of play. Also, a shout out to Seth Wilson who drove the lane tonight and made some 2 pointers. Love it!!

I read this post and about half way through the conference schedule everything is coming ups roses. Amazing leaps from Lyles, NJ, TJ, and Scott. Wilson is shooting an amazing 47% from three point range in conference play and Okonkwo has established himself as rebounding machine down low. The chemistry is coming together and we are undefeated in conference play. Grey has been consistent but Nate Johnson has even been better leading the team in scoring. We are a 10 deep team even with Harris being out for the year. Your analysis was spot on and much better than the MAC preseason polls.

Continuing the conversation, we just blew out Northern Illinois and Kent on the road. Historically, 2 places that Akron has struggled to win. We dominated the boards in both games. In the OOC schedule our weakness has now become our strength. Nate Johnson is becoming a stud and played 35 minutes. His fade away around the basket is deadly and unstoppable. As long as we continue to shoot 40% or better from the 3 ball we will be tough to beat. However, our point guards have played loose with the ball and had 7 turnovers against Kent and TJ had 7 against Northern Illinois. Sharon Young went 0 for 5 at N. Illinois. My point is that we are not playing our best and still blowing out teams on the road. I think we are a good team playing a weak schedule. Barring injury, running out the MAC seems doable. Agree or disagree?

Even though Kent's basketball team is currently not firing on all cylinders the Kent faithful know its only 6 short months till football begins.

The color commentator indicated there is no reason Akron could not run the table. We have impressed!!!

The Zips shooting is just too much for Kent. Really surprised how we controlled the boards and just seemed quicker to the ball than Kent. Also, Kent was not very physical. I will give Kent credit in that it was a very clean game and the Kent players showed good sportsmanship when the game was basically a blowout and I think they were only as close as 12 in the the 2nd half.

I guess somebody told Sullinger about my post because he has looked much better in the 2nd half. They are giving him too much room and he is making that floater.

In my mind, Sullinger has regressed. Does not look like the same player as last year. Not as quick and not as good of shooter. I can see why Kent is struggling. Zips playing really good ball. Great ball movement and controlling the boards. KJ is just so smooth on his jump shot in the key. Really fun to watch.

Sharon Young went 0 for 5 and 2 turnovers. Difficult for a frosh to make a long trip and play well on the road. The veterans Nate Johnson and Grey and Scott really played well and Tevari shot the ball well. The more I watch this team Nate stands out as the one guy who seems to steady the ship when things go bad. Groce realized that also and he played 35 minutes tonight. Had some amazing dunks tonight. Groce need to practice against the zone as the ball movement was lacking. However, Northern Illinois really had a problem rebounding when they played zone.

The commentators were indicating how Tavari does not turn the ball over and then he turned it over right underneath the basket. I counted at least 4 turnovers tonight. He was hitting his floater and making his foul shots and probably scored 20 but did not play his best game.

I have numerous problems with the feed. I thought it was my tv. Thanks for adding it is just not me.

I am so impressed with Shamu Scott getting to the basket and finishing with a layup. He could not do that last year and always hurried his shot and missed the layup. Really improved his game this year. Nate Johnson seems to be the clue that holds this team together. Great dunk and great shot when we needed it the most.

After indicating we have the 2 tops point guards in the conference both of them have struggled today with turnovers and Tavari just let in a layup. They need to step it up. Really struggling against the zone and zone press.

We did not score for six minutes. Did not see that happening. The zone really has us struggling and all of a sudden our shots are not falling. How will respond.

We are on fire from three again. Simply amazing!!!

This is an interesting topic: Are we really good because after the OOC schedule we improved a great deal or do we appear to be good because the MAC sucks. My answer: time will tell. Even good teams will lose against bad teams. However, if this team is really good, lets win the rest of the games. A really good Akron team should be able to run out the rest of the schedule. Lets win at Northern Illinois and at Kent and then continue this conversation.

I have watched a lot of Akron basketball and here is something I have never seen before, emptying the bench when you have 30 point basketball game means bringing in one guy, Evan Wilson. By playing 10 guys and red shirting everyone else, our bench is Evan. And even more bizarre is that he is in for 3 minutes and gets a T. The first time I saw Freeman play was during a blowout his frosh year. Can anyone name a fan favorite who would come in during a blowout in past years?

Bizarre path to player of the week. His first few games as a frosh were amazing. And then he struggled. He had some good games but was not consistent. Second year he started at the beginning of the season and then came off the bench. And then there were games he did not even get into the games. Groce would pull him because of his defense. At the end of the season he was the 4th guard off the bench but had some great games against Kent and in Cleveland and played more than the starters. Many on this board wanted to see him transfer. This season during MAC play he has been great!!! I still think we have the 2 best guards in the conference. And we know that good point guards are worth their weight in gold.

I think that was the best first half of basketball Akron has played all year and shows the potential of this team. We shot the ball well, passed the ball well, outrebounded Miami 2 to 1, played great defense, and had more hustle that Miami. In the 2nd half we did not let up and kept the lead between 30-40. I have heard Groce say each year how good his players are at distance only to see them shoot around 30% for the year. This team may be different and it will be interesting to see if they continue to shoot the ball well from distance the rest of the season.