1981 grad

I will double down on that moment when watching the NIT selection show when they showed the Penno basket in the beginning of the show and then had some senile coaches select the NIT and leave out Akron even though we won something like 26 games.

I also remember that game because it was the loudest game I can remember at the Jar in the last minute when Kent almost gave us the game. The place was electric until the last shot and the Jar went silent. An amazing comeback and an amazing shot by Kent to win it.

My viewpoint is that of an Akron fan and not as an outside fan looking at whether Akron is a good team. I like to watch good basketball and I thought Akron played well last night. They do not have the talent Creighton has and would have to play error free basketball and hope Creighton has a sub par game to pull off the upset. Neither happened last night. Frustration was watching the Buffalo game and the Ohio State game last year where we had the talent to win but played sub par games.

I do not share your frustration as there were too many positives in this game. Kwan a senior, lead this team with 17 points and played great defense. You have to love a kid that has a great game against good competition. If Kwan plays like that in Cleveland we will be tough. Jimond, played the most minutes of anyone on the team playing great defense. He is the most athletic Zip, good rebounder, and has quickness. Hopefully, this will convince KD that he should start and we are done with the 3 guard starting offense. Jimond deserves a start even when Noah comes back and Josh should come off the bench. I thought Antino did well attacking the basket although at times he got into trouble. He is the one Zip that can create his own shot with his step back jumper. This was a great learning experience for Dunn Martin. I saw him make a nice runner. He has to learn to attack the basket rather than shooting a quick 3. Most importantly, at Villanova last year this team got blown out in the second half. Here, this team made a comeback in the second half and cut into the lead. This team played with heart in the second half making key shots. They could not get key stops down the stretch. Since this was their first game against a ranked opponent, a 10 point loss in a well played game is not a frustrating loss.

I thought Akron played well. We slowed the pace down as much as possible. We did not get blown out. I would hope that KD replays the tape of this game to make this team realize that a good team does not rely on the 3 ball, uses gives and goes, and uses of the ball picks to get inside position. We did a terrible job in the first half with our spacing and they were able to double and triple team Big Dog forcing him into turnovers. Our spacing was much better in the second half and Big Dog was able to get to the basket. Our guards are not big enough or physical enough to keep them away from the basket. I agree with everyone that Josh needs to work on his defense. He is definitely a step slow. Needs to play at a quicker level. Our defense was good at times and they still scored because of their talent. We needed Antino and Dunn Martin to shoot better to win this game. I give Kwan a lot of credit. He shot the ball well and had a game high 17 points against good competition. Had 2 bad turnovers, an offensive foul and a travel. Jimond played great defense and played a game high 38 minutes!! Would have liked to see him attack the basket more. I hate seeing him standing on the wing. This allowed his man to double team Big Dog. I thought we rebounded well but still missed a couple of box outs that cost us easy rebounds. Loved watching Creighton push the ball. They got several easy baskets just running down the court beating the Akron players down the court. Hopefully, Akron can build off this loss. Go Zips!

The University of Akron Men's Basketball team comes back from a 12-point deficit to win their first round game in the MAC Tournament against Toledo in overtime. Humpty Hitchens nails a three at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. After a miracle shot by Toledo, Brett McKnight tips the ball in from an inbounds pass by Hitchens. An amazing game that I was sure we had lost at least 3 times.

Just checked on Warner Cable and the Creighton game is not scheduled on FS2. Hopefully that will change.

It is difficult to judge anything from this game considering the level of competition but it was nice to see some interior passing that led to easy layups. In the second half we played much tighter defense and forced several turnovers that led to easy baskets for Noah. Antonio seems to be playing with more intensity. KD indicated that he wants to get the younger players more time. Utomi is athletic but like everyone else on the team loves to trigger the 3 ball. If he hits his first shot he stays in and if he misses KD seems to pull him rather quickly. With 10 minutes in the first half we were only up by 6 and played down to the competition. Big Dog was getting triple teamed and passing the ball for open threes but we were not hitting them. In the second half the shots were falling and we shot over 50% from the 3 line. This team will once again probably live or die on how we shoot the 3 ball.

Can somebody tell me why we are playing a division 3 school after 5 games instead of a preseason warm up before the start of the season? Is there some unwritten rule in college basketball that we have to play a division 3 school?

It sounds like you made the trip to Savannah. How many people do you estimate were in the stands for the final? Over the radio it was hard to tell the attendance. I remember last year there was a video feed in Las Vegas the place was empty. Not sure how these tournaments make money if nobody attends the games.

Has anyone ever get this stream?

Thanks, I am surprised there is a video of the game. But who is streaming this if the tournament director indicates there is no video?

I thought that Ivey has been outplaying Josh Williams and deserves to start in front of Williams. During the second half Williams could not keep his man in front of him and he scored several easy baskets. Josh seems to be a step slow on defense and undersized as a small forward. KD finally pulled him and Ivey finished the game. Josh is a great shooter but needs to work on his defense. I have also noticed that Kwan seems to start out fast but cannot make a shot in the second half. I saw it tonight and in the game in Youngstown. Kwan did play great defense. Jimond, Big Dog and Antino carried the team tonight. Michael Hugh also did well backing up Big Dog. He has a great deal of intensity for a frosh. Utomi played for 3 minutes, missed a 3 and then got pulled. I have seen it a million times from KD with backup players, one bad decision and your gone. I would have like to see him play more. I wish these bench players would understand that you earn minutes playing great defense. A quick 3 miss will get you to the bench in record time.

My apologies, missed your last post about the Ohio State game. However, after reading it I disagree that we should not schedule good teams. Playing good teams gives you a chance for an upset, gives KD an idea about the teams weaknesses, and prepares them for better competition which they will face if they get back into the tournament.

We did that at Ohio State last year in the NIT. The only problem is that we do not take advantage of the opportunity when it was presented.

I guess my point is that the current 3 guard offense, none of them can consistently penetrate to the basket. I watch Robotham dribble left, dribble right, but he has difficulty penetrating into the key and finishing. This was against an American team that was not athletic. Our starting guards should be able to blow by these guys. It just does not happen. Ivey has the size, speed and strength to finish. Kd lines him up on the wing but when he usually drives to the basket from the center of the court. When we do play athletic teams, I think that the current starting lineup will struggle unless they are hitting the 3 ball. I was hoping that Daniel was going to be good this year but time will tell.

The Zips strength is supposed to be our shooting, especially our 3 point shooting. We only shot 25% from the 3 point line and 36% from the field against a weak team. We had 17 more rebounds than American and we were more athletic and played with more hustle tonight. We started hot on the 3 point line and had a double digit lead early. I do not think we made a 3 point basket the entire second half. I liked Ivey's game last year and he played almost the entire 2nd half. He played good defense and had some nice drives and assists. Robotham had 3 turnovers and most of his points came from the line in the second half. Antino did not play much in the second half. I finally got to see Utomi play and he really did not do much in his 4 minutes of play. Not sure how much talent this team has if we do not hit the 3 ball. Kwan had some nice takes under the basket and led the teams in rebounds. He seemed to play with more hustle tonight than in Youngstown. I am hoping that Ivey becomes a starter and we are done with the 3 guard offense.

I went to the American web site and found that they are picked to finish 5th in the Patriot league and have lost their first 2 games. We seem to shoot better at home so I am hoping that our shooters will find their mark. I would still like to know why Utomi did not see any playing time last game and wondered if he was hurt or if it was just a coaching decision. I was looking forward to seeing him play. I expect the ball to go into Big Dog early and often tomorrow until they can stop the big guy. Based on our second half collapse at Youngstown it makes me wonder if conditioning had anything to do with our loss. Tomorrow we will find out if we were that bad at Youngstown or if they were that good. Go Zips.

I agree with you 100%. Antino is a point guard, not a two. He can drive to the basket and dish but wants to have the ball in his hand. He played his best basketball as a frosh when Noah got injured. I would start Antino over Noah. I see Noah as a distributor, but we just do not have any scorers around him that can create their own shot. It would be nice to see these 2 compete for the starting job. Hopefully, that would raise their play.

I think that KD needs to rethink his starting lineup. The 3 guard starters, cannot penetrate and drive to the basket. (Antino is the best at getting to the hoop but did little last night) Further, the starting forward, Kwan, is also a person that does not play close to the basket. It is Big Dog or bust. When they started to triple team Big Dog, he kicked it out to the shooters who were not consistently hitting the 3 point shot. Further, this team is not fast and we have few fast break points. The offense looks like the same as last year, play inside out and have shooters waiting on the wing for the 3 point shot when they double team Big Dog. However, no Jake or Reggie on the wing. I was expecting a more athletic team with Utomi and he never made it off the bench. Unfortunately, I still think that Robotham is a step slow on defense after his ACL tear. We need more speed and toughness on D. We will need the cupcake schedule in the beginning of the year at home to get this team on the right track. KD is a great coach and he will need to make adjustments if this team is going to be successful.

I would start Ivey over Josh since he is more of a forward and gives the team some athleticism and height. The 3 guards are great shooters but if they are not hitting the 3 ball, we look ugly like tonight. I noticed that as soon as Ivey makes a mistake KD pulls him but he has a much more patience with the starters.

I guess it is going to be a long season. Very unimpressive start. KD started 3 guards, Antino, Robotham, and Josh Williams. I do not think that any of them played well consistently well tonight. Kwan started hot and ended cold. Our offense is based on hitting the 3 ball. If we do not hit that shot we are going to have trouble. When we got close we shot quick 3 ball instead of working the ball into Big Dog. I thought Tavian, Big Dog and Jimond played well but that was about it. Once again Kwan relies on his outside shot and does not want to go outside.

I am surprised that we have not seen Daniel Utomi. He played a couple of games last year before they decided to redshirt him his freshman year. I wonder if he is hurt. We started with 3 guards, Robotham, Anitno and Josh Williams. Ivey was first off the bench and went on a scoring binge. Big Dog looks good and Kwan started hot but has cooled off. Youngstown is keeping it close and looks like a good game.

Bowling Green had been kicking the ball short the entire game on the kickoffs. That should not have been a surprise. No reason to let it bounce. That was the key turnover of the game. Wasted a great effort by our third string quarterback.

The defense has really stepped up this half. The only points scored by BG was on the fumble. It is great to see us stop the run.