1981 grad

If you watch the replay of the foul, the official does not make the call when Big Dog gives him the forearm in the back. However, when the center reacts like he has been hammered the official then raises his hand and calls the foul. As I told Gozags in a previous post, without the players reaction the foul does not get called. I think it was a smart play by their center. The Zips had just cut the lead to 2, had just hit a couple of threes, and were looking to take the lead. Why not try to draw a foul and get Big Dog in foul trouble. Several years back we had a player, the Serb, who used to flop all the time. If you are going to try to draw a foul, you might as well do it during a key point in the game. However, the T was total garbage.

I did not know that about your center. I am happy that the young man is back on the floor for the rest of the season and I hope that he has an injury free senior season. Best of luck to your team the rest of the year and we hope to see you again in the NCAA tournament.

First, Gozags, welcome to this board. I welcome the different point of view. Also, I had no idea that there was a replay of the game as I did want to take a second look at it so that for letting me know about the link. Our radio commentator yelled out on the air that the refs were "cheating the Zips" when they called the T. I do not feel that way. However, these are 300 pound guys who are bodying for position. Having looked at that play several times, Big Dog (our player) gave a forearm to your players back and it was nowhere near his kidney. Now, your player was smart and acted like it was more than it was to draw the foul. If he does not react that way in all probability a foul would not be called. The ref saw the reaction and called the foul. Big Dog got mad because he knew your player acted that way to draw the foul and said something to the ref and accordingly it was benign. (See above). The whistle for the T is heard on the replay and Bid Dog was at half court and was nowhere near the ref when the ref called the T. That was a bad call or a homer call. There was no reason to give a T when the player is walking away from the ref and is at half court. If the word was that bad the ref should have called the T immediately. I believe this is the first T that Big Dog has gotten in his 4 year career with the Zips. He is not a hothead and the ref did your team no favor making that call since it took a competitive game away from the Zags.

First, I admire your loyalty to the program for attending the game. Second, give me your "live" take on the T. On TV, they replayed the foul and Big Dog gave their center a small push in the back away from the ball and a second later he reacted like he had been hit with a hammer. The ref then called the foul. It showed Big Dog being frustrated and reacting but nothing to warrant a T. They did not show the ref calling the T. Did something else happened that was not shown on TV or was the T based on Big Dog's initial reaction that was nothing out of the ordinary. Finally, you are missing my point. I don't doubt that Big Dog and Kwan were pumping up their players. But they have to show leadership on the court in crunch time by making or attempting baskets. Big Dog had more skill than the opposing player and should have owned him the last 8 minutes. That is what we should expect from a senior playing a top ranked team when we have a chance to pull a major upset! These kids have to bring their A game when they have a chance to win against a topped rank opponent. The last 8 minutes there was no A game.

The old saying is that even a blind squirrel find a nut every so often. Well, when is it our turn to upset a ranked team? I thought that to win the game we had to play our best game and hope that Gonzaga had an off night. With 8 minutes left we were only 2 points down. We were not playing our best basketball. We had a chance to close this thing out. Instead, one bad call on Big Dog and the night is over. That is frustrating! (Ohio State all over again) I liked the Creighton game better than this game because we showed heart and came back against Creighton. If you are going to beat a ranked team you overcome bad calls from the ref. Not scoring any baskets in the final 8 minutes is horrendous. Big Dog and Kwan are seniors and have to show senior leadership. When they came back after the technical they were both non factors. I do not think they even attempted a basket. Both Kwan and Big Dog have to lead this team even when the refs call nonexistent fouls and imaginary technicals. Hopefully, this team will learn from the experience that you beat a ranked team by overcoming adversity and not giving into it.

I wish the feed was a little better because I did not see the T on Big Dog. It looked like he was upset with the acting job by their center but it did not appear the his reaction was over the top or deserved a t. We are not going to get any calls on the road but that one really hurt and turned the game around. Big Dog merely put his elbow on their center's back and then their center fell down a second later.

Our guards always seem to struggle against top ranked competition. They simply cannot penetrate except for Antino. Noah just does not have any quickness going to the basket. I am disappointed with Big Dog. He just lost it after the T and it was downhill from that point. You cannot play 35 minutes of good basketball. We needed to compete for 40 minutes.

The T on Big Dog looks like the turning point. The announcers are indicating that Big Dog looks tired. I was surprised the KD indicated on the last post game that Big Dog is playing himself into shape. The second half he has not looked as aggressive. Maybe because of the 4 fouls or maybe he is tired. Jimond is having a great game and must stay in the starting lineup.

Kuntowski is obviously an acting major. His reaction was 2 seconds after Big Dog put an elbow on his back.

Great cut by Ivey and great pass by Big Dog. The one time they doubled Antino hits the 3 so I do not think we will see any more double teams.

Without the double team our offense looks stagnant. Kwan is playing well but is only 1 of 7. Noah and Josh cannot penetrate and have not scored. The announcers have Big Dog with 2 fouls but I think he has only 1. We have to start penetrating or hitting our 3 ball to stay in this game. Been impressed with the defense and rebounding. Now we need to create some offense.

We have not made a 3 and we are only down by 6. Noah cannot penetrate and forces up a long 3. We need our guards to penetrate or hit their 3 ball to win this game.

Missed our first 2 3 point shots. We need to shoot the 3 ball well to stay in this game.

I watched Villanova defeat Notre Dame, both undefeated teams going into the contest. Great game. Now, there are only 7 undefeated teams in Division 1 basketball. After this game can we make it 6?

I just reviewed our stats and currently we are a good shooting team hitting approximately 50% from the field and 40% from the 3 point line. Last game I was impressed with how many interior baskets we scored, especially from Jimond Ivey. But the question remains if we can shoot this well against a top ranked team in a hostile environment? In the first half against Creighton Big Dog turned the ball over numerous times and we shot 25% from the 3 point line. We need to play better than that to stay in this game. I believe that Big Dog can hold is own and score if they do not double team him down low even if he plays against 7 footers. He is very athletic and quick for a big man and can finish around the basket. Also, we need to play well when he goes out as there is nobody else on the team with his skill set. It will be interesting to see if KD goes to Poke or Hughs to rest Big Dog. We are a well discipline defensive team but a top 10 team will score against the Zips. If we can hit our 3 point shots, get some interior scoring and limit the fast break points we could stay in the game. I like to see this team play well against good competition. This is great experience for out team to play against 2 top 20 teams in one week. However, to win this game we have to play mistake free basketball and hope the Zags have an off night. Go Zips!

I thought this was a fun game to watch as the Zips actually had some fast break points, some nice interior passing, a few nice drives to the basket, a few dunks and streak shooting by Josh to start the game and Big Dog to end the game. Big Dog made a nice 12 footer and gave some thought to shooting a 3 before putting the ball down and driving to the hoop. Jimond continues to impress by making easy baskets and E had some great blocks. He is a leaper and gets off his feet fast to swat the ball. He could be a rim protector like Zeke if he continues to improve. I know this will not happen but I actually like the starting lineup tonight and would bring Noah off the bench to replace Antino. Antino has the ability to drive and create his own shot where Noah is more of a field general who cannot create his own shot. I would rather see Antino at the point than at the 2. It will be interesting to see if Jimond continues to come off the bench after Noah returns or if he will replace Josh in the starting lineup. Blue and Gold commented that Josh looks uncomfortable driving to the basket. Noah also does not have a strong move to the basket. We need players who can finish at the basket. My guess is that KD will keep the 3 guard lineup and bring Jimond in very quickly if we have a slow start.

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?