1981 grad

Are we the only school in the MAC to give basketball players NIL money? Is it public knowledge what players are being paid? Do teammates know what other players are being paid on the team. The above post makes me wonder whether Akron has an advantage over other MAC schools because of the NIL money. I am seeing our football disintegrate over the NIL money because we do not pay football players. I do not believe we have lost a basketball player because of the NIL in the past but could this happen in the future?

Now is the time to schedule a home and home with the Dukes while both teams are winning instead of the weak teams we brought into the JAR this year. We could have a reunion of his old team or put his jersey in the rafters. Anything to bring the Dukes to Akron. We should have a solid veteran team next year so no excuses why we should not play the Dukes.

Kent down by 10 with 4 minutes left and getting outscored by 19 in second half. (Yikes)

And the 3 techs that all have us scratching our heads!!!

This was the best crowd of the season. The Jar was about 70%. I will give a shout out the students who did some cheers during the game that was something new. I heard post game that the players gave out leaflets to students trying get them to attend. I think this team is trending in the rights direction for attendance and trying to get butts in the seats.

I sit behind the Ohio Bench and during one of the time outs I saw Tevari had words with one of the Ohio players who I was told was Coach Boals son. When the ref called the T, I am speculating that Tevari may had said something to him or the bench and the ref called the T. I did not see it but after the T I saw this player then talk to the ref who called the T. It is a lot of speculation but it would not be the first time an Akron player got called for a T for something that was said or a motion to the opposing bench. I noticed that Tevari sat the rest of the game. Again, just speculation.

I thought this was Akron's best game. We shot the ball well, passed the ball well, a lot of back cuts and points in the paint. Without a true center, the lane is always open when Akron starts the offense. Also, because everyone can shoot the 3, it is difficult to drop back on the ball handler. As a result, we have been able to attack to lane and score inside. The defense was good but we still have difficulty with guarding bigger guys and this is the 2nd game in a row we have had a big disparity in foul shots. We also had a great crowd tonight with about 70% capacity. I never expected Amani Lyles to be as good around the basket as he has been the last few games. Really finishing at the basket. Great team effort.

I agree and actually know some of those people. However, not enough to make that big of a difference. I do not think any of the MAC teams are drawing like they were 12 years ago. Even if you are a fan, you can stay home and watch the game on ESPN. I think the large crowds for MAC basketball are things of the past. Even this year I wonder if Kent has a bad year whether we will draw good numbers for these games.

In 2013-2014 the Zips would fill the Convocation Center and we would play a regular season game before 11000 crazy fans in the Ozone and we had 5000 fans at the Jar. They had DJ Cooper and Kellogg and we had Zeke Marshall and Treadwell and Abreau. Both teams were loaded and at the top of the MAC and there was some great basketball games. Last year we drew 5500 fans at OU meaning the arena was at less than half capacity. My guess is that tonight our building will be around half capacity even with all the student promotions. I just don't see the passion for MAC basketball that we had a dozen years ago.

And I stand corrected. After my post, this thread has taken off not with basketball posts, but posts about bars and alcohol. Based on this thread, $2 alcohol should be standard before, during and after the game.

Maybe it should be a Bud Light to promote our $2 beer promotion. (LOL) I know this promotion is something, but I just find that discounted alcohol at a college game to be a lazy way to promote a product. The other promotion I remember was a bourbon or some other tasting behind the basket. We should be able to do better.

Thanks, Did not know there is more than 1 page. I will vote for him.

Difficult to vote for him since he is not listed. Whoops

This is the first game I felt like walking out of the building we won the "physicality" part of the game. We outrebounded Toledo and seemed to have more blocks and hustle plays and hustle rebounds. Tevari only scored 3 points but had 9 assists. He is clearly the best passer on the team and is clearly developing a chemistry with our centers on the pick and roll. Speaking of which, this is the first game I can remember where we scored multiple baskets on the pick and roll. It got so bad the Toledo players were arguing among themselves about who was supposed to cover the center rolling to the basket while their coach just stood there watching the argument. Toledo started out hot and we were cold from the 3 line shooting around 20%. With the help of the refs, Toledo had a 12 point lead at half. Really impressed how we came back the 2nd half. It seemed like we wore down Toledo with our deep bench and fast play. Finally, as people on this board have noticed. Scott has really elevated his game with several nice finishes at the basket. The players from last year, Lyles, Scott, Tevari and Johnson really showed how they have elevated their games from last year. I am hoping that is a trend that continues the rest of the year.

I was curious about the ref that called a quick t on Scott and then on Groce. Groce commented post game he did not believe Scott deserved the T and did not think he should have gotten one for his comment. I never saw the ref before so I was curious and looked him up, Kevin Brill, and he usually works PAC 10 games and did the NCAA tourney games last year so not a novice ref. However, he has made enemies in the PAC 10, especially from Utah State fans https://www.usufans.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=65945 I think Toledo had 20 more foul shots then we did. Not the best job by the refs tonight but we won so hopefully the whistles will go our way on Friday.

Thanks for sharing. Great article. I like his approach about coming off the bench. I think his presence has helped to elevate Tevari's game. Too early to think about frosh of the year in the MAC? I know we have had this discussion in the past, but when is the last time an Akron player won that award?

Has anyone noticed that Nate has hit only 1 of his last 10 threes. The answer to that is no. Why, because other players have been hitting their outside shots. All we need on this offense is for a few of our three point shooters to get hot during the game so we are shooting around 40% from three. When you watch the flow of the offense you keep having players pop out to shoot the 3 ball. It works as long as somebody is hitting. More importantly, Tavari is the leading scorer and assist leader on this team and he might not be the best point guard on our team. Everyone on this board know you need a great point guard on the team to be successful. We got 2 great point guards and one is a true frosh. This team can be frustrating with their lack of size, defense and rebounding but they can be successful as long as they hit their 3 shot and our point guards play with control and can lead this team.

Freeman had his best game thus far playing 16 minutes against the bulls with 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 6 points. Hope to see him get more minutes.

And we also need to shoot better from distance. It seems like every year Groce brings in great shooters and the team struggles from the 3 point line. On Friday we shot 42 three pointers and averaged 28% from distance. As a team we are at 34% and remember that includes 3 blowouts against very weak competition. That has to improve. Our best 3 point shooters are Grey and Young who are over 40%. The worst are Nate at 29% and Seth at 20%. Most of Seth's shots have been from distance so not a good look.

You look at the stats and we got outrebounded again, this time by 12, took 42 threes and shot a poor 29% from three. Some head scratching stats in that Marvin started the game, played 90 seconds, pulled 2 fouls and never saw the floor again. And everyone is scratching their heads on this board in that Seth Wilson was the first sub and played 15 minutes and went 1 of 5 from three land. He must be a hell of a practice player because we just have not seen much from him when he has been on the court. Of the new transfer players, Okonkwo and Grey have impressed me the most in that they seem to play hard every second they are on the court. I will also give a shout out to Bowman for having 3 rebounds. Young and Tavari both had solid games. Tavari did not shoot the ball well from 3 but still had 9 points and more importantly 5 assists. He seems to find the open man on his passes. Young shot the ball well and had a solid game except for the turnover at the end of the game. The team did not play well and still got a road win. A good way to start the season.

Could not even imagine a worst start to the conference season. Missed layups, turnovers, and scattered play.

Happy New Year to Zips fans!!! First post of the new year. The game at Bowling Green starts at 6 and is on CBS. I assumed the Princeton game was at 7 and missed it but could not have watched it at 1 anyway. I have no idea what to expect from this Zips team. I think that most Zips fans feel the same way I do. The non-conference schedule was not a killer and we certainly did not kill it losing 5 games. My only impression thus far is that I have been underwhelmed by the transfers from the bigger programs. Hopefully, this team will get better as the season progresses and the MAC is as bad as everyone is predicting and we get to Cleveland with the shot at the NCAA. If this team plays better defense and gets better on the boards it can be a good season. Considering the non-conference home schedule and our record there is very little excitement about this team and my only prediction is that the Zips will be playing to a half empty arena when starting their conference schedule at the JAR. Hope I am wrong. Go Zips.

Freeman is back on the Pacers and played 6 minutes tonight as the Pacers got blown out by the Celtics and had 2 rebounds and 2 points.

Lyles indicated post game that he worked on this 3 point shooting this summer. In hindsight, needed to work on his rebounding.

Agreed!!! Freeman was just a great rebounder because he was quick to the ball for a big, strong under the basket, smart, and most importantly worked his butt off to become a better basketball player.