LoyalZIP

Good looks not falling for the Zips

Dominate.

We're at a time where Akron, who has very little history of success, especially in the postseason, who also does not have its own separate practice facility, is a better job than Ohio. Pretty remarkable.

This one should be a battle. The Zips had their best half in a couple weeks to put away Ball State. Hopefully that woke them up a bit. Ohio is going to put up much more of a fight than they did in December, that one is ancient history. Though it was so long ago, the defensive approach on Preston is something I would love to see again. LCJ was right up in his grill for almost that entire game and that forced the supporting cast to beat the Zips. We saw how that went. Of course, those guys are all playing better than that now and Akron's been struggling defensively, so that will be interesting to watch. As I do some research after watching the late game before I call it a night, this 12-3 MAC record for Akron is their best 15-game start in league play since 2017. And that 2017 team started out 12-1 before falling to 12-3 in MAC play which then led to the biggest collapse to end a season in the history of the program. The Zips have won 9 of 10 but it really doesn't feel like it to me. I don't know if I should be worried or not. But as I alluded to earlier, the second half today made me much more optimistic moving forward. Tuesday will not be easy. Hell, not many are easy. But I'd like a nice relaxing celebratory Tuesday evening after burying the Kittens in the back yard, that's for sure.

This should knock the Canucks out of whatever hope of a top 2 seed they had. Ugly last 5.

Interesting back and forth game. Toledo doesn't look very sharp.

Love these Zips. Very frustrating at times lately, but they’re tough and they’ve got swagger. A great team win indeed! Onto Athens! Groce talked on the post game about the Ali Ali story. He and Ford were in Grand Rapids to watch a different player and Ali caught their eye in a couple games. Groce had to leave town and he told Ford to watch him one more time. Ford called Groce and said “Coach I don’t know how nobody else is recruiting this kid.” And the rest is history. Awesome story. Go Zips!!!!!

Right on cue Tribble makes what seem like his first layups of the year. Lol

Bad minutes from Tribble and poor post play on the defensive end have me concerned

Our bigs have not played good D in the post today

MORE!!!!!!!

Hard to watch on the offensive end, but the defense improved immensely the last few minutes. In LCJ we trust. Go Zips!

In the exhibition game next year against Stark State high school JV I’d love to see them win just by getting shots for Trimble the entire game. Like when KD had Big Dog bring the ball up against Hiram or whoever it was a few years ago.

Take a drink for every uncontested Ball State 3-pointer

I’m very disappointed in this team right now. They may go on to win this game big but no matter the result, very uninspiring. Especially on defense.

I don't disagree with GT, but I still have many issues with the guy. First of all, he's often pretty vocal about not enjoying covering the Akron beat and I've seen him tweet about it before, saying things like "I wish, but I have to watch Akron" or something like that. I'm not going to search for it. And in the video of the presser from the game at Kent, they show George sitting in his office at home on the zoom call. But you barely even notice his face with the massive Ohio State Fat Head he had on the wall behind him. That pissed me off.

I was thinking about it today, and despite recent wins against some decent teams and a couple of bad ones, Akron hasn’t been playing very good basketball. And that concerns me a bit going into this game. I know the first matchup wasn’t even a contest, but they just beat Toledo a couple games ago and the road trips in this league are never easy. I would argue that the Zips have played one really good half of basketball since then where they’ve played to their potential—the first half at Kent. And Groce’s comments have kind of reflected that. I’m ready to see these guys get hot again and “flip the switch” to start playing like we all know they can. A positive in this observation? They’re winning when they don’t play very well, and that’s a trait that last year’s team developed as the year went on. The wins at Buffalo, vs. Ohio, vs. EMU, at WMU. That tells me that this team is really damn good. Of course, we all know that. But I found it interesting. Not long ago, when this team wasn’t playing great it was losing to EMU and NIU. Now it’s beating teams better than them while not playing all that much better. Just a thought. Go Zips!

The douche bags from Brimfield trailed most of the game but escaped with the win

I watched the replay today and that was a mistake ? (kidding). It was one of those games that you know was never in doubt. At the same time, I would confidently call that one of the worst 5 performances of the year from Akron. LCJ was average at best, Freeman had bad hands, Ali was so-so. Just a boring and bad basketball game. Props to NIU for playing really hard, that can't be easy to do with a season like they've had. But also, thank you to NIU for being terrible enough that this game didn't become the worst loss of the season. That's really all I have. Intensity was Sh*t. Defense was Sh*t. Execution was Sh*t. Blech. On to Ball State. As for the uniforms, I really like the metallic numbers and trim, that would be SICK on a navy base instead of black. But I'm not much of a uniform guy any more, if the players like them, hell yeah! Anyone know how to get on the short list for fans?? I'm dying to go see these guys! Go Zips!

Hell of a ball game!! Jason Benetti is one of the best play by play guys in America....when not with that bald clown Dakich. Anywell, Lairy was outplaying LCJ at his own game until crunch time--then LCJ showed him who runs the league. That shot reminded me of that double clutch 3 over Cvetinovic that DJ Cooper hit in the 2012 title game in the dying moments with the shot clock expiring. Just wicked, but when you work your ass off and have a good feel for the game, luck tends to be on your side. And we're lucky to have LCJ. I can't say it enough. Make the effort to watch every game you can, he's incredible. I believe Captain said it a couple weeks ago, Dailey plays better and shoots better when he doesn't have time to think. He was great on both ends tonight, and was pure on some free throws. We need that. More please! Also, Ali is a crazy consistent player, I love his motor and he makes few mistakes. What a great find by this staff! Cam Reece had his worst game of the year until he locked in late, and he was a big factor in the win. Also, more quality minutes from Wynn and Dawson. Clarke has been quiet lately. LCJ missed about as many open jumpers as I've ever seen him miss and Trimble was about average. That's a tough place to win. On to the next one, I'd like more intensity on Tuesday for all 40 minutes, Miami had the advantage here for stretches and that's unacceptable for this Akron team. Hopefully they can bury NIU early and get guys like Clarke and Aziz more meaningful minutes. Go Zips!!!!!

Agreed. I like the Zips but it'll be very close to that 4.5 point spread.

I'm very curious to see what the MAC has in regards to tie-breaking procedures as I think it's both pretty obvious and not surprising that not all games will end up being played. With that said, those losses to EMU and NIU really mask how much better than the pack Akron and Toledo are. I know Kent isn't at full strength, but remember they were when Akron came back to beat them and that was with significantly fewer games under the belt and Trimble on an off shooting night, which is worth at least 10 points itself. I'm also glad that they Zips got that game at RMF in earlier this year. They're somewhat familiar to playing in an empty NBA arena which could be a slight advantage for things like creating energy and sight lines. I really don't know what to expect, I wouldn't even be surprised if at the last second the MAC decided to play the games at campus sights or something like that. Wait to see.

Kato's had maybe 4-5 legitimately good halves as an Akron QB. It's time to turn the page.

One last thing on this one. I was thinking about the few times Akron has won there over the last few years and noticed now 3 out of the last 4 wins at Kent came after losses. 2012 lost to Buffalo at home, 2017 lost to Miami at home, 2021 lost at Toledo. Mildly interesting.

Groce said on the post game show that OU is facing COVID issues and this one probably won't be played as scheduled. Still on though as of 2:00a on 2/6.