LoyalZIP

I agree Akron didn't really play well, tons of misses at the rim and the turnovers are absolutely out of control. I believe it's Clark tracking Dailey's minutes, he continues to show us why that is the case. I thought Wynn was excellent on Pippen. My post from this morning ended up holding true I would say. Zips can be much better! Hell of a win, on to whoever is next!

I hated the last 10 minutes. My heart shouldn’t be hurting after how that one went! But I can’t remember that last time Akron did that at Kent. And as for their excuses, 2015 at Kent Akron had a similar situation and it went to the buzzer. Go Zips!!!!!!! Cheers to a joyful weekend my friends!!!

Win by 40.

This is a huge spot in the midst of a brutal stretch in this MAC schedule. When playing at Kent, I've always been frustrated by how much tougher Kent plays than Akron, Groce has mentioned this a few times as well on post game shows after these games. No crowd will certainly even that playing field. Perimeter defense and rebounding are crucial today. I'm hoping whoever is on Pippen (hopefully Ali) gets in his shorts similarly to how Ali did to Vander Plas when Akron played OU. They're dangerous in certain spots and only need a small window to make an impact. If he gets frustrated, he's still a technical foul machine even in his 5th year. That's where emotional maturity and toughness can really benefit the Zips. Kent's been scoring a lot of points lately, and their guards have been stellar, even without Nuga. Santiago is nearly a 50% 3pt shooter but went 1-6 at the JAR. Running those guys off the line and forcing them to finish with Enrique and Reece down low is a great recipe for success. Also in the game at the JAR, Marshall put in some very strong minutes in the first half with the game getting on the brink of being out of control, and Dawson buried a couple of big shots when the Zips started to take control. Wynn seems to have taken a lot of Marshall's minutes, but the thing I love about this team is their ability to put guys into their own roles so as not to ask too much of any one of those bench guys in particular. I can't say it enough, when those guys (Clarke included, hell I might be forgetting some there are so many!) play like NBA All-Stars in their roles, Akron is right up there with Toledo. There are few better feelings than winning in this building. I'm crushed we can't be there, but I'm just as excited as always. GO ZIPS!!!!! BEAT KENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Interesting, I don't recall seeing that

Ouch.

Bleep Kent

Rough one for the guys in navy and the guys in stripes. Guys like Trimble and Dailey can't be invisible in these kinds of games against these teams. I'm interested to see what Groce can do to get these guys ready for another game like this on Friday. Edit: Invisible is harsh for Trimble tonight, but he wasn't much of a factor in bringing them back into it. This has been a pretty quiet performance IMO

Zips can't blink. Hate that cliché, but it's so true. Can't take bad shots and can't let them get the first step.

I truly don't know what to expect in this one. That game a couple weeks ago was about as high-level a basketball game you'll ever see in the MAC. Any missed opportunity at one end was cashed in at the other. In matchups like these (and the next few looking forward, not to get ahead of myself) there are challenges that the Zips haven't faced since they played Toledo. They simply can't afford to make mistakes that result in turnovers or easy buckets. I don't worry about the defense nearly as much as I worry about how much Akron turns the ball over sometimes. Toledo is still running the very short bench, so sticking it to them early at the defensive end of the floor can create energy on the offensive end to attack their tired legs. At least that's the formula. I'm excited to see this one, as should any MAC fan!

Another rough one for Maishe, we need a big bounce back from him Tuesday. There's not a ton to say other than that was a John Groce Akron Basketball culture game through and through. Defense led to offense, energy won out, and the guys playing like NBA All-Stars in their roles came through. That bench mob is crucial in the upcoming games. As the opponents get worn down, and the starters get rest, Dawson, Wynn, Reece, Clarke, and even Marshall have a huge opportunity to make a difference. I'm sure most people are, but check out the Akron bench when these guys perform well, it brings the entire energy to an entire new level. Those guys are just as important as the starting 5 when it comes to punching a ticket to the dance. On to Toledo! Go Zips!

Let if fly!! He's shot very well inside the arc as well, as he's been stellar in the mid range game. Since being a brick factory to start the year, he's resurrected his 3pt % to 37.5 with only two games shooting worse than 36.4% from three, including two 50% performances, going 11-22 in a two game stretch @BG & vs. CMU. He's got a brilliantly smooth jumper and typically picks his spots very well. He rarely puts up shots he's not confident in, and every time he shoots it at this point, I'm surprised when it doesn't go in.

That, and when he melted the microphone with fire after the EMU game in Cleveland that year. And the tone in regards to attitude and effort for those first years, we knew it was only a matter of time before the program took off. And sure enough, we all have MAC Champion T-Shirts to prove it and we're on the right track for more.

Did I say that? Or did I say that they've disappeared completely amid the success? Those two are not the same thing, as you are someone who is active on this board. There are plenty of posters, some of whom even showed up this summer when there was mild speculation that Groce may leave, to say "I TOLD YOU SO" as if it's a bad thing for a coach to be good enough to leave Akron. These people who "cheer" for Akron by only showing up to criticize coaching and poor play are not Akron fans, they would rather be proven right by Akron failing. Their ego is more important than their "team" winning. F them. There are plenty examples over in the football thread too.

They've gone awfully silent amid the success. That's too bad, unfortunately they were never Akron fans after all.

I think Groce has been a better coach at Akron than Dambrot. Would Groce be able to pull off those streaks that KD did? I don't think so, but I also don't care. They play to win it all right now, and I'm sure over a 13 year sample that kind of basketball will give you some duds, and that's okay. I think it's the kind of ball that wins you the biggest games. Look at Buffalo prior to their 2018 run. Were they the 1 seed every year? No. But they were tough, and you never wanted to play them. They're still like that. And I think Groce has built Akron into a program like that. If only that team last year had a chance, that could've been legendary. If this group had a full offseason, it's pretty easy to say they would be just as incredible. Bandaogo would be a factor, guys like Wynn, Clarke, and Marshall would be able to contribute more, etc. But considering the slow start, damn you have to be impressed with what Groce has done once again. No excuses with this group, I love that so much. This really has been the perfect scenario for the transition of the program, Groce is using the foundation of success KD built to make it even better and great in his own way. I think that when the day comes for Groce to move on, that makes the position even more attractive to quality candidates. Good coaches win here. That's huge.

BG basketball folks

A couple of their transfers in recent years are playing well where they ended up. 2017 MAC Freshman of the Year Michael Weathers is scoring 14.6 points per game for Texas Southern His brother Marcus Weathers has been one of the best players for an Atlantic 10 program known as Doo-Cane for 3 years Jalen Adaway is third for St. Bonaventure in scoring

Good game, nice all around effort. The depth is starting to show, those guys 8-9 deep have been playing really well. Have we finally seen the last of Rob Murphy?? I think so. On to Ball State!

I try to remain hopeful as well. But over the last 5 years or so, I've watched a decent amount of Akron women's basketball and I can comfortably say the program that Jodi Kest built into a legit powerhouse for about a 4-5 year stretch is completely gone. The two seasons before this, there was definitely some hope as they took down some giants here and there and hung around til late in the season to make things interesting, only to lose two consecutive MAC tournament home games. They haven't played a MAC tournament game in Cleveland since 2016, and I don't see this group doing that either. The most glaring issue to me is player development. They bring in good players who are good students and good people. That's awesome! But when watching the same players over the course of the last 3 years, I can comfortably say that not a single one has gotten significantly better. Jordyn Dawson has the same skillset and abilities, the Neitzel sisters are still largely hit or miss, the guard from last year Shaunay Edmonds was the same guard as a senior that she was as a freshman. So yes, as the rest of the league gets better, Akron remains what it has been. I think the in-game coaching is fine for the most part, but could use some work. The issues are far beyond things like that, though.

I wouldn't say he has a fragile psyche and he's by no means a whiner, but when you've been a college basketball player for 5 years, I think people on here expect a little more out of him. He's been wildly inconsistent and gets visibly frustrated with himself at times. We can all see he's very physically gifted and has a pretty stroke, I think most Zips fans just want to see him loosen up and play with some more fire.

TCB!!!! Took care of business again, that was as much like a Team 119 (2019-2020 Zips team) game that I think we've seen. In fact, the last 3 games have been like last year's team. Take care of business when you need to, whether on the road against good teams or hosting bad teams or vice versa. They just played 3 very similar games in a short amount of time against all sorts of opponents, and won 4 in 8 days. That's hard to do in MAC play. We're starting to see this team get better and better and figure each other out, winning games like these last 3 the way they have without looking spectacular is the sign of a damn good team, and we can all agree that they can still be much better. Enjoy LCJ while we have him, that could be said every game. He's a special player and a special person, I hope the U maintains a good relationship with him after he's gone, he'll coach a lot of really good players some day. We finally got the Dawson game!!! He was a big get going in to last year and I'm hoping he is starting to get the hang of game action. He's got the body and basic skill set to be really good in the MAC. He, along with guys like Clarke and Marshall, maybe even Wynn, if you get a couple of positive contributions per game from them, you're DANGEROUS. Keep it rolling. Beat EMU!

They're terrible.

TCB = Take Care of Business. We haven't seen too many LCJ games like that! Trimble is amazing. More good minutes from Marshall, OK minutes from Wynn. Dawson's production has really dwindled lately which surprises me, but that's not the end of the world. Another solid Ali game and nice bounce back from Maishe. CMU is a hodge podge group of guys. They don't play as a team at all, while I would've liked a game that the Zips control more, I'll take this one all day long. On to WMU!

+1 on putting Clarke in that slot. He's gonna be really good, and that could help him learn even more from LCJ going into the future.