LoyalZIP

Tip is at 3:00pm EST. Yucky, guess it's radio for me again.

I was busy so I couldn't watch, and I certainly have no interest watching the replay, so 640 WHLO is where I was yesterday. It sounds to me like Ali was getting it in that high post but was hesitant to put shots up. That's my biggest complaint of his so far, he's afraid to attack and shoot the mid range. Same goes for Dailey, he's fully capable of excelling in that role, why he doesn't try is beyond me. Rewind to the 2018 MAC tournament against them, Utomi was killing it in that high post mid range game before the collapse. Beating them isn't rocket science. And losing yesterday isn't the end of the world, we're not the first good team a bad EMU has beaten. Groce sounded like he was in 2018 on the post game, absolutely refused to make any excuses or dig for positives. I expect a couple of really good practices coming up. If one of those two stepped up to fill the Cheese/X role, this team has the potential to be lethal like last year's, with Trimble as a solid 3&D and eventually Aziz/Freeman as rim protectors. I won't make any excuses because I've definitely been disappointed so far this year, but I keep saying a full offseason would have this team on a different level for a reason. Time will tell, I'm feeling better than I did 2 years ago around this time, but certainly not as good as I was looking at the roster this past summer. Now time for a business trip to Dekalb. 1-0.

The free throw shooting was often atrocious, but now whenever I think back to it, the Ohio State NIT game in 2016 comes to mind. I just looked up the box score and threw up in my mouth. Akron 3pt: 9-42 (including 3-14 in Reggie's last game) Akron FT: 8-20 AND THE F****** GAME WENT TO OVERTIME!!!!!! ? https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/matchup?gameId=400871464

Northern Illinois has finally had enough of the Mark Montgomery experiment. He's been fired after a 1-7, 0-3 MAC start. Only win was over Chicago State.

I believe that was early KD, nice memory!

LCJ is the best player to ever wear an Akron uniform. None of those dudes from the 60s, not Romeo, not Dru, not Zeke Marshall, none of those dudes. The guy is 5'7 155lb., has every team game plan against him for the better part of a year now, and he's as masterful as can be every single game. It's mind-blowing. It's the kind of stuff you tell your grandkids about. I'll miss him tremendously when he's no longer here. A quality person and incredible baller. He is Akron! Aside from LCJ, my favorite Zip this year is either Freeman or Dawson. Both are "glue guys" that play with fire and make plays when they are needed to step up. Dawson is going to be a star, as is Freeman. When Reece turned it over after missing two open shooters on that offensive rebound with about 4 minutes to go up 10, my heart sank. That was nearly the difference maker if you ask me. Thank goodness for Groce defense down the stretch! I think Marshall took Wynn's minutes in the second half which needed to happen. Also without Tribble his toughness and hustle was HUGE! Wish he would've buried one of those open threes. Nuga is a great player, and Pippen whos like 45 years old and has no legs won't go down in Kent State history as he should, but man that dude is a baller and I respect the hell out of him. I loved to see Marshall get under his skin, that was a key. The energy wasn't there early on and I think a lot of that has to do with the missed shots early. Trimble only forced one of them, but the rest were fine takes. Fire away brother. Dailey was getting abused all first half by Nuga but stepped up to have an okay defensive performance. I don't understand his value on offense yet. Another nice game by Ali, I'd like to see him take more shots when driving though, he's long and can handle the ball, but seemed to just look to pass. That's all fine and good, but put one up there! Clarke will be a nice player, I wish that half court would've counted!!! That wide open top of the key three will fall with time, I really like him. All in all, that game should never be that close. Akron is so much better than Kent for the first time in a while if you ask me. But a win is a win is a win. On to the next one, Go Zips!

I fear their size and toughness, I think it will give the Zips guards a lot of trouble. And the defensive intensity needs to be maintained, not easy to do after as much downtime as the Zips have had. Not having fans also evens the playing field a bit. This one will feel very strange to watch on TV that's for sure. Is there any better way to start a calendar year than beating Kent?? I think not. Go Zips!

He recently made it state-side and should be concluding his quarantine soon. I'm expecting a Dawson-like season at best. He could be valuable down the stretch, plus he will benefit from the lack of big men. I'm guessing at this point Currie isn't quite what we were expecting, hopefully he can grow and improve to step up when he's needed.

Good for him, he could do well there. They are like the Akron of the Sun Belt, hopefully his ceiling is higher in the south, I think it is.

I like how you worded that, "more diverse offensive threat." Last Tuesday he was visibly getting down on himself for missing all those 3s, fast forward to last Saturday and he took it inside and took some turnaround mid rangers. Today he displayed his slashing abilities a bit. In addition, he buried a couple of good decision 3s to keep the D guessing. Those are the things I like to see!

Holy hell that was fun. Hip Zip, I thought that same thing myself. One of the most complete 40 minutes I've seen by an Akron team EVER, and that says a ton considering the last 15 years. That's the best D LCJ has ever played, I don't know how he wasn't exhausted early with how hard he was playing. You could tell Preston was taken way out of his comfort zone. That's something a top ten Big Ten program couldn't do when they faced him. That's a testament to the coaching staff and conditioning program. So that's why Trimble was so highly anticipated! I don't know that I've ever seen a 6-6 by a Zip, few and far between at least if I have Ali Ali guarded Vander Plas so well, if you even contest him a bit he struggles to shoot, otherwise he could put it in from The Score Draft Room if he wanted to. And Ali made him work to the point that he had no legs down the stretch. That was huge. I don't know what Wynn is good at yet. I thought his minutes were pretty poor today, I would have preferred Marshall for defense and hustle instead, but hopefully he comes around. Dailey is starting to play more like X, obviously he'll probably never be as good, but they've got similar bodies and capabilities so I'd like to see him fill that role. Overall, I loved every second of that and thankfully we have a few days to savor and enjoy it! That truly was a spectacular performance. However, moving forward I'm still somewhat skeptical as to how good this team will be against everyone in this league. What will happen when the 3 doesn't fall? What happens when you go up against a bigger and more physical team like Kent? What happens if these turnovers are committed against Buffalo?? This could be another special season, the potential is there, now as coach Groce likes to say, EXECUTE!!!!! Stay strong Zips fans, the JAR would've been a lot of fun today, even though we can't be there keep supporting the Zips!! Hopefully we have the opportunity to see these boys do something special in person in the Spring. Cheers, Happy Holidays!

Also, Tribble did not dress today. Not sure what is going on there, his slashing abilities would have been a big help today.

Agreed on Currie. I don't want to speculate but he must be struggling to keep up in practice or something. And all Trimble has done is take bombs. I have yet to hear or see any other positive contributions. He's shooting from 25' + on most of his attempts. Not good.

Find me some odds on Freeman for future POY and I'll put a few bucks on it! That would be quite a payout

My insider at the JAR has gotten back to me with some notes. Trimble is next to worthless. And this doesn't surprise me after seeing him in action on Tuesday. Riak and X are missed as much on defense as offense, Reece has developed very little since getting to Akron Decent minutes from Clarke but a couple of blown layups Wynn must be practicing pretty well as he fit in okay, seemed to have taken Marshall's spot today. I'm gonna call Marshall a disappointment so far. I'm probably speaking too soon though. What the hell's the story with Currie?? Dailey looked lost again in 1H, but started to play more like he needed to as the game went on, driving and shooting mid range. As for those mid rangers going in.... I love Freeman but there's no reason he should be what he is compared to Reece. That bothers me quite a bit. And once Aziz gets in it'll take him quite some time to get into the rotation. Tuesday could be ugly. But don't get discouraged....yet.

This is an excellent point. Not to analyze in a recruiting thread too much, a lot of those bad sacks and quick sacks are avoidable through QB play and coaching. I believe getting rid of the football, whether throwing it out of bounds or to somebody is very important. In addition, if the defense is stacking the box and getting to the QB quickly, add another RB to block. Or draw up a quick route through the middle or take a shot on a deep ball in the case of a safety being pulled up. I remember in the game at Louisiana in 2015 Akron had I think first down at their own 30. LA blitzed the safety, Woodson got the snap and immediately threw it over the top as he was getting hit and Jerome Lane beat his man at the line and was gone. While the roster isn't up to that standard yet, there were far too many of those sacks given up this year, even having improved upon that from the unwatchable 2019 offense.

Definitely a bummer, but I agree for sure that it is better to have this game pushed back. Zips aren't very close to reaching any potential yet. Also, by my calculations, I've attended 34 consecutive games between Akron and Kent and unfortunately that's likely to change within the next couple of months due to attendance policies. What are everyone else's streaks? I know we've got the most die hard of die hards here.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up for many of these early season games. I was really excited after the Cedarville game given how well Akron shot the ball, but as Tuesday's game approached I started to come down from the high of simply watching Akron basketball again to realize this team will be good, but they've got a ways to go before they're great. I think in a normal year, guys on the roster like Currie and Clarke have a great pre season and are well into the rotation by now. I really think Currie could make or break our chances at winning a title. Because what I've seen so far is when the three doesn't fall, the offense doesn't necessarily get frantic, they just try to force too much. Of course, in a normal year Aziz would have been here for months already and I would think would be in Freeman's spot. In the past, they had Cheese and X to rely on to either get to the bucket or make a mid range shot to open things up. Right now, this team doesn't have pieces like that. I was expecting Marshall to be more of a slasher, but so far he's been somewhat of a rebounding stretch 4. Do I want that from a guy like that? I don't think so right now. I'll take it since he plays his ass off and gives good minutes, but we've got enough guys spotting up. I knew Ali would improve his game, and I can't wait to see what he can develop into! I'd love to see the jumper come along more, and he's been masterful at making his own shots all over the floor so far. We even saw very small glimpses of that last year. LCJ is LCJ. I didn't think he was very good yesterday, but he's so amazing that even in a sub-par game he can single handedly keep the team afloat. If he hits a couple of those 3s before the half, that game could have been much different. In reality, I do not see him as winning POY again as teams have kind of figured him out. I'm not saying he can't, but when he gets forced to drive and teams take away the lob, he's forced to be more of a distributor, which is not the kind of PG that he is. This team can just about out-talent anyone in the league. I'm going to call Dailey's game yesterday a repeat of X against Louisville and hope it doesn't happen again. The pieces are there, this repeat will simply have to be a little bit more difficult for Groce than last year's title. I'm looking forward to Saturday, Go Zips!

Thanks for checking that out. I know Marousek's knee got torn up in high school, so I'm assuming that's why we didn't see him in action this year. I'm hoping he can compete in spring and fall so Gibson is either forced to improve or gets pushed back on the depth chart as he should if Akron is to get better.

I was hoping for a more entertaining Sunday slate NIU goes down by 52 to Iowa Wright State dominates BG in the Stroh Center Ohio loses by 14 @ Marshall Kent beats Haut and NKU by 19 Milwaukee goes to WMU and pulls away late

Nowhere have I defended him. In face, I routinely call him out. I'm not happy with 4-8 like some people.

Should've been 6-1. Cost himself another shot at a bowl by laying an egg on Black Friday. ? Now please move on. Or at least get back to complaining about Groce, a very successful Akron champion. Just talk about the present instead of living in 2015.

No true fan of Akron football misses Bowden. His last team was a miracle at NW, PAT against Kent, and TD against CMU from being 1-11. And 4/5 games in that dreadful losing streak to close the season were embarrassments. If you're proud of accomplishments like that in year 7 of a coaching regime, you my friend are a LOSER. Raise the F**** standard. I don't see anyone "giving Arth a pass" either, nor should you. If you get $500k to do any job, you don't get a pass. Raise the F**** standard. GO ZIPS!

My source (LOL) in the JAR liked what they saw in the second half today. First half was a lot of early shot clock 3s, granted a lot were falling. The team is big. I hear Currie didn't get in until late, I'm going to assume that will change moving forward, perhaps he was unable to practice for a couple of weeks if you know what I mean. Not accusing him of anything, just assuming. And I'm admittedly probably wrong in doing that. Once UA started running that zone trap that has worked so well in the past, Cedarville didn't have a prayer. Marshall began slashing more in the second half, he's got the body to do that and I think we'll need him to considering no more X and Cheese. As good as nearly the whole roster is at shooting, we need reliable buckets. Guys who can finish and make free throws. Like X and Cheese. I was expecting more from Tribble but he'll come along. I'm pretty happy with what I heard, but again it's Cedarville. I wouldn't get too discouraged if the season doesn't start off well. Bonnie is returning 5 starters, @ Kent is @ Kent, which is literally never easy, and Ohio is damn impressive. Considering the circumstance, I'm going to put my expectations as they will have it rolling by February and be in full throttle come March. March March March. Also, heard Aziz (7' kid from across the pond) who is supposed to be electric just got into the states within the last few days. Could make for another Dawson situation. Damn. Anyway, can't wait for Tuesday!!!!!!