CSU video feed

[akronzips71]

OK, I always have to do this!

Seriously, it is pretty good today. We have audio (most of the time).

The one big gripe is that the "Zips Zone" on screen scoreboard is in the wrong place. It blocks the view of the basket, especially on the left side. Can't see if the balls drop of not. I will write to them about that.

Meanwhile, the boys are playing one of their best games of the season.

Tree is going to be a huge star. He is all over the place. And Zeke is playing like..Zeke!

[akzipper]

Meanwhile, the boys are playing one of their best games of the season.

Tree is going to be a huge star. He is all over the place. And Zeke is playing like..Zeke!

I'm not sure how good Cleveland State was supposed to be, but man they looked terrible. I did hear they got blown out by St. Bonaventure. Vikings looked like a bad team throwing up poor shots and making a lot of bad turnovers.

[akronzips71]

I'm not sure how good Cleveland State was supposed to be, but man they looked terrible. I did hear they got blown out by St. Bonaventure. Vikings looked like a bad team throwing up poor shots and making a lot of bad turnovers.

I don't think they were a cupcake like Pine Bluff.

[GoZips]

Cleveland State was missing their potential star player. He was on the sidelines on crutches.

Always nice for the Zips to beat up on a hapless opponent. Surprised that more of the quackers haven't been venting

their collective spleens on the Zips. Think the full court press unnerved the Vikings and caused them to play way below

their potential. Probably the best game Akron has played in four or five seasons. Oddly, the Zips out rebounded their

second opponent in a row.

Be ready, Texas Southern (1-10) will be a lot tougher opponent than hapless, potential star playerless Vikings.

See you limpets Thursday night.

Merry Christmas ... !!!!

[Blue & Gold]

Any insights/opinions from those in attendance?

[johnnyzip84]

Any insights/opinions from those in attendance?

Tree and Harney were their usual selves against CSU: motivated and ready to play. AA played his best game in a while (did he miss a shot?). I was happy with the energy and intensity of the whole team. Sure CSU is down and out, but the Zips put them away early which is exactly what you need to do against a squad that is struggling. It's strange to win a game by 30 without Walsh scoring or Zeke blocking a shot. But the final score is all that matters. Hopefully, this will jumpstart the Zips to get on a nice, long roll.

Go Zips!!!

[The Hip Zip]

Oops

[The Hip Zip]

Deji's block was amazing. He just might have the best hops in a Zips uniform since Quade. Very pleased with the rotation and minutes played by everybody. This team will go as Nick and Tree go. It's up to those two to emerge as leaders. Crowd was pretty dead today, I guess we'll have to wait for classes to begin again to get some energy flowing through the JAR.

[Quickzips]

After a couple weeks out of the country and segregated from my Zips I got to catch the first half of todays game before heading off to a family holiday obligation. I understand it hasn't been all sunshine and puppy dogs while I've been away, but the Zips team I saw in the first half today sure looked good. Any time you pummel a cross-town rival by 30 it is a pretty resounding show of strength. Hopefully this can serve as a springboard game for the Zips.

[Dave in Green]

I would have posted earlier, but had family obligations. This is the Zips team I've been waiting to see. They all came out with enthusiasm and intensity, and played better as a team than they have all season CSU tried full-court pressure early, and the Zips easily broke the press without breaking a sweat or losing the ball. They showed huge confidence from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer. Tree established himself early as he did at last season's game at CSU. This time all of his teammates were on board and they just tore CSU apart. This was as intense a performance as I've seen from the Zips in a long time. They were just doing everything right on both offense and defense.

No question the Vikings were hurting from losing Anton Grady for the season. The 6-8 sophomore was their leading scorer and rebounder when he went down with a season-ending injury after playing in only their first six games of the season. But even if Grady had played and had a great game, the Zips would have been too much to overcome in this game. All the Zips who looked shaky against Arkansas-Pine Bluff were hitting their marks in this game. Some of them may not have been hitting their shots. But they were all playing aggressively yet under control in all other phases of the game.

It's hard to pick out one Zips player who impressed more than the others. But I'm going to go with Deji. He's playing at a much higher level of confidence than last season, and he looked really promising today. Though he was 0-3 on 3-pointers, where he's been shooting over 50%, the rest of his game was really impressive. He had 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 block in 18 minutes. At times he just took control. At one point he was playing the 2, got the ball at the defensive end and started bringing the ball upcourt. Melo was playing the point and coming upcourt with him. But instead of passing to Melo, Deji kept the ball all the way to the offensive end and rifled a pass to Zeke for an easy layup. On the defensive end, Deji jumped so high on his block that he might as well have been Zeke. Deji is an awakening monster.

[phil]

Deji's block was amazing but I thought he got it off the backboard and it was goaltending. I looked at the highlights from gozips.com and they did not have the block so we will never find out. Alex and Benecourt still had too many turnovers. However, they did a good job of getting the ball to Tree and Zeke. This is one of those games when everything was falling for Harney. Everyone did a nice job on the boards. CSU did a terrible job rebounding. Most of the time the Zips were fighting themselves for the rebounds. Coach indicated that Deji has been playing well in practice. This team needs another guard who can move the ball and slash to the basket.

[gozips19]

Made it to my first game this year and man did I pick a good one to go to! Here's some observations from the game.

1. Really impressed with the freshmen. They look like the know they belong. There were times when Akron had 3 frosh and 2 soph on the court and the team didn't miss a beat. Another thing that stands out is the bodies on Ktrezer and PF. They do not look like freshmen.

2. That being said Melo needs a summer in the gym. He is simply not strong enough to compete at DI this year.

3. Deji looked really good yesterday. A stat stuffer type of game and his pressence was felt on both ends of the court. That block was a goal tend but man did he get up! For those who didn't see it, Deji took the ball at the top of the square of the backboard.

4. I think the crwod was a little subdude just becasue the game was never close.

5. Loved seeing the team press. This will be a strength of the team by the end of the year. It will also help coach as he can sub more and keep his bench happy with mins.

6. Loved the concerned effort to get the ball inside. This needs to happen every game as this is what seperates Akron from most teams. Tree and Zeke looked great. KD said Tree has improved 100% and I completley agree with that.

7. CSU looked lost and I was unimpressed by their younger players. Will be interesting to see how their season plays out.

Very excited to see if this game sparks a big winning streak. The schedule will certainly help with that.