Charleston Southern

[akronzips71]

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WE ARE AKRON

As usual, the audio is about 10 seconds behind the video.

WE ARE AKRON

[ace]

Josh is having by far his best performance this year

[ZachTheZip]

Josh is having by far his best performance this year

Offensively, I agree.

[zipsrule]

Shooting the ball better in the second half.

[RowdyZip]

Basketball and football win on the same day? Did that happen last year?

Go Zips!

[zippyfan34]

I didn't like in the second half when a player took a bad shot and then was subbed out and he preceded to walk off the court and through the doors to the gym. He didn't come back until an assistant went to get him. When he was back on the bench he sat back with one leg stretched out not celebrating with the rest of the team as we proceeded to hit a couple of shots. He actually got put back in the game about 2 minutes later as I don't think KD knew he had left nor saw the attitude when he was back on the bench. I hope said player is able to turn the attitude around for the rest of the year.

[AyYo]

I didn't like in the second half when a player took a bad shot and then was subbed out and he preceded to walk off the court and through the doors to the gym. He didn't come back until an assistant went to get him. When he was back on the bench he sat back with one leg stretched out not celebrating with the rest of the team as we proceeded to hit a couple of shots. He actually got put back in the game about 2 minutes later as I don't think KD knew he had left nor saw the attitude when he was back on the bench. I hope said player is able to turn the attitude around for the rest of the year.

Who was this?

[phil]

Must be something in the water. After a Jimond dunk, Charleston-Southern Coach went ballistic on one of his players throwing his coat down and yelling at the player for a minute. I thought Bobby Hurley was back in the building. I felt bad for the player.

I heard KD post game and he indicated the he was going to try to get Jimond more playing time since he is athletic and can drive to the basket. He stated he was a Deji type player and the team needs this type of player. I like watching Jimond but tonight he settled for too many 3 point shots. We already have too many 3 point shooters and need someone who can slash to the basket. (Both Pat and Big Dog shot and missed 3 pointers tonight) It was nice to see Reggie go back door for a dunk and Kretzer had a nice drive to the basket but could not finish.

We shot 35 three pointers tonight and shot 43%. It was nice to see that Josh played well and was able to score.

[ogzips]

Just to let the person know .who commented on the player leaving the court, that player is coming back from injury. He goes out the gym to stretch and comes back to ride the bike to stay loose. He was obviously upset his shot was off a little bit. That's the reason he was put back in so he can get back in game rhythm. And by the way once he`s a 100 percent he can shoot from anywhere on the court and take anybody off the dribble. Keep watching and you`ll see this kid is good! And I didn't see a attitude he was just upset at himself. One more thing did you see the 3 pointer he made as the shot clock expired!

[wadszip]

Must be something in the water. After a Jimond dunk, Charleston-Southern Coach went ballistic on one of his players throwing his coat down and yelling at the player for a minute. I thought Bobby Hurley was back in the building. I felt bad for the player.

I heard KD post game and he indicated the he was going to try to get Jimond more playing time since he is athletic and can drive to the basket. He stated he was a Deji type player and the team needs this type of player. I like watching Jimond but tonight he settled for too many 3 point shots. We already have too many 3 point shooters and need someone who can slash to the basket. (Both Pat and Big Dog shot and missed 3 pointers tonight) It was nice to see Reggie go back door for a dunk and Kretzer had a nice drive to the basket but could not finish.

We shot 35 three pointers tonight and shot 43%. It was nice to see that Josh played well and was able to score.

I missed the Green Bay debacle, but the amount of threes this team is taking overall has been OK because they are doing a good job of going inside out, and Big Dog and Pat are doing a good job of kicking out when the defense collapses on them. Pat has always been good in that aspect (his touch inside should also get better). But Dog has really improved.

This is the new wave in basketball. Even on the highest level the best teams are 3 point relient. The Warriors and Cavs were No. 1 and 2 in the NBA last year and both made the finals. Both teams, without looking, are probably right back up near the top this year and are a combined 29-4. As long as the ball is being moved around (most importantly, inside-out), the 3 pointer is an efficient shot.

With that said, the Zips did take at least a half dozen ill-timed 3s (which all seemed to miss). But they were very good a knocking down the rythym 3s, probably something like 15 of 28. Those shots will continue to come and with the shooters this team has. I say keep launching them. Especially with the size advantage the Zips have on the offensive glass.

I also 100 percent agree on Josh. He really needed a game like tonight to gain some confidence. He is going to make freshman mistakes, but if he can contribute by knocking down open looks, he is an asset on the court. He should also continue to grow overall with the more experience he gets.

Overall, even with the clunker against Green Bay, this team continues to show the signs that had most of us optimistic that this can be a special season. Right now, IMO, only Reggie and Aaron Jackson are playing at a level higher than anybody thought. True, we knew Reggie was going to play well, but .500 from 3, on nearly six attempts per game, is probably higher than anybody expected (I figured he would be around 42 or 43 percent). Aaron Jackson was a nice prospect coming out of Gahanna, but compared to last year, he has improved by leaps and bounds. Big Dog is playing pretty close to what I thought was his best case, but I can see even more improvement from him.

Other than those two/three, the best basketball, hopefully, is still to come for everybody else. And it looks like Noah will be back for Coppin State, which should really help out Antino as he has had to shoulder a huge load in his absence. And with Antino, Josh and Jimond looking like they can play meaningful minutes, it will help ease him back in.

Reading the Green Bay thread, it seems like people were jumping off the cliff. On well, a top 25 ranking and at-large shot is probably off the table, but it doesn't change anything about what this season could be. I think most will agree with me that this is easily the best Zips team in then KD (and probably Akron's D1 history).

This team has played inconsistent basketball, but has essentially four double digit wins, an OK loss at one of the best teams in the country (and Villanova is rolling everybody so far) and a three point loss on the road to a mediocre team ... But the way it sounds like Akron played, in most other years, that would have been a double digit loss.

[wadszip]

Just to let the person know .who commented on the player leaving the court, that player is coming back from injury. He goes out the gym to stretch and comes back to ride the bike to stay loose. He was obviously upset his shot was off a little bit. That's the reason he was put back in so he can get back in game rhythm. And by the way once he`s a 100 percent he can shoot from anywhere on the court and take anybody off the dribble. Keep watching and you`ll see this kid is good! And I didn't see a attitude he was just upset at himself. One more thing did you see the 3 pointer he made as the shot clock expired!

And he can jump out of the gym. I didn't see it, but figured it was Jimond. I'm guessing he was more upset about allowing his man to get a couple buckets in a row. That's a good sign, IMO.

[clarkwgriswold]

I didn't like in the second half when a player took a bad shot and then was subbed out and he preceded to walk off the court and through the doors to the gym. He didn't come back until an assistant went to get him. When he was back on the bench he sat back with one leg stretched out not celebrating with the rest of the team as we proceeded to hit a couple of shots. He actually got put back in the game about 2 minutes later as I don't think KD knew he had left nor saw the attitude when he was back on the bench. I hope said player is able to turn the attitude around for the rest of the year.

Wait, Nick Harney's back?

[akronzips71]

They only had two players over 6'2"

It had to be a cakewalk for us.

[phil]

Wadszip, you may some great points that the trend is to take a lot of 3 point shots and Nova is a prime example. However, in the Zips lost to Nova we were outscored in the paint 36 to 12. In the loss to Green Bay we were outscore in the paint 40-28. In Green Bay it seemed like when this team gets tired at the end of a game we settle for the three ball with little success. There needs to be more balance in our scoring.

Playing inside out works against weaker competition such as Charleston. They double Pat and it opens up the 3 point shot for our wings. But if we are ever to win against good teams, especially if we ever want to win a NCAA tournament game, this team needs to learn to attack the basket from the wings. At Green Bay I watched Jimond beat his man and take it to the basket and Aron Jackson's man came over to block his shot. Aron stayed in the corner instead of running the base line and looking for a pass for a layup.

As the season progress I am hoping that our wings will do a better job of attacking the paint.

[ace]

Good points about wings slashing to the basket. Getting guys free in the lane and having defenses collapse on them is really the best thing a 3-ball reliant team can do. Against small teams all we have to do is throw it in the post but when teams can match-up 1-to-1 on our big guys we have to be able to slash.

I think the problem is our wings (sans Ivey) just don't have quick first steps. They're still plenty athletic but not really from a quickness standpoint so they really can't put the ball on the floor and blow by their man. And it may be just me, but does it seem like the zips set very few ball screens? It seems to me that we prefer to play one on one and work the ball around rather than set screens and free up ballhandlers. It works against bad defenses, but I feel like it makes our offense rather stagnant at times when the defense stays in front of us and just leads to either contested threes or Pat throwing up tough hook shots.

[tomzip]

Few things from Friday...

1) love the fact I saw in person two wins from the Zips

2) the people who made the football intro video need to teach the basketball people how to do that..my goodness is the basketball video bad

3) did they paint over the sound system in the JAR with all that blue as the speakers sound awful

4) Way way too many 3 point chucks...Dambrot run an offense or just whenever open throw it up

[zippyfan34]

Just to let the person know .who commented on the player leaving the court, that player is coming back from injury. He goes out the gym to stretch and comes back to ride the bike to stay loose. He was obviously upset his shot was off a little bit. That's the reason he was put back in so he can get back in game rhythm. And by the way once he`s a 100 percent he can shoot from anywhere on the court and take anybody off the dribble. Keep watching and you`ll see this kid is good! And I didn't see a attitude he was just upset at himself. One more thing did you see the 3 pointer he made as the shot clock expired!

Sorry if it struck a nerve with you but those who have been around the program the past few years know what talented kids with an attitude can do to the team. I realize he is coming back from injury. I don't think he went out to stretch and he wasn't riding a bike when he came out. He was pissed after getting yanked after a not so great shot. I wasn't paying close enough attention to see if that sub was already after the scorers table or if it came after the shot.

I am very high on this kid so don't get me wrong. I view him as a player similar to Diggs. Someone who is an athlete, plays good defense and can drive to the hoop which this team needs. I like the jumper and if he continues to work at it and be a 40% 3 ball shooter that is going to make it very dangerous. I expect him to be a 3 year starter and coming from someone who played ball and wasn't nearly as talented as him I just want to make sure he doesn't get too down at times during games/season as he will be key during the stretch run and the MAC tourney. Mark my words, he will have a huge game of 14+ points at the Q as we continue the trek to get back in the tourney! Go Zips!

[tpsjugglerdude]

2) the people who made the football intro video need to teach the basketball people how to do that..my goodness is the basketball video bad

Pruitt Entertainment Group makes the football intro. They also created many of the graphics for the video board in the JAR. The intro video is made by whichever grad student is in charge of ZipsVision for that semester.

[Balsy]

Pruitt Entertainment Group makes the football intro. They also created many of the graphics for the video board in the JAR. The intro video is made by whichever grad student is in charge of ZipsVision for that semester.

It's Pritt Entertainment Group

[tpsjugglerdude]

That's what I get when I'm driving back to North Carolina!

[phil]

KD yanks players when they make mistakes, especially on defense or if they take quick shots without running the offense, or stupid turnovers. This is especially true with frosh since he is trying to teach the young player what is expected of him. Antonio got yanked early in the year last year when he would take quick shots. Of course Robotham was the starter and was playing most of the minutes. I noticed that Antinos defense got much better half way through the season. Since Antino is now the starter and is a second year player, KD gives him more slack.

Hopefully, this player will learn that this is part of division one basketball. Every Akron player has been yanked by KD during their career for making a mistake. It is a learning experience for the player from being a star on your high school team and never sitting the bench to being a first year player on a division one team where you are expected to compete every second you are out on the floor. Everyone sees this player has talent and hopefully he will learn that KD is just trying to make him a better player.