1981 grad Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 The Zips played better the 2nd half. You could tell the coach talked to them about their effort on the boards. This team needs to learn to find a man and box out. Utomi had a better 2nd half. We got just about nothing from the center position. Poke had a couple of nice games with post up moves and haven't seen an offensive move from him all night. Sayles has to be more aggressive. We are so young that it did not suprise me that we will have troubles winning on the road. Groce needs to teach this team to be more physical and tougher on the boards. The main positive for tonight is that we played a better 2nd half for the first time on the road. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akronfan111 Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 One dimensional small ball wont cut it in the MAC. Our biggest player kostelac is riding the pine while we get our a$$ kicked in the paint game after game after game. His presence makes a difference and the kid can step out and hit the 3. Malcom is one and done and then what. Need to work the inside game. Trash. Waiting for them to figure this out and it's already conference play. Deng is not a 5 either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre22era Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 This is gonna be a loooooooooong season. I have no faith in this team under Groce leadership Waiting for him to make me a believer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, 1981 grad said: Very little effort to box out or to rebound. I saw it against Concord. Earlier in the season I saw 3-4 guys looking for the offensive rebound. Kostelac needs to go up strong with the ball. He hesitates. We do not need him to shoot 10 footers that clank. I would imagine the coaching staff is telling Utomi, Ivey and Duvivier that they have green lights to shoot all day long. Parrish, Patton and Cotton, are free to shoot when wide open and can step into their shot. Kostelac, E-man and Sales, you guys only get to take one shot out past the restricted area per game...so make it count! Ha! I think they have the big men on very tight leashes right now. But they do need to learn to hit those 10 footers in this offense and in practice they are likely shooting them regularly. I agree that Kostelac's shot was pretty damn ugly. Maybe he just got all excited. : ) Edited January 3, 2018 by Illini Zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 We have a guy who is 6'11". He is in good shape and is athletic. He is also very very raw. He needs to learn to post up. We are totally lacking in post play. Groce put him in to counter their big men who were killing us on the boards. If we have to waste half the season training him, so be it. Having him in the post is the future of this team. We have to play the cards we were dealt. No one has been effective at center, he has the best potential because of his size. Right now he is under too much pressure because he only gets a few minutes a game. Coach has to make that adjustment, let him learn by doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 5 hours ago, akronzips71 said: We have a guy who is 6'11". He is in good shape and is athletic. He is also very very raw. He needs to learn to post up. We are totally lacking in post play. Groce put him in to counter their big men who were killing us on the boards. If we have to waste half the season training him, so be it. Having him in the post is the future of this team. I'm guessing you're seeing what you want to see in terms of looking like an athlete, but he's just not good enough to play. Who knows if he ever will be. We're way too far into the season to be experimenting. The coach already knows what each guy can do at this point, and he's going with his best options. Even if guys don't fit the prototypical profile for each position. At this point, I'd encourage you to pray that we get much more capable big men in here over the next couple of years, rather than hoping that he somehow becomes the "future of this team" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) 9 hours ago, 1981 grad said: The main positive for tonight is that we played a better 2nd half for the first time on the road. I don't believe we've ever given anyone that big of a halftime lead to play with either, so maybe they were coasting in the 2nd half? Considering that we never got closer than about 10 in the 2nd half, I'd guess WMU was never playing with much urgency? I'm inclined to compare this to the football theory of feeling good about winning the 2nd half, even though all of that happened after the game was already essentially over. But, I hope you're right that we just played much better. We'll take whatever positive we can rest our hopes on right now. However, this WMU team should be very beatable when Wilder only shoots 3 of 18 for the night. Edited January 3, 2018 by skip-zip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWAkron Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 8 hours ago, dre22era said: This is gonna be a loooooooooong season. I have no faith in this team under Groce leadership Waiting for him to make me a believer Seriously? Our team ran through seniors Big Dog and Kwan last year. The prior coach new EXACTLY what this year would be like for him and the team. He knew the ability of Eman, and I'm certain he knew that Noah and Antino would leave or were also on the way out. They also knew the team was in big trouble this year. Little guards are easy to find, but talented big men are few. Oh, wait, if we only had Michael Hughes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 You know, this isn't going to make this season any better by continuing to belabor the Dambrot issue. But note the following: 1) Keith didn't leave because he saw some kind of Apocalypse coming for Akron's program. 2) Noah and Antino would have still been here. 3) Considering our current situation, YES, I absolutely wish we still had Hughes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted January 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 10 hours ago, dre22era said: This is gonna be a loooooooooong season. I have no faith in this team under Groce leadership Waiting for him to make me a believer Then I am afraid you're waiting for him to be a miracle worker. Given the circumstances of KD leaving and the related fallout, this was at best going to be a 15 to 18 win team. This team is young and thin, especially at the bigs. What we're seeing should not be unexpected. If they're here in a couple of years, they hired the wrong guy, but to give up now is woefully premature. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 Draw your own parallels to 2017-18 Zips football and basketball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 27 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: Then I am afraid you're waiting for him to be a miracle worker. Given the circumstances of KD leaving and the related fallout, this was at best going to be a 15 to 18 win team. This team is young and thin, especially at the bigs. What we're seeing should not be unexpected. If they're here in a couple of years, they hired the wrong guy, but to give up now is woefully premature. What we're seeing now is the team I expected out of Akron this season. I said when Groce was hired however many months ago that I was going to give him a free pass for this season as I don't think any coach in the country could have assembled a MAC contender given everything we lost and how short of a time frame we had to assemble a roster. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 2 hours ago, skip-zip said: Considering our current situation, YES, I absolutely wish we still had Hughes. I don't know whether or not Hughes is a baller, but if he was looking for playing time, he should have stuck with the Zips. Another transfer that would have made some hay this year is Dunn-Martin. We have no true point guard. Ivey is getting some assists...2-guard Duvivier is doing his best...Cotton needs to improve in all aspects. Dunn-Martin could shoot, and did an ok job handling the rock. I don't know where he'd fit in in 2018-19, but in 2017-18 he'd be having a blast hoisting 3's and getting a ton of time at the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 clarkwgriswold and kreed....I pretty much agree with both of you. But, I sense that the posts from dre22era and a couple of others is a rebuttal to those who've been posting since Groce's hiring from some kind of "he's God" viewpoint. And it continued right through the time we were beating some scrubs at home, talking about how we might still be able to win the MAC, and proclaiming that everything Groce was doing was better than Dambrot, etc. It's crazy. Just go and look at the number of people who predicted that the projected MAC Champ (WMU) would be our first road win. They toyed with us all night, and that's with their best player only hitting 3 baskets all night ! Once again, I really think that a few people were so angry with Dambrot's departure that they've taken their thoughts about what the new regime can accomplish this year to a wildly unrealistic level. I'd think the tournament out in Hawaii should have brought everyone back down to the current reality. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 1 minute ago, Captain Kangaroo said: I don't know whether or not Hughes is a baller, but if he was looking for playing time, he should have stuck with the Zips. Another transfer that would have made some hay this year is Dunn-Martin. We have no true point guard. Ivey is getting some assists...2-guard Duvivier is doing his best...Cotton needs to improve in all aspects. Dunn-Martin could shoot, and did an ok job handling the rock. I don't know where he'd fit in in 2018-19, but in 2017-18 he'd be having a blast hoisting 3's and getting a ton of time at the point. I agree with you on all of this. I was never a Hughes fan, and I don't know how much he was going to grow, and how much he might help us in the future. But on this team, in this situation, I think he definitely could have helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZipsVoice Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 2 hours ago, kreed5120 said: What we're seeing now is the team I expected out of Akron this season. I said when Groce was hired however many months ago that I was going to give him a free pass for this season as I don't think any coach in the country could have assembled a MAC contender given everything we lost and how short of a time frame we had to assemble a roster. Me too. I picked 15 wins in the pre-season poll/survey here on ZnO. And while I hate losing as much as most, I am still enjoying watching these guys play. Yeah, there are times I've thrown my tuna-fish sandwich at the TV, and been asked to leave my abode by She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, but then I remind myself of just what kreed said above....still having fun. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 5 minutes ago, ZipsVoice said: Yeah, there are times I've thrown my tuna-fish sandwich at the TV Dude, please pick something that has a much shorter clean-up time. Does anyone even eat tuna fish sandwiches anymore? You must be a very nostalgic guy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 6 hours ago, skip-zip said: I don't believe we've ever given anyone that big of a halftime lead to play with either, so maybe they were coasting in the 2nd half? Considering that we never got closer than about 10 in the 2nd half, I'd guess WMU was never playing with much urgency? I'm inclined to compare this to the football theory of feeling good about winning the 2nd half, even though all of that happened after the game was already essentially over. But, I hope you're right that we just played much better. We'll take whatever positive we can rest our hopes on right now. However, this WMU team should be very beatable when Wilder only shoots 3 of 18 for the night. I think you and 1981 Grad are both right. WMU had control for most of the game and seemed to be cruising to victory, but Akron stayed assertive even when they were down big. And as a result we had a short window of opportunity at the 2:55 mark in the second half. We went on a mini run and were down 9 points. Then Ivey went for a steal at half-court and got called for a foul. If that call goes the other way and Ivey takes that steal in for a dunk, we are now down 7 points with a huge momentum swing, Things could have gotten very interesting. The end result is still the same, but 1981 Grad is absolutely right that our guys were locked in all the way to the end. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted January 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 30 minutes ago, skip-zip said: Dude, please pick something that has a much shorter clean-up time. Does anyone even eat tuna fish sandwiches anymore? You must be a very nostalgic guy. Yes, and he eats them with condensed Campbell's tomato soup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipnetter55 Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 As usual ,Sklp is correct. There was no apocalypse coming under K.D. and Noah, Antonio and Hughes would still be here and we would have a full roster instead of being 3-4 players short. It sure didn't take long for the Groce bashers to surface, but he gets a pass this season as he just doesn't have the players. We have no post offense and are entirely dependent on our 3 pt shooters. We have only 2 scholarships for next season, so as I posted before, barring super recruiting, we are seasons away from being truly competitive in the MAC. Perhaps by seasons end, some of you K.D. bashers will be wishing for those 21 win seasons and MAC finals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 36 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: Yes, and he eats them with condensed Campbell's tomato soup. Hey, can someone save me those Cambell soup can labels? How is that for nostalgic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 4 minutes ago, zipnetter55 said: As usual ,Sklp is correct. There was no apocalypse coming under K.D. and Noah, Antonio and Hughes would still be here and we would have a full roster instead of being 3-4 players short. It sure didn't take long for the Groce bashers to surface, but he gets a pass this season as he just doesn't have the players. We have no post offense and are entirely dependent on our 3 pt shooters. We have only 2 scholarships for next season, so as I posted before, barring super recruiting, we are seasons away from being truly competitive in the MAC. Perhaps by seasons end, some of you K.D. bashers will be wishing for those 21 win seasons and MAC finals You can't say the first statement in bold, and follow it up with the second statement in bold. "KD bashers", if that's what you want to call those who were/are critical of a stagnant program, were tired of the 21-win-seasons & consistent trips to the MAC finals; those accomplishments were meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Talk to "KD bashers" in 3-4 years. If there are NCAA tournament wins, big regular season victories, etc., we'll be very happy; if not, then we probably hired the wrong guy to replace KD, but that doesn't disregard the fact that the program had become stagnant. This response might be , and for that I am sorry. My expectations of the end result for the Zips have come down a bit this year, simply because we are very young and are missing the extra 1-3 players to give us the boost. That is what is leading to our woes on the road, I believe. We'll see how we fare at home, but I'm still excited. As previously mentioned, I'm having fun. I'm enjoying this brand of basketball, as frustrating as it may be at times, more than the previous 3-4 years. Also, is there any difference from this season and the previous 13? The only thing that matters is Cleveland, right? Go Zips! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWAkron Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 As usual lilroodude is correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 I am not as pessimistic as others on this board and still think this team can win 20. You can teach players to box out, to rebound, and to play with toughnesss. However, you cannot teach athleticism and quickness. We have guards that can penetrate to the basket, we have big men that are athletic, and we have guys that can shoot the 3. Our problem is that we do not have any experience. The college game is quicker and more physical than in high school. Our guys cannot relax on the court and forget to box out. We have to play well mentally. We finally get the lead to single digits and Jimond launches a 3 ten feet behind the 3 line. Just a stupid mental error. Most frosh are not great rebounders. Zeke, Kwan, Big Dog, Pat, were not good rebounders there 1st year. We have 3 experienced players, Utomi, Duvivier, and Jimond. Last night, Utomi had a terrible first half. We need him to play well to win on the road. We need to get the ball to our center and get them involved. We have gotten almost nothing from our center the last 4 road games. Groce should design some plays for them. We had one play to the center last night and it was a turnover. This team will get better as long as the team keeps listening to the coach and do not lose their desire to win. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippyfan34 Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 1 hour ago, zipnetter55 said: As usual ,Sklp is correct. There was no apocalypse coming under K.D. and Noah, Antonio and Hughes would still be here and we would have a full roster instead of being 3-4 players short. It sure didn't take long for the Groce bashers to surface, but he gets a pass this season as he just doesn't have the players. We have no post offense and are entirely dependent on our 3 pt shooters. We have only 2 scholarships for next season, so as I posted before, barring super recruiting, we are seasons away from being truly competitive in the MAC. Perhaps by seasons end, some of you K.D. bashers will be wishing for those 21 win seasons and MAC finals Zipnetter, I thought I had posted a few days ago on one of your comments about not getting 4-5 conference wins this year and that was IF we shot the 3 ball well. I am more with 1981, and see some promise in this team. Could we get to 20 wins maybe, maybe not but I do think we will have more than 5 conference wins. I challenge you to the "WMU football bet" that others on here made. If the Zips have 5 or less conference wins I contribute to the Zfund, if they have 6 or more you contribute. Let me know if you accept this challenge and for how much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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