Game 19—Ohio University

[kreed5120]

33 minutes ago, zippyfan34 said:

I don't remember if I posted anything about it but I definitely thought about it.  Now next year will be, how do Center minutes get split between Kostelac, Sayles, Eman and Riak?  Who can add enough of an outside game to spell Utomi at the 4 for 10-15 minutes a game (potentially pushing Utomi to the 3 for about 5 minutes a game)?   I guess I will worry about that next year.

I'm for one grateful to see competition at the position next season. Granted I haven't seen Riak play yet, but I'm not 100% sold on any of them. That's not to say I haven't seen things that I like, but all of them have a long way to go before they become contenders for All-MAC teams. Hopefully the competition makes them work harder to earn their minutes and we see some of this potential develop into on the court talent.

[skip-zip]

21 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

I'm for one grateful to see competition at the position next season. Granted I haven't seen Riak play yet, but I'm not 100% sold on any of them.

 

I'm far less than sold, but I get what you're saying.   Maybe after this year passes, and we aren't in a situation again where we had to grab whoever we could get and offer them a scholarship, our future prospects for the interior positions will improve.  

 

With this team especially, I think I see far more people elevate or deflate their hopes dramatically from one game to the next, based on good/bad performances than they ever have with any recent Zips teams.   Some of them are really extreme, and change by the day.   

 

In looking at the future schedule, we need to remember that we still have to play ALL FIVE of our Division foes on the road over the last 11 games.  I think that collective group of games will tell us a lot more about whether any of these guys can contribute for us in the future, rather than relying on a single play or a single game to make that assessment.   

[clarkwgriswold]

23 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

I'm for one grateful to see competition at the position next season. Granted I haven't seen Riak play yet, but I'm not 100% sold on any of them. That's not to say I haven't seen things that I like, but all of them have a long way to go before they become contenders for All-MAC teams. Hopefully the competition makes them work harder to earn their minutes and we see some of this potential develop into on the court talent.

 

I think you're correct that we shouldn't get too excited about Riak.  He's 6-9 and very thin and averaged 3 points and 5 rebounds as a sophomore.  He'll give the Zips some depth at the bigs, but I doubt he's a frontline player.  I'm much more excited about some of the other transfers.  

[clarkwgriswold]

1 minute ago, skip-zip said:

 

I'm far less than sold, but I get what you're saying.   Maybe after this year passes, and we aren't in a situation again where we had to grab whoever we could get and offer them a scholarship, our future prospects for the interior positions will improve.  

 

With this team especially, I think I see far more people elevate or deflate their hopes dramatically from one game to the next, based on good/bad performances than they ever have with any recent Zips teams.   Some of them are really extreme, and change by the day.   

 

In looking at the future schedule, we need to remember that we still have to play ALL FIVE of our Division foes on the road over the last 11 games.  I think that collective group of games will tell us a lot more about whether any of these guys can contribute for us in the future, rather than relying on a single play or a single game to make that assessment.   

 

Yep, some pumping of the brakes is in order.  It hasn't been that long since some of the regulars were in full panic mode.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Pumping schmumping. Nobody can rain on my parade. I'm having fun watching fundamentally-improved, competitive basketball with a hodgepodge roster of young kids that play hard and have us above .500 overall and 3-4 in the MAC (with pretty much the rest of the conference), including a win against one of our biggest rivals - O-Who. Nobody is mentioning the Sweet 16 this year, but there is excitement and optimism, with the floor for this program rising with each game. The roller coaster reactions are probably due to the lack of experience with this team. We don't know if the negatives in the losses are the norm, or if the positives in the wins are the norm.  

 

Go Zips!

Edited January 24, 2018 by Let'sGoZips94

[The Hip Zip]

This may well be Groce's  greatest coaching job ever. Totally impressed with the grit of this team. The  progression of Kostelac and Cotton  has been a joy to watch and Ivey has matured into a true leader who leaves it all on the floor every night.  The future looks very bright.

[tboned]

4 minutes ago, The Hip Zip said:

This may well be Groce's  greatest coaching job ever. Totally impressed with the grit of this team. The  progression of Kostelac and Cotton  has been a joy to watch and Ivey has matured into a true leader who leaves it all on the floor every night.  The future looks very bright.

Concur!!!!! I like this Team!

[NWAkron]

You know what I'm a typical fan.  Shoot me.  I'm bipolar at times.  My love/hate of a player can swing in 3 minutes.  But that's what makes it fun and this team fun for me.  We were only up one with 90 seconds left last night.  The sky was falling.  I couldn't imagine walking out of the JAR with a loss.  But Groce and the guys pulled it off.   Realistically, it was a 3 point win at home over one of MACs worst teams this year.   And that might not be saying much.   But I have no complaints about the coaching.  EMU was the big disappointment so far.  They just need to get that same fire on road.  

[tboned]

1 hour ago, skip-zip said:

 

I'm far less than sold, but I get what you're saying.   Maybe after this year passes, and we aren't in a situation again where we had to grab whoever we could get and offer them a scholarship, our future prospects for the interior positions will improve.  

 

With this team especially, I think I see far more people elevate or deflate their hopes dramatically from one game to the next, based on good/bad performances than they ever have with any recent Zips teams.   Some of them are really extreme, and change by the day.   

 

In looking at the future schedule, we need to remember that we still have to play ALL FIVE of our Division foes on the road over the last 11 games.  I think that collective group of games will tell us a lot more about whether any of these guys can contribute for us in the future, rather than relying on a single play or a single game to make that assessment.   

 

 

I think you are selling these kids way short. We have a bunch of true freshman, and from what I have seen so far, they have some talent and ability. I am looking at them from what I have seen in the aggregate since the first game, and I like what I see.

[NWAkron]

Back to last night's game, watching replay I noticed probably the fatal mistake the Kittens made at the end.   We had the ball and we are up 1.  They had to foul.   Parrish, a freshman and dubious free throw shooter, has it and passes to Ivey, one of the top FT shooters in the league.   They foul Ivey.  

[Captain Kangaroo]

I look at Sayles and Kostelac, and they are competing well at the D1 level today. 

 

The Zips are never going to get the one-and-done lottery pick kid. So you need to find kids with potential and develop them.

 

Zeke went for 5.1 points/3.9 rebs his Freshman year. Big Dog's first season went 3.8/2.8.

 

Kostelac is 6' 11" and 250 lbs as a Freshman. And he's coordinated. That projects well for the next 3 years. 

 

Sayles (healthy) is more polished than Kostelac 1.0, but time will tell if he'll be better than the 4.0 version. 

 

When all is said and done, I think both their stats will compare more favorably to Zeke and Big Dog than Sweich, Forsythe and Bardo (loved all three of those guys, but you know what I mean).

[Let'sGoZips94]

12 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Back to last night's game, watching replay I noticed probably the fatal mistake the Kittens made at the end.   We had the ball and we are up 1.  They had to foul.   Parrish, a freshman and dubious free throw shooter, has it and passes to Ivey, one of the top FT shooters in the league.   They foul Ivey.  

 

Their biggest mistake came prior to that. Groce had the stones to play Ivey & Duvivier for the final, what, 8-9 minutes with 4 fouls each (heck of a coaching decision by the way)? OU lacked the game plan to target both Ivey & Duvivier to foul them out of the game (ultimately Ivey's dribbling error led to Duvivier fouling out). If they would have eliminated Ivey, too, they wouldn't have had to worry about him in the final minute or so. 

[NWAkron]

6 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Their biggest mistake came prior to that. Groce had the stones to play Ivey & Duvivier for the final, what, 8-9 minutes with 4 fouls each (heck of a coaching decision by the way)? OU lacked the game plan to target both Ivey & Duvivier to foul them out of the game (ultimately Ivey's dribbling error led to Duvivier fouling out). If they would have eliminated Ivey, too, they wouldn't have had to worry about him in the final minute or so. 

Well, that, too!  

There were a few if those passes right into the middle of the lane that led to a scrum a pick and a turnover.

[Illini Zip]

3 hours ago, zippyfan34 said:

I don't remember if I posted anything about it but I definitely thought about it.  Now next year will be, how do Center minutes get split between Kostelac, Sayles, Eman and Riak?  Who can add enough of an outside game to spell Utomi at the 4 for 10-15 minutes a game (potentially pushing Utomi to the 3 for about 5 minutes a game)?   I guess I will worry about that next year.

 

This is the problem I look forward to next year. All of these guys have a big off-season ahead of them in the gym and the weight room. Hopefully, E-man will be cleared in time to participate. I am very impressed with Kostelac's base. For a guy his size he has great balance. He's going to be an earth mover. Riak is an unknown, but I am hoping he can run and jump. If Riak can run the break, rim protect and dunk he will be fine at either the 4 or 5. Anything more than that is a bonus.

[NWAkron]

Meanwhile in Athens:. I think they are in what's called the "bargaining stage" as they watch (according to them) the slow death of a once vaunted program.

 

http://www.bobcatattack.com/messageboard/topic.asp?FromPage=1&ForumPID=1&PID=253603

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, The Hip Zip said:

This may well be Groce's  greatest coaching job ever. 

Let's not get carried away. His 2011-2012 Ohio team certainly was more talented than this rag tag bunch, but he still took a 13 seeded OU to the Sweet 16.

[clarkwgriswold]

 

There's no reason that Zips fans can't enjoy the wins and the growth and development of the team.  However, we still need to temper expectations and not start printing playoff tickets after a big win or looking for a bridge after losses like EMU.  It's going to be a roller coaster.  Buckle up!

[blueandgold]

1 hour ago, NWAkron said:

Meanwhile in Athens:. I think they are in what's called the "bargaining stage" as they watch (according to them) the slow death of a once vaunted program.

 

http://www.bobcatattack.com/messageboard/topic.asp?FromPage=1&ForumPID=1&PID=253603

This is some fun reading!

[akronzips71]

In recent history we have had freshmen who we HATED who turned into beasts.

This poster once called Big Dog a "boat anchor".

This poster used to scream at the screen when Deji walked onto the Court.

Antino was nothing to rave about as a freshman.

Zeke was a good rim defender, but was always in foul trouble.

 

Our current frosh have great potential. I see POY written all over K-Lac. Had a rough start, last night gets 10 points and how many dives to the floor? This guy loves to shoot, had to get his sea legs. He will be another Big Dog as a senior.

Parrish has all the tools. Going to be a monster junior and senior.

I did not like Cotton at all in the beginning. He is already close to playing like a junior. He plays big for a (relatively) small guy.

 

We do have potential for a fairly good finish, and a better future. The youth of this team hurts us now, but will be a home run in a couple of years.

 

And after the last two games, I can understand why no one was after K-Lac - they just didn't have Groces crystal ball. Mark my words, in two years people will be asking: How did that guy ever wind up at Akron?

[Balsy]

Always great to see a W against the Bobkittens.

[NWAkron]

My support of Coach Groce may soon fade if he keeps saying things like "winning isn't a deodorant.  It doesn't cover up the stink." Or "row the boat. Don't shoot holes in it"

 

Ugh. 

[ZippyRulz]

9 hours ago, Dr Z said:

Great game. Good hustle and effort. Coach is getting the most out of his players right now. 

 

I liked Virshon's emotional effort to work the crowd after the late foul.

 

 

Then I loved his handshake with his "teammates" after he made his first free throw. 

 

 

Purple again?

 

[akronzips71]

Still needs a haircut.

But it does make him easy to identify when they wear those grey uniforms. Can't see the numbers on ESPN3 TV

[UAZippers]

19 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said:

 

Purple again?

 

This week is a national cancer awareness event for all of college basketball. Its called Suits and Sneakers, or something similar.

[LZIp]

One of my favorite things to do is read bobcatattack after kicking OWho's a$$!

 

Nice win and great team effort all around, Zips. Everybody contributed. This is now at least the 2nd time Lucas Smith has been in to close out a close game. He'll most likely never be more than what he is now (smart player, good defender, hustler, etc), but it is an awesome story in my book.