clarkwgriswold Posted January 13, 2019 Report Posted January 13, 2019 The 8-8 Eagles come into the JAR Tuesday night fresh off of a 34 point thrashing of Mr. Pinky's Travelling All-Stars. The Eagles are 2-1 in the MAC having beaten PCCC and Ball State while losing to Buffalo. They are led by Elijah Minnie's 14 ppg and 17 year MAC vet James Thompson's 10.3 rpg. They play quite a bit of 2-3 zone with 6-10 Thompson, 6-11 Toure and 6-9 Minnie all in the mix. The Zips enter the game at 1-2 in the MAC fresh off...............................................................awwwwwwwww screw it. Go Zips. Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 13, 2019 Author Report Posted January 13, 2019 This one worries me with the poor play of the Zips bigs. Could make for a long night. I am concerned they'll get killed down low on defense and will opt for hoisting threes on offense (which hasn't gone well). 1 Quote
kreed5120 Posted January 13, 2019 Report Posted January 13, 2019 I would have penciled this in as a win 2-3 weeks ago. Now Akron's play has gone to crap while EMU is now starting to look like the team that was picked to win the MAC West. If we drop this we're 1-3 with 2 games still left against Buffalo. 1 Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 13, 2019 Author Report Posted January 13, 2019 16 hours ago, kreed5120 said: I would have penciled this in as a win 2-3 weeks ago. Now Akron's play has gone to crap while EMU is now starting to look like the team that was picked to win the MAC West. If we drop this we're 1-3 with 2 games still left against Buffalo. Not sure we can pencil any team as a win right now. Between the way the Zips are playing and the crazy nature of MAC, there's no certainty (other maybe than Buffalo's superiority). I'm really hoping this is just a slump the Zips will recover from, but I am skeptical. It's going to get tougher dragging my old tired @$$ from the deck to the JAR in the cold weather if they don't! 1 Quote
1981 grad Posted January 13, 2019 Report Posted January 13, 2019 (edited) If you need a reason why this team is playing so poorly, just look at the 3 point stats. We are 26th in the nation for 3 point attempts. But we are 217th in 3 point percentage makes. If you just look at just the MAC stats, we would be dead last in the country on 3 point field goal percentage. WE love to take 3 point attempts but cannot make them at a high percentage. This was the same problem last year. Different players, same problem. One of the problems is that we do not have a center who like to take shots in the paint. We just have more guys taking 3 ball shots. Loren Jackson has been terrible shooting the 3 ball and is 3 for 25. Hopefully, when they get home this percentage will improve. If not, this will be a long season. Groce always indicates that his players are great shooters. It is time to prove it or work on a different offense that does more than shoot 3 balls. Edited January 14, 2019 by 1981 grad 3 Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 13, 2019 Author Report Posted January 13, 2019 5 minutes ago, 1981 grad said: If you need a reason why this team is playing so poorly, just look at the 3 point stats. We are 26th in the nation for 3 point attempts. But we are 217th in field goal percentage makes. If you just look at just the MAC stats, we would be dead last in the country on 3 point field goal percentage. WE love to take 3 point attempts but cannot make them at a high percentage. This was the same problem last year. Different players, same problem. One of the problems is that we do not have a center who like to take shots in the paint. We just have more guys taking 3 ball shots. Loren Jackson has been terrible shooting the 3 ball and is 3 for 25. Hopefully, when they get home this percentage will improve. If not, this will be a long season. Groce always indicates that his players are great shooters. It is time to prove it or work on a different offense that does more than shoot 3 balls. But they're getting good looks....sigh. Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 14, 2019 Author Report Posted January 14, 2019 52 minutes ago, Zipmeister said: Zips by 14. From your mouth to the basketball gods ears... Quote
NWAkron Posted January 14, 2019 Report Posted January 14, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, 1981 grad said: If you need a reason why this team is playing so poorly, just look at the 3 point stats. We are 26th in the nation for 3 point attempts. But we are 217th in 3 point percentage makes. If you just look at just the MAC stats, we would be dead last in the country on 3 point field goal percentage. WE love to take 3 point attempts but cannot make them at a high percentage. This was the same problem last year. Different players, same problem. One of the problems is that we do not have a center who like to take shots in the paint. We just have more guys taking 3 ball shots. Loren Jackson has been terrible shooting the 3 ball and is 3 for 25. Hopefully, when they get home this percentage will improve. If not, this will be a long season. Groce always indicates that his players are great shooters. It is time to prove it or work on a different offense that does more than shoot 3 balls. The Zips have been spotty 3 point shooting for years. There were some marksmen along the way that could blow up a game but then they would go dry for a few games: Jake and Reggie for example. Noah and Antino were inconsistent as well. Abreu was one of the best. Also, Roberts and McNees were a killer combo. But after those guys it's been a struggle for Zips. I've seen Tyler Cheese show a beautiful 3 point shot but it's only been on occasion. These guys aren't all of a sudden going to be consistent killers from 3 like DJ Cooper. Edited January 14, 2019 by NWAkron Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 14, 2019 Author Report Posted January 14, 2019 The Eagles may be a rare team that shoots worse than the Zips from the three point line at .298. It appears their starters are: 6' 2" redshirt Senior Guard Paul Jackson- 13.2 ppg; 4.1 apg; 1.9 rpg 6' 2" sophomore guard Kevin McAdoo- 8.3 ppg; 1.2 apg; .9 rpg 6' 10" senior forward James Thompson- 11.2 ppg; .6 apg; 10.3 rpg 6' 11" sophomore forward Boubacar Toure- 9 ppg; .3 apg; 8.1 rpg 6' 9" redshirt senior forward Elijah Minnie- 14 ppg; 1.3 apg; 4.6 rpg The sixth man is 6' 7" sophomore forward Ty Groce- 5.6 ppg; 1.4 apg; 4.1 rpg. In short, damn they're big. Riak, Sayles and E-man had better come to play and everyone had better box out. Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 15, 2019 Author Report Posted January 15, 2019 Free Fear the Roo t-shirts tonight to the first 3,000. Quote
ewbrooman1 Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 6 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: Free Fear the Roo t-shirts tonight to the first 3,000. Why not promote this on social media sooner than the day of the game? It's still not on Facebook that I see. I think they mentioned it at the women's game, but I only heard the end of the announcement. Quote
Blue & Gold Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 ABJ: Zips struggling offensively in MAC play Pretty good article concerning our offensive woes. I'm not surprised by this; the MAC is a physical conference and this is the 1st go-around for a number of our guys. They'll adjust. But I'm not optimistic about tonight. EMU's really feeling their oats right now. Quote
kreed5120 Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 23 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: Free Fear the Roo t-shirts tonight to the first 3,000. So everyone in attendance will get one. Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 15, 2019 Author Report Posted January 15, 2019 13 minutes ago, ewbrooman1 said: Why not promote this on social media sooner than the day of the game? It's still not on Facebook that I see. I think they mentioned it at the women's game, but I only heard the end of the announcement. I wasn't aware until I got the game day email. I suspect 3000 will be plenty. 1 Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 15, 2019 Author Report Posted January 15, 2019 23 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: So everyone in attendance will get one. With many left over to be shot in the future by the t-shirt cannon in the direction of NWAkron. Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 15, 2019 Author Report Posted January 15, 2019 The Eastern Michigan bus just rolled into the Steels Corners McDonald's in Stow. Maybe the Zips will get the benefit of some stomach issues with the Eagles. Quote
kreed5120 Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 33 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: The Eastern Michigan bus just rolled into the Steels Corners McDonald's in Stow. Maybe the Zips will get the benefit of some stomach issues with the Eagles. We can use all the help we can get. 1 Quote
NWAkron Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 2 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: We can use all the help we can get. If they win the National Championship, they can get the same food at the White House. 1 Quote
kreed5120 Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 4 minutes ago, NWAkron said: If they win the National Championship, they can get the same food at the White House. I demand our players get chipotle and guess what New Mexico State is going to pay for it. 1 Quote
1981 grad Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 1 hour ago, kreed5120 said: I demand our players get chipotle and guess what New Mexico State is going to pay for it. With all the bricks our players have been shooting the last 3 games, by the end of the season we will have enough materials to build that wall. 1 Quote
NWAkron Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 We really need a win if only so we get the 4 paragraph post mortems we are reading on the NIU thread Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 If we lose tonight, The Score on Exchange Street is offering a post-game drink special. 1 Quote
zippyfan34 Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 K-Lac seemed to get into Thompson’s head lat year so I am wondering if Groce may consider using him for 5-10 minutes tonight to try to pick up a technical or some silly foul on Thompson. Quote
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