Game 22- Toledo Rockets

[LZIp]

LCJ has to hit that wide open 3.

 

Liking Riak on the boards. Rebounding like he should. 

 

Liking Cheese's/the teams tempo so far this half.

[LZIp]

Toledo's coach is an idiot for not calling a TO during this run, but I'll take it!

[Let'sGoZips94]

I'm glad I wasn't in that locker room at halftime. 

[zippy5]

Cheese can hoop

[LZIp]

2 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Cheese can hoop

He's certainly bringing it this half.

[kreed5120]

Keep pushing it. Let's get into the bonus.

[LZIp]

These announcers are the worst.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 minute ago, LZIp said:

These announcers are the worst.

 

Nobody can be worse than what we listened to on Saturday. 

[1981 grad]

Like the move by Groce to bring Cheese in for Jackson.  Paid dividend right away.  Riak is a great rebounder tonight.  Go Zips!!

[zipsrule]

3 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

Riak is a great rebounder tonight.

He still cannot make a layup.  Needs to take the ball strong to the basket.

[LZIp]

Well that'll be all she wrote. Horrid first half and seemingly running out of gas in the 2nd was the difference. Seems like we really only have a 7 man rotation, with Poke and Banks the main subs.

Edited February 6, 2019 by LZIp

[kreed5120]

Toledo had no answer for Cheese but we got away from what worked

[NWAkron]

Bummer.  I still think the Zips are a middle of the MAC team.  This is a tough stretch.  This year, looking for a first round home game and a few surprise wins on the way to the Q.

[Let'sGoZips94]

The positives...

 

- We saw real adjustments made at halftime that worked. 

 

The negatives...

 

- Just about everything else. 

 

 

This team is about 2 players short (a killer shooter and an offensive big man) of being a legitimate top-of-the-MAC team. Until those players appear, we'll need to rely on pure effort to keep us in/win games. 

[zippy5]

Hot take - Utomi bulked up too much to take on some work at the 4. If we have more size for him to move to the 3 next year it'll be nice. We're close.. need a big and a shooting threat to be able to kick it to when Cheese, LCJ or Ivey drive

[kreed5120]

I thought we looked good in the 2nd half when we were able to get out and run. The problem is Toledo quit missing so we were forced to play a half court game down the stretch.

 

I really don't think there is a good solution to fix the half court offense. I'd like to see us Cheese more at the point. He seemed to create some offense for both himself and other. Perhaps taking some of the ball handling duties away from LCJ will set him up to get better looks. He seems to be trying to do too much at times.

Edited February 6, 2019 by kreed5120

[1981 grad]

WE shot 28% for the game and 14% from the 3 line.  Our point guard had no assists.  WE cannot make a 3 pointer and Jackson then launches a 3 point shot 20 feet behind the 3 line.  He cannot make an open 3 from the baseline but shoots a 3 from the bleachers.   It makes no sense.  This team continues to struggle on offense.  Cheese broke through in the second half.  We should have kept feeding him the ball.  That first half had to be one of the worst displays of offense.  I expected better play tonight.    

[akronzips71]

Diak does not know what to do with the ball when it gets it underneath.

If we could fix that add 10 points per game and many wins.

[NWAkron]

1 hour ago, 1981 grad said:

WE shot 28% for the game and 14% from the 3 line.  Our point guard had no assists.  WE cannot make a 3 pointer and Jackson then launches a 3 point shot 20 feet behind the 3 line.  He cannot make an open 3 from the baseline but shoots a 3 from the bleachers.   It makes no sense.  This team continues to struggle on offense.  Cheese broke through in the second half.  We should have kept feeding him the ball.  That first half had to be one of the worst displays of offense.  I expected better play tonight.    

And Jackson again made one of those low bounce passes into the paint that was quickly picked off by Toledo.

[clarkwgriswold]

It's very clear that our Zips are just an average middle of the road MAC team.  On a good night they can challenge the better teams in the league and on an off night can lose to the worst.  They're just not there yet. Improved from last year and going in the right direction but still short on the type and depth of talent to be at the top of the conference.  I guess the only good news is that I have just described about half of the teams in the MAC.

[GJGood]

I don't know if the Zips are middle of the road in the MAC or not. I think what they are is one dimensional. The defense can keep Akron in just about any game on any night but the offense can quickly take them out of contention. These days it is much more common to see one-sided teams that are good offensively that struggle on defense. Even the good offensive teams will have an off night now and then but solid defensive teams can be a little more consistent with regards to their strength. That's not to say that there aren't just nights when your opponent can't miss or a game where everything you do defensively seems to be called a foul but in general good defense should be more consistent than good offense.

Being this deep in the season I think the Zips are what they are. I expect that they will upset a team or two yet this season but at the same time I can see them getting beat by any team they would play that is below them in the standings. I am encouraged by what I have been seeing from Cheese the last couple games. I at least think the team is trying to become more than the three point shooting team they seemed to be a few weeks ago. That is progress, albeit slow progress. hopefully this team finds a new level as it gets to MAC tourney time.

[Blue & Gold]

7 hours ago, NWAkron said:

And Jackson again made one of those low bounce passes into the paint that was quickly picked off by Toledo.

Toward the beginning of the game I noticed Ivey did the same - bounce pass to a moving Riak in the lane; came to Riak around his knees.  Turnover.  Of course.  Haven't we yet learned we can't do that?

[Blue & Gold]

ABJ: Zips waste second-half energy, lose to Rockets

 

UA can only blame their first-half play for this loss.  Uninspired would be an adequate description; lackadaisical would be more honest.  They displayed little energy and less interest in sharing the ball as they had only one assist in the first half.

[1981 grad]

What is amazing to me about this team is that how many times do you see a player come off a screen ready to shoot the ball without hesitation and attempt a medium jumper.  If you were to say never that would be about right.  KD would run off the ball screens to get players an open look.  Reggie would come off a base line screen and shoot the ball without hesitation.  The play was designed to get the player an open look.  When you watch the Zips run off the ball screens they receive the ball away from the basket without any thought of a quick jumper.  An offense must be designed around your personnel to get easy shots.  For an offense to have 3 assists the entire night (all by Cheese) indicates the offense is simply stuck in the mud. 

 

The other issue I see is that we have players like Cheese Ivery and Jackson that attack the basket only to find the opposing center guarding Riak waiting for him under the basket.  The opposing center just ignores Riak and waits for a Zip to come into the lane.  Last night we never see Riak, Sayles, or Eman get a pass off a drive for an easy basket. (that would be an assist) Our spacing needs to get better to open up the lane.  It would help if Riak was actually a threat from the 3 line.   The offense needs a life line.  Groce has done a great job on defense, maybe he needs an offensive coordinator on this team. 

[kreed5120]

10 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

What is amazing to me about this team is that how many times do you see a player come off a screen ready to shoot the ball without hesitation and attempt a medium jumper.  If you were to say never that would be about right.  KD would run off the ball screens to get players an open look.  Reggie would come off a base line screen and shoot the ball without hesitation.  The play was designed to get the player an open look.  When you watch the Zips run off the ball screens they receive the ball away from the basket without any thought of a quick jumper.  An offense must be designed around your personnel to get easy shots.  For an offense to have 3 assists the entire night (all by Cheese) indicates the offense is simply stuck in the mud. 

 

The other issue I see is that we have players like Cheese Ivery and Jackson that attack the basket only to find the opposing center guarding Riak waiting for him under the basket.  The opposing center just ignores Riak and waits for a Zip to come into the lane.  Last night we never see Riak, Sayles, or Eman get a pass off a drive for an easy basket. (that would be an assist) Our spacing needs to get better to open up the lane.  It would help if Riak was actually a threat from the 3 line.   The offense needs a life line.  Groce has done a great job on defense, maybe he needs an offensive coordinator on this team. 

Not that I want Riak taking 3's, but I find it strange the past couple games he's taken some contested 3's, but has no desire to shoot it when left open.