Game 20- Buffalo

[clarkwgriswold]

SVSM grad Javon Graves comes home Tuesday night to lead his 13-7 Buffalo Bulls into the JAR.  Graves (#3), a 6’3” junior guard, leads Canada with 16.6 ppg while pulling down 5 rebounds a game.  6”7” sophomore Josh Mballa (#34) leads rebounding at 8.8. rpg while scoring 10 ppg.  Canada is fresh off of a loss to PCCC   They started the MAC season 0-2, losing at home to NIU by a point and losing at Muncie.  They then won 4 in a row against Miami, OU, CMU and WMU before falling to Ravenna.  Canada has dominated the Greater Buffalo area this year with wins over Canisius, St. Bonaventure and Niagara.

[clarkwgriswold]

The Zips depth is starting to concern me.  As for average minutes per game in MAC play, LCJ is averaging 35.6; Cheese- 33.1; X- 31.2; Banks- 32.2; Riak- 22; Reece- 14.2; Tribble- 14.2; Ali- 10; Sayles- 5.6; and Dawson 3.3.   Reece is productive from the bench but the rest are bringing very little offensively.  Tribble shows promise and Ali plays hard,  but they've not contributed much on the offensive end. Dawson is still settling in.  Those bench players are only scoring a total of 9.2 ppg.  They're going to need more from the bench.

[monrowe]

28 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

The Zips depth is starting to concern me.  As for average minutes per game in MAC play, LCJ is averaging 35.6; Cheese- 33.1; X- 31.2; Banks- 32.2; Riak- 22; Reece- 14.2; Tribble- 14.2; Ali- 10; Sayles- 5.6; and Dawson 3.3.   Reece is productive from the bench but the rest are bringing very little offensively.  Tribble shows promise and Ali plays hard,  but they've not contributed much on the offensive end. Dawson is still settling in.  Those bench players are only scoring a total of 9.2 ppg.  They're going to need more from the bench.

The lack of depth was noticeable in the DC tournament where the zips had long scoring droughts.The championship game the starting 5   Game got ran out of the gym due to lack depth.But it seems like that has been corrected. I’m seeing a team that learns from its mistakes and is ready for whatever.I think opposing  teams should be concerned.If the zips stay healthy watch out!

 

 

[NWAkron]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

The Zips depth is starting to concern me.  As for average minutes per game in MAC play, LCJ is averaging 35.6; Cheese- 33.1; X- 31.2; Banks- 32.2; Riak- 22; Reece- 14.2; Tribble- 14.2; Ali- 10; Sayles- 5.6; and Dawson 3.3.   Reece is productive from the bench but the rest are bringing very little offensively.  Tribble shows promise and Ali plays hard,  but they've not contributed much on the offensive end. Dawson is still settling in.  Those bench players are only scoring a total of 9.2 ppg.  They're going to need more from the bench.

Vander Plas only played 26 minutes and in the second half he was a step ahead of the more athletic Williams.  VP burned X on a bunch of possessions.   As for Buffalo, during one of their games, ESPN showed their lineup from last year, and, damn i'm thankful to never see that group again at the JAR or at the Q.  Canada is realizing how fleeting mid-major success can be.  One of my hopes for this year was that the Zips would get some good road wins.  I wasn't expecting them to win them all in the MAC!  Revenge Tour continues on Tuesday.  1-0.

[kreed5120]

11 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

The Zips depth is starting to concern me.  As for average minutes per game in MAC play, LCJ is averaging 35.6; Cheese- 33.1; X- 31.2; Banks- 32.2; Riak- 22; Reece- 14.2; Tribble- 14.2; Ali- 10; Sayles- 5.6; and Dawson 3.3.   Reece is productive from the bench but the rest are bringing very little offensively.  Tribble shows promise and Ali plays hard,  but they've not contributed much on the offensive end. Dawson is still settling in.  Those bench players are only scoring a total of 9.2 ppg.  They're going to need more from the bench.

Sayles, Dawson, and Ali have combined to only shoot the ball 56 times all season. Tribble seems like the only guy looking to score and has done it well when he actually decides to shoot. He's making nearly 48% of his shots. I think part of it might just be that LCJ, Xeyrius, Cheese, and Banks are just shooting the ball so well that the goal is to get those guys to shoot the rock as much as possible. There was a lot of hype about Dawson, but he looks a long ways away from becoming a meaningful contributor this season.

[RowdyZip]

The Zips got 5 points from the bench yesterday.  This will need to be corrected throughout the season, or winning 3 games in 3 days in Cleveland will be a tall order.  That was an exciting game that shouldn't have been that exciting. 

 

Credit where credit is due: I still wish Akron students were 1/4 as passionate as the OU student section. The Athens crowd really gives them an advantage in close/rivalry games.

 

Edit:  Oops, wrong thread. Feel free to move. 

Edited January 26, 2020 by RowdyZip

[LoyalZIP]

As long as Akron is winning, I won't be too concerned about the bench. Especially when you can actually depend on getting 20 on the night from either one or a couple between X, LCJ, or Cheese. As for postseason play, they need to have a bench that contributes more. Far too often during these droughts in games or stretches where the opponent gets back into it do you look at the lineup and notice that X isn't in the game. Then he almost needs to be rushed back in. Again, not a problem right now, but in March that could mean an early exit.

 

I'd like to see Groce take more of a chance in games that are already pretty much decided or in games against weaker opponents, maybe by throwing the bench mob out there for a full 4 minute stretch between media breaks. After all, I firmly believe the only reason he is burning Dawson's redshirt is so he has another contributor come tournament time. My concern with the bench, though still relatively small, grows with every passing game.

[zipsrule]

In the post game interview Frenchy did with Groce, they talked about the bench usage.  Groce said he would look at it, but thought he would have to get the bench more minutes as he thought the starters looked a little gassed at times against Toledo and Ohio.  I think he realizes that 3 games in 3 days is tough and you are going need quality bench minutes.  Right now it seems that wants them out there more, but doesn't yet have the trust in them for heavier minutes.  I agree that we need to work them more in games where we have large leads.

[clarkwgriswold]

I'd like to see that when they get up big they don't have those slides, but rather keep stepping on the necks of their opponents to the point where the game is over earlier.  Then they could get those bench kids some much needed court experience and give them the base to become more valuable contributors down the line.   Giving up double digit leads does not promote this.

[NWAkron]

Mid-American - East

 

Akron Zips   6-1

Bowling Green Falcons   6-1

Kent State Golden Flashes   4-3

Buffalo Bulls   4-3

Ohio Bobcats   2-4

Miami (OH) RedHawks   2-4

 

Mid-American - West

 

Central Michigan Chippewas   4-2

Ball State Cardinals  4-2

Northern Illinois Huskies   4-3

Toledo Rockets   3-4

Western Michigan Broncos  2-5

Eastern Michigan Eagles   0-7

 

26 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I'd like to see that when they get up big they don't have those slides, but rather keep stepping on the necks of their opponents to the point where the game is over earlier.  Then they could get those bench kids some much needed court experience and give them the base to become more valuable contributors down the line.   Giving up double digit leads does not promote this.

My utter speculation is that the coaching staff can look at the above #s and know that while this team is hot they have to run up the number of wins and tiebreaker points.  With the lack of bench, owning one of the top 4 seeds will be more critical than other years.  When BG played Akron at home last year in the second to the last game of the season, Akron blew them out.  However, I thought that night that once Akron had a decent lead the Falcons benched some of their starters and let the Zips have it.  BG already had a top 4 seed, and their final game was at Buffalo.  There may be a time when the coaching staff will give the bench more play, but while this is working and the wins are racking up, I don't see it happening.   Again, utter speculation.

 

 

 

[Illini Zip]

3 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I'd like to see that when they get up big they don't have those slides, but rather keep stepping on the necks of their opponents to the point where the game is over earlier.  Then they could get those bench kids some much needed court experience and give them the base to become more valuable contributors down the line.   Giving up double digit leads does not promote this.

 

I agree with this more at home than on the road. On the road in the MAC, I will take a win any way it comes. High scoring, low scoring, close game, blow out, great defense, soft defense, on the road you play the game the refs give you. And too often one half is officiated different from the other. At home, in theory, the Zips should be able to dictate more of what they want to do. And breaking the opponent's spirit early and getting playing time for the bench is a good goal.

Edited January 26, 2020 by Illini Zip

[Zip JD]

Buffalo's Student Athletes of the Week are sponsored by Tim Horton's.  Just more proof that it is in fact a Canadian school, eh.  

Edited January 27, 2020 by Zip JD

[johnnyzip84]

50 minutes ago, Zip JD said:

Buffalo's Student Athletes of the Week are sponsored by Tim Horton's.  Just more proof that it is in fact a Canadian school, eh.  

 Tim Horton's.....where you don't have to pay $4 Canadian for a single donut ?

[clarkwgriswold]

In the first 4 MAC games, the Zips gave up an average of 58 points per game.  In the last three, that's ballooned to 81 ppg.  On offense, in the first 4 they averaged 75 ppg while in the last three they've averaged 86.  

[NWAkron]

LCJ named MAC East player of the week.

[NWAkron]

15 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

In the first 4 MAC games, the Zips gave up an average of 58 points per game.  In the last three, that's ballooned to 81 ppg.  On offense, in the first 4 they averaged 75 ppg while in the last three they've averaged 86.  

@ClarkGriswold. I sense something is worrying you and that you are keeping a calculator ready at hand?

[clarkwgriswold]

4 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

@ClarkGriswold. I sense something is worrying you and that you are keeping a calculator ready at hand?

 

Tax season (and a bit of OCD).

[kreed5120]

15 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

LCJ named MAC East player of the week.

In other news the sky is blue and grass is green... It would have been criminal had he not gotten it this week. He averaged 27.5 points and 4 assists while shooting 70% from the field and 78.6% from 3.

[Let'sGoZips94]

16 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

In other news the sky is blue and grass is green... It would have been criminal had he not gotten it this week. He averaged 27.5 points and 4 assists while shooting 70% from the field and 78.6% from 3.

 

Staggering, eh?

 

P.S. Every post in a Buffalo-related thread should end in ", eh?" So let it be written, so let it be done, eh?

[NWAkron]

Some random conference only MAC statistics of note:  #1 in offense.  now #3 in defense but behind two average teams NIU and the Mason Jars.  #1 in 3 point field goals.  But dropped to 9th in 3 point defense.  #1 in Free Throw %.  LCJ #1 scorer in the MAC.  Cheese #3 and X #11 in scoring.  LCJ is #1 in 3 pointers made and X is #3.

[clarkwgriswold]

2 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Staggering, eh?

 

P.S. Every post in a Buffalo-related thread should end in ", eh?" So let it be written, so let it be done, eh?

 

You hoser!

[Zip JD]

8 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

You hoser!

Take off, eh!

[Zipmeister]

26 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

You hoser!

 

[clarkwgriswold]

Okay, since we've gone there, look what I had in my basement you hosers-

 

 

 

[NWAkron]

https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/27/ub-akron-mens-basketball-ncaa-loren-cristian-jackson-jayvon-graves-news-preview-game-time-2020/

 

According to the headline, the game is in Canada?

 

https://winnersandwhiners.com/games/ncaab/1-28-2020/buffalo-vs-akron-prediction-2658/

 

Zips -8.

Edited January 28, 2020 by NWAkron