Western Michigan- 2/15/22

[RoyalBlu]

3 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

This has been an ongoing, year-long issue.  At this point in the schedule there is no reason (besides wishful thinking) to think that a light bulb will suddenly switch on and that this is going to be resolved this season.

 

I just hope our 4 incoming freshman guards are ready for immediate PT next year.

Zips have six games left to play and only one vs. a team ahead of them in the standings....

That said, the Zips have lost two straight to teams that were behind them in the standings. So who knows ...

[jupitertoo]

23 minutes ago, monrowe said:

The best player in the league made the team in a tryout.This team is over achieving.

 

 

Who might that be?

 

[Blue & Gold]

 

[clarkwgriswold]

29 minutes ago, RoyalBlu said:

Let's not over-react ... just a bad matchup. Should have lost to WMU at home. Zips have problems with top end MAC guards: Carry and Norman have shown that. On to the next one.

I admire your optimism RoyalBlu but this team has yet to show me anything to indicate they are the team we hoped they would be.  I hope you are right but it's getting very late in the season.

[a-zip]

37 minutes ago, jupitertoo said:

Who might that be?

 

You obviously do not follow the team

[LoyalZIP]

What an epic loss. I have allowed time to take myself away from the edge for now. The Zips were fortunate to be in the game with how awful they played. With that said, there’s no reason to lose that game. And every single person in the program deserves blame. I’m not going to get into everyone. But you can’t miss shots at that rate, you can’t pick up a dumb technical, you can’t throw so many horrid CYO passes, you can’t miss free throws down the stretch of the game. What a cluster. At the worst time of the year too. 
 

With all of that said, there are still two winnable games that could be huge confidence boosters going into the last part of the season. At this point, every practice and every game needs to be played with Cleveland in mind. One game at a time. As frustrating as this team has been, they have shown great ability and I believe in them.  I’m incredibly disappointed in them, but I still believe they are a good MAC team that won’t go down without a fight. 
 

Last year, missing one Maishe Dailey kept the team from being truly great. This year, the disappearance of KJ Walton has shown it’s impact a number of times. Still a lot of season left, but looking forward, Groce can’t afford another whiff. This program has way too much talent to be what it is at this point in the season. To make matters worse, Kent swept us and is as hot as any MAC team has been all year. I don’t like how this is shaping out one bit. Come on, John. Give the fans what we deserve. Can’t wait for Thursday, I’m dying to see some hunger from this team. We know it. They know it. Everyone knows how good they can be. Go Zips!

[RowdyZip]

20 hours ago, RowdyZip said:

Got a bad feeling about this one.  Starting a busy week of 4 games in 8 days on the road against an improving team, after an emotional loss at home to a rival.  This one is imperative for seeding as well to come out on top of the Kent/UA/UB bunch.

 

Zips are 8.5 point favorites (opened at 9.5).  If I were a betting man, it would be tempting to take WMU to win, and I'd absolutely take them to cover.  Hope I'm wrong!

Well dang.

[RowdyZip]

10 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I admire your optimism RoyalBlu but this team has yet to show me anything to indicate they are the team we hoped they would be.  I hope you are right but it's getting very late in the season.

This is where I'm at as well. This team has exactly one win against the top 1/2 of NCAA NET rankings (home vs 108 Buffalo).  We have an inflated record against a very bad MAC.  This team has the least talent of any Akron team in the last 15 years, outside of the transition team from Dambrot to Groce.  We are in serious trouble if some of the young talent doesn't contribute next season and/or the MAC improves.

 

Edit:  that win didn't even count as top half, because UB was below 150 at time of game. 12 of our 14 wins are against the bottom 1/4 of the NCAA.

Edited February 16, 2022 by RowdyZip
added picture

[clarkwgriswold]

29 minutes ago, RowdyZip said:

This is where I'm at as well. This team has exactly one win against the top 1/2 of NCAA NET rankings (home vs 108 Buffalo).  We have an inflated record against a very bad MAC.  This team has the least talent of any Akron team in the last 15 years, outside of the transition team from Dambrot to Groce.  We are in serious trouble if some of the young talent doesn't contribute next season and/or the MAC improves.

 

Edit:  that win didn't even count as top half, because UB was below 150 at time of game. 12 of our 14 wins are against the bottom 1/4 of the NCAA.

 

I hope to heck this season is just a one off and I still trust Groce, but I have all but given up on this team's prospects for this season (and it pains me to do so).   Close wins over directionals do little to inspire the confidence and last night's game...oh well.

 

GO ZIPS! 

 

 

[jupitertoo]

12 hours ago, a-zip said:

You obviously do not follow the team

I do follow the team. The original post seems to imply that Freeman is the league's best player.  That's my question.

 

[clarkwgriswold]

49 minutes ago, jupitertoo said:

I do follow the team. The original post seems to imply that Freeman is the league's best player.  That's my question.

 

 

Freeman certainly has an argument for being the best traditional big/post player in the MAC.  His stats are considerably better than guys like Mballa and Carter.

Edited February 16, 2022 by clarkwgriswold

[clarkwgriswold]

 

[jupitertoo]

33 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

Freeman certainly has an argument for being the best traditional big/post player in the MAC.  His stats are considerably better than guys like Mballa and Carter.

His only statistical advantage is rebounding.  Carter scores more, blocks about the same among the three.  But that isn't my point...the original post said he was the league's best player.  Not close, though he certainly has been an amazing find.

[jupitertoo]

Adding to this...

 

Head to head, looks like Mballa didn't play against the Zips this year.

 

In the first game against Ohio, Freeman had 7 points/10 rebounds vs. 19 pts/3 rebounds for Carter

 

I personally don't think any of those three are close to Rollins, Carrie, Sears or Norman in terms of MVP consideration.  I think Rollins is the runaway winner there.

[RowdyZip]

8 minutes ago, jupitertoo said:

His only statistical advantage is rebounding.  Carter scores more, blocks about the same among the three.  But that isn't my point...the original post said he was the league's best player.  Not close, though he certainly has been an amazing find.

If Enrique takes the same big jumps forward his Jr and Sr years as he did from Fr to Soph, then he will most likely be the best player in the league.  Right now, I'm not sure he gets a spot on the All-MAC first team, though he probably deserves it.

[clarkwgriswold]

1 minute ago, jupitertoo said:

Adding to this...

 

Head to head, looks like Mballa didn't play against the Zips this year.

 

In the first game against Ohio, Freeman had 7 points/10 rebounds vs. 19 pts/3 rebounds for Carter

 

I personally don't think any of those three are close to Rollins, Carrie, Sears or Norman in terms of MVP consideration.  I think Rollins is the runaway winner there.

 

I wasn't trying to stir up a debate, just pointing out he may be the best traditional big in the MAC.  He rebounds at a much higher level than Carter, scores and blocks about the same and has a significantly higher FG percentage.

 

I agree all three of those guys are the prime candidates for MAC POY, with Rollins the favorite. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

3 minutes ago, RowdyZip said:

If Enrique takes the same big jumps forward his Jr and Sr years as he did from Fr to Soph, then he will most likely be the best player in the league.  Right now, I'm not sure he gets a spot on the All-MAC first team, though he probably deserves it.

 

National rankings for Rebounds Per Game

 

1 Oscar Tshiebwe Kentucky Jr. 6-9

2 Fardaws Aimaq Utah Valley So. 6-11

3 Armando Bacot North Carolina Jr. 6-10

4 Norchad Omier Arkansas St. Fr. 6-7

5 Kofi Cockburn Illinois Jr. 7-0

6 Enrique Freeman Akron So. 6-7

 

National rankings for Double Doubles

 

1 Fardaws Aimaq Utah Valley So. 6-11

2 Oscar Tshiebwe Kentucky Jr. 6-9

3 Johni Broome Morehead St. Fr. 6-10

- Armando Bacot North Carolina Jr. 6-10

5 Justin Bean Utah St. Sr. 6-7

- Norchad Omier Arkansas St. Fr. 6-7

7 Enrique Freeman Akron So. 6-7

 

If Enrique Freeman isn't First Team All MAC, that would be criminal. And yes, he is in the conversation for the best player in the conference. 

[RoyalBlu]

29 minutes ago, RowdyZip said:

If Enrique takes the same big jumps forward his Jr and Sr years as he did from Fr to Soph, then he will most likely be the best player in the league.  Right now, I'm not sure he gets a spot on the All-MAC first team, though he probably deserves it.

My guess right now is 5th spot on All-MAC first team is down to BVD/Carter, Freeman, Plowden, Sparks, Shumate and Norman. (Sears, Rollins, Carry, JWilliams). And at least one of these guys won't even make second team. For a down year in the MAC, that's amazing.

 

Sears, Rollins, Carry, Freeman, Sparks, Shumate, Norman all return ... if the portal doesn't swallow them up.

 

[Captain Kangaroo]

The year's Zips team is a flawed one.

 

Other than Freeman, who can you bank on? 

 

• Freeman - double-double every night, brings it on both ends of the floor. Plays within himself. A joy to watch, always.
• Ali - Too indecisive. He's at his worst when he dribbles too much. If he tries to back someone down in the paint, it's an almost guaranteed turnover. Might score 32...might score 5.
• Casteneda - shooting 29% over his last 4 games. Formerly a 90% FT shooter, shooting at a 60% clip over his last 7 games.
• Dawson - Hustles, defends, but he's a role player.
• Clarke - Slowly improving, but can't be counted for anything other than spot duty night-in-night-out.
• Aziz - Improving. But still a role-player. 
• Tribble - He's like Dawson, but less of an offensive threat.
• Wynn - 8 minute per game role player, at best. 
• Trimble - sprinkles a few stellar nights of insane 3-point shooting amongst a sea of highly forgettable 2022 efforts. Not a great defender. Can't create his own shot...just looks to hoist it from 24 feet most of the time. 

These are the dog days of the MAC schedule. Driving 5 hours in the snow to play a horrible Bronco team, on a Tuesday night, after a bitter home loss to your rival, can't be a party. But that's part of the deal. The championship teams fight through it.

 

Kent, OU and Toledo are better than the Zips this year. But we can beat them on a given night. We could also lose to Duquesne if we played like we did last night. Man, that was one horrible effort in Kalamazoo.

 

 

[gozips19]

Solid breakdown on the roster. This team desperately needs a playmaking guard. X is fine but he's not that type of player. I'm assuming Groce put all of his eggs in the Walton basket and it blew up in his face. 

Really hoping they can pickup a juco guard that fits their heavy pick and roll system for next year. Would also love to see a consistent spot up shooter. 

You get those two with Ali and Freeman making gains and you're back in the hunt. 

If not we're just a slightly above average MAC team. It's also good the conference has taken a step back or they wouldn't even be that. 

 

Cap good call with Ali. IMO all the dribbling is a result of him having no other options to score. He has the makings of being a special talent before his times up at Akron. Just hope he doesn't get poached. 

[zippy5]

Ali seems to want to be the guy, he just hasn't figured out how yet. A lot of it results in forcing a bad shot.. I think he needs to add a drive and dish component. Right now it's just drive. Defenses collapse and sometimes he still makes it work on his own, but rarely is it a kick out. If he can add that element I think it opens a lot up for the offense

[clarkwgriswold]

9 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Ali seems to want to be the guy, he just hasn't figured out how yet. A lot of it results in forcing a bad shot.. I think he needs to add a drive and dish component. Right now it's just drive. Defenses collapse and sometimes he still makes it work on his own, but rarely is it a kick out. If he can add that element I think it opens a lot up for the offense

 

He's just become a little too predictable, especially with that back down move.  He also started drawing the opponents' best or second defender based on his early success.

[zippy5]

Yeah, he gets to the paint, and then does the dribble/back down move. Which, he has a size advantage on a lot of guards. But like you said, he's drawing better defenders now and the help is sagging there too.. just part of progressing, he needs to work on the plan B of that part of his game to keep growing.

[jupitertoo]

BVP also back next year.

[monrowe]

17 hours ago, jupitertoo said:

Who might that be?

 

Enrique Freeman, he leads the league in double doubles and rebounding.Also he’s sixth in the nation in rebounding.Enrique is a two dimensional player.He’s a little too good for this league.MVP MVP MVP!