Game 1- South Dakota State

[Hilltopper]

13 hours ago, LoyalZIP said:

 

One of my favorite moments of the entire season! Bud does a ton for the program, and it's cool to have a big money guy like that get so into it. This is when Tribble got the And-1 to go up 7 before the media timeout. Unfortunately, a whole lot of people were texting me and jinxing the game at that point. Damn, so close!

That's Riq's Mom standing and cheering right behind Bud. She's a ball of 🔥! 

[kreed5120]

9 hours ago, akzipper said:

 

Interesting. I went back and forth and actually took SDS +3. Maybe it's all the years of watching KD's teams come out flat to start the year, or just my negative nancy NE Ohio fandom getting in the way. I have a feeling it's going to be a really tight came that can go either way.

Well looks like you were a double winner tonight. The Zips won and you still won your bet 

[The Hip Zip]

We just won a game that S Dak St shot 52% from the field, made more FTs than us (+4) and out rebounded us. I'd call that a damn gutty effort.

[Let'sGoZips94]

6 minutes ago, The Hip Zip said:

We just won a game that S Dak St shot 52% from the field, made more FTs than us (+4) and out rebounded us. I'd call that a damn gutty effort.

 

Lots of new faces in the lineup - Johnson, Hunter, Lyles, Hankerson, etc. 

 

What didn't change was the effort on both ends of the floor, on the boards, and at the free throw line. I don't know if SDSU made more than 1 3 pointer in the 2nd half/overtime. They finished 4-15 for the game according to ESPN, and I thought they were over 50% with 5 attempts in the first half. We only missed 2 free throw the entire game - 83.3% for us, 82.4% for them on 5 more attempts (17 to 12). We were out-rebounded by 2. Their entire starting lineup finished with double digit points. I mean this is one of the better wins I've ever seen for Akron, especially from a game script standpoint. We gutted this one out because the team is already buying into Groce ball. 

[zippy5]

Let's beat Miss St now Friday. Would be a great start to the season 

[LoyalZIP]

9 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Let's beat Miss St now Friday. Would be a great start to the season 

Winnable for sure. I was just doing a little scouting and I somehow forgot that they just hired old friend Chris Jans. Gonna be a fun one in Philly!

[NWAkron]

https://www.keloland.com/sports/sdsu-men-fall-in-overtime-to-akron/

 

“What a basketball game,” South Dakota State head coach Eric Henderson said. “We certainly had chances. I loved the energy we played with. We played extremely together, we played our butts off and we were physical. But the Castaneda kid was terrific. He had a heck of a game.”

[zipsrowdy88]

Anyone else going to PHILLY! CMON, WHAT A WIN!! JAW WAS ROCKING TOO!

[zipsrowdy88]

Props to students last night too, really showed up and rocked all game.

[akzipper]

9 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

Well looks like you were a double winner tonight. The Zips won and you still won your bet 

 

I was REALLY sweating this one out for both reasons. I can't imagine what people go through that bet large sums of money, when I'm stressing over a few bucks.

[clarkwgriswold]

Nice showing for an opener.  I really liked what I saw from Hankerson and Nate Johnson.  Johnson, by default, looks to be our 3rd big which is not ideal as he is 6'3".

[zipsrowdy88]

2 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Nice showing for an opener.  I really liked what I saw from Hankerson and Nate Johnson.  Johnson, by default, looks to be our 3rd big which is not ideal as he is 6'3".

Amani Lyles, no? He's young but.

[LZIp]

9 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Nice showing for an opener.  I really liked what I saw from Hankerson and Nate Johnson.  

Agreed. Outside of the guys we already knew about, I like what I saw out of those 2 and though Hunter didn't do much that showed up in the box score, he certainly looked the part. Its one game, but questions on new guys and who will step up already seem to be getting answered.

Edited November 8, 2022 by LZIp

[kreed5120]

11 minutes ago, zipsrowdy88 said:

Amani Lyles, no? He's young but.

He wasn't in the game long (all of 4 minutes), but it seemed the entire time he was in SDSU was able to bully him in the low post. Granted their bags were a combined 13/18 from the floor so they're obviously skilled. 

[clarkwgriswold]

27 minutes ago, zipsrowdy88 said:

Amani Lyles, no? He's young but.

He showed some promise but he was lost on defense.  He'll come around.

[LoyalZIP]

9 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

He showed some promise but he was lost on defense.  He'll come around.

Agreed. He’s much bulkier than I was expecting. I don’t see any reason he can’t play some impactful minutes in MAC play. 
 

How about Kyle for SDSU? That was his first college game! He played like a seasoned veteran, and played better than Freeman a lot of the game. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a freshman big finish at the rim with so much success like that. What a team, what a game. 

[Blue & Gold]

Sammy Hunter had a tough shooting night but I thought he looked promising. He obviously has confidence in his 3-point shot & it appears Groce has given him the green light so I think his shot will come around.

 

Kinda disappointed Kobe Mitchell hasn't earned any more PT than a few seconds at the end of the 1st half.  With SDSU double-teaming Freeman so much it really opened up some looks from 3 for us. Seemed like the type of game that would be right in Kobe's wheelhouse... if he were capable of contributing at this level.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Blue & Gold

[clarkwgriswold]

I think we'll see more of Kobe and Lyles against the lesser competition.  Last night was just a tough one to get the borderline rotation players on the floor.

[72 Roo]

11 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Lots of new faces in the lineup - Johnson, Hunter, Lyles, Hankerson, etc. 

 

What didn't change was the effort on both ends of the floor, on the boards, and at the free throw line. I don't know if SDSU made more than 1 3 pointer in the 2nd half/overtime. They finished 4-15 for the game according to ESPN, and I thought they were over 50% with 5 attempts in the first half. We only missed 2 free throw the entire game - 83.3% for us, 82.4% for them on 5 more attempts (17 to 12). We were out-rebounded by 2. Their entire starting lineup finished with double digit points. I mean this is one of the better wins I've ever seen for Akron, especially from a game script standpoint. We gutted this one out because the team is already buying into Groce ball. 

Groce told me several weeks ago that he recruits players that will buy into our culture, not ones who we have to buy into what they are. He went to say " We don't change who we are, you change to be part of who we are." Last night showed that in spades.

[Blue & Gold]

 

[72 Roo]

3 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

I don't want this Greg. You are one of us and we have your back. Just play as hard as you can, trust your teammates and follow the coaches. The rest will take care of itself. We are Zips and we are family. I'm glad you are in the family. On to Miss State!  

[Let'sGoZips94]

18 minutes ago, 72 Roo said:

Groce told me several weeks ago that he recruits players that will buy into our culture, not ones who we have to buy into what they are. He went to say " We don't change who we are, you change to be part of who we are." Last night showed that in spades.

 

This is probably the biggest reason he didn't have the same type of success at the P5 level. Mid Major college basketball embodies the beauty of college basketball - "teamism". P5 ball is a mixture of AAU & NBA for the most part; it's simply not as entertaining. 

 

Thank you for sharing this. 

[Blue & Gold]

Just watched the replay & I LOVE how the entire team immediately went over & patted Tribble on the back & said ain’t no thing & shake it off after he blew the layup.

[GJGood]

I know it’s silly but nice to look at this pic. Love seeing the Zips logo right in the middle of things.

[LZIp]

South Dakota St beat Boise St last night. That win is really going to look good IMO.