Game 16- BGSU

[clarkwgriswold]

The Stroh Center awaits the Zips Tuesday night as the Zips roll in to face BGSU.  The Falcons stand at 7-7, 1-0 in the MAC heading into today's home game against OU.  They opened the MAC season with a 91-65 trouncing of the EMU Emonis.  In their unspectacular OOC schedule, they lost to common opponents Morgan State and Wright State.  They were voted to finish 9th in the MAC Preseason Poll, placing no one on the 1st or 2nd teams.

 

6'5" senior guard Leon Ayers leads BGSU at 17.3 ppg.  6'8" junior forward Rashaun Agee leads rebounding at 8.6 per game while contributing 10.9 ppg. 6'4" senior guard Samari Curtis ins the team's second leading scorer at 12.3 ppg.  It's odd to look at their roster and not see Daeqwon Plowden who seemed to play there for a decade.

 

 

[clarkwgriswold]

BG beat OU today to get to 8-7/2-0.  Kaden Matheny led them with 25 points.  He was 5/9 on 3-pointers.

[NWAkron]

13 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

BG beat OU today to get to 8-7/2-0.  Kaden Matheny led them with 25 points.  He was 5/9 on 3-pointers.

That's nice.

[clarkwgriswold]

Bowling Green is third in the MAC at 77.7 points per game and 8th in defense, giving up 74.1 a game.  Zips are 9th in offense at 69.4 ppg and second in defense at 62.3 ppg.   I suspect this game could be determined by pace.

Edited January 9, 2023 by clarkwgriswold

[zipsrowdy88]

This will be a great test for us. 

 

I am hearing and assuming no X or Garvin again. 

 

So: 

 

1. We looked GREAT against Ball State.... until we didn't. Can this team put together sustained runs without their primary ball handler and scorer. 

 

2. WHO will step up? This is a great game to see if anyone can help Enrique and Tavari. Would love to see T Hank get hot, etc.

[Captain Kangaroo]

57 minutes ago, zipsrowdy88 said:

This is a great game to see if anyone can help Enrique and Tavari. 

I’d love to see Tavari help Tavari.

[LoyalZIP]

28 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

I’d love to see Tavari help Tavari.

He is far and away his own worst enemy. He’s made enough open 3s and 10 foot floaters to show us 9-10 from the field against a top 80 team is no fluke. He seems like the kind of guy that could shine in Cleveland. Wait to see…

[kreed5120]

Tavari is going to mold into a great player, but man you can tell the D1 game is still a little too fast for him. He seems to make 2-3 mistakes per game that make you wonder what was he even thinking. There really is no solution for it other than playing through it and learning as he goes.

[LoyalZIP]

Zips -3.5

[Let'sGoZips94]

6 minutes ago, LoyalZIP said:

Zips -3.5

 

Did someone show Vegas oddsmakers highlights from 2019-20, and tell them that's this year's Zips?

 

[LoyalZIP]

The Zips are 8-3 all-time in the Stroh Center. Even some of the worst Zip teams over the last 12 seasons have come out of there alive. Of course, the biggest of the three losses was by arguably the best Akron team, 2019-2020. The dreadful 17-18 Zips picked up their only regular season road  win there. And last year, Trimble had his single annual unconscious shooting game. 

 

If X isn't back, I think Akron would have a really hard time tonight. BG will try to run and gun, and without depth and the shooting and defense X brings, it would be an uphill battle against a very confident team.

 

Freeman did really well against Sparks on Friday, and BG's Rashaun Agee really impressed me with his finishing abilities and athleticism against OU on Saturday. Another tough matchup for Enrique, hopefully he keeps playing at a high level.

 

At this point, the MAC season is quickly becoming a developmental season for this team. That's not to say they won't win a lot of games or win anything in Cleveland, but these next 16 games are extremely valuable in getting ready for Cleveland. The pieces are there, they just haven't fit together quite right.

[Blue & Gold]

GT for ABJ: Akron Zips men's basketball team may get Xavier Castaneda back

[ZippyRulz]

Great news! Thanks, George!

 

[zipsrowdy88]

Great to see the X news.

 

We have some injuries which sucks, but I for one am super pumped to see all of the freshman we have out there.

 

Tavari, Nate (basically), Kobe (basically), Amani are not always playing great, but it is nice to see their potential when they understand the game.

 

Forums feel negative as of recent, but I am confident in this team come February and March.

[LZIp]

26 minutes ago, zipsrowdy88 said:

 

 

Forums feel negative as of recent, but I am confident in this team come February and March.

At least from my point of view, its because we knew we were going to get contributions from Freeman and X, but somebody else has to step up to be that go-to 3rd guy, or even a guy that can go off on any given night. Outside of a few games from Tavari, we haven't really gotten it from anyone. If he can do it consistently or some of the other players start to show some real promise, I don't think we make it past the semis in Cleveland.

[clarkwgriswold]

Right now, the Zips essentially have a 9 man rotation (until Clarke returns).  4 of those players are in the first 15-20 games of their college careers.  As such, there are going to be growing pains.

 

As has been mentioned often, this team also needs a third person to step up on offense.   Unfortunately, I can't see who that might me.  It could be Tavari by the end of February, but he could still be settling in.  I've given up on Hunter being that guy.  I love Tribble, but he's not that guy.  If Hank could get back to being the 13-14 point scorer he was at NIU a couple of year's ago, I guess he could be that guy.

[Captain Kangaroo]

8 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

If Hank could get back to being the 13-14 point scorer he was at NIU a couple of year's ago, I guess he could be that guy.

Our Cheese/Banks/LCJ back court is the gold standard.

 

Casteneda can be mentioned in the same conversation as those above. I hoped Hankerson could be too...but he still doesn't seem comfortable or assertive enough. The season's half over, so it's probably not going to happen. 

 

TJ needs some swagger. Once he gets confidence he'll be fine. Hope it happens this season.

 

Who's our 2023 Xerius Williams? Offensively, Hunter is closer to Maishe than Xerius. And he's a poor defender. I don't think anyone else is in the conversation?

 

I still hold faith that Groce will have the Zips playing their best basketball at year's end. Under his watch, they always do. Eventually some cream will rise to the top and we'll be as big a threat as anyone to cut down the nets in CLE. 

[clarkwgriswold]

10 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Our Cheese/Banks/LCJ back court is the gold standard.

 

Casteneda can be mentioned in the same conversation as those above. I hoped Hankerson could be too...but he still doesn't seem comfortable or assertive enough. The season's half over, so it's probably not going to happen. 

 

TJ needs some swagger. Once he gets confidence he'll be fine. Hope it happens this season.

 

Who's our 2023 Xerius Williams? Offensively, Hunter is closer to Maishe than Xerius. And he's a poor defender. I don't think anyone else is in the conversation?

 

I still hold faith that Groce will have the Zips playing their best basketball at year's end. Under his watch, they always do. Eventually some cream will rise to the top and we'll be as big a threat as anyone to cut down the nets in CLE. 

 

Funny you should mention that squad.  I was just looking at it earlier.  4 guys averaging in double digits, a stretch 3 who rebounded, competent big men who didn't need the ball, a defensive stopper...

[zipsrule]

35 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

If Hank could get back to being the 13-14 point scorer he was at NIU a couple of year's ago, I guess he could be that guy.

This might be the most likely option for a third scorer.  He just needs to be more consistent with his 3 point shot.

[Reslife4Life]

Hank is the third scorer. If he can drive to the basket more it would help him a lot. Also not missing layups would be helpful too

[zipsrule]

10 minutes ago, zipsrule said:

This might be the most likely option for a third scorer.  He just needs to be more consistent with his 3 point shot.

I stand corrected on my second sentence about Hankerson being more consistent from three.  Here are some stats from this year and the previous two.

 

2022-23:  9 ppg, 38.3% from 3, 32.4 minutes per game

2021-22:  11.4 ppg, 35.0% from 3, 33.7 min per game

2020-21:  13.9 ppg, 36.9% from 3, 33.9 min per game.

 

 

[kreed5120]

2 hours ago, zipsrowdy88 said:

Great to see the X news.

 

We have some injuries which sucks, but I for one am super pumped to see all of the freshman we have out there.

 

Tavari, Nate (basically), Kobe (basically), Amani are not always playing great, but it is nice to see their potential when they understand the game.

 

Forums feel negative as of recent, but I am confident in this team come February and March.

I don't feel people are being as much negative as they are being realist. Groce would be the first to tell you that this team as of right now isn't ready to win in Cleveland and that they need to focus on continuing improving that way they can be playing their best basketball come March.

 

If anything, I feel this board is a little overly optimistic that Groce will have the ship righted by March because that's what we're so accustomed seeing out of him. I don't know how any objective person could have watched the Zips the first 15 games of the season and be thinking to themselves right now that the Zips are the team to beat in the MAC right now.

Edited January 10, 2023 by kreed5120

[LoyalZIP]

Hankerson is an excellent complimentary player, specifically a compliment to X. When he was the best or 2nd best player at NIU, they were NIU. That’s no shot at him. I wouldn’t want the offense to run through Channel Banks if LCJ was out back in those days. I’d be far more concerned about what we’ve seen if this team wasn’t so much different from the team that won the tournament last year. 
 

In March, we thought we had a dynasty. Then a couple of important pieces left, a couple have been battling injuries, and the newcomers are either very young and inexperienced or haven’t lived up to expectations. Groce’s coaching performance last year down the stretch was masterful and difficult. It will be just as difficult if not more difficult for these last 16 MAC games. 

[NWAkron]

2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

I don't feel people are being as much negative as they are being realist. Groce would be the first to tell you that this team as of right now isn't ready to win in Cleveland and that they need to focus on continuing improving that way they can be playing their best basketball come March.

 

If anything, I feel this board is a little overly optimistic that Groce will have the ship righted by March because that's what we're so accustomed seeing out of him. I don't know how any objective person could have watched the Zips the first 15 games of the season and be thinking to themselves right now that the Zips are the team to beat in the MAC right now.

Yes, a few on here are (as I like to say) whistling past the graveyard:

 

"To attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation; to proceed with a task, ignoring an upcoming hazard, hoping for a good outcome."

[clarkwgriswold]

Here's hoping this game is played inside of the 3 point arc.  That freaking light floor is obnoxious.