Game 20- Miami

[NWAkron]

27 minutes ago, MDZip said:

Tough foul on X but definitely a foul. 

I would agree.  I had a pretty good perspective from my seat and he pushed that guy out of the way.

[NWAkron]

After Tavari made that god awful, high school style turnover, did we see him again?

[clarkwgriswold]

Groce was very critical in the post game, as critical as I have heard him. He was happy they fought through it for the win, but was very disappointed in how they were outplayed and how Miami was tougher than most of the game. Game. He said they had an awful practice yesterday and it carried over into tonight's game with the Zips players not staying on their feet on pump fakes and trapping like they had practiced. He gave some credit to X obviously and was happy with how Kobe played, but otherwise was pretty disappointed in their performance.

[LoyalZIP]

Yup. Groce not happy, told the team they were very fortunate to win. And they will not win with that effort on Saturday. OU wants to kick our behinds. And they’ve got some talent. 

[clarkwgriswold]

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2023/01/25/akron-zips-basketball-score-miami-ohio-xavier-castaneda-mid-american-conference-leading-scorer/69836878007/

Edited January 25, 2023 by clarkwgriswold

[gozips19]

Man that was an ugly win but I'll take it. 

This team has struggled to shoot from outside the arch with regularity for 2 + yrs now. 

Most teams aggressively double Freeman the second he touches the ball and dare the rest of the team to beat them. 

That leads me to this question. Can Kobe be the guy to keep defense's honest? 

If so what does that do for min for either Tibble or Hankerson? 

How much net gain does that provide as they lose quite a bit defensively. 

 

Just some thoughts as the season progresses. They need a third option or they'll have issues beating the upper teams in the MAC 

[LoyalZIP]

There was a stretch in the 2nd half last night where the Zips would normally pull alway from teams. The inside-out game was working to perfection, creating all kinds of open looks. Hank and Kobe were hitting, as was X. The bigger issue was at the defensive end. They did not execute and Miami was able to match them basket for basket in the 2nd half in crunch time. That’s far more glaring an issue than the shooters having an off night, as they’ve had many recently. 
 

Last night was the first time X began to really remind me of LCJ. Any small window he had to fire up an open shot, he did. And he made them. He willed us to that win. He’s a special player, a fierce competitor. 

[1981 grad]

1 hour ago, LoyalZIP said:

There was a stretch in the 2nd half last night where the Zips would normally pull alway from teams. The inside-out game was working to perfection, creating all kinds of open looks. Hank and Kobe were hitting, as was X. The bigger issue was at the defensive end. They did not execute and Miami was able to match them basket for basket in the 2nd half in crunch time. That’s far more glaring an issue than the shooters having an off night, as they’ve had many recently. 
 

Last night was the first time X began to really remind me of LCJ. Any small window he had to fire up an open shot, he did. And he made them. He willed us to that win. He’s a special player, a fierce competitor. 

I agree with you that our defense was not very good last night as Miami shot over 50% last night.  However, Hankerson was not hitting the 3 point shots as he went 2 for 10.  At the end of the game X was scoring from the outside when our center would set a screen and their center, all 300 pounds of him, was slow to get around the screen leaving X with some wide open looks.  I have been disappointed with Hankerson's play in that if he is cold from the outside he has no inside game.  At least Hunter scored a couple of baskets inside when he kept drawing blanks from the 3 line.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, LoyalZIP said:

There was a stretch in the 2nd half last night where the Zips would normally pull alway from teams. The inside-out game was working to perfection, creating all kinds of open looks. Hank and Kobe were hitting, as was X. The bigger issue was at the defensive end. They did not execute and Miami was able to match them basket for basket in the 2nd half in crunch time. That’s far more glaring an issue than the shooters having an off night, as they’ve had many recently. 
 

Last night was the first time X began to really remind me of LCJ. Any small window he had to fire up an open shot, he did. And he made them. He willed us to that win. He’s a special player, a fierce competitor. 

 

X is the reason we can never be counted out. 

[ZippyRulz]

7 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

X is the reason we can never be counted out. 

 

That said, he will need more help at some point in Cleveland, IMHO.

 

[clarkwgriswold]

I liked how Miami mixed up defending Enrique last night.  Sometimes they ran the double immediately at him and sometimes they didn't.  By mixing it up, they made it a little tougher for the Zips.

 

After 20 games, I still can't see much of a reason for any opponent to not focus their defensive efforts on X and Enrique.  No one else has stepped up enough that I would do anything other than send double teams at Enrique and put my best perimeter defender on X, deny him the ball and trap him whenever possible.

[Captain Kangaroo]

58 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

Hankerson was not hitting the 3 point shots as he went 2 for 10.  At the end of the game X was scoring from the outside when our center would set a screen and their center, all 300 pounds of him, was slow to get around the screen leaving X with some wide open looks.  I have been disappointed with Hankerson's play in that if he is cold from the outside he has no inside game.  At least Hunter scored a couple of baskets inside when he kept drawing blanks from the 3 line.

When Hankerson arrived I was hoping he'd be more offensively assertive, like Cheese or Banks. I thought he'd be our leading scorer on occasion and be enough of a threat to open things up for Freeman and X. But he just isn't. He's always looking to pass, even when he has an open lay up. I think that what hurts his 3-point shot too...unless he's WIDE open he's thinking "who can I pass it to?" instead of "I'm draining this thing." He needs to be more offensively "selfish" (in a good way).

 

He's shot zero free throws in 8 of our last 9 games, yet he's a 75% FT shooter? That's not right.

 

He seems like a great kid. He's a dogged defender. I wish he looked for his own shot more on offense though.

[1981 grad]

29 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

When Hankerson arrived I was hoping he'd be more offensively assertive, like Cheese or Banks. I thought he'd be our leading scorer on occasion and be enough of a threat to open things up for Freeman and X. But he just isn't. He's always looking to pass, even when he has an open lay up. I think that what hurts his 3-point shot too...unless he's WIDE open he's thinking "who can I pass it to?" instead of "I'm draining this thing." He needs to be more offensively "selfish" (in a good way).

 

He's shot zero free throws in 8 of our last 9 games, yet he's a 75% FT shooter? That's not right.

 

He seems like a great kid. He's a dogged defender. I wish he looked for his own shot more on offense though.

I am sure he is a great guy.  I would take Ali over Hankerson or Hunter because Ali could score inside driving to the hoop or backing his player and getting a layup.  (He did dribble too much and turn over the ball but he could penetrate and shoot)   Unfortunately, both Hunter and Hankerson are turning into three point specialist (Trimble but with defense and better attitude) and when they are on the floor at the same time and cannot hit a 3 ball we start out like yesterday with 2 points in the first 5 minutes and 6 missed three pointers.  There has been a pattern of slow starts when we cannot bury the 3 ball.  They do not get to the foul line because they are both perimeter players with no inside game.  I will give Hunter credit he made 2 short jumpers and had a dunk on a great feed from Tribble yesterday.  For this team to repeat we will need Hunter or Hankerson to become better shooters, one of the Johnsons to step up and be consistent player, or maybe Kobe is the answer to our shooting problems.

[kreed5120]

Reality of the situation is I think for the remainder of the season it's going to be Castaneda and Freeman as the given on any given night. From there Groce is going to have to identify who else has the hot hand and ride them. Hankerson, Hunter, Tavari, Tribble, and Kobe have all had some great games shooting, but none have shown the consistency to be a 3rd or 4th scorer on a night in and out basis.

[GP1]

4 hours ago, gozips19 said:

Man that was an ugly win but I'll take it. 

I laughed a little when I saw this sentence. I wonder how many times over the years an Akron fan has said/posted this or something similar after an Akron vs Miami game. 

[gozips19]

7 minutes ago, GP1 said:

I laughed a little when I saw this sentence. I wonder how many times over the years an Akron fan has said/posted this or something similar after an Akron vs Miami game. 

So true! 

[NWAkron]

I like this snapshot in time.  I think this is after X made a 3 to go up 5 with 53 secs left.  Everyone looks happy but Groce.  I was still nervous as well.

[GP1]

15 hours ago, NWAkron said:

I like this snapshot in time.  I think this is after X made a 3 to go up 5 with 53 secs left.  Everyone looks happy but Groce.  I was still nervous as well.

I didn't see the final score, but if this game was like past Miami/Akron games, I assume the Zips went up something like 21-16.

[NWAkron]

3 hours ago, GP1 said:

I didn't see the final score, but if this game was like past Miami/Akron games, I assume the Zips went up something like 21-16.

this was at the end of the game.  Zips up 63-58 or something.  about 55 seconds left and everyone was like...yeah we got this.  The way it was going, Groce wasn't so sure.