Game 26- Eastern Michigan

[clarkwgriswold]

The Zips head to Ypsilanti Tuesday to face Stan Heath and his EMU Emonis.  The Emonis stand at 6-18/3-8 heading into today's game at Toledo.

 

As the season has worn on, the Eagles have been more competitive.  They've clearly improved since their 37 point drubbing here when Bates scored a mere 3 points and spent an inordinate amount of time whining and sitting on the bench with a towel over his head.  Even with that poor performance, Bates averages an impressive 21.4 ppg, pressing X for being the league's leading scorer.  He also leads the team in rebounding at 5.5 rpg.   The Eagle have been able to score the ball on occasion but have the MAC's worst defense.

 

Here's hoping this is the game to bring the Zips out of their malaise.

[1981 grad]

Gameday!!!     Gameday???    Nothing quiets this board more than 2 losses in a row.  We went from a high of beating Kent State to a low of losing to Ohio and Toledo.  However, both Toledo and Ohio played really well in beating the Zips.  A lot of the Zips wins came against teams that did not have great records and did not shoot the ball well against the Zips.  The problems with this team is obvious, in the win against Kent we got production from the entire team.  In the loss against Ohio, we got 8 points from the bench and Hunter was MIA.  And although Hankerson had a good night scoring, most of his points came in the 2nd half when we were already down by 18 points.  Although Groce complained about the defense, it is difficult to contain a team when they get hot from beyond the 3 line and that occurred in the past 2 games.  We need a team effort tonight to right this ship.  Go Zips!!

Edited February 14, 2023 by 1981 grad

[NWAkron]

crickets.

 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by NWAkron

[Blue & Gold]

Just now, NWAkron said:

crickets.

Indeed. After the KSUcks game I was on cloud nine and posting like a madman... then ZN.o took a dump at the most inopportune time! 😭😭  But these last two losses have taken the p!ss out of me.  Hopefully our players have much more mental toughness than I do 😂

[clarkwgriswold]

Here's to Greg Tribble getting up in Emoni's grill and frustrating him all night.  I think a smaller faster aggressive defender is the way to combat Emoni.  Lord knows that coaching staff won't think to post him up! 

[LoyalZIP]

It's been by design for me. Definitely needed to take a step back before that s*** really turns up in a couple weeks. Started to feel a bit too much like the KD days of just winning for the sake of winning. As Groce says, winning can be a darn good deodorant, and winning has covered up some pretty crappy defense at times during MAC play. After the Kent game, the Zips had the top rated defense in league play. They hold that crown no longer. They are now rated #3 in offense and #2 in defense. The sky is not falling, and I'm hoping the reality check has hit this program like a truck. 

 

A trip to Ypsilanti was the proper medicine to spark the longest winning streak to end a season in program history last year. I don't think we'll win out, but some nice roadkill always gets the hopes up. The top of the league will be cheering for the Zips tonight, as nobody wants to see EMU in an NBA arena in March. Go Zips!

[NWAkron]

19 minutes ago, LoyalZIP said:

It's been by design for me. Definitely needed to take a step back before that s*** really turns up in a couple weeks. Started to feel a bit too much like the KD days of just winning for the sake of winning. As Groce says, winning can be a darn good deodorant, and winning has covered up some pretty crappy defense at times during MAC play. After the Kent game, the Zips had the top rated defense in league play. They hold that crown no longer. They are now rated #3 in offense and #2 in defense. The sky is not falling, and I'm hoping the reality check has hit this program like a truck. 

 

A trip to Ypsilanti was the proper medicine to spark the longest winning streak to end a season in program history last year. I don't think we'll win out, but some nice roadkill always gets the hopes up. The top of the league will be cheering for the Zips tonight, as nobody wants to see EMU in an NBA arena in March. Go Zips!

happy valentine's day.  gee, bodily function and odor seems to be the theme of the day.  nice.  I'm with LoyalZip as usual.  Winning for the sake of winning doesn't mean much when the only true goal is to win the MAC tournament.  It may put a few more people in the seats but...well, we know the rest.  I'm not even that worried about the seeding.  This is wide open.  As for tonight, I was 100% indifferent going into EMU last year and had given my tickets away to that home NIU game.   Don't expect much this evening and will check on the score every 30 minutes.  I have my "John's Next Endeavor" and "Has Groce Lost the Team?" threads ready to go at a moment's notice.

Edited February 14, 2023 by NWAkron

[LoyalZIP]

I can't remember another time going into a game against an opponent the Zips previously beat by an insane margin and being worried about a letdown. I'm not sure if that's more an indictment of EMU's effort at the JAR and overall or Akron's Malaise.

[NWAkron]

11 minutes ago, LoyalZIP said:

I can't remember another time going into a game against an opponent the Zips previously beat by an insane margin and being worried about a letdown. I'm not sure if that's more an indictment of EMU's effort at the JAR and overall or Akron's Malaise.

Imagine the "angst and dread" if the Zips were landing in DeKalb right about now.

[clarkwgriswold]

https://gozips.com/news/2023/2/13/mens-basketball-akron-travels-for-rematch-with-eagles

[Blue & Gold]

Think Stan Heath took the time to put together a little game plan tonight?  

 

Will the Emu's continue to guard Tribble out to the 3?  

Will the Emu's continue to guard Freeman one-on-one down low?

[NWAkron]

I guess it's time to face the music.

[Blue & Gold]

Nate over Sammy in the starting 5.

[clarkwgriswold]

4 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Nate over Sammy in the starting 5.

I noticed that.  Waiting to see of Sammy comes in or is out sick.

[Blue & Gold]

1 minute ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I noticed that.  Waiting to see of Sammy comes in or is out sick.

Good point about Sammy possibly being sick. We’ll probably see following this timeout.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Blue & Gold

[1981 grad]

Just now, clarkwgriswold said:

I noticed that.  Waiting to see of Sammy comes in or is out sick.

As much as Nate played against Ohio I am pretty sure Sammy is not sick

[clarkwgriswold]

Sammy in.

[Blue & Gold]

There’s Sammy. He came in for freeman, who has one goul

[Blue & Gold]

Garvin in. He didn’t play much at Ohio IIRC.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Blue & Gold

[clarkwgriswold]

Sammy pretty active.  

[clarkwgriswold]

Nice crowd.

[1981 grad]

Just now, clarkwgriswold said:

Nice crowd.

So glad we decided not to ban sarcasm on the board.

[Blue & Gold]

2 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Sammy pretty active.  

Yes. He missed the shot down low, but it was nice seeing him pump fake & take it down there. He was also wide open rolling to the basket but Hankerson took the shot (and missed) himself.

[1981 grad]

I wish Sammy or Hankerson would learn to finish at the hoop.  If they can't do it against this team it is not going to happen.

[Captain Kangaroo]

EMu sucks. Bates sucks. I’d love to play these lazy, untalented schleps in Cleveland.