Zippy87 Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 Hopefully Ali Ali is in uniform soon. Desperately need more scoring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted November 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 Here's hoping they still show a little fight for the rest of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 Gimme some Evan Wilson! F the Synchmygame.com commercial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 Who has more points? Hilltopper or Dawson? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 Can we get a picture with the 4th place trophy when the team returns? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reslife4Life Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 Akron challenge: Do better than 1-2 on a November tournament. Impossible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 This team needs one of the guards to step forward and make some shots when things go bad. We need a X type player to step up. Seems like we penetrate and go nowhere and then pass it back to the perimeter and miss an open three. Not a real good flow to the offense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoyalZIP Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 4 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said: Can we get a picture with the 4th place trophy when the team returns? Hang a banner in the JAR. “Back-to-Back Cayman Islands Classic 4th Place Finisher” 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 We’re Drake’s Heidelberg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reslife4Life Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 Thinking about it, shouldn’t we actually be 5th place? There’s is a team in the losers bracket that went 2-1, but just happened to lose first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 1 minute ago, Reslife4Life said: Thinking about it, shouldn’t we actually be 5th place? There’s is a team in the losers bracket that went 2-1, but just happened to lose first Damn…if true, that would suck! 😡 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reslife4Life Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 0 threes made in the second half. 5-21 overall, not doing yourself a lot of favors like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monrowe Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 JG teams have overachieved since he’s been at Akron.The best player on the team is a walk on.The problem with Akron is strength & conditioning along with recruiting a serviceable big.The Zips run out of gas to oftentimes like yesterday and tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoyalZIP Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 4 minutes ago, monrowe said: JG teams have overachieved since he’s been at Akron.The best player on the team is a walk on.The problem with Akron is strength & conditioning along with recruiting a serviceable big.The Zips run out of gas to oftentimes like yesterday and tonight. Of all the things wrong with these last two days, you fail to make a single point that has any relevance. Overachieved? What does that mean? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 When was the last time Enrique had only 3 rebounds? Ever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reslife4Life Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 20 minutes ago, monrowe said: JG teams have overachieved since he’s been at Akron.The best player on the team is a walk on.The problem with Akron is strength & conditioning along with recruiting a serviceable big.The Zips run out of gas to oftentimes like yesterday and tonight. If winning a MAC championship is overachieving, that's good enough for me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBlu Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 26 minutes ago, monrowe said: JG teams have overachieved since he’s been at Akron.The best player on the team is a walk on.The problem with Akron is strength & conditioning along with recruiting a serviceable big.The Zips run out of gas to oftentimes like yesterday and tonight. All of the above is true ... what is scary is, so far, when Freeman is not a double-double the rest of the team suddenly looks very ordinary. Even w/Ali ... a look into the future shows the Zips not only need a solid post player, but a true PF that can both score and rebound as well as a go-to guard. Groce has proven he can find quality guards, so no problem there. But a ready to play PF and and post man -- both in the same class -- might be a lot to ask, based on recent history. But that's down the road. Get Ali in the mix this season and the Zips probably make a jump no other team in the league can match. Yet based on early-November MAC results I would stack the MAC like this: Toledo Northern Illinois 'Akron Kent Ohio then everybody else. That's based not just on record, but how teams have looked in their WORST games, not just their best. I give Zips the edge over Kent. While Kent has not had a true blowout loss, it has already shown it can give a game away, which might be even worse than a blowout loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted November 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 Bandaogo was the Zips next big man up and he opted to transfer. I suspect he didn't want to be a backup to the best big man in the MAC. Baker is the next one up and could really be a good one but apparently he was not ready and decided to red shirt. I have to trust Groce on that one. The Zips are fortunate to have the best big man in the MAC, a league that has trouble attracting quality big men. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reslife4Life Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 Utah State beats SFA 79-49 Crazy 4 results from the winners bracket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBlu Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 33 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: Bandaogo was the Zips next big man up and he opted to transfer. I suspect he didn't want to be a backup to the best big man in the MAC. Baker is the next one up and could really be a good one but apparently he was not ready and decided to red shirt. I have to trust Groce on that one. The Zips are fortunate to have the best big man in the MAC, a league that has trouble attracting quality big men. The MAC has had some interesting big men during Groce's tenure at Akron: The big kid during Buffalo's run was actually a sixth man ... Toledo has had a couple of solid bigs, actually three, who were more face-up post players than bangers ... Ohio had Wilson ... Kent had Jimmy Hall, DeLarosa, Pippen, now Payton and each of those guys is different. Eastern had that real good post guy but not much around him ... I guess the key is to find a guy you can put the right pieces with to be successful. Bandaogo and Freeman did not gel together because, IMO, both were (1) young and (2) both post players. I'm guessing Freeman would much easier be a 4-man now than earlier in his career. Whatever, ..... the portal should make it easier for a coach with Groce's success to find what the Zips need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy87 Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 I think this is a bit of a flawed roster and it has some odd construction. Of the 8 players in the current rotation, 5 are guards (Tribble, T. Johnson, N. Johnson, Scott, Thornton), one is a true wing (Dawson), one is a stretch big who is allergic to the paint (Hunter), and one is our star big (Freeman). Of the remaining scholarship players, one is in transfer limbo (Ali), one isn't trusted to be out there right now (Lyles), one has apparently had an assortment of injuries (Prather), and two are redshirting (Baker, MMK). I would've added another big instead of getting both Thornton and Scott, but it is what it is now. I still think that, with Ali, this team could be really good. I just don't think they'll come without flaws that I'm not sure can be corrected easily. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 Somehow missing this game for my night driving around looking for a range to save Thanksgiving and arranging delivery tomorrow doesn’t seem so bad now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBlu Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 27 minutes ago, RoyalBlu said: The MAC has had some interesting big men during Groce's tenure at Akron: The big kid during Buffalo's run was actually a sixth man ... Toledo has had a couple of solid bigs, actually three, who were more face-up post players than bangers ... Ohio had Wilson ... Kent had Jimmy Hall, DeLarosa, Pippen, now Payton and each of those guys is different. Eastern had that real good post guy but not much around him ... I guess the key is to find a guy you can put the right pieces with to be successful. Bandaogo and Freeman did not gel together because, IMO, both were (1) young and (2) both post players. I'm guessing Freeman would much easier be a 4-man now than earlier in his career. Whatever, ..... the portal should make it easier for a coach with Groce's success to find what the Zips need. Sorry ... What I didn't mention is most of those guys (Wilson, Shumate and one other at Toledo, Hall, DeLarosa, Payton) were/are all transfers. So those guys are out there if you can find one that fits what you want. BG, Toledo, WMU, EMU just to name four all have transfer bigs this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted November 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 The tournament results were certainly disappointing but not all is lost. Here are the Zips early season tournament results since 2018: 2018- Caymans- 1-2 2019- DC Hoops Fest- 1-1 2020- None 2021- Gulf Coast Showcase- 1-2 2022- Caymans- 1-2 2023- Caymans- 1-2 We'd all love to see them win these tournaments but I think the better view, based upon the past, is to look at them as prep for the rest of the season. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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