Game 17- Western Michigan

[Let'sGoZips94]

20 & 14 from Freeman tonight. His nation leading 13.1 RPG will go up, and he will keep pace with Woolbright of Western Carolina with a co-leading 15 double doubles on the season (note: Freeman has played 1 less game than Woolbright). 

 

Say it with me ZipsNation.

 

ALL. AMERICAN.

[clarkwgriswold]

Groce said in the post-game that an illness is going through the team.  Tribble missed the last two practices then gutted out 16 minutes.  Even Groce is sick.

 

Dawson getting on the floor for that loose ball tonight was the play of the game.

[Reslife4Life]

Groce sounded very sick on the post game. Hopefully they can heal quick before Friday

[clarkwgriswold]

8 minutes ago, Reslife4Life said:

Groce sounded very sick on the post game. Hopefully they can heal quick before Friday

Between his sickness and the number of times he had to yell at the refs tonight he was pretty hoarse!

[Westie]

Did he say how long they expect Nate Johnson to be out?

 

Good veteran team win tonight. Down two starters in the second half. Gave up a 9-point lead then made a great surge

[Illini Zip]

3 hours ago, Westie said:

Did he say how long they expect Nate Johnson to be out?

 

Good veteran team win tonight. Down two starters in the second half. Gave up a 9-point lead then made a great surge

Groce said Nate will likely be out a couple of weeks and hopefully not many weeks. Something like that. 
 

Edit: Groce was more specific in the TV postgame interview. He said 6 weeks, hopefully less. Ugh!!

Edited January 17, 2024 by Illini Zip

[NWAkron]

11 minutes ago, Westie said:

Did he say how long they expect Nate Johnson to be out?

 

Good veteran team win tonight. Down two starters in the second half. Gave up a 9-point lead then made a great surge

Refs helped close that gap.

[Blue & Gold]

 

[zipnetter1951]

1 hour ago, LZIp said:

Good team win IMO. Not necessarily by just beating the opponent, but how we did. Enrique kept us afloat early, Sammy and Ali took it home, and everyone else played good minutes.

Agree, was good team win, but offense really struggled in 1st half,all they did was pass it inside to Freeman who was double-teamed, no effort to find the open man. Midway thru 2nd half they discovered the other 4 players. Maybe illness and fatigue was a factor but 1st half play has been a factor all year and at some point it will cost them a game.

 

[Westie]

Groce said 6 weeks for Nate Johnson. That would mean he would be back about two weeks before the MAC Tournament. Tough break but hopefully it works out that he’s rested and gets his game back for Cleveland 

[NWAkron]

We've seen a couple of good/re-surgent MAC programs come into the JAR in BG and WMU.  Both games played out the same.  These games remind me of those early round NCAA games where the 15 seed keeps it close with the 2 seed for about 25 minutes of playing time only for #2 to get some big plays and pull away.  The line of the game -14.5 was probably about right and didn't take into account the flu and a broken hand.  Seems like when one of those guys makes a big play the others get going.  We've seen a few Zips teams in the past miss the chances to put teams away.  These guys made a few transition 3s that are daggers.  I liked having Liles in.  And Tavari, whom I'm never sure about, steps up when he's called upon.   From my perspective, which is often wrong, Groce seems to be managing the game to keep Freeman out of foul trouble.  

 

As for Friday, Clark we are waiting...no expectations.  These guys aren't feeling well and Coach Groce's dad is in bad shape.  Kent is also struggling with issues.  Fortunately, the Zips don't have to travel far this weekend and can be healthier for when Clark's friend Jeff Boals and the Kittens crawl into town Tuesday.

[clarkwgriswold]

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2024/01/17/akron-zips-mens-basketball-score-western-michigan-enrique-freeman-stats-sammy-hunter-ali-ali/72245876007/

[Zippy87]

2 hours ago, NWAkron said:

We've seen a couple of good/re-surgent MAC programs come into the JAR in BG and WMU.  Both games played out the same.  These games remind me of those early round NCAA games where the 15 seed keeps it close with the 2 seed for about 25 minutes of playing time only for #2 to get some big plays and pull away.  The line of the game -14.5 was probably about right and didn't take into account the flu and a broken hand.  Seems like when one of those guys makes a big play the others get going.  We've seen a few Zips teams in the past miss the chances to put teams away.  These guys made a few transition 3s that are daggers.  I liked having Liles in.  And Tavari, whom I'm never sure about, steps up when he's called upon.   From my perspective, which is often wrong, Groce seems to be managing the game to keep Freeman out of foul trouble.  

 

As for Friday, Clark we are waiting...no expectations.  These guys aren't feeling well and Coach Groce's dad is in bad shape.  Kent is also struggling with issues.  Fortunately, the Zips don't have to travel far this weekend and can be healthier for when Clark's friend Jeff Boals and the Kittens crawl into town Tuesday.

 

I wasn't aware of this, has he had ongoing health issues?

[Illini Zip]

I just got to watch the replay and the player post-game interviews. Definitely a complete team win. That said, I want to give a shout out to Sammy Hunter. I think that might have been his best all around game. He has hit a lot of threes in the past, but he is playing defense better, rebounding better, driving better, shooting mid-range better. He's making great strides, keep it up!!

[Captain Kangaroo]

21 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

I just got to watch the replay and the player post-game interviews. Definitely a complete team win. That said, I want to give a shout out to Sammy Hunter. I think that might have been his best all around game. He has hit a lot of threes in the past, but he is playing defense better, rebounding better, driving better, shooting mid-range better. He's making great strides, keep it up!!

There's 27 minutes per game up for grabs over the next 6 weeks due to Nate's injury. We'll see if he takes advantage of his share.

 

If this team is going to do something special in March he's the X factor that's got the potential to torch P5 teams who decide to focus on Ali and Freeman. 

 

Speaking of Ali - he actually played like he wanted to take over the game in the last 7 minutes. Dawson's steal lit a fire under him. I want to see that angry, aggressive Ali for the remainder of this season. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

There's 27 minutes per game up for grabs over the next 6 weeks due to Nate's injury. We'll see if he takes advantage of his share.

 

If this team is going to do something special in March he's the X factor that's got the potential to torch P5 teams who decide to focus on Ali and Freeman. 

 

Speaking of Ali - he actually played like he wanted to take over the game in the last 7 minutes. Dawson's steal lit a fire under him. I want to see that angry, aggressive Ali for the remainder of this season. 

 

I made a similar comment to my dad that this is an Ali Ali takeover game at the end - you could see it in his eyes. He was in control for the most part, which was great to see. 

[Blue & Gold]

Western looked pretty tough. It was a good game last night.  

 

[clarkwgriswold]

That Brown kid as a load.  He hadn't played since 12/16.  UConn to Texas A&M to WMU.  Quite a journey.

[LoyalZIP]

2 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

That Brown kid as a load.  He hadn't played since 12/16.  UConn to Texas A&M to WMU.  Quite a journey.

He was made eligible then, but has been playing off the bench. Strange management of his minutes. He could’ve scored a lot more if not for missing those 2 footers early. He allegedly makes a ton of NIL money at WMU. 

[clarkwgriswold]

On 1/16/2024 at 10:10 PM, zipnetter1951 said:

Agree, was good team win, but offense really struggled in 1st half,all they did was pass it inside to Freeman who was double-teamed, no effort to find the open man. Midway thru 2nd half they discovered the other 4 players. Maybe illness and fatigue was a factor but 1st half play has been a factor all year and at some point it will cost them a game.

 

I did see Freeman during a break in the action urge his teammates to keep moving when he had the ball in the post.

[1981 grad]

I

13 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I did see Freeman during a break in the action urge his teammates to keep moving when he had the ball in the post.

I still see zip players breaking into the paint when he has the ball.  It never happens and just clogs the lane for an easy double or triple team.   They need to move on the perimeter and not clog the paint.

[clarkwgriswold]

15 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

I

I still see zip players breaking into the paint when he has the ball.  It never happens and just clogs the lane for an easy double or triple team.   They need to move on the perimeter and not clog the paint.

The team has had a tendency over the years to get caught watching, instead of moving, when the ball goes into the post or Ali starts backing his defender down.

[clarkwgriswold]

On 1/17/2024 at 8:42 PM, LoyalZIP said:

He was made eligible then, but has been playing off the bench. Strange management of his minutes. He could’ve scored a lot more if not for missing those 2 footers early. He allegedly makes a ton of NIL money at WMU. 

Good call.  I just looked and I  initially read the game stats backwards and saw 12/16 as his last rather than first game.  WMU has some nice bigs but I;d sure play that kid more than the 18 minutes a game he's been averaging.

[MDZip]

On 1/16/2024 at 8:29 PM, csims0917 said:

https://x.com/zipsmbb/status/1747427495480009057?s=46

For those they maybe didn't look at this it was a note that Freeman has scored in double figures in 31 straight games which broke a record from Joe Jakubick in 1984.  Not surprising that Freeman does something like that but kind of surprising no other Zip has ever done it.