Game 24- James Madison

[dre22era]

Sunbelt Conference from top to bottom whipped our ass. Embarrassing 

[Zippy87]

2 hours ago, dirtyolcrowe said:

It’s time for Tavari.  He needs more minutes.  He can be the next tribble in developing his shot by playing more.  
I said the same thing last year about Tribble and he’s such a better player from running offense to creating his own shot.  
The time  is now. 

 

100% agree. It's been time. Thornton gives you some solid defense and he can run the offense, but he's too passive, can't penetrate and break a defense down, and teams are fine with doubling Freeman and him shooting it from outside. Rotations with both he and Scott are extra rough.

 

It's been said already bur we need Dawson and Hunter to step up. 1-10 combined from deep tonight.

[AkronAlumnus]

& we didn't even cover. Smh

[AkronAlumnus]

Need a shooter too

[clarkwgriswold]

At the end of the day, the Zips just got beat by a better team.  JMU ran their offense more efficiently, shot the ball better, distributed the ball better, rebounded it better and played better defense.  They were the more talented team.

 

The Zips are a good team relative to the other teams in a conference arguably not in the top 20 conferences in the country.  Are they a top 75 team, maybe.  Can they make the tournament and compete early, maybe.  With their shortcomings, they're still the MAC favorite and our Zips and I trust Groce and staff to work with the team they have and figure out ways to offset the shortcomings.

[Westie]

Sure would be nice to get N. Johnson back with a few games left before the tourney. Didn’t JG say 6 weeks and it’s been 4? 
 

JMU was the better team but if Akron shoots just badly and not atrociously badly :), it’s a tight game close to the end. Zips were throwing rocks and down 45-42 midway through the second half. 

[Illini Zip]

21 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

At the end of the day, the Zips just got beat by a better team.  JMU ran their offense more efficiently, shot the ball better, distributed the ball better, rebounded it better and played better defense.  They were the more talented team.

 

The Zips are a good team relative to the other teams in a conference arguably not in the top 20 conferences in the country.  Are they a top 75 team, maybe.  Can they make the tournament and compete early, maybe.  With their shortcomings, they're still the MAC favorite and our Zips and I trust Groce and staff to work with the team they have and figure out ways to offset the shortcomings.

 

I agree, but I wouldn't be that afraid to run it back against them. Especially on a neutral court. I say that only because I don't know if the physical tone they set on defense holds up if they are not the home team. And as others have stated we did have wide open looks and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn last night. We do have shortcomings to overcome for sure.

[Blue & Gold]

1 hour ago, Westie said:

 

JMU was the better team but if Akron shoots just badly and not atrociously badly :), it’s a tight game close to the end. Zips were throwing rocks and down 45-42 midway through the second half. 

If only we could just shoot badly and not atrociously badly 🤣🤣😭😭😭

[1981 grad]

I know this will not be a popular post but I hate when we play Division 2 or Division 3 teams because it does not give you a true picture of the players or the progress of the team.  You find out who are the players and who are the pretenders when you play tough competition, teams that are better than you.  Teams that if you make the tournament you will have to play.  Here is the box score of 3 players from the Heidelberg game:

 

Dawson, Mikal  9-12  25

Scott, Shammah 5-8 15

Thornton, Kaleb 4-6  11

 

And these guys played a total of 54 minutes yesterday and scored 1 point shooting 0 for 11.  This is the problem confronting Groce.  Not sure what the answer is but hopefully Groce can find the solution.

Edited February 11 by 1981 grad

[tolbob]

 I thought we’d lose by 12. I was close. Lots of shooters, not enough makers. Love that we could play this game. Practices will be brutal this week. 

 

Lots of mistakes but 5 for 29 3's jumps out.  And most 3 point shots were not contested.  Not sure how a brutal practice helps this.  

 

[Illini Zip]

22 minutes ago, tolbob said:

 I thought we’d lose by 12. I was close. Lots of shooters, not enough makers. Love that we could play this game. Practices will be brutal this week. 

 

Lots of mistakes but 5 for 29 3's jumps out.  And most 3 point shots were not contested.  Not sure how a brutal practice helps this.  

 

 

My guess is that Groce feels like we got punk'd last night and didn't answer the challenge to play physically. And he does not like that. Stuff like not boxing out, especially when rebounding free throws or having the ball ripped out of your hands. He calls that getting punk'd. As for last nights game, JMU not only beat us to a spot they pushed us around once they got there. Nothing dirty, just tough - stand your ground - defense. And we had very little response. Hitting more shots from the outside would have loosened that up some.

 

Or Groce might be thinking we are still missing too many defensive assignments on rotations or not following the game plan. If Green was a focus on the scouting report and he goes 4 for 5 from beyond the arc, that alone would be justification for a brutal week of practice. Just a missed opportunity on national television. Plenty more still ahead.

[zipnetter1951]

1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

If only we could just shoot badly and not atrociously badly 🤣🤣😭😭😭

 

[zipnetter1951]

6 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

 

My guess is that Groce feels like we got punk'd last night and didn't answer the challenge to play physically. And he does not like that. Stuff like not boxing out, especially when rebounding free throws or having the ball ripped out of your hands. He calls that getting punk'd. As for last nights game, JMU not only beat us to a spot they pushed us around once they got there. Nothing dirty, just tough - stand your ground - defense. And we had very little response. Hitting more shots from the outside would have loosened that up some.

 

Or Groce might be thinking we are still missing too many defensive assignments on rotations or not following the game plan. If Green was a focus on the scouting report and he goes 4 for 5 from beyond the arc, that alone would be justification for a brutal week of practice. Just a missed opportunity on national television. Plenty more still ahead.

 

[zipnetter1951]

2 minutes ago, zipnetter1951 said:

 

 

[zipnetter1951]

2 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

At the end of the day, the Zips just got beat by a better team.  JMU ran their offense more efficiently, shot the ball better, distributed the ball better, rebounded it better and played better defense.  They were the more talented team.

 

The Zips are a good team relative to the other teams in a conference arguably not in the top 20 conferences in the country.  Are they a top 75 team, maybe.  Can they make the tournament and compete early, maybe.  With their shortcomings, they're still the MAC favorite and our Zips and I trust Groce and staff to work with the team they have and figure out ways to offset the shortcomings.

 

[zipnetter1951]

2 minutes ago, zipnetter1951 said:

 

 

[Illini Zip]

Houston, @zipnetter1951 is having a problem.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, Illini Zip said:

 

My guess is that Groce feels like we got punk'd last night and didn't answer the challenge to play physically. And he does not like that. Stuff like not boxing out, especially when rebounding free throws or having the ball ripped out of your hands. He calls that getting punk'd. As for last nights game, JMU not only beat us to a spot they pushed us around once they got there. Nothing dirty, just tough - stand your ground - defense. And we had very little response. Hitting more shots from the outside would have loosened that up some.

 

Or Groce might be thinking we are still missing too many defensive assignments on rotations or not following the game plan. If Green was a focus on the scouting report and he goes 4 for 5 from beyond the arc, that alone would be justification for a brutal week of practice. Just a missed opportunity on national television. Plenty more still ahead.

 

We played like dog 💩 in almost every facet. Even Freeman played weak at times, not exploding through contact and kicking it out instead of taking the close 2. JMU was the superior team because they chose to be. They chose to play more physical, they chose to execute their game plan, they chose to be great. We had too many players choose to be mediocre. As others have said, we have 1 month to figure out how to become great. I'd imagine Groce is going to make sure there's no room for mental lapses like we saw last night and in Oxford a couple weeks ago. 

Edited February 11 by Let'sGoZips94

[Illini Zip]

5 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

We played like dog 💩 in almost every facet. Even Freeman played weak at times, not exploding through contact and kicking it out instead of taking the close 2. JMU was the superior team because they chose to be. They chose to play more physical, they chose to execute their game plan, they chose to be great. We had too many players choose to be mediocre. As others have said, we have 1 month to figure out how to become great. I'd imagine Groce is going to make sure there's no room for mental lapses like we saw last night and in Oxford a couple weeks ago. 

 

Can't argue with that.

[Reslife4Life]

I think the timing of this game will be beneficial. It was right around this time 2 years ago when we had the 3 game losing streak before going on to win the MAC. I don’t think we will need to kick anyone off the team like Trimble, but have time with the week off to make some changes before the final 7 games of the regular season

[kreed5120]

2 hours ago, Illini Zip said:

 

My guess is that Groce feels like we got punk'd last night and didn't answer the challenge to play physically. And he does not like that. Stuff like not boxing out, especially when rebounding free throws or having the ball ripped out of your hands. He calls that getting punk'd. As for last nights game, JMU not only beat us to a spot they pushed us around once they got there. Nothing dirty, just tough - stand your ground - defense. And we had very little response. Hitting more shots from the outside would have loosened that up some.

 

Or Groce might be thinking we are still missing too many defensive assignments on rotations or not following the game plan. If Green was a focus on the scouting report and he goes 4 for 5 from beyond the arc, that alone would be justification for a brutal week of practice. Just a missed opportunity on national television. Plenty more still ahead.

The blown defensive assignments was what jumped out to me. You will have bad shooting nights over the course of a season. Defense is supposed to be what travels and helps you win on nights your shots aren't falling. JMU tore our defense apart. It seemed every shot they put up was a high percentage opportunity.

[clarkwgriswold]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

The blown defensive assignments was what jumped out to me. You will have bad shooting nights over the course of a season. Defense is supposed to be what travels and helps you win on nights your shots aren't falling. JMU tore our defense apart. It seemed every shot they put up was a high percentage opportunity.

 Amen.  How many easy layups and dunks did they get with simple cuts to the hoop?  It was maddening.

[clarkwgriswold]

AP/Ohio.com/Beacon article-

 

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2024/02/10/ncaa-mens-basketball-akron-zips-james-madison-score-greg-tribble-enrique-freeman-michael-green-iii/72546736007/

Edited February 11 by clarkwgriswold

[zipnetter1951]

4 hours ago, zipnetter1951 said:

 

 

[GP1]

3 hours ago, Illini Zip said:

 

My guess is that Groce feels like we got punk'd last night and didn't answer the challenge to play physically. And he does not like that. Stuff like not boxing out, especially when rebounding free throws or having the ball ripped out of your hands. He calls that getting punk'd. As for last nights game, JMU not only beat us to a spot they pushed us around once they got there. Nothing dirty, just tough - stand your ground - defense. And we had very little response. Hitting more shots from the outside would have loosened that up some.

You're on the money. Until yesterday, my expectation for the Zips was to win the MAC, and I still believe that will happen. It was also to win an NCAA game. After what I saw yesterday, my expectation for the NCAA may be out of reach. JMU struck me as a team with the physicality and mentality to win an NCAA tournament game. 

 

Yesterday I watched Hunter Sallis (Gonzaga transfer) single handedly keep Wake Forest's NCAA hopes alive scoring 33 against NCST. Without him, they are on a one way track to the NIT. I didn't see a single Zip take charge of the game. Do they have a Wally Szczerbiak? I'm old enough to remember him going off for Miami and playing great in March Madness. The MAC has had other good examples with other teams. Akron has some solid players, but no Wally Szczerbiaks. We just don't have a guy with that type of killer instinct.