Game 28- PCCC

[ClevelandZip]

Great game! I’m glad “the Brain” is Akron’s coach.

[NWAkron]

Hornbeak was in the game when Kent was dominating inside and went up 10 (?) late in 2nd half.  Watching reply, announcers were wondering why he wasn't in during crunch time.

[NWAkron]

One of the saddest posts ever on Bobcat Attack:

 

    RE: Basketball games not involving Ohio 24/25

  Posted: 2/28/2025 11:10:20 PM 

Akron just beat Kent.

[roopride]

6 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Hornbeak was in the game when Kent was dominating inside and went up 10 (?) late in 2nd half.  Watching reply, announcers were wondering why he wasn't in during crunch time.

Saw them working his leg in the 2nd half.  On the floor stretching it 

[Illini Zip]

1 hour ago, GP1 said:

This happens a lot. Replay ruins the fan experience and should be eliminated, but that's another topic. 

I am fine with it for the last 2 minutes of a game especially since the rule came into effect due to Illinois getting hosed in Groce’s first year as their coach. (NCAAT, first game against Miami, FL) The whole nation lit up social media, but the officials at that time were not allowed to overturn an egregious call.

 

Edited Saturday at 02:46 PM by Illini Zip

[Hilltopper]

Our offense looked stagnant because Kent ran a double team at Tavari everytime he touched the ball in the backcourt. It wasn't a trap but more of a 2 man zone. That resulted in a lot of dribbling. 

 

I was shocked at the end when Sullinger passed up several open 3 looks. 

 

I too was surprised when Hornbeak was not in the game at the end. We had no answer for him most of the second half.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, GP1 said:

This happens a lot. Replay ruins the fan experience and should be eliminated, but that's another topic. 

 

Yeah, the fan experience is so much better with blown calls that alter games/results. 

 

5 minutes ago, Hilltopper said:

Our offense looked stagnant because Kent ran a double team at Tavari everytime he touched the ball in the backcourt. It wasn't a trap but more of a 2 man zone. That resulted in a lot of dribbling. 

 

I was shocked at the end when Sullinger passed up several open 3 looks. 

 

I too was surprised when Hornbeak was not in the game at the end. We had no answer for him most of the second half.

 

Tavari has a horrible habit of dribbling backwards when he faces pressure, especially double teams or any sort of help defense. I wish he would use his size advantage and push through the cracks to penetrate the defense. He's slippery and quick; pushing through the press would break that defense and make teams think twice about employing that tactic. 

 

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

For most of the game, PCCC out-physicaled the Zips and did things like get all of the odd bounce rebounds and loose balls, buy when it came to crunch time the Zips made the necessary plays while PCCC wilted.

 

One thing overlooked in the win was Seth Wilson's defense on Davis.  He really bodied him up and by and large shut him down.  Davis ended up with only 9 points for a total of 16 points in two games against the Zips.  

 

One thing I again saw and enjoyed was that when the Zips would make their runs the PCCC players would immediately start griping at each other.

 

Is there any more of a beautiful sight than a dejected Mr. Pinky?

 

Add this to the number of reasons he was my MVP. 

[1981 grad]

10 hours ago, Westie said:

Great crowd.

The flagrant foul call ignited Akron. Groce flipped out. The lead was 9 at that point and then the Zips really dug in

I watched that play on replay.  Okonkwo was in the post trying to get position and the Kent player pushed him out of the lane and he stumbled backwards and no call.  Okonkwo comes back and put a shoulder into the Kent player on the box out and Kent player flops.  Foul on Okonkwo.  They call the retaliation and not the original foul.  Even the announcers indicated it was a physical game and the refs were letting them play so that should have been a no call and not a flagrant.  Need to enroll Okonkwo in an acting class.  If he goes down on the first shove the ref blows the whistle and he gets the call.   

[Illini Zip]

12 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Maybe an irrelevant observation, but Jojo Harris has been the guy that interacts with the players as they're announced.  Not tonight.  It was Zach, and I haven't seen Harris anywhere.

Has anyone filed a Missing Person Report? Seriously, what do we know?

[clarkwgriswold]

One area the Zips need to work on is when Amani draws defenders cutting to the basket.  With the emphasis on stopping the Zips threes, teams are trapping our guards with the guard and the big man on the screens out top.  This is allowing Amani to cut to the basket without the big following and getting an open pass while he cuts.  Kent did a nice job of help defense in collapsing other defenders to stop Amani and last night he occasionally unsuccessfully went at the defenders.  In those situations, there will be at least one open guy on the baseline, corner or on the wing.  One more pass would bring easy uncovered shots.

[NWAkron]

38 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

One area the Zips need to work on is when Amani draws defenders cutting to the basket.  With the emphasis on stopping the Zips threes, teams are trapping our guards with the guard and the big man on the screens out top.  This is allowing Amani to cut to the basket without the big following and getting an open pass while he cuts.  Kent did a nice job of help defense in collapsing other defenders to stop Amani and last night he occasionally unsuccessfully went at the defenders.  In those situations, there will be at least one open guy on the baseline, corner or on the wing.  One more pass would bring easy uncovered shots.

oh.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Bowen Hartman had his best game as a Zip last night. Timely 3’s, drove in for an open layup, pretty pocket pass to Nate, and was adequate on defense. Be nice if that kind of impact became a trend. That’s the Bowen we’ll need in Cleveland!

[ewbrooman1]

3 hours ago, ClevelandZip said:

Great game! I’m glad “the Brain” is Akron’s coach.

🎶One is a genius, the other's insane🎶 😄

[1981 grad]

13 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Bowen Hartman had his best game as a Zip last night. Timely 3’s, drove in for an open layup, pretty pocket pass to Nate, and was adequate on defense. Be nice if that kind of impact became a trend. That’s the Bowen we’ll need in Cleveland!

I give him credit for scoring in the paint which is a rarity with him but he also forced up a couple of three balls.  Also, stating his defense was adequate is generous as he got beat to the basket a couple of plays.  Most importantly, he has to hit the boards and pick up a least 1 rebound in 14 minutes.  He is one of our best 3 point shooters but he needs to move better on defense and show more toughness to log more minutes.

[HoopsFan03]

15 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

I give him credit for scoring in the paint which is a rarity with him but he also forced up a couple of three balls.  Also, stating his defense was adequate is generous as he got beat to the basket a couple of plays.  Most importantly, he has to hit the boards and pick up a least 1 rebound in 14 minutes.  He is one of our best 3 point shooters but he needs to move better on defense and show more toughness to log more minutes.

Was that his 1st 2 pointer of the year?

[Illini Zip]

1 minute ago, HoopsFan03 said:

Was that his 1st 2 pointer of the year?

No, but close. I believe he has a dunk too. 

[Illini Zip]

11 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

Some observations:

 

- Okonkwo and Young both players so hard and with so much energy. I love it. I'm hoping Young didn't tweak anything...he was walking a bit gingerly at one point. 

- The growth of Tavari Johnson has been fun to watch. He's shown glimpses of it before, but he's finally put it all together this season. 

- Helluva game for Shammah - 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. 

- Still a bit too much iso offense. Hopefully we can get to better ball movement before Cleveland. We remain cold from deep, too - we've only shot north of 30% from 3 once over the last 5 games. 

- Gray hasn't had a significant impact the last few games. Only 16 minutes tonight. Still playing good defense and rebounding, but not living up to the pre-season All-MAC selection. 

- Odd that I didn't see Josiah Harris there tonight. 

- Loved seeing Ali there, hyping up the crowd. 

I have been concerned about Young for a while now. I guess it was the South Alabama game that he hurt his knee. He is back to playing extremely hard on defense so I guess he’s good to go. But he’s also a true freshman and his body is adjusting to a much longer and physical season. 

[1981 grad]

I thought that the play of the game may have been Scott's steal with seconds winding down in the first half.  Instead of being down by double digits we were only down 7.  I watched the replay of that steal and it was a great spin move but when you slow it down he clearly took 3 steps to get to the basket.  The one thing I have noticed is that if a player is stationary and shuffles his feet, they will call a travel.  However, if the player is driving to the basket with speed, he can get away with the extra step.  (In the NBA they get away with 3-5 steps)  This is especially the case on a steal where the official is trailing the play and is not focused on the players feet but just trying to see if he gets fouled.  

Edited Saturday at 06:48 PM by 1981 grad

[Illini Zip]

I’m watching the replay now myself. And the play in the second half where James turns into “Jimmy” has me thinking about just how much the Zips locker room is going to miss Wilson next year. After the timeout (11:57) Wilson runs right up to Jimmy and chest bumps him. You would think Wilson was a starter by the way the players respond to him getting right into the mix.

[Zippy87]

50 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

I have been concerned about Young for a while now. I guess it was the South Alabama game that he hurt his knee. He is back to playing extremely hard on defense so I guess he’s good to go. But he’s also a true freshman and his body is adjusting to a much longer and physical season. 

 

It doesn't seem like JG's style, but I wouldnt mind sitting him against Buffalo. It would give him 8 days between games to gear up for the MAC Tournament. 

[Illini Zip]

1 minute ago, Zippy87 said:

 

It doesn't seem like JG's style, but I wouldnt mind sitting him against Buffalo. It would give him 8 days between games to gear up for the MAC Tournament. 

Agree. Or at least limit his and some other guys minutes. 

[clarkwgriswold]

Hardman is great when he has time and squares up.  His troubles come when he's drifting right or left in his shooting motion.

 

I've become a fan of Seth Wilson.  He had trouble getting on the floor early in the season and I suspected it was because he hadn't bought in.  However, in the last month or so he's getting on the floor for loose balls, bodying up and hustling on defense and been actively involved with is teammates.  If you saw the pregame video of him in the hallway before the team came out last night you could see him pumping up the team.   He's become much more of a contributor than I expected him to be.

 

Sharron appeared to reinjure his knee on the fast break layup when he was fouled and went to the floor.  He hobbled to the bench from there.

 

Shamon's steal and basket to end the half was huge.  Tavari had two huge plays late with the 3 as three as the shot clock expired and the layup as the clock expired.  Amani taking the charge was huge too. 

 

Groce stopped in the handshake line and took extra time to talk to Sullinger.  I like how he does that.

 

The Beacon/Ohio.com article was odd in that it focused a lot on Mr. Pinky and his thoughts on the game with little or nothing from Groce.  Maybe it's because they wanted to get out of there and Groce was busy cutting down nets! 

 

I thought Bud was going to get a T last night!

Edited Saturday at 07:53 PM by clarkwgriswold

[NWAkron]

Looks like Zips have dethroned the Rockets.   Out right champions with Miami loss.

[zipsrule]

21 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Looks like Zips have dethroned the Rockets.   Out right champions with Miami loss.

Miami lost to Ohio, 75-66.

[Illini Zip]

51 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I thought Bud was going to get a T last night!

That’s funny. Please elaborate. 
 

 

Edited Saturday at 08:28 PM by Illini Zip