Youngstown State Exhibition

[Illini Zip]

9 hours ago, NWAkron said:

Seemless transition from Groce to Ford.  Exhibition so the refs were having some fun with it as well.  First time I've ever heard "Win for Akron" at a basketball game.

Is there a backstory for “Win for Akron”?

[clarkwgriswold]

9 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

We shot 37.5% from 3P tonight. Last year's team finished the season at 37.9%. 

They can certainly shoot it.  It just didn't seem to be as much of an emphasis.

[ZipsFan31]

After sleeping on it. I think the interesting part of the team is Evan Mahaffey. Last year he played the 4 on offense and guarded a 4 on defense. 
 

this year it looked like he was playing the 2 and guarding the best Wing player 

I think that kid can play the 2 he is just not a shot creator. But maybe by March he can be. He is a great Kid and very reliable 

[clarkwgriswold]

43 minutes ago, ZipsFan31 said:

After sleeping on it. I think the interesting part of the team is Evan Mahaffey. Last year he played the 4 on offense and guarded a 4 on defense. 
 

this year it looked like he was playing the 2 and guarding the best Wing player 

I think that kid can play the 2 he is just not a shot creator. But maybe by March he can be. He is a great Kid and very reliable 

 

He also spent quite a bit of time covering their 5'10" point guard.  I think he's intended to be the stopper, guarding the other team's best offensive player regardless of position.  Overall, I think the nature of this team will make it difficult to sort out definable positions for anyone other than the guards and Barrre/Burton.

[NWAkron]

Chabi is no Deng Riak.  That's for sure.

[NWAkron]

2 hours ago, Illini Zip said:

Is there a backstory for “Win for Akron”?

not really.  It's like a secondary fight song that's only been played at football games.  Was just different hearing it at basketball.

[Let'sGoZips94]

3 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

 

Love the offensive philosophy - doesn't really matter the shot selection as long as you're rebounding. 

[blueandgold]

3 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Chabi is no Deng Riak.  That's for sure.

Hopefully he has better hands though. 

[clarkwgriswold]

They also dug up the old cartoon promo of Zippy beating up on the other MAC mascots!

[kreed5120]

Buddy 1st rotation in the game was a bit rough as he seemed to get bullied by the bigger YSU C. He seemed to respond his second stint in the game and carried it through throughout the rest of the game. Like Evan it seems he's a high motor player. While I might not want him guarding opposing teams guards on a consistent basis he's more than capable of switching on them when gameplan necessitates without being a complete liability.

 

We definitely have the pieces where we can plan truly positionless basketball.

[NWAkron]

10 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

 

We definitely have the pieces where we can plan truly positionless basketball.

No need for serviceable back up bigs when the play is "positionless."

[Reslife4Life]

8 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

Difference in Groce vs Ford for @Illini Zip Ford goes for a postgame Pepsi Zero, Groce was usually a Dr. Pepper guy

[Let'sGoZips94]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DfCx01iETGF/?img_index=2&psln=ZWI4aXp0eGhpOWw3

 

Some additional highlights for Tahj. He is SMOOTH.

[exit322]

8 hours ago, Reslife4Life said:

Difference in Groce vs Ford for @Illini Zip Ford goes for a postgame Pepsi Zero, Groce was usually a Dr. Pepper guy

 

Mmm, Diet Pepsi is the superior zero sugar Pepsi (though I'm personally a man of class, I drink Diet Dew).  But this isn't bad.

[johnnyzip84]

On 10/28/2026 at 9:39 AM, kreed5120 said:

Buddy 1st rotation in the game was a bit rough as he seemed to get bullied by the bigger YSU C. He seemed to respond his second stint in the game and carried it through throughout the rest of the game. Like Evan it seems he's a high motor player. While I might not want him guarding opposing teams guards on a consistent basis he's more than capable of switching on them when gameplan necessitates without being a complete liability.

This is an interesting take. I missed the first 4 minutes of the game and likely his 1st rotation, so admittedly my observation may be partially skewed. Regardless, I was going to give props to Buddy for being the "toughest" Zip on the court throughout the time I was watching. While not scoring much, he rebounded well, fought intensely for loose balls and displayed fearlessness on defense. You might say, Buddy Hammer Jr was tough as nails 🤣

 

Seriously, every good team needs a tireless, selfless worker (Nate Linhart, Channel Banks, etc.) and, in my opinion, Buddy is the early candidate to fill this role for this season's Zip squad.

[csims0917]

3 hours ago, johnnyzip84 said:

This is an interesting take. I missed the first 4 minutes of the game and likely his 1st rotation, so admittedly my observation may be partially skewed. Regardless, I was going to give props to Buddy for being the "toughest" Zip on the court throughout the time I was watching. While not scoring much, he rebounded well, fought intensely for loose balls and displayed fearlessness on defense. You might say, Buddy Hammer Jr was tough as nails 🤣

 

Seriously, every good team needs a tireless, selfless worker (Nate Linhart, Channel Banks, etc.) and, in my opinion, Buddy is the early candidate to fill this role for this season's Zip squad.

I really want him to get a nasty dunk so I can do my best Austin Carr impression and say "Hammer just threw the hammer down!!!!