Game 3- Tulane

[NWAkron]

Ford and Zips are fighting that home winning streak.  Makes every home game feel like a MAC quarterfinal.

[clarkwgriswold]

Good to get that one behind us.  That match up zone is so different that it's tough to prepare for.

 

Ford said in the post-game that he'd rather send a message (to Buddy) than win a game.  I think that message was sent.  Buddy was obviously bothered sitting on the bench.  Dustin said they had a good talk after the game.

 

Nearly every team is now burdened by starting the season with new players.  Tulane has 10 newbies.  As such, that's no longer an excuse we can use.

 

For the skeptics, Zach and Marvin really proved their value today, as did Buddy up until his technical.  Dustin acknowledged as much in the radio post-game.

[Zippy87]

I think one of the root problems for this team is a lack of creating shots for others. Tahj and Oriol can both create their own shot, but I haven't seen them do it a ton for others. Evan has been solid as a primary ball handler, but he'll always be limited by his lack of outside shot. Perkins seems like he can do this eventually, but it's tough to count on him so early. 

 

Marvin changed this one IMO. They needed a boost and he provided it. Halligan had a nice game too. There was a point where the game seemed to be hanging in the balance, and they both checked in together, which seemed symbolic in a way. 

 

Barre and Hammer both did a good job on the glass. Pence had some good moments. I'm not sure I see it with White, but it's early in the season. 

 

 

[ZippyRulz]

1 hour ago, MDZip said:

At large still alive! 🤣

 

Pretty sure that went out the window today 😕 

[clarkwgriswold]

13 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

I think one of the root problems for this team is a lack of creating shots for others. Tahj and Oriol can both create their own shot, but I haven't seen them do it a ton for others. Evan has been solid as a primary ball handler, but he'll always be limited by his lack of outside shot. Perkins seems like he can do this eventually, but it's tough to count on him so early. 

 

Marvin changed this one IMO. They needed a boost and he provided it. Halligan had a nice game too. There was a point where the game seemed to be hanging in the balance, and they both checked in together, which seemed symbolic in a way. 

 

Barre and Hammer both did a good job on the glass. Pence had some good moments. I'm not sure I see it with White, but it's early in the season. 

 

 

 

Good point.  Who's the facilitator?   This is a score first point.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Great win. Akron struggled to make shots, Tulane played really solid defense, the refs sucked, and we still came away with the win. Every season has games like this; I'm glad this team was able to overcome the adversity and get the W, especially so early in the season. They'll be better for it in the long run. 

 

40% from the field, 23% from 3, and 50% from the line. PUTRID shooting performance. Tulane did a great job with their perimeter defense. I thought we were a little slow processing the offense and hesitated way too much on shot selection. Oriol needs to shoot the ball instead of looking to pass. Staveskie was stifled a bit. Pence couldn't buy a 3 for most of the game. All things to work on. 

 

Last year's squad had to score because they didn't have the personnel to play lock down defense. This year's squad is WAY more versatile. Ford benched Hammer Jr. to send a message about the discipline and our seniors stepped up in his absence to carry the torch for toughness, effort, and defense. Halligan and MMK were terrific. 

 

If we have a sub-par shooting day instead of atrocious, that's a double digit win. The offense will come as this team continues to gel. Loved seeing our ability to adjust, focus on defense, and win however necessary. The longest home winning streak in the nation marches on. 

 

Go Zips!

[phil]

I think the streak was weighing on their mind the last 10 minutes as I thought they played tight by missing foul shots stupid turnovers and missing open three pointers.  I agree that Marvin made the difference and picked up some scrappy boards when we needed them.  Hallegan made a great three pointer.  I thought our last possession was horrible.  We just have to do better than a desperate three from 50 feet when we could have put the game away.  Winning ugly is still winning.  

Edited 12 hours ago by phil

[Let'sGoZips94]

9 minutes ago, phil said:

I thought our last possession was horrible.  We just have to do better than a desperate three from 50 feet when we could have put the game away.

 

The last possession was supposed to include cross-court ball movement until the ball slipped out of Oriol's hands on the pass. Ford was PO'd at how that possession turned out cause it was not how he drew it up.

Edited 12 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[Reslife4Life]

34 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

Marvin changed this one IMO. They needed a boost and he provided it. Halligan had a nice game too. There was a point where the game seemed to be hanging in the balance, and they both checked in together, which seemed symbolic in a way. 

 

 

I had the same thought. Those 2 are the embodiment of Zips Basketball

[exit322]

Great teams win when they play a bad game against good teams (and I think Tulane is good).

[Let'sGoZips94]

During the walk back to our car, we ran into Max Burton. He said he's feeling good and hopes to be back in 2-3 weeks - by MAC play. 

[Illini Zip]

1 minute ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

During the walk back to our car, we ran into Max Burton. He said he's feeling good and hopes to be back in 2-3 weeks - by MAC play. 

I know very little about Burton. Does he start over Barre in time?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Last season we had Lyles (4 yr.), Scott (3 yr.) and Tavari (4 yr.) as our go-to guys, being coached by a guy with 20 years head coaching experience. Now our go-to guys have 4 games of Akron experience, coached by a guy who's been The Man for all of 4 games. They're probably still using Google Maps to find the JAR.

 

Groce always kept his post game comments close to the vest. You never learned a whole lot. Ford is such an open book. I really like listening to Dustin. I hope he stays that way.

[Let'sGoZips94]

4 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

I know very little about Burton. Does he start over Barre in time?

 

Yes and I don't know if it's "in time" or right away. 

[Illini Zip]

6 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Yes and I don't know if it's "in time" or right away. 

🙏💯

[NWAkron]

Tulane pushed off the entire game and on the last play.

[Zippy87]

17 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

I know very little about Burton. Does he start over Barre in time?

 

I think he does, and I think that moves Barre to more of an energy big off the bench, a role that will fit him perfectly. 

[Illini Zip]

1 minute ago, NWAkron said:

Tulane pushed off the entire game and on the last play.

How was that not called at the end of the game? That push off was quite egregious. What if that crap shot took us into OT? 🤬

[Illini Zip]

1 minute ago, Zippy87 said:

 

I think he does, and I think that moves Barre to more of an energy big off the bench, a role that will fit him perfectly. 

So much depth on this team. I hope all of these players can gel. We still need to iron out the best rotation combinations. 

[exit322]

9 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Tulane pushed off the entire game and on the last play.

The last play may have been the most egregious of them.

[clarkwgriswold]

Between Barre and Hammer, Chabi's minutes will definitely decrease.

[kreed5120]

On my drive home from the game I heard on the radio that Dustin Ford's son and Ty Pence played on the same basketball team when Ford was an assistant at Illinois. Apparently Ty was friends with Ford's son and would go to Illinois basketball events.

 

That relationship building probably helped Akron land on Ty's short list when he decided to enter the portal.

[Zippy87]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Between Barre and Hammer, Chabi's minutes will definitely decrease.

 

I think White could be the one that eventually loses minutes. It's early, but he's struggled defensively and doesn't do enough to make up for that.

 

Burton/Hammer/Pence/Staveskie/Mahaffey would make some sense as a lineup. 

 

[kreed5120]

19 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

 

I think White could be the one that eventually loses minutes. It's early, but he's struggled defensively and doesn't do enough to make up for that.

 

Burton/Hammer/Pence/Staveskie/Mahaffey would make some sense as a lineup. 

 

 

White is already only playing 15-16 minutes each game. He might start, but he's getting the minutes of a 7th man. Akron really needs at least one of White, Tai, or Oriol to turn it on. The guard play outside of Tahj hasn't been great. Minutes can be had by whoever produces.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, Zippy87 said:

 

I think White could be the one that eventually loses minutes. It's early, but he's struggled defensively and doesn't do enough to make up for that.

 

Burton/Hammer/Pence/Staveskie/Mahaffey would make some sense as a lineup. 

 

 

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

 

White is already only playing 15-16 minutes each game. He might start, but he's getting the minutes of a 7th man. Akron really needs at least one of White, Tai, or Oriol to turn it on. The guard play outside of Tahj hasn't been great. Minutes can be had by whoever produces.

 

White isn't a guard. He's a 3 that is being thrust into a role he has never had at the D1 level. I don't know if I've seen the defensive struggles, but he's on the ground fighting for loose balls. The effort seems to be there and he's a pretty high IQ offensive player, albeit maybe slightly limited in his shot making abilities at the moment. I'm excited for White.

 

Tai and Oriol will be the guards to step up. Don't forget about Head eventually being part of the rotation. Oriol needs to quit hesitating and just shoot the ball. Offense needs to do a better job of getting him and Tahj open looks. Also, White/Pence/Mahaffey need to be active on the backdoor cuts if teams are going to play this out on the 3P line. We've seen a little bit of that, but the off-the-ball movement will be the key to utilizing our versatility, size, and athleticism.