GDT: SDSU Jackrabbits vs Akron Zips 8:15pm Frost Arena SL Network

[73alum]

well......it was a little tough to watch. i dont deny! but, LA WAS out all of last year. maybe needs a little time at least to get his feet back on the ground. but i sure hope that is not gonna take long. i hope we dont have to be remembering that through the whole OOC. i think this team will end up prooving to be more talented than last year. BUT there are a lot of new pieces. it SUCKS losing this game tonight. feels like we should have won it!!! but they are playing mostly a team that played together last year. we are only bring back 2 starters who played more than half a year last year

OBVIOUSLY Appel is gonna need to cut out the turnovers but remember he is capable of totally carrying the team for stretches or even entire games if we can get him going

i thought WK looked great at one on one defense against a very VERY GOOD player!! but he struggled keeping him off the glass and he is still struggling to guard ball screens. i would have locked him in a room all summer with nothing but tapes of D Wilson playing team defense and guarding ball screens

i thought Easley and Garry looked very good. i think that probably both of them are going to have to be a bit more aggressive looking for their offense. eventually teams are gonna just put whoever they need to on Zeke and say ANYONE else can go ahead and beat us but ZEKE is NOT gonna beat us!!!

overall the word that kept coming to mind, SAME AS LAST YEAR, was rhythm, the offense rarely seemed to have a good rhythm. most of the plays seemed to be someone going one on one- Zeke or Appel or WK. they all looked good at times but we should not have to give it to one person and wait for one person to make something happen. we need to create baskets from BETTER MOVEMENT!! BOTH ball movement and player movement

AND no matter what you do on offense. even if you have no rhythm and play terrible. there is NO REASON we need to keep being outrebounded!!!! rebounding used to be part of our DNA. we almost never got outrebounded. we need to get that back. because no matter how much we struggled on offense if we dont lose the boards by ten, we very likely win this game- poor offense be damned

Well…plenty of room for improvement. Akron has 4) 5th year seniors I understand. That’s one major reason they are picked first in the 12 team MAC. Mims is missed to provide some experience and especially ‘D’!!! That might have given the Jacks a ‘W’!! But, to me, there is no reason the team won’t get a bunch better!!!

[LetsGoRabbits]

Well…plenty of room for improvement. Akron has 4) 5th year seniors I understand. That’s one major reason they are picked first in the 12 team MAC. Mims is missed to provide some experience and especially ‘D’!!! That might have given the Jacks a ‘W’!! But, to me, there is no reason the team won’t get a bunch better!!!

totally agree with you!
i do REALLY hope we get the rebounding thing fixed. that cures SO MANY other shortcomings

[LetsGoZips94]

Akron fan here.

That was a tremendous game, maybe even better than last year's OT thriller as I thought both teams played at a higher level in this one. Easley and Mayo are the real deal; that duo is going to give your opponents fits all year. I watched the game on the Summit League Network. Your commentary guys are phenomenal. They were knowledgeable, funny, and not noticeable homers. I was also intrigued by the arena renovation y'all are doing, as your arena is somewhat similar to ours and we're hoping to go through a renovation at some point. It didn't look like the crowd was at capacity by any means, but man was it loud on the stream. There was a point towards the end where the Zips had a shot clock violation right in front of their own bench because the crowd was that big of a factor. It's not surprising y'all have won 94% of your home games over the last 3(?) seasons.

As far as Akron goes, we are hoping to take that next level as a program this year. John Groce has a history of taking MAC squads on NCAA tourney runs, as he won 3 tourney games while at OU, beating Georgetown in 2010 and making a Sweet 16 run in 2012 (nearly an Elite 8 run as they had a close loss to UNC in the Sweet 16). In 2019-2020, we had a very special team. We were 24-7 heading into the MAC tournament, regular season champs by multiple games, an electrifying 5'8" point guard (Loren Christian Jackson is one of our fan bases' favorite players ever), and a few other very nice pieces. We were poised to make a run that year before "COVID" cancelled the postseason, dashing our hopes and dreams. We had a near upset over UCLA in the tourney 2 seasons ago as well, but just haven't gotten over the hump.

Enter this year's squad, which is the most hyped Zips squad since 2019-20. Enrique Freeman is widely considered one of the best front court players in the country. His story is incredible, as he was a walk on that we found shooting hoops in our rec center. He had a slow start last night but still finished with his signature double-double. SDSU did a terrific job doubling him for most of the game. We also get Mikal Dawson back this year after he tore his achilles last year. He's a junk yard dawg that is a real difference maker. We probably would've won the MAC last year had he stayed healthy, but ce la vie. Lastly, Ali Ali transferred back to Akron this year after playing at Butler for a year. He was instrumental in our success 2 seasons ago when we won the MAC and punched our ticket to the Big Dance. He hasn't been cleared by the NCAA yet, so he didn't play last night, but Akron is deep and strong this year. Here's to hoping we get over the hump, get to the Dance, and win our first tourney game in program history.

I'm not alone in the Akron fan base when I say we'd love to have SDSU on our schedule every year. A very high quality mid major with a very likeable team, that's willing to play us. These have been great games to open this season and last season. I think I speak for at least most Zips fans when I say Go Jackrabbits. Great game and we'll be rooting for y'all to make some noise the rest of the season!

[da_coach]

Akron fan here.

That was a tremendous game, maybe even better than last year's OT thriller as I thought both teams played at a higher level in this one. Easley and Mayo are the real deal; that duo is going to give your opponents fits all year. I watched the game on the Summit League Network. Your commentary guys are phenomenal. They were knowledgeable, funny, and not noticeable homers. I was also intrigued by the arena renovation y'all are doing, as your arena is somewhat similar to ours and we're hoping to go through a renovation at some point. It didn't look like the crowd was at capacity by any means, but man was it loud on the stream. There was a point towards the end where the Zips had a shot clock violation right in front of their own bench because the crowd was that big of a factor. It's not surprising y'all have won 94% of your home games over the last 3(?) seasons.

As far as Akron goes, we are hoping to take that next level as a program this year. John Groce has a history of taking MAC squads on NCAA tourney runs, as he won 3 tourney games while at OU, beating Georgetown in 2010 and making a Sweet 16 run in 2012 (nearly an Elite 8 run as they had a close loss to UNC in the Sweet 16). In 2019-2020, we had a very special team. We were 24-7 heading into the MAC tournament, regular season champs by multiple games, an electrifying 5'8" point guard (Loren Christian Jackson is one of our fan bases' favorite players ever), and a few other very nice pieces. We were poised to make a run that year before "COVID" cancelled the postseason, dashing our hopes and dreams. We had a near upset over UCLA in the tourney 2 seasons ago as well, but just haven't gotten over the hump.

Enter this year's squad, which is the most hyped Zips squad since 2019-20. Enrique Freeman is widely considered one of the best front court players in the country. His story is incredible, as he was a walk on that we found shooting hoops in our rec center. He had a slow start last night but still finished with his signature double-double. SDSU did a terrific job doubling him for most of the game. We also get Mikal Dawson back this year after he tore his achilles last year. He's a junk yard dawg that is a real difference maker. We probably would've won the MAC last year had he stayed healthy, but ce la vie. Lastly, Ali Ali transferred back to Akron this year after playing at Butler for a year. He was instrumental in our success 2 seasons ago when we won the MAC and punched our ticket to the Big Dance. He hasn't been cleared by the NCAA yet, so he didn't play last night, but Akron is deep and strong this year. Here's to hoping we get over the hump, get to the Dance, and win our first tourney game in program history.

I'm not alone in the Akron fan base when I say we'd love to have SDSU on our schedule every year. A very high quality mid major with a very likeable team, that's willing to play us. These have been great games to open this season and last season. I think I speak for at least most Zips fans when I say Go Jackrabbits. Great game and we'll be rooting for y'all to make some noise the rest of the season!

Thanks for the kind words about our program. I was very impressed with Akron as well.

Akron is a VERY good mid major guys... I know we all want to win every time out, but to play them that close, shows we are for real in the coming season. Lots of vets sure, but we also had 3 new guys out there last night... and we held our own very well.

This is going to be an exciting season for Jackrabbit basketball.

and I am officially a Zips fan in your conference... you guys are a good team. Well coached, play hard, and some very talented players.

[SUPERBUNNY]

That was fun last night. Would've been nice to get the W. Akron is very good. I'd echo most comments. A lot to be excited about this year. Give the new guys a few games to settle in and Appel a little time to get rid of the rust. Kyle was solid defensively against a POY pick in their conference. And those dunks! Whoa! Team needs to rebound, rebound rebound. Garry looked good.

I like what is going on with the renovations. Going to be awesome!. Is it just me or are the accoustics better in there? It was loud in there with a crown of only 2,617. Just imagine it full!

It's time to start filling FB&T Arena like we are filling up the Dana.

SUPERBUNNY

[bigticket1]

did jackrabbit all access get replaced by this Midco sports plus?
i will say i was UNIMPRESSED with the viewing experience tonight and leave it at that. made a frustrating game WAY WAY more frustrating

It did. I think the video feed last night was the in-house one that was used on all-access in the past. That's going to be the case on any
games that are simulcast with the radio broadcasts on the Summit League network.. Any games that are on the main Midco network will have the better HD cameras and Nieman and Newitt announcing. I saw that the arena video capabilities are supposed to be upgraded when all the construction is done.

[LetsGoRabbits]

It did. I think the video feed last night was the in-house one that was used on all-access in the past. That's going to be the case on any
games that are simulcast with the radio broadcasts on the Summit League network.. Any games that are on the main Midco network will have the better HD cameras and Nieman and Newitt announcing. I saw that the arena video capabilities are supposed to be upgraded when all the construction is done.

to be clear i had no frustration with the announcers. it was the video that was BAD

thanks ticket for trying to help clear that up for me!

[LetsGoRabbits]

Akron fan here.

That was a tremendous game, maybe even better than last year's OT thriller as I thought both teams played at a higher level in this one. Easley and Mayo are the real deal; that duo is going to give your opponents fits all year. I watched the game on the Summit League Network. Your commentary guys are phenomenal. They were knowledgeable, funny, and not noticeable homers. I was also intrigued by the arena renovation y'all are doing, as your arena is somewhat similar to ours and we're hoping to go through a renovation at some point. It didn't look like the crowd was at capacity by any means, but man was it loud on the stream. There was a point towards the end where the Zips had a shot clock violation right in front of their own bench because the crowd was that big of a factor. It's not surprising y'all have won 94% of your home games over the last 3(?) seasons.

As far as Akron goes, we are hoping to take that next level as a program this year. John Groce has a history of taking MAC squads on NCAA tourney runs, as he won 3 tourney games while at OU, beating Georgetown in 2010 and making a Sweet 16 run in 2012 (nearly an Elite 8 run as they had a close loss to UNC in the Sweet 16). In 2019-2020, we had a very special team. We were 24-7 heading into the MAC tournament, regular season champs by multiple games, an electrifying 5'8" point guard (Loren Christian Jackson is one of our fan bases' favorite players ever), and a few other very nice pieces. We were poised to make a run that year before "COVID" cancelled the postseason, dashing our hopes and dreams. We had a near upset over UCLA in the tourney 2 seasons ago as well, but just haven't gotten over the hump.

Enter this year's squad, which is the most hyped Zips squad since 2019-20. Enrique Freeman is widely considered one of the best front court players in the country. His story is incredible, as he was a walk on that we found shooting hoops in our rec center. He had a slow start last night but still finished with his signature double-double. SDSU did a terrific job doubling him for most of the game. We also get Mikal Dawson back this year after he tore his achilles last year. He's a junk yard dawg that is a real difference maker. We probably would've won the MAC last year had he stayed healthy, but ce la vie. Lastly, Ali Ali transferred back to Akron this year after playing at Butler for a year. He was instrumental in our success 2 seasons ago when we won the MAC and punched our ticket to the Big Dance. He hasn't been cleared by the NCAA yet, so he didn't play last night, but Akron is deep and strong this year. Here's to hoping we get over the hump, get to the Dance, and win our first tourney game in program history.

I'm not alone in the Akron fan base when I say we'd love to have SDSU on our schedule every year. A very high quality mid major with a very likeable team, that's willing to play us. These have been great games to open this season and last season. I think I speak for at least most Zips fans when I say Go Jackrabbits. Great game and we'll be rooting for y'all to make some noise the rest of the season!

Thank you for the kind words
i am glad to see that it is not just my jackrabbit bias talking when i say that our announcers do a good job of calling the game in a fair way. actually one of the announcers last night- Brad Newitt works for the local television network- Midco Sports Network. a lot ot rabbit fans actually dislike him quite a bit but i would say most of the time i think he does a good job. the other announcer, Tyler Merriam is actually an SDSU employee. i think he makes it clear that he is definitely a fan of the rabbits but i think he does an excellent job of being fair about officiating- not insisting that every call should go in the rabbits favor, or pointing out when he believes a call for the other team was fair, or the rabbits got away with a violation or foul. also he is very willing to praise the other team and point out the things they do well during the game

i am pretty sure the win percentage you reference is over at least the last 10 years and maybe 12. i think the common reference is since 2010

finally, believe me, jacks fans are with you and your fellow Zips fans in that we would love to play you all on a regular basis. it has really been impossible for the jacks to consistently schedule quality opponents. i think i can say basically every rabbit fan agrees with me, but definitely for myself, i have been EXTREMELY happy to have Akron and Kent St on our schedule this year and last and very much hope we will be able to continue to schedule top teams from the MAC. do you guys play many games against Horizon League schools? i dont think we ever do in MBB and i wish that we would get some games against their top teams also

[LetsGoZips94]

Thank you for the kind words
i am glad to see that it is not just my jackrabbit bias talking when i say that our announcers do a good job of calling the game in a fair way. actually one of the announcers last night- Brad Newitt works for the local television network- Midco Sports Network. a lot ot rabbit fans actually dislike him quite a bit but i would say most of the time i think he does a good job. the other announcer, Tyler Merriam is actually an SDSU employee. i think he makes it clear that he is definitely a fan of the rabbits but i think he does an excellent job of being fair about officiating- not insisting that every call should go in the rabbits favor, or pointing out when he believes a call for the other team was fair, or the rabbits got away with a violation or foul. also he is very willing to praise the other team and point out the things they do well during the game

i am pretty sure the win percentage you reference is over at least the last 10 years and maybe 12. i think the common reference is since 2010

finally, believe me, jacks fans are with you and your fellow Zips fans in that we would love to play you all on a regular basis. it has really been impossible for the jacks to consistently schedule quality opponents. i think i can say basically every rabbit fan agrees with me, but definitely for myself, i have been EXTREMELY happy to have Akron and Kent St on our schedule this year and last and very much hope we will be able to continue to schedule top teams from the MAC. do you guys play many games against Horizon League schools? i dont think we ever do in MBB and i wish that we would get some games against their top teams also

I didn't quite catch that it was 10-12 years of minimal losing at home. That's an incredible run. Good for your program and fan base!

I apologize that you have PCCC/Can't State/KSUcks on your schedule (PCCC stands for Portage County Community College - that's the county they're located in next to us, which is Summit County in Ohio; it's a 20ish minute drive between the campuses). Good thing is you don't have to endure their stench in Brookings this year.

As far as Horizon League schools go, we're actually in the heart of Horizon League country, so it is convenient for us to schedule them. We had a series with Cleveland State/Kent State/Youngstown State a few years back, where the MAC school would alternate Horizon opponents each year to start the season; I think it was a cancer awareness series. Otherwise, we'll occasionally see Oakland and Wright State on our schedule. Someone from ZipsNation (our fan forum) made a comment about schools like Cleveland State & Youngstown State not exactly being eager to play us. I don't know how true that is, but it wouldn't surprise me. I'm sure SDSU has the same issues with schools in the western part of the Midwest.