RoyalBlu

Inside that winning percentage are NCAA Tournament stops/wins at Kent State, Arkansas and South Florida. Without looking it up, I'm guessing Heath and Groce have the most NCAA Tournament wins for a current coach in the MAC, by far. (And Groce's overall winning percentage prior to the last 2 years was not that great, either). Look for EMU to be a solid MAC team, not reliant on being the only team in the league playing zone to steal an extra win or two. Actually, the MAC is starting to become as diverse as it was when Heath was first down the road. Back then (2002) with him, Charlie at Miami, Joplin at Toledo, McCallum at Ball, Drake at CMU, 'Spoon at Buffalo MAC was arguably the most diverse conference in the country. And that was arguably when the league was at its best for overall talent. Just sayin.

Kid was a solid MM recruit out of high school w/pure PG skills but as numbers show at the Big East level just barely a double-digit scorer. A 'pass-first' or 'program' PG is often the terms used but should be a bit better than that in the MAC. This indicates Groce is looking to have some high-scoring wings and perhaps a big number 4-man to go with him.

Don't laugh ... Hawkins actually makes a lot of sense. His teams (when healthy) were actually pretty solid MAC teams. Like most everyone else, his teams were hit hard by transfers over the last 10 years. He's a solid coach.

Mexico!!! ... Hmmm. Now what can you do after practice/game in Mexico???

Anybody else notice Marshall is on the Verbal Commits transfer board. ... Curious. He seemed like a nice piece going forward, especially with getting the extra year.

This link says he was recruited as a stretch 4 ... and his game transitioned to a stretch 5 w/back-to-the-basket skills. ... If true, then he should have been a VALUABLE backup at the least at PF and C. But he wasn't. Something does not compute. Didn't see enough on the court to make a judgement either way. Where he winds up will likely say a lot about what kind of player he really is.

A decent comparison in that both have some ball skills but in many ways are unorthodox. Ball is bigger and more athletic which helps his game a lot. Preston, to me, seems almost fragile. When he plays a lot of games in a short period of time, he seems to lose some steam. This run has been perfect for him; 11 days off before MAC Tournament - three game run - now another week off. He'll be a G-League all-star for sure, and a good 10-day call-up when a team needs immediate help. But for the long haul of the NBA season, unless he physically matures more than he has so far, I don't see it.

Guys like Groce can reload pretty quick at the mid-major level. They know what works. If he needs a guard he'll find a guard or develop one. I think that shows around the MAC with all the veteran coaches. If they need something specific, they find it. The question is how well they fit in, or how long it takes to fit in. While the last two seasons of LCJ have been great, he was pretty pedestrian initially. Took a year. I think the missing element - which I think is key - will be not having that redshirt season to practice and learn w/o expectations. That was big for X and other transfers around the league as well. Also, look for guys like Marshall to make a big jump ... jucos often do their second year.

With rare exceptions, most teams in the tournament 'play well enough to win' the challenge is to ultimately win it ... and to do that teams must not only execute at a high level the final 4-minutes of the game, but also execute with the right personnel. Kudos to LCJ but the fact - aside from about a three week stretch from Trimble - there was no proven second or third scorer, or no player who could execute on the block, to help him was Akron's ultimate downfall. It seems the Zips whiffed on Currie. As a freshman that would be understandable, but as a juco w/one year at a B10 school under his belt, somebody just didn't do their homework. Too bad the 7-0 freshman arrived to campus late or he might have been the guy. That's the breaks, because all these things raise their head at tournament time and is not exclusive to Akron ... look at No. 1 seed Toledo. The MAC FOY played like a freshman and the kid from Walsh played like he was from Walsh ... Toledo, exit, stage left. Groce and the Zips must be credited with keeping this team pretty much together the entire season, even with it's obvious flaws, not to mention the fortunes of war so to speak were generally avoided. Bowling Green's best player plays his last game at well less than 100-percent due to a hamstring injury ... Kent State has injury (and other) issues down the stretch ... Ball State's best player doesn't hit the court until the last month of the season ... CMU's 6-10 freshman (and bonafide FOY candidate) goes down at Christmas and never returns ... It's crazy. What issues Toledo, Akron and Buffalo' had (Covid/injuries) all basically hit early in the season and adjustments were made from there. Most coaches will tell you the toughest coaching job with the least amount of reward is at the mid-major basketball coaching level. I have to agree. Both Ohio and UB have had their struggles in games down the stretch so it will be interesting to see how the title game plays out in Cleveland.

Of the missing players, which one of them would you want on the floor in OT???? Asking for a bunch of friends.

Call me crazy ... but why throw a bounce pass on the move to a player who has just made two straight turnovers at the rim ... a senior at that. March Madness ...

Don't think it's a subject Akron should get involved in ...

Been saving this while playing Dailey ... and where is Dailey btw....

Question comes a week or so early but .... What Zips seniors should return for one more year; LCJ is clearly no NBA proapect. Should he leave his mark deeper in the JAR or head overseas. And the others???