Let'sGoZips94

In a sense, but St. Mary's blowing the doors off UCLA would make me feel better knowing we had no shot at a Sweet 16 trip.

Let's Go Gaels!

This is a good thought and how we landed Castaneda. Groce recruited him at Illinois.

Sean Miller (back) to Xavier

Who is a more highly touted recruit - Tavari or Prather? Is Prather more of that 3 & D guy we could use? We really do need more of a scouting report on the redshirt guards. It seems like they fit more of the off-the-ball/shooting guard description with their high scoring high school careers, but that doesn't mean they aren't floor generals as well. Don't forget about VCU's HAVOC. We play a hybrid HAVOC/40 minutes of Hell style of defense. Akron's "Zefense" has a nice ring to it, and it really is becoming our identity. I have zero issue with that. They moved X off the ball a couple times during the postseason, and it was Tribble or Clarke that handled the rock when that happened. What was interesting was Tribble, lacking the shooting threat, saw the defense back off and pack the paint a bit more in anticipation of a dribble drive. If he passed it to a shooting threat, the defense expanded back out. We need a shooting threat to handle PG duties if X is going to be off the ball. Wynn would have to sit out a year if he transferred, correct? I don't know if I see him doing that, but if he wants to extend his collegiate career he could. ______________________________________________________________ We were 7.5 deep this year (Aziz being the .5 as he was either the 8th man or saw no playing time). Add Kalle, the two redshirt guards, and two incoming guards. That's 13 deep assuming Aziz plays more. Deep rotations are 10-11 MAX. That leaves 2-3 players as the odd ones out (redshirt, transfer, or simply limited playing time). This is a phenomenal problem to have. With the amount of energy we exert on defense, if you get a rotation of 10-11 guys to buy into the system on defense, you're going to have a revolving door to keep guys fresh. It's like hockey lines, with the best example being the Miracle on Ice team. What did they run, something like minute rotations or so, constantly changing lines to allow guys to give maximum effort during their turn, then hop off for a quick breather? It would obviously be longer rotations, but a similar concept. And with how deep we are at each position, we would seemingly not sacrifice much on either end of the floor talent/height/size wise. This was potentially Groce's best coaching job ever. We were vastly under-talented/lacked depth, yet he was able to get his 7-8 guys to buy completely into the system and out work every team over the past couple of weeks. The talent rose with the effort level, and next year, with even more talent and depth, we could be poised to be something extremely special.

STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 1 Robert G. 165 Mike Spi. 134 John E. 129 Mike Sw. 128 Jeff H. 123 Brian G. 119 Nick K. 118 Rob C. 111 John C. 108 David M. 107 Luke T. 104 Eric M. 100 Kyle M. 100 Andy V. 91 Mark Spa. 89 SKY'S THE LIMIT CLUB Top 3 Potential Points Robert G. 365 Jeff H. 357 John E. 335 Luke T. 335 SHAME CLUB Those Who Picked UCLA John C. David M. Mark Spa. (Dis)Honorable Mention: @NWAkron (apparently) Good luck to all in Round 2 (except the Shame Club members)!

Massive fan of Lamont Paris. He was always incredibly nice to me during Akron basketball camps when I was younger. I'd love a multi-year series with his program.

Are there more benefits that come with an athletic scholarship?

LET'S GO MOCS! Why couldn't we have these announcers? Excited for a potential upset instead of worrying about how they'll feel sleeping in their P5 pajamas. Give me these refs too.

He's definitely not a PF, but a stretch 4 like X wasn't a PF either. Their games are incredibly similar, but Ali can probably handle the ball a bit better. Kevin Durant is a stretch 4, and he's not a PF. That's my point. I think we'll see him more off the ball next year which will help him immensely. If we add scorers, it should open up the game for him.

Ali thinks he's a guard, at least due to our lack of depth at the position, which is what directly led to many of his struggles. Add scorers around him, and his role is vastly different, which would be more of the 4/X1.0 role.

Ali Ali is that Cheatham/X type guy. If Freeman develops a jump shot, look out. Where we lack is the guard depth which should be solved. I'd like one more PF/C, whether that's Kalle developing or a transfer. We need someone to spell Aziz & Freeman who is a net positive.

Here you go @Blue & Gold@NWAkron

Aziz is arguably better than Zeke was his freshman year. Zeke had more opportunity to play than Aziz. Groce and his staff have already shown they can develop bigs as well if not better than Dambrot & co. Aziz has really only been in the States for a little over a year. He is raw but has a nice foundation of skills and understanding. Fully expect him to get stronger and more decisive. Kalle is the odd man out in the front court unless he takes a significant leap.

I would imagine any departures would be announced sooner rather than later? Any predictions on if there's a starting lineup change with redshirt guards, Prather, and Tavari? Do we redshirt either of the latter? Kalle and maybe one of the redshirt guards are the only departure candidates in my eyes. I could see Groce wanting to get Freeman/Aziz more developed help in the front court, and the guard position is all of a sudden a log jam.

I thought I saw Freeman in an ad online or something. Regardless, I don't think money is a motivating factor for these guys right now. As long as they continue to develop, that will come. If they transfer elsewhere, they risk not being a fit, not getting extended playing time, etc. They are showcased at Akron, especially when we win a Tourney game or more over the next couple of years.

BruinGold forum had a lot of praise for Akron. I posted a summary of our program over there and it was well received. Some UCLA/P5 arrogance in other threads, but nothing but class from those I interacted with. They all noted how well coached the game was and were very impressed by our defense. We may have lost, but I think we definitely grabbed the attention of the nation.

I will post the standings tomorrow following Round 1. Those of you who took UCLA, I wish I could award you no points.

He and Ali are P5 caliber. However, both were given their only shot by Akron and Groce. I see them as Groce lifers, meaning where he is, they'll be.

Credit UCLA on this. They watched film and took away all of his strengths. They took away A LOT of our strengths. That was a phenomenal coaching matchup.

Never should have been able to even shoot the ball. X was thrown into the stands by 24 before he passed it.

I'm not trying to downplay war, but the Z was prominently displayed last night on the jumbotron and elsewhere for the basketball game. That means the arena, NCAA, etc., were all accomplices in promoting war propaganda. Tired of this angle of the debate.

If this is true, that's grounds for an investigation and formal protest. What horse 💩.

(Just kidding - kind of)