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Game 26- Bowling Green Falcons


clarkwgriswold

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6 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I'm not completely sold on Groce quite yet but his situation and Dambrot's were  considerably different in the players inherited and the situation.  KD had continuity from being on the staff and inherited some talent while Groce had essentially bare cupboards and a late start.  Do I wish they were further along and won these close ones? Hell yes.  But,  Rome wasn't built in a day.  If they don't take a substantial step forward next year, then I'll be far more critical.  In the interim, I reserve my right to pee and moan along the way.

 

I am obviously in the "sold on Groce" camp, but I think this is fair and understandable. And I realize in the end some people will still prefer the old Akron system. I get it.

 

I would say that you are seeing most of what the defense has to offer, except for a lack of truly aggressive ball hawking. It was good to see Banks attack the passing lanes the other day. And when this defense is on fire you will see defense to offense transitions far more often. Also, the right athletic center will be able to cause a ton of havoc on the opposing guards way up top as well as at the rim (Similar to Riak in stature, but quick enough to stay in front of guards). 

 

As to the offense, I would say you have seen maybe 40-50% of what I have witnessed. And who knows what Groce has up his sleeve and was never able to install at Illinois. A main reason this offense is stalling out at times is because we are without bigs that can pull their defender away from the rim. Riak and E-man simply are not scoring threats. Once you open up that lane some, you give LCJ room to operate and the defense is then forced to scramble and rotate out of position. Eventually leading to some wide open looks. 

Edited by Illini Zip
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1 hour ago, 1981 grad said:

In hindsight, Groce should have use our trap defense with our big guys up high.  That way they would not have been able to use the clock.  Groce always uses the trap at the end of the half when the other team tried to hold onto the ball for the last shot.  Considering that we keep losing close games, we need to be aggressive.  

 

I would like to see Groce asked about that last play. Trapping might have been the answer and we are all disappointed that Riak wasn't in the game to rim protect. But Groce chose to go small even with LCJ on the court. That tells me he hoped to keep BG out of the paint altogether with a quick defense. And we all know now that didn't work.

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13 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

I think Parrish could be a big help right now too.

 

I thought Parrish was really good with a huge up-side. We are not in practice, so we don't know if he was a distraction or not. But I do remember Groce riding him last year on his unwillingness to commit to the defensive end. So with Parrish this year we are probably better than a Kenpom #263 offense, but we are also not likely a Kenpom #21 defense. I think finishing last in the MAC in defense last year is why Parrish is no longer at Akron.

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1 hour ago, akronzips71 said:

How many games did we win during his four years?

 Since you didn’t answer my question the answer was 0.  95 wins in 4 years, he didn’t play in every game.  I would have taken 20 less wins over 4 years for a MAC tourney title and a chance to win a game in the dance.

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