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2019-2020 Akron Zips Basketball- Looking Forward


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6 minutes ago, ZIPS96 said:

6 years ago tomorrow the season ended for KD’s best team with a 44 point loss to VCU.  Some of the best players on that team (Aberu, Tree, Harney) left Akron/ we’re kicked off the team, eventually quit on the team (Pat F) or should have been on the team, but were suspended for the year (Diggs).  This day started the decline of Zips basketball.  Williams & Noah were leaving whether KD stayed or left.  The program has had problems the last 6 years not 2.  Lets support what we have instead of wishing we had something the we don’t.

Wow.  You nailed it.  Put into words what I've been struggling to say for awhile!

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26 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Do you think the cast of players KD left Akron were going to take out Buffalo these last two seasons if only he were coach?

This is my perspective.  I can't believe how disgruntled some people already are with Groce when he inherited a team with only two players (like I said before, Olojakapoke doesn't count.  Good young man, though).  Two players.  Groce has had to rebuild literally almost from scratch.  Considering everything I think we've been surprisingly competitive.

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32 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

For all of you KD deadenders, what do you want?  Do you want him back?  Do you want to win the MAC regular season or East division each year and then lose in the finals?  Do you want to lose your post season games by double digits?  Do you think the cast of players KD left Akron were going to take out Buffalo these last two seasons if only he were coach?  One program in the MAC right now is truly succeeding.  Another, BG, after 4 years with a new coach (not counting the year with Janz), is finally making a move.    The rest of the programs are status quo.  Like we all said, Groce can be a Saul Phillips or a Michael Huger.  Same with the Miami coach.  

I expected more than what we have received.  I expected players who want to play for a coach.  I expected players who do not punch out other players.  I expected to score more than 4 baskets in a half of basketball at the Q.  I expected not to lose a quarterfinal game by 40 points, no matter how good the team.  I expected that our team would not lose by 30 to an Ohio U team that had a losing record.  I expected to have at least one center of our 4 centers that has an interest in scoring.  (not from the 3 line)  I expected our team to shoot better than 25% from long distance.  I expected Groce's recruits to stay with our team after playing here for a year.  With Utomi and E Man leaving, this looks more like a revolving door than a team.  I hope that Groce will be successful but with these 2 Zips leaving I feel like we are starting all over again.  Another year of new players and empty seats.

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7 minutes ago, ZIPS96 said:

6 years ago tomorrow the season ended for KD’s best team with a 44 point loss to VCU.  Some of the best players on that team (Aberu, Tree, Harney) left Akron/ we’re kicked off the team, eventually quit on the team (Pat F) or should have been on the team, but were suspended for the year (Diggs).  This day started the decline of Zips basketball.  Williams & Noah were leaving whether KD stayed or left.  The program has had problems the last 6 years not 2.  Lets support what we have instead of wishing we had something the we don’t.

Thank you.  Well said.  

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31 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

For all of you KD deadenders, what do you want?  Do you want him back?  Do you want to win the MAC regular season or East division each year and then lose in the finals?  Do you want to lose your post season games by double digits?  Do you think the cast of players KD left Akron were going to take out Buffalo these last two seasons if only he were coach?  Or maybe you want to lose in first round if your conference tourney to a coach who then gets fired after 24 years. One program in the MAC right now is truly succeeding.  Another, BG, after 4 years with a new coach (not counting the year with Janz), is finally making a move.    The rest of the programs are status quo.  Like we all said, Groce can be a Saul Phillips or a Michael Huger.  Same with the Miami coach.  

 

I guess I'd like to hear from the detractors as to just where they thought we would be after the KD leaving dismantling.    We're two years in and Groce's hands were tied in the first year due to getting a late start.  I sure as hell would want them to win my games but we have to be realists at this point.

 

As to kids leaving, I don't think it's the end of the world.  It's just starting to become a point of concern for me.

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12 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

This is my perspective.  I can't believe how disgruntled some people already are with Groce when he inherited a team with only two players (like I said before, Olojakapoke doesn't count.  Good young man, though).  Two players.  Groce has had to rebuild literally almost from scratch.  Considering everything I think we've been surprisingly competitive.

And in two years the only thing he has accomplished is to lose those players.

This roster is a JOKE. A total JOKE.

Cheese and LCJ are the only D1 players on the roster.

And  no shock if one or  both leaves.

 

Now consider this:

Groce has a great recruiting opportunity here:

He can offer a HS senior to play D1 hoops as a starter in his freshman year.'

There have to be a few studs out there willing to jump on that.

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4 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

I expected more than what we have received.  I expected players who want to play for a coach.  I expected players who do not punch out other players.  I expected to score more than 4 baskets in a half of basketball at the Q.  I expected not to lose a quarterfinal game by 40 points, no matter how good the team.  I expected that our team would not lose by 30 to an Ohio U team that had a losing record.  I expected to have at least one center of our 4 centers that has an interest in scoring.  (not from the 3 line)  I expected our team to shoot better than 25% from long distance.  I expected Groce's recruits to stay with our team after playing here for a year.  With Utomi and E Man leaving, this looks more like a revolving door than a team.  I hope that Groce will be successful but with these 2 Zips leaving I feel like we are starting all over again.  Another year of new players and empty seats.

 

Starting all over?  11 returning, one graduating, two transferring.  Seems like a reasonable retention rate.

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No matter who Akron hired to replace Dambrot they'd be b****ing. Dambrot was already the highest paid employee at the University of Akron and the highest paid basketball coach in the MAC. Akron was never going to be able to match the salary nor the millions of dollars worth of upgrades that Duquesne was prepared to offer. Akron was only going to be able to retain Dambrot by Dambrot accepting less to stay. He elected to instead take the money and run.

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20 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

Starting all over?  11 returning, one graduating, two transferring.  Seems like a reasonable retention rate.

11 returning?  I have 5 scholarship players returning that  have experience playing.  Riak, Banks, Cheese, Jackson, Roscoe.  Roscoe I believe is the only true frosh.  Sayles has missed more games than he has played and has not been impressive when he has played.  (no fault of Groce or Sayles, cannot control injuries).  This is not a recipe for success.

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28 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

No matter who Akron hired to replace Dambrot they'd be b****ing. Dambrot was already the highest paid employee at the University of Akron and the highest paid basketball coach in the MAC. Akron was never going to be able to match the salary nor the millions of dollars worth of upgrades that Duquesne was prepared to offer. Akron was only going to be able to retain Dambrot by Dambrot accepting less to stay. He elected to instead take the money and run.

And he knew he had a losing team for the following year.  Well-planned on his part.

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13 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

11 returning?  I have 5 scholarship players returning that  have experience playing.  Riak, Banks, Cheese, Jackson, Roscoe.  Roscoe I believe is the only true frosh.  Sayles has missed more games than he has played and has not been impressive when he has played.  (no fault of Groce or Sayles, cannot control injuries).  This is not a recipe for success.

Just for the record, Roscoe is a sophomore according to GoZips.com. Played at Panola College 2017-18. Also committed to Southern Illinois at one point. I like his skills, but he has bounced around a bit.

 

 

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57 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

No matter who Akron hired to replace Dambrot they'd be b****ing. Dambrot was already the highest paid employee at the University of Akron and the highest paid basketball coach in the MAC. Akron was never going to be able to match the salary nor the millions of dollars worth of upgrades that Duquesne was prepared to offer. Akron was only going to be able to retain Dambrot by Dambrot accepting less to stay. He elected to instead take the money and run.

 

Shhhh... Don't let facts get in the way of their misery. 

_______________________________________________________________

 

The Zips this past season were 8 deep. Even with the departures, I'm looking at a roster that's 9 deep and that doesn't include the incoming freshman or the 2 open spots. It's ridiculous to say there are only 2 DI players on the current roster, when the rag tag group of 8 were consistently competitive against teams like Clemson, Buffalo, and Nevada, and finished in the middle of the pack in the MAC, while blowing out the #2 team in the MAC (BUGS). 

 

Scoring is a fixable problem, and probably the best problem to have, especially for a rebuilding team. I'm going to keep pounding this point. :horse: We have the right system in place to be successful. We focus on the key fundamentals - defense, effort, rebounding, free throws - and have built that foundation. Dambrot's system was and still is entirely flawed. It ignores nearly every basic principal in the sport of basketball. This very board had people constantly talking about the lack of ball movement, defensive breakdowns, free throw shooting problems, etc. We eeked out a lot of close victories against sub-par MAC squads despite being more talented (usually). Those issues have carried over to Duquesne. Read their board; "will this team ever emphasize defense" and "free throws are an issue". I'd be curious to see the opinions of the Dambrot apologists when looking at the Duquesne roster. Is it full of so-called DI players? If so, what was the cause of the early 1st-round exit in the A10 tourney and not dominating/being more competitive in a weaker A10 Conference as a whole? In the first round game, they scored 86 points, shooting at a 47% clip. How can you lose a game when you make shots?! You don't play defense, give up 92(!) pts, and shoot 68% at the line. What's going to be easier to fix: having gym rats hit the gym and practice shooting (including free throws), or getting a team to buy into 40 minutes of tough-nosed, heady defense? My vote is the shooting, which again, gives me hope for this next season. 

 

Lastly, let's stop crucifying this team and Groce for a 40 pt. loss to Buffalo and 24 pt. loss to a motivated O-BooWho squad. Of the 16 losses we had, 11 were single-digit losses, and an additional 2 losses were closer than their final score (@ Buffalo and @ Toledo). That means there were 3 games we simply weren't competitive in. Heck of an accomplishment for a team with only 4 DI players at the time. I wonder if Arizona had the pitchforks out for Sean Miller for losing to Buffalo by 21 last year, or Boeheim for losing by 12 to Buffalo this year. Do BUGS and Miami want to fire their coaches for losing to a team with 4 DI players by 24 & 29 respectively? The Clown lost to a team with only 4 DI players by 19. We had 1 extreme off-night (O-BooWho) and one off-day that was aided by being inferior to one of the better teams in the entire country (Buffalo at The Q); clearly that's not the norm. 

 

So much good to focus on. The sky is not falling. In fact, I feel as if the ceiling is higher than ever before, considering our previous ceiling had a MAC Finals record similar to LeBron's Finals record (oh look, another similarity between Dambrot and LeBron, to add to the excuses and now neither of them making the postseason), and arguably 0 marquee wins (unless you include the few NIT wins against Houston, FSU, and Temple). 

Edited by Let'sGoZips94
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A few points:

1)  KD was successful at US and...people b!+ched...offense is too predictable...they don't play enough zone...they can't stop dribble penetration...they have no out of bounds plays...there are players of questionable character on the team and kids getting into trouble...the OOC schedule is weak...they can't win the big game...he can't win in the tournament...yada...yada...yada...

2)  Groce came into nothing, the team improved in year two and...people b!+ch...players are transferring...the big men are offensively challenged...their shooting is awful...there was a fight between players...the OOC schedule is weak...yada...yada...yada...

3)  People will b!+ch no matter what.

4)  Groce is going nowhere.  Love him or hate him the University of Akron does not have the financial resources to dispatch him.

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1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Shhhh... Don't let facts get in the way of their misery. 

_______________________________________________________________

 

The Zips this past season were 8 deep. Even with the departures, I'm looking at a roster that's 9 deep and that doesn't include the incoming freshman or the 2 open spots. It's ridiculous to say there are only 2 DI players on the current roster, when the rag tag group of 8 were consistently competitive against teams like Clemson, Buffalo, and Nevada, and finished in the middle of the pack in the MAC, while blowing out the #2 team in the MAC (BUGS). 

 

Scoring is a fixable problem, and probably the best problem to have, especially for a rebuilding team. I'm going to keep pounding this point. :horse: We have the right system in place to be successful. We focus on the key fundamentals - defense, effort, rebounding, free throws - and have built that foundation. Dambrot's system was and still is entirely flawed. It ignores nearly every basic principal in the sport of basketball. This very board had people constantly talking about the lack of ball movement, defensive breakdowns, free throw shooting problems, etc. We eeked out a lot of close victories against sub-par MAC squads despite being more talented (usually). Those issues have carried over to Duquesne. Read their board; "will this team ever emphasize defense" and "free throws are an issue". I'd be curious to see the opinions of the Dambrot apologists when looking at the Duquesne roster. Is it full of so-called DI players? If so, what was the cause of the early 1st-round exit in the A10 tourney and not dominating/being more competitive in a weaker A10 Conference as a whole? In the first round game, they scored 86 points, shooting at a 47% clip. How can you lose a game when you make shots?! You don't play defense, give up 92(!) pts, and shoot 68% at the line. What's going to be easier to fix: having gym rats hit the gym and practice shooting (including free throws), or getting a team to buy into 40 minutes of tough-nosed, heady defense? My vote is the shooting, which again, gives me hope for this next season. 

 

Lastly, let's stop crucifying this team and Groce for a 40 pt. loss to Buffalo and 24 pt. loss to a motivated O-BooWho squad. Of the 16 losses we had, 11 were single-digit losses, and an additional 2 losses were closer than their final score (@ Buffalo and @ Toledo). That means there were 3 games we simply weren't competitive in. Heck of an accomplishment for a team with only 4 DI players at the time. I wonder if Arizona had the pitchforks out for Sean Miller for losing to Buffalo by 21 last year, or Boeheim for losing by 12 to Buffalo this year. Do BUGS and Miami want to fire their coaches for losing to a team with 4 DI players by 24 & 29 respectively? The Clown lost to a team with only 4 DI players by 19. We had 1 extreme off-night (O-BooWho) and one off-day that was aided by being inferior to one of the better teams in the entire country (Buffalo at The Q); clearly that's not the norm. 

 

So much good to focus on. The sky is not falling. In fact, I feel as if the ceiling is higher than ever before, considering our previous ceiling had a MAC Finals record similar to LeBron's Finals record (oh look, another similarity between Dambrot and LeBron, to add to the excuses and now neither of them making the postseason), and arguably 0 marquee wins (unless you include the few NIT wins against Houston, FSU, and Temple). 

I hope that you are right about the future.  Only time will tell.

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Would anyone else be doing any better? Akron is a pretty difficult job to begin with and throw in the fact that it was like starting over, and I just doubt there are many guys out there that could be doing better than this right now. Maybe they would have won a couple more of the close games and played into a bye in the tournament, but the results would largely be the same. I'm not championing Groce as a great coach for Akron yet and I may never be able to, but I have a hard time imagining any of the other guys they were looking at would have us any better.

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3 minutes ago, LoyalZIP said:

Would anyone else be doing any better? Akron is a pretty difficult job to begin with and throw in the fact that it was like starting over, and I just doubt there are many guys out there that could be doing better than this right now. Maybe they would have won a couple more of the close games and played into a bye in the tournament, but the results would largely be the same. I'm not championing Groce as a great coach for Akron yet and I may never be able to, but I have a hard time imagining any of the other guys they were looking at would have us any better.

I think people wish we splurged and kept Dambrot. Seeing that Oats made the tourney 4 of the past 5 years and won a tournament game and got a 6 seed this year.. all netted him a raise to 850k, I don't think paying KD more than that to stick around would have been worth it. So here we are

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1 hour ago, zippy5 said:

I think people wish we splurged and kept Dambrot. Seeing that Oats made the tourney 4 of the past 5 years and won a tournament game and got a 6 seed this year.. all netted him a raise to 850k, I don't think paying KD more than that to stick around would have been worth it. So here we are

KD made more than that (with bonuses) his last year here, and he obviously achieved much less.

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