1981 grad Posted December 16, 2021 Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 2 hours ago, Illini Zip said: Here is a little trivia. Excuse me if it has already has been said. Coach Groce knows number #24 for Wright State very, very well. Tim Finke with the hair bun is the younger brother to one of Groce's players at Illinois, Michael Finke. Michael Finke was the true stretch 4, effective inside and beyond the arch. And the family was a class act and very involved with the program. Groce was also scouting Tim Finke before he was let go at Illinois. Thanks for that comment. I noticed that when they were shaking hands that Groce gave him a brief hug and I thought it was a weird because usually you see that when a player has an outstanding game and Finke did not play that exceptional. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoyalZIP Posted December 16, 2021 Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 Great win for the Zips tonight, I know a lot of us had plenty of doubts about this team’s ability to play away from the JAR. The defense traveled as it usually does, and the shooting made the trip as well. They could have shot better, but X and Trimble hitting those early ones had to take off quite a bit of pressure. Aziz has a long, long way to go, but he was fairly effective on offense tonight passing out of the double team, outside of maybe a turnover or two. He made some nice plays, and again played nice D. I’d like to see him keep on his feet on D though, he could get into foul trouble. Dawson has been fouling a lot too. I love his game, but he takes a poop-load of 3s for how good a shooter he is and he has recently been committing bad fouls. We need the bodies now and can’t afford too many of those. I’m glad we could play without Tribble too, hopefully whatever illness he’s battling isn’t too bad and doesn’t affect his game too much, he’s been in a groove. Overall, I was not impressed by Wright State. But the Zips will see their fair-share of teams like that come conference play, especially on the road where Groce teams have been known to struggle. He said on the post game that the goal is to be at least .500 playing away from home. The championship team was stellar away from the JAR and that’s what wins you championships. The team the year before couldn’t lose at the JAR but couldn’t win away from the JAR, and they wound up being pretty average. Still a ton of ball left to be played and a lot left to learn, but tonight was another good step. On to Radford. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted December 16, 2021 Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 18 minutes ago, 1981 grad said: Thanks for that comment. I noticed that when they were shaking hands that Groce gave him a brief hug and I thought it was a weird because usually you see that when a player has an outstanding game and Finke did not play that exceptional. You're right about all of that. I was watching with a smile on my face. Finke is a redshirt Sophomore who sat out last year after transferring from Grand Canyon University. He is where he belongs at the mid-major level, but I bet he has a high ceiling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted December 16, 2021 Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) On 12/15/2021 at 8:47 PM, Let'sGoZips94 said: Appreciation post for the JAR. Thank goodness we don't watch our basketball games at the Nutter Center. That is not a flattering arena name. 😂 I concur. All those comfortable seats with backs and not a bad sight line in the house can get really irritating. And it only cost Erwin 2 of the 40 mill construction cost to get his name on it. Cool people refer to it as the Nut House. Edited March 23, 2022 by Zipmeister . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted December 16, 2021 Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) 11 hours ago, Illini Zip said: You're right about all of that. I was watching with a smile on my face. Finke is a redshirt Sophomore who sat out last year after transferring from Grand Canyon University. He is where he belongs at the mid-major level, but I bet he has a high ceiling. As the stats below indicate,the redshirt junior, Finke, may have set multiple NCAA records for performance by a player sitting out the season last year. 2020-21: Appeared in 23 of 24 games with 23 starts, averaging 32.4 minutes per game, second-best on the roster… Just over half of his attempts came from behind the three-point line (104 of 191 baskets) … Had a total of 160 rebounds with an average of seven per contest… Tied his career-high this season with 16 points three times during the campaign, with the last coming at IUPUI on January 23… Tallied a career-best 12 rebounds against Milwaukee on February 13… Was named the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. Edited December 16, 2021 by Zipmeister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted December 16, 2021 Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Zipmeister said: I concur. All those comfortable seats with backs and not a bad sight line in the house can get really irritating. And it only cost Erving 2 of the 40 mill construction cost to get his name on it. Cool people refer to it as the Nut House. I'm sure if you came up with $2mil to help renovate the JAR Charles could get your name on something. Zipmeister Arena has a nice ring to it! Edited December 16, 2021 by Hilltopper 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted December 16, 2021 Report Share Posted December 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Zipmeister said: As the stats below indicate,the redshirt junior, Finke, may have set multiple NCAA records for performance by a player sitting out the season last year. 2020-21: Appeared in 23 of 24 games with 23 starts, averaging 32.4 minutes per game, second-best on the roster… Just over half of his attempts came from behind the three-point line (104 of 191 baskets) … Had a total of 160 rebounds with an average of seven per contest… Tied his career-high this season with 16 points three times during the campaign, with the last coming at IUPUI on January 23… Tallied a career-best 12 rebounds against Milwaukee on February 13… Was named the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. Wow, time flies. I must have read something old. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJGood Posted December 18, 2021 Report Share Posted December 18, 2021 I am happy this game was scheduled. Do we know if Wright State will be making a return trip to the JAR in the future? The TV announcers tonight kept mentioning how Akron does not play many true road non-conference games. I have always been somewhat critical of bigger programs for not scheduling more away games against either smaller schools or at least road games where they would be prohibitive favorites. I would love to see Big Ten, Big East, or top half of the Atlantic 10 or Missouri Valley teams more often in the JAR. I actually think those type of games would be good for both programs. With that said, though, I have always thought the Zips should schedule home and homes with similar type teams as themselves and I really think it would be good for Akron to play a road game or two against smaller schools or schools over whom they would be a prohibitive favorite. I just think that is the way you toughen a team and get them more prepared for conference play. How would everyone feel if we scheduled a road game with someone like Radford or a middle of the Ohio Valley or MAAC type team? I think it would be a benefit to the team overall. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoyalZIP Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 The Raiders go on the road to Raleigh and manhandle the NC State Wolfpack in the second half en route to an 84-70 win. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted December 22, 2021 Report Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) 19 hours ago, LoyalZIP said: The Raiders go on the road to Raleigh and manhandle the NC State Wolfpack in the second half en route to an 84-70 win. Live look at NC State's Men's Basketball Coach... (a bit of a stretch, but I will find any excuse in the book to share this classic video of our former DC) Edited December 22, 2021 by Let'sGoZips94 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted March 17, 2022 Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 Scott Nagy is one heck of a coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWAkron Posted March 17, 2022 Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: Scott Nagy is one heck of a coach. Nagy to Xavier really happy for the Raiders. Off to San Diego! WSU player has 37 points! Edited March 17, 2022 by NWAkron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoyalZIP Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 Zips shut him down, but he was a beast against pretty much everyone else. Averaged 18 points per game this season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 2 hours ago, LoyalZIP said: Zips shut him down, but he was a beast against pretty much everyone else. Averaged 18 points per game this season. That squad was talented and went through Hell this year with 3(?) close relative deaths on the team/staff. Scott Nagy is a heck of a coach. I wonder if this means Nagy is on the move, or if Grant is simply looking to move into the P6 ranks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoyalZIP Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 16 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: That squad was talented and went through Hell this year with 3(?) close relative deaths on the team/staff. Scott Nagy is a heck of a coach. I wonder if this means Nagy is on the move, or if Grant is simply looking to move into the P6 ranks. The Horizon League has become quite the stepping stone league. It’s the bottom-tier of mid majors before you get to low major. Good coaches have a hard time actually building a program beyond a 15-16 seed and players don’t have much in the way of pro prospects. If Akron were in the HL with a coach of Groce’s caliber, he would’ve inked a bigger job by Friday afternoon last week. But Akron (most MAC) can pay a guy enough to stay a bit longer and the good players don’t feel shame in sticking around a league of this level. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: That squad was talented and went through Hell this year with 3(?) close relative deaths on the team/staff. Scott Nagy is a heck of a coach. I wonder if this means Nagy is on the move, or if Grant is simply looking to move into the P6 ranks. 5, mostly grandfathers. I'm not saying it's impossible that either Nagy or Basile will move on before next season, but I would be surprised if either goes. Odds Nagy leaves < 1%. Odds Basile leaves 5%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 16 minutes ago, Zipmeister said: 5, mostly grandfathers. I'm not saying it's impossible that either Nagy or Basile will move on before next season, but I would be surprised if either goes. Odds Nagy leaves < 1%. Odds Basile leaves 5%. Basile just entered the portal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 1 hour ago, LoyalZIP said: The Horizon League has become quite the stepping stone league. It’s the bottom-tier of mid majors before you get to low major. Good coaches have a hard time actually building a program beyond a 15-16 seed and players don’t have much in the way of pro prospects. If Akron were in the HL with a coach of Groce’s caliber, he would’ve inked a bigger job by Friday afternoon last week. But Akron (most MAC) can pay a guy enough to stay a bit longer and the good players don’t feel shame in sticking around a league of this level. Agreed. I would like to see teams like Wright State and CSU on our schedule more. The MAC is a notch above them, but I'd rather these schools with geographical relevance than Coppin State or a second DIII school. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) We use to play CSU every other year as part of the coaches vs cancer double header. Of course that's when they stunk and people then complained why are we playing cupcake CSU when we should be playing someone like Middle Tennessee. A team that was doing well at the time. That's the thing with mid-majors is who is good one year to the next varies so much. Edit: There has been 36 all-time meetings between the schools https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/play-index/matchup_finder.cgi Edited March 22, 2022 by kreed5120 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 22, 2022 Report Share Posted March 22, 2022 I don’t think CSU will schedule us anymore. Wussies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted March 23, 2022 Report Share Posted March 23, 2022 3 hours ago, LZIp said: Basile just entered the portal. I just saw that. I'm shocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted March 23, 2022 Report Share Posted March 23, 2022 4 hours ago, LoyalZIP said: The Horizon League has become quite the stepping stone league. It’s the bottom-tier of mid majors before you get to low major. Good coaches have a hard time actually building a program beyond a 15-16 seed and players don’t have much in the way of pro prospects. If Akron were in the HL with a coach of Groce’s caliber, he would’ve inked a bigger job by Friday afternoon last week. But Akron (most MAC) can pay a guy enough to stay a bit longer and the good players don’t feel shame in sticking around a league of this level. The Horizon League has been on a downhill slid ever since Butler left.....Valpo......Loyola....... I believe you are paying them a compliment by referring to them as a bottom-tier mid major. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 23, 2022 Report Share Posted March 23, 2022 59 minutes ago, Zipmeister said: I just saw that. I'm shocked. Would you consider Basile a "stretch-4", 'Meister? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted March 23, 2022 Report Share Posted March 23, 2022 He may be. He runs the floor fairly well and is a decent free throw shooter. Based on his (COVID shortened) 20-21 stats, he probably considers himself a stretch 4. He made 48% of his 42 3-point attempts. However, he was less impressive from beyond the arc in 21-22 when he hoisted up 138 3-point attempts – 3rd most on the team. His 3-point percentage made, however, was less than 30% - 8th on the team. more stats than you can shake a stick at 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted March 23, 2022 Report Share Posted March 23, 2022 On 12/16/2021 at 12:06 PM, Hilltopper said: I'm sure if you came up with $2mil to help renovate the JAR Charles could get your name on something. Zipmeister Arena has a nice ring to it! I'd kick in $10 to tear it down and/or rename the building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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