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I'm not saying you can't impact the game defensively, nor am I saying Akron's 3P defense is anything to be proud of. Akron's key to success this year was shot making. We weren't built to play the lockdown defensive style you, Zippy87, and some others wanted us to play. Miami OH was shooting borderline logo 3s the other night and making them. High Point's #99 hit a logo 3 to get them back in the game vs. Wisconsin yesterday. You either make your shots or you don't and Akron didn't make enough; the opponents did.

You say that as though you can't run a shooter off the 3-point line. There are two sides of a basketball game. You can impact a game defensively despite what you may think. Edit: Go look at the boxscore. Tavari attempted 0 3PA. They ran him off the line and then forced him to drive where they had defensive help. Great defensive teams can take away what you do best.

And yet despite that, we were in that game for 80% of it. If we make our shots, we possibly win. Way too much focus on what we can't control as much.

Regardless of how you feel about perimeter defense I don't think there is no denying the fact that leaving someone who shoots 8.5 3s a game and knocks them down at 45%+ clip wide open isn't a winning strategy.

The bottom line is perimeter defense was a problem all season. Bad teams will have trouble exposing that, good teams will not. The 5th best 3-point shooting offense in the country certainly will not.

Much better than the list Toledo is on.

The % margin that separates most teams on that list is miniscule. Toledo is in the 200s for 3P defense and only .6% better than Akron. Troy shot 18% from 3P vs. Toledo in a loss. Cornell is 349th in 3P defense - Yale shot 35% vs. them in a loss. The best teams in the country shoot the 3-ball at 40% at best on average. Ultimately, teams either make their shots or they don't. Akron had a couple wide open 3s today that they missed. Open isn't automatic.

kind of a mixed bag i guess. we may be on the list tomorrow after Gemini gets today's results. on the plus side, Iona will be hard to catch. kind of surprised to see Boise and eku.

Groce will certainly have some tempting offers. Butler is the one to watch, IMO.

Tough day for sure. But the memories of last Saturday night will never disappear. Can’t take that away.

Akron ranked 259th in the country in 3-point defense. Perimeter defense was a weakness most of the year. Bad or average teams couldn't take advantage of that. Better teams could, which is why we didn't beat any of them. They made shots at absurd rates because we consistently gave opponents great looks...we saw it throughout the game today. That's not bad luck for us or good luck for them, that's a team's weakness getting exposed.

We're climbing up a list we don't want to be on. Akron 8 2026

most ncaa appearances without a win School Appearances Last Appearance Iona 16 2023 Boise State 9 2024 Eastern Kentucky 8 2014 South Dakota State 8 2024 Colgate 7 2024 Nebraska 's win over Troy was their first ever.

Tough day. Great season. Thanks for the memories boys.

You don't have to wonder. Estimated figures are out there. I think Texas Tech was around $10.5 million if I remember correctly. I imagine $3-$4 million of that went to Toppin who obviously didn't play. You can still win as a mid-major. The margin of error is just very small. It requires a great gameplan and even better execution.

To win in a game like this you have to be talented, really well prepared, and a little fortunate. I’m sure prep wasn’t an issue, talent is always going to favor the power conference team, and the luck swung all towards Texas tech in the last 8 minutes of the game. Amani had an open look to cut the lead to 2 in the final fourth of the game. It doesn’t go down and Texas tech scores on almost every possession for the rest of the game. The defense down the stretch couldn’t force misses we got at other points in the game

I don't know that it has. This tournament is proof of that so far.

That was pre NIL. The climb has become a lot steeper. One wonders what TT's budget is now(?)

Siena gave Duke a run McNees and Kennesaw St kept it close Santa Clara should have beaten Kentucky Hofstra is up 10 over Bama Miami will probably beat Tennessee High Point beat Wisconsin I don't mind losing. I just want a chance. We end up getting blown out almost every single time. Aside from the UCLA game, we never really even have a shot.

He won 3 tourney games at Ohio. If anything, JG probably wants to break whatever glass ceiling is over this program because he can.

You would think they would've done it at least once; you would also think any of those 5 OOC losses would've had average or even below average shooting nights at least once. Realistically - Akron didn't do enough in any of their OOC losses to overcome unprecedented shooting performances by their opponents. Whether or not defense was a factor is irrelevant because the opponent made their shots at absurd rates. THAT'S being realistic. Akron was talented enough to compete with all of their OOC opponents. THAT'S being realistic. 3 pt loss to Yale: Shot 64% FG and 47% 3P; on the season, 49.6% FG and 40% 3P 15 pt loss to Murray State: 58% FG and 56% 3P; on the season, 46% FG and 34.8% 3P 10 pt loss to Troy: 43% FG and 52% 3P; on the season, 44.9% FG and 33.5% 3P 20 pt loss to Texas Tech: 64% FG and 55% 3P; on the season, 46.7% and 39.3% 3P Purdue pretty much shot their season averages; the difference in that game was our inability to do anything around the rim. Akron had to be damn near perfect to win any of those OOC games and even then (great offensive performances vs. Yale & Murray State) it wasn't enough to overcome the hot shooting. Those shooting percentages are outside the norm of what most defenses can affect. On the flip side, they blew out Tulane (18-15 on the year and middle of the pack in the American) on their court, dominated Princeton, and handled James Madison. They didn't drop any headscratchers to teams like Evansville, Iona, Milwaukee, Bucknell, etc., which is something we've seen other teams do. This team was much more than just "MAC good." This team had the talent - that wasn't the issue. Luck wasn't on our side in some of those games and execution certainly wasn't, especially vs. Miami OH, Troy, and Texas Tech. Did we have the size? Probably not, and that's likely where the team will look to improve in the off-season. I'm realistic, not pessimistic.

I don’t think Akron is going to sneak up on anyone in the NCAAT. We are a respected mid-major and the pundits amplify it. We are going to have to show up, play great and take it.

Somebody had the chance to title this thread Staying Close to the Vest, and fumbled 😉 Even with the NIL money, JG has to be feeling somewhat ceilinged at Akron. He is still young enough to want another crack at a P4 IMO.

i don't watch much P4 hoops but i would certainly think TT could give Alabama a lot of trouble assuming they win their first game.

Thats ridiculous thing to say, I don’t think a program like Yale, St. Peter’s, ORU is just gonna accept the fact that they will never do anything in the tournament. You can play hard all season and you get one game where you are the underdog to prove yourself. There’s a reason for the seeding in the tournament