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I don't disagree with you that the team would be better is Barre was able to contribute quality minutes. I'm more saying it will be better to ramp him up to that during games we have well in hand to build up that level of trust.

I'll miss his 3.5 GPA.

I said it was a borderline call, not the incorrect call. Absolutely, and Coach Groce is one of the best there is. MMK at 5 will work against 95% of the teams we play this year, because he is a smart player with a high motor, and that can overcome some of his lack of size at that spot. But not against teams like Yale, Purdue, and anyone we would likely see in the NCAA Tournament. If he doesn't trust Barre yet, I trust he isn't showing something in practice that he wants to see. But I'm holding out hope that whatever it is will get worked through over the next few months so that Barre is at least a 8-10 minutes contributor off the bench by March, because we will need him to pull off out ultimate goal of winning a tournament game IMO.

With all due respect to Milwaukee, if we can't beat them at home, our team isn't what we're hoping.

I think he could still develop into a solid linebacker wherever he lands, but he was leapfrogged by both Boswell and Hocker this year.

You said persnickety. 😀

Not that it really matters, and it was very easy to miss in real time, but there really was a hook and hold. It was only visible from one specific replay angle. It was a very savvy veteran move against a less experienced guy. Anyway, it wouldn't have made any difference, as it had nothing to do with the review or outcome of the game lol. My apologies for being persnickety.

I try finding all of these on X but so many slip through - and I’m sure there will be many more coming

And video evidence showed no hook and hold and that he did fall back into him. It validated the call on the floor. If anything that weakens you argument as you can't even say it was a call the refs missed. Besides the call would have needed to be reviewed regardless because they had to know if the foul occurred before the buzzer and if so how much time to leave on the clock. Groce said in the post game interview after game 1 that MMK earned his minutes in practice when asked if we will see Barre or Briscoe this year. He said both those guys will need to work for their minutes. Once again when you're the 11th man in the rotation you're going to have a short leash in a tightly contested game. If this was Evansville and we were up 20+ he may have let him play through mistakes. We literally trailed for all but maybe 1-2 minutes that game. If anything he should have been given more run time against Iona or Evansville to shake off the rust so he's more prepared when we might need him. Edit: Groce really wanted that game. He pretty much treated it like a MAC tournament game. He shorted his rotation to really 8 man (Ognjen only got 7 minutes) and Tavari, Evan, and Scott all played 32+ minutes. He played the players he had the most trust in what he treated as a must win game. That's what coaches do.

I have had this thought as well. Should the Zips make it to selection Sunday, I think they are going to need Oggie and Barre to continue to progress throughout the season in order to possibly/hopefully make it to the second weekend of the tournament. I do remember thinking Oggie did well defending Townsend the few times they matched up. If, by tournament time, those dudes progress in the system like some of the upperclassmen, the Zippies could have a decent shot at really being a cinderella this season. I think the Bulldogs and Boilermakers gave Akron a good idea of where they are at currently.

It was close enough that they took a look at the monitor to make sure Townsend didn't hook him, because Yale was absolutely doing that last night. We have no idea what he looks like in practice. It was literally one play.

This is an amazing resource!

He literally was falling backwards into Townsend. It was a textbook foul. Nothing borderline about it. He needed to go straight up for the rebound. The better you are, the longer the leash you have. Groce hasn't seen enough in practice from him to warrant extended play. He gives him a chance and he gifts Yale 2 points at the end of the half. Killing the momentem Akron had going into half. That's not to say he won't get minutes again, but when he does get them he has to show he deserves more. Eric Mahaffey made a costly turnover late in the game, but he was left in the game. That's because he's built up the goodwill therefore has a longer leash than the unproven guy who is getting outplayed in practice by MMK. Edit: Personally, I like the tone it sets. It shows players that minutes are earned, not given. Perhaps it gets players to dig deeper to up the effort an extra 5%-10%.

Rediculus

Not sure this is fair. I thought it was a borderline call, but even if it was a bad foul, I certainly hope we aren't benching a player for one mistake. Not going to see growth that way. The gameplan to double wasn't working, and they didn't adjust accordingly or throw enough unique looks at Townsend to really challenge him. I'd love to know how many of their points were wide-open looks, with many right at the rim. It was far too easy for them to score the majority of the game. It is rare for me to be frustrated with our game strategy, but yesterday was frustrating to watch. I thought a big part of bringing Evan in was to be our defensive stopper? I would've given Townsend large doses of Evan and Lyles instead of doubling. On having a legit bench big - I continue to find it curious that Barre hasn't been given a real chance to play. I don't think he's look bad in his limited minutes, and he seems to put forth good effort. But they've never really given him a shot at extended run out there. Maybe he isn't meeting their internal standards, but you have to eventually find out. Playing MMK at the 5 against a good major- the type of team we will see in March if we make the tournament- just isn't going to work. He was was a starter for a chunk of the season at Duquesne last season, but he can't be trusted for 8-10 minutes for us? Don't get me wrong, I trust Groce and there must be something we aren't seeing that he is, but I hope he gets a real shot as the season goes on. I, too, am very excited about this team, and am looking forward to seeing them continue to grow and gel.

I don’t know about that since I have no insider information on Ohio State, but I can say from covering an SEC program for several years that there’s a clear difference in how a school like South Carolina allocates and maximizes its resources compared to a place like Texas A&M.

Here is an awesome page showing our history in the NCAAT. Enjoy! Interestingly, our 66 total tournament games is approximately in the Top 10 of all programs. https://mcubed.net/ncaa/soccmd1/akron.shtml

It's not just football revenue. It's TV money as well. Even though football is the biggest revenue generator, basketball is still great for them to fill time slots on SEC or B1G networks. Basketball pays for itself. It's the other sports that football subsidizes.

And historically small schools success with March Madness has depended on having more team chemistry from four years of developing the same players in the same system, despite their being smaller, less athletic, etc. That opportunity has been wiped away. Also, football revenues now directly fund NIL for basketball players. Hence why the last men's NCAAT was dominated by the "Big Ten" and SEC...that's where all the football money is so they simply buy the basketball players.

The most criminal part is - they can steal your best players with zero restitution. In any professional sport you need to pay, or make a trade to land a coveted player from another team. In college football you just take them for free. We are a free minor league for the P5 programs...must be nice.

That's the sad reality of college sports. It's no different than Major League Baseball and why I freaking HATE P5 and major conference schools. You have two tiers of teams and we're just the farm system for bigger schools now. We develop the athletes and they have the money to poach them away. Maybe every few years a small school can make a run in the CFP or March Madness. But by the next year that program will be completely gutted and will have to start from scratch.

That's pretty much how they cover late games these days. 🤨

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