Leaderboard

There is plenty of blame to go around on this one, however, what did any reasonable fan really expect of this season? The team started the season seriously undermanned and the situation never got better with critical injuries to two of the Zips bigs. Were there plays that could have been made by the Zips players last night? Hell yes. Were there bad calls by the coaching staff late in the game? Certainly there were. However, in the end analysis, the Zips were quite simply beaten by a deeper and more talented squad. At the end of the day, Groce will make mistakes. Dambrot made mistakes. Criticizing either of them is not a demonstration of support for the other. Dambrot is a fine coach. Groce is a fine coach. It's just time to move on from the childish sniping and arguing.

This season wasn't great. We haven't experienced Akron basketball not being a MAC Title contender for a long time. I still expected us to be middle of the pack, but the injuries to Olojakpoke and Sayles made that a tough ask. Couple that with a new coaching staff, 5 players exiting via transfer, and the crazy amount of youth we had, and it was a perfect, awful storm. I think Groce did well given all of this, despite the record and finish. Next year, though, I expect to be a MAC contender again. Anything less is not acceptable or excusable. And I think we will be, which is exciting.

I thought the game turned when they went to a full court press and we turned the ball over and they went on a 7 point run. The momentum changed. The T on the coach was after he was walking away and had his back to the ref. It made no senses. The call on Ivey was weak. However, they also had two t's so it even out. I thought Groce made 2 really bad moves at the end of the game. When Utomi was taking foul shots he put in Klac and took out Patton. Patton has rebounded missed foul shots on seveal occasions. Stupid move! Utomi missed the second one, Klac did not go for the rebound as was running down the court to play defense. He then missed a layup and turned the ball over when he fumbled another pass. No way this guy should have been in. Patton was having a good game. Finally, the only person I remember scoring at the end was Cotton. He hit a clutch 3. He should not have been on the bench when we needed somebody to make a basket. He showed he could play in the clutch on Monday, made a big 3 tonight, and then he sits on the bench. Just poor coaching. However, Groce did a great job getting this team to play well but hopefully he will make better game decisions in the future.

I know he's probably disappointed, but we all have to be relieved. Hopefully he'll stay at UA for a long time.

I realize adjustments were made by EMU but I'm having trouble coming to grips with ... ... blowing a 19-point lead with 13-14 minutes left in the game. The staff and players built that kind of lead and it's the MAC - I'm just amazed we couldn't hold it. ... two of EMU's best players, Thompson and Minnie, were in foul trouble with 4 fouls apiece and BOTH finished the game on the court. Thompson came back into the game with 4 fouls and 9 minutes left on the clock. At some point I'll try to go back to ESPN3 to watch those last 9 minutes but it just didn't seem to me like we made it a real focus to foul Thompson in particular out of the game. Minnie actually had the better game but Thompson is a load in the middle. We drove and back-cut to the basket in the first half but as someone else pointed out we seemed to stop doing both in the second half. Both of these as well as LONG scoring droughts are just Groundhog Day things to me ... and they just drain me as a fan. Very satisfied with what I saw this year, especially given the injuries and the renewed focus and energy the second half of February. Looking forward to next year already but last night had me believing for a good part of the game that we'd be taking out a #3 seed and playing tonight. Empty feeling will pass and that's part of what this long, dead window of UA sports helps remedy sometimes.

Some random thoughts: By and large, I was pleased with the coaching staff. I was concerned and mid-season that the staff may be losing the team, but they rallied and the kids bought in and played harder and harder through the last month of the season. I was also impressed by Dustin Ford's interaction with the team. I think we were all lured into a false sense of the team based upon their early success against the out of conference schedule. In other seasons, some of the kids we saw on the floor this year would have been redshirted or otherwise not seen significant time. Kostelac may have benefited from a redshirt season, settling into the game and refining his skills before being thrust on to the court. We have to hope that the actual on-court experience will help him long-term. Malcolm often seemed to be playing out of position. He looks like a linebacker and plays like a shooting guard which would appear to be his more natural position. He did fine, but I would have preferred to see him at shooting guard and running off of picks, but the roster didn't allow that. Virshon was very much a pleasant surprise. He certainly has the potential to be one of the better players in the MAC. I hope that he matures with age and is a 4 year Zip. Lucas Smith was the unsung hero of the season. While certainly not a star in any regard, I can't imagine where the team would have been without him after the losses of E-man and Sayles. Parrish drove me to distraction the first half of the season with his regular lapses. As the season wore down however, he really seemed to come into his own and show glimpses of the player he can become. Early on, I thought this was a .500 team. With the losses of the two big men I can't be disappointed with coming up just a little short of that. I look forward to what next season holds.

This team has ran out of gas and not been great in clutch situations all year. I was at Q and never felt comfortable. Wish I knew what Groce said to get that Tech. He was definitely walking away. Thought the T on Ivey was bad and was the true turning point. Tough to win a game when your turning the ball over against the press or get into your offense with 15 seconds left on the shot clock. That's a recipe for disaster going against a quality zone. Needed better playmaking/decision making from our 5th year Sr. Agree with the statement that Patton probably should've played more during the final min. Very bullish on the future of this team. Groce really had the frosh playing hard.

There's an emptiness inside, but it's tempered by the anticipation of what lies ahead. Must be like Barbra Streisand feels after one of her dogs died, but before the new cloned one has arrived.

With a full roster, fans shouldn't have seen much of Mark this year. He was a freshman, and forced into helping out his team because of circumstances out of his control. I think I'll wait at least a year, or two, before evaluating the effectiveness of his Zips career. Getting 21 minutes in the second round of the MAC tournament can only help his development. Looking forward to next season already!

Kostelac is a reincarnation of Mike Bardo.

I think a couple of the criticisms about the coaching are probably a bit harsh and emotional, because our season just ended with a major thud. But at the same time, I think a few of you can now stop coming to this forum repeatedly to declare him the Master Of March and "his teams play their best basketball in March", and then come back later to insist that there must be some other reason why we lost. He's now had 6 years in a row (and 2 more at OU) where his teams got knocked out of their conference tournament in the Quarterfinal round, or earlier. Just call it what it is. A few of you know that you would have sentenced our previous coach to a Public Flogging if he engineered a collapse like this.

I'm pro-Groce. But I noticed/was thinking the same thing.

We just had no depth this year. Our main three scorers had to play nearly the entire game. They ran out of gas. Backup center (well, Klac was the THIRD center) is a shorter guy they got out of the rec center. Utomi can score, but he and Ivey just ran out of gas. Parrish and Patton and Cotton are frosh, can't expect that much out of them. If we had a "6th man" we would have been OK.

It's difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that we play one senior, one junior and one sophomore. Crazy! All things considered, we overachieved. Proud of these guys! Go Zips!

Groce's gameplan in the last 10 minutes left a lot to be desired, that's for sure. With that said, the players just didn't execute either. When you score 1 point in the last 6 minutes, everyone shares blame. This was always a transition year. We saw some positives and some real growth from several players. My expectations are now to return to that top of the MAC starting next year.

The Ivey T was the turning point if you ask me

”Who are these guys?!” was the question I kept asking myself regarding The University of Akron’s 2018 Football Recruiting Class. The local newspapers gave Akron’s February 7th, 2018 National Signing Day virtually no print space. Northeast Ohio television stations all but ignored the event. And the various internet recruiting websites again focused their columns on the Power 5 programs. Aside from the noble efforts of a couple local AM radio sports talk personalities, the Zips signing day coverage fell well short of what a real fan wanted to learn about the class, and certainly beneath the coverage it merited. 2018 has a chance to be a great year for Zips football, and the kids bound to these 25 letters of intent have some really interesting storylines. So I thought I would head down to the Zips football offices and see if Head Coach Terry Bowden would give me a little time to discuss the class. Here’s what he had to say. Program Growth Generating a Bright Future

I expected an up and down season this year and that is what we saw. We hired a new coach, had a depleted roster coming into the season and had to rely on Freshman way more than any team would like to. That being said, I think the future is bright. Lot's of experience for the young players and a year of learning the system for all the transfers that came in. Looking forward to the next few seasons for sure!

I did not read that much into the T because in my opinion I thought all 4 techs did not have to be called. The coach got a T when his back was to the ref, Jimond for bouncing a ball hard and the Easter Michigan Ts were also weak. I still see Jimond separating the coach from the refs at the Buffalo game. I thought they were good. I trust Groce will get this under control since he will have the players he wants.

UCF's loss is our gain. Continue kicking ass, prez Wilson.

Can we stop with old coach vs new coach now that this season is over?

The morning after, I gotta say that was one incredible game, to see how far this team has come, and see the big game experience that a lot of our building blocks got. And the simple fact that we weren't suppose to be here. An 11 seed beating WMU by a point, then dominating the 3 seed for much of the game. Fatigue and inexperience caught up with them. The refs didn't help either. I don't think the league (or the broadcasters) wanted a 6-12 program muddying up the final four. It's hard (but not impossible) for me to blame the coach, he didn't miss any buckets in the last seven minutes. He may have looked better calling different strategies for a team that was inexperienced in big games and looked gassed, but I'm not sure KD or anyone else could have made those late shots go in. I'll wait to see him with a full roster before driving him to the airport. We knew this would be a long painful season. We returned what, five players? Now the rebuild can begin.

Well, here we are. it's going to be fascinating to watch how the 18-19 team comes together.

Can't turn the ball over that many times and get the W. Utomi - what a great season he had! Season MVP!

It went from a lot of cutting and ball movement to the guards passing back and forth across court, followed by a hoist three or a Utomi jumper with 3-4 seconds left. They got conservative - either because that was the gameplan, they ran out of gas, or both - and it killed em.

The only thing I would question is going away from Utomi down the stretch. And playing Klac so late in the game when we needed points desperately. Overall very proud of this team. A couple different bounces and EMU could've been buried beyond reach.

The fact that a Zips fan has to even declare themselves pro-Groce illustrates how toxic this forum has been at times this year.

I don't think the offensive gameplan differed much besides the fact that we couldn't make a basket. The collapse was 99% on the defensive side imo

I don't know. I heard a bit too much of Groce blaming players for bad attitudes that just played great for 30 minutes against a #3 seed with more experience and length.

*I'm not blaming the refs* to be clear. But normally as long as you catch it before the ball flies to the ceiling they let it go.

I've seen guys do that hundreds of times and not get called for a T. B.S. call by a guy whose supposed to be a great ref.

Shut up.

This is what we get with Groce ball Hope yall are satisfied

Nice run boys. we can do the post mortem tomorrow.

Prevent offense.

Right THERE!!!!

Never hit rim

Another turnover that lead to an EMU basket. That's the only thing keeping them as close as they are.

He's by far my least favorite player I can remember in the MAC in the 9 years I've been following.

EMU is 2-11 from the 3-line. That needs to continue.

Good first half overall. Maybe Mark's best half all year. Played smart. Thats what we need from him. Thompson is coming in the 2nd.

Making those threes eventually makes them come out and that loosens up the middle.

Not a Regghi fan

And Toledo fired Nick Dials!

Wasn't too bad a drive up here. And parking indoors at the Q is only $15 this year. One problem is I can't get to a restaurant because the streets are packed with EMU fans. It's a sea of green! (Rowdies should sponsor a scavenger hunt. Free pizza and beer to whoever can find and capture an Eastern fan).

Akron and Duquesne both play on Thursday. Duquesne plays at 6pm, and Akron plays around 9pm. Which game will some of this thread's participants attend...? Do they make the drive to support KD or do they head to Cleveland to support Akron? Quite the dilemma... Sorry, I had to have some fun with this one. Go Zips.

Thanks to you all for the nice comments. I'm glad you liked the story. It was a lot of work, but certainly worth it if people thought it was informative. If always been of the mindset that I can complain about the local Zips coverage, or do it myself. I made the time to create it because I thought is was an important story to be told. I also felt if it were a professional, well-received piece that we'd get the opportunity to do other such stories in the future. Thanks to Dr. Z for handling the layout!

This is just the story of the whole season playing out in a five minute period! Not enough manpower!

Where's Virshon?