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Well, the season has come to an abrupt, yet expected end. I am curious as to what ZipsNation thinks were the positives and negatives looking back on the season. Seems like it was just yesterday that we were headed off to the JAR to face Cedarville, but here we are. I thought I;d throw this thread up on the board rather than have us all unload in a game thread. As I look back- Positives and highlights: * Defense, defense, defense. This team played hard on defense all year. They not only played good team defense but Jimond spent the year shutting down the opponent's leading scorer. * Tyler Cheese developed into a solid MAC player, especially on the offensive end. He was the one person on the team aggressive with the ball in his hands. * The team was in a lot of games. Even in most of the losses, they kept the games close. * Groce got the kids to buy into playing hard. Effort was never an issue. * Strong performances against Nevada and Clemson; thrashing of PCCC; Bowling Green win, Miami tournament win. Negatives and lowlights: * Inability to close tight games. * Woeful offense in all but a few games. * Iffy big man play, particularly on offense. * Bad 3 point shooting. * The Buffalo tournament loss; the loss at Miami; ugly collapse and loss at NIU; the Gueye- Kostelac incident, the OU loss.

These 2 years were an aberration imo from the last 10 and the next ten. I hope at least. With so many transfers out, we couldn't bring in all HS recruits the last two years. For a few reasons. One, as ugly as these 2 years were, they'd have been bloodbaths with all freshmen and sophomores this year. Two, to balance the class numbers out. And lastly, when KD left and kids transferred out, there frankly wasn't time or enough decent HS recruits to do that in year one. I think/hope w'll get back to that eventually, but there was just too much volatility with KD leaving.. I give Groce an incomplete grade so far, I'm not thrilled but I didn't exactly expect much.. he didn't quite inherit the situation that Oates did.

Difficult to 'fill the pipeline' with 2-year transfers. My hope is that he starts focusing more on HS recruits. I will be watching for that before renewing my season tix. Time to start building from the bottom up.

There were 38 combined fouls called, 29 of which were in the 1st half. We didn't lose because of the refs. Buffalo was clearly the better team. That being said, the refs made this game unwatchable. If refs consistently called this many fouls per game, many of which were phantom calls that hurt both teams, I wouldn't watch another game of basketball in my life.

I watched the CMU game at home and noticed that the Chipps could throw a pass to their center in the paint and he wouldn't drop the ball. FWIW Riak is battling a couple bad injuries. Remember he screwed up his shoulder in Cayman. Groce has some tough decisions to make with Sayles, Riak, and Eman. Having 3 physically compromised centers on the team isn't going to get the Zips too far.

Found this thread to be a real head-scratcher and quite frankly disappointing. Not what we're used to in CLE for sure but only our second dud this year from a team that is really still an assembly of a little of this and a little of that. We're also not a fan base used to 1st-round wins in The Dance and disappointed when we don't advance beyond that. We are 0-fer and never really looked very good doing that. Withholding judgement on Groce until he has a chance to truly fill his pipeline. LOVE the emphasis on 'D' he has established and who knows what would have happened this year if we had shot the ball better at times. I'm good with Year 2 - to each his/her own.

hey!!! we improved by 2 games!! things are looking up!!

Tell the refs to suck less. I'm not blaming the refs for why we're losing. We suck. But I like to watch my ass whoopings without so many whistles.

Our team is obviously playing horribly but whatever portion of this game that would have been watchable has been erased by these refs. Goodness

Lets get this upset Zips!

TravelZoo has discounted tickets. I got lower bowl tickets (section 108) for $45 after fees (regular $54 plus fees). It supposedly comes with a $5 concession voucher - not sure how that will work. https://www.travelzoo.com/entertainment/chicago-midwest/-13-Men-s-2019-MAC-Basketball-Tournament-incl-Championship-2716273/?IsPresentationMode=1&utm_source=localdeal_us&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2731039_html_-_deal%3a2731039&utm_content=2731039&ec=0&dlinkId=2731039

Read that post wrong. Just forget I said anything besides the meme. I stand by cigarette LeBron

Great points, Clark. Coming off our struggles from last year, I had higher hopes coming in. Losing Hester and multiple centers probably helped to limit our steps forward. We improved from last season, but maybe not quite as much as I hoped. We were 8-10 and the 8th seed. I wanted/hoped each of those would have been better. That being said, it's too early to give up all hope. Let's see what Groce does with another recruiting class.

Riak came here to miss layups and chew gum and he's all out of gum

Who can walk and chew gum at the same time.

I too just walked in from my excursion to the Q. Stuck around to watch first half of second game. What a huge difference inintensity levels between these two games. Kent and CMU played hard nosed and up tempo, and it was so obvious after watching the Zips play so timidly in game 1. How many freakin’ lay ups did we flat out miss? The only time we really challenged the middle it was by our smallest player. How many second and third chance baskets did Buffalo get, many times due to poor rebounding or lack of hustle for loose balls on our part. How many one and out trips did we make down the floor. At one point in the first half our 3 point % was better than our overall %, and both were in the teens. The refs had nothing to do with this, we just flat out sucked. Fun to be there though, and see friends and other fans from other teams having fun. Great to have the tourney here, IMHO.

I just got back from the Q. All I wanted was a competitive game. The closest we came in the second half was 14 points. I walked out when we were down by 30. This was an embarrassment. The first half is what we have seen all season, a team that cannot put the ball in the basket. Riak and E man are fading away from 3 feet. Take the ball strong to the hoop and stop acting like little boys. Nobody could make a 3 point shot. Buffalo was not that good in the first half. They were missing their 3 point shots and their foul shots. This game should have been close in the first half but we played like crap! Didn't someone indicate that Groce had his team play their best ball come tournament time. So much for that. This team looked terrible. On the way up to the Q all I heard on pregame was how Akron has dominated at the tournament. That was all KD. That era is gone. I agree that the refs sucked the first half. They called 2 illegal screens that were phantom calls. The second half they let the teams play and it was much easier game to watch.

I saw multiple people tossing around the idea of the Zips needing to move on from Dambrot before he decided to leave for Duquesne. The same Dambrot who made it to 9 MAC finals. It's unreasonable to expect fans on an online sports forum to be reasonable.

Buffalo today is what Akron should have been 5 years ago. We never made the jump from good to great, they have.

The problem? FG's 14-59 (23.7%) 3PT 4-23 (17.4%) AST 4. FOUR. Four freakin' assists. Blame the refs? Akron was called for 20 fouls. Buffalo? 18 "Where I come from we call that an ass kickin'".

Got to get some really quality big men

Remember that time we lost by 40 in the MAC quarterfinals? Pepperidge Farms remembers. I have serious doubts that this staff can create a team that is consistently above average in the MAC. I hope I'm wrong, but looking at the scholarship chart, next year is must win.

Baseball is undefeated this year.

Oats is STILL working the refs, even up 21. "Stripes, c'mere. Now, I was promised a larger foul margin, and I'm not getting it. You've got the NCAA Tourney committee watching, and we're only up 21, when being up 30+ would get us a potential 6 seed."

Calm down dre. It is pretty clear that the consensus on here is that: 1) the refs suck; 2) have sucked for both teams and 3) are not impacting the result of the game.

It's hard to blame the refs when we shoot 24% from inside the arc, while the refs are calling fouls on players who aren't even there yet.

Maybe not, but as someone else has said there is absolutely no flow to this game whatsoever because there is a whistle nearly every possession. It is making for an awful game to listen to.

4 FGs in a half boy the refs sure play good defense

Let us blame whomever we want. The season is over in 20 minutes. Lighten up.

The refs are not the reason why we are getting our ass kicked. Stop it

I’m not sure it matters, but Bryan Anslinger is one of the single worst basketball officials I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t trust him in a game at the Y.

How tall are they?

Glad I didn't take off work to go to the game. In fact, I'll probably end up turning off this stream at half-time.

CBI or CIT? I say call it a year

traitor graves with the flagrant.

ESPN+

First couple minutes of the second half, you mean.

I thought you were done posting after the OU game ?. Having said that, I agree with you.

NWAkron's keys to the game: Big upsets require a high shooting % by the underdog. UMBC shot over 50% when they beat #1 Virginia last year. Also, free throws. Zips have to make almost all of theirs and limit Bulls trips to the line. In the game at Akron, UB had a lot more trips to the line than Akron even before the garbage final minutes. Transition: Buffalo will grab the missed 3s and do quick damage. Here in lies the big problem. LCJ and Daniel will have the green light to shoot the 3. If they start off cold, Buffalo will build a big lead quickly. If those two start off hot, then there's a chance.

http://sportstreatise.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-rise-of-undersized-linebacker.html

If we’re going to schedule an FCS team, then by damn schedule one that doesn’t have any chance to beat and embarrass us. The average fan doesn’t know the difference between St. Francis and James Madison. FCS games should be guaranteed wins. I have never understood why any school would schedule a tough FCS game. You gain nothing if you beat them, yet sacrifice quite a bit if you don’t.

Akron should leave the MAC today

I left it open to interpretation on purpose.

Poor prioritization abound! This is a quintessential example of the decisions that have drowned UA in debt and compromised its future. I have no faith in the Board of Trustees or the current administration. It is truly sad what our alma mater has become, and its trajectory is shameful.