Leaderboard

1. Athletic team - not Phi Slamma Jamma by any stretch, but certainly not a low post, Big Dog-centric offense. They get up and down the floor fast, and play dogged perimeter defense. They do have a fun style of play. I don't miss Utomi lumbering into the lane and dribbling the ball off his foot one bit. 2. Reece - I like his athleticism and intensity. It's been a long time since we've had a post player that's looking to dunk the ball rather than lay it up softly off the glass. 3. Williams - I think he has another gear that we've yet to see. He's been solid. But it seems like he disappears for stretches. I think he has the potential to dominate in most MAC games if he wants. By the same token, maybe he's just a team-guy who's happy to defer to his teammates when they're rolling? I have't seen enough of him yet to be sure. 4. Tribble - Slow, steady improvement. He finished a lay up the other night that I'm sure he would have missed earlier in the year. As physically thick as he already is, it's intriguing to see what kind of shape he comes into the 2020-21 season in. I'm expecting he'll be a mini-beast. 5. Cheese (and Channel Banks) - Love them both. Wish they started their careers at Akron. Great finds by Groce. They came into the season in great shape...their off season work paid off 6. Riak - Likable guy. Like Tacko Fall. Tries really hard. As MD said, he's a good role player. Won't get many points, but a useful defender for sure. 7. LCJ - took a major leap this season. Tireless player...relentless on offense and defense. Love that he hits his FT's @ 80%+. If he can continue playing at the level we've seen lately, he'll go down as a Top 5 PG in Zips history. A MAC Championship would solidify that spot. 8. Dawson - Slooooowly becoming a factor in the rotation. Too soon to have a read on him, but hopefully his bucket in the WMU game allows him to exhale a little bit and start hooping. For a star HS kid, who's getting scant few minutes thus far, he's thoroughly engaged from the bench and supporting the guys on the floor. I like his attitude. I like his build. I can't wait for him to reach the point where he can cut loose and show us what he can do. Groce - Got hit with a lot of defections when he arrived which set the program back a little. But now that he's got "his guys" in the fold, the team is starting to blossom. The team definitely plays hard for him, and respects him. Team - I like every post game interview I hear from this Zips team. Every kid seems like a great one. Great chemistry plus good talent should lead to a nice run in March. They are all representing Akron well.

Utomi was disgruntled, and not a recruit of the present coach. Maybe he was a little delusional of his abilities...maybe he was a bad fit for Groce's system...maybe all of those. But it wasn't a shock to see him leave. Poke? He wasn't going to see any PT, and left for a smaller program. LCJ is already on his 2nd school. He really seems to be enjoying Akron, playing under Groce, and running his own team. I don't see many P5 schools looking for 5' 8" point guards. For all those reasons, I will be shocked if he leaves. Not all kids think the grass is greener elsewhere. Put this post in a time capsule and open it in a few months. We'll see if I'm right. ?

Do you have a side job raining on parades?

Your addition of the info about French's interview is "the point" of my raising the question. Thanks/mahalo to all back in Akron for your i sight, as I get this info second and third hand. I now have credibile news I was lacking.

this article has very complimentary words about one of the hardest working young men to ever wear a zips uniform I am rooting for this former zip .....to be drafted on Monday https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/01/10/mls-superdraft-2020-five-best-players-remaining-3rd-and-4th-rounds-travis-clark

My thoughts exactly. From everything I have heard LCJ has bought in completely and become a leader on this team. As such, I'd be shocked if he went anywhere.

Funny that while inebriated he knows difference between "too" and "to" but not "there" and "their."

Trust me, it won't be his first. LOL.

Every school fires a coach they are financially obligated to. No coach coaches through the last year of their contract without an extension. Paying an underperfoming coach not-to-coach is the price every school pays. It is a cost of doing business. But this is a Joe Moorhead thread. Not a budget thread. If you want to talk budget, you can do it here.

http://overthepylon.boards.net/thread/3073/akron What they are saying in Muncie. The last post is rather funny.

Akron listed as 4 point favorites.

You mean the track is still there in the JAR? ? It would be really close except we couldn't extend the end zone seating down to the floor.

This took about ten seconds of research. Enjoy http://collegebaseballinsider.com/2020-akron-baseball-schedule/

I think it would have been fun to field a better team to contend with Buffalo last year. For years Dambrot complained about how the decks always stacked against us because nobody good would ever come play at the JAR. There was actually for once a team last year in the MAC that would have given us a crack to get up to 2 tournament resume building wins. I heard over the years people saying they wanted Akron to become the Gonzaga of the east. People overlook another WCC that has capitalized off of Gonzaga's success to become one of the best mid-majors in the country. That team would be St. Mary's who used some wins over Gonzaga to help catapult them. Those two teams emerging also helped attract BYU to the conference, which made the conference even better. I'd love to see the MAC become a multi-bid league.

Bart Torzik gives Akron a 64.1% percent of winning the MAC outright and a 79% of winning/sharing it...Akron MAC champs confirmed ? http://www.barttorvik.com/conodds.php?conf=MAC

Congratulations to Tom Smart.

You'll also have those who run in at 6:55 to discover the game is at 9!

100% agree. After a 2 year hiatus we're back to watching the type of competitive basketball we'd come accustomed to watching during Dambrot's tenure. Is Ali a young "Deji"? Who's better, Kwan or X? Antino or LCJ? Cheese/Banks or Noah? Big Dog or Riak. Ok, maybe I went too far, but you get the idea. ? No doubt this team has the potential to reach the MAC finals. Hope they can stay healthy, out of trouble and continue to improve. Seems like this is the turning point where Zips fans do the 180 degree switch over from "Why in the world did we hire Groce?" to "How are we ever going to keep him?"

Is this game no longer the “for Pete’s sake” purple out game? I haven’t seen or heard anything one way or the other. I know Danny is no longer coaching there but it was a nice tribute to our coach Pete. Hate to see both the “Pete’s sake” and the coaches vs cancer games just dropped.

With Bowden as a last name I’m still perplexed at how weak our recruiting classes were. I’m 47 now, so maybe I’m just showing my age with still being enamored with the Bowden name?