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Stats don't care about the reason. He literally regressed to the mean. Not to say you're wrong, he's definitely in his own head. But no matter what the reason is, a regression was coming. We just need to hope he can turn it around in the next two weeks.

For the sake of the conversation, I went back and looked at the Zips and X's three point shooting in MAC play this year. Some interesting numbers. EMU- 11/25 (55%)/ X- 4/4 (100%) WMU- 11/29(38%)/ X- 3/4 (75%) BSU- 7/19 (37%)/ X- 5/8 (62.5%) NIU- 11/28 (39%)/ X- 4/10 (62.5%) TOL- 13/26 (50%)/ X- 2/4 (50%) MIA- 14/24 (58%)/ X- 5/11 (45%) OU- 13/23 (56%)/ X- 2/5 (40%) BUF- 8/20 (27%)/ X- 1/7 (14%) KSU- 7/21 (33%)/ X- 2/6 (33%) EMU- 6/29 (21%)/ X- 2/10 (20%) BG- 5/17 (29%)/ X- 0/3 (0%) CMU- 10/27(37%)/ X- 1/7 (14%) WMU- 8/24 (33%)/ X- 0/6 (0%) MIA- 9/28 (32%)/ X- 1/7- (14%) BG- 3/35 (14%)/ X- 0/8 (0%) Some interesting numbers and conclusions. The wheels of the team's 3 points shooting, as well as X's to a greater degree, came off after the OU Game. Up to then, they were shooting a whopping 49% on 3 pointers in MAC play while X was shooting at a 54% clip. Since then, they've shot 3 pointers at a 30% rate while X has fallen off to a woeful 13%. This team is not a 49% three point shooting team (no team in the country is). They are better than the 30% shooting team we've seen starting with Buffalo. X is not a 54% level 3 point shooter. Nor is he a 13% shooter. His record at Dayton tells us he's a .357 three point shooter. I think we were all a little fooled by those first 7 MAC games when they were on fire and it unreasonably increased our expectations. I think as a team they'll shoot at 36-38% from 3 and I pray X gets back to the 35-36% shooting his history tells us he can be.

Couldn't agree more. The ridiculous quantity of 3 point attempts coupled with the decision making on the #5 position has frustrated me from day 1 of the Groce era. But especially this season. This team is so much better when playing bigger and aggressively attacking the rim. We have the ability. Why so infrequent?

Sounds like he played for my UA intramural team? ?

I don't understand why Akron refuses to drive the basketball. LCJ is a phenomenal finisher around the rim, Cheese is a dominant slasher, and Williams is a 6'10 forward with a much better mid/close range than 3 point game. Yet, the zips continue to fire up a 3 ball (5 for 35) against BGSU and--going 1 of 9 to start the game--against Miami. It's frustrating because I went to the BGSU game when it was here and they pounded the hell out of the ball established pressure down low and had the falcons at their mercy. They completely abandoned that strategy this time around and the result was clear. If you look at our losses we always have something to point too. Not being able to finish against Kent, bad rebounding against Buffalo, and not shooting the 3 ball well against BGSU. Then the Toledo loss which, (in my opinion), we couldn't have played better. I think if the zips ran a more balanced offense and didn't depend on the 3 ball; stressed defensive rebounding and played their best bigs; we would only have lost to Toledo in conference play. I think we are still the best and most complete team when we play the game our way.

I would like to see X drive the lane more often. At six foot eight, in the MAC, he can do some damage in the paint. And if fouled, he hits hit ft’s at a solid clip. Settling for long 3’s is selling himself short. Once a few bunnies fall, maybe the hoop starts looking a little bigger from 21 feet.

Yep, clearly in his head now. I'd not only like to see him drive and post up, especially against the smaller defenders he often faces, but I'd like him to skip class Friday and shoot and shoot and shoot...

This is great info. Occasionally, it's just something simple. That stat explains it all.

How did or why did we let this young man get away.All these offers tells me he pretty good.

Congrats, Brandon! But I've got to admit I'm a little confused by this... he's that good? What's up? What's the thinking with all these programs? Maybe bring in a mature guy who they can plug right in to be an insurance policy/solid backup to give their younger linemen a year to develop?

If there are a lot of 3s clanking off the rim in Buffalo, the Zips will have trouble because of Buffalo's superior rebounding. The Coach can only design plays to help the guys get open looks, but he can't make them fall. Just have to hope the Zips can snap out of it. There's really no way to make sense of it. 0-1 and move on.

A lot of their offense is to slash to the basket and when the defense collapses to the paint to pass the ball out to the 3 line for an open three. It works when you are shooting the 3 ball. Remember, at one point in the season this team was top 10 nationally on 3 point shooting percentage. We struggle when we cannot make a 3 ball.

facts

This thread will be a great re-visit if he comes here ?