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I think the "X Factor" on this team is Tribble. It may not be from beyond the arc, but when this team needs a jolt offensively, the ball goes in his hands and he dribble penetrates with a floater or draws a foul. We did not have this level of Tribble in previous seasons.

This board has jumped the shark. I admire your willingness to continue the fight in favor of reality. It amazes me how some people can be fans of a mid major like Akron for this long and still be clueless as to what goes into running a program.

I think the guard depth makes up a little for none of them being a star. Groce can keep them fresh and mix and match to get the most out of them. This team needs a 3rd guy to emerge regardless of position.

I think there's something to the Baker discussion. Everything I saw from his highlights was he could play every position on the court (except maybe PG), including being a bruiser/banger down low. This team can win a March Madness game. They were within a basket of beating a top 20-30 team in Utah State, and another basket away from beating UNLV. Those were without Ali Ali. Almost this exact team was a minute away from beating UCLA 2 seasons ago. We don't have anybody like X2.0 this year, but Freeman is undoubtedly better and we'd probably get more from Ali Ali this time around. Have faith. 😉

756 straight games with making at least one 3! Can this streak reach 757?!?!

It's not that programs like Wisconsin or Iowa can't break even. It's that they choose to not breakeven as they would rather spend more in an attempt to keep up with the Jones's (aka UM/OSU).

Downtown businesses can't endure another two years of construction like they did with the Main Street renovation. The truth is, not many did.

Yahoo Sports says the line is Zips -11.5. DraftKings has it as -11. Under/over 137.

This was the primary reason but the lack of support from the Athletic Department at the time and ancient arena didn't help. I do worry that some of the same frustrations that built up over time for KD and his staff will happen with Groce as well. He's been more vocal about the crowds this year than any other time I can remember since he was hired. If we're being 100% honest, there's always going to be a ceiling for this program (below what we want) without changes somewhere. I also think we've been lucky to have two really good coaches stick around for much longer than is the norm for successful mid-majors.

The Dayton Flyers will be playing at Akron on Saturday April 6......at 5 pm...in the spring college league I would suspect that the zips 3 other spring college league games against Michigan, Michigan State and Bowling Green will occur on Saturdays in the month of March. I am really looking forward to seeing how all of these new players do. Go, Zips !!!.....I think that they have a good chance of playing in Crew Stadium on April 13. https://daytonflyers.com/news/2024/1/29/mens-soccer-mens-soccer-announces-spring-schedule.aspx

And the only reason he got those minutes is Freeman only played 24 minutes due to foul trouble. Otherwise he would have only played 5-6 minutes. Ali was the PF on that team. The lineup Groce is running out today is bigger than that team. Edit: I do agree we need more production out of out pg. Castaneda didn't really figure it out and turn it on until mid-February or so. We're going to need one of our guards make some strides between now and March.

Aziz played twelve minutes and had 2 points and 3 rebounds. Big shoes to fill this March

I think the issue is having someone else aside from Ali would can consistently create his own shot. I agree they aren't bad though, and I probably rag on Thornton a little too hard. Spoiled by years of X and LCJ! 😂

I really don't think the guards are that bad. They didn't have a good night against Miami, but after each of the 7 MAC wins it seems like one of them has stepped up. When Ali and Enrique are averaging over half of the points each game, we probably aren't going to have a guy like Scott or Thornton drop 16 points, and that's okay

Sorry, I misread your post. Not to keep this rolling but I think if there's a flaw to be exploited it will be in our shortage of bigs if and when they get up against a bigger squad or if Freeman gets in foul trouble or hurt.

(Ignore the quote) The tallest player on Groce's OU teams was 6'8"-6'9"; his system does not call for a 6'11"-7' big. The flaw in recruiting last year was not having a replacement for Ali Ali's versatility, and the flaw in recruiting this year was not having a guard who can shoot the lights out to replace X2.0. Thornton is not a shooter. Scott is warming up but still not filling the shoes of X2.0. Tavari is not a shooter. Prather is non existent. Tribble is Tribble. We have one of the best front court players in the country on a team that would probably only have 2-3 losses on the season if it weren't for the NCAA's stupidity. As Aaron Rodgers once said... R-E-L-A-X.

It’s ok to question the status of recruiting when your best player is an anomaly.And when you have a post player who doesn’t help in the post.

TOS to Akron

Amazing how a 2 point away game loss can set off such despair and rancor. We make Bobcat Attack look positively rational.

Like I said, jumped the shark. Let’s hope the coaches can get this train-wreck of a season back on the rails.

They're 15-5 with one MAC loss, what a failure. Just because you think it was a need and a whiff, doesn't make it true.

Good point.