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I think the Zips are playing with house money here. If they win, it is nice national exposure and gives them the confidence on having a beaten a good nonconference team on the road, however, it won't impact whether they make the tournament. We all know that comes down to March 14th to 16th. It may impact seeding, if JMU keeps playing well, but even then not substantially.

So far, this is the hardest playing defensive opponent the Zips have seen this season along with St. Bonaventure.

I think this is important game because when we played good teams early in the season we were without Ali or he had just joined the team. Both Freeman and Tribble indicated in an interview that this team has another level of play. To beat a good team on the road we need to see that next level of play. We need some of our perimeter players to make some shots and hit the 3 ball when they double and triple team Freeman. Really looking forward to see if the Zips can meet this challenge.

Except one.

Ok I have only watched the last 5 minutes but are these announcers the worst homers ever?

Kwan is now playing in Grenada and has played on a number of teams across Europe. Glad to see a former Zip playing professionally. His mom used to post on this board and was very nice.

Ohio.com article on the game- https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2024/02/10/akron-zips-mens-basketball-score-james-madison-enrique-freeman-ali-ali-greg-tribble-jr-john-groce/72533544007/

True. According to Groce, when he was considering taking the job they thought that they could quickly get up to speed as they'd have a nice core of returners but by the time he arrived in Akron for the presser nearly everyone was out the door. That makes the fact that he made a competitive team that first year out of a bunch of last minute recruits even more impressive. At the end of the day, if you're still sore about the KD situation it's well past time to move on.

Been doing this too long 😂

Well, played like **** for 3/4s of the half and only down 4. Zips really need to clean up that defense in the second half. They gave up waaaaaaaaay too many easy baskets.

'Ol Reliable: Greg Tribble "floater"

MUCH better. Love this run. Great coaching by Groce to get the guys to refocus and reorganize.

What I wouldn't give for a Jake Kretzer or a Reggie McAdams....

Their arena looks pretty nice.

PCCC down 8 at Troy at half.

Maybe his wording wasn't great (I don't remember the exact quote) but at the time he was 100% correct that the A-10 historically had much better odds of teams getting selected for at-large bids than the MAC. Even in our best conference years, we're always a one-bid league. It's been BS some years, but it's been reality.

Georgia State beats Miami, 73-53.

Game breaks out into tackle football in the last minute.

You know you're in the hills where the main scoring table sponsor is a septic company. That Gregory kid for App State looks like he's 40 and just came off of the couch for a pickup game.

Toledo got jobbed and the guy missed the free throws. The ball knows.

Neither team wants it more.

Toledo is looking good today

Back up to 6.5. I just locked in my bet.

The Optimist Club is looking for a few good men.

Anyone else going to this game? I am SO excited. See you all there.

It's not uncommon for players to follow the coach who recruited them. Michael Hughes and Tavian Dunn-Martin, who were both freshmen, were pretty much it. Antino Jackson, Noah Robotham, and Aaron Jackson went elsewhere. Isaiah Johnson and Kwan Cheatham had just graduated. It was going to be a retooling year no matter what.

Top to bottom the Sun Belt is the better conference this year and the Sun Belt is hosting the games. They're currently favored in all 12 match-ups. I think the MAC will only win 3-4 games this round.

Not in the game of tradition!

I hope he sucks even more in Pittsburgh than he did here.

JMU giving 3-5 sounds about right. We'll see tomorrow

Whatever happens, I just hope if he does choose to leave that we wish him well and appreciate his time here. I'll never understand the KD-haters.

At Michigan, Sunday, March 17th.

OSU just had their brand new OC leave to coach a horrible BC program. That's a bad look for OSU. If you think it looks bad now, wait until the Alabama transfers who came with O'Brien bail out.

I would have no objections to that. Now only if we could get a Knights Arena 😉

Pretty sure Akron plays Michigan at Michigan on Saturday, March 16

I feel covid was equally to blame. You had people get out of the routine of going to games and they never returned once things returned to normal.

Warning: I got long-winded late at night, sorry. When it comes to recruiting, there are few better than Groce. A saying at Illinois was "Mothers love Groce" for the way he was able to alleviate their concerns during the process. And the guy's work ethic is off the charts. Also, I think he (and Dustin Ford) have proven to be solid at player development as well as game planning at each of their stops. As long as the Akron administration continues to meet him half way the sky is the limit. I believed that on day one and nothing has changed. Groce has the ability and the patience to continue to grow this program incrementally. And I believe we would be even further along if not for COVID. It's my opinion that injuries and the unethical side of the business is why Groce failed at Illinois. Nothing more. You lose your 4 star point guard 2 years in a row to season ending injury it's going to have ramifications. And today, if Illinois gets into that 2 way battle vs. Villanova for Jalen Brunson they would send in the CEO of the NIL Collective to try to seal the deal. Groce didn't want any part of that crap. I don't have first-hand knowledge, but the evidence was clear then. Groce ended up the "recruiting bridesmaid" way too many times on the high level recruits for it to be pure misfortune. Groce always talked about "not taking any short cuts". I took that statement to mean he had no intention of buying a championship. Now thanks to NIL, all of those seedy dealings are legal and part of the standard operating procedure. The other aspect of the P6 racket that I don't think people quite appreciate is the pressure to win immediately. I know from following Illinois that P6 fan bases can be entitled and insufferable. And their donors can be even worse. I don't see any of that appealing to him anymore. There are many factors that motivate a student athlete to attend a university; prestige, promises of going pro, immediate cash payouts, specific educational goals, family legacy, other relationships such as girlfriends, favorite team growing up, etc. Some of those might not apply to Akron, but here are a couple that might. Guys from the Cleveland area can play for their local team and their friends / family can attend many of the games. Freeman's family is a great example. And this is the pitch I believe Groce is using more than any other; come to Akron and you can be a part of building something special, something bigger than yourself, create your own legacy and the players that follow you will stand on your shoulders to reach even higher. This approach appeals to a certain personality and it's not for everyone. But Groce can sell that. I truly believe Groce is just getting started. Go Zips!!

I can think of millions of reasons why other schools might be hesitant to hire JG away from Akron. I think the type of program he runs is a perfect fit for a quality mid-major. He isn't greasy enough for the average P-5 up and comer. Hopefully improvements to the JAR and other enhancements to the program keep him around. He is a perfect fit for Akron.

Some people feel the need more to be right than they care for their team to suceed. I was probably the biggest Bowden critic on this board(or at least one of them) because I felt settling for 5-7 season with a random 6-7 win season here or there wasn't what Akron should be striving for. That never stopped me from being a fan and still enjoying some of the highs, like beating Northwestern.

The Zips lose 81-67.