kreed5120

The amount of quality looks we're able to generate will matter a lot. I'm sure Arizona's plan is going to be running us off the 3-point line. The difference between shooting 35% and 45% on 18 attempts (like we had against Toledo in tournament) is about 2 3PM or 6 points. Now when you take those same percentages to account for the 39 3PA we put up against BG its about a 4 3PM difference. Edit: Finding ways to create open looks is going to be key.

I will add that a lot of times in these 14vs3 or 13vs4 games you see the underdog come out with lots of intensity, but then loses steam in the final 10 minutes or so as they get gassed. Akron is different in the way that given our 10 man rotation, we can play at a high level of intensity for the full 40 minutes.

Arizona is going to pound the ball inside either by their guards attacking the rim or their post players backing us down. They have formidable bigs and I think we'll be eaten alive if we just allow them to back down our smaller defenders. For this reason I expect Groce to send guard help to force Arizona players to pick up their dribble. This will lead to them getting some open looks beyond 3. They aren't a good 3-point shooting so our best bet is to force them to shoot over us. If they're able to score in the paint it will be a long night. At the same time, I think the Zips will need to make 13-14 3's while shooting it at a 45%+ clip. We also must limit turnovers and secure defensive rebounds. This is probably a game we lose 4 out of 5 times. Let's play our a$$ off and make this that 1 out of 5 time that we win.

There are still games ongoing, but so far the only real upsets have been McNeese, Drake, and I suppose Arkansas. With a fairly uneventful day 1 maybe we will witness the chaos tomorrow.

San Jose State was an AQ. The Mountain West was a top 12 conference therefore had a guaranteed bid. Hence why San Jose State was given a 4 seed and hosted. The Mountain West teams that were better (by metrics) than San Jose State either choose to participate in another tournament (Boise State) or rejected competing in the NIT (UNLV & Nevada). The NIT kept going down the list of MWC teams until one said yes. That how they ended up in.

To get this topic back on track is anyone watching this McNeese-Clemson game?

We've already been down this road. The NIT clearly stated what the criteria would be before the season even started (I can link you the press release) and they followed through on that. Complain about the NET, Kenpom, and whatever metrics you want, but that's what the NIT committee decided was important. They made that public knowledge, which is more transparency than we've ever seen in the selection process. Pretending to be shocked over something that was common knowledge is a waste of time to discuss.

Yes, I'm not sure why some think just because this is an Akron forum that we can't engage in intelligent conversation. If I wanted to just troll, I'd go to X or Kent's sorry excuse for a fan forum. I take digs at Kent (see my Kenni Burns comment earlier), but other times I'm just trying to advance a in depth conversation.

Realistically at least 1 person will transfer whether it be to get more playing time, more money, or whatever.

Kenni Burns probably just needed a runner to place his March Madness bets.

I think the winning culture and teamism certainly helps. Some guys, like Enrique Freeman, I'm sure could have gotten more money had they left, but took a discount to stay. If Akron was mid and the culture wasn't great, we probably would be experiencing the same turnover as our MAC peers.

Yes, 6 or 7 years ago I had a friend who showed up at the airport and asked for a ticket to Vegas. He decided last minute to go and meet up with friends who already had a room and arrived in Vegas the day before. In my younger days, I remember getting a call from my cousin telling me he was jumping on a bus to NYC and asked if I wanted to come. I quickly threw some stuff in a bag and met up with him. I think some overestimate the amount of planning it takes to go on a trip. Particularly if you're just meeting up with people who already ironed out the logistics.

The apartments you mention exist in the surrounding Akron area, which is where those young professionals live. I was downtown a few months back on a weekend night. The bar and nightlife scene stinks. It was worse than when I was in college 15 years ago, which wasn't even special back then. If I was 24 and fresh out of college, no way would I want to live in downtown Akron. It needs a major overhaul. Edit: I feel a lot of things are working against downtown Akron that have made it less attractive to be over the last 10 years. 1) Covid introducing more work from home and hybrid schedules. There are less people downtown Monday-Friday so businesses have lost that lunch rush and the people meeting up for a drink or dinner after work. 2) Shrinking Akron enrollment. 3) Students preferring to stay near campus instead of going downtown. There are more food and better bar options than we had within walking distance of campus. Businesses have very little reason right now to expand downtown Akron as the ones in the area are already struggling. I don't know how Barley House has survived this long. The last few times I stopped in it was 90% empty. At the same time even if apartments get built, the young professionals have very little reason to want to live downtown without local businesses that make it attractive to live. They can just as easily live in the Fairlawn or Green area, which is nicer and frankly safer. Also, housing in the Akron/Canton area isn't terrible compared to many other parts of the country. Ohio generally is ranked as one of the more affordable states when you factor in both median income and median cost of living. It's not as dire as the west or east coast where they have limited options on where they can live.

I don't live far away from the area, but I also don't make it to downtown Akron often these days. I'm assuming post covid there has to be some under utilized office space that could be converted to living space if the demand was there. The last I heard the Depot and 22 Exchange had lots of empty occupancy. I'm just not sure there is enough happening in downtown Akron to attract the 22-28 crowd who might prefer downtown living. I guess part of it is the what came first the chicken or egg situation. You need more people living downtown to attract more trendy businesses, but young people don't want to live in the area without those amenities in place.

The article doesn't spell out the details so it's really hard to say whether or not it's a good deal.

TBF Kent likely had no intention of playing in the CBI (it's a scam tournament) and I don't think anyone expected them to make the NIT. I know I certainly didn't. There was no way of predicting they would backdoor their way into the tournament by 2 dozen teams passing on the NIT. I'd say the fact they cut their trips short and flew back says their priorities were in order. I think it more just speaks to how the NIT went from being semi-prestigious to mid overnight.

I noticed this the other day when I was on the collective site, WBB is the only sport you can donate directly to. The others don't have a way of donating directly to as of yet. You have to donate to the general fund instead. How well the WBB collective is funded relative to our peers? I can't begin to guess, but it certainly exists. You can always choose to contribute. https://www.feartheroocollective.com/contribute

I know. I was just piggy backing off my other reply. I could have done a better job of differentiating the comments.

What did Miami do to earn it? The reality is neither school really deserved it. Last years Toledo team, which missed the NIT, was better than both Miami and Kent this year. Kent was only picked because a dozen or so schools turned it down and the Crown took another dozen or so schools that would have otherwise been invited over Kent or Miami. Once again, the criteria was clearly stated at the start of the season on what the committee would weigh. Miami was objectively worse in every metric the committee said they would weigh, so I'm not sure where you're getting they got "screwed". Miami sounds like the kid who complains he got failed because he missed too many classes when the syllabus he received at the start of the season clearly stated that if you miss more than 3 classes, you get automatic F.

It sounds like you're okay with the double standard of one side being petty, but the other side not. Good to know 👍 Edit: To be clear Kent was always going to get into the NIT over Miami. The NIT issued a statement back in October indicating they were going to use a formula that weighted NET, Kenpom, and other rankings to pick teams. Kent was better in all those advanced rankings. You can argue that it's crap, which I don't disagree, but they were very transparent before the season even tipped off.

The same could be said for the Miami coaches as well. There were worst teams that made the field than Kent (using NET & Kenpom rankings). Miami coaches should have been asking why the MAC didn't get multiple bids. Not taking shots at Kent.

Cutting women's basketball isn't even an option. It's a MAC requirement. To be clear my comment earlier wasn't intended to be disparaging. It was more of the variety of if we can finish at or near the bottom of the MAC with X player, we can certainly achieve that without them. It's not really a sky is falling situation.

I imagine they would. You see a lot of coaches get poached after leading their team to a Sweet 16 or Elite 8.

It depends on the role that he would be willing to accept. I'm sure there are a lot of schools out there that could use a 6'6" wing who shoots .430 behind the arc. He could certainly be a 6th or 7th man on a lot of P4 teams.

That was challenged in court and the NCAA was going to lose the battle, which is why they backed off. Between the courts and the P4 organizing, they've lost all power. It's more a figurehead institution than one that has any authority.