kreed5120

First off, I don't think Riak is the ideal C Groce would want for his offense. Riak being here is a byproduct of Groce scrambling for players in year 1 and having some sort of connection with LCJ father, who Riak played for in high school. No C in a Groce offense will be a featured scorer, but he would want a mobile big who can both space the floor to free up the lane for his guards and one who will be able to roll to the basket after setting a high screen. Seeing Riak trying to catch the ball after a high pick and roll to try to score was painful. It's clearly a weakness in Riak's game. I think Xeyrius should be able to do this so it wouldn't surprise me if we see him play 10-15 minutes per game at the C position.

I frequent a MAC sports forum in addition to posting here. Toledo fans enjoy bragging about Kowalcyk 4 MAC West titles as if they mean anything. I find it hilarious. I guess when you haven't made it to the tournament in 39 years there isn't much to brag about.

Never said that. There are a shortage of quality 6'10+ bigs that can move up and down the court without clogging the paint. A slow footed 6'11 C who is a back to the basket scorer will never be something Groce covets. He doesn't run a 1970s style offense. Expect a 6'8 or 6'9 C who can move the court and is able to stretch the floor with his 3-point shooting. That type of player seemed to work out well for Buffalo this year.

It's still to be determined whether or not this will be a 1 bid or 2 year bid for the MAC. It just comes down to whether or not Buffalo loses or not. Are you wanting Akron to move to another conference? If so, what one do you think would accept us while being a clear upgrade over the MAC?

Seriously, do you have a reading comprehension problem? We're talking about THIS year. I was even kind enough to bold it for you numerous times. Maybe I should try using smaller words so that you can understand this better. What the A-10 accomplished in 2015-2018 seasons isn't relevant to how they have performed THIS season. The fact you have failed to produce one fact from this year shows even deep down you know the MAC was better than the A-10 this season.

There are still some NBA teams looking for that guy as well.

Flawed logic, how? The MAC is better than the A-10 this year based off the results on the court this year, which are reflected in KenPom and NET Rankings. I've already stated the MAC is ranked 8th-9th by all the metrics while the A-10 is 12th-15th. KenPom goes back to 2002. I don't see any year where the MAC did better than this years rating. Out of curiosity though, what year since 2000 are you saying the MAC was better than this season? The A-10 only path to multiple bids this season is the same as the MAC's. The #1 seed would have to get upset. The difference is Buffalo will be a single digit seed while VCU will probably be a 10 seed. Let me point out your flawed logic. Akron beat St. Bonaventure 61-49, who finished 4th in the A-10 at 12-6, yet you're claiming we couldn't beat 10th seeded St. Josephs. Please explain this logic to me. I'll wait for your response...

I was arguing the MAC was better than the A-10 this year, which it clearly is. Your the one spewing bullshit by trying to say otherwise.

The A-10 was the better conference in the past and will be the better conference in the future. It wasn't the better conference THIS year. It's a product of the MAC having its best year in 20 years while the A-10 had what was probably its worst in the last 20 years. You trying to argue otherwise is completely laughable and just shows your ignorance. You can ask anyone that follows college for a living and they will tell you the MAC was the better conference this year. I'm done with this discussion.

The A-10 is the historically better conference. That being said, you're right the MAC isn't on par with the A-10 THIS season. The MAC is actually much superior to the A-10 THIS year. Look at KenPom, look at NET, look at RPI, or whatever metric you like. They all have the MAC rated as the 8th or 9th best conference while the A-10 is 12th-15th. I'm sure you're going to go on a rant about all the at-large bids the A-10 received in previous years, but none of that's relevant to how they did THIS year. Just an FYI, the NET Rankings, which is the rating system the NCAA committee uses to select teams for the tournament currently has Akron ranked #111. They have Duquesne ranked #170.

It seems like many are trying to treat this as we fired Dambrot to hire Groce, which isn't the case. Dambrot left on his own free will abandoning a program he spend a decade plus building. Would have I preferred us keeping Dambrot? Sure, but that wasn't an option. At the time I felt Groce was the best option available. He inherited a team with significantly less talent than the one Dambrot inherited from Hipsher. I'm not sure how anyone else could argue otherwise while keeping a straight face. Groce looks to have finally stabilized the roster and the team should have the potential to contend for a MAC title next year. If we go 8-10 again, I'll be right there with everyone holding the pitch fork.

Dambrot will probably go to the CIT to get it.

Akron, Kent, Ohio, and Toledo all eliminated. This years MAC tournament attendance is shot.

Negatives - All season the team seemed to fold under pressure. It was pretty apparent the majority of this roster has never experienced playing at the Q. They looked tight from the tip and never settled into the game. Hopefully they learn to play more loose next year - Utomi, Ivey, LCJ all seemed to regress as shooters compared to their prior seasons. LCJ is some what understandable as he was previously playing weaker competition. Hopefully LCJ becomes better next year as he seemed to improve down the stretch. I'm hoping Utomi sliding back into the 3 spot will return him back to being the sharp shooter he was previously. - The C position has been a complete disaster offensively. I'm actually not anti-Riak like some as I think he still provides a net positive when he's on the floor due to his defense. That being said, he needs to be able to catch a pass cleanly and be able to slam it home. Hopefully he sorts that out this offseason. I'd also like to see us add a big that can provide an offensive punch to help provide some versatility to our lineups. Positives - Next year should be a down year for the MAC - Xeyrius Williams I think should be that stretch big that we were desparately missing this year - The defense was phenominal this year. - I think Utomi & Cheese can become 1st or 2nd team All-MAC players next season.

Massinburg actually didn't commit to Buffalo until a month after Oats was hired. He didn't inherit him.

Hard to play with fire and aggression when the officials are calling ticky tack fouls and making up fouls as they go. It's much easier to dive for a loose ball, attack the basket, fight for a rebound, etc. when you aren't on the verge of fouling out.

We already have 2 incoming freshman who signed their LOI. We also have at least 1 outstanding offer for another freshman. The team needed players that could play big minutes immediately, which is why you saw so many JUCOs in Groce's 1st two years. He seems to be transitioning to a more conventional recruiting routine now.

I saw multiple people tossing around the idea of the Zips needing to move on from Dambrot before he decided to leave for Duquesne. The same Dambrot who made it to 9 MAC finals. It's unreasonable to expect fans on an online sports forum to be reasonable.

There were 38 combined fouls called, 29 of which were in the 1st half. We didn't lose because of the refs. Buffalo was clearly the better team. That being said, the refs made this game unwatchable. If refs consistently called this many fouls per game, many of which were phantom calls that hurt both teams, I wouldn't watch another game of basketball in my life.

Glad I didn't take off work to go to the game. In fact, I'll probably end up turning off this stream at half-time.

At this pace our entire rotation is going to be fouled out by half-time

Utomi just picked up his 2nd foul going for a rebound he had no chance of securing. Making matters worse it puts Buffalo at the FT line.

These officials suck. We're going to witness a FT contest.

The key to beating Buffalo is scoring more points than we allow. On a serious note, I'd do my best to limit Perkins and Massinburg while forcing Jeremy Harris to be the player to beat us. Harris takes 12.5 shots per game while only shooting .402 from the field and .268 from 3. Lets try to force him to take 16-17 shots. If he goes off so be it. At least we played the averages.

If you're trying to insinuate he's unhappy because of his job, then he should quit. He has already earned enough money to not have to work another day in his life.