kreed5120

The JAR has a lot of flaws, but location IMO isn't one of them. It's right off the highway in a highly trafficked/populated area. It's not like Miami (OH) or Athens where you have to drive an hour or two to BFE to get to.

If your employer offered you 2 options which are you taking? 1) Build new office with on-site gym, nice green space, and insert a few other amenities but have a pay freeze on all employees for 5 years to help fund. 2) 25% immediate pay bump with 10% annual pay increase, but you have to keep working in your functional ~40 year office building. I don't think people realize the players have a nice locker room and practice facility. In fact, in an article in the Toledo Blade multiple coaches on other MAC teams said they were envious of Akron's facilities. The wooden bleachers is a fan problem, not a player or coach one.

I feel it's unlikely we find a 1st or 2nd All-MAC caliber big in the portal. Perhaps target a sophomore or junior who is still a little raw offensively, but can make an impact on defense. Seeing what Groce and staff has been able to do for the careers of Amani and Freeman I think would make this an attractive spot for a big looking to further develop his game. Amani's offensive production would likely need to be replaced in the aggregate.

A few years before covid there was one done I believe. I believe renovation costs were projected to be in the 10s of millions of dollars range.

3-Peat hats are now available. https://www.feartheroocollective.com/category/all-products

It definitely fits true to size. I haven't washed my hoodie so I can't really say anything about that. It's made by New Era and what I've read online is they use shrink resistant materials.

UMBC athletic department is savage.

My biggest complaint about NET is it doesn't take into account things like injuries. For example any team that beat Buffalo in December and January beat a pretty good mid-major team. With Frietag out UB was objectively below average to bad mid-major. In the eyes of the metric it views December UB being equal to late February UB, but in reality those teams are night and day different.

I wore mine yesterday and it's probably my favorite piece of Zips gear I own because of both its comfort and versatility. Can easily layer it during the winter and its still breathable enough to wear during spring/fall.

I mostly follow mid-major basketball so I asked chatGBT who Akron is most likely to face in round 1 and which of those opponents presents the most favorable matchup. ChatGBT didn't mention it but UNC NBA draft lottery player is out for the year. Best Matchups for Akron 1. Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball Why it favors Akron: Plays a slower, more half-court style Defense is usually solid but not overwhelming athletically Akron’s disciplined offense could operate comfortably Upset profile: Teams like Vanderbilt historically lose more 5-vs-12 games because they don’t overwhelm opponents physically. 2. North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball Why it could be manageable: Fast tempo but sometimes inconsistent shooting If Akron controls pace and limits transition, it becomes a half-court game UNC teams seeded around 5 sometimes have defensive lapses Risk: rebounding disadvantage. Tougher Matchups 3. Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball Why it’s difficult: Extremely athletic SEC roster Pressure defense and transition scoring Can overwhelm mid-majors physically Arkansas-type teams are usually under-seeded on the 5 line, making them dangerous. Worst Matchup St. John's Red Storm men's basketball Why it’s the hardest draw: Elite defensive pressure Forces turnovers and speeds teams up Physical rebounding team For a MAC champion like Akron, this is the exact style that causes problems—constant pressure and athletic depth. ✅ Best → Worst matchup order Vanderbilt (best) North Carolina Arkansas St. John’s (worst)

Toledo played well the last 2-3 weeks of the regular season as well. I actually predicted they would knock off Miami and make the final. Obviously UMass beat them to the punch. Their NET is in the 130s because they frankly weren't very good November thru early February. Predictive metrics don't account for that.

Utah Valley paid $1 million to compete in the conference tournament as well. They were originally not going to be able to participate as they never paid their exit fee for leaving the Big West.

It's because according to NET we should have won by something similar to what the game spread was. Winning by 3 in metrics eyes was us underachieving. If we won by 10+ we would have improved. Margin of victory is heavily weighted in these predictive metrics.

The play in games are typically 11 seeds, but they can and have been 12 seed games before. What impacts that is the number of AQs the committee feels is above vs below the bubble line.

Seems to be another flaw with his coaching then. They didn't really have an answer for Lyles in the 2nd half when he started playing closer to the rim. I would have to imagine Simmons at least would have held Lyles to fewer than 16 rebounds.

Kowalchoke talking about how Toledo is positioned to do well next year is going to going to be in for a rude awakening. He has 4 things working against him. 1) He couldn't even retain Simmons last year. What makes him think he will be able to keep this team together? 2) Miami has a better returning roster (assuming they return). 3) Akron reloads, it doesn't rebuild. 4) He's the coach of the team and has consistently underachieved in March for a quarter of a century now. I will say this Toledo was built better for March compared to his softer, more finesse teams of years past. I still feel he plays his starters too many minutes and his teams typically lack depth.

I don't really like wearing hats, but I hope they have other 3-peat merchandise. I'd be interested in that.

Amani I don't think had a great first half. Not sure how many of those rebounds were 1st vs 2nd half, but I'm willing to guess ~10 of his 15 points came in the 2nd half. He really stepped it up and was a big reason we got back into it.

I don't, but I feel it's safe to assume Suder won't rob Tavari of another MVP.

Amani seemed to play much better in the 2nd half. Scott seemed to be pressing a lot and forcing shots up in Cleveland, but he hit what was probably the 2 biggest shots of the weekend.

Kowalchoke does it again.

Tavari is playing a hell of a 2nd half. Both getting his buckets and creating for others.

I wish we attacked the basket more in the 1st half. We'd probably be up 8-10 right now if he had.

Even if we come back to win it's going to be challenging to be optimistic about next week. We haven't been playing out best ball the past few games.

Toledo has come out with a lot more hustle and is winning the 50/50 balls. Definitely feels we have responded the last few minutes after coming out flat.