kreed5120
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Posts posted by kreed5120
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1 hour ago, Z.I.P. said:
Grand Canyon becoming more competitive every year, and they have the resources to win -- Bryce Drew wants to be as successful as his brother Scott. He'll probably have to move up again -- didn't really have a chance at Vandy. And GCU will likely move up to SOMEWHERE... is the Big Sky a promotion? NMSU has little hope, or resources for promotion.
NMSU accepted an invite to Conference USA to backfill all the teams that bolted for the Sunbelt and AAC.
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7 hours ago, Z.I.P. said:
A 12 seed is a 12 seed regardless of the conference. Toledo if they had won out would have likely been that with 4 losses. NMS beat St. Mary's and Wash St in the pre-season I believe. The WAC has become a stepping stone league, with Cal St Bakersfield and Grand Canyon moving from D-2 and now Tarleton St. CSUB moved on to the Big West. NMSU was a WAC member for...50 years? They went down with the league, but the bb program still is respected and can recruit. They might get a veteran coach in the declining years. Is Larry Brown available?? 🤣
Yes, I didn't say NMSU wasn't a good mid-major program. They're just the only good mid-major in a extremely weak conference. It becomes easier to recruit at the mid-major level when you're pretty much a lock to make the tournament every year.
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1 hour ago, NWAkron said:
I never said he was a man of high character. Clearly, he isn't. However, I thought BG overreacted when they fired him. They could have taken some remedial steps. But the Zips are fortunate Huger is still at at the helm.
Generally how it works in sports is the more talented you, the more schools/fans are willing to look past things. He was only at BG for 1 year and they went 11-7 in MAC play. Not like he achieved enough for BG to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Also, the WAC is a disaster of a conference. It's pretty much NMSU, who has been a solid mid-major for a while, and a bunch of other really crappy teams. NMSU is pretty much a lock to make the tournament every year and they had success long before Jans got there. I doubt he would have had the same success at BG as the MAC is much more competitive.
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28 minutes ago, Z.I.P. said:
With openings at a couple MAC schools, and Travis Steele being jobless at the moment does anyone think the league could have a brother coaching act with Steele and Groce? If Balls St can afford him, I could imagine it, though it's quite a step down. The school has past tradition however.
I don't see Steele getting much, if any, attention from major conferences. His time at Xavier was more disappointing than Groce time at Illinois and Groce at least had prior tournament success to bolster his resume. Steele has really nothing. He's almost certainly going to have to go back to being an assistant at a high major or accept a position at some place like a Ball State to prove himself.
Whether or not a MAC school has interest in him I have no idea. I don't think he would be a break the bank though. If he decides to be a head coach at a mid-major over being an assistant at a big school, I'd imagine he'd sign for ~500k/yr. I believe Whitford was making around 300k so it would definitely be a pay increase, but very doable if they decide they want to make a splash hire.
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I said it in another thread I feel we really need a stretch 4. Some here seem to think the same. We also need at least 1 other person to emerge as a legit scorer whether that be Tavari or someone else. Tribble needs to spend the entire offseason working on his 3 point shot. Being a guard that is no threat from deep really allows the opposing defense to play 5 on 4
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On 3/18/2022 at 6:48 PM, zippy5 said:
We'll agree to disagree. His greatest strengths aren't really forward skillsets imo, and I don't think his future will be as a PF at the next level, so I don't see him transitioning to more of a forward role here. Also, having a 2/3 man with his length is a huge problem in the MAC
I 100% agree the more athletic 6'5-6'8 guys you can have on the court, the better. The length would help a ton for the defense Groce wants to run.
I'm with you on categorizing Ali as a 3. Not only is he not big enough (in muscle mass) to be a 4, but he's not really a strong rebounder. A lot of games it was really Freeman getting us boards with little help from anyone else. Kwan and Xeyrius were both significantly better rebounder than Ali is. If you pair Freeman down low with another guy who can get 6-7 boards a night, we should win the battle on the glass the vast majority of the games, especially in MAC play.
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Well there us always next year...
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Stop the count!
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4 hours ago, RowdyZip said:
I thought the same thing last season! I could've sworn they said they expected to get 25 years out of it when the stadium was being built.
I'm sure they did. Government agencies are notorious for inflating the useful life on capital projects to help justify the costs.
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1 hour ago, NWAkron said:
agree. Uniontown? Might as well be Mogadore (the West side.)
I lived in Mogadore briefly after college. I had to join the Moose Lodge as it was the only bar in town. Im pretty sure I was the only member under the age of 40.
Town Tavern I've been to a few times and I've enjoyed myself there. It is a little bit on the smaller side to be hosting an invite like this, but then again it is a late night game during the work week so most will likely just be watching it from their home.
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Holmes is absolutely owning them in the low post 10/15 from the field for 20 points. Toledo struggled with Freeman both games too as he was 6/6 in the championship game and was 7/8 from the field in the regular season. A game I feel we could have won had Freeman not gotten in foul trouble.
Hopefully they don't fix that problem this offseason otherwise they might actually be able to live up to expectations for once.
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Despite Dayton being down their starting point guard Toledo is getting absolutely worked by Dayton at home. Dayton us currently up 14, but was up as much as 18.
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19 minutes ago, NWAkron said:
Barely beat CSU, who had a player shorter than Big Dog but twice as wide. And that firing is a reminder that those power conference schools see their coaches as expendable.
Yes, I'm not surprised he was fired. Just that they didn't wait to until after the NIT to do it.
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22 minutes ago, dirtyolcrowe said:
Xavier job opened up today. That’s the only job that scares me about reaching out to Groce.
They just beat CSU yesterday to advance in the NIT. Seems like odd timing to fire your head coach while you're in the middle of a post-season tournament
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49 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:
I forgot if this was mentioned by Groce or where I saw this, but it has to do with athleticism & speed. Michael Wynn has been productive on the boards and the offense isn't bogged down.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it (although I do foresee Aziz getting some minutes again UCLA).
Yes, I agree with it more so being about fit. Akron can play more positionless basketball with Wynn on the court than Aziz, which is useful when you're sending a lot of double teams therefore need quick guys to rotate on weak side help. Aziz I would expect to see play some against UCLA. UCLA has a lot more size than MAC schools and frankly I'm not sure how well Wynn could guard there low post players.
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As much as I'd love Groce to stay if he's still here in 5 years, that likely means we didn't have a ton of success in the tournament. Reality is when a program Alabama comes in and offers you $3 million/year like they did Oats there is little that you can do. At the same time you want your coach to be performing at a high enough level that those programs want what you have.
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1 hour ago, GJGood said:
Again, I don’t disagree from a player perspective but I do believe fanbases, staff, and alumni groups would want some diversity.
The postseason tournament tidbit that bothers me the most this year involves the NIT. Why did they decide against seeding all the teams 1-8 in four quadrants and only go 1-4 and arrange the rest geographically? Toledo could have really gotten the shaft having to play a 1 seed when they clearly would not have been an 8 seed themselves. They were projected as a 5 or 6. The saving grace, in this instance, may be that Toledo actually gets to host top seeded Dayton due the First Four being in the Flyers arena.
But what happens in the case of two upsets in the same part of the bracket? Who hosts the next round? Why do I feel like this lack of seeing all the teams will punish the lesser name schools in favor of the bigger names?
Also, if Dayton not being able to host means Toledo does get to host then why was it the case that when Akron was in the NIT last time that the Zips played Houston at Texas Southern instead of in the JAR?
Yes, why the NIT did that is beyond me. It's one thing to maybe slide a 5 seed down to a 6 to create a regional matchup, but to have them play the top ranked team in the tournament is absurd.
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I'd really like if we could add a stretch 4. Our lineup can be pretty small at times and having another 6'8 big who can drain 3s on the roster would add more size and floor spacing. It would also allow us to be able to match up better with bigger teams. We've tried going big with Freeman and Aziz on the court together, but they can't co-exist as neither one can score away from the hoop. Someone like Xeyrius Williams would have been a perfect fit for this team.
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3 hours ago, GJGood said:
I don’t disagree with the CBI being seen as higher caliber presently. The TBC, though, could improve its position relative to the CBI though as we move forward if they would be a little more forward thinking and come up with something g to make it unique. They already dropped what the CIT used to be when they said they would now welcome schools other than mid-majors. I think they should steal the CBI’s idea of a Finals Series. They already have the superior TV contract to the CBI.
The new TBC is an unknown and programs are skeptical. However, if these current formats hold for a couple of years I could see teams annually being CBI/TBC worthy and not wanting to just travel to the same site year after year like they would do with the CBI.
Maybe the CBI will revert to campus sites but I doubt it. It may be more plausible that their tournament changes locations from year to year. I think that would be a positive. Also, like I said before, it would seem a simple concept that they could add consolation games, that would be a move coaches trying to farther develop their teams would love. It’s just that the idea of watching California Baptist play Boston University in Daytona Beach in no way sounds as exciting as watching that team the Zips just knocked off in Cleveland play in front of a true Southern Utah home crowd.
I personally feel it's best that they're different. From what I heard the CBI has a 50k entry fee and that covers the cost for the entire tournament. That makes it much more attainable for many programs that can't afford to pay $50k per game, which gives teams a chance to have a postseason that otherwise would have just called it a season. Meanwhile, if you're a program that is well funded and want to give your fans more home teams you can opt for the TBC.
The CBI having its semi-finals and finals on ESPN is already a huge plus over TBC as it will draw more viewers. It shouldn't be that hard for the CBI to get the earlier rounds on ESPN+. That IMO is the only negative.
Edit: think about it if you're trying to recruit what's more appealing telling an 18 year old that you went to Southern Utah or telling them that you went to Daytona Beach for spring break? 18-22 year old kids aren't going to get tired of that.
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With players being able to transfer more easily these days coaches have lost their leverage. Senderhoff could come out and condemn the actions, but then he risks pissing off his locker room and losing his roster.
You don't have to look any further than Duquesne. I don't know what went down there, but they had numerous players leave who made major contributions at other schools. Duquesne probably would have been pretty good this year had they kept the band together. Instead Dambrot can now claim he has a roster of players who buy in and want to be there, but those players aren't good and the teams sucks. It very well may cost him his job.
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53 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said:
Basketball state, nice arena, good school, some history - I'd think BSU would be tearing it up.
I agree, they play in a basketball hungry state with lots of high school talent and pretty good fan support despite being mediocre. It should be one of the better MAC programs IMO. It just hasn't lived up to expectations.
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I wouldn't necessarily say the regular season is meaningless. It still matters for seeding (both in Cleveland and in the tourney) and also can secure a NIT bid bid as a consolation prize, which is vastly better than CBI bid. The tournament definitely carries more weight. No doubt about that.
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1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:
SDSU shoots the ball at a 44.9% clip. That's almost 10 full percentage points higher than the NCAA Tournament field average. Even if they have an off day, they'll fall around the norm of the field, which is interesting. Do they have enough fire power elsewhere to makeup for that? We'll see.
I pulled all the stats of every team in the field into a spreadsheet, and compiled the field averages. I then applied points to teams - 1 pt per stat that is better than the average (turnovers would be below the average to receive a point). The average weight is 4.5. Akron has a weight point of 3, while UCLA has 6, for comparison. UCLA only shoots the 3 at a pedestrian 35.1% clip, and they're below the field average for FG% by a full point at 45% (Akron is a little of over 46% which is above the field average). It's interesting that they're supposedly incredibly efficient, but are very average shooters.
They're really great mid-range shooters, but being really great at mid-range shooting is inefficient compared to being a team that puts up 2s near the rim and shoots the 3 ball a lot.
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2 hours ago, UAZipster0305 said:
Having beaten any one of Fordham, Appalachian State, WMU, or NIU AT HOME certainly would have helped the committee see this differently. Gotta win games against weak competition, especially on your own court.
Great season overall though, and there's no reason we can't win a game or two in Portland. Buffalo would have been much more convenient for traveling fans, but are you really surprised we play at 10PM EST in Portland?!
Who knows if we even make the tournament had we beaten those teams. Those losses led to Trimble and Walton leaving. The team jelled after those departures. I do agree in a normal year we need to beat those teams, but this year I think we needed to hit rock bottom in order for us to achieve what we did.
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MAC Postseason Discussion
in Akron Zips Basketball
Posted
A lot of those comments were before the UCLA game. After the game posters seemed to change their tune and said Akron should be favored to win the MAC next year and that Freeman will be a contender for MAC POY.