kreed5120

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.

Dayton I don't see having a path to an at-large, but I wish they did. It would be hilarious watching Miami play Dayton in Dayton.

It's probably worth noting we also kind of took the air out of the ball during Buffalo when we had our large lead. Partially why UB was able to get back into the game. We weren't spending a ton of energy walking it up and then dribbling it for another 5-10 seconds before settling into out offense.

Yes, Miami seems to be committing some serious money to athletics now. They might have been bad before, but who knows what they committed to funding and how that compared to Akron.

I wouldn't mess up with what works. IMO I like the fact Halligan starts. It allows us to better stagger our minutes so that we have a fresh guard coming off the bench at the first media timeout. I agree Halligan shorter play time is probably both a combination of injury and shortening the bench because of elimination games.

For you degens out there watching basketball all day. Cheering for both Charlotte and Ole Miss is the play. Both of those teams would almost certainly be seeded behind Akron if they win their conference auto bid. That might be enough to slide Akron up to an 11 seed from a 12.

Yes, I feel realization is setting in for him that he can't elevate Kent's program to where Akron is currently. His only hope is Akron regressing. I actually thought he coached Kent well and had a solid game plan to disrupt Akron offensively yesterday. Jack's and Joe's just beat X's and O's.

Your like reminded me about this. I just put it on and it's true to size. It's very comfortable and breathable. I could definitely see myself wearing this during chilly summer mornings or evenings.

Thanks for the response. I'll keep that in mind. The last time I went to watch an Akron game at Barley was the tournament game against VCU. I just wasn't impressed with their setup and given the complaints I read earlier in the year when they were hosting viewing parties it doesn't sound like much has improved.

I'm probably not going to make the game tonight. We didn't get home until close to midnight and the future Mrs. had to turn around and be up by 6AM for work. She works again tomorrow morning as well. Any bars in the Canton/Akron area you guys recommend to watch the game. It seems many, particularly on a Saturday night, play jukebox music. Any establishments that you know of that play game audio?