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kreed5120

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Posts posted by kreed5120

  1. Class of the MAC

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted · Edited by kreed5120

    Miami struggles shouldn't be that surprising. They played much tougher schedules than the West teams. The MAC has since moved away from divisions so moving forward that won't be an issue. Also, with a 20 game conference slate the schedules are now more balanced.

     

    Akron 5 years ago was the class of the MAC. Before us it was Kent and before Kent it was Miami. I'd say Buffalo as of now is, but that will change. The MAC has no "blue bloods" and all schools have similar resources. You will see the best teams at the top cycle between one another instead of 1-2 teams dominating the conference for an extended period of time

  2. Toledo- 1/28/22

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    We had another bad rebounding game against CMU. If we allow Toledo 16 offensive boards, like we allowed CMU, we will lose by double figures. Toledo is too good of an offensive team. We need to limit them to 1 shot opportunity per possession otherwise they will make us pay.

    • Like 1

  3. Central Michigan- 1/25/22

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted · Edited by kreed5120

    1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

    CMU is in a real position of rebuilding.  They have a new head coach, Tony Barbee who was an assistant at Kentucky and before that had head-coaching stops at Auburn and UTEP.  The team has 12 players who were not on last year's roster.  

     

    They have four returnees, including starters Ralph Bissainthe and Audre Polk. Polk, a 6-foot-10 sophomore from Detroit who was on the All-MAC Freshman Team last year. 

     

    They have really struggled so far.  Looking at the MAC stats, they are 11th in points scored per game and 12th in points surrendered per game.  They are last in point margin at -19.4 per game.  They are last in field goal percentage, opponent field goal percentage, rebounds per game and  rebounds per game margin. They also have trouble with turnovers and are 11th in TO margin.  They are first in 3 point percentage.

    The one area that CMU is strong is in 3-point shooting. They're first in the MAC in 3P%, meanwhile, we're 9th in the MAC in defending against the 3 ball. We will need to be able to run them off the 3 point line otherwise they might be able to hang around with the 3 ball much like WMU did against us.

  4. EMU- 1/22/22

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    31 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

     

    I think the Trimble situation and the WMU situation were very similar.  Three really hot shooters who also got a little help from the defense.  Groce and the BG assistant both hit on it.  BG opted to go under on picks rather than fight through or switch and it killed them at times.

     

    I think we'd have also seen a lot more defensive pressure, especially full court and that half court trap, if the roster numbers would have panned out.   For now, I'll give Clarke an injury pass.  Walton and Wynn let this team down.

    I'm ready surprised anyone would guard Trimble by going under the screen instead of fighting through it. 77.5% of his shot attempts are from behind the 3 point line. I'd 100% play him to run him off the 3 point line and force him to either pass or take a shot inside the 3-point arc.

  5. EMU- 1/22/22

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    21 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

    Anyone remember our favorite Huron, James Thompson IV?

     

    He plays for a Russian team in Siberia.  Siberia can't be much different than Ypsilanti.  The Russian league is one of the highest paying:

     

    "Although the max salaries for Russian VTB United League teams are enticing the average salaries are very interesting as well with players making $200k-450k USD for the season. Now there’s motivation to deal with a Siberian winter."

    But that's only if they get paid. Russian league is notorious for not paying the wages they promise

    • Sad 1

  6. BGSU- 1/20/22

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    Overall a good game, but I find it concerning that we allowed 19 offensive boards. Not securing boards played a big part in us losing to Kent they way we did. We were able to mask it against BGSU because of our offensive efficiency, but it's something we definitely need to work on. 

    • Like 2

  7. PCCC- 1/14/22

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    4 hours ago, jupitertoo said:

    You are arguing against yourself. No one said the best team always wins. But I do agree that Akron has more talent than Kent.  Any coach of average ability would know that the key to beating Kent is stopping (or slowing) their premier scorer.  Sincere Carry is a truly premier scorer.  Somehow John Groce and his brain trust were unable to come up with the right right game plan to accomplish that. 

     

    The team that wins is almost always the best prepared team with the right players in the right roles, backed by the best in-game coaching. John Groce did not outcoach Senderoff "in every way."  If he had, given the talent differential, Zips fans would be celebrating a win.

     

    I feel it came down a lot to effort. Given the size Akron has there is no way they should have been dominated on the glass like they were. Kent seemed to just want the game a lot more than us by fighting (and winning) to get every 50/50 ball. 

     

    While I do think this Akron roster is better than Kent, I don't think it's significantly better. This Akron team still has a ton to improve. As bad as it is to lose a rivalry game hopefully it serves as a wake up call.

    • Like 1

  12. PCCC- 1/14/22

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    I know we talked about attendance being down at the JAR, which is true, but Kent is having it a lot worse. The last two home games (both MAC opponents) they had 701 and 1423 reported fans. The actual butts in seat number was likely far lower as these figures would include season ticket holder no shows. It seems like if there was a year to go into Kent and steal a win, this is it. Fans haven't been showing up and this is the worst Kent team in a while. It would be great if we could capitalize, especially on nationally TV.

  13. New Head Coach Search - 2021 Edition

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

    I have yet to meet the new AD. One seemingly small, yet impressive thing he's implemented is displacing some lower-reserved season ticket holders in the JAR and creating a lower-reserved student section.

     

    That idea was suggested here years ago and was dismissed as impossible. Likewise, selling beer at the JAR was suggested here years ago, and dismissed as absolute lunacy. 

     

    Now we have a basketball student section as engaged and full as I've seen it in decades. And during a pandemic, no less? And I can have a $6 beer at my seat and watch the game, and shockingly...nobody has died because of it.

     

    There was a General Electric commercial a few years ago which contained the phrase "Ideas are frightening because the threaten what is known. They're the natural born enemy of the way things are."

     

    There are way too many people within UA that had clung to "the way things are" for decades. And believed issues like football game day attendance is just "the way things are." Why? It is a lot easier to say "I wouldn't have built that stadium" than it is to fill it. You're off the hook scot-free...it was the fault of the guys preceding you. 

     

    It seems like UA may have finally lucked into an ambitious, engaging AD who can pull it out of it's decades-long death grip on the past. He made a great hire with Joe Moorhead. He's implementing changes that are seemingly simple, but on UA's conservative scale, are groundbreaking. I look forward to seeing  InfoCision butts-in-seats increase appreciably over the next several years. Based upon the student involvement at the JAR this winter, I expect an immediate uptick in student attendance at football games this fall. 

     

    Great things are going on at UA. Thanks to Guthrie for pulling us Zips fans off the ventilator. After a 3-24 three year stretch, I was ready to flat-line. Now I'm ready to party! 😁

     

    I think covid in large part has forced athletics hand in needing to adapt. They added beer to the JAR to entice fans that went a year without going to Zips games to come back. They likely had empty seats on the lower bowl from many deciding to not renew tickets after covid so it's better to give them to students to make the lower bowl look full than to leave it look like an eye sore on TV.

     

    In general though the changes were much needed. Students should have always had that section. They pay the bulk of the expenses through student fees. Forfeiting some short-term season ticket sale dollars to build the college experience is well worth it. The better time those kids have at games, the more likely they will grow up to be season ticket holders and alumni donors themselves. I don't know about you guys, but when I went to the JAR pre-covid I didn't really see many people between the ages of 25-35 at the games. That's concerning for the long-term health of Akron athletics. Hopefully this helps improve that.

    • Like 1

  14. NET Rankings 2021-2022

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    1 hour ago, RowdyZip said:

    The App State one is what hurts.  

    Losses: 

    • Ohio State 24 😒
    • Fordham 143 🤢
    • App State 208 🤮
    • Ohio U 74 😐

     

     

    Fordham hurts a ton too. Not necessarily because we lost, but the fact we lost by 20. Net factors margin of victory in its calculations.

  18. Ball State- 1/11/22

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    I have doubts this game gets played. I'm not sure what the MAC guidelines are for a player returning after a positive test, but we only had Trimble out against Ohio so that means we had a lot of positive tests some point after. Our last outbreak we went 16 days without a game. Seems odd we can have an outbreak and get back in under 7 days for the next game.

  20. Game 16- Miami

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted

    1 hour ago, NWAkron said:

    This is a bummer.  OTOH, Groce sounded like the team was tapped out after Tuesday.  Hopefully, the healthy guys can keep practicing and give us a win against Muncie.

     

    Does MAC have a point when teams will start forfeiting games because of this?

    There won't be forfeits. If games can't be made up there will be no contests.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

  21. Class of '22 Verbal Commits

    in Akron Zips Football Recruiting

    Posted

    14 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

    Shocky's offer list coming out of HS

    Pitt, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Tennessee, Appalachian State, BUGS, CMU, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, UConn, FIU, Georgia, Indiana, Louisville, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Oregon State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Syracuse, UCF, USF, and Virginia 🤯

    Had 83 catches for 1010 yards and 34 carries for 190 yards in his 4 years at Pitt. Should be a decent playmaker in the MAC.

  24. Moorhead’s Akron Coaching Staff 2022

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    14 hours ago, LoyalZIP said:


    Can’t be stated enough how blown away I am by the experience gap between this staff and the previous. Truly unbelievable and maybe even unprecedented. 

     

    Yes, and the salaries we were paying our assistants under Arth seemed to be pretty inline with what other MAC assistants were making. It just seemed he went out and brought in his cronies instead of bringing in experienced assistants, which he needed as he was new to FBS. I suppose Moorhead is doing the same in bringing in people he knows. He just has way better connections lol

    • Like 1

  25. 2021 - Former Zips in College - Where are they now

    in Akron Zips Basketball

    Posted · Edited by kreed5120

    Dambrot made it to 7 straight MAC championships. It seems a bit of an exaggeration to say he wasn't equipped for the MAC. Now to say he isn't equipped for the A10 is a very fair statement. I feel Dambrot is quickly realizing that at-large bids are given to teams, not conferences. You still have to put a talented enough roster on the court to get resume building wins. Without those it's actually more challenging to make the tournament in the A10 compared to the MAC as its easier to beat an Ohio, Buffalo, Toledo in the conference tournament to secure the auto-bid than it is to beat St Louis, VCU, Dayton.

     

    I have no ill will against Dambrot and am overall pleased we managed to get Groce. Without Groce this program could have turned south quick. This is now year 5 of Groce. If you're going to criticize Dambrot for making it to 9 MAC finals (winning 3) in his 13 years as head coach, you need to start considering criticizing Groce for having yet to make it to a Saturday in Cleveland.

     

    Edit: To clarify this post isn't meant to be anti-Groce. I just think the downplaying of Dambrot era is unwell. The only reason Akron had expectations was he built the basketball program have them. 

    • Like 5
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