mrelegazna

Zips are apparently playing Mississippi State in...Philadelphia. You figure it out. https://bracketeer.org/nonconference/sec

Also worth noting re: Steele that he was axed after their first round NIT game, and THEN his team went on to win the NIT crown. 😶

Hankerson was in the game 84% of the time for NIU, which led the team and was 9th in the MAC (for Akron, only Ali was higher). Despite that, he was only a "role player" by KenPom's definition, which are players that ended just 16-20% (5th on NIU) of the team's possessions (made a shot, missed a shot the was not rebounded by the offenses, or committed a turnover). He also got a steal on 3.11% of NIU's opponent's possession when he was in the game, third in the MAC. Still, the analytics are not eye-popping. Still still, while Groce isn't infallible I generally trust him to find more Castanedas than Waltons, and kids who put up meh or worse numbers (this goes for Hankerson and Hunter both) and do not have all-conference recognition still might be good fits, just as their previous schools might've been poor fits.

Edit: Never mind, I'm sorry I missed the point.

So you're saying that's not the point of this thread you made, then. What is?

I mean, yes, other programs have it tougher both with losing players in the transfer portal specifically and just more suckitude generally. And yes, some fans need to gain some more perspective. But we're still allowed to feel bad about any adversity affecting our team, just like I'm allowed to feel whatever feelings I want to about my own problems, even though others have it worse.

I think the answer to that is, "he doesn't think of himself as a mid-level player." I think any player worthy of playing time needs to think of himself as, at very least, having a very high ceiling. So I don't begrudge him that. Also, while Butler sucked last year and I can't be arsed to look into how good or not they stand to be next year, the Big East tends to be bunched up, and so going from 6-14 in conference to, say, 11-9 and on the bubble is probably not out of the question. Finally, while we have misgivings about Ali (especially now that he's gone), statheads and analytic nerds tend to love his game. Maybe there's something to that, and maybe the "actually, he's not that good" camp is right, but again, you can't blame him for believing in himself. For better or worse, this is the transfer portal reality now, and this is gonna happen from time to time (and hopefully not more frequently than that) with our good players. I for one am not gonna try to take such transfers personally as a Zip fan (although I would be f***ing heartbroken if Enrique left, I would try not to be ANGRY). I hope that Groce and his staff respond to the advent and popularity of the transfer portal by scouting low-major transfer portal diamonds-in-the-rough thoroughly, and well. If any of our players feel like Butler is a step up, well then, maybe we are a step up from Nebraska-Omaha, or whoever. Or even D2 (Max Strus went from D2 Lewis (Ill.) to DePaul to the Miami Heat).

Here's an excerpt from another pundit who is high on Akron, and Ali (a subscription site I belong to, Staring At The Floorboards): "The Zips really came together down the stretch run in the MAC, and were probably undervalued going into the MAC tournament with SQ judging three of their losses as analytical wins...UCLA wasn’t handed any favors by the committee. This Akron team can play, and we saw that in the early OOC schedule when they nearly knocked off Ohio State. Ali is a high major talent who will test Jaquez, but Freeman’s going to have a hard time getting established vs Johnson. Akron’s comfort level at a low 60s possession game combined with the ease in which their guards operate out of ball screens has big Purdue/North Texas energy." The Pick: Play Akron +14 (sprinkle on the ML), under 128.5"

Kenpom has it 71-58 UCLA

(forgot to include quote tweet, can't delete)

Dammit, I spent 30 bucks on FloHoops for this. My fault for not waiting until the last minute, which is appropriate during these times.

I'm also team Riak and I actually think he showed more offensive potential than most of the pure fives we've had over the years. Besides the things already said: Negatives: -Shot selection. I've never seen a Zip team pass up so many good looks. LCJ is especially guilty of this. They overthink things. -General quality of play consistency. I'd say this is a continual problem for the Zips. but probably everybody feels their team is inconsistent. Inconsistencies are magnified when you watch all of a team's games. Positives: -Sticking with elite teams like Nevada and (today excepted obviously) Buffalo. Dambrot's teams could never really manage this. Yeah, we didn't finish them off, but keeping it close counts for something. -A couple of wonderfully complete games. Against local and conference foes, whenever Dambrot's teams pulled out to a big lead, you just NEWWWWWWW they would give up a big run and make it close again. But that didn't happen against Youngstown State or the first round game against Miami. We seem to have scratched the surface at least on the kind of mentality that can put teams away.

I don't know what to tell you if you think $4.99 a month for Zips games and hundreds of other sporting events (including Zips soccer, volleyball, women's BB, and who knows what else) is an outrage worth boycotting over.

If you're in the camp that believes that Akron can force high majors or elite mid-majors to schedule Akron, and if they don't they're just not trying hard enough, OR you're sick of creampuff HBCs, you might want to look away for this one (December 16th): http://mvsusports.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball Also on the @D1Docket's spreadsheet.

Does anyone know what that "Love + Honor" map is on the Miami floor? It doesn't appear to be Oxford or Butler County.

Shooting pretty well so far...

Great replay just showing Woodson.

Ugh. There are blown assignments, and then there was that.

He was down by like, a lot. I don't see how the announcers could even claim it was a close call. So therefore, it wasn't a "break" as the announcers also just said. Gawd, these announcers.

Link works for me: http://zunox.hk/zxtv93.html

Akron @ IPFW Wednesday. http://gozips.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/releases/201403161wvkq1

Would anyone here, if they had their druthers, turn down a CIT/CBI bid? I'm wondering if, if what TSPjugglerdude says is true, it would be better if they fostered an all-or-nothing, NCAA-or-bust attitude in regards to postseason tournaments.

Put me in the camp of, "I want the best for Alex, hope he turns his life around (if he hasn't already), the people bashing him from their high horse in this thread are loathesome, and I do not want him back on this team." Framing this as "Does he or does he not deserve a second chance at Akron?" misses a third option: Abreu getting a chance at another school. Just looking at struggling low-majors in the Midwest, I'm sure he could be a big upgrade (disclaimer: I don't know these teams' point guard situations) at IUPUI, UIC, or Western Illinois, for example. It would give him a fresh start and the school would not have a baggage-laden past with him. That's what I hope happens, and if it does I will be rooting for him and his team.

That tweet was from 2010 when we played them. Not sure akronzips71 is pranking or didn't notice. As regular season conference champ, UWGB is automatically in the NIT.

Very funny. (Look at the date if you don't get it)