Illini Zip

I guess I am in a wait and see mode because either (A) we have some serious holes that will make this season way more difficult than we thought a week ago or (B) Groce and Wentz are playing money ball and systematically addressing issues position by position within a set budget. We already replaced Gray with Evan. Maybe replacing Okonkwo was intentional and we helped him land somewhere safely. Maybe his replacement is already lined up, but we just don’t know it yet. Maybe we needed to cut Nate’s salary to acquire these players. And maybe there are cheaper options for Nate’s replacement in consideration at this very moment. I know that’s a lot of “maybes”, but I’m trying to keep an open mind.

We can’t use the appropriate language on this forum.

And I thought I had commitment issues.

I have been vulnerable to being overly optimistic as well. I think the proof will be in the quality of his replacement, that’s if we land another big at all.

Having not seen a second of Brisco it’s hard to predict his role and productivity next year. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brisco step right into the void left by Okonkwo. Here’s hoping anyway.

…and the horse they rode in on!!

I love the holiday tournaments for this reason. No excuse for us not seeing an occasional low tier P4 opponent in a holiday tourney going forward.

I do like it, but one of these low probability games a year is enough for me.

I do like Milwaukee and Princeton heading to the JAR. And I’m counting on our radio guys to lobby the refs on any close calls when we play Princeton.

Playing Purdue will help our strength of schedule and the pay day will be nice. I’m just curious if Groce is more upset with his team’s performance against a much taller team or being asked about not scheduling enough tall opponents in the postgame interview? Either way, message received.

Sure, at Purdue and when they are ranked 2nd in the country going into next year. Good luck trying to get last year’s Minnesota, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech or Oklahoma State on a neutral court. All were our peers or worse in terms of NET. We break that top 75 mark and things could get much more exciting.

It has always been that bigs want to play with elite guards who can feed them the ball. It makes sense that bigs are at a premium, but who wouldn’t want to be the beneficiary of this team’s guard play. Add the style of play with the staff’s ability to develop talent and you have an attractive pitch. But if it comes down to the highest bidder we probably lose.

Do we go from the Akron Mountaineers to the Akron Buckeyes?

I think it might be a good sign as to Brisco’s potential. Even as the possible backup. Edit: Also, from the little I have seen of Brisco it is possible he and Okonkwo have very similar games. Thus, keep the guy who is part of the long term plan.

Maybe we are not done and we have a different big coming in?

I like the extra game, but I would prefer the NCAA mandate all D1 teams play each quadrant home and away at least once in the OOC. Also, no teams from the same conference can play the same competition that year. It’s not going to happen. It makes too much sense and it’s too fair. The NCAA is run by the big conferences to control the small conferences and we can’t cut into the P5 home game profits.

I guess I’m a little more bullish on Amani. He seemed to be shooting pretty well from deep before he got hurt. I don’t know what happened thereafter. I will concede that in order to play on the perimeter Amani probably needs to improve his handle a bit and a lack of lateral quickness would hurt him with certain defensive assignments at the 4 spot. Maybe I am just having a hard time excepting so much of Groce’s offense is shelved having 5 guys on next years roster between 6-6” and 6-8”, none of them being a serious threat away from the rim. You all know what Xerius and Hunter added to the team, but consider a 6-9” big who can pass and shoot well from the free throw line area. Such a player is an absolute zone killer in this offense. Anyway, I am choosing to hope someone emerges from the off-season with more to offer and today my money is on Amani.

I do think there will be an open competition all Summer long. But I would like to see Shammah get the nod to start for this very reason. He would have started on most MAC teams and could have started for the Zips as well. I feel similarly about Amani. It’s his time to shine too. Especially, if he takes another step forward during the offseason. That said, there is something to be said for veteran leadership being on the floor at all times. Also, something @clarkwgriswold pointed out was that Young and Shammah do play well together. Finally, I can’t imagine how emotional it will be for the Mahaffey parents to see their sons out there together for the first time. They probably get all choked up just thinking about the money they will save on gas alone. As of today, my starting lineup would be thus: Tavari Shammah Nate Amani Okonkwo Second wave has countless possible variations: Young/Perkins Eric Hardman Evan/MMK Brisco I do subscribe to the 4 guard/big and 3 guard plus a wing/big theories. But I am suggesting starting the game with Amani playing a stretch 4 role. He can run the court just fine. How many times did we see him chase down and block from behind on an opponent’s fast break.

I have been told on more than one occasion that I should go to hell. Can I get there from the University of Akron?

I have no love for Bruce Pearl. And now it’s go Florida because of the Eric Gordon scandal involving Kelvin Sampson (now with Houston) and probably Senderoff.

Is this a bad time to remind everyone just how much I hate Toledo?

Should help with recruiting.

Going off of this year’s NET that would work as a Q2 game for us as well as Xavier or Dayton so I’m in for that. I want more Q1 and Q2 opportunities.

I would like to see the Zips play 2 neutral court games a year in large venues. Instead of home and home, it would be “home away from home” and “home away from home”. Our home away from home is Rocket Mortgage and I would like a OOC game to be played there annually so every one of our players has that experience before the MAC Tournament. Then we play a different team at their home away from home (Atlanta, Denver, New York, etc) so we experience yet another environment. The following year we flip the game locations. Next year I imagine we could start the season in Q2 (51-100) so we would target 2 teams from that range. That way there is not a NET advantage for any team. There is a lot of nice competition in this range. This is probably an expensive idea, but it’s my suggestion.

I cringe as I type this because we already beat this horse to death and we are in agreement. But here’s a possible scenario if Evan struggles to shoot and Amani regains his confidence. Evan plays with Amani, Evan at the wing defensively and Amani at the 5. Offensively they switch, Amani on the perimeter and Evan at the 5. I just wouldn’t suggest playing Evan and Okonkwo together under those circumstances.