Illini Zip

Bill Self is my “Tom Izzo”. Kansas has had a key player hurt since January and the selection committee still gives them a 4 seed. I would have preferred them losing to Samford, but I will enjoy the 21 point beat down they received from Gonzaga today.

The problem I see is the power conferences are not going to want to give up the money they make off of each participating team. There is already talk about getting rid of all automatic bids. That would be another step towards ruining March Madness forever. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/how-much-do-teams-get-for-making-the-ncaa-tournament/ar-BB1k7aEq

I was sure I was going to read “This is a paid advertisement by Tod Kowalczyk of the Toledo Rockets” on the bottom of the tweet.

💯

I have heard that when it comes to recruiting bigs you need to have a point guard they are excited to play with. Often the success of a post player is determined by how well the point guard can distribute the ball to them. And they know it. Hopefully a more mature Tavari and the addition of Sharron Young proves to be a magnet going forward. Also, we have learned that it was Freeman’s Mom who really deserves credit for recruiting him by convincing him to try out. I still give Groce credit for recognizing his athleticism and bringing him in as a walk on. Then I give Groce credit for not being prideful because Freeman was grading out better than his recruits. He went with the best performer in practice, period. And finally, thanks to Freeman the coaching staff can show what is possible at Akron from a developmental standpoint. Freeman with all of his physical gifts was raw. Their guidance combined with Freeman’s desire and hard work took someone without a single D1 offer and turned him into one of the best forwards in college basketball. That’s impressive. Thank you Enrique!! Well done!!

I believe the only Senior who has or is about to graduate and still has basketball eligibility left is Dawson.

This is one of the great mysteries to this season. As a team, we were just awful. Were we pressing or something? Was it the different offensive scheme? But we had so many open looks and even the guys who have proven themselves in the past were missing. The water never found its level. On the other hand, Tribble and Freeman showed much improvement from deep.

Did Prather show enough promise to avoid being recruited over? I do believe so. And he seems to have a high care-factor. For him, just like with Dawson it comes down to defensive match up. He can't guard faster players, but he has the size to hold his ground in conference play. And the verdict is still out, but I think he can shoot.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

I support adding a big from the portal if Rich Brisco is likely to redshirt. I expect the other 3 will be playing plenty. I doubt Lyles is going anywhere. We haven't seen much of him at all and we have seen even less of him in a guard oriented offense. Meaning don't compare him to Freeman. I don't think he is a pure post up type player. I expect him to move around a lot and stretch the floor with his shot. I hope so anyway. I also believe that losing Aziz Bandaogo set us back. I agree. Coit or someone similar for a season would be awesome. I see Tavari being a serious contributor next season, but not THE man. He has a chance to be the man his Senior year if he applies himself. I too hope Sharron Young is the next best thing since sliced bread. He definitely won't red-shirt. Point guards rarely do. But he will be a back up at least early on. We very much needed a dynamic point guard this year who could create and score. In that way, I agree we failed. But I still see growth potential in Scott and he is likely going to take on Tribble's defensive duties.

…the unicorn.

Enrique is hitting from deep early. Trying to pull their big guy out.

Here we go!!

There is no better advertisement for Akron than being a line on the bracket. Except for being a line on the bracket and winning. Go Zips!!

I agree with this. Once Selection Sunday is done and your school's name is not called out it's time to focus on the next season. Nobody cares to watch games with no real payoff. Well, almost nobody. The die-hard fans like us on this forum, we care. Obviously the coaches care, some of the players and their families care. But that's not enough to run large scale secondary tournaments effectively. This is my thought. Chime in. Maybe this is not an original idea. I would like to see a whole bunch of small tournaments in small venues the weekend of the NCAA semi-finals and final (first week of April). Just like we can attend or stream Thanksgiving Tournaments in small venues we could now have 8 team or even 4 team round-robin tournaments in the Spring..."Spring Break Tournaments". Three games in three days. Make a long weekend out of it somewhere nice (example: Hilton Head, SC). Spend time as a team bonding and reflecting, watching the Championship game together on the following Monday night. But here's the twist, no seniors are allowed to play and any redshirt roster players can play. Seniors can travel with the team and enjoy themselves, but this is an opportunity for the upcoming rosters to start their journey. These players are still hungry and want to play. Coaches can get a head-start on molding the next year's team without the pressure of the games counting. Let's call these competitive scrimmages. (I'm sure there are legal loopholes if it's even possible.) I'm thinking of the trip the Zips took last Summer. I would tune in to watch Tavari run the point most of the game. Let's see if Nate, Dawson or Scott are ready to become leaders. Get to watch more of Lyles and Prather in action. And get a taste of what's in store with Baker and MM-K. Some teams/tournaments would play at a high level due to most of the starters returning. Other teams/tournaments might run basic offense and it could get sloppy at times. But you are selling the hope of next year and I think the people who really care would embrace it.

He has us losing to Wisconsin?! Come on. He's acting like a 2 year old.

💯 I agree it appears as though he's settling in. He had a play against Kent St. where he bailed out Ali by slashing hard to the hoop for a nice layup.

Found this on Draftmatic from 3 days ago if you want to do some scouting of your own. Creighton vs. Providence in the Big East Tourney. The Flushes vs. Akron game is on there too. Edit: Please move this post to the Creighton page. My bad.

I somehow missed this during last nights game. Ali bounce-passed between Hornbeak’s legs to Freeman for a dunk. (First half, 16 minute mark) Made me laugh and would make for a good meme video.

Go Zips!! Beat Creighton!!

💯 Thank you!!

Darrion Baker is listed at 6-8, but is a solid 7 footer with the fro going. Add a championship cap and he’s a 7-4 monster. The future is bright.

I can’t find the post-game interviews. Someone please post a link.

Not sure why there is so much fuss about Rollin’s foul, Tribble was about to win it on a floater anyway. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Go Zips!!