RoyalBlu

This whole Ali Ali deal is starting to seem a little fishy. If he's coming, say so, and work out the details (academia???) later. Either he wants to be at Akron, or he doesn't. Be it now or 24-25. Either the Zips want him at Akron or they don't. Be it now or in 24-25. Or maybe I/we are just frustrated with the whole deal. Yes, he makes the Zips better, if/when he plays. But this is starting to have an air of entitlement about it, and I'm not sure that is worth it.

Not to be a debbie-downer but two questions?: 1. Nobody has said/confirmed Ali would actually be immediately eligible if he came back. I would not be surprised if he is, because likely more of his Butler hours are good at Akron than vice-verse when he left. But still. 2. In this portal era, it is not safe to assume everybody stays if Ali comes back (although hopefully all do). Does Dawson look to exit instead of stay???

I get the digs at "That" program ... but let's face it. A 1.8 GPA (if accurate) for a freshman athlete in any major college sport (FB, Mbb,) is probably more likely than not, no matter what school they are attending, including Akron. I would think any coach would be more worried about that overall FG % than fixing that freshman GPA. And let's not forget, Mr. Carry had a really bad FG % as a senior ... and still was a handful for most teams to deal with.

Copy-Cats .... Anyone notice the pattern of once Akron gets a MAC transfer player from the Portal ... Kent gets a MAC transfer player from the portal. It has happened again. CMU's Reggie Bass headed down the road.

I don't understand what you mean by "cheating out on basketball" ... please explain.

I'm guessing there is both a lot of truth and a lot of revisionist history going on here. Let's face it: (1) Both Sampson and Senderoff have gone on to better things in the last 15 years. (2) If Dakich knew so much hanky-panky was going on at his alma mater, I'm sure the NCAA would have gladly listened and threw the perps under the bus. Instead the NCAA wrist slap for both was for illegal cell phone calls -- that became NCAA legal shortly afterward. That said, if Sampson and Senderoff are such bad coaches, what does that say about Dakich, who can't sniff a basketball job. Daffy Dan was a great sideshow and coach his first tour of duty at BG ... but once he accepted/turned down West Va. he kind of showed his true colors. And when he went back to BG his players never respected him again. That Sampson, McCallum and Senderoff all became head coaches after Indiana's NCAA sanctions says more to me about the severity of the miscues, ... just as Dakich' failure to land another head job speaks for him. I'm sure Indiana would have hung all three (Sampson-McCallum-Senderoff) out to dry w/the NCAA if that would have cleaned out the Hoosiers closet. But it didn't happen. We all have opinions about the quality of their coaching ... but the fact at least Sampson and Senderoff have had a relatively high level of success for a long period of time kind of speaks for itself. And for the most part over the years I believe the Zips vs. Senderoff have had the better of the matchups ... which is what really matters.

Sorry ... did not mean to denigrate? After two close losses last year Akron most likely wins no matter what. Third game theory. Just trying to say that gameplan and that defense was the difference ... and made stronger w/o Jacobs, who to me is the key to Kent, not Carry. IMO.

Sad to say, but MAC Tournament game last year was an outlier. Great win for the Zips to be sure, and great gameplan, too, but Kent not having Jacobs for the first half really helped that gameplan, and sent Carry into a game-long funk. Akron home win this year was stellar as well. But the last two games Kent was clearly the better team, and I actually think Akron matched up better last year (w/Ali) ... but still lost two close ones. Tough to swallow ... but it is what it is.

I actually thought Thomas was the MVP for the tournament ... didn't have three straight games like that all season.

They lose Carry, Jacobs and Thomas .... will need to hit the portal hard for guards. All their big guys are back.

Taking a step back a bit ... it seems whenever there is a dominant team in the MAC over the years be it Kent or Buffalo or even the Zips, they are somehow portrayed around the league a classless, and/or thuggish, arrogant and more. Truth be told, it takes a bit of swagger and physicality to dominate and that almost always comes out on the defensive end. The season is not even half over yet. Certainly not time to crown any team yet. As someone noted above, Kent didn't start rolling until February last year and were very ordinary before that. If this is their year, so be it. The tournament is still the deciding factor in the end. Just ask Toledo ... or look at the Zips. No need to trash the opposition, no matter who it is. Just play ball. Loyola Marymount looks pretty good today, right!

The MAC has never had an undefeated BB team in its history, I believe. Certainly none since the 1970s. If that Big Dog-Cheatum team couldn't do it ... or that PCCC-Elite 8 team couldn't do it, and none of the recent high-scoring Toledo teams couldn't do it ... I wouldn't be putting my $$$ on any MAC team doing it. Certainly not making that bet in December. Now if things look different come Valentine's Day ... then maybe I go to the bank.

Frankly thought the Zips would be No. 1 ... and probably would have if more than just the coaches voted. That said, a serious and legit argument can be made for any of the top 3 teams. Ball State, if the new coach is the real deal, might be the team to watch as the Cardinals have a lot of experienced freshman talent back from last season plus some VG transfers. Without a target on its back, Ball State may be tough to deal with come February.

Neither is Gross ...

If we want to repeat or more .... what do you mean? Repeat by winning three games in Cleveland ... or ... repeat by being a 4th place MAC team again. One (4th place) is a lot easier to do than the other.

Didn't he sign a 3-year extension last year. Unless somebody moves on (TK???) really don't see any coaching moves this season.

I say the opposite ... Ball State is the wildcard in that bracket.

Don't forget, the MAC now plays a 20-game schedule, not 18.

Say this for Dambrot ... he knows guards. --- If Duquesne still had Dunn-Martin, Sincere Carry and Norman at WMU (combined averaging about 60 ppg!!!!) the Dukes would not be on an 11 or 12-game losing streak. Yikes.

This was supposed to be a week to get well (WMU-NIU-EMU) vs. three worst teams in the MAC ... what happened???

Akron went through a stretch like this early in the season .... then snapped out of it. Still games and MAC Tournament left, they can do it again.

What happened at the end ?????????

All true ... but underneath all of this is leadership on the court. Really, after Carry, what player does KSU have that Akron would rather have? But it's clear that Carry and that other guard (No. 2) have some gonads to carry that team beyond their apparent limitations. Freeman can't do it all ... and right now he doesn't seem to have the voice of an on-court leader, which seems to be what the Zips might be lacking most. What player is holding other players accountable???

That's huge for tie-breaker purposes if Toledo wins the league. I've always felt tiebreakers should be decided by your record vs. bad teams not good teams, starting from the bottom up. If that were the case Kent would have issues w/losses to Central Michigan and Northern. (Akron obviously vs. Western).

My guess right now is 5th spot on All-MAC first team is down to BVD/Carter, Freeman, Plowden, Sparks, Shumate and Norman. (Sears, Rollins, Carry, JWilliams). And at least one of these guys won't even make second team. For a down year in the MAC, that's amazing. Sears, Rollins, Carry, Freeman, Sparks, Shumate, Norman all return ... if the portal doesn't swallow them up.