RoyalBlu

A decent comparison in that both have some ball skills but in many ways are unorthodox. Ball is bigger and more athletic which helps his game a lot. Preston, to me, seems almost fragile. When he plays a lot of games in a short period of time, he seems to lose some steam. This run has been perfect for him; 11 days off before MAC Tournament - three game run - now another week off. He'll be a G-League all-star for sure, and a good 10-day call-up when a team needs immediate help. But for the long haul of the NBA season, unless he physically matures more than he has so far, I don't see it.

Guys like Groce can reload pretty quick at the mid-major level. They know what works. If he needs a guard he'll find a guard or develop one. I think that shows around the MAC with all the veteran coaches. If they need something specific, they find it. The question is how well they fit in, or how long it takes to fit in. While the last two seasons of LCJ have been great, he was pretty pedestrian initially. Took a year. I think the missing element - which I think is key - will be not having that redshirt season to practice and learn w/o expectations. That was big for X and other transfers around the league as well. Also, look for guys like Marshall to make a big jump ... jucos often do their second year.

With rare exceptions, most teams in the tournament 'play well enough to win' the challenge is to ultimately win it ... and to do that teams must not only execute at a high level the final 4-minutes of the game, but also execute with the right personnel. Kudos to LCJ but the fact - aside from about a three week stretch from Trimble - there was no proven second or third scorer, or no player who could execute on the block, to help him was Akron's ultimate downfall. It seems the Zips whiffed on Currie. As a freshman that would be understandable, but as a juco w/one year at a B10 school under his belt, somebody just didn't do their homework. Too bad the 7-0 freshman arrived to campus late or he might have been the guy. That's the breaks, because all these things raise their head at tournament time and is not exclusive to Akron ... look at No. 1 seed Toledo. The MAC FOY played like a freshman and the kid from Walsh played like he was from Walsh ... Toledo, exit, stage left. Groce and the Zips must be credited with keeping this team pretty much together the entire season, even with it's obvious flaws, not to mention the fortunes of war so to speak were generally avoided. Bowling Green's best player plays his last game at well less than 100-percent due to a hamstring injury ... Kent State has injury (and other) issues down the stretch ... Ball State's best player doesn't hit the court until the last month of the season ... CMU's 6-10 freshman (and bonafide FOY candidate) goes down at Christmas and never returns ... It's crazy. What issues Toledo, Akron and Buffalo' had (Covid/injuries) all basically hit early in the season and adjustments were made from there. Most coaches will tell you the toughest coaching job with the least amount of reward is at the mid-major basketball coaching level. I have to agree. Both Ohio and UB have had their struggles in games down the stretch so it will be interesting to see how the title game plays out in Cleveland.

Of the missing players, which one of them would you want on the floor in OT???? Asking for a bunch of friends.

Call me crazy ... but why throw a bounce pass on the move to a player who has just made two straight turnovers at the rim ... a senior at that. March Madness ...

Don't think it's a subject Akron should get involved in ...

Been saving this while playing Dailey ... and where is Dailey btw....

Question comes a week or so early but .... What Zips seniors should return for one more year; LCJ is clearly no NBA proapect. Should he leave his mark deeper in the JAR or head overseas. And the others???

Problem with playing them again is like playing three different teams with the same name: first game they had Nuga and it was a nailbiter to the finish; second game they didn't have Nuga or Hamilton and Zips shredded them with the long ball; now they still will be w/o Nuga, but Hamilton is back and more importantly they have had time to get their new act together. Unlike before they won't hold up in a shootout with the Zips w/o Nuga. But the argument can be made their defense has improved while the Zips .... well. That said, Buffalo, Ohio, BG all can put a knot in the stomach right now for the Zips along with Akron's neighbors. So does it really matter. Let's just play ball.

As the season has worn on it has become clear the vast majority of teams in the MAC are hurting for a CONSISTENT No. 2 scorer, and a No. 3 in dbl figures as well. Toledo has a 2 and a 3. Ohio has a 2 and a 3. Kent (had) a 2 and sometimes a 3. BG had a 1 and 2 but no middle and no 3. That's about it. Now all of a sudden BG has a No. 3 scorer (Matheny) and they are taking off. I know Ohio has not played a lot of games, but they still have the most complete (inside/outside) roster in the league with productive inside/outside players. If they get it going down the stretch the Bobcats could be the team to beat. Then the league will have to listen to the Kittens roar about always being the best tournament team in the MAC.

I think what we're seeing throughout the MAC this season is the absence of any true post play offense or rim protection defense ... but it's coming. Bandaogo is 7-0, CMU is playing with a 7-0 post guy. Toledo has a 6-10 post (injured) and another in the recruiting pipeline and the same can be said for a few other teams. The issue is, most of these guys are dominant defense/marginal offense. So unless a team is loaded with shooters/scorers around them (Riak and Zips 2020), they can be problematic. Historically Groce has had these kind of post guys. Rarely do his post guys average much more than 10 ppg, if that. But if they take away 4-8 points a game at the rim that's a net 14-18 points. Not to mention the rebounding and 'intimidation' a force at the rim like that has on teams attacking the basket. In short, guys that gambled or worse on defense before, but were bailed out by Riak, weren't truly exposed until film day. Now, they are exposed, period.

While Zips look burned out, Ohio looks fresh, and will get fresher when their top two players return. Gone unnoticed is the fact Toledo and Ohio were only scheduled to play once this season, and that game was quite awhile ago. If this OU team gets to finish out its remaining schedule with no covid/injury issues they very well could be the No. 1 threat against the Rockets. They have a top tier PG, a solid backup PG, and a top tier (MAC) post player which is the one area Toledo is shy of. And as proven today, the Bobcats have enough firepower when they can dial it all up. In terms of favorites (not seeding) for MAC Tournament - as of today - I'd go 1. Toledo 2. Akron 3 Ohio 4 Buffalo-Kent In reverse order don't think UB has the firepower to last three games and don;t know if Kent (Pippen) can hold up for three games ... but I will say this. If Toledo/Akron have to play both of those two (quaterfinials/semis) to make the finals, not sure either Toledo/Akron would have enough gas left to finish it off. Final Standings/seedings/pairings will be critical. Ohio can't be a 1 seed, but could be No. 2 with a strong finish and Akron dropoff. Either is likely. Ohio game at Kent next week could be huge for everybody - Akron, OU, KSU and UB.

I would take Wichita State off your list for sure, ... and give some thought to both Cincinnati and Memphis. ... But your point is well taken. NCAA Tournament success - especially of the Sweet 16 kind, does linger. And while Ohio's Sweet 16 run could have been made by half the league that year against two really suspect teams (South Florida, Michigan - the MAC rep hasn't had a setup close to that since) the fact is Ohio took advantage of the opportunity and ran with it, and that is what sticks.

Probably right in both cases ... but no matter what wouldn't want a shootout with Toledo. Keep it in the low 70s ... BTW... who ever beats Buffalo in MAC Tournament probably loses the next night. Especially if its a team with a short bench.

This is starting to be a back-ally mugging on the boards. If Toledo can't make 3s ... they struggle against power. ... Problem is, w/exception of Buffalo and maybe Ohio (when they eat their cheerios) nobody else in the league is really that physical Toledo should win, but UB is not a team they want to see in the semis..

Here's the problem: The days of having a 'beat writer' and a columnist are long gone. Newspapers (and TV) want more opinion than news to get just what we have here, friction. Sports stories in particular are more often than not a one-way spin. (The Browns didn't lose, the Chiefs got lucky). And while 'fans' can criticize, they want their newspapers to 'support.' .... This article by GT (short of mentioning tiebreakers) points out that Akron is struggling a bit (correct) but does not point out Toledo is struggling a bit as well, and Kent is hobbled by injuries and led by a guy with two gate creaking knees. (And no mention of Ohio lurking in the weeds via winning percentage). In reality, if Akron doesn't wind up with the No. 1 seed, the Zips will have none to blame but themselves. Of course, GT did not write that, because it's overall probably a bit harsh (and rightfully so) but at this point it is still a hard fact (with tiebreakers) the Zips control their own fate ... and should be responsible for the end result.

Here is what I don't understand: By current head-to-head and overall MAC measures to date, Akron and Toledo are clearly the top two teams. Perhaps not significant, but clear. Yet all the top metrics have Toledo as a clear No. 1 team in the league and Akron trailing teams they have beaten. Kenpom NET RPI 64 Toledo 71 Toledo 60 Toledo 85 Buffalo 84 Kent 72 Kent 91 Kent 85 Buffalo 97 Akron 99 Akron 90 Akron 120 Ohio 104 Ohio 109 Ohio 138 Bowling Green (169 Buffalo) Looking at this, the MAC Tournament belongs to Toledo with all others as solid underdogs. I suspect the Zips (and all the rest) would take those odds just the same.

I think, for any MAC team, the farther a team advances in the tournament the more you have to look at the bench to see where teams can get a big hit (10 pts or more) to pull an upset. Toledo w/Sanders certainly fits that profile. Diggs at Bowling Green, Brewer at Buffalo and Sears at Ohio all come to mind. Might be others I'm missing. An experienced player w/live legs who can score on the third of three games/three days in a row is a bonus to keep an eye on.

I'm guessing he's probably talking about 1997 when I believe Sczerbiak got hurt early in the MAC season, missed a couple of weeks, then came back vs. BG, then went on to win the MAC Tournament. Miami was pretty dominant in 1999 in the MAC if I'm not mistaken, and had a pretty good national rep. Sczerbiak got dinged a bit in the MAC Tournament and lost to Kent in the title game by a point or two as Sczerbiak had an off game by his standards. ... At least, that's what I recall, so we're matching my memory vs. Dakich, so take that for what it's worth.

True ... that's why I've always said tiebreakers should work backwards in the standings. Teams should pay more for losing to bad teams than losing to good teams. (I know, this year that would hurt the Zips, but most seasons it would not).

This game epitomizes what makes MAC basketball so unlike most other leagues. Many of these mid-major conferences most of the good teams all play a similar style. In the MAC it's a box of chocolates up and down the ranks. A good matchup for one team is a bad matchup for another. Witness Akron-Miami (and it has been this way for a few years now). Miami is good enough to beat a good team on a given night. Akron 'could' lose to a team it should beat on any given night. MAC basketball.

We're talking about two different things --- First, among over 350 schools, being Top 60 is far from mediocre. If that's where the Zips wind up it is a major accomplishment in my eyes. Second, - and this is the universal problem - 60 is the bottom for any inkling of at-large possibility into a 68-team tournament. It would likely require a late-season return of a quality starter from injury, along with some early non-con success before said player was injured. A longshot but it has happened. And the MAC has had several teams over the years in the 30s-40s not get an at-large. Does it suck for the NCAAs, yes. But it does not diminish the fact Akron, with a Net 60-something, would have to be considered one of the top teams in the country.

Calling a NET ranking in the 60s 'mediocre' out of over 350 means someone needs a math class. If Akron or any MAC team ranks in the 60s you are in the conversation for a bubble team 'with the right credentials.' In the 40s/50s almost definitely on the board, and in the 30s should be in. If you want to say 60s is the outside edge I would agree. But it is far from 'mediocre.'

The problem for Akron and Toledo, shy of losing to each other in the MAC Tournament, any loss either team suffers in the MAC Tournament will be a major upset and doom whatever minimal chances the MAC might have had at an at-large. Had Kent not lost Nuga and Hamilton? and kept climbing in the various rankings (even w/losses to UT and Akron) that would have propped up both the Zips and Rockets, as both teams swept Kent. But Portage County don't look like the same team now. Injury wise, same could be said for Ohio, when they lost Preston for several games. The Bobcats national profile (not to mention rankings) dropped like a rock. Even if they win out, doubt if they can make up much ground in the rankings. Long story short (if your are a MAC fan as well as a Zips fan) injuries even to the opposition ultimately impact everybody in the league. Puts a lot of pressure o UT and Akron to win out, which really isn't fair, as Zips fans know from past experience.

Since the Cavs are playing with (limited) people in the stands, would guess the MAC Tournament will have at least family and administrators in the stands. For argument sake, the seedings will be interesting, but in the grand scheme of things not that big of a deal. Just guessing, Miami and Ball State are tracking to be the last two teams. Akron and Toledo are at the top of the totem pole. Good (easy/winnable) games for both (discount BSU Saturday upset). Good thing for Akron, in terms of wildcard (semifinal) opponents who could pull upsets, they will likely play both Ohio and Buffalo twice. Toledo only plays them each once. Toledo's best MAC wins are Kent twice (at full strength) and Akron. Same for Akron. 2 UB and OU games for Akron are a plus in my mind. There has to be a ??? for Toledo about playing both of those teams in the tournament, especially OU a team they played and beat very early in the season but seems to be on the rise right now.