RoyalBlu
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Posts posted by RoyalBlu
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Bass is recovering from the flu, but was already finding himself on the bench far more often than not before that. Hornbeak is out hurt. Santiago isn’t the same anymore (yet). They are without an identity.
They are decimated:
They have lost No. 5 (C. Hornbeak), No. 7 (C. Gillespie), No. 8 (G. Moss), No. 9 (W. Rollins) -- basically their entire bench -- all likely out for the season. Their four remaining 'starters' -- Santiago, Sullinger, Davis, Payton - have collectively under-achieved.
No. 6 (G. Bass) has struggled finding his place and his been down with the flu.
Add in the fact they have 'given away' arguably 2 or 3 games already this season and the immediate future does look bleak.
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2 hours ago, NWAkron said:
Crazy day in MAC. Hocking Hills breathes sigh of relief. Ball State loses at home to Central? Can't get any lower than that. If u want a nice evening watch the replay on espn+ of Kent game. Off the hook
No excuse for blowing second-half 17-point lead. NONE. That's at least three games they've given away this year (JMU, CoC, EMU). No excuse.
That said, at least for this one, they were missing both their starting and backup center to injury (perhaps for the season) and sixth man (CMU transfer Bass) to the flu. Still, up 17 for a solid program - even on the road - no excuse. Even had multiple chances in OT and couldn't finish it.
Only 1 player in starting lineup started last season (Santiago, although Payton had 'starters' minutes) and Santiago missed most of the MAC to injury. Lots of adversity over there. Interesting to see how season plays out for them.
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2 hours ago, Zip JD said:
I agree 100%. First a power 5 team gets nothing out of coming to the JAR. If they win the rest of the sports world thinks they should have and if they lose it hurts them. Also, there is no way we can close to making it worth their while financially.
As to the OOC schedule, it was a nice mix of good to very good comp with practice games sprinkled in. Even thought we came up short, I loved the showcase in Cleveland.
It’s great to see some new content for newer members like csims. Keep it up.
I still say MAC teams (ADs actually) don't leverage their 'buy' FB games against P5 teams into more basketball opportunities either home or on the road. If you can't get a home and home with a bottom tier P5 team, I'd at least wright into the contract that a road upset by the Zips triggers a return game to Akron the following season, followed by a third game back on the road at P5. Might be a tough way to get a 2-for-1, but at least give yourself a fighting chance. For all the body bag games that FB team down the road plays, they should definitely employ a strategy like this.
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Mainly ... Zips can't get into a high-scoring game with this team. They only play 7-8 guys, but they offer some mis-match problems. Who does Freeman guard? 6-11 Spurgin or 6-8 Agee. Who guards Hill, ... Ali?
Hunter has to show up solid IMO, at least defensively and on the boards.
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They got some dudes ... Hill, Agee and Spurgin would start on every team in the MAC ... outside of Akron .... and Hill would start at Akron, too.
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All the above issues are true .....
INCLUDING AKRON IS STILL THE NO. 1 FAVORITE
After that
2. Toledo
3. Bowling Green
4. NIU
5. Kent (too many injuries)
6. Ohio
Everybody else.
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12 hours ago, zipsrule said:
Kent goes down 66-46.
Looks like several key injuries have knocked Kent back a few pegs. Sounds like one or two key guys are out for at least a month ... if not the season.
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2 hours ago, NWAkron said:
And for some masochistic holiday reason you have the need to re-visit, yet again, the worst moment in Zips basketball. history. Just sayin'...
Sorry. My bad☹️
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On 12/23/2023 at 8:02 PM, RoyalBlu said:
Missed free throw ... missed rebound .... a lot went wrong at the wrong time.
Just found the replay: Missed 1+1, Missed reb (did Travis even try), ... missed gameclock (at least 1.5-sec) should have started when ball first touched. Didn't start until player got control. ... shot it at 1.9-sec left.
Can't control the clock ... but FTs and reb ????
Just sayin ....
On 12/23/2023 at 8:02 PM, RoyalBlu said:Missed free throw ... missed rebound .... a lot went wrong at the wrong time.
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21 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said:
Did it really? 🤔
Missed free throw ... missed rebound .... a lot went wrong at the wrong time.
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On 12/19/2023 at 7:15 PM, clarkwgriswold said:
Gardner–Webb University (Gardner–Webb, GWU, or GW) is a private Christian liberal arts university in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. It was founded as Boiling Springs High School in 1905. Gardner-Webb is a classified among "Doctoral/Professional Universities.
And the alma mater of ML Carr and Loyld (World B.) Free
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13 hours ago, csims0917 said:
Huge game for the MAC tonight. Vermont (8-4) comes to Toledo (6-4) for a battle of two good mid majors. I think Toledo should win this game but it will be a fun one!
Did not happen ... not by a long shot. Let's just leave it at that.
Ugly!
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30 minutes ago, csims0917 said:
It’s not on tv either. Probably cause St V doesn’t have the infrastructure
If I'm not mistaken, this has some LBJ/Dambrot/Nike connection with SVSM getting the $$$.
Pretty sure KD would not be scheduling a 'loss' in that game. As it stands, Bradley from the Missouri VAlley, in terms of league quality and name recognition, is probably a step up in terms of opponent. Duquesne should win ... but not a wild upset if they do lose.
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I'd say the same, not so much because I believe this is one of the better Akron teams ever (it could be but not now), but because at this point there isn't another MAC team out there that seems to be anywhere as good as the Zips.
A large part of this is because no other MAC team has the depth of seniors Akron does. This is a bonus in terms of expectations and execution. The Zips should have no problems handling both. The down side is - execution aside - history says teams like this don't necessarily get better as talent matures, they get better with execution.
So looking around the league the two teams, to me, that have the greatest talent growth potential in terms of competing with the Zips are Northern Illinois and Toledo. UT's roster isn't that deep, but they have changed their style of play from chuck-n-duck to grunt and grind. As they get better at it - with the firepower they have. could be a tough tangle by the end of the season.
NIU, on the other hand, has arguably (IMO) the most talented roster top to bottom in the league. They may be a year away, after earning the necessary scabs from this season, but who knows what could happen down the stretch.
After that, an Akron fan would probably point to Kent state as a threat, just for being a rival. But right now, they seem to have as many issues as most other MAC teams, in terms of finding a consistent starting lineup and developing a team identity.
IMO, Akron is ahead of the game vs. all those teams in terms of maturity, (enough) depth, talent (Freeman/Ali lift all others), experience, team identity, and until proven otherwise, coaching.
On paper, this is Akron's year.
(As an aside, I'd put the (pre-arrest) Abreu team, and the senior-laden Big Dog team - just to name two - as more complete teams (talent wise) than this one, primarily due to guard play.) But as noted above Freeman/Ali are a cut above and lift all others with them.
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Once Ali is cleared, who loses minutes? ... I'm guessing Hunter.
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7 hours ago, zipsrule said:
Good point.
In my mind, that guy should be Hunter. But he has no interest in anything other than a 3-pointer. A guy his size w/average to better athleticism should make a killing off Freeman's leftovers, in terms of rebounds and going to the line. Agree w/others who note Zips look very ordinary unless Freeman is dominant.
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1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:
I think a primary factor in deciding whether to allow a kid's immediate transfer is the position of the school from which the kid is transferring. Certainly, this is the primary party being potentially injured by the transfer. Here, Butler seems to be a proponent of allowing the transfer.
The question isn't being allowed to transfer ... that's not a problem. The question is being allowed to play. Butler gets to use his scholarship, not skin off their nose. Akron takes all the hits ... scholarship and (loss of) eligibility.
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7 hours ago, Hilltopper said:
He needs 8 credits in the spring semester to graduate. He is already carrying a full class load this semester.
Ali's time at Butler must have truly been a train wreck ... understanding he (apparently) left Akron academically eligible as a junior ... he played his fourth season at Butler (apparently eligible) then returns to Akron for his fifth season and has two (or maybe just one) academic summer session, plus a fall semester, and still needs eight more spring credits to become a grad student???
This points to a very bad academic year at Butler, which is something the NCAA should be taking a hard look at, IMO. Ali basically needs/needed what looks like almost a full year academic load to become eligible at Akron. While his mental health is certainly part of the issue, he was academically eligible to play last year at Butler, and it seems like ... mental health aside ... it's questionable if Ali would be academically eligible now even with NCAA mental health clearance, unless I'm missing something.
Something doesn't add up. Butler and the NCAA should clear this mess.
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On 11/22/2023 at 11:38 AM, ZIPS96 said:
Based on non-conference records, if you believe Ball State (4-1) is the best team in the MAC and Toledo (3-3) is not a MAC Contender, then eggs ain't poultry. Akron, even w/o Ali, remains the class of the MAC until further notice.
Maybe by January Ohio, NIU, or Kent might rise up. If and until then, say AKRON.
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1 hour ago, Zippy87 said:
Just to show you how wacky this all is w/NCAA .... consider Bandaogo's argument. 1) If losing his head coach and mentor (Mark Madson went to Cal) was such a mental hardship, why didn't he follow Madsen to Cal? 2) And I understand this ia a greatly embellished press release https://gouvu.com/news/2023/4/6/mens-basketball-todd-phillips-named-utah-valley-mens-basketball-head-coach.aspx
But it reads like the new Utah Valley head coach was the guy who did all the work with Bandaogo, and not Madsen. Anyway, the real power move was getting the Ohio AG to step in. If the Zips can get him to do the same, then there should be a chance for Ali this season.
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2 hours ago, Hilltopper said:
Ali is a good student. Academics are not an issue. He is on track to graduate in the spring. If he had stayed at Butler that would not be the case. Coming back to Akron was a good move for him to get a degree.
Ali played his first three seasons at Akron (counting covid year), transferred to Butler for his fourth year. This is into his fifth year, and still not a graduate. I make no comment about his ability as a student, just pointing out his timeline. Next year will be his sixth year. The NCAA waived the covid year (2020-2021) for eligibility giving a great number of players an extra year of eligibility ... but also an extra year to graduate and become a grad student (based on a 4-year graduation clock).
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I do wonder ... the tone of Groce's statement and saying 'more to come' when the team returns has me thinking the NCAA was Ali's only chance for this season. No mention of second semester eligibility as a grad student, which hints that academic concerns were more daunting than initially thought. The key now is not let this situation become a team distraction going into the new year.
If there is a strong appeal, make it. If not, focus on the challenge at hand. Akron still considered a solid favorite to win the MAC. Tighten the belt and go for it.
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I would ask if his mental health issue was documented when he left Akron for Butler ... or was his mental health issue documented after he left Butler to return to Akron?
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27 minutes ago, RoyalBlu said:
The MAC has had some interesting big men during Groce's tenure at Akron: The big kid during Buffalo's run was actually a sixth man ... Toledo has had a couple of solid bigs, actually three, who were more face-up post players than bangers ... Ohio had Wilson ... Kent had Jimmy Hall, DeLarosa, Pippen, now Payton and each of those guys is different. Eastern had that real good post guy but not much around him ...
I guess the key is to find a guy you can put the right pieces with to be successful. Bandaogo and Freeman did not gel together because, IMO, both were (1) young and (2) both post players. I'm guessing Freeman would much easier be a 4-man now than earlier in his career.
Whatever, ..... the portal should make it easier for a coach with Groce's success to find what the Zips need.
Sorry ... What I didn't mention is most of those guys (Wilson, Shumate and one other at Toledo, Hall, DeLarosa, Payton) were/are all transfers. So those guys are out there if you can find one that fits what you want. BG, Toledo, WMU, EMU just to name four all have transfer bigs this season.
Game 18- PCCC
in Akron Zips Basketball
Posted
After this game ... since Akron does not have to play at BG ... I think there is a real chance the Zips can go undefeated in the MAC.