RoyalBlu
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Posts posted by RoyalBlu
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8 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:
This team has some awful possessions at critical times.
What happened at the end ?????????
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2 hours ago, 72 Roo said:
This is one of the best analysis of our team this season. I'll add one more point to it though. My point is that Groce knows all this too and he is at his wit's end on how to bring out the full potential of this team. We are at the end of the season. A time when Groce's teams have come together and started playing their best basketball. This team is not doing that. They are probably as good as they are going to get. They know it, Groce knows it and we see it. I don't fault Groce or the staff. They are doing the best they can. It's on the players when we continuously see poor passing, questionable defense, turnovers, launching 24 footers while completely guarded, looking for their own shot, poor foul shooting and lack of growth. Next year will be better. Groce will get the players he needs, but this year is what it is..... we can beat anyone, we can lose to anyone.
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???
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16 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said:
Decisively. At Toledo. Double ugh.
16 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said:Decisively. At Toledo. Double ugh.
16 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said:Decisively. At Toledo. Double ugh.
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).
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29 minutes ago, RowdyZip said:
If Enrique takes the same big jumps forward his Jr and Sr years as he did from Fr to Soph, then he will most likely be the best player in the league. Right now, I'm not sure he gets a spot on the All-MAC first team, though he probably deserves it.
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.
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3 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:
This has been an ongoing, year-long issue. At this point in the schedule there is no reason (besides wishful thinking) to think that a light bulb will suddenly switch on and that this is going to be resolved this season.
I just hope our 4 incoming freshman guards are ready for immediate PT next year.
Zips have six games left to play and only one vs. a team ahead of them in the standings....
That said, the Zips have lost two straight to teams that were behind them in the standings. So who knows ...
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13 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:
It's the first ugly loss to an awful team but it's another substandard performance against a weak team in a down conference year.
Let's not over-react ... just a bad matchup. Should have lost to WMU at home. Zips have problems with top end MAC guards: Carry and Norman have shown that. On to the next one.
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Interestingly ... from reading other boards the consensus around the league is the who thing was good pub -- no harm no foul, although surprised there seemed to be more negative reaction to Zip fans than Kent players. Haven't been around long enough but evidently in years past Zips players/fans had a gnarly rep with some schools around the league. Guessing the Hipsher years.
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I think the goal is to actually be in the Top 3 ... as it stands now 3-4-5 are Kent-Akron-Buffalo, I believe. All three teams should be considered darkhorse favorites after Toledo and Ohio. The 4-5 game is going to eliminate one of those darkhorses, so the better landing spot appears to be third. Falling down to sixth isn't a good option, either as that is a pairing vs. No. 3.
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The last four minutes in this game will be telling for both teams, because that is when each of them have had their issues. Closing out games.
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54 minutes ago, pdt1420 said:
I’ll say this, if Akron players did that at KSU, I would not be crowing or proud of the team I root for.
I agree with whoever said blow kisses and wave as you walk of the floor. This was a total classless move.
Trying to be the voice of reason here.
Let's all agree it was classless...but warranted due to actions in the student section throughout the game. Two wrongs don't equal 1 write ... but let's not act like this wasn't instigated by Akron, ... and Kent took the bait. Classless on both sides, .....
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From what I've seen/read, it looks like the Zips and the Rockets might be 3/4. 4/3 in the MAC power rankings behind UB-OU. And even if Akron is No. 4, the Zips depth should be the ace in the hole down the stretch of the season. After that, perhaps Miami with all of their seniors is the real deal, or maybe BG comes around. As for the team down the road, they seem to have depth issues as well. Several games of theirs (Xavier, Towson, West Virginia) have been competitively close until the final 8-minutes or so when they seem to run out of gas. Backcourt is solid but baseline players whistle through the graveyard. Their two SEC transfers have been injured and out of action for the most part leaving them with a very young bench. They could get better as the season goes on ... or they could get worse.
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Unlike football, where ADs schedule for the big paydays ... in basketball, coaches do most of their own scheduling. As you can see, most of the MAC sticks to a formula of 1-2 non-D1s and 2-3 sub 300 RPI teams, a couple of payday D1 road games and/or tournaments then fill in the rest while proclaiming "nobody wants to play us."
Truth is, there are solid/quality games out there to play with the bulk of the Horizon League willing to do home-homes, A-10s willing to do mostly just road games and some Mo-Valley willing to do home and home if the MAC program is usually above 150-RPI.
Considering a teams power ranking is based a great measure on road games and overall strength of schedule I don't understand why MAC schools play more than 4 non-con home games. It's a waste.
Play a Thanksgiving tournament (2-3 games), a Christmas tournament (2-3 games) a couple of P5 paydays then 4-home games of cupcakes if you choose. Seems simple to me.
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10 minutes ago, LoyalZIP said:
Man oh man, I don’t think the threads during the late season collapse last year were even this bad. I think we all know that this group has a very, very high ceiling. It’s game 5 of a 30+ game season. I am also bummed and disappointed in the performance, and no it didn’t happen because of the last two opponents. It happened because Akron shot the ball like s***. I’d prefer what happened rather than something like a 80-55 where you don’t make any stops. This is still a top 4 talent team in the MAC.
The Zips didn’t have it tonight. Maybe they won’t have it tomorrow or in a couple weeks. But sometimes it takes time to build chemistry and that teamism that has thrived in this program. 2019-2020 teams don’t just walk through the door every year unfortunately. It will take time to build up to that level, they haven’t even figured out the go-to guy yet. That core practiced together for 2+ seasons. The pieces are there, they just need to fall into place.
Tonight absolutely sucked and was disgraceful by this program’s standards, but fortunately we have one of the best coaches in all of mid-major basketball that can make some great things happen. The ceiling is so high for this group, I’m pumped to see what they can do.
Ceiling is indeed high ... but not "SO HIGH" because this team has yet to prove it can be a good 3-point shooting team, especially in the second half. In todays game of basketball you have to make 10 3-s a game to have a shot at a power conference upset and more likely 12 ... and at least 8 3s to get a solid road win in MAC play. Shy of that, you better get a ton of steals and dominate the glass night in and night out. The defense is capable of getting the steals, the rebounding appears solid but not dominant. But it's the 3-point shooting that will likely be the difference between a 1-2 MAC team or a 3-4-5 MAC team.
My opinion.
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1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:
I made my way all of the way through it. I did not feel shorted for the $3.75 the game actually cost me.
One thing on display in this one that I actually like is this team's flexibility and ability of everyone to switch on defense.
The post-game Groce radio interview was interesting. He talked about how the culture is now finally established especially on the defensive side. He spoke of how this is the deepest team they've had and how it will allow them to keep the pressure on all game. He also talked about KJ Walton and how when he first arrived and started out in June he was not the player they expected and how he sat him down and essentially told him that of he didn't buy in he wasn't going to play and how KJ took the conversation to heart, committed to the culture and has become an integral and valuable part of the rotation.
All of this is great ... but it is a bit of false advertising against the Wheelings and the Fordhams of the world ... Groce w/his B10 contacts should have this team playing more established teams. I just don't buy this 'nobody wants to play us crap' ... if that's the case, just line up 2-3 tournaments and play solid comp there. From what I've seen this Akron team is no worse than third best in the MAC over the course of the season, and built like a tournament team when the perimeter players are clicking. And that is as it should be every year going forward. Time for Groce to put the big boy pants on and schedule for success, instead of picking pansies every year. Good players/team want to be challenged. After the way they played against OSU, and to not have another game like that for a month is not a good formula in my book.
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On 10/8/2021 at 4:01 PM, Z.I.P. said:
Kalle is very much the wild card for this team. We'll discover if the UCLA and Rutgers offers were real or make believe. I notice his weight is now listed as 225, while a year ago it was 180. 👀
Word on the street - not a personal observation - is the big African is the real deal, OFFENSIVELY, which would certainly add a new element to Groce's offense since I can't remember him ever having a solid offensive post player at OU or Akron - though he did have one at Illinois. Have also heard some ??? things about a couple of other players but won't share those until I see for myself (or hear directly from coaches).
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3 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:
I think this will prove to be spot-freaking-on. The depth on this team is pretty incredible, considering the state of the program when Groce took over. Being able to bring Wynn, Tribble, Clarke, and Bandaogo off the bench is massive - that's two guards and a winger with solid size and experience. I think Castaneda will be the key to the team's success this year. We needed someone to replace LCJ as the floor general, and from what I've seen out of Castaneda, he's the perfect guy to do it.
Biggest questions for me...
1) Does Freeman replicate last year's unbelievable individual production?
2) Do we get much-needed outside scoring from either of the incoming freshman guards - Johnson and/or Mitchell?
3) What seed will we be in the NCAA Tournament?
Freeman's numbers should tic up a bit both scoring and rebounding but not at the expense of his incredible defense ... scoring is relative. This team will score. It may not 'shoot' like some people hope, but I have no doubt this team will 'score'. ... Seed? A pumpkin seed for Cinderella.???
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17 minutes ago, NWAkron said:
There are no divisions.
Also note ... Zips only play UB once, Feb 1 at home!!!
(UB only plays Akron once and OU once)????
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7 minutes ago, Sergeant Zip said:
Interesting changes to MAC scheduling. No division games to close out the season for Akron.
Only one rivalry game (BG-Toledo) to end the regular season. No OU-Miami, No Akron-Kent, No Western-Central????
All of those were great TV games no matter what. (Especially Akron-Kent). Why screw that up???
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On 8/24/2021 at 9:09 PM, Blue & Gold said:
A non D1 game I would suspect ... vs. a 'closed' scrimmage or home exhibition.
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10 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said:
It happened in 2019-20 also according to the ABJ article so we're spanning two coaches tenures.
All these FB coaches (Arth included) are micro-managing people to the nth degree. To sound like all of this was above him and out of his control is ridiculous. Simply put, the players quite likely came to him (and Bowden) first and said their scholarship $$$ had not come through yet. What do I do? The coaches quite likely then sent the players to their neighborhood 'fixer.' ... I mean really.
This is SEC/Ohio State football 101.
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18 hours ago, NWAkron said:
You can live really well in Ravenna on that salary.
Comme ci, Comme ca.
This can be looked at two ways, considering his base salary: 1) At Kent, you get what you pay for, considering, I believe, most base salaries in the MAC are over $300,000. ...
Or, 2) RS is hitting above his weight considering his overall record, MAC overall record and vs. Akron record combined. The guy still hasn't had a losing record overall or in MAC or a losing season overall, or in the MAC even w/losing slate to Akron... and does have 1 NCAA appearance. His non-con schedules aren't overly daunting, but still competitive and (sans the last few Groce years) arguably better than the KD years.
Definitely say true Zips fans would take Groce over RS, and Ohio fans would take Boals over RS, but judging from the cries on the UB board, and Toledo board and BG board about their coaches, one would suspect RS would get strong (but not unanimous) consideration as a replacement at those stops, much less the rest of the league.
Like I said, Comme ci, comme sa.
In the end Kent is getting what it pays for, RS is overall hitting above its weight ... but he still struggles to compare/compete with the Zips.
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33 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:
I am glad we got K.J. A player that does not shoot the 3 ball. I like him already. However, it just not feel right to be poaching a player from another MAC team. How would we feel if our LCJ decided to transfer to Kent for his senior season last year? We are going to see a lot of transfers in the future so no complaints when it is our turn to lose a quality player.
Just don't think it's a good look for the league, even as pragmatically, I understand it: Kid wants to transfer but still stay close to home. The MAC is fertile ground for that.
Top NIU player jumps to Ball State due to a coaching change ... understandable; Front line Ball State player, a grad transfer, goes to Akron ... would hope there is honor among thieves so to speak and this was above board (all parties on both sides aware from start to finish) so while it doesn't look good, it goes down smooth ...
Latest has backup KSU center (in line to start) going to Bowling Green where incumbent C remains and recent post transfer has arrived??? No coaching change on either side, no grad transfer, but AAU/HS coach at BG is now the conduit. Even if it is Kent, still doesn't sit/smell right.
And remember this is the first few weeks after this rule was announced. What happens going forward after a year or two. Far Flung power conferences can do this with little bad feelings, but in a league tightly bunched like the MAC - most teams 200-miles or less from each other - I think this has the potential for some very bad outcomes both on the court and off ...
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31 minutes ago, NWAkron said:
I'm sure there will be a crowd of 10-12 there to greet him at the first game
Inside that winning percentage are NCAA Tournament stops/wins at Kent State, Arkansas and South Florida. Without looking it up, I'm guessing Heath and Groce have the most NCAA Tournament wins for a current coach in the MAC, by far. (And Groce's overall winning percentage prior to the last 2 years was not that great, either).
Look for EMU to be a solid MAC team, not reliant on being the only team in the league playing zone to steal an extra win or two. Actually, the MAC is starting to become as diverse as it was when Heath was first down the road. Back then (2002) with him, Charlie at Miami, Joplin at Toledo, McCallum at Ball, Drake at CMU, 'Spoon at Buffalo MAC was arguably the most diverse conference in the country. And that was arguably when the league was at its best for overall talent.
Just sayin.
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32 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:
The kid looks like a player. NIce shot, good handle, good vision and distributes the ball well. Also an All-Conference Academic Team as a freshman. Definitely looks like a rotation player. It's also a move that puts Tribble more at the 2.
Kid was a solid MM recruit out of high school w/pure PG skills but as numbers show at the Big East level just barely a double-digit scorer. A 'pass-first' or 'program' PG is often the terms used but should be a bit better than that in the MAC. This indicates Groce is looking to have some high-scoring wings and perhaps a big number 4-man to go with him.
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Northern Illinois- 2/17/22
in Akron Zips Basketball
Posted
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.