RoyalBlu
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Posts posted by RoyalBlu
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16 hours ago, zippy5 said:
Toledo, UB, Kent, OU, CMU, NIU, Balls 2X apiece. Only travel gripe would be @ NIU then @ Kent 4 days later. Seems fine enough
UB and Northern should be 2-game sweeps, CMU-Balls could be sweeps but splits at worst; six. potential eight wins right there. No worse than splits with UT/OU/Kent and that is 9-to-11 wins plus EMU, WMU, should get up to a potential 13 MAC wins. Sweep one of UT/OU/Kent and that's 14 wins which should earn a MAC title and No. 1 seed.
While some might lament playing Miami, BG, EMU, WMU only once, I say the opposite particularly for Miami and BG. Akron has struggled against far less talented teams than projected for both this season.
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16 hours ago, NWAkron said:
16 home games v 14 home last season (+ St B in Cleveland).
Only getting one game vs. BG could be the difference in winning the league.
Like Akron, they are loaded with Dudes.
Also, only one game with Miami ... Zips get a big break, IMO, as those are the two teams (Miami/BG) most likely to be darkhorse contenders to win the MAC.
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13 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:
Back-to-back-to-back home games on November 22, 23, and 24.
If I said this was a Keith Dambrot schedule would anybody argue.
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50 minutes ago, Hilltopper said:
Schedule should be released tomorrow. As usual, the MAC will be doing us no favors in the conference schedule.
By that I guess you mean the Zips will have to play Ohio, Toledo, Kent, Miami, BG, CMU twice.
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1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:
This is my thought as well. Last years team had a lot more hype than this years team and Groce had no problem compiling a top 50 (per KenPom) OOC schedule. In the past if we wanted games against P5 or top echelon mid-majors we could find them. Groce probably just wants a lighter OOC schedule as he wants to give the team time to gel since it's mostly a completely new roster.
You make my point. Yes, Akron's non-con SOS per last years KenPom was 45. But because the MAC was so weak, and the Zips lost to all but one of the Mid-Major teams it faced in the Top 100, that led to a No. 122 rank in KenPom a 206 SOS overall, and another low NCAA Tournament seed after winning MAC Tournament.
Understand, the mid-major Top 100 KenPom teams Akron lost to also mostly had poor overall SOS by playing in their respective conferences. Drake 113, James Madison 261, St. Bonaventure 309. If you're going to play these teams - and you should - you have to beat them to get any value out of the game.
Using last year's KenPom, here is what Toledo and Kent can expect to get from playing Houston No. 2/23 SOS; Purdue 3/2 SOS, Alabama 14/1 SOS, Auburn 4/60 SOS. Losing to those teams will greatly add to their overall SOS as well as their non-con SOS. And should either get a 'quality loss' (which I believe is 5 points or less) or heaven forbid an upset, a quality MAC season (w/no sub 200 losses) and strong MAC Tournament run should make them a viable 'bubble team.'
Yes, lots of ifs and buts .... but still the best way to get into the post season conversation. Playing Utah State, Drake, James Madison, Bradley, UNLV, St. Bonaventure is admirable in and of itself. No question. But first you need to win at least half of those games (Zips won 1) to make your overall record stand up and even have a post season prayer, short of winning the MAC Tournament.
I believe Akron has St. Mary's on the schedule this year, a No. 20 KenPom team ... but with a 103 overall SOS, even in a conference with Gonzaga. A game Akron could conceivably win ... but, will a loss really help the Zips in the metrics.
Playing a few quality power conference teams bulks up your non-con and overall SOS, even with a loss, which is more valuable as the MAC overall gets weaker and weaker after the traditional top 4 (Akron, Ohio, Toledo, Kent).
Whew!!!
Maybe now I'm done. Still pick Zips to win the MAC.
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3 hours ago, zippy5 said:
I find that very hard to believe. The first school that I could think of in a similar situation and even better as a program is JMU. They're playing at Wake 12/17. Groce doesn't want to schedule a road P5 game, and while it's disappointing as a fan, he feels it's best for this team. And he knows better than I do
Bud Wentz stated last year that Akron has attempted to schedule big time schools and they've said no.
Listen. Unlike football, basketball coaches almost exclusively make their own schedules. Now ... Akron may have tried to tie in a BB game with a P5 FB contract, which I think should be mandatory. But overall, ALL MAC BB coaches make their own schedules (shy of the MAC-SunBelt Challenge).
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23 hours ago, RoyalBlu said:
Just saying .... If Michigan, Purdue and Alabama can play Miami, Toledo and Kent, then Akron should be able to find a comparable opponent as well. Miami, Toledo, Kent won't win any of those games. But they are worth playing.
My last word on this:
Boals, Groce, Kowalczk and Senderoff are all proven successful coaches under no pressure to be fired. To a lesser extent the same can be said for Steele at Miami. At this point in their careers all of them should have solid coaching connections throughout the fraternity to get one or two quality power conference games a year if they want them.
The end.
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1 hour ago, zippy5 said:
A lot of criticism over a schedule that isn't out yet
Just saying .... If Michigan, Purdue and Alabama can play Miami, Toledo and Kent, then Akron should be able to find a comparable opponent as well. Miami, Toledo, Kent won't win any of those games. But they are worth playing.
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9 hours ago, mrelegazna said:
UT maybe, Kent maaaaybe, but surely there are schools the would be happy to play Miami and would not be happy to play us.
Also, personally, as I am not in the athletic department office on a daily basis, I am loathe to insinuate anyone involved with Akron scheduling is falling down on the job.Not saying anyone is falling down on the job. Not at all. This has been a Zips schedule pattern going back to Hipsher. The Zips best schedules, IMO, were during the BracketBuster years when the Zips faced really good BBuster competition. But even that wasn't 2 or more power conference teams.
I haven't looked, but I doubt there have been more than 3 or so years since the turn of the century Akron has played two non-con power conference teams in the same year. Yes, that means you have to play them on the road, unless you get lucky enough to catch one in a pre-season tournament.
Understand, this is not unique to Akron. But you have to first, commit to playing these games. Then you have to lock them in. To have so many power conference transfers, but no power conference games, is a question that needs to be asked.
I understand MAC teams are not going to win many of those games. But playing those games first, boost your overall strength of schedule. And second, prepare MAC teams for what they will face later in the NCAA Tournament. As MAC teams have constantly shown, losing these two games does not stop a team from overall 20 wins, or winning a MAC title.
Like I said .. not matter what schedule ... Zips favored to win the MAC.
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19 minutes ago, zippy5 said:
Our schedule isn't out yet is it?
No, not yet. Still looking for games, but not many out there from the power conference ranks.
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Based on what I've seen from around the league, the two projected MAC favorites, Akron and Ohio, look to have the weakest non-conference schedules.
Miami, Toledo, Kent and several others have at least two games vs. teams from power conferences; Miami, Michigan-Indiana; Toledo, Houston-Purdue, Kent, Alabama-Auburn.
Ohio and Akron, at least to this point - from what I've seen - don't have any power conference (B10, B12, SEC, ACC) teams on their schedules. Lots of solid mid-majors, however.
Let's not fool ourselves. If Miami, UT and Kent can get those games the mantra - 'nobody wants to play us' - is a little weak. If you can go to St. Mary's for a buy game, you can go to B10, B12, ACC, SEC for a buy game. Just saying.
Still pick Zips as MAC favorites.
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15 hours ago, zippy5 said:
Did we go somewhere?
Definitely have much more size/girth at every position. Should be able to bully a lot of teams, especially in the MAC. Next step is how Zips look against a true opponent. That's still months away. Lots of time to bring it all together.
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18 hours ago, kreed5120 said:
I'm just not as sold on Young as some of you are. That's not to say he won't be a great player. It's just my expectations for him year 1 are tempered. I think Harris has the highest ceiling potential for next season.
I was very high on Young ... until Groce brought in the PG from Cornell. IMO He had some other nice major offers where he would have played but likely started on the bench. Doubt Groce got him to come to Akron to start on the bench, no matter how sweet the NIL.
Still think Young is a stud, but likely not this year. Remember, it has taken most PGs in Groce's system at least a season before they truly started to shine.
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4 hours ago, kreed5120 said:
Yes, that's kind of when they were just establishing themselves as a premier mid-major. What separates a program like St. Mary's from a George Mason or Middle Tennessee is that St. Mary's has shown they aren't a flash in the pan.
This also brings me to the point of how much I miss BracketBusters.
Ditto on Bracketbusters ... Zips had some great BB matchups that were exciting games. A check back on the Kent-SM Bracketbuster ... it was the last (midnight) game (many Bracketbuster games were televised) of the night, and I believe (chk. me on this) Kent became nationally-ranked for the blink of an eye after the win.
Still can't remember who was on that team. Can't find a box score.
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2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:
They have played 4 times and Kent is 1-3 against them, at least according to Kent's website. Then again we all know how much Kent struggles with numbers.
The last time Saint Mary's played at Kent was 2008. That was before they established themselves as one of the premier mid-major programs in the country. It's certainly a golden opportunity to add a quality win, but I don't expect them making a return trip to Akron next year. The reality is Akron needs to elevate ourselves to Saint Mary's level before we start getting schools like St. Mary's to agree to come to Akron. We're not that far off, but we need to be more consistent and find ways of beating programs like UCLA, Utah State, and UNLV instead of choking of just hanging around and narrowing losing.
KSU wins at St. Mary's came (1) in BracketBusters vs. Patty Mills (I think that was his name) ... which says how long ago that was ... and (2) the other was in the NIT against a team with former Cav Dellavadova at PG.
Can't remember who played for Kent in those games. St. Mary's is clearly a better program now, but even then, they were second only to Gonzaga in their conference and clearly had NBA talent on their teams..
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11 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:
They snubbed PCCC of a return game? Smart school. Outside of the Zips game, go Gaels!
If I'm not mistaken, SM-Kent have played four times over the years and have split the games, 2-2. One of SM wins was at Kent. Both of Kent wins at SM.
Definitely a road win the Zips can get.
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55 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:
That's not Professional Zip.
Ohio - based on what we know - should be the favorites going into the season. They returned the most from last year's squad, which was a second half collapse away from the MAC Championship game.
Kent lost everything. Who knows what type of talent they swindled into transferring to that dump heap, but they're outlook isn't nearly as optimistic.
Toledo lost everything as well, and arguably backfilled with less than even Kent did. Kowalchoke might not even have a chance to choke in March.
Miami - largely uninspiring offseason for them.
Akron arguably has the most to replace between the Unanimous MAC POTY (Freeman), Ali Ali, and Hunter. However, I am quite a bit more confident in the guys they brought in via the Portal than any other team in the MAC. Sharron Young has a legit shot at MAC Freshman of the Year. Chemistry and execution are the two biggest question marks, obviously, but the pieces to the puzzle make sense. If it all works out how we hope, this could be one of the most talented Zips teams we've ever seen.
So, EgregiouslyNegativeNancy, let's not be ripping on fellow Zips fans for their optimism. There are grounds for said optimism.
Thanks for clarifying my 'word salad.'
Pretty much what I was trying to say. Based on The Portal, the Zips are head and shoulders above the rest of the MAC. If this talent translates on the court, which is the clear objective, then the sky is the limit. Other MAC teams don't have this level of 'talent.'
However, if whatever talent they have comes with better chemistry, then the playing field is leveled. That's all I'm saying.
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6 hours ago, egregiousbob said:
This claim is based on what? It's silly to believe other schools - particularly Kent, Ohio, Toledo and Miami - aren't improving their talent levels on par with Akron. This sounds like a Baghdad Bob post...or Professional Zip.
This is based on 'quality' of portal recruits, almost all of which Akron had no real shot at coming out of high school, and maybe just one or two shy of having what is rumored to be the best NIL package in the league.
That said, I distinctly remember the Marshall years when The Herd clearly had the best roster of talent overall in the league, but just could never put it all together. So you're right, one or more of Kent, Ohio, Toledo and Miami may well have enough talent to usurp Akron on the court. But I still say, based on ROSTER talent, the Zips are the Class of the MAC.
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1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:
At the very least we need to wait until January. That way there is a 12-15 game sample size for each team.
All of this is true, but ...
You can click on any column and just scratch your head. Like 'talent.' Clearly Zips are head and shoulders above the rest of the league. But even a rabid Akron fan has to admit Central Michigan ranking a 0 for talent, and Kent ranking -0 is a bit much.
Or the transfer column: Eastern, Ball State, Kent and Northern getting more production out their transfers than Akron??? So what does that say about Akron's 'talent' ranking, which is clearly anchored by the incoming transfers. I could go on.
Just weird.
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On 6/28/2024 at 1:23 PM, kreed5120 said:
If we got UNLV to come to the JAR, that would be a huge get.
Know what I hate about analytics: When they are so clearly and obviously WRONG!
https://barttorvik.com/trankpre.php?conlimit=MAC&state=All&year=2024&sort
Can't get link to open here, but copy it and try on your browser ... really wonder what these people use for logic. -
On 5/14/2024 at 3:12 PM, tpsjugglerdude said:
The D1 docket is live. It gets updated with schedule information for each team as it becomes available. So far, nothing for Akron listed.
https://d1docket.blogspot.com/p/2024-25-dockets-group-of-five.html
Still see nothing for Akron ... Toledo has Purdue and Houston ... Kent has Alabama ...
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8 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:
Hard to pass up a chance to be a Paladin (what the hell is a paldain?). Maybe they offered his uncle a bench job.
According to Wikipedia, The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century.
Paladin ... "Have Gun, will Travel"
Fits him well.
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15 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:
Thanks. (Out of Likes.)
With the departure of Baker I hope Onkonkwo is ready to play at least 30 minutes/game.
PG: Wilson........ Tavari/Young
WG: Gray......... Scott
WG: Johnson... Prather
WP: Harris........ MMK
P: Okonkwo... Lyles
Redshirt (or did we just learn our lesson w/ Baker?): Mahaffey
It's not uncommon for redshirt freshmen (like Baker) who hit the portal to spend a year at a JUCO. They get 30-35 games of experience, quite likely graduate, then have three years of D1 ahead of them. Frankly, I don't understand why mid-majors in particular don't recruit this gold mine more actively.
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3 hours ago, blueandgold said:
If I was a betting man, which I'm not, I would say it would be Tavari leaving.
Surprise (at least to me) Baker ... exit stage left???
2024 Post Mortem and Looking Ahead to 2025.
in Akron Zips Basketball
Posted
I have no access to other sites yet (most have not posted) but it will be interesting to see - among Akron, Ohio, Toledo, Kent and maybe Miami (if you think they will be pretty good) - which of those teams play all four of EMU, WMU, UB, NIU twice. That's 8 pretty sure wins, at least 7 if you want to drop an upset in there.
My guess is Toledo will be gifted with that foursome and perhaps Central, which will vault the Chippewas back into the Top 4 as they were last season.