Zippy87

Nate was fantastic in his K State debut https://x.com/lockedonKState/status/1985908752688861571?t=n6yosIV1zuU3LUMxPD1-_w&s=19

Interesting...I wonder if there just weren't many minutes there for him with Tavari, Sharron, Shammah, and Bowen all playing ahead of him. 3 of the 4 will be gone next year, though.

I certainly hope they analyze things deeper than MAC POY.

Some quick thoughts: - Lyles was our best and most important player tonight, and may be the entire season. We were a different team when he was on/off the floor. - I am surprised Barre only played 2 minutes against YSU and didn't play tonight. I expected him to be an important contributor behind Lyles. I hope he just needs more time to feel comfortable, because I think we will need him against teams with size. - Young is the heart of this team. He plays with such intensity...I absolutely love it. If he stays here his entire career, I think he's a MAC POY candidate by the time he's a senior. - Eric Mahaffey looked tentative in the first half and seemed to relax in the 2nd. You can tell the athleticism is off the charts. - Evan Mahaffey is an elite defender and excellent rebounder. Not much offensive game, though. At least I didn't see much tonight. - MMK played really well. He's undersized as a big, but makes up for it with his motor. - I think Stankovic becomes an important part of this offense by conference play.

Just having a discussion on a discussion forum. Never said Big Dog didn't deserve it.

It looks like Kaleb Thornton

Interesting choice. I wonder what made them go with Isaiah Johnson over Zeke Marshall or LCJ.

Isaiah Johnson Night on 2/14 - assuming we are putting his number up?

It will be interesting to watch this team grow over the course of the year and see the rotations develop. You're replacing about 37 PPG from last year's rotation (Nate, Gray, Seth, Okonkwo) that is going to have to come from some internal growth from returning players and/or the combo of the Mahaffeys, Head, Stankovic, and Barre. Eric Mahaffey was apparently going to start as a true freshman last year, so that certainly suggests Groce viewing him very highly. I think Evan probably gives you modest offensive production along with elite defense. I know very little of Cody, but @clarkwgriswold mentioned the coaches really like him. He may be an important scorer off the bench. I've heard enough good things about Barre to believe he can be an energy big who chips in a few points around the rim. Stankovic is kind of the wild card to me. His size and skill suggests he could be an offensive mismatch against many teams. I'm excited to see it all unfold. The journey of the season is the most enjoyable part of being a fan, seeing where we start vs where we finish.

I was telling my son on the way home from the Tipoff event how lucky we have been as Zips fans. Most MAC schools would love to have had just one of KD or Groce, and we have been fortunate to have had both. Probably two of best coaches in MAC history.

Damn, Akron better not lose this. I think a lot of people cared less once they were declared ineligible for the MAC Championship and any postseason play. I know I did. The MAC scheduling the Kent game on a Tuesday in November with a 7:30 PM kickoff won't help, either.

Good call. Definitely could be a factor.

Barre only played 2 minutes despite Lyles having 4 fouls?

Stats here: https://ysusports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary;team=home Thanks, Clark, for updates!

Not great.

Thanks for the updates, @clarkwgriswold. How does Stankovic look?

LSU was estimated to have spent the 3rd most NIL money in 2024 among all D1 football teams. In no way are they second level. As for Kelly, you should know that at places like LSU, a winning record isn't good enough. And for a coach who was making $10 M a year, it shouldn't be. You are paid to be a national title contender, and his LSU teams never were. If that makes me or anyone else willing to point that out a "loud a-hole", so be it. P.S. History will not view Kelly kindly regardless of what he wins or doesn't win. He will be remembered for valuing practice footage over the life of Declan Sullivan.

Interesting that Head isn't dressed considering Groce said everyone was healthy last night.

Rankings and where a player are selected in a draft go a long way toward determining their value. But that wasn't really the point of my post. You said LSU couldn't keep up like they could 10 years ago from a spending standpoint, and that's just not true. Brian Kelly is just an overrated coach who couldn't take advantage of the resources he had.

Regardless, it's clear that LSU has no issue paying for and locking in talented players.

They had the top-ranked transfer portal class coming into 2025 along with no lower than a top-12 recruiting class each of the last three seasons: 2024 (7th), 2023 (5th), 2022 (12th) The problem isn't getting talent or keeping up with spending, it was a coach who has never been able to win at the levels of the truly elite in CFB. To have that kind of talent and not even get in to an expanded playoff is frankly embarrassing.

LSU is a program that should be a consistent national championship contender and Brian Kelly failed to even qualify for the College Football Playoff at LSU. The true short-sighted move was giving a 10 year, $95 M contract to a head coach who has never won a Natty and has questionable character.

I consider "should have won" games that they were in a position to win, but didn't because of a missed opportunity. The UAB loss would be one of them. But if we are counting double-digit losses to Miami and Ball State as "should have won" games, we have to consider a 6-point win over CMU and an 8-point win over Buffalo could have been losses, too. You are what your record says you are.