Zippy87

Kent State kicks off their MAC schedule with a home loss to Ball State.

Now that Harris is done for the season, the path toward repeating as champion has become harder. Most years, I wouldn't even consider it possible, but the MAC looks bad this season. In my opinion, we need the following: 1) Slow the pace of the offense I think they can and should run, but I also think there's too many times we settle for shots too early in the shot clock and, because of our lack of offensive rebounding, leads to some brutal dry spells. Sharron Young did a wonderful job in the 2nd half yesterday pushing at a faster pace but creating better shots for himself and his teammates. 2) Gradually Increase Young's Minutes He has the highest ceiling of any player on the roster, is an excellent shooter and scorer, and his basketball IQ is far beyond a typical freshman. I know defense will bring growing pains, but I can live with it given everything else he does. We should be playing through he and Tavari often. 3) Cut Seth Wilson's Minutes I had high hopes for him, but I'm just not sure what he adds. Take away the Ohio Wesleyan and SUNY Brockport games and he's scored 16 points in 9 games, shooting 21% (6-29) from the field. Over his last 5 games, he's 1-13 (all 3-point attempts). I know Groce has to consider he's a senior, but I'd rather continue to see what MMK can do. He doesn't score, but he's at least shown the ability to add rebounding, which we obviously need much more of.

This is a bit of an oversimplification, no? Do players care about crowd size? Atmosphere? Not playing in a high school-quality gym? Of course NIL matters and should be the priority, but they'll never consistently compete with major programs without investing beyond that, too.

Really good interview with Wentz. His contributions to the Zips program are incredible. Being realistic, though, we won't compete with the major programs consistently until we build a new arena or significantly renovate the current one.

Is this legit?

I've followed the Pacers a bit more this year for obvious reasons. They had a few guys who were questionable for the Miami game but ended up playing. My guess is they took Enrique on the trip as insurance in case one or more couldn't play.

This is not good to hear. I don't think we can win the MAC without Harris.

That was ugly. BG is not a very good team. Sharron Young stepped up in a big way and was the difference down the stretch. Such a valuable playmaker and advanced basketball IQ for a true freshman. He's going to need to be a big part of what we do if we are going to have a shot at winning the MAC.

I wouldn't look at it as changing the offense but instead playing at a bit of a slower pace. We take so many bad shots early in the clock. You can absolutely change that at any time.

SHARRON. YOUNG.

I believe it, I don't think they'll change. And part of that is because, as you said, it may be the only way we can win with almost no size. The roster construction really limits how we can be successful.

At some point JG has to acknowledge that the way he wants to play doesn't vibe with the talent on this team. Coming into tonight we were 5th nationally in 3-point attempts but 136th in 3-point percentage. We aren't an especially good 3-point shooting team. I'm not sure what the answer is, though. Okonkwo isn't skilled offensively and Lyles is allergic to the paint, so you can't play inside-out like in the past. If Harris can come back (no idea?) I thibk he definitely helps. But right now, we just aren't very good and I don't see it getting much better.

Glad he finally made a shot. 1-5 tonight and 1-13 in his last 4.5 games (all 3 point attempts)

There isn't a contested three early in the shot clock that we don't love.

What has Seth Wilson done to be playing minutes so early?

To be fair, the officials seemed to be the most confused people in the arena at the time.

I think the record is more reflective of the talent this team has than it does strength of schedule.

Have we ever scored a bucket in a situation like that?

This definitely could be, but it also makes me curious on why Baker left. I assumed it was because he wasn't going to play here, but if he was any good at all, he would've played on this team. Maybe he wasn't/isn't? Or maybe there were fit issues? I don't know, obviously. It's something severely lacking on this team, though. Hopefully Brisco can play.

I thought Okonkwo would have a bigger impact, but I absolutely worried about the frontcourt beyond him. That's not Lyles' strength and never has been and Harris plays like a wing. I figured Baker would fill that role and when he transferred out, was pretty stunned they didn't bring anyone else in. You never know who was/wasn't available, but I would've taken a shot on another big as opposed to Seth Wilson, who I think has a skill set that was a bit redundant on this roster.

We may just not be very good. We've struggled some years to win against better opponents, but with the exception of Arkansas State, we don't even look like we belong with most of them so far this year. Frustrating team to watch.

Why did Harris miss today?

Has Senderoff ever had control of his team? But, then again, he did seem to start it all.