Zippy87

I'd start Tavari but have him play off-ball, trying to limit his turnovers. Teams are going to double and triple Freeman and the only way that changes is if you make them pay for it outside. Small sample size, but Tavari is shooting 49% from deep this season (21-43). How many open looks have guards missed over this bad stretch? I trust Tavari to hit open shots more than I do the others. The Miami game is the time to do it, too. They're bad offensively, so less concern about TJ's defense in that matchup. We know what Thornton and Scott are. We don't fully know what Tavari can be. Freeman has to be wise on defense. I LOVE his aggressiveness, but he needs to remember that sometimes it's better to trade a basket than commit a foul. His 4th foul yesterday was questionable, but his 5th was obvious and unwise. We're arguably a bad, Buffalo-level team when he's not out there. We need Ali to be aggressive, but smart. Sometimes his emotions can carry he and his teammates, other times it can kill us. Truthfully, next week will come down to the role players. I dont think Freeman, Tribble, or Ali will go down without a fight. But they can't do it alone. One thing I do want to mention - Prather wasn't a transfer, and I think he's come on nicely. He won't be a star by any means, but I think he'll be a solid contributor moving forward.

Can anyone find Vegas odds on a MAC Tournament winner? TeamRankings.com still has us as the favorite: 32% - Akron 23% - Toledo 21% - Ohio 11% - Kent With everyone else below a 10% chance to win.

The share of blame I'd pin on coaches is primarily the roster and recruiting. No frontcourt depth and Thornton/Scott were portal misses.

My approach to next week is going to be thinking positive and enjoying what remains of Enrique Freeman as a Zip. One of my favorites to come through the program. I have a feeling next year will be rough - likely similar to what Kent did this year - so I'm hopeful we can make one more run.

Looking at Miami: - Only EMU, CMU, and UB were worse offensively this year in the MAC. - However, Miami was actually the 2nd best team defensively in the conference this year. - The Redhawks were 2nd in 3PT%, while the Zips ranked 1st in 3PT defense. - The have some size - Mirambeaux is listed as 6'8", 305. They also have Potter, a 7'1" center coming off the bench. Freeman absolutely has to stay out of foul trouble. - Miami won our only matchup, shooting 51% from the field and outscoring us 26-12 in the paint.

Everyone shares a little blame. The coach isn't above it.

Miami it is.

The way I look at it - if you don't beat Miami in R1, you were never going to make a run anyhow.

They definitely could. I'm more worried about Ohio than Toledo. Toledo always chokes in Cleveland.

Including a heavy favorite in a ML parlay is always terrible value.

Assuming Toledo holds, this is the bracket: 1-Toledo 8-Kent 4-CMU 5-BGSU 3-Ohio 6-WMU 2-Akron 7-Miami I like getting Miami in R1, but Ohio looms large in R2. They'll be coming into Cleveland on a 6 game win streak and feeling confident. Let's hope almost a full week off will allow our guys to reset and come in focused and ready to win 3 straight.

We'll know our opponent soon. Looks like Kent, Western Michigan, or Miami.

One week to figure it out. Win 3 in Cleveland and nobody remembers these losses.

32-16 so far in the 2nd half

Holy hell that was bad defense by Sammy

Lack of frontcourt depth showing up yet again with Freeman on the bench

I know we poked fun at Payton Jr and rightfully so, but they're going to really miss him. Their frontcourt is down to Hornbeak, a junior who started the year coming off the bench in limited fashion, and Entenmann and Hunter, a sophomore and freshman respectively who have barely played this season. Freeman feasted on them twice and I have no reason to believe he wouldn't do it again.

For some reason I feel less worried about an opening round afternoon game against Kent than a morning tipoff against Western Michigan. Maybe recency bias of their not showing up against EMU?

That is awesome, hopefully Enrique is next. Also, I can't believe they still have an award named after Karl Malone 😂

Was it the black ones they sold? I remember they sold out FAST.

Curious for those who follow the NBA closely, does Freeman have a shot at being selected in Round 2 this year?

Thornton started 17 games last year for NIU, and averaged 13 points/7 assists in those games. I expected he would start and pitch in close to that. Instead, he's barely in the rotation. He's been a huge disappointment.

I didn't realize he and Dawson were both so low. Wow.

Drilling down further and looking at individual players, Freeman and Tribble have significantly improved. Hunter has improved a bit over last year. Nate Johnson is just below his 22-23 %. If you compare this year to their last full seasons, the two big disappointments when it comes to 3PT% are Ali and Dawson. Ali 21-22: 40.7 23-24: 27 4 Dawson 21-22: 36% 23-24: 30.3% Tavari is shooting 48.8% from deep on 43 attempts. It obviously won't stay that high with more volume, but I do think he can add some much-needed 3PT shooting with more minutes. Maybe they consider Tribble/Johnson together with Tavari playing more off-ball? Take advantage of his scoring but lower the possibility of turnovers?

I'd definitely rather start Tavari and live with his deficiencies than roll with Thornton or Scott. Interesting to look at our team 3PT% over the past five years: 2023-24 - 33.3% 2022-23 - 35.5% 2021-22 - 35.7% 2020-21 - 33.3% 2019-20 - 35.7%