Let'sGoZips94

It's not strictly for bashing the rest of the league, but there doesn't need to be a concerted effort to constantly defend Kent like there has been on this board for the past 2-3 months; propping them up when they don't deserve it, defending their mediocre success, etc. I'm well aware of their undeserved NIT run this year and the historical differences between them and CMU. However, the MAC last year was the same exact rating as the MAC this year despite Akron & Miami OH being much much better. The last two years, CMU is 19-17 in the MAC. Kent is also 19-17 in the MAC. Kent had an opportunity at a NIT run this year because of LOSSES to UC Irvine, Auburn, and Bama. Otherwise, they've ultimately had the same success these last two seasons. CMU fired their coach. Kent extended theirs and doubled his salary (none of this even touches on the character problems that have been a constant at Kent under Sendy, or that Sendy allegedly doesn't even want to be at Kent but is too crappy to get hired by Fordham). That's funny, you're allowed to laugh, and it doesn't need explained away. Kent being an utter failure is the only positive in the existence of Kent; otherwise, they do nothing but harm the University of Akron by siphoning enrollment and funding in an already lesser-populated area.

T-shirt cannon.

Oh my gosh it's an AKRON forum. If I want to make fun of Kent for loving & rewarding mediocre success, I'm going to make fun of Kent for loving & rewarding mediocre success. What is with the defensiveness when it comes to Kent on this forum recently?

They had a better record in the MAC that year than Kent did this year - and Kent doubled Pinky's salary. 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Thad Matta, Chris Holtmann, and the Saint Louis HC all tweeted congratulatory videos to Groce. Butler, DePaul, and Saint Louis would all look great on the schedule. Just saying...

Outside of the challenging games we all want to see, I'd limit my weaker portion of the schedule to the lesser teams in a select few conferences: A10, MW, MVC, etc.

Sounds like he's an impressive young man in general. Wishing him luck in all he does.

I'm not letting them pig out, but saving $20-30 on some hot dogs, a popcorn, and some pretzels is a very nice offer. I'd definitely be more willing to bring my family to games knowing there won't be an additional cost to the $50+ spent on tickets.

Sumlin & DeAndre Jones are back (whoever the hell Jones is). Sumlin is an absolute basket case that was often seen yelling at his teammates.

The last difference maker they had only committed to Kent because his girlfriend went there. They have not been able to naturally attract talent.

Hopefully the guards - Perkins, Henderson, Young, Mahaffey - decide to return. Maintaining stability in the backcourt is key.

That must've been hard to "walk on".

Outside of Sullinger & VCD, they were not very good. Gillespie had his moments outside of punching teammates in the face, and Medley showed flashes, but they are legitimately graduating the two biggest threats. The more guys that return, the less scholarships they have to actually improve. Also, all of their individual announcements state "I'm back" which epitomizes what that program is all about - "I" & "me", not "we".

So did Guthrie let Groce know a while ago that it was predetermined he was firing the Fordham coach? I'm pretty sure this "quiet extension" occurred months ago.

Amazing. Too crappy of a person for Guthrie but Kent was happy to double his salary. 😂

Saint Mary's: We shot 36.9% from the field. Milwaukee: Milwaukee shot 57.9% from 3 and 57.8% from the field. Yale: We shot 31% from the field and 33.3% from 3. Arizona: We shot 33.3% from the field & 28% from 3; Zona shot 56.5% from the field and 48% from 3. All 4 games included poor effort from the Zips, and Freeman/Treadwell proved effort & fundamentals are way more important in the rebounding battle than size. Poor effort + poor defense + poor shot making = the results we saw. By the way, Saint Mary's had the size advantage on just about every team they faced since they had three 7 footers, and didn't go undefeated. Akron will be fine.

I brought up Drake because you said you hesitate to believe what worked in 2012 will work in the present. Drake is about the same size as what Akron will be next year, minus a couple 5'11", very skilled PGs. Arizona and St. Mary's were bad matchups - period. Arizona possibly should've been seeded higher and St. Mary's had a trio of 7 footers. Being matchup proof isn't in the cards at Akron. Size wasn't an issue vs. Miami OH or the rest of the MAC. It wasn't an issue vs the majority of our non conference opponents either.

Sounds like Josh Cribbs might be the frontrunner for their HC.

Lewis is in the Portal.

Now you're moving the goal posts. The fact remains their front court didn't feature a single person over 6'8" which is the exact same situation we're in. I've laid out in previous posts how Akron has gotten taller without increasing the height of the "tallest player" label. Schools like Akron will never be matchup proof; we will always have disadvantages against at least a few opponents. Again, the key is winning in the OOC and continuing to dominate the MAC to avoid those top 16 teams in March that do have more matchup proof rosters. Part of the "we need a big man" reaction stems from what Arizona did to us, but that's also a team that put up 93 on Duke and only lost by 7. We have numerous height disadvantages through the season and although we lost some of those games, the bigger issue was not making our shots. If you look at the Miami OH roster, it's very similar size wise to Arizona. Athleticism wise there's a bit of a difference, but it proves size isn't the end all be all counter to our roster/system.

Drake's tallest player was 6'8" this year. They went 31-4 and beat Mizzou in the first round. The key is to win in the OOC and avoid one of the top 16 teams in the country - those are teams that have more of the roster build you're referring to.

Groce's near Elite Eight team at Ohio had Ivan Baltic & Reggie Keely as their front court at 6'8". Those were the tallest contributors on the roster. The key is avoiding garbage matchups unlike this year vs Zona, and hit your shots. Win more in the OOC, get a 12 seed or better, and this system can absolutely have success in March. Quite frankly, the more I've thought about it, the more I've realized Evan Mahaffey solves what would've been our biggest hole: sizeable lockdown defensive guard. We will have one of the more athletic front courts in the country and the way Dustin Ford coaches em up, I'm not worried. We would've had a lot more matchup problems without a guy like Evan.

Yes, he committed this morning.

Sounds like the UCR coach is not necessarily taking the Fordham job.

Speaking of season tickets, for those that don't know, you can combine multiple games into an equal number of tickets for a single game. For example, you have a one season ticket and there are 3 home games in December that you either can't make or are against DIII competition, you can contact the ticket office and they'll provide you with 3 tickets you can use for other games (i.e. 4 tickets in total for Miami OH). Especially for those with families/friends that like to go to games, it's a terrific value. It's one of the main reasons I placed a deposit for season tickets this year. Our family is growing to 5 here soon, and although we can't make as many games as I'd like, I'm still working on brainwashing my kids to bleed Akron Blue & Gold. The few games we'll be able to make is more than covered by the cost of the season ticket vs. buying individual game tickets.