Let'sGoZips94

Part of his recruitment was LCJ. I don't see a guy of similar stature leaving when he has seen his build thrive under Groce.

Courtesy of our favorite Illinois import, @Illini Zip. Personally, I think one or both of Kobe Mitchell and Garvin Clarke are transfer candidates. Prather, Tavari, Nate, Dawson, and Tribble are a formidable backcourt. I would expect Groce to find another veteran PG to bring in via the Portal, should a spot open up. As it currently stands, this is our front court (*AS LONG AS FREEMAN RETURNS*)... Enrique Freeman - 6'7" SR (one of the best Forwards in the country) Sammy Hunter - 6'9" JR (stretch 4) Amani Lyles - 6'7" SO (raw but showed promise; plays bigger than 6'7") Prince Mosengo - 6'8" RFR (I think a stretch-style forward?) Darrion Baker - 6'7" FR (McDonalds All American nominee; from the highlights, can do a little bit of everything) Marvin Musiime-Kamali - 6'6" (I think a stretch-style forward?) Our front court is quite deep and versatile looking at the above. I wouldn't put it past Sammy to develop into a better complimentary piece to Freeman in the post (stronger, better rebounder, etc.). Same with Amani Lyles. I'm not entirely sure a 7 footer is needed. I watch what Groce and his staff have done with Freeman's development, and it's fascinating. They've taken an undersized big, and equipped him with an arsenal of quick moves in the paint to get around bigs. It's a total mismatch against 99% of the bigs we face. The same thing can be done with the rest of the front court. This team was missing shooters more so than a big man IMO. I also look at Groce's OU teams, and I think the tallest player was 6'9". The difference: they had Cooper, Kellogg, Keely, etc. - legitimate threats from the perimeter and basically anywhere on the floor. We needed that. Hankerson, being advertised as a 3 & D guy, often lacked the 3 part. Dawson never played because of the injury. Tribble just is what he is offensively (he's an awesome Zip, and one of the heartbeats of the squad). The rest of our guards were liabilities this year. If we had one more shooter, we win last Friday, we win last night, and we'd be playing tonight. Interested to see if we accept an invite to a postseason tournament to get the young nucleus on this team some more experience, and X some more tape for the pros (overseas; pro tip, X, file your taxes correctly). It is only appropriate to finish this post with a prayer. Let us pray... Dear Basketball Gods, May the winds blow in the direction of Freeman staying and playing one more year in the Akron Blue & Gold. May the offseason bring us a cold-blooded shooter, and may this team be blessed with health and strength development. And to avoid sounding greedy, I will not ask for Tribble to develop a jump shot. Amen.

Not surprising move by Buffalo. Also, go Toledo.

Debatable. I know the Zips are going to play hard, play D, and never give up. As long as the talent gap isn't too big, the system wins most nights. We'll see what this offseason brings, but in Groce I trust.

See my post above. Groce's criticism will get louder next year if the pieces aren't there. This year was a bit of a wash for me with the departures and Dawson injury.

What are the odds LeBron steps in quietly and makes this go away?

I don't think he's immune from criticism. I agree he needs to recruit better. However, he had 2 key pieces from last year's team suddenly leave, and our 3rd best player tore his Achilles prior to the season. Hard to retool on the fly like that. Now, the class with Nate Johnson and Kobe Mitchell looks quite underwhelming at the moment. That's a gap, but as the team was constructed to finish last year, Johnson and Mitchell weren't expected to have as big of roles as they did this year - at least not by need. I love this team. Heck, all of JG's teams are lovable. They're phenomenal to root for. They represent Akron as well as anyone ever has, if not better. They do need more talent, and I expect Groce and company to find that talent. I think your criticisms are fair, but there are also some uncontrollable circumstances that led to the open door for those criticisms.

Groce didn't have the horses this year. Missing a piece of 2. Bummer.

This needs to be back within 10 by the 8 minute mark, or it's ovaaaa... X needs to get his head out of his butt, Hankerson needs to make crisper passes, etc. It's a guard game and our guards are crapping the bed.

Hankerson has represented Akron well character wise, but I never want to see another transfer from a garbage MAC school again. They spend 4 years learning poor habits with minimal big game experience.

Again, Can't State has a half that goes their way, yet they're only up 4. The more disciplined, mentally strong team will win and that's Akron.

Don't give them any ideas; they're probably not above that.

Pathetic effort so far, especially defensively. 34 points with 6 minutes to go.

Need to start matching physicality. Then again, that would probably be a foul on us.

Jacobs just walked by the cheerleaders, in front of our bench, and behind Groce on his way to his bench. Groce chased Jacobs down, yelling. He's fired up. Can't State puts the ass in classless.

Sincere just put his hood up, walked off the court, and did a shushing motion to the nearest camera for 1/4 length of the court and into the tunnel. There is not a more unlikeable player in PCCC's history than him. End his career tonight, Zips.

RayJ Dennis is DJ Cooper reincarnated, but without the bra.

Don't worry, Wagon Wheel. We'll bring you home soon from that terrible, ugly place you've been kept...

X is a lefty but averages 20 ppg with his right hand. Assassin.

Probably at Akron. Dambrot would've lost the 1st round matchup, then 2013 would've seen Groce's OU squad win the MAC and go to the Elite 8 since he would've added Caris LeVert to the 2012 squad that returned. Groce would've left, gone to a big school, not live up to expectations because he would've been asking AAU players to play actual basketball, Dambrot would've had the same postseason success at Akron, left for Duquesne, and Groce would come here. Haha Side note, never forget how bad of a coach Jim Christian is for failing with Groce's OU squad.

Yes. The game went to OT. 1-2 more baskets and we win that game in regulation. Despite Herculean efforts from look-at-me-camera-finders Payton and Carry, had X made 1-2 more shots, that game is won in regulation.

This might be one of the prime time periods in the rivalry. 6 matchups in 2 years, including a MAC Final and now Semi-Final. Both teams are really good and neither is vastly superior or inferior. Bad blood between the players with last year's diss track, Carry's antics, them rushing our student section, etc. I don't know how many rivalries in the country have two schools that are largely competitive - at least in a singular sport - year after year, and have the number of rivalry occurrences that we do.

Heading to Cleveland after work. Going to catch the 2nd half of the AAU game between UT & OU which will seemingly feature 0 defense. We'll know when we're getting close to Zips game time, as a stench will start to waft from Lightning Chicken hippies...

One of their few brain cells fired on all cylinders for a moment...

EVAN! LET'S GO! 101! Hey Ravenna Junior College, to quote Deion... WE COMIN'