Let'sGoZips94

No longer April Fool's Day. Don't want people who didn't see this on APD to think it's real, thus jinxing the program potentially. If this actually happens, you may take a community poll to vote me off the island (AKA ban me from ZipsNation).

Yep. 😂 Both statements can be true though. He can develop into a good player AND not be a system fit for us. Would Big Dog be a system fit for Groce? Nope. Was he an All-MAC player under Dambrot's system? Yes.

Enrique Freeman would like to have a word with you.

I'm still jaded by Maishe.

How'd the last Iowa transfer work out?

Not impossible. We lost a depth guy that largely rode the bench during our 8 game winning streak that saved the season, and we lost a guy that led the team in turnovers by almost 1 whole turnover more per game (2.7 turnovers per game for Ali vs 1.9 per game for Freeman). Ali was the leading scorer by .3 pts, as all 3 of Ali, X, and Freeman averaged north of 13 ppg. It's not like we lost LCJ, which was ~20+ ppg. 13-14 ppg is the average production from your 2nd or 3rd guy. His shooting percentages (46%, 40%) are impressive on paper, but those percentages should have led to a higher PPG total if he was truly a #1 player. We're not better off nor are we worse off until we see how the 3 open schollies are used. Even then, the true answer to this equation won't be finalized until March 2023. Go Zips.

What's left... GUARDS Castaneda Tribble Dawson Clarke Mitchell N. Johnson T. Johnson Prather Jr. FOWARDS Freeman Wynn I expect one 6'9"/6'10" PF, one 6'6"+ scoring Forward, and one experienced Guard to transfer in. I think Tavari and/or Prather Jr. Redshirts. It appears Groce may have an opportunity to recreate his OU squads, which were guard-heavy and anybody on the floor could score almost at all. Size wasn't the reason we lost to UCLA. Ali didn't show up and shot-making struggled. We have a massive opportunity to fix that issue. I'm excited.

And having solidified playing time to develop your game that may lead to a pro career overseas at the very least is much more lucrative than any mid Major NIL deal.

3(?) Scholarships are now open to bring in guys that can immediately fix the offensive struggles. I find that quite exciting.

Not a system fit. When you fall out of the regular rotation and the team proceeds to go on an incredible 8 game winning streak including a MAC Title, the writing is on the wall that maybe this system isn't right. He was not a key defender or rebounder, and a liability on offense. This team needs offense. Positive outlook regarding the Transfer Portal: any incoming transfers won't transfer again. I think what you're going to see is Year One become a trial period. For the team, is this guy truly a fit schematically, mentally, emotionally, etc.? For the player, is the program a fit, can I transfer up, etc.? We'll see 2-3 years of an incoming player post-transfer instead of 4, but that's no different than a JUCO or a non-redshirt freshman who sees little PT his freshman year. More talent is out there than ever before and that talent will have more of an immediate impact than ever before with at least one year of collegiate development under their belt. We'll see more disappointing regular seasons as teams take time to develop the chemistry, but better end of season runs like what we saw this year with the Zips. Just my outlook on the whole situation.

Re: Ali Ali How often did the ball movement die in Ali's hands? He went iso and more often than not it resulted in a turnover or poor shot. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a mutual departure. I'd imagine Groce was none too happy with Ali's decision to drive instead of calling a timeout against UCLA. And again, his attitude was KSUcks-yellow-pee poor during that 3 game losing streak.

Per BobcatAttack, one of their fans sat next to Sears' mom during a game. She expressed "concern" over the lack of NIL opportunities for Mark at OU.

The 1/3 remaining was probably the player that stepped up the most down the stretch. He can stay.

Wow. Did not see that coming. His attitude when things got tough was a turn off, and his production wasn't consistent. He's replaceable, but this does hurt. He seemed to be all in on ZFence.

GT: "$#@!. Akron is going to be a notable football program. That means people will actually pay attention to my writing, so maybe I should give a rat's ass about covering Akron."

I don't know if our DC is the person to ask that regarding JoeMo's O. He didn't exactly stop JoeMo at OSU West.

STANDINGS AFTER ELITE EIGHT Robert G. 214 John E. 204 Jeff H. 186 Eric M. 177 Luke T. 175 Mike Spi. 173 David M. 153 Kyle M. 163 Brian G. 162 Nick K. 161 Mike Sw. 160 John C. 159 Rob C. 154 Mark Spa. 148 Andy V. 131 SKY'S THE LIMIT CLUB Top 3 Potential Points John E. 256 Robert G. 232 Luke T. 227 SHAME CLUB Those who had UCLA in the Elite Eight & Beyond John C. (Final Four) David M. (Elite Eight) Mark Spa. (Final Four) (Dis)Honorable Mention: @NWAkron (National Champion - allegedly & probably) BUSTED BRACKET CLUB Champion Pick Eliminated Everyone except John E. & Luke T. THE SCENARIOS The members of the Sky's the Limit Club are the only 3 people with points left to be earned. Here are the scenarios (if my math is correct)... If Duke and Villanova lose in the Final Four, the above standings will be the final standings. Luke T. can climb all the way up to 2nd Place with a Coach K National Championship Title & a Villanova Final Four loss. 3rd place is also a possibility with simply a Duke win in the Final Four John E. needs a Nova National Championship Title OR Nova Final Four win & Duke Final Four loss to win the whole thing Robert G. needs a Nova Final Four loss OR a Duke National Championship Title to win the whole thing Good luck to Luke T., John E., and Robert G. in the Final Four & National Championship. To the rest of us... WE

"We look like a Division I football team now, and we act like a Division I football team now." The truth hurts a bit sometimes.

The Sac State board says they are foregoing their eligibility to play professionally. I take that as "If I don't make it to the NBA, I will have made enough connections throughout the process to play overseas." Not sure why those two would return to the Titanic. What was once a great ship hired an iceberg as their head coach.

I apologize for missing a couple of updates. I'll make a standings update post later today heading into the Final Four this weekend.

Not surprised. I wish him luck!

I'd like to see KSUcks get more "best efforts" from their opponents. Luckiest team this season.

Interesting article liked by Charles Guthrie on LinkedIn. This is smart business. I'm surprised to see the MAC at the forefront of this. The revenue should only grow as more and more states legalize sports betting. Sports betting and media deals - that's where the money is in sports. Whatever we do to capitalize on that should greatly improve our financial situation. Look at Pat McAfee's FanDuel deal if you need an example of the kind of money being thrown around in the sports betting world.

St. Peter's is us, but in the Elite 8. In your face defense (our D is better), methodical offense, and solid free throw shooting. Groce has the winning formula. Time to execute.