Let'sGoZips94

* Googles directions to Stow Meijer *

Interesting that a major national conversation right now is how bad the officiating is this tournament. We were getting screwed before it was cool.

Quincy is where he cut his teeth as a coach. Not "life coming at him hard" just him going back to his roots. Good for him.

Is it safe to assume Trimble was no longer going to be part of this program after this year anyways, considering we pre-filled his scholarship?

OU narrowly escaped #14 seed Rice yesterday - 65-64. They take on Abilene Christian tomorrow. Riveting stuff.

Wait, are we full, even with Trimble's departure?

Can never have enough athletic/talented 6'5"-6'8" guys. So many mismatches are created in that height range. There was the inevitable 1. Scholarship is now open. I actually forgot that he was still on the team and we would have 1 scholarship available.

What are the advantages/disadvantages? I like the idea of better weather for the College Cup, but do you risk losing momentum with the 3 month hiatus?

It surprised me, too. It could be argued this team actually underachieved with how they were playing at the end. Now, the team at the end wasn't the team we had for 75% of the season, but still. 2019-20 is still the best, most complete team we've ever had in my opinion. 2022-23 & 2023-24 have a huge chance to supplant them, though (although '19-'20 will always hold that special place in my heart). If, IF, these guards are as advertised and can hit the ground running, we may have our solution(s).

Can't State still sucks! Couple more thoughts pertinent to the thread... I've narrowed my wish list down to the 3 & D guy as previously mentioned by someone in this thread. We need a Banks type of player to complete this roster, assuming Kalle and the redshirt/incoming guards are able to contribute on both ends of the floor. Banks shot 41% from 3 and played some of the best defense we've ever seen. I've seen some comments on this board that this team overachieved. I don't know if that's exactly the case. The 2019-20 team and the 2021-22 team are VERY similar when looking at depth/talent/statistics, and until a team achieves what that 2019-20 team did (tied school record 24 regular season wins), they will be the benchmark for comparisons. Castaneda had become very similar to Cheese by season's end, providing a deep/mid-range/dribble-drive scoring threat. Riak was more developed than Aziz, but similar game style. Freeman & X almost cancel each other out; similar scoring/rebound numbers, but X provided a deep shooting threat (although Freeman is borderline unstoppable down low). We had Ali & Tribble back then although they're much improved now. Dawson is similar to Banks - maybe slight edge to Banks on D, Dawson on O? Nobody on this team was LCJ, as LCJ was truly that special; his quickness, scoring ability from anywhere on the floor (one of the best at-the-the-rim finishing guards we've ever had), and leadership are unrivaled. That 2019-20 team wasn't deep, but they had a slight edge in scoring ability. PTS REB AST STL BLK TO FG% FT% 3P% 76.0 38.3 13.1 5.2 3.0 12.9 44.0 77.0 35.7 71.2 35.0 11.9 5.8 3.3 11.5 46.2 68.7 35.7 Statistically, these teams borderline mirror each other. The biggest differences are PPG and FT%. The difference in PPG is essentially LCJ who averaged 19 ppg. The FT% was LCJ (87%), Cheese (82%), and X (91%). I think our conglomerate of guards next year should be able to somewhat replicate what LCJ was able to do. Freeman/Aziz/Kalle take care of the front court like X and Riak did (especially if Freeman develops a mid range jump shot). Dawson is similar to Banks, but the issue is what's behind Dawson as that 3 & D guy. Tribble and Wynn can't shoot. I wonder if this is why Trimble was held onto for so long. He never committed to the defensive side of the ball, but was supposed to be a better scoring threat than he was. At the detriment of our regular season record, Groce gave him every opportunity to be a positive on at least one side of the floor; never materialized, and that's what led to our close losses. That was our hole on this team. I thought this team needed this stretch 4 or that take-over-the-game guard. After looking at these numbers, comparing rosters with the 19-20 team, and thinking about our system, I'll be writing Santa for a 3 & D guy. 6'5"-6'6" or so that can shoot and play lockdown defense. I think a stretch 4 would lack the quickness that a 3 & D guy typically possesses, but that is my second choice. Is Prather this guy? Does someone transfer out for us to bring in this guy? Not sure. But this is my final analysis until actual moves are made (if any). If no moves are made, I hope the incoming freshman and redshirt guys saw the secret ingredient to our success is 100% commitment on the defensive side of the ball. This team is poised to be the most decorated & accomplished in program history; everyone needs to be on board. Go Zips!

So this would be year round soccer essentially with a spring championship?

I would like to echo all of the positive sentiments regarding @Illini Zip and add the following. I know Groce is what brought you to the board, and that speaks wonders to Groce's character and system. But you've really embraced Akron as a whole, and it's incredible to see. There's another P5 fan on the board that participates in Akron football discussions, but that P5 school is still his #1 and his participation isn't consistent. You're involved in nearly every single basketball thread, the construction of the program, scholarship chart, etc. I don't think you've made a negative contribution to the board. It's a pleasure to have you as part of ZipsNation - both the board and as a fan. By the way, after last night, I feel reaffirmed that next year's team will be something special.

What did they say?

We'd be in the Sweet 16 with 2 more made shots on Thursday.

I think I might pass on watching the rest of this game. It's a bit of salt in the ole wound...

So far I'm not impressed. I believe the announcers just gave a shout-out to our defense on Thursday, basically stating that our level of defense hasn't been replicated yet in this game. Make 2 more shots and this is us... Damnit.

In a sense, but St. Mary's blowing the doors off UCLA would make me feel better knowing we had no shot at a Sweet 16 trip.

Let's Go Gaels!

This is a good thought and how we landed Castaneda. Groce recruited him at Illinois.

Sean Miller (back) to Xavier

Who is a more highly touted recruit - Tavari or Prather? Is Prather more of that 3 & D guy we could use? We really do need more of a scouting report on the redshirt guards. It seems like they fit more of the off-the-ball/shooting guard description with their high scoring high school careers, but that doesn't mean they aren't floor generals as well. Don't forget about VCU's HAVOC. We play a hybrid HAVOC/40 minutes of Hell style of defense. Akron's "Zefense" has a nice ring to it, and it really is becoming our identity. I have zero issue with that. They moved X off the ball a couple times during the postseason, and it was Tribble or Clarke that handled the rock when that happened. What was interesting was Tribble, lacking the shooting threat, saw the defense back off and pack the paint a bit more in anticipation of a dribble drive. If he passed it to a shooting threat, the defense expanded back out. We need a shooting threat to handle PG duties if X is going to be off the ball. Wynn would have to sit out a year if he transferred, correct? I don't know if I see him doing that, but if he wants to extend his collegiate career he could. ______________________________________________________________ We were 7.5 deep this year (Aziz being the .5 as he was either the 8th man or saw no playing time). Add Kalle, the two redshirt guards, and two incoming guards. That's 13 deep assuming Aziz plays more. Deep rotations are 10-11 MAX. That leaves 2-3 players as the odd ones out (redshirt, transfer, or simply limited playing time). This is a phenomenal problem to have. With the amount of energy we exert on defense, if you get a rotation of 10-11 guys to buy into the system on defense, you're going to have a revolving door to keep guys fresh. It's like hockey lines, with the best example being the Miracle on Ice team. What did they run, something like minute rotations or so, constantly changing lines to allow guys to give maximum effort during their turn, then hop off for a quick breather? It would obviously be longer rotations, but a similar concept. And with how deep we are at each position, we would seemingly not sacrifice much on either end of the floor talent/height/size wise. This was potentially Groce's best coaching job ever. We were vastly under-talented/lacked depth, yet he was able to get his 7-8 guys to buy completely into the system and out work every team over the past couple of weeks. The talent rose with the effort level, and next year, with even more talent and depth, we could be poised to be something extremely special.

STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 1 Robert G. 165 Mike Spi. 134 John E. 129 Mike Sw. 128 Jeff H. 123 Brian G. 119 Nick K. 118 Rob C. 111 John C. 108 David M. 107 Luke T. 104 Eric M. 100 Kyle M. 100 Andy V. 91 Mark Spa. 89 SKY'S THE LIMIT CLUB Top 3 Potential Points Robert G. 365 Jeff H. 357 John E. 335 Luke T. 335 SHAME CLUB Those Who Picked UCLA John C. David M. Mark Spa. (Dis)Honorable Mention: @NWAkron (apparently) Good luck to all in Round 2 (except the Shame Club members)!

Massive fan of Lamont Paris. He was always incredibly nice to me during Akron basketball camps when I was younger. I'd love a multi-year series with his program.

Are there more benefits that come with an athletic scholarship?

LET'S GO MOCS! Why couldn't we have these announcers? Excited for a potential upset instead of worrying about how they'll feel sleeping in their P5 pajamas. Give me these refs too.