Let'sGoZips94

22 point loss.

I haven't been impressed with the A10 this year at all minus Dayton. I watched VCU take on St. Joe's last night. St. Joe's had a PG that looked like he belonged in suburb YMCA Rec League. VCU was basically given the game, and didn't want it until the final 5 minutes. Really atrocious basketball.

Because the MAC is constantly one of the least forward-thinking conferences in the NCAA. They are constantly behind the trends instead of getting ahead of them. And yes I'm aware I'm not @zippy5.

The 3 freshman this year - Ali, Tribble, Dawson - all look like they belong in some capacity. Their confidence, game, and ability to process the DI game at DI speed might not all be there yet, but you can see the foundation is solid to build on. It's nice that we have such an upperclassmen-heavy team this year that can help guide and take the pressure off these kids, because the depth they add is nice and necessary. The OOC portion of the schedule is where team chemistry is built and X's & O's are smoothed out, but a team really cuts its teeth during the conference portion and these young players are going to only get better.

Exactly the type of win we needed. Coast to coast, kept the foot on their throats, etc. Our 4 losses: 2 top 15 teams by 10 & 6 respectively, a top 35 squad, and Toledo's best game in the history of their program (and we still kept it close). This team is the team to beat in the MAC. They responded exactly how I expected a senior-led, well-coached team to respond. Very easy group of guys to like and root for.

From the article... "It appears Smart believes the marquee recruits he chases at Texas prefer a traditional, NBA-conducive system to the all-out, helter-skelter style that propelled VCU to national relevance. Perhaps Smart also questions whether he can implement HAVOC as successfully with freshmen and sophomores as he did with the junior- and senior-laden teams he coached at VCU." I brought this point up regarding Groce's tenure at Illinois vs. O-Who. It's a different recruit at the next level, and they may not buy into the fundamentally-sound, high-effort system due to their AAU brainwashing.

It wasn't just Big Dog that game... Oh wait...

If Shaka gets canned, does he go back to a high-caliber mid-major or a low-caliber P6?

Reece doesn't give us a guaranteed win against a team that shoots 50%+ from both beyond the arc and the field. He definitely would have helped spell Riak, and given us some much needed physicality inside. This is a must win bounce back game. Suffocate them with defense, make your shots, and all will be well.

The overreaction by some is asinine. No matter how bad our defense was compared to our standards, Toledo still had to make the shots and they did from everywhere on the floor at an above-50% clip. Not many teams, even P5 teams, can overcome that type of scoring, and we fought pretty damn hard the entire game. Anybody that has a basic understanding of basketball could see Toledo played out of their minds today. We got their best game (ever - in school history), took the L, and now we move on. There are some good takeaways from this game from the X's and I'm standpoint, but the biggest takeaway is this: we're at the top of the MAC; we're going to be getting everyone's best effort, and sometimes their best effort might be good enough to beat us. Onto Brick Building, OH.

This is a game for the record books. These numbers are unreal.

First to 100 wins?

Gotta get #3 Jackson another foul. Don't like our shots recently. 31 pts. for M. Jackson.

Refs have zero control of this game. Goaltending not called then LCJ took an elbow from Knapke.

Somebody did some coaching at the half... Wow.

We aren't even playing THAT bad. The University of Elon Musks are shooting 60%(!!!!!!!!!!!) from 3. Unreal. Our defense is struggling though.

That game was amazing. To top it off, that was also the night of the Syracuse/UCONN 1587204728347247 OT thriller (6 to be exact, IIRC). Came home from one thriller and watched another into the wee hours of the morning. I believe that was the most games we ever had to win for one of our MAC Titles. Pretty ironic that Brett McKnight saved the first ball to Humpty Hitchens for the 3, then Humpty inbounded it to McKnight for the game-winner; not sure I ever noticed that.

The issue is how healthy Reece's ankle will be. Our secret weapon to neutralizing a guy like Knapke is the ability to dribble drive. Get that dude in foul trouble, and do it early. LCJ, Cheese, Banks, X, Tribble - drive right at him (controlled, obviously).

Did you give your login information to the drunk Ball State guy?

We would've hurt their chances at the precious 20-win mark. Our brand of basketball is night-and-day compared to what the Dukes are putting out there. I would love to see us play Duquesne - anywhere - but I highly doubt it will happen, at least not until KD is confident Duquesne could win; even then I'm not sure he'd be willing to risk the "upset". I watched the latter part of regulation and all of the overtime session. I saw the same stuff that plateaued Akron's program - little ball movement, inside-out basketball, etc. TDM made his first and only 3 of the game in OT. We wouldn't have had 2 years of suffering, but the ceiling is much higher under Groce, his type of recruits, and his style of play than it would have been had KD not departed. Side note: I was reading Duquesne's board, and it sounds like Maceo Austin's sister may have passed away recently, which could have led to a flatter performance/closer game.

Finally a use for the track. Get er done, UA!

This is so nostalgic to look at. All the years of going to this website to watch us climb from a preseason ~100 team, to cracking the top 100, to landing somewhere in the 60-70 range with maybe a quick peak in the top 40 or 50.

A bit early into the 7 year, $7M KD contract to be talking about him coming back, no? Besides, if this is anywhere near true, by the time KD is ready to come back Groce will have already taken us deep into the tourney. ?

Here is the link to order the tickets online. Promo Code: EMMASTRONG Thank you for including this @clarkwgriswold.