Let'sGoZips94

You beat them at their own game, you overcame a lot of adversity, and you beat a team that Can't lost to by 30+ a few days ago. Good. Win.

@Akronfan111 Unless we find out Groce errored in the handling of this, this is no way shape or form a black eye for Groce. Purely based on talent, Mark was a fringe DI athlete to begin with and clearly couldn't quite get up to the speed of the MAC, despite showing flashes.

@akronzips71 In the Portal of Transfer.

That opens a scholarship. Very unfortunate circumstances though.

This board needed that laugh. Thank you.

Either the basketball IQ on this team is low, or these guys just don't have the heart to compete at a high level. Boxing out is ignored, offensive players think they're on the playground with the ability to body defenders and muscle their way to the basket, fouling people on 3 point attempts, LCJ doesn't know he's 5'8" sometimes and throws up crap that's easily blocked. You can see what Groce is trying to do. The intensity on defense and overall hustle is there at times, the ball movement is spotty yet flashes of greatness are seen. However, I don't think the players are fully bought in, or if they have bought in, I don't think they have the mental game (at least not yet) to carry out the game plan. There are a lot of holes and mental lapses. This program was left a heaping pile of crap on top of a strong foundation. That foundation is currently corroding with the crap that still sits on it. I have the utmost faith in Groce - that has not wavered. Right the ship and be ready for March.

A few of these need re-ranked. Game Atmosphere (starting with #1): OU, Can't, Akron, Buffalo, Toledo Budget: #12 should be Akron - you can't be $XXXXXXXXXXXXX in debt, and have the #2 ranked budget/resources Facilities: How is Akron #4 in Game Atmosphere, and third to last in facilities? Is it the prettiest, newest arena? No. Is it traditional college basketball with nice locker rooms? Yes. The JAR has good bones. What a weird list.

Possibly the most badass rivalry name.

Bus 'em. It builds character.

Do you mean how to close out on a shooter as to not foul them on a 3 point attempt, especially with 5 seconds to go? By the way, my sarcasm wasn't directed at you, but at the stat, especially when you have games like this where you shoot yourself in the foot with a dumb foul on a 3 point attempt with 5 seconds left. ______________________________________________________________ This was the first game, in my opinion, that we deserved to lose. While the effort was there, the mental game wasn't. Other losses can be chocked up to off shooting nights, depth issues, or just plain old being beat in a good game; this one we lost based on not being prepared mentally to handle the 2nd half.

Oh goodie. Are we playing horseshoes or hand grenades?

Heck of a take by Jackson to end the half.

Which ZN.o member is Groce? Clearly he views this board, because we've been going inside to Sayles and driving with our guards.

I have a bowl of potatoes as a reason why he should have committed to Akron.

That's, uhhhh, hmmm... heck of a path to get to CMU. Really good first road test.

Still one of the most tragic injury stories. Looking forward to the movie. Will it be on Netflix then?

PPCCC (Pinky's Portage County Community College) and Ohio BFE (Ohio, well, you know what it means) going down, at home, to BUGS and NIU respectively, the former being a 22-pt beatdown, is flat out awesome. Props to the Zips for overcoming an off day, and that's putting it nicely.

Big Dog never went to the NCAA tourney. Our ability to finish around the rim absolutely needs to improve, but guards run March. Groce's guard-heavy teams at OU beat us twice in the MAC Championship Game, and had success in the NCAA tourney.

An Akron game is as expensive as a Cavs game right now.

A win is a win is a win. 1-0 in the MAC. We're coming for you, Canada.

Scary how quick this team can turn it on. We are very lucky Ivey stayed after Dambrot's departure.

I would like to dedicate the score of this game in honor of the late, great Charlie Coles.

We are lucky WMU has kept Hawkins around for so many years.

To salvage this class, I'm sure it's easier to continue with the relationships/connections that have already been built for the bulk of the class.

Some more "gushing" over Akron in this article... Speaking to FourFourTwo in 2017 about his growth as a coach, Porter said: “I've had to learn an even deeper level of adjustment and tactical awareness, and that's made me a much more well-rounded coach. I still have my beliefs, I still have my philosophies, but I think when I came here, I had a couple philosophies. Now I have 100 philosophies.” It’s a fine answer from a coach. I just hope he returns to his foundational philosophy upon returning to his managerial roots. I’m a romantic about Porter’s Akron teams, as I imagine anyone who watched them would be. I didn’t love the way he coached the Timbers teams — a team with Diego Valeri, Darlington Nagbe and Diego Chara shouldn’t finish outside of the top 10 in passes attempted (or miss the playoffs twice in five years). Porter and Timbers maestro Diego Valeri in 2013 | USA Today Sports Images I’ll never blame a coach for playing to win, but Porter offered something at Akron that few coaches have ever provided in America. I get that it was a college team, but if only you had seen them... One can’t help but hope Ohio brings the best out of Porter. And Columbus feels like the perfect place right now to bring it out of hibernation. -------------------------------------------------------------------- I told some people after he was hired by the Crew that this wasn't exactly a good thing for Ohio State Men's Soccer, as Porter will more than likely encourage the top Crew Academy players to go to Akron to be groomed for his style of play. I didn't even think about the publicity Akron will get... IN Columbus.