Let'sGoZips94

Uhhh... A photo has been released... He definitely deserved the T. Haha.

On the season we have one guy playing more than 25 minutes per game - Nate Johnson with 28.9 mpg. This is quite the contrast to last year when 4 players were over 26 mpg - Enrique Freeman (32.4), Ali Ali (33.1), Tribble (29.2), and Hunter (26.2). It is crucial we maintain this lighter load heading towards March. Our style requires it.

Last required trip to DeKalb ever. Hallelujah.

Miami's message board is a decent read. Trying to talk themselves into being excited about a potential rematch in the Finals. My favorite is the poster or two that didn't know the MAC hasn't had BYEs since 2020. The sweaters have been irrelevant for a long, long time.

The other team should be focused on making sure the last guy off the bench doesn't have a reason to come in. However, if what I heard about Evan's antics is true, he definitely deserved the T (as he admitted to on the court). No, you're not missing anything. The refs blew both ways yet again. Welcome to the MAC. Not only does our commissioner accept a 10 spot drop off in conference power rankings, he accepts less than acceptable officiating as well.

CHALUPAS!

Teeing up Evan Wilson after he makes a 3 in Miami's face is typical MAC ref crap. JAR was rocking after that.

Hardman passing up 3s to drive to the basket wasn't on my bingo card.

Mercy Rule chant from the students 😂

Akron in the bonus for the final 13 minutes. As if Miami needed more ways for Akron to score.

Romeo and JD Brookhart are in attendance.

This is so wrong it makes Kent look right.

Best start imaginable. My scouting report of Miami at the start of the season is holding true. They do not have the athleticism to overcome poor shooting vs athletic, good shooting teams.

Big difference between last year and this year. Kent had deadly shooters last year and Akron did not. We won that title game because we turned the game into a slower contest and Kent didn't make enough shots. Akron is 9 deep with shooters this year and Kent is one of the worst shooting teams in the country. Anything can happen in Cleveland, but Kent being an awful team isn't a joke.

Kent's deal with the devil expired. They shot 3-19 from 3, 35% from the field, and 56% from the line. Unbelievable how bad the MAC is this year. OU won't win many games shooting the way they did tonight with their injuries. O/U was in the 140s I believe. Would've been an easy Under.

Steinbrecher needs sent with NIU.

If this ends up being the case, we might not have to hear "O (clap clap clap) H (clap clap clap) I (clap clap clap) O (clap clap clap)" in Cleveland this year. Without Clayton and Hadaway, they're only contributor over 6'4" is Vic Searls, the Ashland transfer that BobcatAttack wants to put on a one-way train ride to the North Pole. The MAC might be bad enough to keep Kent and Ohio in the Cleveland plans, but a guy can dream, can't he?

Obviously not haha. However, Omaha is still only 217th in NET. In fact, we don't have a single Q1/Q2/Q3 win. Despite this, we are up to 102 NET.

2021-22: 40.7% 3P 2022-23: 25.5% 3P (only 18 games played at Butler) 2023-24: 29.2% 3P

By skewed, I meant the numbers should probably be higher across the board. If the system now was operating this way in December, I think we'd see a few pts added to each person's total. I don't think they're far off, I just think top to bottom we're a bit more lethal than the numbers show (mainly lookin at Seth Wilson, as I believe he should be better than a 4.7 ppg). It's also skewed in my head because guys like Seth, Hardman, Lyles, Scott, etc., can go off for double digits at any point. Nate at 13.7 ppg seems low because of his recent ~20 point performances. This is simply a lethal offense that can afford to have a couple guys experience "off nights" because there are so many weapons. Side note: Okonkwo leading the MAC in RPG with under 8 per game is hilarious coming off a year where Freeman was the best rebounder in the country with over 12 RPG. I wonder how many Freeman would have in the offense with the #1 pace of play in the country? So many opportunities.

This is tracking to be Groce's deepest offensive team during his Akron tenure. It took the entire OOC schedule for guys to figure out how they fit, so the stats are a bit skewed. MMK is our lowest PPG regular contributor, and Seth Wilson is just ahead of him. MMK is giving us more and more, and Seth has been on fire prior to last night. We are 10 deep for full game contributors and 8 deep for true offensive producers. If Harris is able to work his way back, add one to both totals. We are the deepest team in the MAC by far. In fact, our depth is going to be an advantage on Saturday. Miami is about 9 deep, and the bulk of their production comes from their top 3 - Kraft, Suder, Elmer. They are less athletic than Akron is, and while they are a high powered offense, I wouldn't call them a high octane offense. They make their living in the efficiency department. Miami has struggled against tough, athletic teams. If we make our shots, we should win this pretty comfortably. Bringing the whole family to the game. This will be both my daughters' first Zips basketball game, and I'm hoping they aren't disappointed. I do not expect them to be. Groce has these boys locked in.

That year was fascinating. Truly invested fans had the season written off as a rebuild year, but it was much much worse than initially expected from a talent perspective. Despite the talent deficiencies, it was pretty obvious Groce's system was completely different from Dambrot's system (except for 2023-24 when we played through Freeman, as all good coaches do). That season got me excited for the Groce era because his system is very, very fun. It can be frustrating if the talent and execution isn't there, but it's up-tempo and very enjoyable.