Let'sGoZips94

The part where I'm somehow calling for Groce's job with an aggressive undertone related to my dissatisfaction with JoeMo in the football section? I am very, very frustrated with the result of Saturday's game in Miami. Part of the reason I've harped on maintaining the offensive prowess we've exhibited thus far is because it's a controllable. That game was there for the taking given Miami's lackluster offensive numbers and high turnover rate, and we didn't take it. It's the first opportunity all year vs. a quality opponent where they didn't shoot lights out vs. us and we didn't take it. Need to figure things out vs. CMU. It's a long season, I get it, but we have 2 months now to send a message that the Miami game was a fluke before Cleveland/Selection Sunday (God willing). In Groce I trust, as I always have. Just tired of so many close losses in 20 years after promoting that I'm an Akron fan publicly and having to deal with the aftermath when people say, "Tough loss," after the few Akron games that garners more views than usual. Simply venting a bit on the Akron forum. Pardon me.

Huh?

We scored over 20+ pts less than our average, shot 15% worse from 3P than our average, and had 15 turnovers which is 5 more than our average. We're now 0-3 vs. Q1 and Q2 mid majors with potentially zero opportunities left on the schedule, and we didn't show up offensively in a game we should've won by double digits (based on Miami's numbers). That was an embarrassing performance. Edit: Let me add that I don't have a very favorable view of Miami. I think we will see them lose games in the MAC that make this loss look worse than it may currently. That is a large reason why I view the loss and our performance as embarrassing.

Would love to see us get back to a pedal-to-the-metal offensive mindset. Embarrassing performance vs. Miami and back to back performances vs. DI opponents where we've shot under 30% from 3P.

15 TO each 25% 3P Akron vs 31% 3P Miami. Lost by 3.

What is a high percentage on a 3P attempt? Miami is the best 3P shooting team in the country at 43.88%. Yale is #2 at 43.07%. That's considered a VERY high percentage based on only 8 teams in the country shooting 40%+ from 3P. Murray State is 47th at a 37.53% clip. Open opportunities might lead to a bump by a few percentage points, but shooting 20% better than your average is an absurd anomaly attributed more to hot shooting than anything else. Yale's 3P performance was probably more indicative of open opportunities (47% that game vs. 43.88% average) than the Murray State game (56% vs. 37.53%). The Yale game was lost in the paint because we didn't have an answer for their inside game and they made darn near every floater and mid range shot imaginable; that's more the byproduct of slanted roster construction (Barre wasn't ramped up yet), not pissing the bed. In addition, I saw both Yale and Murray State make contested shots from all over the court. When a team is on, they're on. Of course both offense and defense matter in basketball, but the statistics show that offense is superseding defense as the primary cause of a game's result. That's where's a shift across college basketball in recent years to gear towards better offense. We've seen this with Akron teams in the past. Teams that struggle to score will almost always struggle to score. I posted this in one of the other threads, but Houston doesn't have any national championships despite being one of the top defensive teams in recent years. Why? They've struggled to score more than their opponents despite superior defensive efforts. It's no secret Groce wants the defense to be better and he should, but if you zoom out from your 2 game scenario vs. EMU & Concord, Groce has spent the last 2 years reconstructing the roster to be offensively focused and dominant. Sending a message in 2 games we should win going away is great and what good coaches should do, but it doesn't mean Groce doesn't realize offense is still the ultimate key to our success. If defense mattered as much, we wouldn't be playing a more run n gun, chaotic style of offense that is prone to open opportunities and doesn't conserve energy for the defensive side of the ball. We can play the what if game until we're Akron Blue & Gold in the face. It's possible a hand in their face on their made shots lowers their shooting percentage. It's also possible it doesn't. Fact is, both Yale & Murray State had mismatches that put the ball in the hoop at an insanely higher percentage than normal. In no way, shape, or form do I believe Akron pissed down their legs in those games. Hats off to both teams for incredible shooting performances. I expect two things to be true tomorrow. 1) Akron's defense will be improved with the recent messages that have been sent. 2) Miami will either be on or they won't; our defense tomorrow won't have much of an effect on their 3P%. This game will be won or lost based on Akron's scoring abilities and turnovers.

Akron is the #2 scoring offense in the country, behind only Georgia. Miami is #7.

We didn't watch the same games then. Not sure how putting up 94 and 100 respectively in those losses is "pissing down our legs." And don't give me the "Well we gave up 97 and 115 pts in those games," counterargument because both opponents simply had insane shooting performances. Akron is not defensively worse than the majority of teams Yale & Murray State have played, yet neither team has duplicated the shooting performance they each had vs. Akron. Could the defense have been better? Of course. Did we pee down our leg in those games? No. Pissing down our leg would've been shooting 15% from 3, putting up 65 pts, and losing by 30. Easy. Akron is deeper, more athletic, will create full court havoc defensively, and can score at will in a multitude of ways. Here are the stats and results from each of Akron & Miami's latest DI game... Akron vs. EMU 55% FG 17% 3P 7 Steals 22 Assists 8 Turnovers 93 points in a 21 point win Miami vs. BG 55% FG 48% 3P (was over 60% in the first half) 6 Steals 16 Assists 16 Turnovers 93 points in a 10 pt win (BG shot 23% from 3P making 5 total 3P in the game; I think they were at 10% 3P% in the 1st half) Without Ipsaro, BG exposed Miami's inability to handle pressure, especially full court pressure. Akron may not be great at 3P defense, but they are fantastic at full court pressure and trapping around the halfcourt line. In addition, I'd be shocked if Miami shot 60% from 3P again in any half vs. us. If they do, hats off. For as good as Miami's offense has been, they've scored under 80 points 3x, under 90 points an additional 4x, and a 5th game would've been under 90 if it wasn't for OT. Akron's quantities with the same thresholds: 1 game under 80 (79 @ Purdue), an additional 2 games under 90 (85 vs. JMU and 88 @ Tulane). Let's also keep in mind Miami's performances have come against one of the weakest OOC schedules in the country. The only way we aren't in this game is if there's a lid on Akron's basket and Miami shoots 50%+ from 3P.

Because it's on the road, it will likely remain a Q1 game unless Miami really falters. It has a high Q2 floor.

Miami was at 54 points at the half and just crossed over 60 with just over 12 minutes to play in the 2nd half.

A lot of people were saying this at halftime last March...

Miami is shooting 70% from the field and 63% from 3P. BUGS is shooting 33% from the field and 10% from 3P with 8 turnovers so far in the 1st half. Unbelievably embarrassing performance by BUGS at home.

That Akron team couldn't score at all like this team can. Akron shot 46% from the field and 33% from 3P. Miami shot 49% from the field and 50% from 3P on 30 attempts(!). Miami lost by 2. Miami is largely the same team and are now down their #2 scorer. Good luck keeping up with one of the top offenses in college basketball.

These P4 coaches that have been gaming the system for years are all of a sudden outraged by the open lawless environment. It was much better for them when there were laws that kept the average Joe in check while they subverted the legal system themselves. The coaches are the reason we're in this mess.

Make our shots and we win this by double digits. Miami doesn't have the horses in the barn to keep up with us.