UAZip0510

That is wild. A quick glance at their roster reveals that there isn't a ton there. They do have a talented freshman.

A Buffalo win does nothing for the MAC and makes the Bulls even more dangerous moving forward.

@skip-zip was talking about a lot of these issues weeks ago and some of you ridiculed him for it.

Cotton was likely to see less playing time next year anyhow. I'm not saying I'm happy he left - I'm not - but I don't think this is a huge blow.

Hester can run PG as well

Not shocking. He and Groce didn't get along. He also might have seen much less PT next year. We now have two open scholarships.

Wellllp.

Too bad they couldn't finish strong like we did...

It all depends on how they can do recruiting. I think he's off to a nice start with his 2018 class. A 25-win St. Bonaventure team just got an at-large with only one or two solid non-conference wins. I'll take a small chance of at-large there versus my season coming down to 3 (or 4) conference tournameny games in March.

Memphis, SC, and Akron are the one's I've heard most. If Memphis replaces Tubby Smith with Penny Hardaway, it's probably a done deal for him to go there. If they keep Tubby, it could get interesting.

I'm watching TJ Moss closely. He's a kid that could be a real game-changer for this program.

I can accept that THIS team played its best basketball late. It's the suggestion that they finished stronger than past year's teams that I find laughable.

Just pointing out that you can use numbers to support just about any argument. Those teams finished as strong as/stronger than this year's team. Thursday's loss just didn't sting as much because deep down we all know this team wasn't very good.

We certainly missed opportunities. I keep going back to something LGZ said: "And that's why I'm optimistic about next year and the future in general. I think we have a guy at the helm of our basketball program that isn't going to look for others to help him become successful. He's going to build the success on his own." John Groce shouldn't be building this alone, now should KD have been asked to. To become an elite mid-major, you need help from your President, your AD, your alumni, your students. No coach should be trying to build this alone. Has anyone seen/heard from our AD?

You can do a lot with numbers. You cite a 2-3 finish in 16-17 - odd that you cut off the 3 straight wins before that, but I guess 5-3 doesn't sound as bad. Citing 3-2 in 15-16, but I guess them winning 7 out of their last 10 doesn't sound as bad. Don't let your obvious bias get in the way.

"Traitor"?

I think you and maybe some others here don't appreciate how hard it was to do what Akron did over the past 13 years. Saying they had success because the MAC wasn't strong, that a loss to Ohio State was "inexcusable", seemingly suggesting players didn't play hard. I think you are giving breaks to Groce that you did not afford to KD. Some of that is absolutely warranted, but trying to say this team finished strong and the past few year's teams haven't is a real stretch. This season ended with our 2nd-to-last in the conference team blowing a 20 point lead to Eastern Michigan, which was followed by a press conference in which Groce chose to openly question his 's attitude. I don't know how in the world that is finishing strong. I like Groce. I think he'll do well here. I've said before that I think he'll get s a tourney win. But it doesn't mean we have to play down past achievements or play up current ones, which I respectfully believe you are doing here.

I am OK with giving Groce a break based on the conditions of next year but I'm sorry, I can't accept this. It feels like the last few years weren't strong finishes because losing in the championship game really sucks and stings much more than losing a Thursday night game against Eastern Michigan to cap off a miserable season. The Zips won 4 of their last 11 games. That's not finishing strong. If you're going to knock the previous teams based on losing the championship game, you can't overlook this one not being able to close out against Eastern Michigan. Again, I want to be fair to Groce and this team, but I can't sit here and praise this team for finishing strong while simultaneously saying past teams, with better overall records, last 10 game records, and final result records, didn't finish strong.

You're both right IMO. Groce isn't getting a job offer at a bigger school, but if he does, he'll jump. That's the new norm for us. For years we could feel reasonably safe about out coach leaving as watched others cycle through coaches each time they had success. Now we are no different.

2018 Last 10 Regular Season: 3-7 1-1 MAC Tournament 2017 Last 10 Regular Season: 6-4 2-1 MAC Tournament 2016 Last 10 Regular Season: 7-3 2-1 MAC Tournament

BIG difference between bringing on players with off-court issues and paying players. I also hope you understand I'm talking about programs as a whole, not just head coaches. Players being paid isn't just a head coach - it's a coach doing it and everyone else looking the other way. Clean programs stay clean with good checks and balances.

They are what we were. They have 3 titles in 4 years, we had 3 in 5 years. We didn't get the big tourney win - let's see if they can.

That's the greatest summation of that program I've ever read.

No but the way Dials was fired and the timing of it speaks volumes about that program.

Our basketball program has been clean under both KD and now Groce. The suspensions of Diggs, Harney, and Treadwell wouldn't have happened at most schools.