ubxcretired

First off - I was surprised by how one sided this one was. After the regular season, Akron was the team I really didn't want to play early in the tourny. For you guys, if the 3s start falling and the slow down defense puts UB on their heels, its a worrisome match up. And - I fully expect Akron (especially with Groce's history and recruiting abilities) to reload over the next couple of years and rise back towards the top of the MAC. I detested Dambrot, probably because of how much he beat us but will admit that a close game with Akron makes for a fun afternoon. That said - the UB coach is Nate Oats. No E . And - to suggest that he inherited a great situation at Buffalo is revisionist history. After Hurley was hired away - Shannon Evans immediately announces he's going with him to Arizona State, JUCO recruits Maurice O'Field and Torian Graham de-commit to do the same. Nate Navigato de-commits to head off and join the rockets. To top it all off, reigning MAC POTY Justin Moss gets busted during the summer stealing from some football players and is booted out of school. So - Oats started with a blown up roster, recruits Nick Perkins and CJ Massinburg, hits on a couple of JUCOs, and rolls on from there. I'm sure for an Akron fan - this was a bummer of a season. But I fully expect Groce will follow a similar path back to the upper portion of the conference.

Well, that wasn't much of a roller coaster: http://www.ubbulls.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150411fqi2n1 And I was a big Reggie fan over the years, but comparing him and Dambrot doesn't work. Reggie was constantly solid, but never got over the hump. I'm no fan of Dambrot, but he's brought Akron to the point that MAC titles are expected. Letting Reggie go was definitely the right move.

I wouldn't read much into this. Bucky is a bit of a hack and presented one side of the story based on unsubstantiated sources and no attempt to follow up with the department or White. I view this column as not much more than click bait. He's got a clear bias against Danny White and his articles tend to promote whatever narrative he can against White, the department, and the NYBI. Bull Run does a good job picking this one apart. http://www.ubbullrun.com/2015/4/10/8380999/the-buffalo-news-are-losing-a-punching-bag-but-they-take-a-few-shots I'm not pleased that Hurley is gone, but, like the rest of the teams in this conference, can't compete with the P5 and the salaries and exposure they offer.

I always enjoy getting Akron up to Alumni. Should be a good game - UB's been a funny team as of late - we lost 3 straight, including two at home (and the one at Akron) - all of which came down to a last possession or two failure to score. Then we go on the road and take down Eastern and Bowling Green - a game in which we turned a 16 point lead into a 1 point deficit and then came back to win by win by 12. I think UB's got the edge here, especially if the students show up like I'm hearing they should.

Bobby has certainly settled down since last year. He's still storming around the sidelines, but has learned where to push and where to let it go. While he was T'd up on a regular basis last year, that hasn't been the case this year. I love his intensity but got frustrated last year when he'd lose it and take a T that would cost the team. This year - he'll let the refs know when he's not pleased, but has re-focused that energy into coaching and strategy.

UB-Akron has developed into a nice little back and forth in recent years. I've been very impressed in how the Zips responded this year after the Treadwell distractions and as happens every year Dambrot has the zips firing away at mid season. I think this one depends on which Bulls team shows up. We've shown some stinkers (that finish in Athens was horrible), and we've had some games where we look like world beaters (See @Kentucky, vs. Can't Sate). In the end, I think the Bulls have learned from their road stumbles at Ohio and Western and will pull this one out. It'll be a fun game to watch, and I'm hearing that there is busing for students from UB - so hopefully True Blue can counter the atmosphere at the JAR. I had hoped to make the drive myself, but family commitments are going to keep me here in Buffalo. Very much looking forward to getting the Zips up to Alumni on the 24th - zips fans can take solace in the fact that Alumni hasn't just been a tough place for the zips to play - UB is undefeated at home this year, and has won 23 of the 24 home games since Bobby took over the program. GO BULLS!

You mean Buffalo?

Impressive comeback - one of the more entertaining basketball games as of late.

My point in bringing up the Treadwell arrest was to point out the absurdity of the statement made by GoZips that prompted me to jump in this fray in the first place - for someone to say that McCrea doesn't deserve POY based upon a play last year and Treadwell does is putting blinders on. Neither the Treadwell arrest or the McCrea - Kretzer play have any bearing on the POY. Most people responding are agreeing that while you may not like McCrea, he's put up the numbers to deserve the honor. I'm not going to try and convince you that McCrea's a swell guy - we both know convincing zips fans of that is a fools errand. If the stat lines were reversed however (or if Treadwell has the numbers next year to justify POY), Treadwell's arrest would not weigh on my mind in the least as to whether or not he's deserving.

Not trolling at all. Simply set out to present an objective, performance stats based counter argument to GoZips argument pages ago: Statistically, McCrea has had a better performance this year. Period. And talk about not blindly supporting players. Tree's no saint - McCrea may play aggressive bball - but unlike Treadwell, he doesn't have an arrest record to answer to - http://arrestnation.com/tag/university-of-akron-demetrius-treadwell-arrested/ http://www.ohio.com/news/local/zips-basketball-player-suspended-after-2-a-m-arrest-in-merriman-valley-bar-fight-1.247988 GoZips may be privy to insider information, but his statement is completely ridiculous. He's claiming that at the same time he thinks that McCrea should be permanently removed from consideration for POY, the award should go to a player who attacked a DJ at 2 am in a club, and then tried to flee. If he's able to have that sort of disconnect, then, wow. Furthermore, I'll take my players playing aggressively on the court over attacking a night club DJ - without exception or hesitation. I hadn't brought up the Treadwell arrest as I was keeping to performance as a resume for POY (as it should be) - but GoZips support of Treadwell while saying that Javon should be DQ'd from consideration forever makes it relevant, while at the same time - you're going with this: Pot meet kettle? You see McCrea's performance through yellow colored glasses, I see it through blue. I don't think he's a dirty player - and - your fanbase's opinion (or mine) on this has no bearing on the POY anyways - POY is simply, who was the best overall player in the MAC this year. Without question - McCrea trumps Treadwell by every objective measure.

Holy hyperbole batman! Not a single MAC coach? Actually.... not even worth my time. If this is the frame of reference you are coming from... no really, not worth my time.

That would be the same terrible MAC reffing that we've all had to become accustomed to. Also - remember, the thing with Kretzer didn't involve McCrea. Every team in the conference has fallen victim to the awfulness that is MAC officiating at one point or another this season. Sadly, this is just one more example of this. Anyways, I think we've veered far enough off topic as to whether McCrea is deserving of the POY award - which is about the only thing here that can be argued objectively. I didn't come here to argue that I think McCrea is a decent human being while you guys don't. I came to present a reason why he deserves POY - which I've done - so, I think I'll leave it at that. Perhaps we'll see you in Cleveland.

This coming from the poster who is ready to let Convicted Drug Dealer Alex Abreu come back to play next year, pardon me for not exactly taking your assessment of other players as dirty with any seriousness. It's not the smoking gun your fans are making it out to be. it was hard contact, probably not totally clean, but does not paint McCrea with the brush strokes your fanbase has within this thread.

I wouldn't call it clean, but it certainly doesn't warrant the reaction that you guys seem to be having to it. It is not as conclusive or clear cut as you are making it out to be - Jake was trottng back and McCrea was set. It was a hard contact but you guys are making it sound like Javon walked up and punched him in the kidney. It also doesn't define Javon as a "dirty" player. If the zips fans want to make that jump, so be it, but its a pretty big leap. I'm not so sure what the discussion of Reggie vs. Hurley has to do with the topic at hand or the video? I think Reggie would have us in a similar situation than we are now, perhaps with another conf. loss. Hurley brought in Freelove, who has been integral in some of our wins, but also has a bad habit of going cold and continuing to chuck up bad shots at inopportune times (with tons of time on the shot clock). Hurley's also cost us at least one game getting t'd up for jawing at the ref (Bowling Green) and Hurley's been giving Shannon Evans many more minutes than Reggie was known for giving freshmen. We'll see if Hurley can finally get us over the hump in Cleveland. I'm retaining the comparison between the two for the post season. I'm also curoius to see how his recruiting abilities stack up agains the rest of the conference. McCrea is an aggressive player - zips fans seem to have a special hatred of him and view him as a dirty player based upon..... well...... not much really.

Dave in Green. I come in peace. And for fact based discussion. Thanks.