clarkwgriswold

...or the situation that Dambrot did.

Agreed, but people also want quick results and that generally doesn't happen with the traditional freshman recruiting, especially when you get a late jump. In the final analysis, nobody is generally happy short of a MAC title. One need only review the old KD posts to see that phenomenon. Also, before we all give up, we need to step back and realize that this is a historically good MAC team in Buffalo that some are measuring the Zips against.

Exactly. There are certainly shortcomings but it's too early to play Chicken Little. If we're having this conversation the second week of March in 2020, then I'll have a far different attitude.

Track and field, rifle, women's diving and swimming are all pretty solid. This game has me yearning for a good rifle match.

Calm down dre. It is pretty clear that the consensus on here is that: 1) the refs suck; 2) have sucked for both teams and 3) are not impacting the result of the game.

Refs are bad, but Buffalo wins this one with me, John Groce and Jimond's mom as the refs.

They may have to use Marquelle's 5 today.

Refs apparently getting paid by the whistle today.

Oh well, at least I won't have to call Verizon to see if they have free championship tickets this year.

More talent > less talent

Turnovers will be the key. If the Zips can pressure the ball and get in passing lanes like they did against Miami (2 assists/16 turnovers) they can be in the game. In their two MAC losses, as I recall, Buffalo had 17 and 18 turnovers, well in excess of their 12 turnover average. Get them to 18 to 20 turnovers and they can be in the game. The counter to that is the riskiness of being aggressive on defense against a team that athletic can result in a lot of easy points for them.

Thanks to NWAkron. My morning has been a little crazy and I am not possessive about starting game threads. I take full responsibility for the two prior losses to Buffalo.

51% FG, 52% on 3 pointers. Wow.

Wow. Where's this been all year?

I have an extra GA ticket if anyone wants it. Shoot me a message ASAP if you want it.

For the sake of redundancy, just to review- I am not 100% pleased with Groce. The offense has struggled, time management has been an ongoing issue and the team has had major issues closing games. That being said, I am moderately satisfied with the progress of the team. KD moved on and it left this program in shambles. Groce got a late start in recruiting and had to start from ground zero. Last year's team was 14-18 and 6-12 in the MAC. It was untalented, gave inconsistent effort and had some head cases. This year's team is 16-15 and 8-10 in the MAC. Not a huge difference in record, but this team has been in the game in most of its losses, plays outstanding defense and gives effort every night. In the end, they're getting better. Swap out Ivey for Williams and Roscoe and add another year of D1 experience to Cheese, Banks and LCJ and I think this team continues to trend up. We were really spoiled with KD and the consistency from year to year. If next year, we're again a middle of the pack MAC team, then I will be ready to move on, but if they do as I expect and move into the top four teams, win 20 games and bring in decent recruits, I will continue to conclude Groce was a worthwhile hire.

Miami's leading scorer, Sabande, has a combined 5 points in two games against the Zips this year. Cheese has a combined 44 (17 and 27).

Uh oh. NWAkron is doing strange voodoo stuff to John Groce bobbleheads!

Nobody is beating Buffalo. The Zips aren't beating any of the top 4 teams away from the JAR. In my final analysis of the Zips having concluded the regular season, they are what there record says they are (cue the Dennis Green rant). In the simplest of terms, there's a reason they were 16-15. They are a middle of the road average MAC team. I don't expect any more of a run from them than I expect of CMU or NIU.

The Zips host the Redhawks Monday night at the JAR as the second half of a first round MAC tourney double header with the women. Miami comes into the game at 15-16 having lost three in a row and 4 out of 5. The Zips beat Miami 70-58 at the JAR a couple of weeks ago and fell at Oxford 68-61 early in the season.

Antonio.

I heard Groce was yelling at Williams at the end of the game? What's with that?

Fair enough. Seems like a reasonable and common position. I'll make it Monday night if possible of for no other reason than I'll suck every last cent out of my season ticket. After the misery of the OU game less than a week ago, I'll take Miami thanks.

I guess Walker got suspended for getting into a fight at a bar with Danny Pippen. One of this season's lessons- timeouts are important.

At least at the JAR the people in bad seats can see through the glass. I don't know what the hell they were thinking when they designed the MACC Center. It must have been their Architecture School's fine work.