clarkwgriswold

Groce essentially admitted as much to me years back. I told him how much I appreciated him putting together his first roster to keep the program afloat and he told me that when the job was offered to him he and the assistants were excited because they saw a team with a remaining core that could immediately compete but that by the time he got here much of that core had bailed.

Speaking of Gray's physical strength, I do like how he has taken on the role of defending other teams' bigs in our shortage of big men. He uses his larger frame well in bodying up on those guys where our other guards are not physically equipped to do so.

Bud has done at outstanding job with building the team chemistry with a bunch of new players, completely overhauling the offense from last year and rallying the team after a rough OOC schedule.

The fall of the Buffalo program demonstrates just how lucky we were to transition from KD to Groce.

I was very impressed by Gray in his post-game with the radio guys. What an intelligent and eloquent young man.

Probably not nearly as much fun as bringing in the huge Ohio Wesleyan and SUNY Brockport contingents. I trust Groce when he says Dustin works hard to put together the schedule. If Duquesne was a possibility, I suspect it would have already happened, but it would be nice to see it happen if possible.

If nothing else it could put some butts in seats from the SVSM and UA people with a connection to the Joyce family. Duquesne brought a few people to the game at SVSM and there was a contingent of Joyce family and friends. Maybe not the gate buster of Ohio Wesleyan or SUNY Brockport but a larger visitor contingent than we are used to seeing. Seems like something Keith could facilitate.

It's a good thing he didn't turn down the job!

Miami on the money line was easy money.

Somehow, you can get Miami and points in Brimfield today.

In the last two games, both convincing wins, the opponents have taken 64 foul shots. The Zips have taken 24. I'm generally not one to gripe about the refs and realize some disparity can come from having a more aggressive defense, but that is ridiculous.

In the MAC it does.

I did like how every time they made a run last night (up until the last one) that the Zips countered with a run of their own and pulled away again. However, I did not like the last 4 or 5 minutes. Groce made a good point about how this squad needs to learn to "step on the neck" of their opponents and not let up. I think we've seen some real growth from Lyles lately. Frankly, I never thought he'd be more than a 10 minute a game reserve and that the Zips may well lose him to the portal. I was pleased with his physical growth when I saw him at the tip-off reception and now we're seeing the growth in his game. His kind of development only comes through hard work. Nate seems to also have turned the corner. It looks like he's finally realized he's "the man" and now has the confidence to go get a hoop.

Our Zips shuffle off to Buffalo Tuesday to face the Bulls. The Bulls are 5-11/0-4 heading into Kalamazoo today. The Bulls are led by Ryan Sabol, a sophomore 6'3" guard averaging 16.1 ppg. 6'3" senior guard Tyson Dunn averages 12.1 ppg. 6'8" junior forward Noah Bachelor leads rebounding at 5.5 rpg while scoring 7.5 ppg. How can we be at game 18 already?

Interesting article here on potential MAC additions- https://www.hustlebelt.com/2025/1/17/24338685/mid-american-conference-expansion-candidates-maction-realignment-2026

"You dance like your dad."

I liked: "Not sure if there's a better frosh in the MAC than Akron guard Sharron Young." "He'll be getting some Bud Wentz money next year."

The over is becoming a very solid bet on Zips games.

Amen, with a deep roster of capable players who all play their role without a standout star. Lots of fine players but no LCJ...X...Enrique. Just a bunch of solid dues across the board. Was anybpdy close enough to get a sense of what prompted the T on Tavari?

Agreed. No other MAC program has had our good fortune.

They are well on their way. LOL.

Another fun game. Some of points from Groce's post-game that stuck out. One, they played 25 minutes of good defense and 30 minutes of good offense. The first half was as good of defense as they played all year. Second, they still need to step on the neck of an opponent when they have them down. Another free throw disparity tonight with the OU shooting 33 while the Zips shot 15.

Keith's departure seemed to be a turning point with a substantial portion of the fan base for some reason and it is a damn shame because as much as I like and appreciate Keith, Groce is every bit as good or better.

The line right now is OU +2.5. Under/over is 158.

Gross said in the post game it was nothing bad that Okonkwo had done but that Amani was just playing so well that he didn't want to take him out. Amani broke out right after I complained about him. I have to do that more often. I'm apparently some kind of motivator. LOL. Ummm, Ted, the big man is going to roll to the hole.