clarkwgriswold

For completely different reasons, eff Shaka Smart. My blood boils just hearing that azzwipe's name. Not that I have any strong feelings about him. I'm just glad Detroit Mercy isn't in there to allow Davis to fraudulently steal the scoring record.

Rob Senderoff. Indiana. Chuckle. The committee has a sense of humor.

I love the end of a Zips basketball season in how it brings out people we never otherwise see on ZipsNation- people that come to p!$$, moan and b!+ch after a loss and those who come to celebrate and bask in success. The most amusing are those who are actually in both groups.

And nobody knows the kid better as a basketball player than John Groce.

Tribble's ability to bring the ball up and play the point also allowed X to move over to more of a shooting guard and run off of picks, etc. to get loose and get off shots.

Spoiler Alert- many women from this year's team are going to leave and next year will suck. We will then get "this would have never happened if Coach Jackson was still here" to which the logical of us will respond "No $h!+, this is hat happens with coaching changes."

Greg seems like a disciplined hard-nosed kid. Groce seems like he could be an appropriate taskmaster. As such, at this point I don't think it's a lack of effort. I just think his shooting technique has become so neurologically engrained that there's no fixing it at this late juncture. I suspect that as a kid he was so athletically advanced and with inadequate coaching was never "fixed" when he was raw enough to have it happen.

I'll tell you what, it's not easy to say!!

Tribble has the lowest turnover rate of any of the regular starters and was occasionally the point guard so I am not concerned with his dribbling. He has a high dribble but his dribbling is fine.

Tough to miss someone who was never on the roster.

I don't like it one damn bit, but there's a very simple answer as to who had the better team this year- SCOREBOARD. Now it's up to the Groce and his staff to remedy that so that we're not watching while they're still playing.

Toledo occasionally used the defense against Carry that the Zips used in the championship game last year, but didn't consistently do it. Toledo panicked in the end and rushed one on one matchups for the last 10 or 12 minutes. I've been harsh on Senderoff over the years. I even came up with "Mr. Pinky" and should have copyrighted/trademarked it! That being said, he had his team ready for the tournament and they answered the call on numerous occasions. Carry and some of his teammates aren't the most likable kids for their opponents, but what we see as cockiness and showboating is seen as confidence and having fun by their fans. If Carry's sweetie was a UA undergrad, many Zips fans would have seen him similarly.

I don't think Toledo had a 3 pass possession in the last 12 minutes of the game.

The movie I watched ended so I have been unexpectedly watching the PCCC/Toledo game. PCCC has played its fanny off. In the second half, Toledo apparently decided to stop running its offense to just go one on one every possession.

These are all further indicators of the demise of the MAC and other similarly situated conferences. They've become the minor leagues for the P5 conferences.

Blew up at the end of the season, averaging 26 ppg in his last 5 games.

And they really grew up as the season went on.

I command you to respect her decision.

It's not out of the realm of possibility for Clarke and Tavari to be on the court together but if you do the 3 and 4 better be big scorers. Tribble's not that.

It's imperative that they get some depth at the bigs. You can't rely on a 6'3" guys to be your primary backup big. I don't even mean starting highly impactful starting bigs but somebody who can step up behind Enrique and provide minutes and fouls. As an example, a guy like PCCC's Payton. I don't see a traditional big being successful as a starter as Enrique for all of his talents cannot play away from the basket and two guys like that would jam up the offense. Ideally, we'd get a backup big or two and add a stretch 4 (ala Xeyrius) that can stretch the floor and rebound. As for this year: Castaneda- I realize he dropped off somewhat towards the end of the season but I think that had more to do with teams watching two years of video, coaches figuring out effective defenses against him and having no offensive help outside. This is a .500 at best without him. Grade: A. Freeman- best big man in the conference forced to play with little or no help down low. He not only performed this year but continued to expand in his role as a team leader. Grade: A. Hankerson- there have been many negative comments about him on here but the reality is that he was thrust into a role that no one anticipated. He is clearly best as a solid role player not as a primary scorer. Dawson's injury and Hunter's frequent disappearance made him the #3 guy on a team where he should have never been considered more than the 4th or 5th best player. I think we'd be content with his numbers as the 4th or 5th guy on the stat sheet. Grade: B-. Hunter- Sammy, Sammy, Sammy... I think we all hoped he would be Xeyrius 2.0, a stretch 4 with a great shot who could also have an inside presence. The comment from the Marshall color guy about him not being able to perform when you can smell popcorn was both hilarious and very insightful. He showed promise in games late in the season but his season was a disappointment overall. Grade: C-. Tribble- the most tenacious player on the team and maybe the team's smartest player. Unfortunately, his shooting technique is obviously so engrained that it's become unfixable. Opponents have figured it out and have sagged off of him all season. Fortunately, he makes up for it with is versatility and defense. I'd love his intensity off of the bench. Grade: B. Clarke- showed his promise after coming off of injury. He's never going to be an All-MAC guard but when he makes good decisions he is solid and serviceable. Grade: C. Nate Johnson- maybe the most talented all around player in the team. However, he has maddening mental lapses and sometimes just disappears on the floor. Hopefully, these go away with age and experience. Plays much bigger than 6'3". If he can avoid the mental lapses and his on the court judgment improves, there's no reason he can't develop into an All-MAC player as a Zip. Grade: B-. Tavari Johnson- shows great promise but I fear he may be on his way to the transfer portal. I believe he could really flourish in a John Groce offense as he matures. However, I fear his inconsistent use may lead him to look for what he believes are greener pastures. Grade- B-. Lyles- did well when called upon, but he needs to develop the ability to move out on the floor if he's going to develop further. Also suffered from the occasional mental lapse. If Bandaogo was here I suspect he may have had a redshirt year. Grade: C+. Mitchell- another candidate for the portal. I think we all anticipated a breakout at some point that never came. He was just a R-Freshman so there's still time, I'm just get a feeling it won't be here. Grade- Incomplete. Mayfield- who knows what we have here. He needs some supplements and the weight room for now. Grade: Incomplete. Wilson- this kid knows his role. Best towel waiver and cheerleader on the team. Grade: A+. Wish list- a good stretch 4, a decent sized guard who can score and one or two decent backup bigs.

I'd like to get the kids some floor time, but they're not getting the NIT and I don't see them spending $27,500 to play in some half-@$$ed tourney like the CBI.

At the end of the day, as much as it pains me to say it, the Zips got beat twice in a week by a better team. Superior and deeper talent prevailed and Mr. PInky had his kids ready. As much as I don't like the attitude and behavior of some of their players, I'd give NWAkron's right arm for the effort and skill set of a guy like Jacobs.

Well, here we are, a week or more earlier that we had hoped but pretty much where many of us had predicted in the pre-season early predictions/projections thread. This team suffered from very early on from a lack of depth and talent beyond X and Enrique. It had two elite MAC top 5 players and otherwise no one above an average MAC talent. On the positive side, this team had character and heart. The kids were very likable, always played hard and you never got the sense that criminal charges were on the verge of ruining the season. I'd take one Greg Tribble over ten Nick Harneys. Dawson's injury and Bandaogo's departure put this team behind the eight ball early on. Dawson is not likely to lead the team in any major statistical category but he has an edge/fire no one else on the team possesses. You need a guy or two like Tyler Cheese and Channel Banks that have a little of that streetfighter edge to them down the stretch. As long as Groce is here the Zips will be competitive. This team had holes. Part of that's attributable to bad luck (e.g. Dawson, Bandaogo) some of it is attributable to a lack of success on the recruiting trail. I'll address individual players in a future post, but I would say in advance that none of the players suffered from a lack of effort. Inattention occasionally, poor judgment at times, but I never saw anyone dogging it. May the recruiting and transfer gods be with us.

Well.......****. I'll post the 2022-2023 Looking Back/2023-2024 Looking Ahead thread tomorrow. This needs to settle in a little.

When VonCameron Davis is making 3 pointers against you it's not your night.