1981 grad

Hey, don't exaggerate, the thread will only be 5 years old on April 10th and I am sure it will keep going to follow KD is his second career if he chooses to become an AD. (LOL)

I am a long time Zip fan and and about halfway through the season when we were undefeated in MAC play and I heard Freeman and Tribble indicate that this team had another gear that they had not played their best basketball. I believed them and thought we were going to have a special season going undefeated in the MAC or at most 1 or 2 losses because the MAC was having a down year. I thought we would would win the MAC tourney and finally have a good shot at winning our first NCAA game. Then we played a tier one team, James Madison, and our bench scored a total of 4 points. I thought that this team lacks the bench talent to beat a tier one team in the NCAA tournament. And then we started losing to some really bad MAC teams. And there was one consistent weakness the entire season, we did not have a player who could knock down 3 points shooter and as a team we were really bad at hitting outside shots. We ranked 262 in the country in 3 point percentage and had the 2nd worst 3 point shooting Akron team in the past 10 year. And Groce knew going into the season he had a stud inside player, Freeman, who could dominate the middle. He had 3 players, Ali, Tribble, and Hunter who could score in different ways. He had 3 guys that had showed potential, Tavari, Nate, and Dawson. All he had to do was to bring in 2 guards that could knock down the 3 so that teams could not double and triple team Freeman. In football terms, if you have a stud quarterback, you search the portal for offensive lineman to protect your stud. In basketball terms, you bring in a shooter that if they double and triple team Freeman he can play inside out and have a shooter make the 3 ball. Instead, he brought in Thornton and Scott who could not shoot the 3 ball and could not create their own shot. Groce, who brought us X and LCJ, picked the worst year to strike out when using the transfer pool to bring in 2 guards. In the latter part of the season teams just double and triple teamed Freeman and we struggled to shoot the 3 ball. I think Groce is a great coach and brings in quality student athletes. I know we won in Cleveland and got to the tourney and should be happy with that achievement. However, I would ask everyone on this board one question, did this team meet or exceed your expectations when we started this season.

Great win for the Dukes. KD finally got that elusive NCAA win. Hope they can make it 2 straight on Saturday.

Having watched the Zips all season, I have the same bad feeling. But if somebody can get hot from the outside, we can compete. I just looked at the box score from the UCLA game and X was the leading scorer (18) with Freeman 2nd (14). Nobody else was close to double digits with Ali scoring 5 on 2 of 10 shooting and Tribble having 5 on 2 of 7 shooting.

At least Arby's is picking us to win it all.

Afraid of contact or getting blocked. He does not go up strong. You would think Groce would work with him on that.

Thanks, my mistake. I saw that Utah State is an 8 seed and we only lost to them by a couple of points. We had a chance to win when Dawson committed a costly turnover. We got killed by Drake the next game. Although we beat SDSU, they are a 15 seed. When you look at the stats of the game at Utah State, Freeman was amazing with 25, Hunter and Tribble were in double digits, and Scott had 4 on 2 of 4 shooting. Everyone else basically sucked on offense just like the game at James Madison and they were a collective 3 of 22. Almost identical to the stats at JMU. The more difficult the defense, the more difficult for our bench to score although we did not have Ali.

I would like to be optimistic but very difficult. We have played only 1 team that made the tourney, JMU, and look how that turned out. In 2022 we beat Kent in the final by 20 points and the game was never in doubt. This year we beat them by one. (Actually, they help beat themselves) My only optimism is that Nate and Sammy showed some offense in the final and I think that if Tavari runs the point and Sammy makes some threes we can be competitive. I also hope they do not double Freeman as I believe he can score on anyone if they do not double.

And I think that most people on the board would agree that this year's team has been a disappointment toward the end of the season. Getting to the tourney has raised the issue of which team is better. Winning against Creighton would settle the argument.

I see your point that top to bottom this version is a better team. However, X2.0 is the difference maker and having an outstanding point guard who can run the team makes the 2022 version of this team better. Ali is better in the paint but his 3 point shot has regressed.

Great article on why people should boycott the NIT because of the money grab by the NCAA https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/the-nit-is-everything-that-s-wrong-with-college-basketball-also-here-s-the-bracket/ar-BB1k418w

Who knows, Hurley might be heading back to the MAC (LOL) https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/asu-basketball-fans-call-for-head-coach-bobby-hurley-to-be-fired-its-time-for-a-change/ar-BB1jTP1q

If you are going to retire, go out on a high note. Cannot get much better than leading a school to the NCAA tourney when they have not been there for close to 50 years. KD is a class act.

One of my favorite Zips. Good inside player. He loved to shoot the 3 ball although he rarely made one. One game was really close and he started his shooting motion for a 3 ball and everyone in the crowd yelled no. He smiled and then drove to the basket. One of the funnier moments in the jar.

I like the 3 day format with no bye but I think the winner of the MAC should get some recognition. If the team does not get a NIT bid, the MAC should pay for the team to play in another tournament such as CBI.

You are correct. Conditioning was not one of Big Dog's strengths. KD strength was finding great big guys such as Big Dog and Zeke. Groce strength was finding impact guards such as LCJ and X. (And you know who from O U) However, this year he did not develop or bring in an impact guard or an impact shooter and this team has struggled on offense even with what is arguably the best player and big man to wear an Akron Uniform. (Not a Groce recruit). I thought Tavari had the potential to be that player and in Cleveland the offense looked its best at times when he was on the floor but his small stature and inability to get through screens kept him off the floor in the Kent game.

Thanks!! I just do not remember him being that good to cost us a MAC championship. I do remember one player who always seemed to underachieve in Cleveland and that seemed to hurt us in his last couple of years.

I really hopes he wins a game in the tourney so if he retires he will have at least one win in the NCAA tourney.

I watched the replay again and it looked like a 1-2-2 zone so I stand corrected. It did work and Sullinger was forced to take a shot over Freeman.

Pat Forsyth was a West Virginia transfer that everyone was very excited about and had a couple of decent years as a backup. Something happened where he dropped off the team. I remember seeing his at the Mac playoffs in street clothes and not with the team. I cannot remember what happened.

I agree! If we win, genius, if we lose, dumbest decision ever.

And then he had our slowest guy, Hunter, guard their quickest guard, Sullinger.

I remember last year they had a terrible season and somebody put up a link to their board and most of the people on the board wanted KD to be fired at the end of the season. (Obviously, their board in not as nice and tolerant as our board) I wonder what they are saying now?

No way. He just said that to take the blame. He was a class act in that situation.

Congrats to KD. They were up 18 and VCU cut it to 1 but the Dukes held on. To put Tribble's free throws in perspective, with a minute left a Duke player who shot 95% from the line missed a free throw on a one and one. Tribble has nerves of steel.