1981 grad

Pure garbage? Are you telling me that nobody on this board would have any interest in an Akron Dukes matchup?

Shaka Smart, who is now the coach of a top seed with with Marquette, had a different view when he took over VCU. Shaka Smart has done many things since he took over at Virginia Commonwealth University. It didn’t take him very long to get far as a head coach either. In his first year at VCU, the Rams won the CBI Tournament, a lesser tournament than the NCAA and NIT tournaments, directed at mid-majors who should be rewarded for having solid seasons but not getting into the bigger tournaments through selection. In his second year at VCU, Smart took the Rams all the way to the 2011 Final Four before falling to Butler in a tough contest.

Really bad way to end a season: Losing to Kent two times in the last week of the season. Not getting to the MAC championship game. Not going to a tourney when we certainly had the season to qualify for the CBI. Not knowing if any of your players are going into the transfer pool.

If the players did not want to play. I am fine with it. I am sure that is what we will hear but I wonder if it is because the school did not want to pay the entry fee and the travel.

Now that the NIT has selected their field I expect we should hear if Akron decides to do a post season tourney.

Last year I thought Tribble would hit the gym hard to develop a decent jump shot. It did not happen. Although Clark was injured early, his game did not get any better offensively and he stopped shooting the outside shot. When those 2 were on the floor together, it made it easier for Kent to just clog the middle. I am disappointed in that both players really did not improve their shooting over the off season. I expected more improvement from these 2 players.

Last night on the post game Joe Dunn ask Groce about going to a post season tournament and Groce indicated it was up to the administration. I think if the players want to do the CBI, I hope Akron would accept an invitation. Florida in March would not be detrimental to the team. Last year OU played and the year before that Bowling Green played in this tournament. I think it would give our younger players, Johnson and Johnson to get more experience and a nice sendoff to our 2 seniors. Any thoughts on the CBI?

One last thought, I feel bad for Freeman in that he filled up the stat sheet, 11 for 17 for 26 points and 18 rebounds. He pulled down some tough rebounds and had a great block. He missed a layup early and missed 2 foul shots early but otherwise had a almost a perfect game. He just did not get enough support from the rest of the team to defeat Kent. It was a great individual effort.

X shot 2 of 11 from 3 point land and he forced a lot of those 3 point shots. He forced one at the end of the game when we were down by four. We had 18 turnovers. I will admit about half was based on good defense but the other half were just sloppy passes or just bad plays. I think Kent was the better team but if Akron played a half decent game we would have won tonight. That is the disappointing. I also thought Groce made a mistake yesterday pulling the reserves and putting the starters back in. He did not take out Tavari but did pull Nate. It really got in his head tonight as he looked like a dear in headlights not wanting to make a mistake tonight and we could have used him. I also thought the Kent coach made an adjustment in the 2nd half by doubling Freeman after he scored 16 points in the first half. On the post game Dunn stated he was not doubled but he clearly got doubled the 2nd half and was not as effective. We also have 2 players, Tribble and Clark, who have no confidence in their shot. It would have been nice to see Nate or Tavari out there more but Groce just did not trust the frosh with the pressure defense. I may be in the minority but I believe Akron let this one get away by playing mediocre ball and could not get over the hump to make the one pressure shot to tie the game and put the pressure back on Kent.

Thanks for posting this. I bought my tickets online and ended up in the corner lower level sitting with the Kent fans during the first game. I then moved to the Northern Illinois section that was mostly empty. I noticed that there were more Akron fans in the 2nd level than on the main level. Makes no sense. I am a season ticket holder and never received notice about tickets for the tourney. I rarely buy them from Akron because all the big donors gets the best tickets. Rather just buy them at the Q.

He cheated on this taxes and on his child support and got caught. By going through an information it looks like he is cooperating and will probably pay back taxes, a fine, and back child support. A terrible look for a coach to cheat on his taxes. Even worse to cheat your child out of support. I believe he will probably lose his job. However, if he is cooperating I doubt if he does any prison time depending on the circumstances. His agent might have told him everyone does it this way and persuaded him to alter the contracts. That is probably the best case scenario and a judge may be lenient if the agent is the more culpable of the two.

I thought offensively the Zips looked great. We had 4 of our 5 starters in double figures and shot close to 50% from the 3 line. The keys are getting offense from Hankerson and Hunter. Both of them had solid games with Hankerson having 4 steals and Hunter playing very physical and hitting some big shots. Also, Johnson and Johnson contributed off the bench. Tavari had some amazing passes and we had 18 assist tonight. Our weakness has been our shooting and not getting consistent play from Hankerson and Hunter. If those two continue to hit baskets I think we will beat Kent tomorrow. Finally, Freeman should be well rested because he sat out amost 10 minutes of the first half with foul trouble. Go Zips.

He signed a 7 year 7 million dollar contract so I think he has 1 year remaining that will probably be his last year. He had a much better year than last year where everything fell apart.

That is a great article. Akron has had a great regular season. It is one of the few seasons that I can remember where we did not have a clunker of a game and lose to a lower level team during the season. The one thing that bothers me going into the tournament is depth. Groce really seemed to shorten his bench the last 2 games. He took out Nate Johnson when he made a frosh mistake and gave a Kent player an open lane to the basket. Tavari only played a couple of minutes in Kent. We are going to need Johnson and Johnson to play some substantial minutes in Cleveland if we are going to win the Tourney. Tavari has played 5 minutes the last 2 games after having a good game against Western Michigan and being on the post game show. Groce teams always seem to play well in the Tourney and if Hunter continues the pace he has set the last 2 games we have a chance of advancing.

Ali ended the season the way he started it, on the bench with an injury. He has missed the last 2 games with a concussion type injury. He had his best outing of the season before the injury scoring 15 points. Not sure if he will play in their tourney.

This board has given Sincere Carry a lot of criticism this year but he clearly outplayed X yesterday and his defense was exemplary. Also, I did not see him dancing a great deal and just a little mugging for the camera. The sportsmanship on the court was very good for both teams and I would be upset over the fathom call at the end of the game so I will give the Kent coach a pass on the T. I am hoping the 2 teams meet in Cleveland for round 3 between 2 very good guards and hope that X gets the better of him the next game.

This loss does not bother me because it shows me that Hunter is a legitimate 3rd scorer and if he brings that to Cleveland we will be competitive in every game even against Toledo.

Absolutely horrible call at the end of a game. I hate to see the refs make weak calls at the end of the game even if they are in Akron's favor. What was the ref watching?

That is the 2nd time a kent player extended his arm into Freeman and Freeman gets called for the foul.

It is evening out.

That was Nate just making a frosh mistake and letting a guy get a free pass from the key to the basket. I think Groce will probably sit him down with that play.

Hunter has cooled off from long range but still playing well and getting to the foul line. Great possession where we had the ball for 2 minutes.

I will take a 3 point game early in the 2nd half. The Zips have not played their best game and hopefully can get over the hump and get the lead. Can X get it going in the 2nd half.

I wish Hunter had made that last open 3. It would have given us momentum going into the 2nd half. They are playing tough defense on X and he just cannot get an open shot.

He has had some nice passes while driving the lane. He just cannot finish at the basket tonight.