LoyalZIP

Cannot wait to play them. House $$$ baby!!!!

To the Final Four they go! Maybe their 25 fans will be interested in purchasing some tickets for Houston early!

1. Ianello--Absolutely a better roster (1-11) 2. Bowden--roughly the same (1-11) 3. Arth--inherited the most wins (0-12) Add them up: 2-34 in their first seasons.

This is certainly something that will need to be discussed at some point, I'm sure @Hilltopper has more inside info. But he's been at Akron for a long time now. IIRC, he was academically a sophomore when he began playing in the 19-20 season. He's now in his 4th year in the program, 5th year of college, and would be picked up by many high-majors in a heartbeat, and I'm sure he could get himself a nice NIL deal. Or he could go overseas and play forever. I just don't see him returning. They announce him last in the pregame intros too, which the usually save for guys with no eligibility left. Not scientific, but something to think about.

Nice read indeed. The group has come a long way since Game 1, no doubt about that. I feel really bad for Kobe because he has developed into a reliable defender who plays his behind off at that side of the floor. He’s just really struggling to find his jumper. There’s a lot worse guys we could have in that 9th foster spot, but he could be so much better. Definitely on the “Portal Watch”

Been thinking about it, and Kent reminds me a lot of those 16-17 Akron teams, only they play a lot tougher defense. Solid talent top to bottom, and the only thing that could bring them down is their own mental errors. As they’ve dominated the MAC regular season since February of last year, I’ve found myself tuning out their praise more and more. As it grows, I hear and care about it less and less. I’d suggest Zip fans do the same. No matter what happens this year, nothing will ever take away March 12, 2022.

This is where I am as well. There's no reason to point to any one thing before spring ball and predict how it will be come fall. However, there is no doubt that this program now has expectations. Maybe not expectations of a trip to Detroit or a road P5 win. Last year was a house $ year for Joe & Co. I think they did a pretty darn good job, all things considered. The last 3 Akron coaches before Joe combined to go 2-34 with equal if not better rosters, in a MAC that had a lot more bottom-feeders available despite the overall "meh" 2022 MAC lineup. Joe went 2-10, and averaged a 4-point loss in MAC play. Pretty unprecedented stuff in what I will call the "InfoCision Era" of Akron football. When was the last time the program had expectations of "This team should make a bowl game" ? I'd say 2016 since I thought the 2017 & 2018 teams would be terrible (not here to argue that). I thought 2015 would be a stepping stone year to truly becoming the class of the MAC. BOY, was I wrong. Anyway, Joe is in a weird situation. He's got a roster of pretty much all his guys, an All-MAC QB whether people like him or not, a good-to-great RB room, and a nice smattering of skill players to go along with a defense that should be better. With that said, there is ONE player on the roster that has ever been on an Akron team with more than 2 wins. Spring and Fall camp are more crucial than ever this year. Game 1 is more crucial than ever. The two P5 games are more crucial than ever. The more this team develops and wins before October, the more likely they are to succeed in November and December. It was hard to develop the team in-season last year when they opened with an FCS nail-biter and then played away from home for the next entire month, taking two horrendous beatings while overmatched, and putting together one of the better nonconference performances of the last decade. On paper, 5 MAC losses by one score should be plenty of growing pains to start winning out of the gate. Though I find it insane that we're surrendering what could be a 6th home game in one of the nicest football venues in America to play another on the road, those P5 games could potentially be within reach. And Temple, while probably a bit better, is on the same playing field as Akron right now.

I would agree with that. Akron and Kent are pretty similar in terms of “power rankings.” I want the Zips to get the 3 seed if they don’t win the regular season so they play the last game on quarterfinal day and I’d be more likely to be able to go.

Much better tonight. They weathered the storm of their worst start of the year to rally and dominate. CMU is pretty bad, but the Zips deserve a ton of credit. They were tough and took a lot of punches early. CMU was physical but Akron didn’t back down. Camp was superb running the show. Keep it rolling, Go Zips!

Indeed a great opportunity to bounce back tonight. CMU has fallen out of basketball relevance under Heather Osterle. She has not been able to build or maintain on what Sue Guevara built there, and it’s opened the door for programs like Akron to take a spot at the top of the league. I’d love to see the Zips dominate this one tonight, getting a lot of minutes from the likes of Thorpe, Stewart, Stinson, Miller, and Rasheed.

Groce said postgame that a few guys have been under the weather with what sounds like a stomach bug. Sammy getting sick throughout the night, and X was far from 100%. You could see X struggling a bit. Another thing I noticed was aggression on defense. When Groce complains about them being too "soft" I think this is one of those things he's referring to. They could have probably been called for more fouls, but I liked the aggression of getting a hand on the offensive player and not being afraid of contact. That could be something that comes back to bite them in other games, but it played into the Zips' favor last night.

Big time road kill! A solid performance across the board. Nobody in particular stood out as amazing, and nobody bad. Program win! Definitely could have shot it better, especially X. But the looks are there. Nice games for the young guys. Onto Kalamazoo! Should be a good one. Go Zips!!!

Talking about the 19-20 team has become something I do very regularly. I guess that’s how I like to gauge a truly great team. The thing that separated them from most Groce teams was their ability to win, and win BIG on the road. They went up to Mt. P on Valentine’s Day 3 years ago and smacked the Chips. Last year was a struggle to watch, as the Zips did everything in the power to try to lose. This CMU team is improved when they’re healthy. This will be no easy feat, not that anyone was expecting it to be. I’d be very surprised to see Akron win by more than 10. Go Zips!

The o/u are hilarious

Bingo. I think the overall style they play is what concerns me about how they will do once it comes down to Cleveland. Camp, while a huge addition, is way out of control at times. And when they get into situations like Saturday, decision making goes south and the passing is just abysmal. The Zips were dominating that game, the play-by-play tells the story. They went 4 straight empty possessions with a big lead in the 2nd quarter that could have given them a massive halftime lead. Without that one player to rely on for a bucket, this team looks real volatile to me at times. And that was just the case Saturday, in the blink of an eye, 30 minutes of stellar play was gone.

Well said. I use the word "if" a lot, to a fault sometimes. But if the Zips hold onto that big late lead against Nevada and do the same against Ball State, the perception of this team would be quite different. 13-4 (4-0 MAC) would look much different on paper. However, the "mean" pretty much says what the Zips are. Not quite the best in the MAC, but better than most. Last year, they were blown out by a horrible Fordham team, and a bad App State (after the OSU heartbreaker, no less), then were pretty decent, but still just skating by until the 3-game debacle that resulted in the exodus. At this point last year, through the tournament, Akron was rated around 150-160 in KenPom. So far, they've maintained around 115-125 since the Nevada loss. Going into the LSU game, they were 100th. I do think this team is much like last year's, I just see more consistency from the group as a whole. The Marshall and Bradley losses stick out, no doubt about that. But I see that much more as a sign of the development of this team so far as opposed to just not being any good. Like, if last year's team in March had played Fordham again, they would win easily 9/10 times.

Yes, this is where I am after 4 MAC games, @kreed5120 Hunter is still the wild card, but I feel he brings so much more to the table than a guy like Trimble did in the early going last year. Last year, they struggled to a 2-2 start, and put up a massive clunker at Kent. They followed that up with being the worse team at home against WMU for about 38 minutes, snuck past EMU 46-44, and dragged their feet to a win at CMU shortly after that. I don't think the 2023 Zips are close to the end of the season 2022 Zips yet. But you can go back and read the posts and read the box scores to see for yourself, 12 months ago, this team was all over the place. That's not to say this team hasn't been like that at times, but not having a guy like Trimble in there that could single-handedly shoot them out of the game has been a big plus. Will their peak be better than the 2022 team? Hard to say, but I think this team's upside is just as good, if not better.

My point is not that Jim Christian is coaching Jesus, my point is Pinky has a real coach on his sideline now instead of that ding-dong Aaron Fuss. And I do not think they’re unbeatable or other-worldly. But last year’s team lost to Southern, CMU, and NIU all at home in the span of a month or so. This team is much improved. And I think Akron is too, and getting better still.

I will say, Kent looks different with Miryne Thomas as the third option on offense. I still think they're super weak in the post, but that back court is as good as any in the MAC. And Carry still has his pouty moments. Pinky has Jim Christian on the bench now, who has helped immensely with the overall attitude issues over there. Malique Jacobs, Santiago, and Thomas all make that team next-level good. Thomas is doing for them what Hunter should be doing for us.

The road warrior Zips are back at it this week with a pair in Michigan. Any MAC win is a big win, and not many will be easy. I wouldn't expect these two to be easy at all. After two weeks, I would rank the MAC as follows: 1. Kent (4-0)--Not much to be said. They've shown a lot more vulnerability in MAC play than I was expecting, but they get the job done when it counts. 2. Ball State (3-1)--Their first MAC loss comes on the road against OU. Always admirable. They then crushed Miami at home to maintain their perfect home record. They are for real, I don't know exactly how real, but they will no longer be a doormat. 3. Akron (3-1)--If if if if. We can all agree that this team should be 4-0, but that doesn't matter. The difference that X makes is enormous. I don't consider that an indictment on the rest of the team, either. Ball State is a top MAC team and the short-handed Zips had a good chance at them in the dying minutes, even without making a single shot the final quarter of the game. Plug in #13, and the team looked entirely different just a few days later, against another tough opponent. Keep it rolling. 4. Toledo (2-2)--After a couple years of dominating the regular season, the Rockets are beginning to look human. They went 17-3 in MAC play last year, and are 0-3 against Kent since last year. They lost to Ball State at home last week. Things don't get much easier as they host OU and go to Buffalo this week. 5. WMU (2-2)--They opened MAC play with a valiant effort at Kent, followed by a blowout at Toledo. This week, there's much more confidence after wins against EMU and BG. They were down big early to BG but wound up putting 69 points on the board in the 2nd half. This is a dangerous team, and the Zips will have their hands full on Saturday. 6. CMU (2-2)--Their two losses came on the road to the worst teams in the league, but they were short-handed so I will give them the benefit of the doubt. They willed their way to the win over Buffalo on Saturday. They've got some talented guards, and will present a tough matchup for Akron tomorrow. Tony Barbee is a solid coach. 7. Buffalo (2-2)--After opening league play with a pair of home wins, the Bulls go on the road and drop both this week, to Miami and CMU. That's an awfully tough week on the schedule. The Bulls are pretty athletic and have some skill, but they lack a big bruiser big/rebounder. They are still winless on the road this season amid a rebuild. 8. Ohio (1-3)--Tough decision here between them and BG, but I simply trust OU more. They've lost 3 MAC games by fewer than 10 points, and are Ball State's only MAC loss. This team is no slouch, and could very easily claw back into the top 4. Their achilles heel, like many other MAC teams, is going on the road. Just 2-6 this year. They also showed some great will against Kent, taking big punches and still keeping themselves alive. 9. BGSU (2-2)--The beauty of power rankings is that the records don't necessarily matter. Week 2 looked like a regression to the mean for BG. They were arguably the better team on Tuesday for about 30 minutes, but Akron locked in when necessary and stole one in the Stroh. Then the Falcons put up an abysmal effort at WMU (still scored 92 though). BG fans really beginning to question Huger once again, rightfully so. 10. Miami (1-3)--They're still pretty bad, but have put up a few good fights in MAC play. They beat Buffalo fairly handily this week, before becoming Ball State's next victim. As mentioned last week, they had Kent on the ropes pretty late. They will beat some teams, but have a huge uphill battle ahead to make the top 8. 11. NIU (1-3)--Just one week ago, I would have bet that NIU would never escape the bottom spot of my definitive rankings, but here we are. They did their job and beat a short-handed CMU team before getting smacked by Toledo. They're on the road to Miami and EMU this week. 12. EMU (1-3)--I wish there were 40 teams in the MAC so I could put them at 40. They are a disgrace to the game of basketball. The Bates situation has completely ruined this once promising team from a year ago. They don't play hard, they're selfish, they lack skill just about everywhere. Just atrocious. Kent could name the score against them tomorrow. As I say this, I will be incredibly worried they will beat Akron when the Zips play the return game.

Coach Winston leaving isn’t gonna help land this guy. I wonder when his official visit to Akron is, or if he’s even still interested.

I’m a huge fan of Melissa Jackson, she’s been a part of nearly all of the major success this program has ever had. That cannot be argued. And I think it was pretty unfair to not give her a bit of an extension after last season. With that said, she is indeed a great recruiter as was previously stated. But there are a lot of red flags with this program. 1. I think player development leaves a ton to be desired. Jodi Kest’s final recruiting class wasn’t great. Melissa was on that staff, of course. I don’t think any one of those players was notably better the day they left the program than the day they entered. In the classes since, Layne Ferrell has emerged, as has Molly Neitzel. But I don’t see much development behind them. As for Neitzel, she’s had a foot out the door for a lot of her Akron career, I’m glad she stuck around for this final year. Coach figured out how to use her at the end of the 20-21 season, and it has worked out well. 2. The aforementioned in-game coaching issues. 3. Not sure who to place the blame on, but a lot of the players aren’t in great physical shape. They get gassed much quicker than a lot of teams in this league, and the lack of depth makes it much more evident, especially when BG is running press and has fresh legs late in the 4th quarter. This isn’t a 2023 issue. It dates back to 18-19. Yesterday’s game was not the end of the world and will not be what does her in. But it certainly brought a spotlight to some of the issues. However, if it had been a close game the entire way, or even if BG had led by 7-10 points all day, I wouldn’t be as concerned as I am right now. The Zips had them dead to rights multiple times throughout the entire game. They led 28-15 middle of the 2Q and missed 4 consecutive shots. They wound up going into the break with a 9 point lead. Akron’s starting guards had 3x more TOs in the ball game than BG. Very troublesome stuff, IMO. But it’s a long season, and I believe in this group. They can learn from this and make some noise in the MAC once again.

No she was in, I can’t really explain why she didn’t have the ball more at the end. She’s often out of control, but against a defense like that, Camp is the far better option.

Timeout management has been an issue at times for coach Jackson. When Camp called a timeout on a loose ball at one point in the 3rd quarter, you could see coach was pretty upset. Then BG came out like a buzz saw in the 4th quarter and the lead evaporated instantly. Very few whistles were blown in that sequence, so the girls were gassed. Especially Ferrell. She could barely bring the ball up, especially against the press. She threw so many terrible passes in the 4th. Amid that run, after every made basket, they kept looking over to coach, but she kept riding it out and saving that final timeout. I’m wondering if she regrets that decision.

CMU takes down UB in overtime. Great game. Freeman will have his hands full with their big guy, Pavrette. Solid guard from from the Chips. It’s stunning that they’ve lost to EMU and NIU.