2017-2018

[K92]

4 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

He could have been run off the team.

 

Or, he could have been given a frank assessment of his basketball future at the MAC level (his PT last season would be similar the what's in store for him in 2017-18 @ UA) and been given the choice of staying or leaving. 

 

Nice kid. I wish him well. 

I heard he's going somewhere else to be a star.

[UAZip0510]

Updated with Malcolm Duvivier

[Blue & Gold]

What a nice looking lineup for next season:

 

PG:  Duvivier / Patton

2G:  Ivey / Eubanks

SF:  Utomi / Parrish

PF:  Williams / Sayles

C:    Olojakpoke / Kostelac

 

And this with two 4-star players and one 3-star player waiting in the wings for '18-'19  

[K92]

Can someone see if John Groce would be willing to hit the recruiting trail for football too?

[skip-zip]

1 hour ago, K92 said:

Can someone see if John Groce would be willing to hit the recruiting trail for football too?

 

Does the name Chapman ring a bell?  Or, how about Bain?

 

Just hope that a couple of these these basketball players that carried previous lofty ratings back in high school are more productive as 2nd chance transfers than the football players have been.    

Edited May 14, 2017 by skip-zip

[ZachTheZip]

Players can be talented, but if they can't come together as a team it won't get you anywhere. And if the coaches can't work with the players to develop natural talent into basketball ability then you end up with a very athletic streetball team.

 

There's too many new players, it would be very surprising if they came together enough in year one to compete for the MAC East. They might win games against lower teams due to talent differential, but a veteran mid-major team should give a team like Akron problems.

[zipsrule]

2 hours ago, ZachTheZip said:

There's too many new players, it would be very surprising if they came together enough in year one to compete for the MAC East. They might win games against lower teams due to talent differential, but a veteran mid-major team should give a team like Akron problems.

This may be true most years, but the MAC seems to be headed for a down year.  The bar may not be set as high as in years past.  I could see some struggles early on, but by the time we get to the MAC tournament, I would like think we would gel enough to be playing solid basketball.

Edited May 14, 2017 by zipsrule

[ZachTheZip]

22 minutes ago, zipsrule said:

This may be true most years, but the MAC seems to be headed for a down year.  The bar may not be set as high as in years past.  I could see some struggles early on, but by the time we get to the MAC tournament, I would like think we would gel enough to be playing solid basketball.

 

I thought the goal was to immediately start getting NCAA tournament wins. If it's not, this board sure could have fooled me.

[zipsrule]

5 minutes ago, ZachTheZip said:

 

I thought the goal was to immediately start getting NCAA tournament wins. If it's not, this board sure could have fooled me.

I would agree with that, but your comment was around competing for the MAC East.  It may be tough in year one to win NCAA games, but they   may be able to compete in the MAC East.

[skip-zip]

1 hour ago, zipsrule said:

It may be tough in year one to win NCAA games

 

May?  

 

Based on the fact that we haven't won one of those games in our entire D-1 basketball history (1980?), and that we've had far better teams than the ones we will be putting on the floor anytime soon, I'd worry more about winning games with any kind of regularity before I see even the possibility of a chance to just GET to an NCAA tournament again. 

[LZIp]

Only 4 players from last season's team will be on this years. Crazy. Encouraging players previously good enough for the team under KD like Aa Jackson and Dalton to leave seems like a good thing as you have to assume those scholly's are going to be filled by better players.  Feel much better about the season now that Duvivier is official. Expecting Patton to captain the ship would have been too much. It will be interesting to see how these guys come together.

[skip-zip]

5 minutes ago, LZIp said:

players previously good enough for the team under KD

 

That should be a lesson to at least a few people on this board about how much things can change between the time everyone gets all excited about a kid's high school accolades, and facing the reality of where some of them are a few years later.  

 

Some players work out.  Some don't.  

[LZIp]

12 hours ago, ZachTheZip said:

 

I thought the goal was to immediately start getting NCAA tournament wins. If it's not, this board sure could have fooled me.

Who said that isn't the goal? Expecting that in a transition year is REALLY unrealistic though.

Edited May 15, 2017 by LZIp

[clarkwgriswold]

13 hours ago, ZachTheZip said:

 

I thought the goal was to immediately start getting NCAA tournament wins. If it's not, this board sure could have fooled me.

 

That will be the goal (until they lose regular season games). 

[LZIp]

Well dammit! Another scholly!

 

[zippy5]

Geez

[Let'sGoZips94]

Anybody have any insight on who Groce is still in contact with? 

[UAZippers]

I am starting to wonder about Noah possibly coming back. He has been on the market for quite a while now and I haven't even heard of any teams really showing interest. 

[Captain Kangaroo]

5 minutes ago, UAZippers said:

I am starting to wonder about Noah possibly coming back. He has been on the market for quite a while now and I haven't even heard of any teams really showing interest. 

I don't know that it's his decision whether or not to return?

[Captain Kangaroo]

9 hours ago, LZIp said:

Well dammit! Another scholly!

 

As starved as we were for a big to spell Dog this past season, if this kid had a seat next to Ty Dalton he was apparently not an "early bloomer."

 

I thought he was a non-qualifier, but if he redshirted, his grades and test scores must have been fine?

 

#godukes

[LZIp]

10 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

As starved as we were for a big to spell Dog this past season, if this kid had a seat next to Ty Dalton he was apparently not an "early bloomer."

 

I thought he was a non-qualifier, but if he redshirted, his grades and test scores must have been fine?

 

#godukes

I thought he was a non-qualifier/greyshirt as well. I had some expectations for him, but I am of course intrigued to see who that scholly goes too.

[UAZippers]

15 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

I don't know that it's his decision whether or not to return?

I'm not sure it is either, but I would be surprised if we were able to get a player better than him at this point.

[Captain Kangaroo]

17 minutes ago, UAZippers said:

I'm not sure it is either, but I would be surprised if we were able to get a player better than him at this point.

IMO - Groce was really fair in giving underclassmen time to digest the situation/changeover and make their stay/leave decision. If Noah chose "leave," I don't know what level of groveling would be necessary for him to return, but my guess is - pretty high.

 

The apparent lack of interest in his services speaks volumes. Either that....or he's just ready to move on from basketball.

 

He had his opportunity to remain #zipforever, and he passed. I wish him well. But we move forward....

[LZIp]

Does anybody have an idea on what position we target? Does Groce decide to fill the scholly with a player immediately eligible with 1 yr of eligibility or a younger player eligible next year? Any chance he decides not to use it? I don't see anyway that is really a good idea.

 

I think my guess is a forward from the hole created or a sharpshooter. Think Walsh, McAdams, Kretz type,

[Let'sGoZips94]

21 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Does anybody have an idea on what position we target? Does Groce decide to fill the scholly with a player immediately eligible with 1 yr of eligibility or a younger player eligible next year? Any chance he decides not to use it? I don't see anyway that is really a good idea.

 

I think my guess is a forward from the hole created or a sharpshooter. Think Walsh, McAdams, Kretz type,

 

If that's the type of player we target, I'd want to use 4 years on him. It was an honor to have all 3 in an Akron uniform. They all represented the University VERY well.