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2018-2019


UAZip0510

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Hate to see him go but if he and the coaches didn't see eye to eye then it's for the best. Curious to see how he ends up, he really improved over the year. Luckily we'll have some depth next year, and I'm sure this is no surprise to the staff so they'll have a replacement soon enough I'd assume.

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Since I wasn't in the room when Groce and Cotton had this discussion, I don't know why this occurred. 

 

We all know who the core players are on the team for next year, and I haven't heard of any of those guys wanting to transfer

 

BG and WMU have important players leaving (although, I don't think Derek Koch was all that), and both teams crashed and burned at the end of the season and didn't make it to Cleveland.

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I will give him an A for a nice goodbye tweet.  I think it is best if he leaves no matter how talented if he is not going to respect and follow the coach's direction.  It is weird in that on the post game after the Western Michigan win he thanked Groce for putting the ball in his hand at the end of the game and then he acts up in the Eastern Michigan game and he does not play at the end of the game.    

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I spoke with a member of the staff this Sunday and he said all were sorry to see Version leave but no one would miss his lack of control and immaturity. The staff felt this was best for the team and the culture they wanted to achieve. That may be a good sign because Groce is looking long term, not necessarily seeking to leverage a great season for a better job as fast as possible. Spare me the comments that Groce will leave ASAP. I believe he will leave one day too, but I feel he will build a higher level of expectation than KD did before leaving. I'll take it. Akron is a stepping stone job, not a destination as much as I hate that.

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8 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

I spoke with a member of the staff this Sunday and he said all were sorry to see Version leave but no one would miss his lack of control and immaturity. The staff felt this was best for the team and the culture they wanted to achieve. That may be a good sign because Groce is looking long term, not necessarily seeking to leverage a great season for a better job as fast as possible. Spare me the comments that Groce will leave ASAP. I believe he will leave one day too, but I feel he will build a higher level of expectation than KD did before leaving. I'll take it. Akron is a stepping stone job, not a destination as much as I hate that.

I remember all the posts in the various threads about how John Groce and his staff are going to leave as soon as something better comes along.  I don't necessarily look at that as a negative because in order for him to do that he's going to need to build the Akron program into a team that's in the NCAA and winning games there.  When that time comes, it will be up to the administration to decide whether the Zips go the route of Ohio U or the route of Buffalo.  I don't want a coach that is just happy with being slightly above average.

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I don't see that UA "gave up" on Virshon.  What I see is a player whose "character" was not in line with what Groce wants to achieve, the type of issue that causes team dissension and drama that individual talent can't counterbalance.  You only needed to watch his interactions on the bench with his teammates and consider Groce's comments from the EMU postgame to see this coming.   I wish the kid well wherever he ends up, but this outcome was predictable.

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28 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

 If he would have said he may transfer due to not seeing eye-to-eye with Groce we all probably would have agreed.

Any many of us definitely thought it was a possibility throughout the season.

Edited by LZIp
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16 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

I spoke with a member of the staff this Sunday and he said all were sorry to see Version leave but no one would miss his lack of control and immaturity. The staff felt this was best for the team and the culture they wanted to achieve. That may be a good sign because Groce is looking long term, not necessarily seeking to leverage a great season for a better job as fast as possible. Spare me the comments that Groce will leave ASAP. I believe he will leave one day too, but I feel he will build a higher level of expectation than KD did before leaving. I'll take it. Akron is a stepping stone job, not a destination as much as I hate that.

 

No talking about KD or comparing him in this thread. Only in a special designated thread.

 

 

?

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You don’t give up on a talent like Cotton, especially with his ability to want & make a game winning shot as a Freshman. Those are hard to find. 

Remember What Ivey was like as a Frosh/Soph. Does that mean Groce would have given up on him too. 

His transfer is a big loss.

 

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1 hour ago, Zip44 said:

You don’t give up on a talent like Cotton, especially with his ability to want & make a game winning shot as a Freshman. Those are hard to find. 

Remember What Ivey was like as a Frosh/Soph. Does that mean Groce would have given up on him too. 

His transfer is a big loss.

 

 

Jimond Ivey was spirited and occasionally showed signs of being frustrated, but he was never a bad teammate requiring the intervention team leaders or the coaching staff.  Comparing Ivey to Cotton is like comparing Eddie Haskell to Attila the Hun.

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I did not mean to imply that the staff had given up on Virshon. They didn't. Rather he gave up on doing things their way. He was a talent no doubt, but this is addition by subtraction. The staff did everything they could to help him along the way, but it was always going to be the Akron basketball way, not Virshon's. He could not accept that. Next year his playing time was probably going to be reduced. With that you risk him being a cancer in the locker room. That is not an acceptable risk. Good luck to him wherever he goes. The team will be better for his departure. 

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