clarkwgriswold Posted March 14, 2021 Report Share Posted March 14, 2021 The 2020-21 season is now behind us giving us only next season to look forward to. This thread kept us rolling through the last off-season. Have at it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted March 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2021 (edited) Presumed returners- Freeman, Ali, Edwards, Tribble, Trimble, Dawson, Marshall, Clarke, Wynn, Bandaogo and Walter. Known incoming- Mitchell, Johnson and Kalle Presumed non-returners- LCJ, Dailey, Reece and Currie We all know there are surprises with every off-season so I doubt the above holds up across the board. Whatever happens, it will nice to be back in the JAR. Here's hoping the basketball gods bring the Zips some big man depth. Edited March 16, 2021 by clarkwgriswold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 We need creators. I think our role players are suitable, but we need players. and more than one, who can create. I think Ali, Clarke, and Dawson can be creators, but they aren't proven. We are also bringing all freshman in for the first time in Groce's tenure. Any additional scholly's that open need to go to players you think can step on the floor right away and create their own shot. If one of the 3 mentioned don't step up and we don't hit on a transfer, we are middle of the pack next year while some of our underclassman gain more experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 2 minutes ago, LZIp said: If one of the 3 [incoming freshmen] don't step up and we don't hit on a transfer, we are middle of the pack next year while some of our underclassman gain more experience. I agree. If none of our soon-to-be-juniors - Ali, Dawson, or Marshall - becomes a team leader (legit consistent scoring threat) we could have a sub par season. I think Greg Tribble, our other soon-to-be-junior, simply is who he is: a fantastic athlete who gives 100% and can play lock-down D... but who has rather shaky handles to run the point & isn't able to stretch a defense with his outside shooting. I don't anticipate a big jump, skill-wise, from Greg. Bryan Trimble & Michael Wynn are going to be our only seniors next year. (Actually, due to COVID they both may still be classified as juniors. Idk.) But anyway, they'll be our veterans. I still don't really know what to think or expect from either. Here's my projected 2-deep: PG: Clarke......... Johnson (uber stud incoming freshman; I think he'll be backup PG after Christmas) W: Trimble........ Tribble W: Dawson........ Wynn P: Ali Ali ........... Marshall P: Freeman...... Salle or Bandaogo I'm picking Kobe Mitchell to redshirt, though he will likely be the 2nd best 3-point shooter on the team as soon as he sets foot on campus. But watching his lousy, and I do mean lousy, competition in high school makes me think it'll take him a year to adapt to the D-1 college game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 How do the scholarships work if a senior decides to stay and play one more year. Does that scholarship not count since the player is getting an extra year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 What's the deal with Tre Edwards? Was he hurt? If not I wonder if he'll return Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z.I.P. Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 I don't know how you can consider Taylor Currie a "presumed non-returner" based on what we saw this year. We DIDN'T see him this year -- and no one seems to know WHY! Could coaches simply be holding him back anticipating his maturation for the future? I have no idea -- but I can't simply guess that a former high-major recruit is suddenly a bust in the MAC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 8 hours ago, zippy5 said: What's the deal with Tre Edwards? Was he hurt? If not I wonder if he'll return I believe he got even less PT than Currie? Idk. But I don't have him in my hypothetical 2-deep because something must be up w/ him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 3 hours ago, Z.I.P. said: I don't know how you can consider Taylor Currie a "presumed non-returner" based on what we saw this year. We DIDN'T see him this year -- and no one seems to know WHY! Could coaches simply be holding him back anticipating his maturation for the future? I have no idea -- but I can't simply guess that a former high-major recruit is suddenly a bust in the MAC! *cough *cough Maishe Dailey *cough 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 9 hours ago, 1981 grad said: How do the scholarships work if a senior decides to stay and play one more year. Does that scholarship not count since the player is getting an extra year? Pretty sure it still counts and the team scholly limit/total remains unchanged. Schools and conferences have the option to deny the extra year. For example, the Ivy League announced that it would not give an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes whose season has been cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. As far as I know, the MAC is allowing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 ...still so confused... 🙃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoyalZIP Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 I spent most of this past season ultimately caught up in the guard play of this team, as I was rather impressed with what Freeman and Reece provided to this team. I'm very excited to see what Freeman can do with another offseason, hopefully it includes more time in the weight room than this past. I have a lot of faith in the staff to help him improve his game. He had some nice hands this year that failed him in crunch time, I look for improvement there as well. A person I don't think is talked about enough is Aziz Bandaogo. Of course this is a situation where I'm largely guessing based on the lack of knowledge on the guy, but every time Groce talks about him you can hear him perk up with excitement at how good he thinks Aziz will be. He's incredibly long and clearly needs a lot more time in the weight room, but from what I've seen he looks like a pretty good athlete for 7'. That kind of size can be a big problem for other MAC teams if he can develop his game, unfortunately due to COVID he didn't join this team until January so he was pretty worthless, but I think after a couple of months to acclimate to the country and to the team, he's got a nice head start to be a breakout player. As for the future of the point guard position, I really like Garvin Clarke. Sure, he was a little overwhelmed at times, but he showed some pretty great flashes for a true freshman that didn't have a proper fall camp. It only took one play a game for me to get excited, he certainly looked the part. As the group collectively began to struggle, he did too. Earlier on in MAC play, he hit a few perimeter jumpers and was more of a contributor to the offense, that kind of disappeared down the stretch though. His pass in the semifinal game to whoever it was that dunked it--that's reason enough to get excited. This staff is recruiting well, now I'd love to see the development! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 2 seasons ago, LCJ had support with Cheese, Banks, and X. As much credit as we give LCJ for these past 2 seasons, this past season exposed how important Cheese and X especially were. With that being said, Clarke is now the PG. He looked good this year in his semi-limited time, and I'm excited for the future of this program with him at PG. I think he'll have more help than LCJ had. We'll have more size and more scoring production with next year's lineup. One can only assume that Bondaogo will be the center until he graduates. That's 7 ft. vs 6'7" Reece, and shifts Freeman to the PF position, which his height fits better (6'7") and gives him an advantage in my opinion. Ali (6'8") is your starting F at 6'8", Trimble (6'2") is your starting 2G, and Clarke is your starting 1G. That's pretty formidable height wise, and you have scoring threats with 4 out of the 5 positions guaranteed (no idea what Bondaogo is like on offense). Your bench is deeper than it was this year. Wynn is probably your 1st man off the bench. He really came on at the end of the year, and can spell 2 positions - guard and forward at 6'6". Tribble is your 2G specialist (similar to Banks - lock down D, effort, and some scoring here and there, especially as a slasher) and Dawson is probably your 8 or 9 man. I like Marshall a lot, and will be your first PF/C off the bench. The X Factors are Currie and the incoming class - Mitchell, Johnson, Kalle. Does Currie show up, leave, or stay hidden at the end of the bench? I think the 3 freshman can all come in and contribute right away, throwing a wrench potentially in my above projections. Mitchell and Johnson scored at will in high school - will that continue at the DI college level? What is Kalle's game like? No matter how you slice it, I think we'll be more talented, bigger, and deeper than we were this year. I'm very excited, and believe we will be at the top of the MAC with OU and Buffalo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 I agree with a lot of what you said but it's hard to say a team losing LCJ is going to be more talented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 https://www.instagram.com/p/CMcfxqgl1Pb/?igshid=1subnqwqfedqa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 (edited) Getting an error on embedding but appears Scott Walter is getting on with his life's work Edited March 15, 2021 by zippy5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 2 minutes ago, zippy5 said: Getting an error on embedding but appears Scott Walter is getting on with his life's work Good for him. I can't imagine practicing every day & never setting a foot on the court. Though with his attitude I liked him being around the team, ala, LePear Toles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoyalZIP Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 Overall talent level between this past year and next year is definitely an interesting conversation to have. Returning 7-8 guys that regularly contribute to a rotation and having them go through an entire offseason program says a lot to me. On top of that, there are a lot of veterans within the program too as you have Trimble who's going into his senior year (jr. year, whatever) and third in the program (yes I know only second playing), Tribble's third year, Ali's third year, Freeman's third year, Dawson's third (ish) year. That's a long time for a group to be at the same school, playing and practicing together. Remember, LCJ's breakout season was his third in this system. My hope is that despite losing a guy like LCJ, his collective talent and experience is spread out over a rather large handful of important contributors who have played meaningful minutes. Who steps up to be the leader of the team? That's a more interesting and important conversation when it comes to next year's roster. As for the COVID policy not making last year count toward eligibility, I really don't feel like a ton of players or coaches are going to take advantage of that. Of course, every situation is different. But how much would it throw off the scholarship chart for next year's "juniors" to stick around for what would be their 5th year, pushing away a newcomer? To fans it's exciting, but I feel like coaches would rather have a strict timeline set for their personnel. It will be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted March 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 Thanks guys for the continued civil and thoughtful discussion. While we have our disagreements occasionally, this part of Zips Nation runs smoothly in large part due to the decorum of its participants. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted March 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 1 hour ago, zippy5 said: Getting an error on embedding but appears Scott Walter is getting on with his life's work Great kid from a great family. Best of luck to Scott. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said: Great kid from a great family. Best of luck to Scott. Turns out he was no Enrique Freeman. (Too soon)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 That was predictable AND predicted (NOT by me). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 15, 2021 Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 So basically UA recruited him for a spot and he changed his game to no longer fit in that spot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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