Captain Kangaroo Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 Legacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 7 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said: Legacy. It's time for some of these guys to create one. What they have done so far means nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy87 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 29 minutes ago, GP1 said: Maybe the seniors should show some leadership and play better so internet warriors don't blame their coach. Everyone shares a little blame. The coach isn't above it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre22era Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 It definitely falls on the coach. On his watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBlu Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 This probably belongs on a post-season wrapup but .... find me one game - much less 3 or 4 - this season where Ali put the Zips on his back and carried them to the finish line. Enrique, for all his plus-plus abilities, does not 'carry' the Zips offensively. That job should belong to Ali. He should have been 'the closer.' If anybody ever saw it, let me know when. Down the stretch of the season is when you need 'that guy' to step up and it just hasn't happened. Maybe at the MAC Tournament we'll see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 (edited) 12 hours ago, Zippy87 said: Everyone shares a little blame. The coach isn't above it. Agreed. This is a veteran team and the veterans have to shoulder more of the blame load than a less experienced team. Coaching is much more important for young players than older players. Edited March 9 by GP1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 10 hours ago, dre22era said: It definitely falls on the coach. On his watch If it's his fault, then maybe you should blame Dr. Miller also. And if you blame Miller, then you're blaming the Board of Trustees. If you're blaming the BoT, then you are blaming the Ohio public education system. If you're blaming the public university system, isn't last night's loss an indictment of our national education system? I for one am not going to sit here and listen to anyone bad mouth the United States of America. You should be ashamed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy87 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 16 minutes ago, GP1 said: Agreed. This is a veteran team and the veterans have to shoulder more of the blame load than a less experienced team. Coaching is much more important for young players than older players. The share of blame I'd pin on coaches is primarily the roster and recruiting. No frontcourt depth and Thornton/Scott were portal misses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBlu Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 48 minutes ago, Zippy87 said: The share of blame I'd pin on coaches is primarily the roster and recruiting. No frontcourt depth and Thornton/Scott were portal misses. There is some truth here ... and I think it is not just an Akron problem. Toledo-Akron-Kent had the best three guards in the league the previous two years and all were transfers. This season the best transfer guard/player is the PG at CMU. Every portal player in the MAC from Toledo to Akron To Kent and on down the line VASTLY underachieved. Personally, I think teams would be better off getting Jucos with a solid resume instead of the question marks and left-overs in the portal. I believe Toledo-Akron-Kent all recruited Dennis-Castenada-Carry out of HS and knew what they were getting. Not so sure about the latest crop. ... But that's the issue, and must be addressed IMO going forward for the entire league, not just Akron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre22era Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 There was one possession in the clutch when the Zips were fighting for a rebound on the defense end and Ali was already trotting down the court. No urgency No awareness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre22era Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 1 hour ago, GP1 said: If it's his fault, then maybe you should blame Dr. Miller also. And if you blame Miller, then you're blaming the Board of Trustees. If you're blaming the BoT, then you are blaming the Ohio public education system. If you're blaming the public university system, isn't last night's loss an indictment of our national education system? I for one am not going to sit here and listen to anyone bad mouth the United States of America. You should be ashamed. Based on your flawed logic why da fook even have a coach? My brother is a college basketball head coach. I would blame his ass too And yeh I also blame yo ass for continuing to kiss ass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 14 minutes ago, dre22era said: Based on your flawed logic why da fook even have a coach? My brother is a college basketball head coach. I would blame his ass too And yeh I also blame yo ass for continuing to kiss ass Stop badmouthing the United States of America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dre22era Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 (edited) 14 minutes ago, GP1 said: Stop badmouthing the United States of America. Edited March 9 by dre22era Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted March 9 Author Report Share Posted March 9 (edited) The list of people to blame: John Groce Dustin Ford Rob Fulford Robby Pridgen Amani Lyles Shammah Scott Greg Tribble Kaleb Thornton Tavari Johnson Ryan Prather Jr. Sammy Hunter Evan Wilson Zach Halligan Mikal Dawson Ali Ali Enrique Freeman Nate Johnson Okay, now that we have that out of the way, what's the solution and is this fixable? Edited March 9 by clarkwgriswold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewbrooman1 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 53 minutes ago, dre22era said: Lighten up Francis. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 28 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: Okay, now that we have that out of the way, what's the solution and is this fixable? Groce told us before the season started that this team would be different than any other Zips team because the offense would be initiated through the best player on the team in the post. As a result we have often had wide open looks from deep. It’s up to our guys to make a fair share of them. It would have been nice if Nate was playing better going into Cleveland and it would have been nice if one of the point guards developed into a legit threat during the course of the season, but that didn’t happen. So as unfortunate as it is to say, this team peaked early and everyone else has closed the gap on us. That said, there is more than enough in that locker room to get it done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 2 hours ago, dre22era said: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted March 9 Author Report Share Posted March 9 41 minutes ago, GP1 said: I don't think he got the joke. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted March 12 Report Share Posted March 12 On 3/9/2024 at 4:27 PM, clarkwgriswold said: I don't think he got the joke. He never does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 (edited) On 3/9/2024 at 5:18 AM, RoyalBlu said: This probably belongs on a post-season wrapup but .... find me one game - much less 3 or 4 - this season where Ali put the Zips on his back and carried them to the finish line. Enrique, for all his plus-plus abilities, does not 'carry' the Zips offensively. That job should belong to Ali. He should have been 'the closer.' If anybody ever saw it, let me know when. Down the stretch of the season is when you need 'that guy' to step up and it just hasn't happened. Maybe at the MAC Tournament we'll see it. Ali was that guy in many games. Tribble in others. The EMU game was all Ali Ali until Tribble and others missed all the free throws in the final minute. Fact of the matter is, @Zippy87 nailed it with the roster construction issues. There simply isn't enough production from the top end of the back court and depth in the front court. However, I don't buy that it's a league-wide problem. PCCC lost InSincere but still has 2-3 guards that can put up 20+ on any given night. NIU has a guard that just dropped 30+ on us. BUGS got the top JUCO scoring guard and he's a stud - if they had any type of depth outside of him, they'd be a real problem. Sears and Dennis are the 2 big guards that left for P5 programs in recent years, but the league has had quite a few top scoring guards transfer in and be here for several years - LCJ, X2.0, Cheese, InSincere, Preston, etc. Fact is, Groce & Co. simply whiffed on backfilling X2.0's production. They have a mountain of an off season ahead of them to not only find big time production at the guard position, but also fill the front court shoes of Freeman. In the meantime, they have an even bigger mountain directly in front of them called the MAC Tournament that starts tomorrow. If they don't have these guys refocused and bought back into Akron Defense by tip off against Miami, they'll be climbing the off season mountain sooner than expected. Edited March 13 by Let'sGoZips94 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 20 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: Fact is, Groce & Co. simply whiffed on backfilling X2.0's production. You hit the nail on the head!!! How many times after a MAC game has Scott or Thornton been on the post game? By my count zero. Plus you have Nate getting injured and Dawson struggling on offense. If you add in Hunter having an off night it is just too much pressure on 3 guys. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: Ali was that guy in many games. Tribble in others. The EMU game was all Ali Ali until Tribble and others missed all the free throws in the final minute. Fact of the matter is, @Zippy87 nailed it with the roster construction issues. There simply isn't enough production from the top end of the back court and depth in the front court. However, I don't buy that it's a league-wide problem. PCCC lost InSincere but still has 2-3 guards that can put up 20+ on any given night. NIU has a guard that just dropped 30+ on us. BUGS got the top JUCO scoring guard and he's a stud - if they had any type of depth outside of him, they'd be a real problem. Sears and Dennis are the 2 big guards that left for P5 programs in recent years, but the league has had quite a few top scoring guards transfer in and be here for several years - LCJ, X2.0, Cheese, InSincere, Preston, etc. Fact is, Groce & Co. simply whiffed on backfilling X2.0's production. They have a mountain of an off season ahead of them to not only find big time production at the guard position, but also fill the front court shoes of Freeman. In the meantime, they have an even bigger mountain directly in front of them called the MAC Tournament that starts tomorrow. If they don't have these guys refocused and bought back into Akron Defense by tip off against Miami, they'll be climbing the off season mountain sooner than expected. Good post. The truth hurts. Groce & Co. pretty much whiffed on *Scott & Thornton. **Tavari didn't develop like I'm sure they were hoping. Dawson has regressed since his injury & year off. Nate Johnson got hurt & hasn't returned to form. PF ***Jermaine Marshall transferred out for mort PT. He'd be a senior for us this year. C ****Aziz Bandaogo transferred out for more PT. He'd be a junior for us this year. We've had a lot to overcome. * I still think Scott has a lot of upside. ** Seems as though Groce & Co. were banking on a breakout year for Tavari. *** Jermaine was named to the SoCon All-Tournament Team and had 23 & 8 in Samford's championship game win. **** Aziz would be one of the best mid-major C's in the nation this year. 🫤 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 Not to pile on but Garvin Clarke would have been a Junior this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 20 minutes ago, Illini Zip said: Not to pile on but Garvin Clarke would have been a Junior this year. Not sure that would help since he is playing division 2 basketball at Indana U of Pa and they lost to Walsh. Averaging 18 points but only shooting 25% from 3. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted March 13 Author Report Share Posted March 13 21 minutes ago, Illini Zip said: Not to pile on but Garvin Clarke would have been a Junior this year. Thought of him yesterday. He's averaging 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds at IUP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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