LZIp Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 Marquelle Macintire! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 (edited) 29 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: Eh, our OOC wasn't spectacular. Saint Mary's (23rd), Yale (80th), Ark St (92nd), Milwaukee (107th), and Princeton (130th) are all higher NET than any MAC school we've played (Miami is 155th, Ohio is 162nd, Toledo is 198th), but Omaha (202nd), Lamar (213th), N. Kentucky (254th), Alabama St. (296th), and Jackson St. (313th) are all in the range of the bottom half of the MAC schools we've played. Our defensive numbers weren't great vs. the lesser part of our OOC and outside of Milwaukee, nobody lit it up offensively against us (87 pts by Saint Mary's had more to do with their height advantage on rebounds). If you're waiting for the game vs. South Alabama (128th coming off a loss vs. lowly ULM), I don't know what you're looking for that we're not showing already vs. Miami/Ohio/Toledo. Our two closest losses were to Arkansas State (80-75 in OT) and Princeton (76-75 on a last possession shot). In the Ark St. game, Hardman played 5 minutes (3 pts), Seth played 12 minutes (5 pts), and although Isaiah Gray played 32 minutes he only had 4 pts on 3 2PA and 0 3PA. Those 3 pieces have since found their footing in this system, and if that game were played again, we most likely win that game. In the Princeton game, Seth Wilson played 15 minutes providing 0 pts on 2 shot attempts and Nate Johnson played 36 minutes (way above his recent average minutes per game). If our more recent balanced attack was exhibited in that game, we probably win. What is our optimism and outlook on the season like if we're 16-3 instead of 14-5 because a few pieces clicked a bit better earlier in the season, leading to simply 1 more basket in each game that would've given us victories in both? It's ok to trust your eyes right now. This is a good team with one of the deepest scoring rosters I've seen in quite some time in college basketball, especially at the mid major level. Cautiously optimistic isn't a bad thing as long as you allow yourself to enjoy the ride instead of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Go Zips! We lost to all the good teams we played OOC. That was my point. Several we were run off the court. Ohio is decimated with injuries and done for. Outside of Miami the rest of the MAC is a dumpster fire, including Toledo and Ohio. I don't deal in hypotheticals. We are what are record says we are. Edit: it's not like I'm arbitrarily viewing the games. We're 11-0 in Q4 games. We're 1-5 against Q1, Q2, Q3 opponents. Miami was our first non-cupcake win. I think it's reasonable to want to see more. Edited January 28 by kreed5120 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWAkron Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 17 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: We lost to all the good teams we played OOC. That was my point. Several we were run off the court. Ohio is decimated with injuries and done for. Outside of Miami the rest of the MAC is a dumpster fire, including Toledo and Ohio. I don't deal in hypotheticals. We are what are record says we are. Are you saying the MAC blows? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 This is an interesting topic: Are we really good because after the OOC schedule we improved a great deal or do we appear to be good because the MAC sucks. My answer: time will tell. Even good teams will lose against bad teams. However, if this team is really good, lets win the rest of the games. A really good Akron team should be able to run out the rest of the schedule. Lets win at Northern Illinois and at Kent and then continue this conversation. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWAkron Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 If Groce can't run the table with this team, when will he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 3 minutes ago, NWAkron said: If Groce can't run the table with this team, when will he? Groce never won the MAC regular season while at OU. His focus is and always will be March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 On a night Okonkwo runs up the silly fouls, Lyles has a substandard game, the threes don't fall and the other team gets hot, this team will lose. I like this team and their chances to win the MAC but history tells me there will be speed bumps along the way, including another injury or two. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 Just now, clarkwgriswold said: I like this team and their chances to win the MAC but history tells me there will be speed bumps along the way, including another injury or two. I hope thats not the case. I believe we already lost two guys for the season (Mahaffey and Harris). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, 1981 grad said: This is an interesting topic: Are we really good because after the OOC schedule we improved a great deal or do we appear to be good because the MAC sucks. Probably a little of both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 David Kalb (Whose name Joe Dunn always followed with, "The Walk-on from Bucyrus") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: Groce never won the MAC regular season while at OU. His focus is and always will be March. I can't say I've seen him lacking focus thus far in the 2025 regular season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said: On a night Okonkwo runs up the silly fouls, Lyles has a substandard game, the threes don't fall and the other team gets hot, this team will lose. I like this team and their chances to win the MAC but history tells me there will be speed bumps along the way, including another injury or two. Hopefully that day comes on a cold February evening, not in Cleveland in March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWAkron Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 2 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: Groce never won the MAC regular season while at OU. His focus is and always will be March. I didn't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, Captain Kangaroo said: I can't say I've seen him lacking focus thus far in the 2025 regular season. I meant the end goal is always success in March. His regular season focus is making sure we're in a position to win in March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDZip Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 Three of the Zips five losses are to teams (Ark. St., St. Mary's, Yale) that lead their conference and Milwaukee is in second. Even Princeton (where we got jobbed) is in third. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 3 hours ago, MDZip said: Three of the Zips five losses are to teams (Ark. St., St. Mary's, Yale) that lead their conference and Milwaukee is in second. Even Princeton (where we got jobbed) is in third. Yale beat Princeton by 7 yesterday at Princeton. It ended up being a good game (Yale had a sizeable lead that Princeton clawed back from). Saint Mary's, Yale, Princeton, and Arkansas State are all pretty solid mainstays on most mid major top 25 lists. It ended up being a strong mid major OOC schedule that clearly helped prepare this team for where they are right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted Saturday at 02:38 PM Report Share Posted Saturday at 02:38 PM On 1/28/2025 at 2:47 PM, 1981 grad said: This is an interesting topic: Are we really good because after the OOC schedule we improved a great deal or do we appear to be good because the MAC sucks. My answer: time will tell. Even good teams will lose against bad teams. However, if this team is really good, lets win the rest of the games. A really good Akron team should be able to run out the rest of the schedule. Lets win at Northern Illinois and at Kent and then continue this conversation. Continuing the conversation, we just blew out Northern Illinois and Kent on the road. Historically, 2 places that Akron has struggled to win. We dominated the boards in both games. In the OOC schedule our weakness has now become our strength. Nate Johnson is becoming a stud and played 35 minutes. His fade away around the basket is deadly and unstoppable. As long as we continue to shoot 40% or better from the 3 ball we will be tough to beat. However, our point guards have played loose with the ball and had 7 turnovers against Kent and TJ had 7 against Northern Illinois. Sharon Young went 0 for 5 at N. Illinois. My point is that we are not playing our best and still blowing out teams on the road. I think we are a good team playing a weak schedule. Barring injury, running out the MAC seems doable. Agree or disagree? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWAkron Posted Saturday at 02:43 PM Report Share Posted Saturday at 02:43 PM Glass is always half empty in some corners. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted Saturday at 02:56 PM Report Share Posted Saturday at 02:56 PM 11 minutes ago, 1981 grad said: Continuing the conversation, we just blew out Northern Illinois and Kent on the road. Historically, 2 places that Akron has struggled to win. We dominated the boards in both games. In the OOC schedule our weakness has now become our strength. Nate Johnson is becoming a stud and played 35 minutes. His fade away around the basket is deadly and unstoppable. As long as we continue to shoot 40% or better from the 3 ball we will be tough to beat. However, our point guards have played loose with the ball and had 7 turnovers against Kent and TJ had 7 against Northern Illinois. Sharon Young went 0 for 5 at N. Illinois. My point is that we are not playing our best and still blowing out teams on the road. I think we are a good team playing a weak schedule. Barring injury, running out the MAC seems doable. Agree or disagree? I don't make much of the NIU win as they are, even by their standards, having a horrible year. Per NET there are only 10 teams worse than them in the entire country. I'm more confident after the Kent game. Not because Kent is good, but because Kent is the type of team that would have bullied us around in November with their physicality. We've definitely have been more assertive and cleaned up many of the things that were plaguing us earlier in the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted Saturday at 02:58 PM Report Share Posted Saturday at 02:58 PM I'm encouraged by the improvement on the boards. Really encouraged actually. I have flashbacks to St Mary's sometimes and can't believe it's the same team. Thought we were in for a very long year that night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted Sunday at 09:48 PM Report Share Posted Sunday at 09:48 PM On 11/1/2024 at 4:28 PM, Let'sGoZips94 said: 3 days away from the first game... and I'm getting excited. I remember the feeling in the spring of not knowing what would come of this team post-Freeman. Who would've thought Groce would come back with arguably his deepest team? I have no idea how good the top-end talent will be because they're all new guys, but I do know we are legitimately 10-11 deep. F: Okonkwo, Lyles W: Harris, MKK G: NJohnson, TJohnson, Scott, Young, Gray, Wilson, Hardman Again, true level of production is TBD, but I can't recall a Zips team that is expecting to get legitimate production from their 10th and 11th guys. What leaps will Lyles, NJohnson, TJohnson, and Scott take? How does Young fair as a true freshman? Can Okonkwo establish himself as a force down low? How will the 3 pt shots of Harris, Wilson, and Hardman be? I think Gray will be our most consistent player (Tyler Cheese-esque). Despite this, Akron isn't getting any love in the preseason expectation opinions. Ohio and Toledo are the representatives from the MAC for the mid-major rankings, and even Kent is getting more love. Akron's "dark horse" ride will last as long as it takes the chemistry to come together. If that's sooner rather than later, look for the Zips to quickly climb the mid-major ranks. I read this post and about half way through the conference schedule everything is coming ups roses. Amazing leaps from Lyles, NJ, TJ, and Scott. Wilson is shooting an amazing 47% from three point range in conference play and Okonkwo has established himself as rebounding machine down low. The chemistry is coming together and we are undefeated in conference play. Grey has been consistent but Nate Johnson has even been better leading the team in scoring. We are a 10 deep team even with Harris being out for the year. Your analysis was spot on and much better than the MAC preseason polls. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWAkron Posted Sunday at 10:14 PM Report Share Posted Sunday at 10:14 PM https://akronzippedup.substack.com/p/zips-mens-basketball-weekly-update-752 Excellent round up of this week's action from Zipped Up. Cool commentary on Tavari and Nate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted Monday at 01:07 AM Report Share Posted Monday at 01:07 AM 3 hours ago, 1981 grad said: I read this post and about half way through the conference schedule everything is coming ups roses. Amazing leaps from Lyles, NJ, TJ, and Scott. Wilson is shooting an amazing 47% from three point range in conference play and Okonkwo has established himself as rebounding machine down low. The chemistry is coming together and we are undefeated in conference play. Grey has been consistent but Nate Johnson has even been better leading the team in scoring. We are a 10 deep team even with Harris being out for the year. Your analysis was spot on and much better than the MAC preseason polls. Thank you. I will say their pace of play is not something I foresaw and is truly what our advantage is. There are very few teams in the country, let alone the MAC, with our depth and pace of play. While most teams have to shoot well (35%+ from 3 and 48%+ from the field), Akron can have sub par nights and still come out on top comfortably thanks to our volume. 30% from 3 and sub 48% from the field is equal to, if not greater than, the total point production of your average teaming shooting well. Kent is a great example because they were unconscious vs BG and still only scored in the 70s. Adding our scoring depth into the equation, we don't even rely on the same guys for that offensive production. As Groce said, we had 6 guys in double figures and it can be a different group of guys on any given night. This offense is so much fun to watch, and here's to hoping we can keep the training rolling into March. Big time potential should they be cutting the nights in Cleveland. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDZip Posted Monday at 09:33 AM Report Share Posted Monday at 09:33 AM (edited) Zips #15 in the College Insider Mid-major poll and #25 in Mid-major madness. Edited Monday at 09:34 AM by MDZip 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZipsFan31 Posted Tuesday at 01:42 AM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 01:42 AM I am starting to think this is the year… Beat south Alabama 17-1 in conference, gets a 12 seed and take down the 5 seed! the MAC is down but we are confident as confidence can be and that will help us not back down from that 5 seed! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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