Zippy87 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Now that Harris is done for the season, the path toward repeating as champion has become harder. Most years, I wouldn't even consider it possible, but the MAC looks bad this season. In my opinion, we need the following: 1) Slow the pace of the offense I think they can and should run, but I also think there's too many times we settle for shots too early in the shot clock and, because of our lack of offensive rebounding, leads to some brutal dry spells. Sharron Young did a wonderful job in the 2nd half yesterday pushing at a faster pace but creating better shots for himself and his teammates. 2) Gradually Increase Young's Minutes He has the highest ceiling of any player on the roster, is an excellent shooter and scorer, and his basketball IQ is far beyond a typical freshman. I know defense will bring growing pains, but I can live with it given everything else he does. We should be playing through he and Tavari often. 3) Cut Seth Wilson's Minutes I had high hopes for him, but I'm just not sure what he adds. Take away the Ohio Wesleyan and SUNY Brockport games and he's scored 16 points in 9 games, shooting 21% (6-29) from the field. Over his last 5 games, he's 1-13 (all 3-point attempts). I know Groce has to consider he's a senior, but I'd rather continue to see what MMK can do. He doesn't score, but he's at least shown the ability to add rebounding, which we obviously need much more of. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 It's the same as it's always been. Win three nights in a row in March 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 I think we just need to become our best selves. Nothing more. I liked seeing Nate steal the ball and finish on the other end with an emphatic 2-handed dunk. Sure it might not be as cool as a tomahawk dunk, but it’s better than him missing altogether. That’s progress. Keep making those adjustments and improvements throughout the season. Collectively and individually. Rebounding, too much dribbling around, traveling, bad passes, missed free-throws, missed layups, dumb fouls, moving screens, broken defensive assignments. I think we are our own worst enemy at times. Sure, I would like to see Marvin get more opportunities going forward and Young become the primary ball-handler. But other than that nobody is standing out as an obvious starter right now. Maybe Nate, but he can be inconsistent as well. I would let the match-up dictate playing time. Certain players might distinguish themselves by March, but right now the whole active roster is engaged and I don’t expect that to change. And I don’t foresee a schematic change either. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy87 Posted January 5 Author Report Share Posted January 5 2 hours ago, zippy5 said: It's the same as it's always been. Win three nights in a row in March How? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 I wish there was more at stake for winning the regular season championship. Hasn't Toledo won the regular season 3 years in a row? ...See, I don't even remember. Winning the MAC Tourney is a blast & a rush, but it's kind of a downer for the rest of the season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 The only thing I can think of is a financial incentive of some sort for the league winner. The MAC Tournament used to include all 12 teams I believe. If we went back to that, teams ranked 5 - 12 would have to play an additional round. Making it worth while to be a top 4 team. And then I like the idea of reseeding after each round. That would ensure the top seed had the easiest road to a championship. In theory anyway. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 The team is small, guard heavy and deep. Take advantage of those things. Wear the other team down with ball pressure and pace. Pace means pushing the ball and playing fast. It does not have to mean playing sloppy, taking bad shots and turning the ball over. Also, the depth is going to help in the rigors of the MAC Tournament week. John Groce knows what he's doing and he's good at adapting and working with what he has. I'm going to trust him on this one. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 Defense and rebounding need to improve to be a championship team. In Groce we trust 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roopride Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 More on Harris please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 7 minutes ago, roopride said: More on Harris please? It's like every other Zips injury, a state secret. However, we know it is a shoulder. Friday night there was a report on X that he's done for the season. It was on the heels of Groce essentially stating that he and Mahaffey were out indefinitely. Hilltopper, whose info is always spot on, seemed to confirm he's done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 (edited) 11 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said: It's like every other Zips injury, a state secret. However, we know it is a shoulder. Ahem, "upper body injury"... let's not violate the young man's privacy. Edited January 6 by ZippyRulz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 3 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said: The team is small, guard heavy and deep. Take advantage of those things. Wear the other team down with ball pressure and pace. Pace means pushing the ball and playing fast. It does not have to mean playing sloppy, taking bad shots and turning the ball over. Also, the depth is going to help in the rigors of the MAC Tournament week. John Groce knows what he's doing and he's good at adapting and working with what he has. I'm going to trust him on this one. And we also need to shoot better from distance. It seems like every year Groce brings in great shooters and the team struggles from the 3 point line. On Friday we shot 42 three pointers and averaged 28% from distance. As a team we are at 34% and remember that includes 3 blowouts against very weak competition. That has to improve. Our best 3 point shooters are Grey and Young who are over 40%. The worst are Nate at 29% and Seth at 20%. Most of Seth's shots have been from distance so not a good look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 20 hours ago, zippy5 said: It's the same as it's always been. Win three nights in a row in March This guy MACtions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 15 hours ago, Blue & Gold said: I wish there was more at stake for winning the regular season championship. Hasn't Toledo won the regular season 3 years in a row? ...See, I don't even remember. Winning the MAC Tourney is a blast & a rush, but it's kind of a downer for the rest of the season. Especially since they took away the NIT bids for regular season winners. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBlu Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 15 hours ago, Illini Zip said: The only thing I can think of is a financial incentive of some sort for the league winner. The MAC Tournament used to include all 12 teams I believe. If we went back to that, teams ranked 5 - 12 would have to play an additional round. Making it worth while to be a top 4 team. And then I like the idea of reseeding after each round. That would ensure the top seed had the easiest road to a championship. In theory anyway. I. agree with all of this. A STRONG financial incentive for winning the MAC regular season, perhaps $500,000 (or more) from the league directly into team NIL. Then a return to 12-team MAC Tournament complete w/4 team bye. First rd on campus. While I'm not a huge fan of reseeding, I could live with it as long as the financials and MAC Tournament format aligned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 1 minute ago, RoyalBlu said: I. agree with all of this. A STRONG financial incentive for winning the MAC regular season, perhaps $500,000 (or more) from the league directly into team NIL. Then a return to 12-team MAC Tournament complete w/4 team bye. First rd on campus. While I'm not a huge fan of reseeding, I could live with it as long as the financials and MAC Tournament format aligned. The MAC does have financial incentives for winning the regular season title. I don't remember the exact dollar figure, but obviously it isn't enough to move the needle. Before covid the MAC set up a plan to reward schools that perform well in basketball. The payout is funded by additional credits the MAC earns by winning games in the tournament. The more credits that are accumulated, the bigger the payouts become. The problem is the MAC isn't sending multiple teams to the tournament or advancing enough for that pot of money to grow sizable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBlu Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 (edited) 19 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: The MAC does have financial incentives for winning the regular season title. I don't remember the exact dollar figure, but obviously it isn't enough to move the needle. Before covid the MAC set up a plan to reward schools that perform well in basketball. The payout is funded by additional credits the MAC earns by winning games in the tournament. The more credits that are accumulated, the bigger the payouts become. The problem is the MAC isn't sending multiple teams to the tournament or advancing enough for that pot of money to grow sizable. Then supplement it with some of the TV money. The MAC needs to start moving the needle w/basketball or the league is going to fall more and more behind. FB makes $$ just by being DI, then individually getting big paydays for 2-3 P5 games a year. If the MAC paid its regular season BB Champ $500,000 off the top out of the annual NCAA Tournament pot, that should be incentive for all. As I understand it, the NCAA pot is equally divided between all MAC teams and the league. Right now the MAC is a one bid/one game league as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned. Going one step more ... I'd say any MAC team that wins a game or games in the NCAA Tournament also gets extra out of the pot ($250,000 per win above split). Incentives are the key, and this day and age there is not much of a bigger incentive than $$$MONEY$$$. Edited January 5 by RoyalBlu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 2 hours ago, 1981 grad said: And we also need to shoot better from distance. It seems like every year Groce brings in great shooters and the team struggles from the 3 point line. On Friday we shot 42 three pointers and averaged 28% from distance. As a team we are at 34% and remember that includes 3 blowouts against very weak competition. That has to improve. Our best 3 point shooters are Grey and Young who are over 40%. The worst are Nate at 29% and Seth at 20%. Most of Seth's shots have been from distance so not a good look. I remember the Marshal color guy talking about Sammy Hunter being a great shooter but not when he could smell popcorn (meaning being a good shooter in practice but not games). Maybe our shooters have that problem. LOL. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 1 hour ago, RoyalBlu said: Then supplement it with some of the TV money. The MAC needs to start moving the needle w/basketball or the league is going to fall more and more behind. FB makes $$ just by being DI, then individually getting big paydays for 2-3 P5 games a year. If the MAC paid its regular season BB Champ $500,000 off the top out of the annual NCAA Tournament pot, that should be incentive for all. As I understand it, the NCAA pot is equally divided between all MAC teams and the league. Right now the MAC is a one bid/one game league as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned. Going one step more ... I'd say any MAC team that wins a game or games in the NCAA Tournament also gets extra out of the pot ($250,000 per win above split). Incentives are the key, and this day and age there is not much of a bigger incentive than $$$MONEY$$$. The team that earns the extra credits does get extra. I read it too long ago to remember all the details. I think extra credits earned are split into 3 shares. 1 share is equally divided between all teams. 1 share is given directly to the team that earned that share. 1 share is given to the league office to help cover league expenses and pay incentives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roopride Posted January 6 Report Share Posted January 6 8 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said: It's like every other Zips injury, a state secret. However, we know it is a shoulder. Friday night there was a report on X that he's done for the season. It was on the heels of Groce essentially stating that he and Mahaffey were out indefinitely. Hilltopper, whose info is always spot on, seemed to confirm he's done. If out for the year, does he get next year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted January 6 Report Share Posted January 6 (edited) 39 minutes ago, roopride said: If out for the year, does he get next year? That’s the question. It might be awhile before we get that answer. Like after the season. But technically he’s just a junior this year so he would have another year anyway. The question is really, does he have 2 years of eligibility left? And if so, can we get a young man who already has multiple degrees to hang around that long? Edited January 6 by Illini Zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy87 Posted January 6 Author Report Share Posted January 6 On 1/4/2025 at 9:45 PM, Blue & Gold said: I wish there was more at stake for winning the regular season championship. Hasn't Toledo won the regular season 3 years in a row? ...See, I don't even remember. Winning the MAC Tourney is a blast & a rush, but it's kind of a downer for the rest of the season. I was a big fan of the double-bye format. Getting to advance straight to the semis was a huge incentive for the top 2 teams in the regular season. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 6 Report Share Posted January 6 12 hours ago, Zippy87 said: I was a big fan of the double-bye format. Getting to advance straight to the semis was a huge incentive for the top 2 teams in the regular season. The issue is whatever the MAC does people will complain. They did away with the double bye because they felt it was too overpowered and made the tournament predictable and unexciting. I don't remember the exact stats and don't feel to look it up, but they weren't wrong. Now that the NIT bid was taken away, I feel they need to revisit this again. At least offer a single bye. The MAC regular season champion not having a postseason is criminal. Perhaps the MAC can pay for them to compete in one of the pay to play tournaments. The MAC's bigger problem is many schools just have given up caring about basketball all together and spend every spare dime on football or in several circumstances hockey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBlu Posted January 6 Report Share Posted January 6 With all these P5 leagues now looking to get 8-10 or more teams in the NCAA Tournament each year, ... the NCAA should really revisit awarding conference champs from Top 20 leagues into the NIT. Mid-majors pay a 'penalty' for being in one-bid leagues. But 10-bid leagues get an extra reward with at least 2 more teams in the NIT. It really is not fair. But FAIR in our society seems no longer viable no matter what the sport-business-etc. is. If you can bend, stretch or even break the rules - especially if you have the money/power to get what you want. So be it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy87 Posted January 7 Author Report Share Posted January 7 11 hours ago, kreed5120 said: The issue is whatever the MAC does people will complain. They did away with the double bye because they felt it was too overpowered and made the tournament predictable and unexciting. I don't remember the exact stats and don't feel to look it up, but they weren't wrong. Now that the NIT bid was taken away, I feel they need to revisit this again. At least offer a single bye. The MAC regular season champion not having a postseason is criminal. Perhaps the MAC can pay for them to compete in one of the pay to play tournaments. The MAC's bigger problem is many schools just have given up caring about basketball all together and spend every spare dime on football or in several circumstances hockey. They certainly need to revisit the format. The #1 seed earns you no advantage - not hone court, not less games to win the tournament...nothing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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