Illini Zip Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 29 minutes ago, 1981 grad said: I know that Buffalo is not very good but we shot over 50% from the 3 ball on the road. I have seen very talented Akron teams struggle on the road against some very weak teams. If we can keep shooting the 3 over 40% we are going to be tough to beat because we have some guys that can finish at the basket and we have 2 of the best guards in the conference. I know this was a blowout and we had some rough patches but still fun to watch this team. 💯💯💯 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy87 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 10 hours ago, Illini Zip said: I’m happy for Akron fans, I really am, but I’m not so sure Groce takes the job if he knew what was waiting for him. I personally think he was blindsided. Between a depleted roster and a fractured fan base, Groce unknowingly walked into a situation far worse than Buffalo 2025. For all of Dambrot’s accomplishments and accolades, he left a dumpster fire behind. Many coaches would have reneged. It’s Akron’s good fortune that Groce is a man of character. He kept his commitment, didn’t pout, and immediately went to work on the rebuild. It was late in the recruiting cycle and remember transfers had to sit out a year back then. I don’t want to be hard on those guys, but much of the talent available was subpar and many Akron fans with winning expectations didn’t know how to handle a 14-18 season, 6-12 in the MAC. Give credit to KD for all he did, Groce certainly does. But make no mistake, Groce pulled Akron basketball out of the ashes. And I hope he retires there with many more accomplishments to come. Go Zips!! I'm not sure why he would be blindsided. He knew Big Dog and Cheatham were graduating. It was the worst kept secret that Robotham was headed home. The only players who followed KD were Dunn-Martin and Hughes. What happened is not at all uncommon when a coach leaves, and wasn't nearly as bad as what sometimes happens. "Pulling Akron basketball out of the ashes" is a bit hyperbolic IMO. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 3 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said: Buffalo has 8 freshmen on the roster, the most in D1 according to the announcer. That may bode well for the future, but they're awful in the present. The old saying in college basketball is get old, stay old. That saying is more true than ever this day and age with the portal being more player friendly. You saw Akron lose a lot of seniors this past season and then reloaded with more juniors and seniors. I feel Buffalo or any team that tries to build strictly through high school recruiting is going to struggle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 2 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said: Seth with a bad night. 0 points, 4 turnovers. 2 hours ago, 1981 grad said: They were some ugly turnovers trying to dribble through the press. Might just be one of the guys who is going to be streaky. Scary that we're able to drop 90 on the road with one of our better shooters lately going 0-fer. That's how deep this team is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDZip Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: Scary that we're able to drop 90 on the road with one of our better shooters lately going 0-fer. That's how deep this team is. More accurately it might be said with him taking only one shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 It is my opinion that Groce wasn’t expecting a complete rebuild. That’s it. And no it’s not common practice for a coach to take players with him. It’s actually frowned upon. And after losing by 32 points at home I imagine what is left of Buffalo’s fan base is being quite hyperbolic. They have had to roll around in ashes for a lot longer than one offseason. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy87 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 1 hour ago, Illini Zip said: It is my opinion that Groce wasn’t expecting a complete rebuild. That’s it. And no it’s not common practice for a coach to take players with him. It’s actually frowned upon. And after losing by 32 points at home I imagine what is left of Buffalo’s fan base is being quite hyperbolic. They have had to roll around in ashes for a lot longer than one offseason. Sure it is. Shannon Evans left Buffalo for Arizona State when Bobby Hurley left. He led the 14-15 Bulls in MPG and was 2nd in PPG. It happens fairly often with recruits, too. Buffalo has had to "roll around in the ashes" longer because neither Hurley or Oats stayed long enough to build a longstanding winning culture and tradition that would make the job attractive to an outsider. That's what happened in Akron and why the situations aren't the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 (edited) 35 minutes ago, Zippy87 said: Sure it is. Shannon Evans left Buffalo for Arizona State when Bobby Hurley left. He led the 14-15 Bulls in MPG and was 2nd in PPG. It happens fairly often with recruits, too. Buffalo has had to "roll around in the ashes" longer because neither Hurley or Oats stayed long enough to build a longstanding winning culture and tradition that would make the job attractive to an outsider. That's what happened in Akron and why the situations aren't the same. I think it also helped that we went out and got a proven winner with name recognition. Had we just promoted one of Dambrot's assistants we might have found ourselves in the same boat. Buffalo decided to promote an assistant whose only stint at coaching D1 basketball previously was a 50-70 record in the Horizon League. That doesnt inspire much confidence. They followed up that hire getting another assistant that had no D1 head coaching experience whatsoever. Edit: I kind of understand why they promoted the first assistant. They still had M'balla and a few other players they hoped to build around to contend. An external candidate likely means everyone leaves and you lose the program momentum. Everyone ended up transferring out or graduating after 1 season anyway so they ended up with a depleted program anyway with a coach that had no prior success of building a winning mid-major program. Edited January 22 by kreed5120 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 Blowing out bad conference opponents on the road is what really good teams do. I hate to see UB has fallen off so much. There used to be some really good matchups with them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1981 grad Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 11 hours ago, Zippy87 said: I'm not sure why he would be blindsided. He knew Big Dog and Cheatham were graduating. It was the worst kept secret that Robotham was headed home. The only players who followed KD were Dunn-Martin and Hughes. What happened is not at all uncommon when a coach leaves, and wasn't nearly as bad as what sometimes happens. "Pulling Akron basketball out of the ashes" is a bit hyperbolic IMO. I agree. And Groce's first year team was not half bad as he recruited some great talent that first year including LCJ. We actually pulled a big upset in an away game to get to Cleveland in the MAC championships: "Kalamazoo, Mich. – The No. 11 seed Akron Zips men's basketball team outlasted the No. 6 seed Western Michigan Broncos, 79-78, in a rollercoaster of an opening round Mid-American Conference Tournament game on Monday night at University Arena. The Zips overcame an 18-0 start and 23-point first half deficit to advance to the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio at Quicken Loans Arena. We played the No 3 seed in Cleveland close and were down in the last minute by three when Groce subbed a good player Jaden Sayles for Mark Kastalec a not so good player who promptly fumbled a pass and we lost the game. Groce recruited Kastalec (6 foot 11) because he needed height and I believe he led the country in setting illegal screens. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 1 hour ago, 1981 grad said: I agree. And Groce's first year team was not half bad as he recruited some great talent that first year including LCJ. We actually pulled a big upset in an away game to get to Cleveland in the MAC championships: "Kalamazoo, Mich. – The No. 11 seed Akron Zips men's basketball team outlasted the No. 6 seed Western Michigan Broncos, 79-78, in a rollercoaster of an opening round Mid-American Conference Tournament game on Monday night at University Arena. The Zips overcame an 18-0 start and 23-point first half deficit to advance to the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio at Quicken Loans Arena. We played the No 3 seed in Cleveland close and were down in the last minute by three when Groce subbed a good player Jaden Sayles for Mark Kastalec a not so good player who promptly fumbled a pass and we lost the game. Groce recruited Kastalec (6 foot 11) because he needed height and I believe he led the country in setting illegal screens. That year was fascinating. Truly invested fans had the season written off as a rebuild year, but it was much much worse than initially expected from a talent perspective. Despite the talent deficiencies, it was pretty obvious Groce's system was completely different from Dambrot's system (except for 2023-24 when we played through Freeman, as all good coaches do). That season got me excited for the Groce era because his system is very, very fun. It can be frustrating if the talent and execution isn't there, but it's up-tempo and very enjoyable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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