2024-25 Post Mortem and Looking Ahead to 2025-26

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, ZipsFan31 said:

Someone asked about Rotation here is my take. Obviously it will change throughout the season but with huge games early here is my 1st couple game predictions. 

 

we will Play a 3 guard line up with Tavari Johnson, Shammah Scott, and Bowen Hardman starting.  Sharron Young and Cody Head will come off the bench at the guard. the 2 freshman guards might redshirt. 

 

At the 4 I think we will start the year with Evan Mahaffey with his brother backing him up but Ogen Stankovic will play more and more as the season goes on and might shift the Mahaffey brothers to the 3 (it is probably a given that we will play a 4 out offense so all these dudes will play on the perimeter) 

 

At the 5 Amani will start and play big minutes. with Chabi Barre and Rich Brisco coming in with foul trouble or to give Amani a break. Marvin will struggle to see the court unless injury. 

 

That gives us 11 total players playing regular minutes.  I think we have the pieces to 3peat and my biggest mystery player is Cody Head, as I don't know how good he is, he could start over Bowen. 

 

I would probably imagine Cody would only play 5-10 minutes a night. Like Arkansas State last year this Akron team has a lot of guard depth.

 

Akron on paper looks like an even deeper team than last year. I expect an even more uptempo offense to cater to our athleticism and to gas our opponents. For that reason I can't imagine Amani averaging much more than 25 minutes a night. We will probably need to get a combined 15 minutes a night out of Chabi and Brisco. I also wouldn't be surprised if in limited situations we even see someone like Evan play the 5 if Groce sees the ability to exploit an opposing flat footed, offensively challenged big many MAC teams often have.

[Illini Zip]

Stankovic makes playing 5 out possible without losing too much size. I am hoping an even more improved Amani can also rotate out to the perimeter.

[HoopsFan03]

9 hours ago, ZipsFan31 said:

Someone asked about Rotation here is my take. Obviously it will change throughout the season but with huge games early here is my 1st couple game predictions. 

 

we will Play a 3 guard line up with Tavari Johnson, Shammah Scott, and Bowen Hardman starting.  Sharron Young and Cody Head will come off the bench at the guard. the 2 freshman guards might redshirt. 

 

At the 4 I think we will start the year with Evan Mahaffey with his brother backing him up but Ogen Stankovic will play more and more as the season goes on and might shift the Mahaffey brothers to the 3 (it is probably a given that we will play a 4 out offense so all these dudes will play on the perimeter) 

 

At the 5 Amani will start and play big minutes. with Chabi Barre and Rich Brisco coming in with foul trouble or to give Amani a break. Marvin will struggle to see the court unless injury. 

 

That gives us 11 total players playing regular minutes.  I think we have the pieces to 3peat and my biggest mystery player is Cody Head, as I don't know how good he is, he could start over Bowen. 

 

 

Young is a much better player than Hardman. But in the past few seasons Coach has always started someone that made me scratch my head. Hunter and S. Wilson. 

 

[Illini Zip]

I believe we should be hearing rumors of scrimmage results and performances in the near future. 

[ZipsFan31]

2 hours ago, HoopsFan03 said:

Young is a much better player than Hardman. But in the past few seasons Coach has always started someone that made me scratch my head. Hunter and S. Wilson. 

 

I agree Young is much better, but he is short and I think he will run the 2nd string before getting handed the keys next year once Tavari graduates. Bowen is a good complementary piece to spread the floor and hopefully has improved his overall game. 

[kreed5120]

You have to realize Groce is going to want to stagger minutes. I would expect 2 of Young, Tavari, and Scott to be on the court 90% of the time. That way there is never a big drop off between the first team and 2nd team offense. That's really only achievable if someone assumes the Manu Ginoboli type role by playing big minutes off the bench.

[clarkwgriswold]

35 days until Zips basketball!

[clarkwgriswold]

Unless Bowman expanded his offense to include an ability beyond being a long range shooter and improved his defense, I could see him having less of a role on this year's team given its current composition.

[Illini Zip]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Unless Bowman expanded his offense to include an ability beyond being a long range shooter and improved his defense, I could see him having less of a role on this year's team given its current composition.

I completely agree. I do see him as someone who is completely bought in and enjoying this opportunity. Not sure what his ceiling is, but I would bet he made the most of this offseason. 

[clarkwgriswold]

Does Shammah move into the starting lineup?  I love him as the 6th man as he's able to play point or the 2 with no drop-off.

[clarkwgriswold]

The email went out about the Tip-Off Reception on the 28th at 6:00 p.m.  $25 for season ticket holders, $40 for everyone else.

 

 

[clarkwgriswold]

I'm really starting to get excited about the upcoming season.

 

I assume Tavari and Amani are locked into the starting lineup.  I suspect we may see Stankovic in the starting lineup (just like I expected Taylor Currie!).  I've also heard he's closer to 6'6" than 6'8."  That leaves spots for 2 guards/wings.  I could see either Mahaffey in one of those roles.  Does Sharon move into the starting lineup or does Shammah?  

 

This is much more fun than trying to figure out who's going to play with Malcolm Duvivier and Jimond.  How far we've come.

[kreed5120]

21 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I'm really starting to get excited about the upcoming season.

 

I assume Tavari and Amani are locked into the starting lineup.  I suspect we may see Stankovic in the starting lineup (just like I expected Taylor Currie!).  I've also heard he's closer to 6'6" than 6'8."  That leaves spots for 2 guards/wings.  I could see either Mahaffey in one of those roles.  Does Sharon move into the starting lineup or does Shammah?  

 

This is much more fun than trying to figure out who's going to play with Malcolm Duvivier and Jimond.  How far we've come.

I would be stunned if Evan wasn't starting. If he was good enough to start 38 games in the Big 10, surely he is good enough to start in the MAC. IMO he will start at the 4. Stankovic was kind of a late add and probably needs more time to develop and learn Groce system. I wouldn't be surprised if both him and Evan start by the start of MAC play.

[Hilltopper]

All these guesses at the starting lineup are fun. Just remember that Eric Mahaffey was penciled into the starting lineup last year until a knee injury sidelined him for the season. Under Groce, whoever plays the best during practice gets playing time. Every minute of every practice is graded by the coaching staff. Outside of the point guard we have a team full of multidimensional players. It's going to be a fun season.

[clarkwgriswold]

1 hour ago, Hilltopper said:

All these guesses at the starting lineup are fun. Just remember that Eric Mahaffey was penciled into the starting lineup last year until a knee injury sidelined him for the season. Under Groce, whoever plays the best during practice gets playing time. Every minute of every practice is graded by the coaching staff. Outside of the point guard we have a team full of multidimensional players. It's going to be a fun season.

Exactly.  That's why I started it, to whip up some preseason conversation.  I've also heard Eric was really good in last year's preseason.

Edited 2 hours ago by clarkwgriswold

[RoyalBlu]

If the stars align, I believe both Akron and Miami have teams capable of meeting/eclipsing the 2002 run by Kent State. That's how bullish I am on this BB season.  Injuries have to be avoided, inevitable 'bad' games have to be overcome and so forth. But based on roster talent and returning experience both teams are loaded.

 

Even a poor start out of the gate - remember Kent was 4-4 before they figured it out - can be overcome by either team. The sad part is, 2002 was the year the NCAA pimped the MAC, big time, and hasn't looked back.

 

Bowling Green, had at least one power conference win and I believe, lost just nine games, and 3 of those were to Kent. Ball State that year had a huge non-conference with at least two and maybe 3 P5 wins. Marshall was loaded as well. It's assumed Kent would not have been an at-large w/o winning the 2002 MAC Tournament. That will likely be the case for Akron and/or Miami.

 

Sad.