How do we take the next step?

[LZIp]

I’ll start with one of the most obvious items - NIL. Bud has done a great job getting us to where we are (and I’d assume there are others involved as well), but it shouldn’t be all on him/them. Anyone reading this can contribute to the Fear the Roo collective. It would be more convenient if the process was easier, but all you need to do is email info@feartheroocollective.com to get things rolling.

 

If you’re able to contribute, you may not think your individual contribution would make a difference. However,“collectively” us diehard fans can be the difference in keeping or obtaining a player that would otherwise go elsewhere. One player can be the difference.

 

 The program has a good thing going. In my mind we are currently in the peak of Akron men’s basketball. We have a great coach (who also seems to be a great person), who brings in players who are great representatives of our University, and have a guy leading the NIL who has a vision. Please consider playing a part in our program taking the next step.

 

info@feartheroocollective.com

[GP1]

I would think that the next step is to win a winnable game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Akron had the talent and coaching to win yesterday. They didn't for a lot of reasons with two key reasons being unusually bad shooting by the Zips and unusually good shooting by Arizona. 

[Westie]

When Ohio State lost to Oregon this year (the same team they clubbed in the Rose Bowl), Urban Meyer said a big reason was the Buckeyes non-conf schedule. He said the speed and athleticism of Oregon was unlike anything they had seen.

 

Basketball is different but maybe the Zips need to see a Big Boy in December every year so they know what it looks like in March. The Sun Belt and Ivy League aren’t Big Boys. 
 

Still, great year, great program and a great coach. 

[LZIp]

4 minutes ago, Westie said:

When Ohio State lost to Oregon this year (the same team they clubbed in the Rose Bowl), Urban Meyer said a big reason was the Buckeyes non-conf schedule. He said the speed and athleticism of Oregon was unlike anything they had seen.

 

Basketball is different but maybe the Zips need to see a Big Boy in December every year so they know what it looks like in March. The Sun Belt and Ivy League aren’t Big Boys. 
 

Still, great year, great program and a great coach. 

Totally agree. Schedule a big dog or two.

[csims0917]

I like to believe the staff tries every year. P5s are scared to play us. They don’t want to pay for a potential upset 

[GP1]

22 minutes ago, Westie said:

When Ohio State lost to Oregon this year (the same team they clubbed in the Rose Bowl), Urban Meyer said a big reason was the Buckeyes non-conf schedule. He said the speed and athleticism of Oregon was unlike anything they had seen.

 

Basketball is different but maybe the Zips need to see a Big Boy in December every year so they know what it looks like in March. The Sun Belt and Ivy League aren’t Big Boys. 
 

Still, great year, great program and a great coach. 

Agreed, but at the same time Akron played four teams ooc (25%) that made the NCAA Tournament. One was St. Mary's and they beat Gonzaga twice during the regular season. 

 

I don't think they should go out and schedule three top 10 programs. I do think they should schedule two more teams from big conferences. I'm thinking of programs like Pitt, WVU, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wake Forest, VATech, GA Tech.... These teams are not guaranteed loses.  These programs provide good competition. The word origin of competition means to bring out the best in yourself and the competitor. The purpose of competition is not winning, it's to be the best version of yourself. 

 

So, would this change in scheduling change the results of last night?  I don't know, but I'm doubtful. Akron didn't just not bring out the best in itself, it failed really badly at it. 

[LZIp]

27 minutes ago, csims0917 said:

I like to believe the staff tries every year. P5s are scared to play us. They don’t want to pay for a potential upset 

Maybe. I’ve seen us play Louisville when they were highly ranked before under Groce. We’ve played OSU under Groce. I can think of Toledo playing Michigan a few years ago. Kent played Bama and Auburn this season. I think Buffalo played a tough OOC when Oats was there. It certainly seems doable to schedule these types of games.

[zippy5]

I'm sure P5 teams watched us last night and thought no way we'll ever schedule that juggernaut 

[HoopsFan03]

1 hour ago, LZIp said:

I’ll start with one of the most obvious items - NIL. Bud has done a great job getting us to where we are (and I’d assume there are others involved as well), but it shouldn’t be all on him/them. Anyone reading this can contribute to the Fear the Roo collective. It would be more convenient if the process was easier, but all you need to do is email info@feartheroocollective.com to get things rolling.

 

If you’re able to contribute, you may not think your individual contribution would make a difference. However,“collectively” us diehard fans can be the difference in keeping or obtaining a player that would otherwise go elsewhere. One player can be the difference.

 

 The program has a good thing going. In my mind we are currently in the peak of Akron men’s basketball. We have a great coach (who also seems to be a great person), who brings in players who are great representatives of our University, and have a guy leading the NIL who has a vision. Please consider playing a part in our program taking the next step.

 

info@feartheroocollective.com

I wish Fear the Roo sold some gear. I would pay $50 for a shirt or $100 for golf shirt, hoodie, jersey etc. 

[zvillezip]

To take the next step...

 

Keep Groce.

Keep our players. Akron guys.

Need more size at the wing and another big.

 

In the MAC, centers are 6'8" and 225.  The wings for Arizona and other major conferences are that size. We got destroyed inside by St. Mary's and Arizona.

 

I often wondered if we would ever see Lykes and Okonkwo in the game together.  I don't recall them ever being in the game at the same time.  I know that is to protect against fouls.  We need that size against teams like Arizona.  

[LZIp]

8 minutes ago, HoopsFan03 said:

I wish Fear the Roo sold some gear. I would pay $50 for a shirt or $100 for golf shirt, hoodie, jersey etc. 

I think I saw something recently where they are selling some jerseys and a vest.

[kreed5120]

The same issues that plagued us earlier in the year against Yale and St. Mary's (which is on par with those P5 teams you wish we scheduled) resurfaced when we faced a similar type team. We were able to mask those weaknesses during MAC play as no MAC team had the size and athleticism on their front court that an Arizona or St. Mary's has.

 

We could get away maybe playing someone like Harris as our starting PF, but asking Gray to guard someone who is equally athletic and is 5-6 inches taller was just never going to work. So much talk about how Akron was unlucky that Arizona shot the ball well. They shot it well because they had so few contested shots. All their shots were for the most part wide open 3's or shots in or near the restricted zone. Excluding the first half turnovers, they ran a clinic on how offense should be ran.

Edited Saturday at 02:56 PM by kreed5120

[Illini Zip]

2 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Maybe. I’ve seen us play Louisville when they were highly ranked before under Groce. We’ve played OSU under Groce. I can think of Toledo playing Michigan a few years ago. Kent played Bama and Auburn this season. I think Buffalo played a tough OOC when Oats was there. It certainly seems doable to schedule these types of games.

 

You’re right the big schools will play us, but the when and where is what they leverage. The games are almost always road games for us. So say what you will, but in my mind that equates to about a ten point advantage. And a top level team in a P5 Conference might play us next year, but I bet Minnesota wouldn’t. Minnesota will welcome a struggling Buffalo to their campus instead. Kent State was good by the end of the year, but they were a rebuild and not a threat at all to an Auburn or Alabama. I guess the experience and the bump in strength of schedule has value. But beating a quality team in the OOC is as increasingly difficult as the postseason. I think the best bet is with Thanksgiving Tournaments on neutral courts. We need to keep improving our product so we get invited to some of the better tournaments. 

[LZIp]

7 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

 

You’re right the big schools will play us, but the when and where is what they leverage. The games are almost always road games for us. So say what you will, but in my mind that equates to about a ten point advantage. And a top level team in a P5 Conference might play us next year, but I bet Minnesota wouldn’t. Minnesota will welcome a struggling Buffalo to their campus instead. Kent State was good by the end of the year, but they were a rebuild and not a threat at all to an Auburn or Alabama. I guess the experience and the bump in strength of schedule has value. But beating a quality team in the OOC is as increasingly difficult as the postseason. I think the best bet is with Thanksgiving Tournaments on neutral courts. We need to keep improving our product so we get invited to some of the better tournaments. 

I don’t disagree at all (aside from the fact that Kent was a true rebuild as they returned Sullinger and VCD, but that’s beside the point). Those games aren’t necessarily about winning. If we do, obviously great for various reasons, but if not we still get the benefit of having film against high major competition to help prepare us in the tourney and it appears losses against good high majors could actually benefit us in seeding when you consider the Miami/Kent drama in the NIT selection.

[kreed5120]

To offer an actual constructive comment, I think our best bet is to get bigger at the wing. A 7' would require us to play a half court offense as they can't run up and down the floor.

 

Lyles could play some minutes at PF, but Okonkwo would be a clog to the offense as he doesn't have much range. Adding an Ali Ali type and pairing him with Harris would give us a lot more size in the starting 5 at the 3 and 4 position. It would also allow us to keep our fast paced offense. Embrace the positionless basketball movement.

[AkronAlumnus]

IMO, the formula is simple.  To paraphrase @LZIp, the programs goes as the collective.  The better the collective then the better the team will be.  The rest is gravy. 

Edited Saturday at 02:58 PM by AkronAlumnus

[Reslife4Life]

10 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

 

You’re right the big schools will play us, but the when and where is what they leverage. The games are almost always road games for us. So say what you will, but in my mind that equates to about a ten point advantage. And a top level team in a P5 Conference might play us next year, but I bet Minnesota wouldn’t. Minnesota will welcome a struggling Buffalo to their campus instead. Kent State was good by the end of the year, but they were a rebuild and not a threat at all to an Auburn or Alabama. I guess the experience and the bump in strength of schedule has value. But beating a quality team in the OOC is as increasingly difficult as the postseason. I think the best bet is with Thanksgiving Tournaments on neutral courts. We need to keep improving our product so we get invited to some of the better tournaments. 

I would agree with this. If you look at it in regards to Quad games. I don’t believe big time P5 schools care about anything other than Q1 games. If a school like Arizona is gonna schedule MAC teams at home, why would they care if they are playing a Q3 game instead of a for sure win against a Q4 opponent? 
Using Arizona as the example, they played 7 non conference regular season game against non Q1 teams.

4 Q4 games (including central Michigan) 

1 home Q3 game vs Samford

2 neutral site games against WVU (Q2) and Davidson (Q3)

It has got to be really hard to schedule a solo game against one of those top teams while we will be around our current ranking. Our best chance would be like how they played Davidson in the battle for Atlantis. Would we ever make a tournament like that? Probably not, but somehow making a tournament with similar teams would be critical.
No offense to the Akron basketball classic, that can prepare the team to play in Cleveland with the 3 games in 3 days, but 3 home games while being favored in each game by a decent margin isn’t going to prepare you for teams you will see in the first round of March madness

[roopride]

28 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

IMO, the formula is simple.  To paraphrase @LZIp, the programs goes as the collective.  The better the collective then the better the team will be.  The rest is gravy. 

 

I second, Third.   The Collective. Only three of us in this string have commented to The Collective

To be Honest, have not contributed.  But I am going to look into.

I struggle as to contribute to the university or collective.   (yea both).   Have not bought into the whole NIL thing.

But that said I need to pursue.   Even if its only $25. 

With Groce and Wentz there is a window here.

[kreed5120]

33 minutes ago, Reslife4Life said:

I would agree with this. If you look at it in regards to Quad games. I don’t believe big time P5 schools care about anything other than Q1 games. If a school like Arizona is gonna schedule MAC teams at home, why would they care if they are playing a Q3 game instead of a for sure win against a Q4 opponent? 
Using Arizona as the example, they played 7 non conference regular season game against non Q1 teams.

4 Q4 games (including central Michigan) 

1 home Q3 game vs Samford

2 neutral site games against WVU (Q2) and Davidson (Q3)

It has got to be really hard to schedule a solo game against one of those top teams while we will be around our current ranking. Our best chance would be like how they played Davidson in the battle for Atlantis. Would we ever make a tournament like that? Probably not, but somehow making a tournament with similar teams would be critical.
No offense to the Akron basketball classic, that can prepare the team to play in Cleveland with the 3 games in 3 days, but 3 home games while being favored in each game by a decent margin isn’t going to prepare you for teams you will see in the first round of March madness

Yes, that was my biggest complaint about the Akron tournament. It took away our opportunity to play programs like Clemson, Nevada, LSU, etc. on a neutral court, which gives you your best chance of beating them.

 

I'm not sure exactly why Akron opted for hosting a tournament instead of competing in a more established one. Maybe we had no good outstanding offers? IDK

[morris buttermaker]

The next step- play (and win) some real meaningful games out of conference... and see if you are anything better than a bottom seed that will get served up each time you show up. IMO with scholarships increasing, the talent divide will increase between the haves and the have nots, as power 5 schools  can offer about 120  kids rides that may have filtered down before. Your ticket in is always the MAC... stretch yourself...20+ wins doesn't do much if you can't win against teams that are top 30.

 

[Illini Zip]

4 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

Yes, that was my biggest complaint about the Akron tournament. It took away our opportunity to play programs like Clemson, Nevada, LSU, etc. on a neutral court, which gives you your best chance of beating them.

 

I'm not sure exactly why Akron opted for hosting a tournament instead of competing in a more established one. Maybe we had no good outstanding offers? IDK

I think we will have a good chance of being invited to a quality tournament next year. Granted we retain our core squad. But this year was a rebuilding year and the offers were probably not very exciting or beneficial.

[UAZipster0305]

4 hours ago, LZIp said:

Totally agree. Schedule a big dog or two.

And circle it on the calendar and get up for it like it is an NCAAT game. No more KD excuses like, the non-conference schedule doesn't matter, only winning the MAC does. Been there, done that.

[Blue & Gold]

4 minutes ago, UAZipster0305 said:

And circle it on the calendar and get up for it like it is an NCAAT game. No more KD excuses like, the non-conference schedule doesn't matter, only winning the MAC does. Been there, done that.

I still want to see us ranked in the Top 25 & for a school like Akron that basically requires being undefeated in the early OOC schedule including beating a P-6 (or two) school.

Edited Saturday at 06:14 PM by Blue & Gold

[RoyalBlu]

THE NEXT STEP ... has been there for half the MAC over the last 20 years. For the most part, THE NEXT STEP has ultimately been backward. Ball State, Miami, Ohio, Buffalo, and arguably even Toledo have all been poised for THE NEXT STEP but just haven't taken it. As for Akron and Kent, both programs are just sitting on the fence, IMO, capable of falling on either side.

 

Why?

 

Because it takes a serious longterm commitment by the administration to invest in the on-court program, facilities, coaching salaries, advertising, scheduling not to mention NIL. It shouldn't take 15 years to get a practice facility, much less upgrade the arena. It shouldn't take another MAC team to pay its coach a top tier salary, to get you to respond in kind. It should be part of both the athletic budget and the university budget to advertise/promote the team. And so on.

 

Akron and Kent are on the fence, capable of falling into a hole on one side with the loss of a coach or falling 'up' with the right administrative investments.

 

Saying, 'the same for football' is BS, unless the team has reached the point it's a consistent 7/8-game winner-bowl participant/and winner, and regularly sending picks to the NFL Draft. And that's not happening anywhere in the MAC, with the exception of Toledo.

 

For marketing purposes, Ball State, Miami, Ohio Buffalo, Akron, Kent all need to look in the mirror and admit a little more $$$ into men's basketball will go a lot farther than a little more $$$ in football. By a long shot.

 

Until MAC administrations face that fact, (Fill in the school name) will always be a big fish in a small pond. But what's happening now is, mid-majors are no longer big fish in small ponds, but flopping fish searching for air in a fast-sinking pool of water.

 

Head for the lake and swim, instead of gasping for air.

 

 

 

Edited Saturday at 07:18 PM by RoyalBlu

[ZipsFan31]

This could be stupid but I want people’s opinion…. Would it help the program if instead of the Nike logo we put the LeBron logo on the jersey. Just like Carolina puts the Jordan logo on the jersey. 

also can we get LeBron to be assistant GM just like Steph is doing for Davison. 

I know NIL is important and we have a billionaire who has ties to the program.