Game 24- Troy

[NWAkron]

Kent can't read or write.

Zips can't win important games.

John's next endeavor...in process.

[LZIp]

12 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Sharron seems to have lost his offensive game.

Reminds me of the sophomore slump Tavari had. At least he’s a hustler and good on defense, but him getting back to form on offense by the end of season would be huge..issue is he hasn’t had it all year.

[HoopsFan03]

We have a 6'8" scorer riding the bench.

 

Last night we had 3 starters score 2, 3 and 4. 

 

We have a great coach but I'm still scratching my head over the starting lineup. I'm thankful for TJ. 

 

[zippy5]

I'm afraid our attempts to improve defensively have been outweighed by the regression in offense that caused 

[zippy5]

Anyway. We'll be fine. Groce knows what we have to iron out and he's got a month to do it. 

 

By the way, Sharron will be all MAC tournament team, he's gonna have a big weekend. Just a hunch

[Illini Zip]

Groce mentioned that he played a limited number of guys for extra minutes at Eastern. Not sure if it’s the change of rotation, playing fewer guys double-digit minutes or the emphasis on defense that has resulted in lesser point totals. Hopefully a couple of days off help our guys regroup. A guy like Barre should be able to erase some mistakes on defense and with a rim protector behind them our guards shouldn’t have to back down so deep in the paint allowing them to guard the perimeter more quickly and effectively. I agree, still plenty of time for Groce to make adjustments. 

[UAZipster0305]

16 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

The problem is any time we've played any team half decent this year we've lost. Good teams are able to exploit our weaknesses. If you beat the bad teams, but consistently lose to the good teams that means you're somewhere in between the two.

Exactly what I was thinking. Not that we should have beaten Purdue, but two of the other four losses should have been wins.

 

It's the same story every year too, ever since KD...lose every important OOC game against respectable competition, compete hard to win the MAC/C, then get smoked in whatever post-season tournament we make.

 

If athletics is about feeling and looking good for the sake of the university's brand/image, why not just schedule a complete slate of cupcakes and get a national ranking like the fraudster sweaters? They have to get up for five games per season and are doing it for that reason alone. They sleep walk through the rest of their schedule.

Edited 22 hours ago by UAZipster0305

[kreed5120]

10 minutes ago, UAZipster0305 said:

Exactly what I was thinking. Not that we should have beaten Purdue, but two of the other four losses should have been wins.

 

It's the same story every year too, ever since KD...lose every important OOC game against respectable competition, compete hard to win the MAC/C, then get smoked in whatever post-season tournament we make.

 

If athletics is about feeling and looking good for the sake of the university's brand/image, why not just schedule a complete slate of cupcakes and get a national ranking like the fraudster sweaters? They have to get up for five games per season and are doing it for that reason alone. They sleep walk through the rest of their schedule.

 

I mean we were favored in 4 out of our 5 losses so it could be argued that we should have won more than 2 of them.

 

That's why it's hypocritical to criticize Miami this year. They played an easier schedule, not that ours was brutal, but they actually took care of business. It's more challenging to win all the games you're expected to then people care to admit. 

Edited 22 hours ago by kreed5120

[Zippy87]

2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I mean we were favored in 4 out of our 5 losses so it could be argued that we should have won more than 2 of them.

 

That's why it's hypocritical to criticize Miami this year. They played an easier schedule, not that ours was brutal, but they actually took care of business. It's more challenging to win all the games you're expected to then people care to admit. 

 

Do you think Miami would have defeated any of Purdue, Yale, or Murray State? 

 

They "took care of business" against the 352nd non-conference SOS in the country. They only faced one non-conference opponent who is top 200 in NET (Wright State). 

 

If Akron had their schedule plus the only H2H matchup between the two teams at the JAR, we may be undefeated as well. 

[kreed5120]

1 minute ago, Zippy87 said:

 

Do you think Miami would have defeated any of Purdue, Yale, or Murray State? 

 

They "took care of business" against the 352nd non-conference SOS in the country. They only faced one non-conference opponent who is top 200 in NET (Wright State). 

 

If Akron had their schedule plus the only H2H matchup between the two teams at the JAR, we may be undefeated as well. 

 

Their road win at Marshall is better than any win we have currently. And yes it's a top 200 NET (In fact it's top 150) win so you should fact check yourself. What's our best OOC win? Road win @ #202 Tulane? You shouldn't throw stones if you live in a glass house.

 

I don't think they would be undefeated with our schedule, but we wouldn't be 24-0 with theirs. We've lost to every half decent team we faced, including to Miami. Like I said, it's not easy to win every game even when you're favored. That's why you have to go back to 1958 to find the last time a MAC team went undefeated in conference play.

 

They aren't one of the top 25 best teams in the country, but they deserve the recognition they receive. If Akron was 24-0 I would expect the same attention.

[Zippy87]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Their road win at Marshall is better than any win we have currently. And yes it's a top 200 NET (In fact it's top 150) win so you should fact check yourself. What's our best OOC win? Road win @ #202 Tulane? You shouldn't throw stones if you live in a glass house.

 

I don't think they would be undefeated with our schedule, but we wouldn't be 24-0 with theirs. We've lost to every half decent team we faced, including to Miami. Like I said, it's not easy to win every game even when you're favored. That's why you have to go back to 1958 to find the last time a MAC team went undefeated in conference play.

 

They aren't one of the top 25 best teams in the country, but they deserve the recognition they receive. If Akron was 24-0 I would expect the same attention.

 

I missed the Marshall game, so they have two non-conference games against top 200 NET teams. And Marshall is three slots ahead of Kent, so let's not prop that win up. 

 

We are very close to Miami and if we face off in Cleveland, I expect it to be a right game. But the clear difference between them and us record-wise is their laughable non-conference schedule and drawing us at home without a return date at the JAR. 

Edited 18 hours ago by Zippy87

[kreed5120]

17 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

 

I missed the Marshall game, so they have two non-conference games against top 200 NET teams. And Marshall is three slots ahead of Kent, so let's not prop that win up. 

 

We are very close to Miami and if we face off in Cleveland, I expect it to be a right game. But the clear difference between them and us record-wise is their laughable non-conference schedule and drawing us at home without a return date at the JAR. 

 

They won at Marshall while we beat Kent at home so that's a significant difference. Our best OOC road win is at Tulane so that's a ~70 spot difference compared to their Marshall win. In conference it would be at BGSU who just got boat raced by a SBC team that is worse than Marshall.

 

You seem hyper focused on our losses. What I've said repeatedly is Miami has better wins as well. It doesn't matter if you schedule tougher if every top 200 team you schedule you lose to. You criticize them for having 2 top 200 OOC wins. We meanwhile sit with a goose egg.

 

I don't want anything I've said to be misconstrued that I feel we can't beat Miami. I think if the season restarted today and Miami was to replay all their games again they would have 2-3 losses right now. They have had a number of bounces go their way and are fortunate to be where they're at.

 

My main point is it's not as easy as it appears to win every night that you and others try to make it out to be. I'll say it again we were favored in 4 out of our 5 losses. That means we scheduled teams that were perceived to be weaker than us, but still lost those games. Tons of great MAC teams over the years have gone through MAC play (forget even OOC play) and aren't where Miami is right now. 

Edited 1 hour ago by kreed5120