cleveland
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RE: Mystery basketball teams
(07-13-2016 04:40 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: (07-13-2016 03:43 PM)cleveland Wrote: (07-13-2016 03:12 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: (07-13-2016 02:49 PM)cleveland Wrote: (07-13-2016 02:04 PM)Wadszip Wrote: True, though wasn't Akron the unanimous pick to win the East last year? I know Central was the overall pick and fell flat, but Akron lived up to it.
But as I said above, this year probably won't matter who the "favorite" is because I think there are three teams who are top 100 caliber at the top .... Akron, Ohio and Buffalo ... then at least three teams (EMU, Toledo, NIU) who are top 150. Then teams like Kent and Ball State ... and maybe even Bowling Green ... who could push for top 150. Really, there isn't too much dead weight in the league this year, outside of possibly Miami.
Might want to tred lightly with Akron as No. 1 -- don't forget, before the Zips ended the season with three straight home games (wins) they had lost three of four. Doubtful the schedule is that kind again.
Bobcats might be the better pick with returning POY in Campbell and now that Bearden is gone, Simmons rises to No. 1 or 2 PG in the league depending on how you rate Wilder.
And Buffalo is still formidable, the most athletic team in a jump-shooting league, with a strong inside game. Even w/o Bearden few teams match up with them.
How was Akron's schedule kind? They played 9 home and 9 away conference games just like everyone else. The fact they finished with 3 home games just indicates that 9 of their 1st 15 games were on the road.
How are the Bobcats the better pick? They lost 2 games to the Zips last season by double digits then failed to even show up in the semi-final vs. Buffalo.
Let me ask the question this way. In a league as balanced as the MAC ... Would you rather open the season with three straight at home, then 9-of-15 on the road... or ... start with 9 of 15 on the road then the last three at home?
Particularly if you are a consistent contender
Akron went a perfect 15-0 (9-0) at home last season. They won 10 of those games by double figures. The Zips had 5 home wins in January, 3 in February, and 2 in March. Nothing in those numbers indicates to me that Akron would have lost at home had their schedule been rearranged.
The only reason Akron finished with 3 games at home was because 4 of the 5 games prior to that were on the road. If anything the numbers you portrayed just show how much of a better team Akron was at home (15-0) compared to how they were on the road (6-8).
UNDERSTAND ... not trying to downplay Akron's credibility, just the fact games are much tougher to win on the road in late Feb/March than January (as you correctly point out).
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07-13-2016 05:08 PM |
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cleveland
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RE: Mystery basketball teams
(07-13-2016 05:08 PM)cleveland Wrote: (07-13-2016 04:40 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: (07-13-2016 03:43 PM)cleveland Wrote: (07-13-2016 03:12 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: (07-13-2016 02:49 PM)cleveland Wrote: Might want to tred lightly with Akron as No. 1 -- don't forget, before the Zips ended the season with three straight home games (wins) they had lost three of four. Doubtful the schedule is that kind again.
Bobcats might be the better pick with returning POY in Campbell and now that Bearden is gone, Simmons rises to No. 1 or 2 PG in the league depending on how you rate Wilder.
And Buffalo is still formidable, the most athletic team in a jump-shooting league, with a strong inside game. Even w/o Bearden few teams match up with them.
How was Akron's schedule kind? They played 9 home and 9 away conference games just like everyone else. The fact they finished with 3 home games just indicates that 9 of their 1st 15 games were on the road.
How are the Bobcats the better pick? They lost 2 games to the Zips last season by double digits then failed to even show up in the semi-final vs. Buffalo.
Let me ask the question this way. In a league as balanced as the MAC ... Would you rather open the season with three straight at home, then 9-of-15 on the road... or ... start with 9 of 15 on the road then the last three at home?
Particularly if you are a consistent contender
Akron went a perfect 15-0 (9-0) at home last season. They won 10 of those games by double figures. The Zips had 5 home wins in January, 3 in February, and 2 in March. Nothing in those numbers indicates to me that Akron would have lost at home had their schedule been rearranged.
The only reason Akron finished with 3 games at home was because 4 of the 5 games prior to that were on the road. If anything the numbers you portrayed just show how much of a better team Akron was at home (15-0) compared to how they were on the road (6-8).
UNDERSTAND ... not trying to downplay Akron's credibility, just the fact games are much tougher to win on the road in late Feb/March than January (as you correctly point out).
WITH THE BACKDROP BEING THIS COULD HAVE BEEN ANY MAC TEAM, NOT JUST AKRON ... HERE IS THE SETUP ...
Akron was 10-5 after losing three of four on the road with four MAC teams behind them at 9-6. None of those teams had three straight at home to end the season. Akron's last three games were BG, Ohio and Kent at home. In each case Akron was clearly favored.
Had those three games been on the road, Akron would have been favored in just one ... and arguably would have been happy going 2-1.
And had they gone 1-2 nobody would have been surprised ... not to mention the chaos that would have made in the standings.
Again ... in the same situation the odds would have been the same for Buffalo, Ohio, Ball State and Kent - the four 9-6 teams with three games to play.
THAT'S MAC BASKETBALL ... where the winning/losing margin of difference can be an injury, a bad/missed call or a quirk in the schedule.
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07-13-2016 05:35 PM |
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kreed5120
1st String
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RE: Mystery basketball teams
(07-13-2016 05:08 PM)cleveland Wrote: (07-13-2016 04:40 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: (07-13-2016 03:43 PM)cleveland Wrote: (07-13-2016 03:12 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: (07-13-2016 02:49 PM)cleveland Wrote: Might want to tred lightly with Akron as No. 1 -- don't forget, before the Zips ended the season with three straight home games (wins) they had lost three of four. Doubtful the schedule is that kind again.
Bobcats might be the better pick with returning POY in Campbell and now that Bearden is gone, Simmons rises to No. 1 or 2 PG in the league depending on how you rate Wilder.
And Buffalo is still formidable, the most athletic team in a jump-shooting league, with a strong inside game. Even w/o Bearden few teams match up with them.
How was Akron's schedule kind? They played 9 home and 9 away conference games just like everyone else. The fact they finished with 3 home games just indicates that 9 of their 1st 15 games were on the road.
How are the Bobcats the better pick? They lost 2 games to the Zips last season by double digits then failed to even show up in the semi-final vs. Buffalo.
Let me ask the question this way. In a league as balanced as the MAC ... Would you rather open the season with three straight at home, then 9-of-15 on the road... or ... start with 9 of 15 on the road then the last three at home?
Particularly if you are a consistent contender
Akron went a perfect 15-0 (9-0) at home last season. They won 10 of those games by double figures. The Zips had 5 home wins in January, 3 in February, and 2 in March. Nothing in those numbers indicates to me that Akron would have lost at home had their schedule been rearranged.
The only reason Akron finished with 3 games at home was because 4 of the 5 games prior to that were on the road. If anything the numbers you portrayed just show how much of a better team Akron was at home (15-0) compared to how they were on the road (6-8).
UNDERSTAND ... not trying to downplay Akron's credibility, just the fact games are much tougher to win on the road in late Feb/March than January (as you correctly point out).
How did I point that out? Akron played 10 regular season games in February/March. Of those 5 were on the road and 5 were at home (looks balanced to me). Akron went 7-3 in those contests. 5-0 at home and 2-3 on the road. Both numbers are on par with what they averaged all season (15-0 home; 6-8 road).
Adding 3 home games to January would have meant 7 of Akron's 1st 8 MAC games were at home and 7 of their last 8 would be on the road. It would do the complete opposite of balancing the schedule as you are proposing.
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07-13-2016 05:37 PM |
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kreed5120
1st String
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RE: Mystery basketball teams
(07-13-2016 05:35 PM)cleveland Wrote: (07-13-2016 05:08 PM)cleveland Wrote: (07-13-2016 04:40 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: (07-13-2016 03:43 PM)cleveland Wrote: (07-13-2016 03:12 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: How was Akron's schedule kind? They played 9 home and 9 away conference games just like everyone else. The fact they finished with 3 home games just indicates that 9 of their 1st 15 games were on the road.
How are the Bobcats the better pick? They lost 2 games to the Zips last season by double digits then failed to even show up in the semi-final vs. Buffalo.
Let me ask the question this way. In a league as balanced as the MAC ... Would you rather open the season with three straight at home, then 9-of-15 on the road... or ... start with 9 of 15 on the road then the last three at home?
Particularly if you are a consistent contender
Akron went a perfect 15-0 (9-0) at home last season. They won 10 of those games by double figures. The Zips had 5 home wins in January, 3 in February, and 2 in March. Nothing in those numbers indicates to me that Akron would have lost at home had their schedule been rearranged.
The only reason Akron finished with 3 games at home was because 4 of the 5 games prior to that were on the road. If anything the numbers you portrayed just show how much of a better team Akron was at home (15-0) compared to how they were on the road (6-8).
UNDERSTAND ... not trying to downplay Akron's credibility, just the fact games are much tougher to win on the road in late Feb/March than January (as you correctly point out).
WITH THE BACKDROP BEING THIS COULD HAVE BEEN ANY MAC TEAM, NOT JUST AKRON ... HERE IS THE SETUP ...
Akron was 10-5 after losing three of four on the road with four MAC teams behind them at 9-6. None of those teams had three straight at home to end the season. Akron's last three games were BG, Ohio and Kent at home. In each case Akron was clearly favored.
Had those three games been on the road, Akron would have been favored in just one ... and arguably would have been happy going 2-1.
And had they gone 1-2 nobody would have been surprised ... not to mention the chaos that would have made in the standings.
Again ... in the same situation the odds would have been the same for Buffalo, Ohio, Ball State and Kent - the four 9-6 teams with three games to play.
THAT'S MAC BASKETBALL ... where the winning/losing margin of difference can be an injury, a bad/missed call or a quirk in the schedule.
The falacy in your argument is those 3 losses were on the road and at that point Akron played 9 road games to only 6 home games. Every team as you pointed out played more home games than Akron up to that point yet Akron still had a better record than all of them. Akron would have gained wins back by road losses converting to home wins.
(This post was last modified: 07-14-2016 07:21 AM by kreed5120.)
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07-13-2016 05:43 PM |
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pono
Heisman
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RE: Mystery basketball teams
Bearden is a big loss. The best ball handler in the league in terms of ball control and speed with the dribble. Actually as good as any in the nation. Being that he was a poor shooter average finisher and average passer his tremendous ball skills didn't always help the team as much as they might have. He will possibly really benefit from the transfer and rs year under different coaching. with a little more developed understanding of how to best exploit his strengths he could be a dominant pick n roll and iso set pg.
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07-15-2016 04:44 AM |
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