Last season the MAC had Dennis (Tol), Castenada (Akron) and Carry (Kent) along with one or two others at PG.
This season there might be one quality PG in the league ... the kid at Northern. Lots of combos, but no true PGs throughout the league, good teams or bad.
Update: 1/3/24 ...
FYI
Dennis (Toledo to Baylor) - 13.9 ppg
Kevin Miller (CMU to Wake Forrest) - 16.9 ppg
Jaylin Sellers (Ball St. to Central Florida) 18.6 ppg
Curtis Jones (Buffalo to Iowa State) 9.9 ppg
Boogie Coleman (Ball St. to Nebraska) 2.9 ppg
Sparks (Ball State to Indiana) 2.9 ppg
(Dennis, Miller, Jones are PGs)
Portal has taken a big hit to MAC basketball!!!
It’s light years away from the 90s, when we were a multi-bid league.
Cheer up, it's gonna get worse.
The MAC is nothing more than a farm system now.
"Single A ball...."
The problem is 2 teams in this league uses football to spend on their basketball programs (Akron and Kent). Ohio and Toledo spend equally across the board. WMU could give a snot and they probably spend on Hockey second to fb. The bottom of this league could give a crap in general... Having sub 200 programs in a G5 fb league is not acceptable.
Amazing how a school like Ohio can't recruit an athletic center or power forward. How does Akron land a quality front court and Ohio is forced to play 4 guards and a stretch 4 at center. Toledo waltzed down the lane all night long shooting 59% because Ohio lacked rim protection. Half a million a year plus bonuses for coach that can't recruit a decent power forward in the MAC. These coaches cry about NIL and the portal. That is a bunch of bull crap. Akron found bigs. Coaches need get off twitter and recruit. These coaches don't want to recruit the cities anymore. They can't find an athletic power forward in Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati high schools? They want three point shooters and have no one to do the dirty work inside. MAC used to get lots of those guys. These guys don't stay 4 years either. They don't have four years in the weight room either. And these guards? They can't make free throws or pass the ball. Dribble dribble and throw up a brick.
(01-02-2024 10:56 PM)OhioBobcatJohn Wrote: [ -> ]Amazing how a school like Ohio can't recruit an athletic center or power forward. How does Akron land a quality front court and Ohio is forced to play 4 guards and a stretch 4 at center. Toledo waltzed down the lane all night long shooting 59% because Ohio lacked rim protection. Half a million a year plus bonuses for coach that can't recruit a decent power forward in the MAC. These coaches cry about NIL and the portal. That is a bunch of bull crap. Akron found bigs. Coaches need get off twitter and recruit. These coaches don't want to recruit the cities anymore. They can't find an athletic power forward in Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati high schools? They want three point shooters and have no one to do the dirty work inside. MAC used to get lots of those guys. These guys don't stay 4 years either. They don't have four years in the weight room either. And these guards? They can't make free throws or pass the ball. Dribble dribble and throw up a brick.
What a great post. Coach Boals isn’t the only one. Recruiting is a process that takes lots of time and leg work. BG had virtually nothing left when coach Simon came on board. He was able to keep Agee which was huge. He found several parts and piece to form a team. Are they great, no but they will be competitive in the MAC. Ohio has some good talent but need another big.
OU recruited some bigs in the portal but could land them. Boals has prioritized HS recruiting and has done well in that sphere. Yeah, they need a rim protector but the way the game is played now your big guy has to be capable of defending the high screen and lots of big guys cannot. I'd say OU's problem is that they got a ton of decent guards but none are really that good and Hunter is a step down from Sears and Preston.
(01-03-2024 03:18 AM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]OU recruited some bigs in the portal but could land them. Boals has prioritized HS recruiting and has done well in that sphere. Yeah, they need a rim protector but the way the game is played now your big guy has to be capable of defending the high screen and lots of big guys cannot. I'd say OU's problem is that they got a ton of decent guards but none are really that good and Hunter is a step down from Sears and Preston.
Ohio lost to a team with no size last night. The lack of quickness of their guards and the wonky whistle is why Ohio lost. 2 of Ohios starters had like 5 points combined. You can't have that when Toledo had 5 in double figures.
(01-02-2024 10:56 PM)OhioBobcatJohn Wrote: [ -> ]Amazing how a school like Ohio can't recruit an athletic center or power forward. How does Akron land a quality front court and Ohio is forced to play 4 guards and a stretch 4 at center. Toledo waltzed down the lane all night long shooting 59% because Ohio lacked rim protection. Half a million a year plus bonuses for coach that can't recruit a decent power forward in the MAC. These coaches cry about NIL and the portal. That is a bunch of bull crap. Akron found bigs. Coaches need get off twitter and recruit. These coaches don't want to recruit the cities anymore. They can't find an athletic power forward in Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati high schools? They want three point shooters and have no one to do the dirty work inside. MAC used to get lots of those guys. These guys don't stay 4 years either. They don't have four years in the weight room either. And these guards? They can't make free throws or pass the ball. Dribble dribble and throw up a brick.
THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE .... 6-8 ENRIQUE FREEMAN ... IS A WALK-ON (un-recruited, a true walk-on) WHO GREW 2 OR 3 INCHES SINCE HE GOT THERE. NAME ANOTHER GOOD AKRON POST PLAYER (WHO DIDN'T TRANSFER) SINCE GROCE GOT THE JOB.
Kent seems to find decent big bodies, not necessarily all-MAC caliber (Jimmy Hall, Justin Greene aside) - but good enough to at least keep teams honest. Right now, w/their two post players injured/out indefinitely, Kent looks like a much different team.
Look around the league right now and there are a lot of young bigs (BG, Miami, WMU, CMU, EMU, Kent, Ball St.) that fit this description on multiple teams. The key will be keeping them, and adding some guards good enough to make them better.
Speaking of Ball State. How much different would the Cardinals look like if 6-9 Sparks (Indiana) and 6-6 Sellers (FIU, I believe) were still in the fold.
Yes, the MAC is a guard league, but without a post presence, the MAC becomes a chuck-n-duck league, and that is not a good place to be.
(01-03-2024 02:24 PM)cleveland Wrote: [ -> ] (01-02-2024 10:56 PM)OhioBobcatJohn Wrote: [ -> ]Amazing how a school like Ohio can't recruit an athletic center or power forward. How does Akron land a quality front court and Ohio is forced to play 4 guards and a stretch 4 at center. Toledo waltzed down the lane all night long shooting 59% because Ohio lacked rim protection. Half a million a year plus bonuses for coach that can't recruit a decent power forward in the MAC. These coaches cry about NIL and the portal. That is a bunch of bull crap. Akron found bigs. Coaches need get off twitter and recruit. These coaches don't want to recruit the cities anymore. They can't find an athletic power forward in Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati high schools? They want three point shooters and have no one to do the dirty work inside. MAC used to get lots of those guys. These guys don't stay 4 years either. They don't have four years in the weight room either. And these guards? They can't make free throws or pass the ball. Dribble dribble and throw up a brick.
THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE .... 6-8 ENRIQUE FREEMAN ... IS A WALK-ON (un-recruited, a true walk-on) WHO GREW 2 OR 3 INCHES SINCE HE GOT THERE. NAME ANOTHER GOOD AKRON POST PLAYER (WHO DIDN'T TRANSFER) SINCE GROCE GOT THE JOB.
Kent seems to find decent big bodies, not necessarily all-MAC caliber (Jimmy Hall, Justin Greene aside) - but good enough to at least keep teams honest. Right now, w/their two post players injured/out indefinitely, Kent looks like a much different team.
Look around the league right now and there are a lot of young bigs (BG, Miami, WMU, CMU, EMU, Kent, Ball St.) that fit this description on multiple teams. The key will be keeping them, and adding some guards good enough to make them better.
Speaking of Ball State. How much different would the Cardinals look like if 6-9 Sparks (Indiana) and 6-6 Sellers (FIU, I believe) were still in the fold.
Yes, the MAC is a guard league, but without a post presence, the MAC becomes a chuck-n-duck league, and that is not a good place to be.
Ariz Bandaogo transferred because he didn't want to waste 3 years of eligibility to only get 8-10 minutes a night backing up Freeman. The Zips tried playing both on the court at the same time, but it failed miserable. Freeman needs to play with a stretch 4 otherwise the paint becomes too congested.
(01-02-2024 06:17 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]The problem is 2 teams in this league uses football to spend on their basketball programs (Akron and Kent). Ohio and Toledo spend equally across the board. WMU could give a snot and they probably spend on Hockey second to fb. The bottom of this league could give a crap in general... Having sub 200 programs in a G5 fb league is not acceptable.
When your program has been down as long as ours has, spending is not the issue. There is no interest among the students to watch bad basketball. Coach has his work cut out for him, both recruiting - wise and building the program back up. More $$ does not necessarily fix that. The funding is adequate. The results are not. Yet.
As for hockey, it IS expensive but at WMU is a staple, among the best programs in the country. 50 year anniversary this year!
You shouldn't be throwing stones if you don't know the particulars. (Not that I have some inside knowledge or anything).
If you're frustrated, I get it. We all are. Things are getting tougher for mid-majors due to the new portal landscape and NIL $$.
(01-03-2024 04:32 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote: [ -> ] (01-02-2024 06:17 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]The problem is 2 teams in this league uses football to spend on their basketball programs (Akron and Kent). Ohio and Toledo spend equally across the board. WMU could give a snot and they probably spend on Hockey second to fb. The bottom of this league could give a crap in general... Having sub 200 programs in a G5 fb league is not acceptable.
When your program has been down as long as ours has, spending is not the issue. There is no interest among the students to watch bad basketball. Coach has his work cut out for him, both recruiting - wise and building the program back up. More $$ does not necessarily fix that. The funding is adequate. The results are not. Yet.
As for hockey, it IS expensive but at WMU is a staple, among the best programs in the country. 50 year anniversary this year!
You shouldn't be throwing stones if you don't know the particulars. (Not that I have some inside knowledge or anything).
If you're frustrated, I get it. We all are. Things are getting tougher for mid-majors due to the new portal landscape and NIL $$.
By circumstance only BG and Miami even have hockey so to say you spend on that while Toledo and Ohio don't is just reality. It's pretty certain Miami and WMU don't care by their support and consistent lack of good seasons, like it or not. G5 fb teams should not have worse teams than SFU, and Marrist or whoever plays in these tiny leagues with HS gyms. The top of this league will not have a 2nd bid until the bottom raises. The consistently bad teams ARE to blame.
(01-03-2024 04:03 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 02:24 PM)cleveland Wrote: [ -> ] (01-02-2024 10:56 PM)OhioBobcatJohn Wrote: [ -> ]Amazing how a school like Ohio can't recruit an athletic center or power forward. How does Akron land a quality front court and Ohio is forced to play 4 guards and a stretch 4 at center. Toledo waltzed down the lane all night long shooting 59% because Ohio lacked rim protection. Half a million a year plus bonuses for coach that can't recruit a decent power forward in the MAC. These coaches cry about NIL and the portal. That is a bunch of bull crap. Akron found bigs. Coaches need get off twitter and recruit. These coaches don't want to recruit the cities anymore. They can't find an athletic power forward in Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati high schools? They want three point shooters and have no one to do the dirty work inside. MAC used to get lots of those guys. These guys don't stay 4 years either. They don't have four years in the weight room either. And these guards? They can't make free throws or pass the ball. Dribble dribble and throw up a brick.
THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE .... 6-8 ENRIQUE FREEMAN ... IS A WALK-ON (un-recruited, a true walk-on) WHO GREW 2 OR 3 INCHES SINCE HE GOT THERE. NAME ANOTHER GOOD AKRON POST PLAYER (WHO DIDN'T TRANSFER) SINCE GROCE GOT THE JOB.
Kent seems to find decent big bodies, not necessarily all-MAC caliber (Jimmy Hall, Justin Greene aside) - but good enough to at least keep teams honest. Right now, w/their two post players injured/out indefinitely, Kent looks like a much different team.
Look around the league right now and there are a lot of young bigs (BG, Miami, WMU, CMU, EMU, Kent, Ball St.) that fit this description on multiple teams. The key will be keeping them, and adding some guards good enough to make them better.
Speaking of Ball State. How much different would the Cardinals look like if 6-9 Sparks (Indiana) and 6-6 Sellers (FIU, I believe) were still in the fold.
Yes, the MAC is a guard league, but without a post presence, the MAC becomes a chuck-n-duck league, and that is not a good place to be.
Ariz Bandaogo transferred because he didn't want to waste 3 years of eligibility to only get 8-10 minutes a night backing up Freeman. The Zips tried playing both on the court at the same time, but it failed miserable. Freeman needs to play with a stretch 4 otherwise the paint becomes too congested.
I recognize your argument, but counter with this. Whatever the Zips 'tried' they did not try very hard, IMO. Why wasn't Freeman coached to adjust by becoming a stretch 4? Thereby keeping Bandaogo as center, where he is both a solid rebounder and defensive rim protector. Freeman's basketball future is as a stretch 4. He's a great mid-major post player, but ...
I'll also add this ... While Akron is the odds-on HEAVY favorite to win it all this (very down) MAC season ... I contend this is a much more flawed Akron team than last season, even w/ Ali Ali, and in a 'normal' MAC season would be considered a contender beside two or more other teams, but not head and shoulders above the entire league. (However, add Ali to 2022-23 Akron team and WOW!!!)
(01-03-2024 05:14 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 04:32 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote: [ -> ] (01-02-2024 06:17 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]The problem is 2 teams in this league uses football to spend on their basketball programs (Akron and Kent). Ohio and Toledo spend equally across the board. WMU could give a snot and they probably spend on Hockey second to fb. The bottom of this league could give a crap in general... Having sub 200 programs in a G5 fb league is not acceptable.
When your program has been down as long as ours has, spending is not the issue. There is no interest among the students to watch bad basketball. Coach has his work cut out for him, both recruiting - wise and building the program back up. More $$ does not necessarily fix that. The funding is adequate. The results are not. Yet.
As for hockey, it IS expensive but at WMU is a staple, among the best programs in the country. 50 year anniversary this year!
You shouldn't be throwing stones if you don't know the particulars. (Not that I have some inside knowledge or anything).
If you're frustrated, I get it. We all are. Things are getting tougher for mid-majors due to the new portal landscape and NIL $$.
By circumstance only BG and Miami even have hockey so to say you spend on that while Toledo and Ohio don't is just reality. It's pretty certain Miami and WMU don't care by their support and consistent lack of good seasons, like it or not. G5 fb teams should not have worse teams than SFU, and Marrist or whoever plays in these tiny leagues with HS gyms. The top of this league will not have a 2nd bid until the bottom raises. The consistently bad teams ARE to blame.
Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning? Why the need to be a prick about this? What do you know about 'support' at other league schools'? You seem to think that Toledo basketball is Gonzaga or something. Your time is coming when your program is down. Be a shame if somebody is there taping a "kick me" sign on your backside.
The "top of this league" is still not very good. Face it. I've been watching MAC basketball since before you were born. You really have no idea of how far this league has fallen compared to 50 years ago.
Oh, and show me the G5 league that has no bad teams at the bottom. If the top teams were really actually good, they would get the recognition they deserve.
(01-03-2024 07:47 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 05:14 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 04:32 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote: [ -> ] (01-02-2024 06:17 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]The problem is 2 teams in this league uses football to spend on their basketball programs (Akron and Kent). Ohio and Toledo spend equally across the board. WMU could give a snot and they probably spend on Hockey second to fb. The bottom of this league could give a crap in general... Having sub 200 programs in a G5 fb league is not acceptable.
When your program has been down as long as ours has, spending is not the issue. There is no interest among the students to watch bad basketball. Coach has his work cut out for him, both recruiting - wise and building the program back up. More $$ does not necessarily fix that. The funding is adequate. The results are not. Yet.
As for hockey, it IS expensive but at WMU is a staple, among the best programs in the country. 50 year anniversary this year!
You shouldn't be throwing stones if you don't know the particulars. (Not that I have some inside knowledge or anything).
If you're frustrated, I get it. We all are. Things are getting tougher for mid-majors due to the new portal landscape and NIL $$.
By circumstance only BG and Miami even have hockey so to say you spend on that while Toledo and Ohio don't is just reality. It's pretty certain Miami and WMU don't care by their support and consistent lack of good seasons, like it or not. G5 fb teams should not have worse teams than SFU, and Marrist or whoever plays in these tiny leagues with HS gyms. The top of this league will not have a 2nd bid until the bottom raises. The consistently bad teams ARE to blame.
Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning? Why the need to be a prick about this? What do you know about 'support' at other league schools'? You seem to think that Toledo basketball is Gonzaga or something. Your time is coming when your program is down. Be a shame if somebody is there taping a "kick me" sign on your backside.
The "top of this league" is still not very good. Face it. I've been watching MAC basketball since before you were born. You really have no idea of how far this league has fallen compared to 50 years ago.
Oh, and show me the G5 league that has no bad teams at the bottom. If the top teams were really actually good, they would get the recognition they deserve.
Because to me "the problem is simple." Every interview Coach K. has had about his non con scheduling is he scheduled tough Because the games aren't there in conference to build a resume. Do you believe WMU should be better? How about CMU? EMU? These teams consistently miss Cleveland and do so in amazing fashion. Toledo is no juggernaut but have won like 15 in a row over the RedHawks. That's embarrassing for the league. Toledo hasn't been to the dance in 43 years. That's embarrassing as hell. Some of the teams they've had would have had a shot if their resume wasn't tied down with an anchor of sub 200 teams. If you think it's okay, and that the "effort is there" for the bottom teams who routinely don't contend... we just disagree wildly.
Of the G5 football leagues who generate overall more support than the other midmajor leagues because the schools and support is larger...
Using Sagarin because you can filter by league.
MAC has 6 sub 200s (240, 242, 275, 301, 307, 326)
CUSA has 3 sub 200 teams (207, 213, 277)
American has 1 (295)
MWC [not really a midmajor] 0
SBC has 5 (200, 265, 276, 286, and 294)
(01-03-2024 07:55 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 07:47 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 05:14 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 04:32 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote: [ -> ] (01-02-2024 06:17 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]The problem is 2 teams in this league uses football to spend on their basketball programs (Akron and Kent). Ohio and Toledo spend equally across the board. WMU could give a snot and they probably spend on Hockey second to fb. The bottom of this league could give a crap in general... Having sub 200 programs in a G5 fb league is not acceptable.
When your program has been down as long as ours has, spending is not the issue. There is no interest among the students to watch bad basketball. Coach has his work cut out for him, both recruiting - wise and building the program back up. More $$ does not necessarily fix that. The funding is adequate. The results are not. Yet.
As for hockey, it IS expensive but at WMU is a staple, among the best programs in the country. 50 year anniversary this year!
You shouldn't be throwing stones if you don't know the particulars. (Not that I have some inside knowledge or anything).
If you're frustrated, I get it. We all are. Things are getting tougher for mid-majors due to the new portal landscape and NIL $$.
By circumstance only BG and Miami even have hockey so to say you spend on that while Toledo and Ohio don't is just reality. It's pretty certain Miami and WMU don't care by their support and consistent lack of good seasons, like it or not. G5 fb teams should not have worse teams than SFU, and Marrist or whoever plays in these tiny leagues with HS gyms. The top of this league will not have a 2nd bid until the bottom raises. The consistently bad teams ARE to blame.
Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning? Why the need to be a prick about this? What do you know about 'support' at other league schools'? You seem to think that Toledo basketball is Gonzaga or something. Your time is coming when your program is down. Be a shame if somebody is there taping a "kick me" sign on your backside.
The "top of this league" is still not very good. Face it. I've been watching MAC basketball since before you were born. You really have no idea of how far this league has fallen compared to 50 years ago.
Oh, and show me the G5 league that has no bad teams at the bottom. If the top teams were really actually good, they would get the recognition they deserve.
Because to me "the problem is simple." Every interview Coach K. has had about his non con scheduling is he scheduled tough Because the games aren't there in conference to build a resume. Do you believe WMU should be better? How about CMU? EMU? These teams consistently miss Cleveland and do so in amazing fashion. Toledo is no juggernaut but have won like 15 in a row over the RedHawks. That's embarrassing for the league. Toledo hasn't been to the dance in 43 years. That's embarrassing as hell. Some of the teams they've had would have had a shot if their resume wasn't tied down with an anchor of sub 200 teams. If you think it's okay, and that the "effort is there" for the bottom teams who routinely don't contend... we just disagree wildly.
I still say this goes back to football. WMU (1998 I believe) was a MAC at-large and Miami (1999) was a MAC at-large. I believe Ball State, Central and Western all won the MAC Tournament between 2000-2005. None of those teams have had much of a basketball history since then, yet all of them have probably had more bowl games than MAC BB Tournament appearances.
Get my drift.
Overall, the MAC from 2000-2005 was probably the strongest it has ever been in basketball (remember, Marshall was in the league then as well and strong BB). W/o looking at the standings, I'd take any Top 4 MAC teams, any year, from that era and consider them MAC favorites today.
That Stempin Toledo team would dominate this MAC ... Kaman CMU, ditto, ... as poorly coached as those very talented Marshall teams were, they'd steamroll the current state of MAC BB. Daffy Dakich had a few teams, too in that era.
MAC needs to get back to that.
(01-03-2024 08:14 PM)cleveland Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 07:55 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 07:47 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 05:14 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 04:32 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote: [ -> ]When your program has been down as long as ours has, spending is not the issue. There is no interest among the students to watch bad basketball. Coach has his work cut out for him, both recruiting - wise and building the program back up. More $$ does not necessarily fix that. The funding is adequate. The results are not. Yet.
As for hockey, it IS expensive but at WMU is a staple, among the best programs in the country. 50 year anniversary this year!
You shouldn't be throwing stones if you don't know the particulars. (Not that I have some inside knowledge or anything).
If you're frustrated, I get it. We all are. Things are getting tougher for mid-majors due to the new portal landscape and NIL $$.
By circumstance only BG and Miami even have hockey so to say you spend on that while Toledo and Ohio don't is just reality. It's pretty certain Miami and WMU don't care by their support and consistent lack of good seasons, like it or not. G5 fb teams should not have worse teams than SFU, and Marrist or whoever plays in these tiny leagues with HS gyms. The top of this league will not have a 2nd bid until the bottom raises. The consistently bad teams ARE to blame.
Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning? Why the need to be a prick about this? What do you know about 'support' at other league schools'? You seem to think that Toledo basketball is Gonzaga or something. Your time is coming when your program is down. Be a shame if somebody is there taping a "kick me" sign on your backside.
The "top of this league" is still not very good. Face it. I've been watching MAC basketball since before you were born. You really have no idea of how far this league has fallen compared to 50 years ago.
Oh, and show me the G5 league that has no bad teams at the bottom. If the top teams were really actually good, they would get the recognition they deserve.
Because to me "the problem is simple." Every interview Coach K. has had about his non con scheduling is he scheduled tough Because the games aren't there in conference to build a resume. Do you believe WMU should be better? How about CMU? EMU? These teams consistently miss Cleveland and do so in amazing fashion. Toledo is no juggernaut but have won like 15 in a row over the RedHawks. That's embarrassing for the league. Toledo hasn't been to the dance in 43 years. That's embarrassing as hell. Some of the teams they've had would have had a shot if their resume wasn't tied down with an anchor of sub 200 teams. If you think it's okay, and that the "effort is there" for the bottom teams who routinely don't contend... we just disagree wildly.
I still say this goes back to football. WMU (1998 I believe) was a MAC at-large and Miami (1999) was a MAC at-large. I believe Ball State, Central and Western all won the MAC Tournament between 2000-2005. None of those teams have had much of a basketball history since then, yet all of them have probably had more bowl games than MAC BB Tournament appearances.
Get my drift.
Overall, the MAC from 2000-2005 was probably the strongest it has ever been in basketball (remember, Marshall was in the league then as well and strong BB). W/o looking at the standings, I'd take any Top 4 MAC teams, any year, from that era and consider them MAC favorites today.
That Stempin Toledo team would dominate this MAC ... Kaman CMU, ditto, ... as poorly coached as those very talented Marshall teams were, they'd steamroll the current state of MAC BB. Daffy Dakich had a few teams, too in that era.
MAC needs to get back to that.
Agree. The top teams in 2023-2034 would middle in good MAC years. There's probably 8 teams now worse than the worst team in those seasons. Sub 300 teams? Being worse than the SBC? Let alone in the same conversation strikes Awe into me.
Your football comment doesn't make sense to me. To get to a 'bowl' these days all you need is to go .500 or above. Is there more context to that comment that I didn't get?
Without looking it up, WMU made it to the dance in 2004 and 2014. Not a great resume but it is what it is.
(01-03-2024 07:55 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote: [ -> ]Because to me "the problem is simple."
There is an old saying.....
Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers.
I get it that in today's instant gratification society, we want to snap our fingers and the problem is solved. The MAC didn't slip from where it was 50 years ago in an instant. It was a gradual descent. Our station in life is that of a mid-major where if you get a great coach and have a great season, the coach instantly gets snapped up by a P5 program and the program has to start over. We can't match the pay scale for top coaches and their staffs or even come close to the other perks of being in a blue blood league. We're a bus league on a beer budget.
(01-03-2024 05:52 PM)cleveland Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 04:03 PM)kreed5120 Wrote: [ -> ] (01-03-2024 02:24 PM)cleveland Wrote: [ -> ] (01-02-2024 10:56 PM)OhioBobcatJohn Wrote: [ -> ]Amazing how a school like Ohio can't recruit an athletic center or power forward. How does Akron land a quality front court and Ohio is forced to play 4 guards and a stretch 4 at center. Toledo waltzed down the lane all night long shooting 59% because Ohio lacked rim protection. Half a million a year plus bonuses for coach that can't recruit a decent power forward in the MAC. These coaches cry about NIL and the portal. That is a bunch of bull crap. Akron found bigs. Coaches need get off twitter and recruit. These coaches don't want to recruit the cities anymore. They can't find an athletic power forward in Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati high schools? They want three point shooters and have no one to do the dirty work inside. MAC used to get lots of those guys. These guys don't stay 4 years either. They don't have four years in the weight room either. And these guards? They can't make free throws or pass the ball. Dribble dribble and throw up a brick.
THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE .... 6-8 ENRIQUE FREEMAN ... IS A WALK-ON (un-recruited, a true walk-on) WHO GREW 2 OR 3 INCHES SINCE HE GOT THERE. NAME ANOTHER GOOD AKRON POST PLAYER (WHO DIDN'T TRANSFER) SINCE GROCE GOT THE JOB.
Kent seems to find decent big bodies, not necessarily all-MAC caliber (Jimmy Hall, Justin Greene aside) - but good enough to at least keep teams honest. Right now, w/their two post players injured/out indefinitely, Kent looks like a much different team.
Look around the league right now and there are a lot of young bigs (BG, Miami, WMU, CMU, EMU, Kent, Ball St.) that fit this description on multiple teams. The key will be keeping them, and adding some guards good enough to make them better.
Speaking of Ball State. How much different would the Cardinals look like if 6-9 Sparks (Indiana) and 6-6 Sellers (FIU, I believe) were still in the fold.
Yes, the MAC is a guard league, but without a post presence, the MAC becomes a chuck-n-duck league, and that is not a good place to be.
Ariz Bandaogo transferred because he didn't want to waste 3 years of eligibility to only get 8-10 minutes a night backing up Freeman. The Zips tried playing both on the court at the same time, but it failed miserable. Freeman needs to play with a stretch 4 otherwise the paint becomes too congested.
I recognize your argument, but counter with this. Whatever the Zips 'tried' they did not try very hard, IMO. Why wasn't Freeman coached to adjust by becoming a stretch 4? Thereby keeping Bandaogo as center, where he is both a solid rebounder and defensive rim protector. Freeman's basketball future is as a stretch 4. He's a great mid-major post player, but ...
I'll also add this ... While Akron is the odds-on HEAVY favorite to win it all this (very down) MAC season ... I contend this is a much more flawed Akron team than last season, even w/ Ali Ali, and in a 'normal' MAC season would be considered a contender beside two or more other teams, but not head and shoulders above the entire league. (However, add Ali to 2022-23 Akron team and WOW!!!)
At the time Freeman was only able to make shots within 5-8 feet of the hoop. He has since developed a mid-range shot after Aziz left. If Freeman was capable of shooting 3's at a ~30%+ clip, I'm sure he would be taking them. The reality is you can't make someone into something they're not. He's probably most comparable to a guy like Anderson Varejao. Freeman IMO will end up somewhere in Europe and will play the 5. If he ever develops a 3 it probably won't be until years from now. I think people forget how much of a raw player he was offensively when he started at Akron. Every year he made major improvements.