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Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: GROCE TO AKRON
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Obc2
4/4/2017 6:33 PM
This certainly stokes the rivalry fire a bit.

Im glad JG didnt go to Fiami. I will always wish him well in his endeavors and i will take no joy in wanting our fellas to squash his fellas like grapes the next few seasons. But i will root for the squashing. Nonetheless.
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FearLeon
4/4/2017 6:50 PM
Obc2 wrote:expand_more
This certainly stokes the rivalry fire a bit.

Im glad JG didnt go to Fiami. I will always wish him well in his endeavors and i will take no joy in wanting our fellas to squash his fellas like grapes the next few seasons. But i will root for the squashing. Nonetheless.
Well..well....well....things just got very interesting in the MAC.
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Maddog13
4/4/2017 6:55 PM
The ghost of Groce who has been overlooking Saul's shoulder just got real. The Honeymoon is over and the head coaching chair here at OHIO just became hot...real HOT!! Let the games, both recruiting and on the court, now begin!!
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allen
4/4/2017 7:29 PM
We have a headstart on recruiting, we need to use it. Akron lost some players with the loss of Dambrot. We loss some noncontributers. We are a week away from the spring signing deadline, let's make it happen.
Last Edited: 4/4/2017 10:52:10 PM by allen
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MonroeClassmate
4/4/2017 7:35 PM
It's a small world after all is the only thing I can say!

My son spent his four years in the 110 during the Groce years in the Convo.

My son went to grad school at Duquesene University and John Rhoads was his Ohio connection who he got to talk with about Athens on several occasions because of playing in the Dukes basketball band in Pittsburgh.

This Fall, my son then decides to get his second masters this one from the University of Akron and plays in the Zips basketball band. One year of Dambrot then off to Duquesne and now coaching full circle as he has one more year in the pep band with Groce coaching the Zips! (As a HS senior one of his three college trips was to the University of Illinois--the weekend the Bobcats took care of the Illini on the gridiron)

I am not sure Groce will remember him but JG will have one friend on campus when he arrives.
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bornacatfan
4/4/2017 8:06 PM
that is a sad thread

http://zipsnation.org/forums/topic/37319-search-for-the-n...

can't decide if he is legit or not. Nice argument. Probably go back here a few years and find the same discussions
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FearLeon
4/4/2017 8:23 PM
Maddog13 wrote:expand_more
The ghost of Groce who has been overlooking Saul's shoulder just got real. The Honeymoon is over and the head coaching chair here at OHIO just became hot...real HOT!! Let the games, both recruiting and on the court, now begin!!
Fair or not....this is a true statement^^^^.
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Mark Lembright '85
4/4/2017 8:27 PM
bornacatfan wrote:expand_more
that is a sad thread

http://zipsnation.org/forums/topic/37319-search-for-the-n...

can't decide if he is legit or not. Nice argument. Probably go back here a few years and find the same discussions
Those people are crazy-Groce is a great coach, IMHO. My stomach clenched a bit when I saw he was going to Akron-good move on their part.

You guys are right-this sure stokes the Ohio-Akron rivalry.
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Drewbenz24
4/4/2017 8:30 PM
Harder to recruit to Akron or Ohio? Ohio seems like an easy sell. Some of the greatest years of my life.
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Recovering Journalist
4/4/2017 8:30 PM
bornacatfan wrote:expand_more
that is a sad thread

http://zipsnation.org/forums/topic/37319-search-for-the-n...

can't decide if he is legit or not. Nice argument. Probably go back here a few years and find the same discussions
I know he's a personal friend, and for what it's worth I'd be excited by the hire as an Akron fan, but there are reasons for fans to be skeptical. Groce didn't exactly light the world up at Illinois and as I've said several times here, he had a mediocre MAC record, lost a lot of games he shouldn't and barely won the MAC tournament the two times he did. Those are facts.

It's also a fact that he swings for the fences as a recruiter and made solid contact a few times here. He had a knack for getting his Ohio teams to peak at the right time.

Again, I think he's a great hire for Akron, but I can see why someone might be skeptical. I don't see much that's sad in that thread - unless you're sad about their righteous anger at you for slamming their city. ;-)
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Recovering Journalist
4/4/2017 8:36 PM
FearLeon wrote:expand_more
The ghost of Groce who has been overlooking Saul's shoulder just got real. The Honeymoon is over and the head coaching chair here at OHIO just became hot...real HOT!! Let the games, both recruiting and on the court, now begin!!
Fair or not....this is a true statement^^^^.
It's true for about a dozen people on this board who think Ohio is an attitude adjustment away from being the Gonzaga of the MAC. Saul wins a lot, has two years left on his contract and isn't even through one recruiting cycle. Hot seat? What a joke.
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bornacatfan
4/4/2017 8:48 PM
Ahhh. Friends or not his record stands on it's own. He builds teams for March. It is what it is...

If anyone could have made a Few like existence here I think it is him. I suspect Akron will not be the place that happens. Tourney success and back in it.

I got a feeling he will win and be a hot name and get back to a P5 spot.

Kids are going to spend their young hoops years playing for King James Shooting Stars and will have to pick a HS. Long haul for his and his wife's P's

Meanwhile I get smiles from the thread. Talk of an earthquake and a rumble in Hocking Hills. A reality of some talking about the 2010 team and beating GTown with TOS' kids.... and then comparing KD to JG in the same time frame.

In O'Shea's last three years, OU was 58-37 and they finished 4th, 4th and 3rd.

Groce had a very mediocre first year, 15-17 (6th), before going 70-39 (5th, 3rd, 3rd). As a point of comparison, KD in those same three years was 69-36, playing what I suspect was a weaker OOC schedule.

More power to him and I am sure he will negotiate a bigger deal than KD had when he left and bigger than Saul has now. Not sure how the JAR plays into the contract
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Bobcat1998
4/4/2017 9:11 PM
I loved Groce at OU and thought he made a big mistake going with the money to Illinois. If he would have gone a few extra years he would have had better options. Illinois was struggling when he got there. That being said, I don't know how he will translate to Akron. He will enjoy not having to worry about automatic qualifiers but the facilities are not great. Very excited to have him in the MAC again.
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OhioCatFan
4/4/2017 9:58 PM
MonroeClassmate wrote:expand_more
It's a small world after all is the only thing I can say!

My son spent his four years in the 110 during the Groce years in the Convo.

My son went to grad school at Duquesene University and John Rhoads was his Ohio connection who he got to talk with about Athens on several occasions because of playing in the Dukes basketball band in Pittsburgh.

This Fall, my son then decides to get his second masters this one from the University of Akron and plays in the Zips basketball band. One year of Dambrot then off to Duquesne and now coaching full circle as he has one more year in the pep band with Groce coaching the Zips! (As a HS senior one of his three college trips was to the University of Illinois--the weekend the Bobcats took care of the Illini on the gridiron)

I am not sure Groce will remember him but JG will have one friend on campus when he arrives.
Thanks for the story. Things do come full cycle sometime.
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OhioCatFan
4/4/2017 10:02 PM
Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
The ghost of Groce who has been overlooking Saul's shoulder just got real. The Honeymoon is over and the head coaching chair here at OHIO just became hot...real HOT!! Let the games, both recruiting and on the court, now begin!!
Fair or not....this is a true statement^^^^.
It's true for about a dozen people on this board who think Ohio is an attitude adjustment away from being the Gonzaga of the MAC. Saul wins a lot, has two years left on his contract and isn't even through one recruiting cycle. Hot seat? What a joke.
+1 I was contemplating how to best respond to this absurdity, but then I read your response RJ, and I thought a polite +1 would do it.
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FearLeon
4/4/2017 10:15 PM
Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
The ghost of Groce who has been overlooking Saul's shoulder just got real. The Honeymoon is over and the head coaching chair here at OHIO just became hot...real HOT!! Let the games, both recruiting and on the court, now begin!!
Fair or not....this is a true statement^^^^.
It's true for about a dozen people on this board who think Ohio is an attitude adjustment away from being the Gonzaga of the MAC. Saul wins a lot, has two years left on his contract and isn't even through one recruiting cycle. Hot seat? What a joke.
If Groce wins a MAC Tournament Championship before Saul, you don't think Saul will be feeling the heat??? Please.
Last Edited: 4/4/2017 10:19:11 PM by FearLeon
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OhioCatFan
4/4/2017 10:24 PM
FearLeon wrote:expand_more
The ghost of Groce who has been overlooking Saul's shoulder just got real. The Honeymoon is over and the head coaching chair here at OHIO just became hot...real HOT!! Let the games, both recruiting and on the court, now begin!!
Fair or not....this is a true statement^^^^.
It's true for about a dozen people on this board who think Ohio is an attitude adjustment away from being the Gonzaga of the MAC. Saul wins a lot, has two years left on his contract and isn't even through one recruiting cycle. Hot seat? What a joke.
If Groce wins a MAC Tournament Championship before Saul, you don't think Saul will be feeling the heat??? Please.
The original post says that the seat just became real hot, not that it might someday under a hypothetical scenario become hot.
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boydhallbobcat
4/4/2017 11:10 PM
Loved what Groce did when he was here, but he didn't stick around long enough for me to get emotionally attached. I'll have no problem rooting against him. I am 100% a Saul guy..Let the games begin.
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Toast
4/5/2017 9:04 AM
Yes Groce won two MAC tourneys.... but his regular season record while he was here was crap.
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MedinaCat
4/5/2017 9:07 AM
boydhallbobcat wrote:expand_more
Loved what Groce did when he was here, but he didn't stick around long enough for me to get emotionally attached. I'll have no problem rooting against him. I am 100% a Saul guy..Let the games begin.
This is my line of thinking…ambivalent is the word I’ll use. If he had won at Illinois, good for him. He didn’t, oh well. If he is Akron’s choice, I hope he fails miserably.
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Diamond Cat
4/5/2017 9:27 AM
Bring it on! Now that King James' elf left the tree, there's no guarantee Groce has any clout with the King.

I'm looking forward to whipping his A$$ and extracting some flesh for him setting the program back a few years. I don't care why he left. The bottom line is - he left.

Great opportunity for Saul to silence the skeptics.

Couldn't stand Akron before this and now I really can't stand Akron.
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Mark Lembright '85
4/5/2017 9:28 AM
This hire will make things even more interesting and add some needed zest to the Ohio/Akron games. I'm just as curious to see how this affects the Akron-KSU rivalry; I have to imagine the KSU fans will rip into Groce pretty good too. This will be fun. Good times!

I do find curious the comments on Groce's MAC regular season record. I'm now more in line with FlashGary's (is that the correct BA poster?) opinion that the only thing that matters for MAC basketball teams is the MAC tournament, not the regular season. OK, so Groce's regular season record at Ohio was middling at best. So what? His record in the Big Dance was 3-2 and those 3 wins are the only MAC wins in the tournament the last 14 years. The guy took the then ranked #1 team in the country to OT and came within a hair of making the Elite 8. Think any of us were thinking of Groce's regular season record when we were watching Ohio reach the Sweet 16 after watching 2 wonderful games in St. Louis?

On the other hand, Dambrot had a spotless regular season record. What did that get him? 13 years of frustration and the desire to leave the MAC.
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100%Cat
4/5/2017 9:31 AM
His reception by the crowd in the Convo next season should be interesting.
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GoCats105
4/5/2017 9:38 AM
100%Cat wrote:expand_more
His reception by the crowd in the Convo next season should be interesting.
If this doesn't get crowds rowdy for those games I don't know what will.
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Mark Lembright '85
4/5/2017 9:41 AM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
His reception by the crowd in the Convo next season should be interesting.
If this doesn't get crowds rowdy for those games I don't know what will.
Agreed! I hope this brings back some of the passion that a lot of posters say the OZONE's been missing the last several years.
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