This team again proved it can beat anyone in the MAC. Akron came in on a 12 game winning streak and was undefeated in conference play. Not anymore. No one will want to face Ohio in the MAC. Not even the team being tabbed the best in the league who was just whipped.

Well I think OB was just saying that the Cats can beat the good teams. He isn't saying that we're going to roll the rest of the way, that we need to prove right now that we can win three in a row. He's saying that come tournament time we can beat the best team(s). There have been many many doubters on here, and few who expressed that they thought we could get the W today.

Glad to hear it Fear, but I missed your comment on getting the W today. You mean this in the game thread?

RE: Official Game 21 Thread: Akron
Posted: 2/4/2017 10:40:19 AM

Wasn't there a pre-season thread about Akron and how more than a few people thought the Zips were going to be way down this year? All I know is we are talking about an Akron team that had the #1 team in the country on the ropes with 7 minutes left in the game. With that said, Vegas has this as a pick 'em game? Something is very, very fishy here with that line. 90% of the public is on Akron and you know what that usually means. #BleedGreen

FearLeon: I totally concur. When I saw the subject that said: Any doubters now???," my initial reaction was "well, hell yeah."
After the debacle against Western Michigan, how could there not be?
That being said, today was one of my finest memories of rocking live in the Convo. The crowd was large and they were more vocal than I have seen in a long time. J. Simmons assumed the mantle of team leader with Big Tony out. It is fair to expect a lot more of that because he is realizing how capable he is of being so.
We defeated a proven conference leader today. For a team thrust into dealing with the loss of the current conference POY, our men are trying like hell to answer the bell. We will have setbacks (and have), let's just continue to trend upward.
Today, our men took a huge step in proving that our commitment is to do just that.

Based on reading Elton's article this morning I think he and Akron are doubters. I think Elton wanted to write that the only reason Ohio University won is because Akron was extremely cold shooting and in foul trouble all game because the refs were terrible. He definitely intimated that in so many words and by the lack of any credit to us.

In my time following the Bobcats, which has been since the 2000-2001 season, there have only been maybe 2 or 3 years where we didn't have a team that could beat anyone in the MAC on any given game day. Of course there have been plenty of head scratching losses in that same time period too.

I was glad to see a strong response from the team after that bad loss against Western. To beat the first place team (and hand them their first loss in conference) by double digits showed me that the team wanted to redeem themselves and know there is much to play for. A MAC regular season title is always nice to have but in reality if they can secure one of the top 4 seeds and avoid Akron until the finals this team definitely has it in them to make some noise in March.

Some tough but winnable games remain on the schedule. Definitely no "gimmes" on the remaining slate. The Bobcats don't win too often in Kent, Ball State and Eastern are leading the West, Buffalo brings their A game usually to Athens etc.

Do we go any better than 4-3 down the stretch?

It was one good win, at home. It felt good to beat Akron, but it's still just one in the standings, and a par at that. It's over. We drop another approach shot in the lake and bogey vs CMU and it's all meaningless. 8 games left, five of them on the road.

It shows the team is adjusting to life without Tone. Simmons really carried the team (25 of Ohio's last 32 pts, over the last 9 mins), on a day when Carter, Kaminski and even Dartis had off-days. Give it to the guy with the hot hand, even if you have to keep it yourself. Taylor is showing some growth, too. Only 4 pts but he handled underneath pretty well. Just 3 fouls in 20 mins and he had a really nice steal of an entry pass.

I would add to this: We've seen growth from the team each of the last two years at around this point in the season. Granted, the circumstances are different, but it's definitely there.

Bump.