One of several things I wondered last night in the Convo as I suffered through that performance is whether or not Akron's non-starters would beat Ohio's starting lineup? An honest question. I'm not sure the younger of the Mahaffey brothers, Hardman, Scott, Mussime-Kamali and Stankovic would be an inferior lineup than OUr starting five. Not a pleasant thought but that's where Ohio is in year 7 of Boals.

Another thought that I've pondered recently is what must be going through Pav's mind as he sees his final season slipping away. While he's putting up all-MAC numbers, he's watching a couple of teammates getting into nightly arguments with the refs, resulting in technicals, and his backcourt mates providing no help on the wings on either side of the ball. While this has to be a drag on him it won't effect next year's roster as his eligibility comes to an end. But what about Kelly, a freshman who just goes about his business while showing week-to-week improvement? Is the mess this program finds itself in an added reason for him to look to the portal to find a better situation? Again, not a pleasant thought.

A bit delayed weighing in.

Hot take - I think Akron is better than Miami. I think they're just as good if not better than their 17-1 team last year. I actually think this could be the year the MAC gets 2 in the tourney, because based on the remaining schedule Miami just may pull off the undefeated season but I like Akron to beat them in the Championship. Akron does the little things well and has a confidence and conviction to them. Yes, that comes from coaching and culture and bringing in the right guys.

The stretch in the 1st half from about 10 to go to 3 to go was nauseating, I was as down in the dumps as I can ever remember in the Convo. 21-3 run is one thing, but everything that went down in that stretch was really painful. The Hadaway Flagrant and Tech was inexcusable. #1 it was very obviously a flagrant foul, he was out for blood and shoved the dude. Then he has the delusion to walk around confidently declaring he did nothing wrong. What pisses me off the most is how Boals and the entire coaching staff just let Hadaway be in the ref's ear for a full 60 seconds. And even before that, when the ref was giving Boals the explanation of the flagrant, Hadaway cut in and said something that clearly really irked the ref, so Boals knew where Hadaway was at and should have sat him and told him to shut up but he leaves him in. Anyone with half a brain saw what was coming next. The only person that tried to step in and protect him was Simmons, but it wasn't enough. Hadaway blabbered at the ref for far too long, again about a call that was CLEARLY correct. Then after he gets T'd up, he goes and whines to Boals some more and rather than light him up, he seems to try to comfort Hadaway or empathize with him. It was a true embarrassment.

Boals tech was not as upsetting, he was pissed off at our shitty defense and slammed his whiteboard (a common occurrence) and one of the borders came off and went flying on the court. Ref had no choice but to T him up as he essentially threw something on the court, a lesson in physics. Boals actually wasn't very whiney with the refs in this game, but he typically is relentlessly whiney and like others, it bothers me for the message it sends to the rest of the team. I want Boals to tell players to stop bitching and take accountability for their own performance and I just don't see that from my vanish point. Hard not to connect this with what Hadaway has become in year 4.

Someone mentioned Boals dodged the question about Sheldon getting less minutes, I don't think it was a complete dodge. In his response he alluded to him getting 24 which is low for him and seemed to suggest EE being back will cut into his minutes. Sure he finished it with glazing remarks about how he is good and we need him, but if you mine the coach speak for honest thoughts, I am hoping this shows an inclination to at least scale him back to 20ish. Don't let the higher 3 pt % fool you, he has been worse in almost every other way including a horrific 33% from 2. At the risk of stepping in front of the angry mob, I do not think he is below average defensively. But offensively he is just downright terrible.

Weekly post oozing over JJ Kelly - He played really well including 3 elite blocks. Very happy to see him with 36 minutes...he should be on the court as much as possible.

I'll also add we had a high volume of shots in and out. Several that seemed to hang on the rim forever and roll off. Aside from the horrific 7 minute run in the first half, we showed we can play with Akron at times...but for a full 40? Unlikely. I still think we have a solid core 4 in JP, JJ, Hadaway (when not being a big baby), & Simmons...and am not giving up on the season. But I do believe Akron & Miami are in another tier and we are in a fight for the bronze medal this season.

FWIW, Sheldon's 24 minutes against Akron were his lowest since Ohio Wesleyan (23) and Marshall (26).

For the season, Ohio is 1-5 when Sheldon plays 33+ minutes. The one win against St. Bonaventure went to OT.

When Sheldon plays 30+ minutes, Ohio is 6-6. When he doesn't Ohio is 5-4.

Yep.

This is why the people who insist it's good enough if Boals can keep us constantly in the top 4 of the league strike me as naive. They think that means we can get hot and win the conference tournament every now and again.

But on the floor it's very apparent the best teams in the league are substantially more talented and more athletic than us.