As with the start of any college hoops season, there is a clear favorite to win the MAC — Akron in this case — but there are also plenty of reasons to think that the Zips won’t repeat as MAC champs. The most important of which may be the fact that the MAC has had six different regular season and tournament champions over the course of the last four seasons. The maximum possible is eight. And of those six different champs, none have come from the abysmal, wasteland known as the MAC West. In fact, the last five MAC tourney champs have all come from the East. Not since the Mike Williams-leg Western Michigan Broncos won the MAC in 2004 has a MAC West team won the MAC. There’s no reason to think that trend will change in 2009-10.
Before we begin the NFABJ preview, just know that better, more comprehensive and dependable coverage of the MAC can be found at these websites:
MAC Report Online
Vandelay Sports
The MAC Daily
Predicted Order of Finish:
1.Akron
2.Buffalo
3.Kent State
4.Ohio
5.Miami
6.Bowling Green
What the Data Says:
Using Ken Pomeroy’s offensive, defensive, and tempo stats, there is somewhat of a trend in the MAC the past few years. The team with the best defensive efficiency score has won the MAC tourney each of the past three seasons. Over that same period of time, the team with the best offensive efficiency score has never finished first during regular season play nor won the MAC.
All-MAC East
G, Rodney Pierce, Senior, Buffalo
G, Kenny Hayes, Senior, Miami
G/F, Chris Singletary, Senior, Kent State
F, Calvin Betts, Senior, Buffalo
F, Brett McKnight, Junior, Akron
MAC East Player of the Year: Kenny Hayes, guard, Miami.
The Redhawks senior guard is poised to have a breakout year. The past several seasons have seen Charlie Coles’ lay the responsibility for getting dubbyas at a single players’ feet — Michael Bramos, Tim Pollitz — and Hayes is that player in 2009-10. Kid has the talent and hoops IQ to get it done.
MAC East Coach of the Year: Geno Ford, Kent State
It’s never easy to take over a program that is synonomous with 20 wins and MAC titles, but Geno Ford fared pretty well his first year as Golden Flashes head coach. Find a point guard this season, and Kent State could very well win the East.
Most Exciting MAC East Player: Zeke Marshall, Akron
The 7-0 frosh big is the most highly touted player to join the league since, well, really bored middle-aged white guys started ranking things like this. Regardless of the genesis of the excitement, Marshall has a skillset not typically seen in MAC bigs. Particularly notably is his coordination and ability to put one foot in front of the other successfully while running the floor; a trait that prototypical umbering MAC bigs don’t always have.
Most Punk Rock MAC East Player: Joe Jakubowski, guard, Bowling Green
The Falcons’ floppy haired point has less tats than Mother Theresa and may actually be the MAC East player least likely to rock a mohawk, but that’s what makes him so punk. Dude is Elvis Costello in a league where mall punk and mass-produced hip hop reign supreme. Rock on, young fella!
Toughest MAC East Player: Brett McKnight, forward, Akron
McKnight teams with brother Chris to form a Hanson Brothers-lite tag team upfront for the Zips. While Chris has a little more height — he’s listed at 6- 7 to Brett’s 6-6 — Brett is definitely the beefier of the two. And he’s also the one that’s usually in the middle of whatever fracas is going down.
Larry Eustachy Award: Louis Orr, Bowling Green
Let’s be honest; the match-up zone isn’t a real defense. It’s the fallback for coaches who can’t commit to going 2-3 and know they don’t have the horses to man up. So why is it so fucking successful? Get Louis Orr drunk and you might find out.
1. Akron
What We Like: There’s little reason to think that star recruit Zeke Marshall won’t be a star in the MAC. Incumbent starting point Humpty Hitchens emerged at the MAC Tourney as a player so clutch, he might very well be sole dude in the MAC that could be waterboarded and not give anything up. Keith Dambrot’s squad has more depth than a Rhodes Scholar meet-up at Oxford.
What We Don’t Like: Being the favorite to win the MAC is kind of like being an NBC show that aired in the 10:00 to 11:00 PM slot during the 208-09 TV season. Everyone loves you, until the bully shows up and boots you! That’s where the Zips are right now… Waiting for that bully to show. An OOC slate so soft that it could be a candidate for The Biggest Loser will leave the Zips less than tested and battle-ready come MAC play.
What We Think: 22-6 (12-4)
What We Like: Potential All-MAC performers Rodney Pierce and Calvin Betts set the pace for a deep and selfless squad that can beat opponents in a multitude of ways. The frontcourt, led by senior post player Max Boudreau, and skilled sophs Titus Robinson and Mitchell Watt, might be the best in the league. Soph gunner Zach Filzen has the chops to keep D’s honest.
What We Don’t Like: Too many spare parts and a coach that is prone to tinker with them. The Bulls are like an Ikea shelving unit. You successfully install it, but somehow, someway, the floor is littered with leftover screws, washers, and, ummm, other stuff. Bulls might be better off if rotation were only 2 or 3 deep than they are with it being 4 or 5. Filzen is being counted on to knock down enough J’s to keep defenses honest and spread the floor so Pierce and Betts have the space to operate. Whether he can do that at this level, remains to be seen.
What We Think: 21-7 (11-5); second in the MAC East and a dangerous third seed come Clevo.
What We Like: Seniors Chris Singletary and Tyree Evens form one of the best backcourts in the MAC. With the return of senior stopper Rodriguez Sherman from injury, Geno Ford’s squad has the sort of backcourt depth that wins MAC titles. JUCO bigs Greg Avila (6-6) and Justin Manns (6-11) should help fortify a frontcourt that was frequently overpowered and pushed around in the MAC last season.
What We Don’t Like: As good as the trio of Singletary, Sherman, and Evans may be, replacing two-year starting point guard Al Fisher is going to be a mammoth task. And it’s a task not made any easier by the fact that the teams three top guards are more combo than pure point. Avila and Manns look good on paper, but do they have the physicality and toughness to be effective in a league that will have lots of rugged and skilled bigs?
What We Think: 20-11 (10-6), 3rd in the MAC East
What We Like: Bobcats coach John Groce must’ve been offering free porno channels and/or bunches of playing time because the kids he convinced to play their hoops and go to class in Athens, Ohio has to be one of the better hauls in MAC history. Former Indiana guard Armon Basset, a sharpshooter who made 43.5% of his treys while averaging over 10 PPG at Indiana, headlines the group of Bobcat newcomers, but he’s got plenty of company; particularly 6-8 frosh forward Ivo Baltic, who will be star in the MAC. It will take some time for this group to gel, but Ohio could be very dangerous come Clevo in March.
What We Don’t Like: The key returnees — primarily three-point sniper Tommy Freeman and forward DeVaughn Washington — are uninspiring. Groce needs Bassett, Baltic, and the other newcomers to produce immediately if the Bobcats are going to be competitive in the rough-n-tumble MAC East.
What We Think: 19-12 (10-6), 4th in the MAC East and the side nobody wants to draw in Clevo.
What We Like: Kenny Hayes is the best player in the MAC. His return should help an offense that experienced biblical droughts last season — in fairness to the Redhawks, many MAC teams suffered from the same problem — get points in the waning moments of close games (a Miami specialty). Soph big Julian Mavunga is poised for a breakout season. As always, the Charlie Coles-coached side will plod along at it’s pre-shot clock pace, keeping the score low, driving opponents insane, and staying in every game.
What We Don’t Like: The Redhawks were overly reliant on Michael Bramos to generate offense last season. With only two starters returning — unimpressive big Adam Fletcher and non-descript wing Antonio Ballard — Kenny Hayes may inherit Bramos’ role as, well, the offense. Miami’s donkey cart tempo keeps them in games, but it also prevents them from burying inferior opponents; like those in the MAC West.
What We Think: 16-14 (9-7), 5th in the MAC East.
What We Like: The Falcons’ 2-3 match-up zone proved to be kryptonite to the MAC during 2008-09, as Louis Orr’s squad seemingly came out of nowhere to finish first in the MAC East last season. Junior guard Joe Jakubowski is one of the league’s better points. Massive big Otis Polk is like a Hummer in a parking space in Manhattan; just a pure space-eater.
What We Don’t Like: It’s nice to spring a surprise defense on a league that teams in that league have never played, but it’s quite another thing to do it two seasons in a row. And to do so that second season with a talent deficit that even William Hung didn’t face during American Idol tryouts. The Falcons will go as far as their 2-3 match-up zone takes them in the MAC this season. It won’t be far.
What We Think: 11-18 (6-10), 6th in the MAC East.
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