Akron Zips men's basketball team briefly celebrates success of last season's team

In addition to a win against a very good opponent in South Dakota State on Monday, the Akron Zips men’s basketball team got the chance to enjoy the fruits of their labor from last season.

By any measure, last season’s march to the NCAA Tournament, was unexpected.

For those who followed the team throughout their hoops odyssey, there were more than a few occasions when the Zips didn’t resemble a cohesive unit.

As late as mid-February there was some internal strife that coach John Groce dealt with diplomatically, professionally and it seemed to galvanize the team on the way to an eight-game winning that included a surprise win of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland.

They acknowledged that success prior to the start of their 81-80 victory over the Jackrabbits with the banner in recognition of their tournament appearance being hoisted and the team receiving their rings.

That ceremony came with mixed emotions for some.

“It felt good to me personally. It was just kind of a quick distraction before the game. Because I don't want to think about last year and kind of reminisce,” forward Enrique Freeman said. “I just kind of want to just play this game today. That's what I was thinking.”

Perhaps it’s because the Zips, who came within a couple of possessions of vanquishing an imminently beatable UCLA Bruins team in the tournament, are that focused heading into the season.

Guard Xavier Castaneda shared Freeman’s sentiments, however.

“It kind of was a distraction, but it's fine,” he said. “I appreciate the banner being there. It'll be there forever.”

Surprisingly, Groce expressed a different opinion. Coaches aren’t known for wanting to look to the past and during his time at UA, Groce has been no different. The cliches come quickly – “get better every day,” “next play” and “take it one game at a time.”

He, however, shared that it meant more. Perhaps because, arguably, it was one of the better coaching jobs in his career.

“Honestly, it meant a lot. I mean, I'll be honest, I had some guys on staff that didn't necessarily want me to do that tonight to stay focused on the game,” he said. “But probably when I started - this is my 30th year in college coaching - I'd say in the front third of my career I wouldn't have proposed to do that because I'd wanted to be too focused on [Monday’s] game.”

Groce has come to a realization about the challenges of striving for consistent excellence.

“I think as you get older what you learn is that those memories that are special and it's hard man. It's hard to win championships. It's hard to win. It's hard to play in NCAA tournaments,” he said. “It's hard to advance and then those things are hard to do and I thought it was appropriate to recognize that team and at the same time we wanted to keep it somewhat brief so that we did not become a total distraction for the game.”

Ultimately, the ceremony didn’t prove a disruption in a game that proved entertaining and may portend good things for the rest of the upcoming season.

“We're ahead of that right now for this time of year relative to this time last year. Way ahead of that. I mean, way ahead of it. Miles, leaps and bounds,” Groce said. “So that's what gives us a chance, I think, to get better is the character of our guys and their high care factor for each other, for winning.

“They're about the right things. They have good chemistry. We just got to learn and be a little bit more disciplined with our execution right now is not as sharp as it needs to be.”

John Groce's 'care factor' at work in first game

No player will ever be “on” every night. Apparently, Monday was guard Greg Tribble’s turn. It was ecstasy and agony for Tribble, who endured a 2-of-11 shooting night, including missing a layup after getting a steal with with seconds left in regulation.

Tribble, a career 43% shooter, operates best around the hoop. Translation: he doesn’t miss a lot of layups. Sometimes players just have bad nights and he missed a couple other layups in the game. His teammates wanted to make sure they kept him confident, however.

“I think it was just a missed layup,” Castaneda said. “We had his back though. We told him next play. If he doesn't get that steal, we potentially lose there. So yes, it was a game-winning steal right there.”

Tribble redeemed himself after being fouled with two seconds left in overtime, hitting the front end of two shots.

“Next play, that’s very simple,” Freeman said of his teammate’s trials and tribulations in the latter stages of the game. “Hey, it happens. It's so ironic that he was able to shoot the last two free throws of the game, so he was able to redeem himself.”

Akron men's basketball's readies for Mississippi State

The Zips return to action Friday against SEC opponent Mississippi State on a neutral floor at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The game is part of the Barstool Sports Invitational and tips at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs went 18-16 last season and won their opener 63-44 over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday.

Reach George M. Thomas at gthomas@thebeaconjournal.com or on Twitter @ByGeorgeThomas.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zips men's basketball team focuses on future, not past success