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If you watch him closely, he also seems to always be able to get a hand on a pass somewhere that results in a turnover, or tip a rebound out to someone else, etc. So he does more things than what you see on a stat sheet. Every coach wishes that they have players who put out his kind of effort. He could be a very good player if he learns to temper his enthusiasm enough to be more productive on the offensive end.

Here's what's funny: We pretty much played identically, offensively, to the game at Ken+ a few weeks ago, but completely changed the result. Ken+ scored 85 in Ken+, and could only muster 60 in the JAR. We created turnovers in the paint. I said this would be a key earlier. The guards came back a lot to help, got in passing lanes, and swatted balls from their post players from a lot of different directions. We were completely focused on the defensive end, and played with far more energy this time. Hall was frustrated as hell, and I hope he goes to bed tonight understanding that his foolish technical for having a punk-a$$ attitude created the points that got us over the hump from a 5-6 point game into a blowout.

I was correcting that (see above) as your message came in.

It seemed like the emphasis was on Jake and Reggie because they played 4 years, and because they were members of that last tournament title team as freshmen in 2013. EDIT: It's funny how I just typed this and completely forgot that Pat got back his freshman year a 2nd time because of a medical redshirt, and DID still play 4 years after transferring.

In my opinion, I still can't forget about those decisive losses to Ken+, Toledo and CMU on the road. And we never got a chance to play two of them at home to see just how good (or bad) we matched up against them. We'll know much more about Ken+ tonight. But, I guess I will always wonder about CMU and Toledo. So, I have those two at the top of my list of teams I'd love to avoid in Cleveland. So most importantly, I just don't want to see CMU in the 4 spot, or see Toledo in the 8 spot.

More good news. Our RPI just jumped up to #37 overnight. Must have been some good things that happened in other games last night in our favor.

That's really good.

That was part of it. But that's far from the only thing we do to create 3-point shots. We run some set plays, and a ton of screens up top in motion offense to try to free the shooters, and they did a great job staying with people. This isn't Ken+'s most talented team, by a long shot, but they are still quicker and more athletic at the guard positions than most teams in the MAC.

It was hard to ignore this. I really felt like Ken+ was able to guard the shooters on the perimeter better than any team we played this year. It was also devastating to see Hall and Spicer combine for 39 points in the paint. But Ken+ is going to see a different team tonight. That team that went to Ken+ a few weeks ago was still trying to figure out how to play with a shortage of post players. But I really think the key tonight is that the juiced-up crowd will be able to help our guys create more turnovers. And I think that's going to create an entirely different outcome.

Good. It's WAY too hot in that place, and will be even hotter with 5k packed into that place. I was thinking the same thing. It seems like they've been here forever. And they are two first-class guys who have laid it on the line for us for 4 years, and really epitomize the Dambrot era at UA.

Thanks for the update Zippyman. That seems like numbers that are a lot closer to reality. I just wasn't seeing any way possible that a scenario could exist that would allow us to climb from 40 to 16 over the course of a few games at the end of the season. 10 to 15 spots? Maybe 25 spots? No Way

That is correct. We'll se how it works out. I at least like the location better.

Again, I'm shocked that projections show our RPI in the teens if we win out, and in the 20s if we lose one more game. I would have never guessed that was possible after the recent losses. I know my opinion, but I have to ask the rest of you this... Besides the typical "lack of reputation" or "a big name" shouldn't we all be feeling slighted if we're a low seed? Someone stated that we'd maybe be a 12 if we win out? How could a #16 RPI put you at the 12 spot? That's technically for teams ranked somewhere around the mid-40s. That makes no sense. If we do indeed end up in the 20s or lower, one could say that this technically should put someone in a 6-8 spot. But even though that will never happen, why shouldn't we expect a possible single digit seed? Why shouldn't we expect something like Ken+ was awarded in 2008 for a similar accomplishment? Especially since we dominated a conference that is much more highly regarded than it was in 2008? If our RPI ends up anywhere below 30, and we get a typical 12 or 13 seed, I am going to be outraged, and feel that someone predetermined the slot that the MAC champ would occupy, regardless of who the team was. A few of the rest of you can choose to look at that any way you want.

An oval bun, as opposed to a round bun. And it's filled with a tube-shaped piece of cooked bologna. I say....SANDWICH

Signature Wins? As in....Plural? OSWho is 1-6 against the RPI Top 25.

Keith probably should have won about 5 of them by now. Yes, he's a victim of EXPECTATIONS. That shouldn't matter, but apparently it does.

True. It's not perfection, but it's the best we have available to take all factors into consideration and rank teams. Maybe we should do it without a committee involved. The biases and motives are always going to hurt us.

Wow. I see it. I had no idea that was even still possible. Even if we lose one more, we're still at #28? I didn't think anything like that was possible after the recent losses. But, we did just make a jump to #41 this morning, so other factors might be breaking our way that can make this possible. That would be awesome.

Hey Zippy. I'd really like to see that RPI forecast. I had previously thought that there was no way we could even get into the 20s unless we "won out", starting about 3 weeks ago. Can you provide a link? If we do get to #16 we'd definitely be in the Top 8 seeds in our region. We should get a #4, technically, but we all know that would never happen.

Kreed. I agree with you that the At-Large is 100% off the table, but for very, very different reasons. We can look at the quality of wins and losses all day. I point to some data on wins in the Top 100 that looks impressive. You point to something in the data that does not look impressive. But the RPI score takes all of that into account, and we're #41 this morning (and could go much higher), and a team that's considered by many to be "On The Bubble" is #73. That's completely ridiculous. But it's the way it is.

But when it's Akron's home game, it's in late November.

I think the At-Large became impossible after these recent 3 losses, for sure. And regardless of what's been posted here, I'll be surprised if our RPI can climb into that 20-something range that it would take to force the issue with the committee. Lets face it, the name "Akron" doesn't sell tickets. Regardless of our 3-point proficiency. And the committee knows this. OSWho has an RPI 30 points lower than us, and we have a much better overall record, and a much better record against the RPI Top 100. Yet, the prognosticators think they are "On The Bubble" for an At-Large. Unbelievable. We'll continue to get pushed aside until our resume gives the selection committee no reason to refuse us.

They missed a bunch of travels in the early part of the game, and they wouldn't let Antino guard closely on defense the entire game. I thought Big Dog got mauled a bit tonight, but that happens every game. If we had lost this game, those would be noticeable. But we didn't.

Would our Quarterfinal game really be at NOON ?? Sucks for the fans, but it does give the #1 seed the longest break before the semi-final games on Friday night.

I'd have to agree with that also (as far as affecting the opponent). I don't think too many arenas have the crowd that close. Put yourself in opponents' shoes. Would you want to play in front of a packed JAR?