Zips vs. Rhode Island

[Hilltopper]

Looks like things are heating up on the URI board. Now we're worried about Akron. What has this program turned into?

[Zip Watcher]

Close game for most of it with our athleticism wearing Akron out at the end.

Thanks for stopping in and sharing your thoughts. We appreciate it.I don't have much to add on most of your post, but the last statement reflects an unfamiliarity with the Zips on your part. Can't blame you though, if my team were in the A10 .. I wouldn't bother myself a whole lot with knowing the MAC.The LAST thing that will happen in this game is Akron wearing out at the end. The Zips will go 10 maybe 11 deep in this game, and no one is logging 30 minutes per game .. the breakdown is quite similar to URI in that respect. The Zips last game took them to Laramie Wyoming with all the altitude .. blah blah blah .. against a running team, and when that game ended, the Cowboys were the ones holding their shorts and sucking wind .. not the Zips.This is going to be a great test for the Zips, and will be a nice win if they can get it. But by the same token, it will tell some things about the Rams. Namely, can they handle the physicality that the Zips will bring in the half court, on both ends? Can they bang? That will be interesting.I agree that the game will hinge on tempo .. but think tempo might just affect URI more than UA.Some stats I'll be watching that I think may prove to be the difference:#1: URI is averaging 60.75 shots per game and shooting 48%. UA's defense is only giving up 50.69 shots per game, and they're allowing 40.2 % .. there's a big disparity in these numbers and something will have to give. If the Zips give up an additional 10 shots over their average but keep the % low, we're looking at 8 points over their average points allowed .. same for holding the shots down, but allowing a higher percentage. If UA can keep those numbers close to their average, then URI won't approach their average of 80 ppg (Zips are currently allowing 61.7).#2: Looking at it on the other end of the court, UA is averaging 57.15 shots per game, and shooting 45.2%. URI is allowing 58.1 shots per game and 46.5% shooting. This would appear to indicate the Zips may get their points. UA is averaging 71.4 ppg and URI is allowing 71.7 ppg. Seems to me that the Zips may get their 70 in this one .. URI will need to improve upon their shots allowed and percentages to hold UA under 70.#3: We're all hearing about the defense of URI .. the speed, the trapping & pressing. We know the Zips struggle a little against longer back court players .. some of the guys they beat @ Wyoming by 11 gave them fits. But the statistics tell a slightly different story. URI is forcing 15.7 turnovers per game, and turning it over themselves only 12.8. The Zips are averaging 14.2 and forcing 16.2 TO / game. So here again, there's opportunity to see extra possessions which you'd expect being told how much of a trapping & pressing team the Rams are .. but it's not borne out in the numbers. They're only forcing 15.7 TO/game, which is LESS than the 16.2 the Zips force. #4: Neither team has played a gauntlet schedule. URI's a little tougher, but all of their games with the exception of Drexel and VCU were within an hour or so of Kingston. So while going to Conte Forum and winning is certainly nice .. there was opportunity to have Rams fans there and the team wasn't road weary. In some respects, this game will be closer to the VCU game than any of the others the Rams have played (I admit not being up on Drexel this season). #5: The game could hinge on the FT line .. and that's the worst omen I find in the statistics for the Zips. The Rams make their free throws, and don't put their opponents on the line nearly as much as the Zips do. A clear disadvantage for the Zips here.Finally, as it often happened with Linhart & Conyers last year .. and this year with Conyers .. the game might just come down to how well Jimmy can take one of the Rams' top forwards (James or Ulmer) out of the game. Prior to this season, if you go back and look at the best games Jimmy's played for the Zips, you'll find that 2 of his better games were against favored A10 opponents coming into the JAR. Against Temple 2 years ago, he and Nate held TU's top 2 scorers something like 15 points under their combined average. And against Dayton, Jimmy had a similar effect on his charge in that game. Jimmy's been rebounding like a monster this season, and scoring in bunches .. but for the Zips to win this game, we'll need a great defensive effort from him on James or Ulmer.Looking forward to this next litmus test. I think the Zips are a little ahead of where they were last season at this time. Hope I'm right.Go Zips! B) B)

[RunninRams]

46th toughest schedule vs 311th toughest schedule is more than " a little tougher"I dont doubt the depth of your bench, but fact is you wont be able to keep up for a full 40 minutes if you let URI dictate the tempo.http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_Men.html

[Zip Watcher]

46th toughest schedule vs 311th toughest schedule is more than " a little tougher"I dont doubt the depth of your bench, but fact is you wont be able to keep up for a full 40 minutes if you let URI dictate the tempo.http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_Men.html

You meant to say that you hope that to be the case .. there's nothing factual about your comment. My big question is (and I mean this honestly): If URI likes to dictate the tempo so much, then why are they only averaging 60 shots per game? 60 is pretty good (49th in NCAA D-1) .. but UA isn't far from that, and the Zips aren't a track meet kind of team. They push when it's there and pound it in when it's not. Providence is averaging almost 70. Looking at possessions, URI averages 71.1 possessions per 40 minutes, while the Zips average 67.9. Again .. not a huge difference. 3 extra possessions per game.Where does the tempo come into play if it doesn't result in more scoring opportunities for the Rams? Conditioning of the Zips and their ability to deal with an up tempo game isn't a concern of mine (detailed above). So if player conditioning isn't a huge factor, or is covered adequately by depth .. what big advantage does the tempo give to URI? The statistics would say it's not in extra shots.I'm certain the Zips will work to dictate the tempo and push the ball inside .. I've seen enough of them to agree with you there. But the Zips aren't afraid of pushing the ball up the court when opportunities present themselves. You're not going to see a Charlie Coles slow-down fest here.As for the schedule, If we swapped the schedules .. I'm pretty comfortable saying the Zips would probably be something like 8-4 or so .. not much difference from what they are now. URI likely still only 1 loss with the Zips schedule. The URI schedule IS a tougher schedule .. but not light years tougher .. and 30 different RPI sites aren't going to convince me otherwise. URI played 4 top 100 teams, and 2 were top 50. The Zips played 3 and one was in the top 50. 2 BCS games vs. 3 for URI. Like I said, it's a tougher schedule for the Rams .. but I don't think it's a guantlet by any stretch of the imagination. I think Providence and OSU are at-large worthy wins. But the tour of Northeast teams doesn't excite me any more than the Zips schedule.Regardless .. I'm looking forward to seeing the Rams in the JAR tomorrow. B) B) Go Zips!

[Zip Watcher]

This just in. Despite the declaration from the EndZone Grass Hill Gnome^TM, the Rhode Island Rams will NOT come to the JAR ranked in the top-25 tomorrow. Bummer.Per the Worldwide Leader: #32 AP & #40 Coaches

[Zip Watcher]

And our friendly local neighborhood AP voter says he's waiting to see what URI does vs. UA before bringing them into the top 25.Elton willing to wait and see on the Rams.

[Quickzips]

What concerns me about Rhode Island isn't their tempo, it is their full court defensive pressure game(there is a difference). Both of our PG's have struggled at times during their careers when it comes to turning the ball over, particularly when faced with a long and athletic backcourt that extends their pressure. Humpty can get pretty loose with the ball in those situations and turn it over. McNees just often times doesn't have the physical capabilities to deal with bigger more athletic guards. I remember a couple years ago at Can't when the Flushes threw Al Fisher at him in a full court press and he turned the ball over like it was his job. He's better than that now, but it still takes him some time to break that press and he will get a fair number of 24 second calls trying. Even if we get it over in time, it can disrupt us as we have less time on the shot clock to work the ball into the post like we want to. I don't think we necessarily lose this game, and I think it will be a pretty hard fought game, but I can also see some stretches where we have trouble protecting the ball.

[Zip Watcher]

Good observations, QZ .. and that was a different McNees back then.I'm thinking that Roberts & McNees are going to need to be bringing the ball up .. and we may see some more Ronnie than usual. But if the press is so effective for URI .. and it appears from everything I read to be a big part of what they do .. why are the Zips forcing more TO's than URI? Something isn't adding up to me here .. One of the teams playing Tuesday at the JAR has the 242nd ranked scoring defense and the 296th ranked FG % defense. The other has the 52nd ranked scoring defense and the 74th ranked FG% defense.

[justns11]

Yes our defense lets up a lot of points, but we score a lot of points too.One of the teams playing Tuesday at the JAR has an RPI rank of 167, a SOS rank of 311, seven games against opponents with an RPI of 200+, and not one win against a top100 RPI team. The other has an RPI rank of 8, a SOS rank of 48 with three game against an opponent with an RPI of 200+, and three wins against top100 RPI teams.That being said, I think this will still be a close game and I'm hoping URI can pull it off on the road.

Good observations, QZ .. and that was a different McNees back then.I'm thinking that Roberts & McNees are going to need to be bringing the ball up .. and we may see some more Ronnie than usual. But if the press is so effective for URI .. and it appears from everything I read to be a big part of what they do .. why are the Zips forcing more TO's than URI? Something isn't adding up to me here .. One of the teams playing Tuesday at the JAR has the 242nd ranked scoring defense and the 296th ranked FG % defense. The other has the 52nd ranked scoring defense and the 74th ranked FG% defense.

[Valpo Zip]

But if the press is so effective for URI .. and it appears from everything I read to be a big part of what they do .. why are the Zips forcing more TO's than URI? Something isn't adding up to me here ..

Because it is very easy to force Malone, St. Francis, and Mount union to commit TOs, much harder when you play Providence, VCU, and OK State

[RowdyZip]

But if the press is so effective for URI .. and it appears from everything I read to be a big part of what they do .. why are the Zips forcing more TO's than URI? Something isn't adding up to me here ..

Because it is very easy to force Malone, St. Francis, and Mount union to commit TOs, much harder when you play Providence, VCU, and OK State

Not sure when we played Mount Union but if you looked at the NC State game (quality opponent) the Zips did force 25 TOs, despite losing by 20. Shoot an average percentage for that game (The Zips shot .309) and the Zips come away with the win. This Zips team has been dominant on the boards lately, and that'll be a key. Should be a fun time tomorrow night...I just wish the students were ALL in town.Oh. And let me ad it sure would be nice to see a story in the Beacon touting this as a big game in TOMORROW'S paper to make more folks aware. (Hint Hint Tom/Beacon)

[Quickzips]

But if the press is so effective for URI .. and it appears from everything I read to be a big part of what they do .. why are the Zips forcing more TO's than URI? Something isn't adding up to me here ..

Because it is very easy to force Malone, St. Francis, and Mount union to commit TOs, much harder when you play Providence, VCU, and OK State

That is just it. Different teams are better or worse off when it comes to handling the press. Something tells me Oklahoma State, Boston College, VCU, Providence and Davidson are better equiped to deal with the press than St. Francis, Malone, UNCGreensboro and Arkansas Pine Bluff are equiped to deal with the Zips defense. The real question right now is how well can the Zips handle the press and how well can Rhode Island handle the Zips defensive attack.

[Zip Watcher]

Fair point.The Zips forced 25 TO's against NC St. Their high for the year. Followed by Wyoming with 21 (pressing / trapping team).URI forced 19 vs. PC, 21 vs. VCU, and 10 against OSU. In fact, their TO's forced is trending downward from the beginning of the year. Northeastern, Fairfield & Drexel .. all teams that would fit with the Zips current schedule, each turned it over less than 15 times against URI.The Zips need to defend well and run their offense from the inside out.Early Vegas line is URI -1.5Go Zips!

[mes102]

I believe that this is the first game of "Bracketbusters" in 2010...it's a big game for both teams toward a ncaa tourney resume for seeding, bid,,yada yada yada...all that "stuff"I will be as loud as i was in Cary, North Carolina. How bout everyone else?

[mes102]

Oh. And let me ad it sure would be nice to see a story in the Beacon touting this as a big game in TOMORROW'S paper to make more folks aware. (Hint Hint Tom/Beacon)

This just got posted a half an hour ago..http://www.ohio.com/sports/80655952.html

[ZippyforPresident]

But if the press is so effective for URI .. and it appears from everything I read to be a big part of what they do .. why are the Zips forcing more TO's than URI? Something isn't adding up to me here ..

Because it is very easy to force Malone, St. Francis, and Mount union to commit TOs, much harder when you play Providence, VCU, and OK State

Not sure when we played Mount Union but if you looked at the NC State game (quality opponent) the Zips did force 25 TOs, despite losing by 20. Shoot an average percentage for that game (The Zips shot .309) and the Zips come away with the win. This Zips team has been dominant on the boards lately, and that'll be a key. Should be a fun time tomorrow night...I just wish the students were ALL in town.Oh. And let me ad it sure would be nice to see a story in the Beacon touting this as a big game in TOMORROW'S paper to make more folks aware. (Hint Hint Tom/Beacon)

Ask and you shall receive. Zips facing major test

[RowdyZip]

Fantastic! Hope it has a reasonably prominent spot on the sports page.I posted at 5:40, the story was posted on Ohio.com at 5:56. Quick writing, Tom! :wave:

[ZachTheZip]

Fantastic! Hope it has a reasonably prominent spot on the sports page.I posted at 5:40, the story was posted on Ohio.com at 5:56. Quick writing, Tom! :wave:

And here's Elton's take: Akron Zips look to make a statement against Rhode Island

[mes102]

Keith Dambrot said that at Zips Live tonight, that he will play nine guys at least every night, sometimes 12 players when he needs to play that deep(ex:Wyoming). I don't think they'll run us out at the end tommorow...we'll have enough bodies, just wondering if those bodies can play great basketball tommorow...that's the question...

[Hilltopper]

Elton's story was much better written, Gaffney seems like he is setting the Zips up for a loss. How come the ABJ thinks its bad to be a cheerleader for the hometown guys?

[Quickzips]

Elton's story was much better written, Gaffney seems like he is setting the Zips up for a loss. How come the ABJ thinks its bad to be a cheerleader for the hometown guys?

It's easier to bow down to the team 2 hours down the road and write fifty stories a week about the 5-11 pro team 45 minutes up the road.

[Dave in Green]

..... http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_Men.html

Lordy, how I love RPI. So William & Mary is now up from #7 in the country to #2. Well, here's what I think of RPI. If William & Mary is the second best team in the country, then Harvard is #1 because they beat William & Mary. What an amazing country we live in!I love the conversation here. But any time RPI is introduced in a thread, it makes me want to dance and sing and throw my keyboard and mouse high in the air that a saying I learned in school a half century ago is still valid:There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

[Valpo Zip]

The RPI is not a perfect system but until someone comes up with a better solution, RPI remains the most valid way to compare and rank basketball teams.Does anyone have a better solution? we know the AP voters can't watch all 300+ teams play and therefore they cannot rank teams all the way. Also we can't make all 300+ teams play each other. And we learned in 2007 that you can't simply go by the number of wins. So like it or not, RPI it is.

[Zip Watcher]

The RPI is not a perfect system.

That would have been a pretty good post if you had stopped there.

[ziptrumpet87]

Elton's story was much better written, Gaffney seems like he is setting the Zips up for a loss. How come the ABJ thinks its bad to be a cheerleader for the hometown guys?

Speaking of being a cheerleader for the home team, did anyone else catch the mayor of Ft. Worth's comments before the game last night? They made Ft Worth a purple city and all of the city employees were to wear purple on Fridays. I'm sure the Don wouldn't want to try that here.