Saint Mary's

[akronzips71]

Our RPI is 76 (not a bad way to start the year).

St.Marys is 30

A win would be a nice boost.

[Zipgrad1990]

Umm. I already said I won't be able to wait that long to see how it ends. So, I can't resist just catching the last 5 min. or so as soon as I get up. Plus, it's not like a have a spare hour at that time of the morning.

A second option is to set the DVR to record but start watching from the beginning at 4 am. That way you will get to watch the last part of the game live. It doesn't save you as much time as recording the entire game and then watching the DVR but it does save an hour and it lessens the temptation to jump to the end.

[tpsjugglerdude]

Our RPI is 76 (not a bad way to start the year).

St.Marys is 30

A win would be a nice boost.

Live-ripi has us at 38 and St. Mary's at 125. Not that is matters with as few of games have been played.

[Dave in Green]

The ratings game is pretty imprecise so early in the season. But Ken Pomeroy, whose expertise I respect, sees it this way: He currently ranks the Zips #109 after a home win over #258 Coastal Carolina, and Saint Mary's #43 after a home win over #107 Louisiana Tech University. With LTU ranked slightly higher than the Zips and Coastal Carolina way down the list, it gives some idea of the challenge the Zips face playing Saint Mary's at their place at midnight in their time zone.

[Zipmeister]

The ratings game is pretty imprecise so early in the season. But Ken Pomeroy, whose expertise I respect, sees it this way: He currently ranks the Zips #109 after a home win over #258 Coastal Carolina, and Saint Mary's #43 after a home win over #107 Louisiana Tech University. With LTU ranked slightly higher than the Zips and Coastal Carolina way down the list, it gives some idea of the challenge the Zips face playing Saint Mary's at their place at midnight in their time zone.

Jeff Sagarin, who is way better than Pomeroy, has St. Marys at #43 and the Zips at #61. He has the Zips as 5 1/2 point dogs.

[Hilltopper]

Jeff Sagarin, who is way better than Pomeroy, has St. Marys at #43 and the Zips at #61. He has the Zips as 5 1/2 point dogs.

That sounds about right to me. After getting beat by Can't a few years ago I doubt they are taking us lightly.

[zen]

I plan on seeing if I can wander off into land early, and set an alarm for 3am.

I will, however, set my DVR, because I know what my mindset tends to be like at these hours... my abode could fully involved in fire and I would be half consciously calculating how many more seconds of sleep I could get away with.

[skip-zip]

For years, I've been OK with pretty much any rating that has us in the Top-100 early in the year. But, I'm wondering if that #24 ranking has planted a new seed in my brain, and if I will be disappointed if we don't move up quickly enough. It's hard to start low and get to that point, unless you have a major win streak (like last year). I'm just wondering if the fact that we've "raised the bar" will change my outlook and expectations.

I like Keith's comment about not playing the young guys too much because he was getting tired of losing early season games. Thankfully, we've grown much more aware of the impact of those "bad losses", on both our rankings later in the year, and our at-large chances. Lets avoid those potential "bad losses", at all costs. There will certainly be plenty of opportunities during blowouts to get those young guys more playing time.

[Dr Z]

Why not just record it and watch it when you get up? A college basketball game only last forty minutes of game clock and you can watch an entire game in less than an hour

Seems like an obvious choice to me.

[mes102]

I'm so glad I chose to have a night class on tuesdays and thursdays instead of mondays and wednesdays. Getting my work done, sleeping early, and getting up to watch Akron at 3am. Then, going to Denny's for breakfast, and off to Lady Zips game at 10:30am. Great morning!!!!!

[mes102]

I'm so glad I chose to have a night class on tuesdays and thursdays instead of mondays and wednesdays. Getting my work done, sleeping early, and getting up to watch Akron at 3am. Then, going to Denny's(or IHOP) for breakfast, and off to Lady Zips game at 10:30am. Great change from the norm for this college student !!!!!

I'd like to see how our point guard play and center play is for the game. Ironically, those positions used to be the cornerstone of any basketball program/franchise. Hopefully Evans/Betancourt can play solid and Harney/Q play to their capabilities. No long lapses, or this game will be over.

[Big Zip]

Not sure if I missed it but has there been any information regarding how the team is preparing to play at 3 a.m. ET? I know they've been in California since Friday but are they staying up through the night every day to be able to play this game at 3 a.m.?

[mes102]

Not sure if I missed it but has there been any information regarding how the team is preparing to play at 3 a.m. ET? I know they've been in California since Friday but are they staying up through the night every day to be able to play this game at 3 a.m.?

https://twitter.com/ZipsMBB/status/399372191172526081

[skip-zip]

Not sure if I missed it but has there been any information regarding how the team is preparing to play at 3 a.m. ET? I know they've been in California since Friday but are they staying up through the night every day to be able to play this game at 3 a.m.?

I have no doubt that's why they went early.......to find a way to get adjusted before the game. The late night practices make sense to me.

NOTE: Having made that trip out West many, many times, the real problem is going to be readjusting once they return.

[Captain Kangaroo]

After watching the Coastal Carolina game, the St Mary's match up is definitely a concern.

Point guard may be worse than I feared.

Diggs? His return was exciting on many levels, but any new-found ability to run the point was conspicuously absent. Anything beyond spot duty (maybe 5-8 minutes per game) does not bode well.

Evans? Meh. We'll see if he gets acclimated to the D1 game soon. He's our best chance. But he didn't show much in his D-1 debut.

Betancourt? He improved his conditioning and tattoos in the off-season, but not much else. Shaky defense, shaky ball handling, and no offense.

Ibitayo? He's the same guy as year 1 and 2. The Conyers Award can be placed back in the closet.

Harney? I'm sure he tears up Betancourt and Ibitayo in practice (when running the point), but St Marys is a different story. Also - I'd like him a lot better if he'd quit shooting the three. Stay around the glass, Nick.

There were times Saturday when I thought this Zips team was as good as I'd ever seen. They reminded me of the old K.e.n.t. teams of the early 2000's. But those spurts came from the pressure D and fast breaks. Once the Zips tired, then Coastal would rally hard. And as deep as our bench appears to be...without any significant production and leadership from the point we will struggle against the elite opponents. How ugly was it when Coastal pressed us? And their press wasn't anything special.

Hope KD can figure it out. Hope Evans' improvement is on a fast track. We're 80% of the way towards being a legit tournament-advancing team.

[Dave in Green]

Jeff Sagarin, who is way better than Pomeroy ...

Thanks for sharing your opinion. Both are among the best at what they do, and I don't see either as "way better" than the other overall. Like all the top predictive statistical analysts, their predictions are more speculative and less accurate early in the season than later. I do like the fact that Sagarin currently ranks the Zips much higher than Pomeroy, and hope his analysis is "way better" in this one instance.

[skip-zip]

I'm going to ask you guys to watch something.

I don't ever think that we are intending to have Diggs run the point, minus the game at West Virginia when we had no other option.

Over his 2+ years here, it simply appears that we are putting the ball in his hands to spread the floor and isolate him on a defender as a called play. Once again, I will assert that he's the most talented guy on the team when it comes to being able to dribble the ball, one-on-one, and get to the rim. We have probably never had a guard who can dribble and elevate quite like that. It's an offensive weapon, and a play I have seen Keith use from time to time, and I think people need to separate that thought from the idea that he's actually being asked to "run the point", or be a backcourt ball handler. I'd guess that it's merely just part of a play that we are calling in certain situations.

Lets keep an eye on this.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I'm going to ask you guys to watch something.

I don't ever think that we are intending to have Diggs run the point, minus the game at West Virginia when we had no other option.

Over his 2+ years here, it simply appears that we are putting the ball in his hands to spread the floor and isolate him on a defender as a called play. Once again, I will assert that he's the most talented guy on the team when it comes to being able to dribble the ball, one-on-one, and get to the rim. We have probably never had a guard who can dribble and elevate quite like that. It's an offensive weapon, and a play I have seen Keith use from time to time, and I think people need to separate that thought from the idea that he's actually being asked to "run the point", or be a backcourt ball handler. I'd guess that it's merely just part of a play that we are calling in certain situations.

Then who is our point guard?

I haven't seen enough of Evans to know one way or the other if he can run the point. I hope he can. But if he can't, our situation is way closer to "West Virginia Part II" than you might like to admit.

[Dave in Green]

@skip-zip, I can tell you what I watched in last Friday's game. Nyles was on the floor for 20 minutes and Melo for 15. During the other 5 minutes, Q was the primary backcourt ball handler who ran the point. That fits with what @GoZips -- who has attended every Zips practice and scrimmage -- has already told us: Q has played at the point in practices and scrimmages. The only way we don't see Q playing point this season is if Nyles and Melo combine for a solid 40 minutes of floor time.

[skip-zip]

Then who is our point guard?

I haven't seen enough of Evans to know one way or the other if he can run the point. I hope he can. But if he can't, our situation is way closer to "West Virginia Part II" than you might like to admit.

I agree with you.

Yes, lets hope West Virginia never repeats itself. As we saw, Quincy becomes underutilized, in many respects, when he's asked to be a ballhandler.

[skip-zip]

@skip-zip, I can tell you what I watched in last Friday's game. Nyles was on the floor for 20 minutes and Melo for 15. During the other 5 minutes, Q was the primary backcourt ball handler who ran the point. That fits with what @GoZips -- who has attended every Zips practice and scrimmage -- has already told us: Q has played at the point in practices and scrimmages. The only way we don't see Q playing point this season is if Nyles and Melo combine for a solid 40 minutes of floor time.

Like I said, keep an eye on it. Because I think we've often run some of those isolation plays with Quincy, even when there is another point guard on the floor. Or, are we running different plays because Quincy is the actual point guard?

What might really surprise me is if we completely abandon the option of Harney being up top, like a "point forward" at times. How can we ever forget that we blew out OU using this option.

Regardless, we really do need those young ball handlers.....at least one of them.....to emerge.

[Captain Kangaroo]

What might really surprise me is if we completely abandon the option of Harney being up top, like a "point forward" at times. How can we ever forget that we blew out OU using this option.

How'd it go against VCU?

@BigDog and @Momager can split the point guard duties against MAC teams and the Zips still win. This thread is about upper-tier competition.

[The Hip Zip]

Under 15 TO's and we have a good shot, any more than that and we are toast. If I'm Randy Bennett I come out and pressure the ball to see how unsettled the Zips are at the point. I do not like this match up at this point of the season. I will be up at 3 AM to see it though and hope for the best.

[Dave in Green]

@skip-zip, if I understand your question correctly, I'd say that while the basic plays remain the same regardless of who's at the 1, the options would be altered to some degree based on the individual skills of who's playing the position. Iso plays for Q are always an option, regardless of whether he's playing the 1, 2 or 3. As for Nick running the show, remember that the only reason he was called on in a pinch last season is because Q wasn't available. Q may not yet have shown that he's a better PG option than Nyles or Melo, but he's certainly better suited to the duties than Nick.

When Q was playing at UNO he was listed as a swingman or wing. When he came to UA he picked up the small forward label. That was probably because the Zips were long on guards and short on forwards back then. But everything we've seen of Q since he arrived at UA suggests that he's a classic wing who can swing back and forth between the 2 and 3. He's also spent a lot of time working on PG skills due to the question mark at that position for the Zips.

Now the following is purely speculative on my part, and I have no inside word on why this decision was made. But if the thinking is that Q will be mainly used at the 1 and 2 positions this season and not at the 3, that creates additional need at the 3. Kwan is technically a 4, but he's really a 3 who just had a big growth spurt. He's fully capable of playing both the 3 and 4 positions. I can't say for sure whether that was part of the decision not to redshirt Kwan. But it seems to me that there's some logic to adding Kwan to the Nick/Tree/Jake mix in the 3/4 rotation if Q's services are needed elsewhere.

[LZIp]

anyone going to be on here during the game?