Games 5, 6 & 7- The Paradise Jam

[clarkwgriswold]

The Zips head off to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands next weekend for the Paradise Jam.  The Jam includes, Iona, Oregon State, Evansville, Charleston, UMASS, Yale and Green Bay.

The Zips open up Friday against Iona.  

 

The Gaels are currently 3-0 and play Princeton Tuesday.  If the Zips beat Iona, they will play the winner of Evansville/Oregon State on Sunday.  Lose and they play the loser on Saturday.  The tournament ends Monday.  It would be sweet to make it through the bracket and take revenge on Yale for the title.

[Reslife4Life]

We can never seem to get over the hump at these tournaments. After our first 4 performances I think it is well within reach we can go 3-0 this weekend, just gotta come out ready to play like its a home game

[Captain Kangaroo]

The ceiling is very high for the 2025-26 Zips...if they quit biting on every pump fake and fouling 3-point shooters.

[clarkwgriswold]

I really think they have a chance at success in this tournament.  The field is decent but not overly strong.

 

Charleston is 2-2 with with wins over South Carolina State and Tusculum (one for Captain's list!) and losses to Liberty and Florida Atlantic.

 

Evansville is 2-2 with wins over Henderson State and Oakland City and losses to Purdue (by 31) and Middle Tennessee.

 

Green Bay is 1-4 with a win over Ripon (another one for Captain's list and losses to Kansas, Buffalo, St. Thomas and Minnesota.

 

Iona is 3-0 with wins over Hofstra, Kansas City and Fordham.

 

Oregon State is 3-0 with wins over N. D. State, UIC and North Texas.

 

UMASS  is 3-1 with wins over Brown, Rhode Island College and Albany and a loss to Marshall.

 

Yale is 3-0 with wins over Navy, Quinnipiac and Stony Brook.

   

[Illini Zip]

I like this tournament also. 

[zippyfan34]

11 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

Green Bay is 1-4 with a win over Ripon (another one for Captain's list and losses to Kansas, Buffalo, St. Thomas and Minnesota.

   

My nephew played for Ripon the last 5 years but graduated this summer.  I never got to see him play in high school as they lived in Wisconsin but a couple years ago Ripon played in a weekend tournament at the College of Wooster so my local family was all able to see him play.

[csims0917]

We seemed to be cursed in these tournaments but man this one looks so enticing. Iona is going to be tougher than we think. They've looked good in their matchups so far. Oregon St is in such a weird spot as a program falling from the P5 ranks into mid-major land. Should be an extremely fun tournament. I want to see our depth used! It looks like the title game is on Monday, so it won't be 3 games in 3 days so hopefully that helps but we still need guys like Stank to get close 15 mins a game to keep the top 6 fresh.

[kreed5120]

40 minutes ago, csims0917 said:

We seemed to be cursed in these tournaments but man this one looks so enticing. Iona is going to be tougher than we think. They've looked good in their matchups so far. Oregon St is in such a weird spot as a program falling from the P5 ranks into mid-major land. Should be an extremely fun tournament. I want to see our depth used! It looks like the title game is on Monday, so it won't be 3 games in 3 days so hopefully that helps but we still need guys like Stank to get close 15 mins a game to keep the top 6 fresh.

 

I think Barre and/or Brisco will be needed more. Asking Lyles to give ~28 minutes a game for 3 games in 4 days will be a lot. Also, at some point it wouldn't be surprising if he faces foul trouble.

[Illini Zip]

2 hours ago, csims0917 said:

We seemed to be cursed in these tournaments…

I attended all 3 games in Fort Myers, Florida so you can blame me for that one. 

[Reslife4Life]

55 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

I attended all 3 games in Fort Myers, Florida so you can blame me for that one. 

I feel bad you had to sit through that

On the bright side you got to see KJ Walton's final ever basketball game before disappearing off the face of the earth

[Let'sGoZips94]

I like that this tournament rewards the first round winners with an off day. If I'm not mistaken, that's not something we've seen in these early season tournaments which has been detrimental due to fatigue. The winner of Iona/Akron should get Oregon State in the semi's. 

[clarkwgriswold]

1 hour ago, Reslife4Life said:

I feel bad you had to sit through that

On the bright side you got to see KJ Walton's final ever basketball game before disappearing off the face of the earth

 After 12 years of college basketball.

[csims0917]

Iona beats Princeton by 20 at home. They are now 4-0 and a KenPom of 160. Game on! 

[ZipsFan31]

If we beat Iona, Oregon State, and Yale… I will be thrilled and that is how we get an at large… going to be extremely hard. But I think it is possible!! 

[Illini Zip]

29 minutes ago, ZipsFan31 said:

If we beat Iona, Oregon State, and Yale… I will be thrilled and that is how we get an at large… going to be extremely hard. But I think it is possible!! 

Not thinking we are in the at-large bid range just yet, but winning will drive up our ranking thus hopefully a better seeding if we make the Tourney. Also winning games convincingly will do even more for us. 

[RoyalBlu]

1 hour ago, ZipsFan31 said:

If we beat Iona, Oregon State, and Yale… I will be thrilled and that is how we get an at large… going to be extremely hard. But I think it is possible!! 

 

Beating these three comparable mid-majors (Yes, OSU is now considered a hoops mid-major) only solidifies Akron as a top tier mid-major. It's not fair, but it is reality. Beating all three teams by double digits will not erase a 15-20-pt loss to Purdue in the eyes of the selection committee.

 

And yes, the Zips looked very good even in that Purdue loss.

 

I'm willing to bet there will be at least one B-10 team that loses to Purdue by the same margin, that gets an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

 

Any takers!!!

 

FWIW ... Oregon State (Kenpom 135) is ranked lower than Miami, Kent, Florida Atlantic, Illinois State and others. Iona (Kenpom 169) is ranked lower than at least four other MAC teams.

 

Not saying these are bad teams. I'm saying winning these games do not move the needle toward an at-large bid.

 

 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by RoyalBlu

[kreed5120]

I came to this thread excited about Zips hoops, but the first thing I see is someone using the "A" word. Now I'm fully expecting to drop 2 out of 3 games.

Edited 12 hours ago by kreed5120

[clarkwgriswold]

7 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

I came to this thread excited about Zips hoops, but the first thing I see is someone using the "A" word. Now I'm fully expecting to drop 2 out of 3 games.

 

'Tis the season.

[ZipsFan31]

Maybe I am overly optimistic about the A word. But I think 30-4 gets the job done 

[csims0917]

MVC last couple years have gotten screwed with some very good teams missing 

[Illini Zip]

8 minutes ago, csims0917 said:

MVC last couple years have gotten screwed with some very good teams missing 

The 2023-2024 Indiana State Sycamores got snubbed by the tournament committee with a 32-7 record overall, 17-3 in the MVC. Here’s the part that will make your head spin. They had a NET ranking of 28. 

[clarkwgriswold]

The only proven formula to make the tournament -  WIN THE MAC.

[Reslife4Life]

Win the paradise Jam first then worry about March

[Blue & Gold]

I've seen some posts online that the tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ... but that is Atlantic Standard Time.

Tipoff for us is 5:30 EST.

Don't complicate things for me, please. 😂