Game 9- Bucknell

[clarkwgriswold]

The 2-6 Bucknell Bison come to Akron Wednesday night to face our 6-2 Zips.  The Bison have wins over Delaware and Mount St. Mary's and losses to Princeton, Hofstra, Pittsburgh, St. John's, Bowling Green and Buffalo.  

 

6'11" German freshman forward/center Amon Dories leads Bison scoring at 14.8 ppg while contributing 4.2 rpg.  6'9" senior forward Ruot Bijiek is second in scoring at 12.5 ppg while leading rebounding at 4.8 rpg.  

 

The Bison play Cornell today.

[kreed5120]

Here is how ChatGPT breaks this down. I compiled this on my phone while riding passenger on my way to Columbus. I attempted to manually format to make it a little bit cleaner and easier to read.

 

 

 

Offense gap is large. Akron’s AdjO (~120.5) is elite for a mid-major and sits in the top ~25–60 nationally depending on week; Bucknell’s AdjO (~101.5) sits near the bottom third. That ~19 points per 100 possessions gap is the primary story.

 

Tempo matters. Akron plays a noticeably faster pace (~72.4 possessions/game), which tends to amplify offensive advantage (more possessions = more opportunity). Bucknell is slower (~68.1) so they naturally reduce possessions — a classic underdog slowing strategy — but Akron’s offense is efficient enough that tempo moderation probably won’t fully erase the gap.

 

Defense — middling vs below average. Akron’s AdjD (~106) is average-to-slightly-better-than-average; Bucknell’s AdjD (~111) is weaker. So Bucknell needs to get stops AND hope to limit Akron’s chances; that’s a tall order.

 

Efficiency drivers (from box/advanced splits): KenPom’s line for Akron shows a high eFG% and top-50 tempo; Bucknell’s lower AdjO and worse eFG / turnover numbers (KenPom rank indicators) indicate Bucknell struggles to create clean shots and/or avoid turnovers and defensive breakdowns.

 

Team strengths & weaknesses (practical)

Akron (strengths)

High-volume, efficient scoring — they rank well in AdjO and push possessions. That puts scoreboard pressure on opponents. They have players capable of hunting points efficiently.

 

Transition / pace advantage — they do damage in open court and on early offense.

 

Akron (weaknesses / things Bucknell could exploit)

Not elite defensively. Teams that limit their three-point looks or force half-court possessions could narrow margins.

 

Bucknell (strengths)

Tendency to slow tempo and clamp in half-court sets. They try to limit possessions, protect the paint, and control the clock. This can make games lower scoring and increase variance.

 

Bucknell (weaknesses)

Offensive inefficiency. Low AdjO and poor shooting/creation numbers; struggles to score against better defenses. Recent heavy losses underline vulnerabilities. 

 

Defensive lapses vs quality opponents. When pressed by high-tempo teams that move the ball and attack the rim, Bucknell has had trouble.

 

Key matchup factors & X–O chess

Akron’s shooters vs Bucknell closeouts. If Akron shoots well from three, Bucknell’s slower pace won’t matter — Akron can get quick early leads and then control tempo. If Bucknell can force Akron into contested jumpers and reduce open looks, the game gets closer.

 

Rebounding & second-chance points. Bucknell must limit Akron’s offensive rebounds and keep the game to a single possession per trip. Akron’s pace gives them offensive rebound opportunities.

 

Turnover margin. Akron’s efficiency suggests they don’t turn the ball over excessively; Bucknell needs to generate turnovers to create extra possessions. If Akron protects the ball, Bucknell’s lower touchdown-rate offense won’t keep up.

 

Foul/FT game. If Bucknell tries to hack/physical game to stop Akron early (and send them to line), watch Akron’s free-throw rates and make percentage. Teams that draw fouls and convert free throws can blunt a slowing strategy.

 

Matchup projection & numbers

Raw KenPom-style expectation: given Akron’s AdjO ~120.5 vs Bucknell AdjD ~111.1, and Akron’s AdjD ~106.3 vs Bucknell AdjO ~101.5, the net favors Akron by a sizable margin. On a neutral court, that gap commonly translates into a double-digit edge (≈10–15 points). If Akron is home that margin increases; if Bucknell is home it shrinks but Akron still looks favored on paper.

[clarkwgriswold]

Bucknell has certainly not followed the Miami scheduling plan as they have had decent opponents.  They look to have two skilled bigs which gives the Zips another chance to continue to work in Barre.

[csims0917]

Bucknell seem like they’ll be pretty solid at their level but not good enough to play above. Good chance to improve on the defensive end 

[clarkwgriswold]

Bucknell got peeled by Cornell today in a battle of the nells, 101-72.

[ZipsFan31]

This is a good practice game against size. We should win by 20 but hopefully we rebound and defend well! 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Stay focused on this game, win by 20+, then get to the Tulane game where their fan base will be focused on football. 

[csims0917]

10 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Stay focused on this game, win by 20+, then get to the Tulane game where their fan base will be focused on football. 

They just lost their football HC so they will be very focused lol

[Let'sGoZips94]

11 minutes ago, csims0917 said:

They just lost their football HC so they will be very focused lol

 

Yup, but unlike scumbag Kiffin, he's finishing out the season at Tulane if they make the Playoff (if I'm not mistaken).

Edited 21 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[MDZip]

8 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Yup, but unlike scumbag Kiffin, he's finishing out the season at Tulane if they make the Playoff (if I'm not mistaken).

Kiffin was apparently told if he was taking the LSU job that he wasn't welcome to finish the season. I really don't like him so I'm fine with him getting the boot anyway. If people think back, a similar situation happened in men's basketball in 1989 with Michigan. Bill Frieder left for AZ St and Steve Fisher took over and won the Final Four. Bo Schembechler was the athletic director back then and told Frieder to take a hike, he wanted a Michigan man to lead the team. 

[Reslife4Life]

1 hour ago, MDZip said:

Kiffin was apparently told if he was taking the LSU job that he wasn't welcome to finish the season. I really don't like him so I'm fine with him getting the boot anyway. If people think back, a similar situation happened in men's basketball in 1989 with Michigan. Bill Frieder left for AZ St and Steve Fisher took over and won the Final Four. Bo Schembechler was the athletic director back then and told Frieder to take a hike, he wanted a Michigan man to lead the team. 

I seriously cannot wrap my head around why he would want to take a job in the same conference with a team barely being bowl eligible while his own team he built is a contender for a national championship  

[72 Roo]

There are 13,000,000 annual reasons he is taking the LSU job. That and the fact that he is a scumbag only looking out for himself. Joe troubles me at times, but I will take him over Kiffin every day of the week. 

[Illini Zip]

Kiffin looks out for Kiffin. Always looking for the bigger, better deal. Ole Miss was willing to match the 13 million a year salary, but what they couldn’t do is match the promised 25-30 million player payroll that LSU was offering.

 

Kiffin felt, right or wrong that winning a couple of games in the playoffs was going to be the ceiling at Ole Miss. Because he wouldn’t have the depth to compete against Georgia, Alabama or Ohio State. Also, last year Ohio State won the Championship with a running back they poached from Ole Miss, Quinshon Judkins. That had to sting. All while Kiffin is trying to piece a team together with transfers.
 

Bottomline, if you can’t win a Championship in Oxford, Miss (SEC), then college football is in a worse place than college basketball. And that’s saying something.

 

 

Edited 10 minutes ago by Illini Zip

[clarkwgriswold]

I had to scroll to the top of the thread to make sure I had hadn't inadvertently fallen into the football forum.  LOL.