Pat - getting back on worked like a charm

Lusty - agreed - getting to the Final four never easy.  The last time the Dips had a strong run in the NCAA's when I was following them closely was the 2003-2004 season. Hampden-Sydney, Gwynedd-Mercey and Amherst were all outstanding teams.  Especially H-S.  I don't know how we pulled that one off.

I didn't see F&M in the play-offs last year but I'm not sure the road was as tough as 2004.  Maybe someone who saw both teams could weigh in. I saw one game last year at Muhlenberg. It's hard to compare diffrent years but from what I saw the 2004 team was better than last years team. Then again, F&M was extremely young last year.

It's been a long time since I've posted up.  I wish F&M all the luck in the world but I don't see them going too far this year.  Last year they lucked out with a pretty easy schedule to the Final Four.  It looks like this year they are going to have to beat some real quality teams to advance.

My starting five:

g - Outerbridge

g - Chasen

f - Hynes

f - Hamm

f - Tescke

subs:

McCaffrey, Prysbylowski, Leonard, Yost, Carney

Coach C-

Robinson may have been  a good coach at one time but IMHO he is a lousey coach now. He's also been blessed with a lot of talented players through the years.

He definitely knows his X's and O's but he lacks the most important thing necessary to be a good coach...he can't communicate with his players and they have "zero" respect for the man. I've been to many games over the years and have not seen a coach berate his players the way he does. He's got each player right by the b*lls and god forbid that kid should make a mistake or try to improvise and he gets yanked. You can't play basketball at any level (especially college) if you're looking over your shoulder all the time. Watch Small at Ursinus...no yelling...he talks to his players if they make a mistake to make sure they don't do it again but he makes sure they keep their confidence level up. They want to win for coach Small as much as they want to win for themselves.

And don't try to compare Robinson's style with Bobby Knight. Knight can be brutal but most of his players would do anything in the world for him. They know Knight would be right there if they needed him. I don't believe this to be so with Robinson.

I wasn't at the Alvernia game the other night but was told (and read) about him putting Ben Stone in the game at such a crutial time. How do you put a 6'7" 260 lb big man in the game who has very little experience and hadn't been in the game all night when F&M has turned the momentum around with 7 minutes to go in the game. And I'm not blaming Ben at all..you can't expect him to go into the game cold like that...not being the kind of player he is. In the blink of an eye you had two steals and fast break for a dunk...now that's a momentum killer and the game and that is on Robinson.

I could go on and on about his poor substituting and and his players true lack of respect for him but it's a waste of time. He is what he is and that's not going to change. I just don't want to hear anymore of this crap about "how is poor GRob going to pull a miracle out of his bag this year". He's got good players...not the best he's ever had but they can win and make it to the CC play-offs. If he would just put that hook away and show these players he's got enough confidence in them and believes in them they might start playing with the potential they have instead of playing "not to make a mistake".

I'll be back later with who my staring five would be and who should come off the bench.

And by the way you are probably correct about Nelson.

Top coaches in the CC:

1) Small - Ursinus

2) Mucci - Haverford

3) Flynn - McDaniel

4) Petrie - Gettysburg

5) Nelson - Hopkins

Here's your answer to the problems in Lancaster...get a new coach.

I haven't seen him this year but based upon last year he is a very good player.
A POY candidate.

I took a close look at the schedules of all the CC teams to see what kind of non-conference opponents they had scheduled and it's interesting to note that the schedules are very solid. I'd have to give the toughest schedule award to Haverford though. Outside of Lehigh (I don't count D1 teams) they have Trinity (CT.), Wittenberg, Catholic and Hamilton on their schedule.
Those are about as solid a group of D3 programs as there are. Not even a half a cupcake. The rest of the teams all have similary difficult/easy schedules.

OK...my thoughts so far and my prediction for how they'll finish.

#1 JHU - the class of the league...they are the best team but they can be beat...anything can happen in the conference tournament

#2 Muhlenberg - they're playing pretty good ball so far and Stewart hasn't even played yet...he's argueably (sp?) the best player in the conference...if he comes back they will be a big factor...lots of experience

#3 F&M - they have had three different starting line-ups and seem to have gotten a little better each game...experienced, deep bench (10 players)... if the offense starts to kick in they could be tough

#4 Ursinus - I think there are some serious warts here that will be uncovered... lack of backcourt experience...shallow bench... they also have argueably the best player in the league in Shattuck...how far he carries them will be interesting to watch

#5 McDaniel - from the little I know about him their coach seems like he is a motivator and really knows the game...I know the least about this team but while they seem like they have some good players I think they are a year or two away...inexperienced... but hustle and good coahing can take you a long way

These are my final five to make the CC tournament...like I said anything could happen in the tournament and it wouldn't surprise me if JHU WASN'T the CC representative in the NCAA T.