Quote from: hasanova on January 27, 2010, 09:47:15 AM
You're right, any DIII coach would salivate at the chance to get Tyler Sanborn as the nucleus for his team.  Now, does that mean Dom Trawick's the 2nd player chosen?  I still respectfully say no.

Wouldn't it be fun to start on ODAC Fantasy Basketball League?

I sure wouldn't want the first pick, since I think I could get a couple of picks in the first round and a second round selection from Hasanova for Sanborn at No. 1

What a fun debate...Player of the Year vs. Most Valuable Player! As has already been stated, Player of the Year tends to mean "best overall player" while obviously, Most Valuable Player refers to that player who, if taken away from his team, would generate the most negative impact.

Tough to determine, but I would guess if you polled ODAC coaches, they would say that the one player who strikes the most fear is Dom Trawick. Why? Because he can do what he did to EMU - and he has done it many times in the past. He truly elevates his team to new heights, a team that by all other standards is very very average in the ODAC. His game is complete, and while his skills are nowhere close (trust me, not suggesting any physical resemblance here!), his impact to his team is very similar to what Michael Jordan did with the Bulls. Now, BC is not winning titles, but like Jordan, Trawick elevates the level of play of his teammates, and when he must, has the uncanny ability to put the team on his shoulders and carry it to a win. In a way, he IS the best player in the ODAC (when you take into account his athletic ability + shooting touch + rebounding ability + post-up game + will to win) AND the Most Valuable to his team when compared to any one other player in the league.

Now, all of this is coming from an outsider looking in from afar, but it is an interesting debate. The age old facts suggest that the POY will come from a top-tier team in the league, and when it boils down to it, maybe you cannot argue that because those teams are where they are due to the great play of individuals. Still, it will be fun to see what happens when the winner is announced!

My "outsider-looking in picks" (not predictions):

POY: Trawick, BC - For his entire career, he has carried the Eagles and so often come through when its counted with 30-plus point games. Truly a terror to have to prepare for because his skill set is so diverse (plus is he not a mirror image of Dwyane Wade??). This is not a career achievement award, I understand that, but in my opinion, he is the best there is in the league.

COY: Dean, EMU - Slowly but surely, Kirby has turned little ol' EMU into a national power. How did he do it? By staying true to his philosophies as a coach, slowly getting his kids to believe, and then arming them with the confidence that yes, they can beat anyone even though they may not have the size, the highly-touted players, or the tradition of some other ODAC powers. They are fun to watch and a team that can truly beat anyone on any given night. And boy are they explosive!

ROY: "Homer Pick!" George, HSC - Eventually, he will develop into a walking double-double (he almost already is) and he is the athlete that the Tigers have been missing the past several years. If only Turner King had one more season...do you think teams would like to see a King, George, Jessee combo? With Ward running the point for the future, this will be an athletic team that can shoot the rock. But for now, George, in my opinion, is the league's top rookie.

Congratulations to Coach Rhoades on joining the VCU staff. His intensity and recruiting skill are perfect for the Division I level, and it will be fun watching the Rams next year and well into the future!

Yeah, I agree Brian. The JCU team that I saw in Fleet this season simply played hard, played physical, and played fast. Their coach was certainly the most intense person in the gym, but I thought that their players played the game the right way.

I enjoyed watching the Blue Streaks' big men work the paint and crash the glass and their guards get into the lane and pitch to open teammates on the three-point arc. Their offense truly was a well-oiled machine and their players were eager to make the extra pass to get the ball in the hands of an open teammate.

Sanborn is definitely the key. I've said it all year, Guilford has the luxury that most D-III teams do not: a 6-10 space eater that is by no means a stiff in the paint. That luxury alone will get you 5 or 6 more wins every year at the D-III level, and will also give you an advantage in a game such as this, where John Carroll does not have anyone to match up.

Both teams have quick, athletic guards and tough, rugged forwards. However, Guilford has the wild card down low and unless John Carroll can get Sanborn in foul trouble by throwing waves at him, Guilford will win this one by 8-10 points.

Guilford fans will be impressed with JCU, however. I really enjoyed watching them play in Fleet earlier this year. At that time, they played two groups of five, electing to go with the "hotter" five down the stretch. In their first game here, it was their starting group. Against the Tigers, it was their second unit that pulled away in the final 5 or 6 minutes. It was hard to distinguish between the two groups because they are so close in skill level!

Unfortunately, poor sportsmanship has become a growing problem in all sports, including collegiate athletics. Just the other day Wake Forest's Jeff Teague dunked all over a Maryland player and proceeded to beat his chest and yell in the guy's face...directly in front of an official. Nothing was done.

This morning watching SportsCenter, Lebron James hits a deep three from the corner and proceeds to stare down and talk to the entire Milwaukee Bucks bench as he passed. Nothing was done.

It's just a reality, albeit a sour reality, that the era of self-promotion and embarrassing your opponent has entered sport. Not all players, teams or coaches tolerate nor practice such behavior. Not all people associated with the VWC program tolerate nor practice such behavior. Some players and teams appear to do it more than others (which is what I believe has stemmed these ill feelings towards VWC) and it is doubly tough to deal with when your team loses to a team that acts a certain way.

I must admit, as we all have, that I have seen and experienced my share of "VWC moments." They were and are unpleasant, but bottom line, the only way to stop that stuff is to beat the Marlins, something that, to VWC's credit, they did not let happen this past weekend.

VWC picked itself up off the canvas and scored a late round KO of its ODAC Tournament foes, and being the lowest seed to ever win the tourney is an accomplishment (an accomplishment they took from my beloved 2007 Tigers!).

Quote from: hasanova on March 04, 2009, 03:04:58 PM
Obviously, then, the RMC janitor failed to sweep your son off his feet.

The hits just keep on coming! +K!

Wow. What a tournament. First time in ODAC history that the #7 and #8 seeds meet in a final. Both teams played well throughout and deserved to be there with their play over the weekend. Some brief thoughts and then I will fade into the sunset...

1) The unbalanced ODAC schedule: I don't think we ended up with true "seeds" in this tournament, which made for some great first round matchups, but also may have doomed a team or two (R-MC).

Is VWC really a No. 7 seed? Probably not, but because they finished that way, R-MC drew them in the first round - tough 2/7 game.

Are Bridgewater and EMU true No. 4 and No. 5 seeds? Maybe not, and I know that EMU, after playing a relatively easy schedule, probably was not thrilled to play its rival in the first round.

With an unbalanced schedule, you don't really get true "seeds," which is a positive because you get some great match ups early in the tournament, but in the end can hurt the teams that finish up top, most notably in this tournament R-MC and Roanoke who drew tough first round draws as high seeds.

2) Did the unbalanced regular season schedule keep R-MC and Guilford out of the tourney?

While I think one should get in, who's to say that if R-MC had four extra conference games (as would be the case if the ODAC played everyone twice; would equal 20 ODAC games) they don't go 23-3? They would not have scheduled Richmond and perhaps the teams they played up north.

Would Guilford had gone 23-3? Not having to travel to Texas-Dallas or whereever they went, but having the chance to get four more wins in conference? Of course, nothing is guaranteed, but the way those two teams were rolling during the conference season, its hard not to think that they may have been locks for an at-large with 22 or 23 wins, maybe even 24 with a balanced schedule of 20 league games.

All in all, the new schedule made for a great tournament, and I cannot complain about the excitement, but I couldn't help but wonder...I know that H-SC lost to Randolph during the regular season (as did W&L and Lynchburg), but what happens if H-SC gets two more wins by playing LC and Randolph one more time instead of just once, and maybe finish No. 5 or No. 4? I use H-SC only because I know more about their schedule, but that could have really changed the way that the tournament went (or maybe it wouldn't have mattered). Just a thought!

Congrats to Justin Short and Coach Palombo! Short was deserving, as was Palombo, who continues to be successful with all the class in the world...his teams reflect his personality and win with grace!

Honorable Mention:

Tim Clarke, Randolph
Steven Echols, Lynchburg
Robert Hudson, Emory and Henry
Quinton McDuffie, VWC
Parrish Walker, Roanoke
Zac White, W&L

I ask that all posters allow me a brief moment for a respectful rant

I know it doesn't make too much difference, but I really felt that Ben Jessee deserved at least an honorable mention nod. When you look at the teams, the 10th and 11th place teams in the ODAC get two guys on the all-conference squads (Rand: Woods-Morrow, Clarke; LC: Wooldridge, Echols) and the 7th place team gets three guys (Dixon, Fields, McDuffie).

I can fully agree with Woods-Morrow (tremendous player), Wooldridge, Fields and McDuffie (who I really thought would get ROY). I don't even know who Timothy Clarke is and Echols is a good player, but their teams finished 10th and 11th in the league!

I thought Jessee, who averaged 13.8 points-per-game in conference, was more of a headache for opposing coaches and a key to H-SC getting the No. 6 seed. I think that he is certainly one of the top 19 players in the league (why the ODAC does six on the first, seven on the second and six on the honorable mention I don't know! If the Tigers could have put seven guys on the court this year we may have finished a bit better )

It's tough because everyone on the list has obviously accomplished a lot during the season. I think what gets me is when I look at the amount of players on each team, it bothers me that Jessee isn't up there with a Tim Clarke from Randolph. If there were five on each team, I would have no issue with Ben not being up there!

Anyway, time for some basketball action! Good luck to all teams today!

Alright Brian, here goes:

Quarterfinals:

Guilford 71, Washington and Lee 60
The Quakers will get the Generals' best shot early, but I think Sanborn's size and strength inside will be the difference in wearing down W&L. Henson is also prone to hitting big threes late in games when defenses are weary.

Eastern Mennonite 76, Bridgewater 75
I like a late bucket to win this one and I also feel like Bridgewater may be saying to themselves, "We have to beat these guys AGAIN without Oblitey??" The ol' "tough to beat a team three times in one year" mindset.

Randolph-Macon 80, Virginia Wesleyan 69
I think R-MC's win over VWC late in the year was just what the Yellow Jackets and Justin Short needed - the knowledge that "yes, we CAN beat these guys." I think the Jackets will be playing with added emotion for their coach and for their senior leader.

Hampden-Sydney 61, Roanoke 56
This one was tough for me to pick. These teams looked so even in both of their matchups (which is probably why Noke won the first by 5 and Tigers the second by 4). There might be something to that H-SC jinx for Page Moir. If this game is tight at the end, I feel as if the Maroons (with the weight of a No. 3 seed and their recent struggles against H-SC in the tourney) will be the one's that make pressured mistakes. I could easily be wrong, however.

Semifinals:

Guilford 88, Eastern Mennonite 74
The Royals are just too small to stick with Guilford, and in this up and down game, Bonner and Henson will have a field day.

Randolph-Macon 63, Hampden-Sydney 58
The Yellow Jackets (most notably Justin Short) will be playing as a team possessed on the defensive end and will come up with the necessary stops at the end to stop H-SC. Short moves one game closer to that elusive ODAC crown.

Finals:

Alright, I picked the predictable #1 vs. #2 match up, but can you blame me? These have been the two most consistent teams all year, so why go away from that fact now? Guilford winning at home against R-MC during the regular year got the Quakers an easier road to the final, but I think that loss to the Quakers instilled just the right amount of hunger into Randolph-Macon. I like the Yellow Jackets in overtime, almost a repeat of last year's game with GC and VWC.

Randolph-Macon 85, Guilford 80 (OT)

Why did I choose to add scores to my picks? I don't know. Now that I look at it, it's pretty ridiculous to do. But I'm just too excited for Friday! Good luck to all and here's to a competitive, entertaining and awesome weekend of ODAC hoops!

I'm bored = predictions for tonight:

No. 6 Hampden-Sydney 79, No. 11 Lynchburg 69

No. 7 Virginia Wesleyan 71, No. 10 Randolph 56

No. 9 Emory and Henry 75, No. 8 Washington and Lee 73

Let the tourney begin!

Quote from: tigerfanalso on February 24, 2009, 03:39:31 PM
To Tigers 

To Tigers
Go Tigers

I got your back tfa!

I know that they still have to play, and in a post about a page ago, I said that a W&L team playing at its best is dangerous to any team in its way!

I just pointed out some potential storylines...all of those scenarios (except for the BC/EMU game) are things that could happen, and I was simply saying that Guilford would have to face varying styles if they played E&H and then BC back-to-back...not trying to slight W&L!

This ODAC tournament already has some interesting story lines...

Randolph-Macon: The Jackets have got to be pulling their hair out looking at their draw, which is probably one of the toughest ever facing a No. 2 seed. A 2/7 match up with VWC looms in the first round, and we all know the recent history in that affair. If the Jackets survive there, they could potentially see Hampden-Sydney in the semis, with painful memories of last year's upset fresh in their minds.

Virginia Wesleyan: For a team that has hit a bit of a rough patch without Norman Hassell, this draw could be just what the doctor ordered. You host Randolph (not an easy win, but athletically a great match up for the Fish), then get to play a comfort game against R-MC, a team that VWC really feels they match up well with (and in the past few years, they have!). If the Marlins advance from there, they will have either Roanoke (a team they crushed at the Bast Center by 18 earlier this year), H-SC (tough for a team to beat another three times in a season), or Lynchburg (insert clever comment/statistic here).

Roanoke: Can the Maroons ever avoid H-SC in Salem? In five of the past six years (if my memory serves correct) the Tigers have eliminated Roanoke from the ODAC tournament, and the only reason it is five out of six? Last year 'Noke didn't play the Tigers in the conference tourney! If the Tigers win tonight, that collective sigh you here is coming from Salem!

Bridgewater/Eastern Mennonite: Both schools have to be thrilled with how they finished and really, how they have played all year; BC exceeding many expectations by grabbing the No. 4 seed and EMU emerging from the bottom tier of the league to finish fifth...too bad that means they have to play each other in the first round! I'm sure both coaches will be excited to face their rival in Salem, but I'm sure neither wanted to do it in the first round! Crazy!

Emory and Henry: You know, it's funny. If you are Emory and Henry, you might be pretty happy with your draw. You get to travel to W&L on Tuesday (avoided the long trip to VWC) to face a team that has been struggling, then get to play a "nothing to lose" game with your toned-down "nothing to lose" style against the top-seeded Quakers. GC has been caught napping as recently as 2007 (sorry, 'nova!) and sometimes it isn't easy playing that first tourney game at 1 pm on Friday...

Guilford: The No. 1 seed. Very deserving, and upon first glance, there could be no possible way that the Quakers don't make it to Championship Sunday...right? On second thought, Guilford will have to deal with a variety of styles, potentially. I think their hardest road to Sunday would be Emory and Henry on Friday (never know what to expect with the Wasps and if E&H is hot, it could be a nervous game for Palombo) and BC on Saturday (a team that beat GC earlier, albeit with Oblitey, but perhaps the only team that can do one thing just as well, if not better, than the Quakers: rebound).

All this hype, and we will probably see a Guilford/R-MC final...but it's always fun to wonder "what if..."!!