thanks, dave, i appreciate your thoughts.
it's all rather subjective.
swat is well coached but words like "cannon ball" and "incredible" just don't apply for me when it comes to swat but, as you know, that's what makes the world go round.
we can certainly meet in agreement that they were a solid, effective team.
thanks for all your work on these sites...i am sure i speak for all in saying it is appreciated.

txg
i didn't mean to shock you,i just wanted to share my opinion. to me swat plays successful, textbook (but dull) basketball. landry has trained them very well and recruits strong role players. and since he took over he has proven himself to be a dominant coach in d3, (though i am not ready to say he is the best in the history of basketball). but the team doesn't (or isn't allowed to) take very many chances. and hearing that a team far smaller than them played physically and coach complained doesn't endear me to them either. having watched centennial basketball for about 12 years, i find this year to be a down year. and due to unfortunate circumstances, we'll never know who the best team in D3 was this year when the going got tough, despite the weekly idea that swat was the best. swat didn't get it done last year with a strong guard and leader in wiley, and my instinct is that they would have struggled this year if faced with bigger, more athletic guards and a solid big on an opposing team. but we will never know. oh, and "risk", by the way, is a term used to express the willingness to take chances and possibly fail. (it's generally not  basketball jargon, which might be why you were confused). when one (or a team) is overly invested in control, risk diminishes and sometimes disappears. part of the excitement in sports is watching athletes reach beyond what they can do and attempt something more challenging, and sometimes paying a price for it. i don't see that in swat's brand of play, which is a big reason why they didn't excite me. i saw their basketball i.q., patience, shooting ability, competitive spirit, discipline, confidence, good manners and depth, but lots of things that i love about the game they don't possess. i hope that helps.

basketball in the centennial is generally, historically gentlemanly, which is a function of the high ethics of the schools in the conference. over the years play has gotten even less physical, similar to the nba.i think that is what we all want...sportsmanship and clean play.but if a team gets physical, i see no inherent problem with it. it sounds like ithaca was physical, but whether they were dirty is another question as physical play is not necessarily dirty play. i wasn't there so i can't say. what i can say is that i watched swat many times this season and find it hard to believe that they have consistently been the # 1 team all season. they were good, play well together, had a couple of good bigs, a bunch of shooters and are disciplined. my view is that a group of athletes who were well coached would beat them consistently as swat lacks athleticism, speed, quickness and risk. they play slow, methodical and controlled basketball to a point of it bordering on boredom. they only take well selected shots which, yes, is what we want but all in all it is pretty flavorless basketball. that doesn't take away from the great job landry has done and how good the players are together. i see that and know that it is extremely difficult to achieve. but it does baffle me that there was not one team in the country in D3 that had a group of athletes that could defend, harass, intimidate and get up and down on offense to handle swat easily. on another note, relevant to the recent posts, perhaps swat and landry are starting to feel a bit of arrogance and feel like physical play is inappropriate and disrespectful when employed by their opposition? that their style is superior and resorting to physical play is crude, a low level of play? if a team, school and coach feel that they should not be met with aggressive play, how do they feel about a player being verbally harassed by homophobic student fans? what if a swat player was yelled at in that manner? was there a discussion with those students by swat deans, administrators, faculty, other students who one would assume were at the game? were they asked to leave or reprimanded at all? perhaps that is worth considering. perhaps some idea of privilege/superiority might account for the coexistence between the ideas that swat players shouldn't be exposed to aggressive play and simultaneously members of their community exhibit disrespectful, homophobic verbal abuse towards an opposing player. who yells such things in this day and age, particularly those affiliated with swarthmore college?? worth thinking about. also, awarding a championship to any team when a championship game was not actually played seems somewhat ludicrous. any true player would not find that meaningful or fulfilling.but it is an original thought! stay safe, healthy everyone.

congrats to hopkins and coach loeffler on their win over swat.
loeffler is part of the younger generation of serious, able coaches in the centennial.
delaney came up big in a big game.
great game, great competition and wonderful for hopkins and their confidence to win the ncaa.

swat handled haverford quite easily. lots of lessons for haverford in the loss. swat shot very well, shared the ball, pretty tough in the paint. very good energy and confidence.

Swat is clearly the favorite tonight, particularly at home, but it will be interesting to see how the Fords do. Both teams share the ball, have great scoring distribution among the players, have good shot selection and play together without too much reliance on one or two players. Hopefully it will be a good game between two teams that were known to be in the lower part of the conference before Coach Kosmalski and Coach Doherty were hired.

swat was a surprise after a coaching change and at haverford it seems like a similar thing is happening. it takes a couple of years to establish a culture/way of playing. congrats to Coach Doherty and the Fords!!! it is nice to see swat and the fords at the top of the league for now.

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on December 18, 2019, 02:23:43 PM


I've seen teams win it all with PGs who can distribute and score just as easily making them a challenge. I have also seen teams with a PG who barely even takes a shot and just focuses on getting his team in the best position. It depends so much on the coach, the scheme, and the players around them. There are many ways to skin a cat.

i agree that it is possible to win with a non scoring/shooting point guard. but i prefer one who can shoot/score/break down the defense and distribute.

historically sallah's scoring and shooting percentage numbers are not strong, including his free throw percentage. we shall see whether or not a scoring point guard is needed for swat. i think it is tough to win it all without a strong point guard who can score and distribute. we shall see.

congrats to the Fords....keep on rolling!

great season for swat...so tough to go that far and lose in the championship. congrats to coach and all the players.

amazing Swat season...one more

Swat and MIT both played teams that were no match for them. Their matchup might be a very good game. Go Centennial!

swat has had a wonderful season and, i agree, is a candidate for the final four. my instinct, despite rooting for the centennial, is that they will not get that far. Should MIT and Swat win, i believe Swat will have their hands full with a team that can match up very well with them. Randolph Macon can also match up well in the paint with swat if they meet up. we shall see.It could get down to toughness, condition and whether or not a guard has a big game.

I know player of the year rightfully goes to someone on a winning team, but i think a case can be made for scibelli being the best player in the league this year. remarkable year given his injury last season. haverford lost by 2 to swat and o'dell and scibelli played each other even.