I have been reading this board for nearly 10 years now and although I rarely post, I must say that the Marlins have always seemed to have a target on their back, regardless of their ranking by anyone. National recognition is not new to the Marlins. They have a quality program, are well coached and if someone other than D3hoops sees fit to rank them at #1, it is still an honor and a credit to the school, basketball staff and players. Because of their expertise and knowledge of basketball, any team ranked by D3hoops in the top ten or even the top twenty five, will automatically be targeted. How high D3hoops puts the Marlins will not make much of a difference to them. The size of the target is immaterial, how they respond to the target is what counts. They are in one of the toughest conferences in the country and every game in the ODAC is important. The ODAC is no cakewalk.

This is my first post but I am glad I can add my 2 cents for the year.     
Having been at the game last night, and as one of a very small contingent of VWC fans (maybe up to 50  who could make the trip)  let me say we were all proud of the Marlins. Both the Williams court and Williams fans (I'd estimate a minimum of 1000 of a standing room only crowd of1560 ) were certainly intimidating throughout. They were standing 3 deep court side opposite the benches. While some may dispute any point value to hosting a home game, I can tell you with certainty an advantage does exist. I honestly believe that had this game been played at VWC or even at a neutral court that the Marlins may have pulled off  the upset.     
Williams coach Mike Maker said, "We made some minor adjustments at halftime, but they do a great job of guarding the arc, one of the best in the country. We can win in a variety of ways, we don't have to win on 3's. Pick your poison; we can shoot or we can drive and give the ball to Troy inside."   
   
Does anyone really believe that if we had a big man like Troy or even someone with the finesse of a Brandon Adair we might have done just that?  Could Guilford have gone as deep in the NCAA's without a 6'10 Ben Strong or Sanborn?  Player's that size are not easy to come by . They usually wind up at a Div 1 or 2 school. Your game plan is based on the height, strength and talent of your team. Until the last 5 minutes of the game, I honestly thought we could pull it off last night. As undersized, and as young as we were, we really had Williams on the ropes in the first half, despite a shaky start to the game.  A 19-4 run in the first half showed Williams what we could do. I give credit to Williams for regrouping, but I take nothing away from the Marlins. Having sat next to a Williams fan(unavoidable ), there was agreement that we were but a few bad/non calls and a few baskets away from stealing this one.  We could not be more proud of the Marlins for their display of agility, speed and attitude on the court. Congratulations to both the Ephs and the Marlins!
   
I must mention in the first game that  RIC's point guard was extremely talented and quite a play maker. Kudos to him especially for RIC .  Amherst's #2 player was a pure shooter and they won largely because of his skills. Thanks to all 4 teams on giving us 2 great, close games!  Let me add that RMC and EMU had excellent years and I cannot wait until next November to see and hear the ODAC games once again!  Hope to see ya'all back next year!