WBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[dukeofargyle]

All good tips, wmjofva & Brookland, but you also help out my points.

Playing Schweers up man to man is obviously what would be needed. Still when a guard is as offensive- minded as she is, they often do not specialize in defense much - if at all.

Pfannenstein with her height would keep Schweers out of her comfort zone, but Wilson comes in for fresh legs as well as to body up, as she is not afraid to do just that.  Last game, Wilson came down for a rebound & was dazed when she fell & had a hard knock.  A physical defense on a 5'7 Schweers may give her pause to think.  Playing the box would help keep Herman out of foul trouble, though that may have been the plan for RMC as well, and Molly was still taken out of her game by the fouls.

Also, is the CMU defense as good as their offense? Could be, but doesn't seem as though they have depended on it as much as their sharp offensive weapons to keep them up in games.

[RVAHokie]

Based on the W&L starting 5 and sixth player (Wilson), rather than a box and one, I would try a very aggressive match-up zone.  Long, Ingram, Pfannenstein and Bolton are quick enough to cover in their zones, or rotate as needed.   Let everyone participate in defending the scorer and force her to pass the ball.

Offensively, I would want Herman to get more touches than she has recently and get her to kick the ball out to Pfannenstein, Ingram or Long who are all shooting great from behind the arc.  The long scoreless streaks that the Generals have suffered this year tend to be caused by turnovers due to over-dribbling on the outside by the guards.  Skip Passes and quick swings will test the CNU defense and also help free up the shooters.

Is it worth it to put some "token" pressure on in the full court after made baskets to slow things down some?

[Brookland]

To some of the points made: CNU's defense may not be as good as its offense, but it may be as good as W&L's, at least statistically:
Pts per game allowed - W&L 58.4, CNU 58.5
Steals per game - W&L 8.1, CNY 10.5

And CNU's offense may be a bit more balanced than you realize. Although Schweers scored about 32% of their points, the rest of the team chipped in 53.4 points per game, more than the rest of the Gennies did with Bolton's points subtracted. One area of real imbalance: Schweers is essentially it for CNU from beyond the arc. For the season, she is 113/232. The rest of the starters combined are only 18/57. W&L's starters are a combined 132/389, but spread pretty evenly over Ingram, Long and Pfannenstein. The situation is a bit reversed inside. CNU has three 5'10 girls  who are a combined 262/569 (.460) from 2-pt range, reasonably close to Bolton and Herman's 248/494 (.502), but I don't think any of them are as tough and dominant as Bolton.
So, I like Duke's box and 1 better than the match-up zone, with wmjofva's man to man thrown in in healthy doses. I absolutely believe that you need someone playing tight and physical defense on Schweers at all times, and I don't think the match-up zone would work as well against their offensive scheme. Some full court pressure wouldn't hurt in the mix. I also think you need to make Schweers work on defense, which I think W&L can do quite well. If W&L can do all of that, win the turnover war, and get big games on both ends of the floor from Bolton and Herman, they should be good. Not too tall an order, is it? 
Gee, all this speculation is more fun than a social life!

[Bammer]

How will the regular season champ Maroons perform?  They certainly have the talent with 3 first team all ODAC and Moats and coy Dunnigan.  They did lose to Ferrum by 15 who is in the same conference as CNU.  I still believe that their height will get them through this game.  They will be hard pressed to advance if they get the opportunity on Saturday night.  Sure would like to see a WLU -- RC match-up.   

[wmjofva]

CNN outrebounded W &L in first game..14-15=29 vs 15-21=36; W& L was the best offensive rebounding team in ODAC in my mind.  This means CNN players play bigger than their size.

In the RM/Cnn game; Cnn pressure defense encouraged RM to shoot early in shot clock and often, this made for only playing defense for 6 to 10 sec but then they would go down and probe and work until they had good shot..meaning RM had to play defense 20-26 sec per possession.

Most watch the ball during a game, watch what the other 9 players are doing, it will tell you who is going to win the game.  The defense on Schweers when she doesn't have the ball is more important than when she does.  Ofcourse the best defense on a good player is to get them out of the game with foul trouble.

CNU, Ferrum (that conference got the best of ODAC this year) Roanoke will do fine!

[whitecaylxx]

I hope the ODAC represents well, and I hate the thought of one ODAC team eliminating the other's dream.  Sappy, I know.

[Bammer]

Just hoping that both win on Friday night.  That would guarantee at least the ODAC would have 1 team in the Sweet 16.  Think of the rivalry and how that would carry over into next year.  I am sure that both will represent the conference well and I agree with whitecaylxx that it would be bittersweet.

[wmjofva]

Using top named team in each bracket (4) and 3/2/10 Esp Coaches' poll; Amherst has 4 ranked teams; George Fox has 9; Illnois Wesleyan has 8 and Kean has 4, so we got good bracket as far as playing ranked teams.  They can't seed due to $ and travel, I think W &L earned better than to play #8 team to start but it is what it is.  I was more impressed with Mary Washington (21-6) than CN (28-0) Three players as big or bigger than Molly A and a guard who would eat Schweers lunch.  There was a back door alley-opp play and she did everything but dunk in the RM/MW game this year.

It's extra practice...will help both Roanoke and W & L regardless how it turns out. Recruiting, player experience, coaches, fans!

[Brookland]

How will the regular season champ Maroons perform?     

My first reaction is that Roanoke should win by a comfortable margin, but on closer inspection I don't believe it's a sure thing. McDaniel didn't have a great record and lost to some teams that aren't that good, but to make it into the NCAA tournament, they had to win their final three games against two teams that had been ranked for much of the year (beating Gettysburg twice and Muhlenberg once, and knocking Muhlenberg out of the Top 25 with a convincing 72-56 win). The have a lot of height  (4 six footers and only one guard below 5'7) and a 400+ win coach (Becky Martin) who likes to play up-tempo. If Roanoke comes out flat again, I think McDaniel will run right past them. If the Maroons bring their A game, they should be OK.

[dukeofargyle]

Question:

I thought I saw the RC transfer big girl Moats on crutches, limping in to the Civic Center on Sunday. I this correct? Did she get injured?  It would be a shame going into the Big Dance with 2 ODAC teams, but with one (RC) who is not completely healthy~

Hope I am wrong!

[Brookland]

Yes, I recall she left the last game with what appeared to be an ankle injury, but returned later and, if I remember correctly, finished the game. If she's still on crutches, maybe the injury was more than a simple rolled ankle. I agree that it would be a real shame if she's not healthy. I think we all want the ODAC to show well!

[dukeofargyle]

Yep, we seem to have some good posts on here for this CNU/W&L game. My final thought is simple and basic: no matter the schemes, game plans or dreams coaches come up with - what it all comes down to in my book is 99% hard work, and 1% fate.

NEVER underestimate that small word "FATE".
Consider:

1.  The game behind the movie Hoosiers
2.  Man O' War versus Upset
3.  The '69 Mets
4.  Villanova versus Patrick Ewing and Georgetown
5.  NC State versus 5 Slamma Jamma
6.  Ruland Gardner versus Alexander Karelin - Olympic Wrestling
7.  USA Hockey's Miracle on Ice
8.  Buster Douglas versus Iron Mike Tyson
9.  Division II Chaminade beating #1 ranked Virginia and Ralph Sampson
10. Division II Appalachian State beating mighty Michigan at the "Big House" in Ann Arbor

It would probably take 10 minutes of googling for each girl at W&L to find out a little bit about all the above sporting events and maybe it might be worth it. They might not win this evening no matter what, but two things are for sure from this moment on for the Generals and their awesome coaching staff and that is...

1. They have EARNED and WON the respect of their ODAC opponents, friends and basketball fans.

2. IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER, so with 99% heart & hard work and a 'lil bit of FATE it won't be over for them on Friday night.

PS...Check out #2 on the above list, so if nothing else, you'll know why it's called an UPSET.

[Brookland]

NEVER underestimate that small word "FATE".

I believe in Nawlins they call it "Destiny"... 
But that's still a heckuva list!!

[RVAHokie]

Duke,

Fate/Destiny/Luck - it's better to be lucky than good!  There are more cliches in sports to describe it than we could list here.  Sometimes winning and losing is determined by what a competitor does and sometimes it is due to what the opponent does - fate in sports is created by the action/inaction of individuals and the funny bounces that balls and pucks can take.

GO GENERALS!
GO ROANOKE!

[hoopstermom]

Roanoke wins!! 77-66