WBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[GAVA]

  So we can continue to bash or  give credit where credit is due.

Agree. Lets give credit to Silva as perhaps the best ODAC player ever. Classy post from a VWC fan.  

Hey, I agree.  Silva is definitely one of the ODAC's best, and she plays her heart out and is a great sport.  I have a lot of respect for her - not only as a former ODAC player but as a J.R. Tucker player (in the same high school district as Hermitage) and having gone to R-MC for my freshman year.  She is a class act and deserves her props.  She can't help what position she is put in by her coaches as far as playing time.  She is going to score and be great when she is in.  I also think there are a lot of other great players this year who are somewhat overlooked because they have to stand up next to her.  But it's not Silva's fault.  It's just important to recognize what everyone else is doing in the conference as well.  Anyway, it will just be a totally different league next year without her, Jennifer King, etc.  And finally some seniors for VWC next year! 

Yes it will certainly be a different league next year, and VWC may well be a contender. As I didn't see VWC play this year I can't add or subtract to observations made by others regarding their on court sportsmanship. I do know that some of their fans have been very hostile to RMC and Silva on this board. Perhaps we can chalk that up to growing pains, and  to letting expectations getting a year ahead of possibility.

[whitecaylxx]

GAVA:  I was REPLYING to Justafan2, - I just didn't do it right.

[78rmc]

oops i mean 1997-98 

Thanks, my son played football and wrestling at Tucker.  Didn't know we had softball then, I thought it was a new sport at RMC.

[Old School Marlin]

Yep, it was a club sport that year - we started the trend 

[Old School Marlin]

oops i mean 1997-98 

Thanks, my son played football and wrestling at Tucker.  Didn't know we had softball then, I thought it was a new sport at RMC.

Who was your son and what year did he graduate from JRT?

[78rmc]

oops i mean 1997-98 

Thanks, my son played football and wrestling at Tucker.  Didn't know we had softball then, I thought it was a new sport at RMC.

Who was your son and what year did he graduate from JRT?

He graduated in 2003, do you know any Tucker students from that era?

[Old School Marlin]

I caught a few girls' basketball games that year because I'm still good friends with the coach there...probably would know his name if he played football!

[valleybballfan]

Well...there is only one week of the regular season left...any guesses to the ODAC first team???

I had no problem choosing my first three....these first three girls are without a doubt first teamers to me....the last two I had some trouble deciding on?

Katy Herr
Megan Silva
Jennifer King
Jessica Hunsinger
Meghan Stensrud

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Stephanie Mathews should definitely make 1st team.  She just impressed me a whole lot when EMU came to town.  She has a quick release on her shot and never seems to stop moving on both sides of the court.  Only knock against her is her shooting percentage from the field (32%).  Even so, if not for Silva being so good and celebrated, Mathews would be on the short list for POTY.

I wasn't that impressed by King.  Admittedly, she probably had one of her worst games when she visited Nininger Hall (only two points through the first 25-or-so minutes of the game), but I was left thinking after the game that she was just the best player on a mediocre team.

Here is why I'm not sold on King being one of the best players in the league;

• She takes nearly 30% of her team's shots ... that's more than Silva (22%), Herr (16%) and Mathews (16%)
• She is a turnover machine with 108 in 23 games (Silva has 77 in 22 gms, Herr has 63 in 23 gms and Mathews has 73 in 23 gms)
• Her team has a 9-14 record while Silva's is 20-2, Herr's is 18-5 and Mathews' is 14-9 ... more importantly, Guilford is a combined 0-6 against R-MC, BC and EMU

So you ask, "if King doesn't make your All-ODAC first team, who does?"

Well, as I stated on Jan. 22;

I'm looking forward to seeing Jennifer King (GC) this coming weekend.  After seeing six of the ODAC teams, this is my current All-ODAC 1st team;

Orton (R-MC)
Mathews (EMU)
Kinder (BC)
Silva (R-MC)
Herr (BC)

I sure hope King doesn't impress me, because I would have no clue who I would take off the above list.

Well, clearly, King didn't impress ... so I'm sticking with Mathews, Kinder, Silva and Herr.

Feel free to think I'm a homer by picking Kinder, but it would be hard to deny that after Silva, she's the best shooter in the league (47% FG, 47% 3PT, 83% FT).  Her stats aren't amazing, but considering she plays for a Bridgewater team and a coach in Willi that makes it a point to share the ball, her 18.1 pts, 3.3 rebs, 2.0 assts and 1.6 stls per game seem a tad more impressive.

The fifth spot is up for grabs by four ladies.  Like I said Jan. 23, there are four post players who are equally deserving;

I think there are four post players that are about even (but with strengths in different areas)...

Orton (R-MC)
Hunsinger (W&L)
Renalds (EMU)
Phillips (VWC)

IMO, Hunsinger is the better defender, while Phillips is the better rebounder.  Orton and Renalds do a great job of complimenting Silva and Mathews.

I think it'll come down between Orton and Renalds, seeing that Orton was All-ODAC 2nd team a year ago while Renalds was All-ODAC 1st team, and both players are having betters years this season than they did last.  But personally, I liked Hunsinger the most.

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

So here would be my voting for All-ODAC honors:

1st Team
Megan Silva, R-MC
Katy Herr, BC
Jessica Hunsinger, W&L
Stephanie Mathews, EMU
Marsha Kinder, BC

2nd Team
Jennifer King, GC
Amanda Renalds, EMU
Michelle Orton, R-MC
Heather Phillips, VWC
Salem Shaffer, R-MC

Honorable Mention
Caroline Wesley, LC
Erin Hanson, RC

The three girls from R-MWC all have had decent years (Stensrud, Prewitt and Rechnitzer), but there is no way statistically to differentiate them.  I'm probably safe in assuming two of the three will earn HM.  And finally, it's hard for me to "respect" someone's stats when it's a product of "the system."  Even though they just jack up threes, I can see the ODAC honoring at least one Wasp, so I'll go with Lauren Habel (at least she shoots a decent percent from there; 33%).

Player of the Year: Megan Silva, Randolph-Macon
Coach of the Year: Stephany Dunmyer, Virginia Wesleyan
Freshman of the Year: Kristine Ellis, Guilford
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Marsha Kinder, Bridgewater

[hasanova]

Undoubtedly, King had an "off" game when she played at BC, but based on the whole season, I firmly believe she will be a First Team ODAC selection on almost everyone's ballot.  I've seen her play quite a few times the past four years and she is one of those players than can - and does - put the team on her back.  Unfortunately, this year's Guilford team has required her to do that fairly often.

[upper90]

What is everyone's thoughts on freshman of the year???

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

What is everyone's thoughts on freshman of the year???

So here would be my voting for All-ODAC honors:

Freshman of the Year: Kristine Ellis, Guilford

[fairmont1113]

Here are my votes for ODAC First Team:

Katy Herr
Megan Silva
Jennifer King
Amanda Reynolds
Jessica Hunsinger

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Undoubtedly, King had an "off" game when she played at BC, but based on the whole season, I firmly believe she will be a First Team ODAC selection on almost everyone's ballot.  I've seen her play quite a few times the past four years and she is one of those players than can - and does - put the team on her back.  Unfortunately, this year's Guilford team has required her to do that fairly often.

Anyone that scores 500 points in a season is doing something right, sure.  But 4.7 turnovers a game?  Eww.  Shoots 18 shots a game?  That's a lot.  1-7 against the top four teams in the conference this year?  Not very good.

No question she's All-ODAC worthy, but it was just my opinion from what I've seen this season that there are other players more worthy.  If you put her on your 1st team, using my All-ODAC ballot, who do you take off?  Kinder?  Hunsinger?  Mathews?

Kinder - Scores only four less points a game than King, but also plays six less minutes a game and shoots six less shots a game.  She takes care of the ball better than King does (63 TOs to King's 108) and shoots better from the field, behind the arc and charity stripe.

Hunsinger - IMO, the best post-defender in the ODAC.  Had six blocks against Bridgewater when they played in Nininger, holding our front court to 4-of-15 shooting - not to mention she outrebounded the two, seven to six.

Mathews - Averages less than nine shots a game (the explaination for her 8.9 point a game), but the 5-foot-9 forward is one of the few players in the conference that can play all five positions.  First on her team in rebounds and steals, and second in points and assists.