MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

DC:

Go back and read everything I said. 

I have.

Apparently I am not entitled to an opinion. 

You are, and so are all of the rest of us.

Apparently I have some ax to grind.

Yes, that is apparent.

Apparently everything anyone else said about the program means nothing.

Huh? 

I will take the heat.  I don't mind.

But you'll whine about it, all the same.

[DenisonFan]

Central:
Hodgkinson was 11 of 12.  Apparently OWU doesn't give a damn on defense either.

DC:
Let's talk at the end of the month.

[CentralOH]

Perhaps they don't, but that's really beside the point.  Why do you constantly go back to his offensive numbers?  Have you ever given any thought to his defense?  Does his offensive ability excuse him from playing at the other end?

He should have picked a different sport - maybe he could DH for the baseball team.

[smedindy]

And looking at the minutes for OWU starters, he may have yanked some fannies around as well.

Back to today's action, Wabash played well for about a 25 minute stretch, then let 'Gheny creep back into the game.

Savage was a pretty hard nosed kid that missed some looks inside when he was amongst the giants. 'Gheny is a good team that could wreak some havoc in the league if their shots fall.

The Majzlik man was a non-factor, had some foul trouble but Zimmer, Lytle and Stephens really clamped down on D in the post.

Stephens, wow, what a game. Our best free throw shooter as well.

The guards better start hitting their foul shots or it will be a long week next week.

[Mr. Ypsi]

As a TOTALLY neutral observer, I would so far score it:

DC: 1
DF: 0

Have the cornermen cleared both fighters for the next round?

Though DF's supporters make a good point (except it cuts both ways): IF playing for Denison is no longer a pleasurable experience, that would undercut the team (which would seem to go against the coach, but not ALL of such blame is necessarily the coach) - I simply don't have the knowledge to say up or down on the coach, per se.

WHY the hell did I get into this fight??!

[CentralOH]

Forget playing time, rotations, x's & o's; forget everything but this - the players in the program are miserable and are not enjoying their experience as players at Denison.  It's not only the upperclassmen, it's the majority of the players. 

Winning enough games will cure even the worst case of player misery...

[billy_pilgrim]

Hey hey.......how about another Earlham/Hiram post

Stats are finally available: LaRon Henry had 23 to lead Earlham, while Brandon Miller had 20 and 13. LaRon is quietly having an excellent season and Miller seems to be rounding into form. I'm sure the time off (only two games in the last two weeks) have been good for his bad knee(s).

Quiet, and balanced, night for other Earlham players. It seems Earlham has also found a true point guard to help push this team too in Neil Collins. The freshman who spent nearly all of last year, and the first 5 games of this season, on the bench, has been getting a few starts lately and playing pretty well. Nice to have a little more depth from a previously unknown spot. Agree earlhamalum?

Three players in double figures for the Terriers: Rick Baldwin (12), T.C. Spencer (11), and Emeka Mbanefo (10).

[DenisonFan]

If you had done what DC told you to do.  You would have gone back and reviewed ALL things I have said.

If I am not mistaken I clearly said "D" wins games.  Look at the good Bulls teams or the Pistons today.  But I have also said that you must score to win the game. 

So cut the BS.  Hodgkinson and Hern are all conference players.  If the coaching staff wants to sit them down because they aren't playing defense.  OK  That is their choice.  If the effort is not their they should sit down.  I just didn't see it that way.

I just think before you make comments like neither play any defense.  Look at what the other team did.  Apparently not much.   11 of 12 in 19 minutes.  Either Hodgkinson is REALLY that good or OWU did the same as Hodgkinson and Hern.

And by the way....do you know who Hern was covering?

Do you put the blame on them when Denison goes to a 2 3 zone??

If you are not at the game.  Please don't tell me what happened.

[David Collinge]

As a TOTALLY neutral observer, I would so far score it:

DC: 1
DF: 0

Have the cornermen cleared both fighters for the next round?

Though DF's supporters make a good point (except it cuts both ways): IF playing for Denison is no longer a pleasurable experience, that would undercut the team (which would seem to go against the coach, but not ALL of such blame is necessarily the coach) - I simply don't have the knowledge to say up or down on the coach, per se.

WHY the hell did I get into this fight??!

Thanks, Chuck.  The thing is, I agree with you.  According to Streets & Trips, I'm 2296.7 miles from Denison; I don't have an opinion on the situation at Denison, if there even is a situation at Denison and not just in this room.  I don't think DF understands that.  I don't take issue with what he says; I take issue with how he says it.

[earlhamalum]

Yea a little suprising i'd say, but Neil has played well for EARLHAM this year when given a chance.  I personally thought Freshman Tristin Gregory was going to have solid freshman year.  Off to kind of a slow start, but hopefully with the early season experience, he'll be a factor during the second part of the season.  Looking forward to seeing my first NCAC Vs. NCAC game tomorrow since last year.

[ScotsFan]

Just thought I would bring back some much needed Wooster talk to this board!!!  After all, it's been over a page now since Wooster has been mentioned!!!

It looks like TCNJ won the tempo battle tonight over Wooster.  Although, when you are taking up most of the entire 35 second shot clock on every possession as TCNJ seemed to do, it will hurt your chances of reaching your scoring average when you are avereging triple digits.  It was still a nice win over a team that many consider one of the favorites to win the always competitive NJAC. 

What a job TCNJ did on Tom Port tonight holding him to 1 field goal and 4 points total.  His lone field goal was a dunk BTW late in the game.  Port did manage to lead the team in rebounds and assists with 7 in each category, so he did help out in other ways tonight.  I'm sure that he will try and overcome his lack of offensive production, as will the rest of the Scots tomorrow night against W&J who was the unfortunate winner that gets to face Wooster in tomorrow night's final. 

One plus for W&J, in judging from their average home attendance barely breaking 200, they should be over that tomorrow night when you consider Woooster and TCNJ drew nearly 200 for their game in WashPA tonight, and I would have to bet that the majority of those were Wooster supporters. 

[phil]

ScotsFan
I was actually surprised that TCNJ was able to dictate the tempo and stay close the entire game. The Lions are far from being an NJAC favorite as they were picked ninth out of ten teams in the preseason coaches poll (but then again the men's soccer team was picked 9th of 10 teams as well and ended up winning the conference and advanced to the Elite Eight).

TCNJ graduated their second all-time leading scorer and basically returned only Findlay and their entire bench for this season. Last year they got off to a fast start, romped over Amherst of all teams, earned a top ten ranking and then played sub-.500 ball the rest of the year. Nobody thought they'd be competitive this year. Instead they've taken a page from Princeton's book and have played an extremely deliberate style to make the most of the personel they have. The reason for this is that eight teams in the NJAC are more athletic than TCNJ – at the very least, this style should keep them in just about every game. The downside is that if TCNJ ever gets down by double digits a comeback is very, very difficult.

At any rate, good luck to the Scots the rest of the way. They seem to be able to beat you a number of different ways, and as last night shows, they can win in a half court game as well. When it comes to the NJAC, I think you'll see NJCU, Stockton or Ramapo in the NCAA tourney – but I don't think this is a vintage year for the NJAC.

BTW, whomever did the pairings for the tourney did a nice job of scheduling the finals as a 6 PM Friday night game!

[Gregory Sager]

Whether or not you agree with Denison Fan's take on things (or how he expresses his take on things), he should at least be thanked for attempting to keep this room from being All-Wooster-All-The-Time.

That's not a slap at Wooster, nor is it a slap at the fans of the Scots. They're entitled to post as much as they want about their team, and they do those of us who follow the national scene a favor by keeping us abreast of one of the top programs in the country. But the unbalanced tilt of this room really keeps it from being one of the better ones on Posting Up. There's a couple of solid Wabash posters who give good game reports on their Diminutive Colossi, and Billy Pilgrim and Earlhamfan do a good job representing the Quakers, but that's about it. In a ten-team league, that's a shameful percentage of representation. F'rinstance, I will never for the life of me understand why Wittenberg does not have regular posters who cover the team in this room the way that the Wooster guys do for the Scots. How does the D3 program with the most wins (both overall and in the D3 tourney), a program that's just as strong today as it ever was, not get any steady representation on Posting Up? That just baffles me.

I can understand the indifference towards schools with downtrodden programs such as Oberlin, Hiram, and Kenyon. But Allegheny's been good from time to time; why no steady reportage on the Gators? Ohio Wesleyan's always a first-division NCAC team; why no steady reportage on the Bishops? Where have you gone, Barry Robinson? A conference turns its lonely eyes to you.

Woo woo woo.

It's nice to see Phil break out of his NJAC posting ghetto, BTW.  If you're looking for an example of a fan who faithfully follows his team every season, whether they're up or down, and informs us on them in a comprehensive and interesting manner, TCNJ's Phil is one of the best examples in all of Posting Up.

[phil]

Gregory,
I'm blushing behind my Mac.

The NJAC room has grown quiet, and I've grown frustrated at watching TCNJ football and basketball slide towards mediocrity while every other sport at TCNJ contends for a national title. Last year the Lions had their best team on paper since the Greg Grant era (which now seems so, so long ago), and the lack of a true point guard and strong defense rendered a team that wanted to run, fair game for any team that pressured the ball and played a half court game. Losing to Rowan in the NJAC playoffs after beating the Profs by 20+ tells me the formula for beating TCNJ was pretty darn simple. Now this year they don't add a single impact player, they play the kids that spent the better part of last season on the bench and they emulate a style of play from an Ivy League school up the road ... and they're playing competitve basketball! Seems to me they might have gone a lot further last season if they didn't wait until this year to play this style!

Alas, the women's Lax team is favorite to win yet another title this spring and I still have a VHS of Greg Grant scoring a zillion points in the '89 Semis and finals...

[Gregory Sager]

You need your Rowan foils to return, Phil. Those Profs fans kept you on your toes. Life gets a whole lot less interesting when you lose your nemeses.