MBB: Great South Athletic Conference

mcalumnifan · February 06, 2008, 01:20:35 AM

It's absolutely amazing to me how everyone thinks Maryville is no good and it's pathetic that the so called people in charge of this D3hoops snubs Maryville all the time. Maryville could have played University of Tennessee and won and the powers to be on this board would say it was luck; UT played their practice squad; or whatever. Let's see Maryville beat Transy, who beat Whittenberg and the comment was Whittenberg is down this year. But a couple of weeks ago Whittenberg was on a roll and made D3hoops news. Then Maryville splits with Emory who knocked off #1 Rochester and well Maryville got lucky. Then Maryville beats every schlorship team and the comment is well they are nobody's. So Carson Newman is a Nobody. They only opened up against Georgia Tech and Virginia (and lost), but Centre can open up against Rust and lose and that was like a preseason freakin scrimmage. Where Maryville beat the same team at Rust by 53 points!!!!!! Do you think that was a close game? Hum. I can't wait till Maryville goes far in the tournament and all these doubters will look like idiots.

Pat Coleman · February 06, 2008, 04:00:29 AM

It's absolutely amazing to ME how you can look at everything being said and decide that people think Maryville is no good and pathetic.

When you start off with crap like that, nobody who has a vote is going to read the post of your post. Remember, I saw Maryville in person this year, and I am not the only person to do so. If through last week nobody saw fit to vote for Maryville they certainly had a reason. It isn't because "D3hoops snubs Maryville" because I am just one voter and the other 24, oddly enough, all have their own independent minds and can and do think for themselves!

Spencer Beaty · February 06, 2008, 08:13:22 AM

mcalumnifan is suffering from what I like to call novice posting. When i started off at D3hoops it was me against the world...or so i thought. Well, fight the good fight alum.

scottiedoug · February 06, 2008, 09:43:23 AM

MCalumnifan has the key in his last sentence but many people won't get that far because of the novice posting syndrome to which Spencer refers. If the Scots beat people in the tournament, the doubters will take note. And all that requires not doing the too-often tried trick of losing to Sewanee on the mountain. Pat is to be commended for coming South to see some southern ball and it is too bad he saw the Scots play a bad game, but that is what he saw....

mattgrubb · February 06, 2008, 10:25:16 AM

yeah as much as I hate seeing the scots left out of the top 25, i would have to agree the scots will get their chance to play it out in the tournament

I will have to also say thanks to pat for traveling down south, while it was not a trip to murvul to see the spectacle that is a packed Boydson Baird, it was a trip to see the scots play and that is good enough for me for now, but he still has a place to stay down here if he ever wants to make the trip and MC is only 10 minutes from the airport and I will pay for the plane ticket.

Just keep winning RDL and all this will work out. Pat and all the voters will get a chance to see Murvul play in the final 4.

Go Scots

Ralph Turner · February 06, 2008, 02:04:43 PM

Quote from: scottiedoug on February 06, 2008, 09:43:23 AM
... Pat is to be commended for coming South to see some southern ball and it is too bad he saw the Scots play a bad game, but that is what he saw....

Realistically, as many teams as Pat has seen, and as often as he has considered a full season of work, and the fact that he spent a week seeing numerous southern teams gives him the general framework of the basketball that we play across the South. (He saw 16 teams from 8 schools in 10 games in Texas in Nov-Dec. 2006.)

One other factor that we must consider is how many teams comprise D3 ( nearly 390 men, nearly 410 women). Top 25 doesn't even leave room for one team per each of the 38 conferences, or considering winning the first NCAA playoff game as enough to crack the Top 25.

I liken the Top 25 to viewing the pack as they cross the finish line of the New York Marathon. There is so little difference in the quality of the great number of participants and yet a few seconds may make the difference in numerical outcomes.

Spencer Beaty · February 06, 2008, 03:50:57 PM

Nice point Ralphy. Enough talk about the top 25 win every game from now on and there is nothing anyone can take away from you.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · February 06, 2008, 06:44:00 PM

mcalumnifan - do me a favor (and pardon the following, shameless plug)... tune in to Hoopsville once in awhile. Maryville has been the topic of conversation nearly every week in the South Region Report. One reason is obviously because our regional reporter is Marcus Fitzsimmons and he covers Maryville plenty with his regular job. The other reason, the team is worth chatting about! I am considered a staff member for D3hoops.com and the show is mine and we aren't snubbing the team! So your comment is baseless in my opinion.

That being said... Maryville has shown they have been good enough to be granted Pool B bids quite a bit in the past and it looks like they will garner that bid once again this season. Now... if Maryville can make a run in the tournament, sceptics may start changing their minds.

Pat Coleman · February 06, 2008, 07:04:50 PM

Hey, I can't wait until Maryville goes far in the tournament as well. But I keep waiting. It's great to have a string of years with one tournament win but that only gets you to the final 32.

Ralph Turner · February 06, 2008, 07:17:02 PM

Quote from: Spencer Beaty on February 06, 2008, 03:50:57 PM
Nice point Ralphy. Enough talk about the top 25. Win every game from now on, and there is nothing anyone can take away from you.

Spencer,

I went back to the Top 25 Pre-season Poll for 2004-05, where Maryville started at #23. Maryville had finished at #16 in the final 2004 Poll after the #4 Seed Maryville lost to #8 John Carroll.

Maryville lost at Emory and then lost to Centre in the first three games of the 2005 season.

I have a theory about strong conferences. The standings leader of the strong conference will get the benefit of the doubt for the slot that the leader of the conference has established as a historical norm.

The WIAC, the CCIW, the NESCAC, the MIAA, and the ODAC and the UAA have track records and a fair measure of the strength. The voters may be looking at the South Region record (12-2) and have you slotted as #8 from the South Region. The South Region is well-represented this year in the Top 25, with 8 teams in the "Top30". As of today, I see that the "South-East" sub-bracket should include host Centre, a Pool C, the USA South winner and Maryville. (The ODAC hosts a "Mid-Atlantic bracket".)

If GSAC merges into the USA South, Maryville is leading the USA South (currently at 4-1

).

mattgrubb · February 07, 2008, 09:47:24 AM

saw a good performance by the scots last night. The scots hammered Sewanee on the mountain. The funniest part was the cheer at the end of the game. the scots had a home court advantage in another team's gym. That Ben Purcell kid is a beast, he needs to be recognized as an all south performer, if he was in a scots jersey the scots would be undefeated. The murvul students that were in attendance were awesome.

My favorite player Orr/Hernandez played very well last night and did a good job containing Purcell last night. Little Chrissy Orr always seems to be in the right place at the right time around the basket.

mattgrubb · February 07, 2008, 11:56:50 AM

i just wanted to point out that there is a 3 way tie for second or last place in the gsac, however you choose to look at it

MC wild animal · February 07, 2008, 01:37:09 PM

It is always nice to go on the road and feel like you are playing in Boydson Baird. I just cant wait until the conference tournament. We are going to make the Cave our home as well! Maryville is focused and playing great team ball.

Spencer Beaty · February 07, 2008, 05:17:31 PM

Any thoughts on the Sewanee game Grubby?

GSAC Killer · February 08, 2008, 10:08:41 AM

Who gives a crap about the Top 25 ranking. None of that stuff really matters!! What matters is what you do in the South Region or the Region you play in. In 2005 when we made it to the Sweet 16, we were undefeated in the South Region.

Those ranking have no significance in your seeding in the tournament. I rather fly under the radar like the Scots have been doing. We were ranked all year long when we made our Sweet 16 run. A lot of pressure!! The Scots are playing great and will probably have the best season ever because they are PLAYING TEAM BALL!! Plain and simple. Keep it up guys!

Old Lion the Lions have no chance! Part of being a good jockey you have to get a good horse. The reason you guys continue to lose is the fact your recruiting is not very good. RECRUITING! Everyone is equal when it comes to DIV III. Go get the players.

As for the Scot CRAZIES!! They will always be the best cheering squad in DIII. My boy AJ "Wildman" Bennett is the best at what he does. Good luck to all in the upcoming games and SCOTS who cares if you are ranked or not. Keep winning!!

By the way we dropped that Carrol game in 04-05 on a loose ball lay-up with 3 seconds left. We finished ranked #16 behind Randolph Macon who we spanked in the NCAA tournament. That is why d3hoops Top 25 is meaningless!!