MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[kiltedbryan]

I'll be able to catch Wilmington/Capital on Wednesday, I think.

[pennstghs]

"Cap should be tough but there are a lot of unknowns due to graduation...."

I will have to argue this point as Capital returned 9 players from last year........................................

[onefan]

ONU's margin of victory over Marietta was a surprise to me also. In answer to your question, bouncer1, no ONU is not that good....yet...and yes, Marietta looked lost...poor defense, not getting back in transition,weak on the boards at both ends,poor shot selection....and on and on... Northern on the other hand appears to still be searching for the right combination of five....they have several players at each position, but I don't think Coach Coleman has quite figured out which five have come to play each day....Not alot of consistency yet...ONU plays at the Berg Wednesday...Things should be a little clearer after that....I still think the Muskies are going to be the Dark Horse this year.

[bouncer1]

Here are the match-ups for Wed. night.
JCU @ Musky
Wilm @ Cap
Mount @ BW
ONU @ Berg
Ott @ Etta
My picks are JCU over Musky-we'll find out if onefan is right-dark horse or lame horse.   Cap over Wilm in a game of which style prevails. BW over Mount-mainly because it is at BW. Berg over ONU-the Berg demonstrates that they are a real contender and overcomes opening loss at Wilm.  Ott over Etta-will Pios win a league game this year??  Any thoughts or other predictions??  Any early thoughts on POY?  Early favorite has to be Nate Stahl from Cap--best player on probably best team.

[David Collinge]

Here are the match-ups for Wed. night.
JCU @ Musky

I'm planning on attending this one, but primarily to see JCU.  I've seen Musky a couple of times already and I'm not very impressed.  Brandon Todd is very talented, and two or three times a game he'll do something that leaves you gasping.  But just as often he'll do something that negates his good play, usually because he's trying to do too much (e.g. driving the lane into three stationary big guys) or expecting too much of his teammates (e.g. the no-look over-the-shoulder pass to the teammate who least expects it).  When he stays within himself, making good decisions to drive, shoot, or pass, the team can have good stretches, and they can beat anyone if everything goes right, but I don't see them as serious contenders for first place.

Any early thoughts on POY?  Early favorite has to be Nate Stahl from Cap--best player on probably best team.

That reminds me; down at the Cap Center, there are five pennants on the west wall, two of them displaying the names "Gunn" and "Kyser" (a third is "Stolly," I forget the other two, except that they were names that I did not recognize.)  Does anyone know what these signify?  Is this some sort of Cap version of a retired number?  If so, Gunn and Kyser? 

[Toph]

Here are the match-ups for Wed. night.
JCU @ Musky

I'm planning on attending this one, but primarily to see JCU.  I've seen Musky a couple of times already and I'm not very impressed.  Brandon Todd is very talented, and two or three times a game he'll do something that leaves you gasping.  But just as often he'll do something that negates his good play, usually because he's trying to do too much (e.g. driving the lane into three stationary big guys) or expecting too much of his teammates (e.g. the no-look over-the-shoulder pass to the teammate who least expects it).  When he stays within himself, making good decisions to drive, shoot, or pass, the team can have good stretches, and they can beat anyone if everything goes right, but I don't see them as serious contenders for first place.

Any early thoughts on POY?  Early favorite has to be Nate Stahl from Cap--best player on probably best team.

That reminds me; down at the Cap Center, there are five pennants on the west wall, two of them displaying the names "Gunn" and "Kyser" (a third is "Stolly," I forget the other two, except that they were names that I did not recognize.)  Does anyone know what these signify?  Is this some sort of Cap version of a retired number?  If so, Gunn and Kyser? 

I would guess this was some sort of version of a retired number, or perhaps just a tribute to last year's seniors.  Ben Gunn and Steve Kyser were post players (Kyser had a pretty good stroke from the outside, though), and Pat Stolly was a guard who hit a game winning three over JCU a couple years back in a fantastic game.

[David Collinge]

I would guess this was some sort of version of a retired number, or perhaps just a tribute to last year's seniors.  Ben Gunn and Steve Kyser were post players (Kyser had a pretty good stroke from the outside, though), and Pat Stolly was a guard who hit a game winning three over JCU a couple years back in a fantastic game.

Oh....yeah.  Except it's this year's seniors.  Hollingsworth is a fourth banner, and he's a senior along with Pat Stolly, Kyser, and Gunn.  The fifth banner, Withers, is for the lone senior on the women's squad.  Thanks for the help!

[Toph]

I would guess this was some sort of version of a retired number, or perhaps just a tribute to last year's seniors.  Ben Gunn and Steve Kyser were post players (Kyser had a pretty good stroke from the outside, though), and Pat Stolly was a guard who hit a game winning three over JCU a couple years back in a fantastic game.

Oh....yeah.  Except it's this year's seniors.  Hollingsworth is a fourth banner, and he's a senior along with Pat Stolly, Kyser, and Gunn.  The fifth banner, Withers, is for the lone senior on the women's squad.  Thanks for the help!

I can't believe Kyser and Gunn are seniors this year, I thought they were only a year behind me.

[David Collinge]

The men's and women's games between JCU and Muskingum scheduled for tonight (men in New Concord, women in University Heights) have been postponed due to the continuing inclement weather in New Concord.  Muskingum actually canceled classes today.  The men's game has been rescheduled for Wed. Jan. 23; the women's game for Mon. Jan. 7.

[kiltedbryan]

Capital downs previously unbeaten Wilmington, 89-68 at the Capital Center. Box.

Either because I can't read, or because the Capital website had the wrong time up, I didn't arrive at this game in time to see Capital jump out to a 23-8 lead early.  I don't think Wilmington ever closed it back to within ten.

Wilmington simply couldn't stop Capital's offense all night. The Quakers kept up full-court pressure for most of the game, but it often rarely if ever led to turnovers (give Cap credit), and did leave Wilmington out of defensive position in the half-court.  When Capital broke the press, it usually led to a quick bucket or at least a high percentage shot. I was surprised to see Wilmington stay in the press (perhaps they always use it), since to me it was obvious that it wasn't producing turnovers and was keeping Wilmington from putting together a good half-court defense that they needed if they were going to come back from down 14 at half.

Wilmington's other major defensive downfall that simply crippled them tonight was rebounding. Capital held a +17 rebound margin (46-29), and had 15 offensive rebounds in the game (Wilmington only had 19 defensive rebounds). Giving up all those offensive rebounds and all the points off of them destroyed what chances Wilmington had of getting back into the game in the second half. 

For Capital, they already had the comfortable lead when I got there, so I got to see them hold onto it, and since Wilmington never mounted a serious challenge, Cap seemed pretty well in control throughout.  They shot 54% for the game while holding Wilmington to only 38%, though I wasn't necessarily impressed by its defensive effort so much as I felt Wilmington failed to select good shots.

Offensively, Capital has a number of weapons, and Steve Kyser collected a good chunk of his game-leading 19 off of 5 offensive rebounds.  Ryan Wood put together his second straight quality performance, adding 17 tonight to his career high 25 against OWU last Saturday. He might be Capital's most complete player, as I think that sharp-shooter Nate Stahl (12 pts) can be an occasional defensive liability.

Wilmington was led by Fred Harrison and R.J. Brown, each with 14, and then three players with 9. It was an off-night for Quaker Zach Broermann, who didn't score and was 0-10 from the field after averaging 12 pts. for the Quakers coming into the game.

[kiltedbryan]

Winners in bold.
JCU @ Musky PPD
Wilm @ Cap 89-68
Mount @ BW 65-63
ONU @ Berg 72-70
Ott @ Etta 71-61

[Basketball23]

Heidelberg overcomes a 17 point deficit mid-way through the first half and an 0-15 shooting night from 3 to defeat Ohio Northern 72-70. Heidelberg got its first lead around the 11min mark in the second half. They were also down 3 with about a minute and a half to play. Shriver was fouled on a drive by Gehle with 30 some secs left with the Berg up 1. He split the pair making it 70-68 Berg. ONU ran some offense and Kurtis Brown hit a tough lay-up in the lane tying the score with 8 secs left. Without taking a time out Shriver sprinted the ball up the floor got the ball to Szalay and he hit a jumper in the lane with 1.7 seconds left to give the Berg the lead. Afterwards, Gehle got an unbelivably good look at a 3 that hit the backboard and rimmed out at the buzzer. Huge win for the Berg as it was the first time since 1999 that they had defeated Northern. I love the OAC

[onefan]

Heidelberg wins a nailbiter tonight....Congrats to them...They showed a great deal to me tonight with their tenacious defense in the second   half...ONU actually looked stunned after taking an eleven point lead into the locker room and being just flat out ''out hustled "in the first seven minutes of the second half.....39-28 at the half.....45-44 early in the second half in favor of the Bears, but the 'Berg just kept the pressure on defensively while their offense was sputtering...Northern will be competitive this season, but their offense is inconsistent with questionable choices being made in their shot selection and at times they appear to be waiting for someone else on the floor to take charge and that guy has not yet stepped up.Defensively they've got the heighth and strength inside in Hammersmith and Cannon to be a force, but they seem to have difficulty getting in sync...I still see Northern finishing ahead of Heidelberg in the OAC, they've got some freshman and sophmores that are going to get alot of playing time and I think the second half of the season will demonstrate an improved squad with a deep bench to keep them strong through the final buzzer...Hey, without hope, you've got nothin...

[onefan]

ONU tops BW 101-93 this afternoon. Northern had a slim one point edge at the half, 44-43, but extended its lead to as much as ten in the second half with BW staying close with some good outside shooting and steady board work. The Bears offense was in high gear the second half with good ball movement and good shot selection. B-W's BrandonSchuler had his usual solid game at both ends of the floor....Don't know how many points he had but he provides the clear spark for that team. Too many whistles in the game with both teams losing a man to fouls...Many phantom calls with Coaches Bankson and Coleman holding their hands in the air in frustration...but as usual, they were called both ways. Kyle Gehle lead the way for ONU. He scores inside,outside and plays good D...I also marvel at how many times during a game he scores when he looks to be totally out of control....But, he doesn't so often and with such consistency that it is not luck, it is his style of play. Northern has Otterbein at home this coming Wednesday...Looks like the Bears might be coming around....We shall see

[onefan]

Due to the total lack of postings on this site, I have had the opportunity to review older posts and found one from December 3rd by Pennstgh regarding my post commenting on Capital  being the favorite but time would tell due to graduation.....I wasn't referring to Capital losing their talent through graduation...I was referring to teams like ONU who lost starters like Badenhop,Hunter and Hostetler and have relatively untested Sophmores and Juniors that we haven't seen much of yet...ONU for example has been running several sophmores in on a regular basis that saw no playing time  last year but are now beginning to prove they belong on the floor...ONU topped John Carroll today, thanks in no small  part to their younger  talent.  That is what I was trying to say, although it was poorly worded. Perhaps I should have said, Capitals veteran team should be tough, but there are alot of unknowns due to several teams in the OAC debuting younger, untested  starters. While I am on the subject, I think the Polar Bears are going to be a major force this year in the OAC. It looked to be somewhat of a rebuilding year, but the team is beginning to jell. GO BEARS!!