MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[jdubyadubya]

C'mon Algernon. I know you are older than dirt but you have to admit that the Doino-Warren-Adair-Fitch-Balenga era was pretty exciting for the Marlin faithful .

[algernon]

The 2004 team to which you refer was super, for sure, and it's easy to understand your affection for that particular team ...   

I guess the best previous Marlins team was the 2006 team, and I was in Salem to see their fabulous play when they won the national championship.  While this 2012 team does not have an Adair, they are faster and maybe play better as a TEAM. I think they would have a good chance of beating the 2006 Marlins.

[hsctigers2002]

VWC won't lose a game in the ODAC this year. With as down as the conference is overall compared to the last, I would be very shocked if they lost a game in conference. We are one of the very few teams capable of scoring with VWC but their defense is too good for anyone in the ODAC to handle.

Wait a minute bro'!!As good as they are(and they're REALLY good!) We played em pretty tough at their place and had 4 chances to tie at the end........on any given day hsctigers2002.........ANY team is beatable!!

Key there: "is beatable". That doesn't mean they will lose...

[hsctigers2002]

The 2004 team to which you refer was super, for sure, and it's easy to understand your affection for that particular team ...   

I guess the best previous Marlins team was the 2006 team, and I was in Salem to see their fabulous play when they won the national championship.  While this 2012 team does not have an Adair, they are faster and maybe play better as a TEAM. I think they would have a good chance of beating the 2006 Marlins.

The 2012 team is definitely a better defensive unit than the 2006 team.

[jdubyadubya]

hsctigers2002 - absolutely agree. Dave's earlier teams didn't play much D.

[hasanova]

Salisbury's 8-4, 1-3 and they "beat" the Marlins, so I think there's room for some other team with 8-10 wins so far to catch VWC flat one day.  Granted, the Seagulls had played four games and it was opening day for the Marlins, so that's a factor in their loss, but VWC will probably not go 24-1 this regular season.  Thoughts?

[jdubyadubya]

24-1 would be extraordinary. I do think they will have a terrific season, ODAC tourney, and NCAA's but to run the table is a little far-fetched.

[78rmc]

78rmc  the reason the jackets are suspect inside is because they do not use their bigmen offensively. Cole has 46 F/G attempts in 12 games, thats hogwash if you ask me.

Yes, agreed, with Dylan shooting 61% (80% in conference play), give him the ball.  Really had hoped the Tigers would beat the Fish.

[marlinpg10]

I would say this years Marlins team is definitely better offensively but I don't know about defensively. They are a good group but the best 2 defensive teams Macedo had was in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.

2005-2006 63.3PPG allowed
2006-2007 62.3PPG allowed

[FISHTANKFAN]

The 2011-12 Marlins have more height than the 2005-06 team and might be a tad faster.  Adair was almost impossible to guard because he was a southpaw and played so tough, but he didn't have the range that D J Woodmore has.  Woodmore is only a soph, but he is making a name for himself as Adair did.  Time will tell if he is as good. Hey they said it was farfetched in 2006 that the Marlins could run the table, but they did. If Macedo keeps them grounded and concentrated on taking a game at a time, they have a chance.  The ODAC isn't as strong this year as in previous years, and the Marlins can be beaten.  But will they be?  They have the talent, the chemistry, the speed, and the depth.  If they don't develop  "flat spots" they can do it.  Congrats to the WHOLE Marlin team last night.  It was a pleasure to watch you play.

[DeWayneCarter]

Yes I agree... the teams Macedo had from 05-07 really defended, which was spearheaded by Thomas Sumpter who ended up being the VWC career steals leader. Offensively though, this team is deeper. This years team literally has 5-7 guys who could go for 20 on any given night. This team is certainly more athletic than any team VWC has had in recent memory. As for them running the table and finishing the season 24-1, yes, it could happen. The national championship team reeled of 28 straight wins that year, so if Macedo has the guys prepared the way we know he will, they can definitely do it, especially in a "down" ODAC. But then again, this is still the ODAC. Wins are never guaranteed. They still have another matchup with HSC, RMC, and Guilford, so I wouldn't start celebrating just yet. Way too much season left to play.

[rmc1982]

VWC won't lose a game in the ODAC this year. With as down as the conference is overall compared to the last, I would be very shocked if they lost a game in conference. We are one of the very few teams capable of scoring with VWC but their defense is too good for anyone in the ODAC to handle.

Wait a minute bro'!!As good as they are(and they're REALLY good!) We played em pretty tough at their place and had 4 chances to tie at the end........on any given day hsctigers2002.........ANY team is beatable!!

Key there: "is beatable". That doesn't mean they will lose...

I'm willing to make this bold prediction.....The Marlins will lose AT LEAST one more game before the NCAA's...SHOULD THEY? Probably not..... But I didn't think Duke should have lost to Temple last night either!! Teams shoot badly, they run up against other teams shooting very well- they play flat ...any number of factors attribute to a loss or two in college basketball that shouldn't happen.....I predict that this will eventually happen to the Fish

[hsctigers2002]

I would say this years Marlins team is definitely better offensively but I don't know about defensively. They are a good group but the best 2 defensive teams Macedo had was in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.

2005-2006 63.3PPG allowed
2006-2007 62.3PPG allowed

Can't just go by points allowed, have to take it in context with other variables. The Marlins are playing a faster pace now than they were those years, naturally they are going to allow more points because teams are going to have more possessions. Those two teams had a scoring average of less than 79.7 a game since that is fifth best scoring average listed on their records. Current team is averaging 85.5 points a game and has already had five games of well over 90 points and two of 100 or more. That means VWC and their opponents are each likely getting a minimum of 6-8 more possessions than during those two seasons.

They played really good defense against both Lynchburg and H-SC and still gave up 80 points in both games. VWC already plays at a very high pace, but when you combine that with the very high pace those two teams play, there are going to be a ton of points being scored no matter how good the defense is.

[hsctigers2002]

Finals for today:
Emory & Henry 79, Randolph 73 - Congratulations to E&H for their first ODAC win of the year. The wasps drained 11 threes compared to just four for the WildCats, that was the big difference in the game as everything else was pretty close to dead even.

Lynchburg 78, Guilford 65 - Guilford's offensive woes bit them in the behind again. Their defense was pitiful as well, allowing Lynchburg to go 12-26 from three. If Guilford isn't going to stop teams, they might as well just write it down as an L with as piss poor as their offense has been for the majority of the season. No way are they going to be able to go toe-to-toe with high caliber offensive teams if the game comes down to having to match a team point for point every trip down the court.

Randolph-Macon 74, Bridgewater 64 - Looked to be a sloppy game with 44 combined turnovers. Difference proved to be Bridgewater's woeful shooting as the shot just 38%

Hampden-Sydney 85, Roanoke 70 - Hampden-Sydney was rolling for most of the first half and allowed a run by Roanoke at the end of the half to give the Maroons momentum going into the half. And tha tmomentum continued for most of the second half as every Tiger but Harrison George appeared to be sleep walking for the first 15 minutes of the second half as they continually got beat on defense and no one but Harrison appeared to want to have anything to do with shooting the ball. Credit to the Roanoke zone that flustered the Tigers though. A game that was much closer than it should have been, the Tigers continued to show difficulties for their fourth straight year playing away from Fleet Gymnasium.

[rmc1982]

Soooo.....what was the HSC SCORE?? You gave us all the other ones....;-).. Jackets are too young and inconsistent- too many young puppies who don't know how to put away a team that's falling apart in the second half!!They had, after a 10-2 run by Bridgewater to cut the lead to three, have soooooo many opportunities to run away with it but bungled it with stupid turnovers. This was a game we EASILY could have lost.........we're lucky Bridgewater played so badly at the end.