MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

jknezek · February 25, 2024, 03:11:58 PM

Oh well... Maybe 45 years will be the Generals magic number. Good season though.

Brian Hamilton · February 25, 2024, 08:22:10 PM

Hoopsville currently projecting Macon, Guilford, and VWU in. They are discussing the final spot and W&L was in the convo, but they ultimately didn't feel they would get it.

nescac1 · February 26, 2024, 09:42:19 AM

Ryan, I am fairly certain that Nescac has never had three teams in the final four. In 2004, 2011, and 2014 they had two, with Williams beating Amherst twice before losing in the final seconds in title games, and in 2011 both Midd and Williams again fell in last second heartbreakers in the semis.

algernon · February 26, 2024, 02:44:08 PM

Tigers host LaRoche (17-10). In a different quadrant of the bracket, Guilford hosts. In a third quadrant of the bracket, RMC hosts Baruch (19-8), and Virginia Wesleyan goes to Trinity College (in Hartford) to play Swarthmore (20-8). So the ODAC could, theoretically, have 3 teams in the Final Four (HSC, Guilford, and RMC/VWU).
🤣

Macon · February 26, 2024, 02:46:53 PM

Congrats to the four ODAC teams and for the three that are hosting. Early in the season, sitting at 1-2 with a very young RMC team, I was not optimistic. I said at the time that this team would only do as well as the young players did. The freshmen and sophs have done it, assisting in 23 wins and a NCAA host. Nice job by Coach and this whole team. And, once again, you've made us alums proud!

y_jack_lok · February 27, 2024, 10:19:22 AM

The bracket is set up so that if RMC and Elmhurst make it past this first weekend there will be a Sweet 16 rematch of the 2022 national championship game programs. Elmhurst looks to have a tougher draw, facing Calvin in the first round, a team with a 6' 10" post player of the Ben Strong/Tyler Sanborn mold. If they beat Calvin they will likely be playing host and #2 ranked John Carroll. RMC will have to beat a battle tested Baruch which played some really good non-conference competition, including three NCAA tournament teams, then likely face St. Joseph (CT) the program that was started only six seasons ago by legendary U Conn coach Jim Calhoun. Calhoun is now retired, but he quickly built a quality program.

I'm a bit slow with technology stuff, so this is probably not news to anyone else. Last night I discovered that the ODACSN is available on Roku, which makes it possible to stream the weekend games on a larger screen. Wish I'd known this in November.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 27, 2024, 04:04:05 PM

Quote from: y_jack_lok on February 27, 2024, 10:19:22 AMThe bracket is set up so that if RMC and Elmhurst make it past this first weekend there will be a Sweet 16 rematch of the 2022 national championship game programs. Elmhurst looks to have a tougher draw, facing Calvin in the first round, a team with a 6' 10" post player of the Ben Strong/Tyler Sanborn mold. If they beat Calvin they will likely be playing host and #2 ranked John Carroll. RMC will have to beat a battle tested Baruch which played some really good non-conference competition, including three NCAA tournament teams, then likely face St. Joseph (CT) the program that was started only six seasons ago by legendary U Conn coach Jim Calhoun. Calhoun is now retired, but he quickly built a quality program.

I'm a bit slow with technology stuff, so this is probably not news to anyone else. Last night I discovered that the ODACSN is available on Roku, which makes it possible to stream the weekend games on a larger screen. Wish I'd known this in November.

Pretty close to half the d3 conferences have a Roku channel. You can also get a Youtube Roku app that will pick up the schools that broadcast via Youtube (Hope and Calvin, to name a couple). I'd say 60% of the relevant games are easily available on Roku these days. It's a great development.

y_jack_lok · February 28, 2024, 08:54:58 AM

^^^ I knew about YouTube, because that's such a ubiquitous thing, and have streamed stuff via YT on occasion. Was delighted to discover the ODACSN was available via Roku.

rmc1982 · February 28, 2024, 10:48:27 AM

Went on Bracket challenge and filled mine out! I have HSC and RMC meeting in the final!I have Guilford advancing to the regional final and losing to Oswego St!

Macon · February 28, 2024, 11:11:49 AM

Quote from: rmc1982 on February 28, 2024, 10:48:27 AMWent on Bracket challenge and filled mine out! I have HSC and RMC meeting in the final!I have Guilford advancing to the regional final and losing to Oswego St!

I appreciate your optimism, but I have a totally different take. I certainly hope you're right, but I don't think either team makes it to the final game, especially RMC. For two reasons, I think RMC has a tough road. Most analyst thinks the RMC quad is the strongest overall and if Jabril is out or limited, RMC will be challenged. In a podcast last night, Coach mentioned needing to get healthy. Based on how he said it, I assumed there were multiple players. With a fully healthy squad, their chances greatly improve. RMC luckily won all of their close games and all of their loses had a starter out or playing hurt. So, I think RMC has a small margin of error. Getting to the final game requires some luck as well, getting good matchups and winning tight games. But a HSC/RMC finals game would be perfect, so again I hope you're right!

Macon · February 28, 2024, 11:26:52 AM

Once again let me say this. This RMC team has greatly overperformed all year. A true credit to the players and Coach. This may be Coach's best year in getting a team to perform better than expectations. Many DIII analyst thought that RMC would be down this year and one of the biggest surprises in DIII this year is that RMC is still tops in the game. So, kudos to the players, Coach, the athletic department, and the administration for creating a great product on the RMC hardwood!

rmc1982 · February 28, 2024, 01:04:51 PM

Oh I agree we have overperformed! If you had told me when they were 1-2 in early December that they would be where they are now I would have thought you were LOCO but, once again, Josh Merkel pulls a rabbit out of his hat! I texted with him yesterday and he gave me a little insight which I won't share here but I'll send you a PM with what I know. We are battle tested and battle hardened with the gauntlet that is ODAC play PLUS we are extremely hard to beat in Crenshaw with "The Crazies"( of which I am one also lol)going full force as they usually are in March. You can't hear the person next to you even screaming sometimes, especially where we usually sit on the student side. That being said, that crowd from Oswego,NY shut us down last year before they got trounced the next night. HSC also beat us earlier this year in Crenshaw but that was in December. I didnt say I picked us to win it all- I actually picked the Tigers because they are senior-driven and they have an excellent coach....I just think its their year! IF we can get a bit healthier we can challenge for the Regional title, ESPECIALLY if we play at home! PLUS we have the intangibles that playing for Josh Merkel seems to bring- they always seem to rise to the occasion and win close games! Whether or not we have enough in the tank for this ride remains to be seen!

Macon · February 28, 2024, 02:00:10 PM

I'm on the Jacket Train with you! I'm very hopeful that the Jackets, Coach, and the Crenshaw Crazies gets the job done this weekend.

y_jack_lok · March 02, 2024, 10:30:59 AM

Congrats to the ODAC teams on yesterday's performances. VWU dug itself a huge hole early, but fought back to get close before finally falling to Swarthmore. Guilford, H-SC and RMC all won by significant margins.

It was good for RMC to get a big lead early which allowed for most of the minutes to be spread out among 10 players. The most minutes were logged by Malcolm Hodges, at 23, and he has so much energy I'll bet he was just getting warmed up.

Good luck to all three teams tonight. The going only gets tougher.

Macon · March 02, 2024, 11:02:57 AM

^^^Good observation. Teams at this time of the year have to be tired, and spreading minutes amongst many players is a good thing and a good luxury for teams that can do it and still win. Last night, the freshmen logged about 40% of the minutes and contributed about a third of the points. At the beginning of the season, I said this team goes as far as the freshmen takes it, and they're certainly doing their part. This RMC team doesn't have the fifth years it had in the past or like other teams have currently. For example, Antinori had half as many minutes and points last night than he's had all season total. Bigger challenge tonight, but I loved what Coach did last night in the rotations. Probably another night without Jabril, so hopefully we get to next weekend and he's back.

GO JACKETS!!! GO ODAC!!!