MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[mybleedinghands]

14 hours and 24 minutes until practice can start...

[ladyeagle]

Bridgewater Boys have a fun first practice.  To celebrate homecoming weekend the guys will be having their first practice at Saturday at midnight.  I know they are all thrilled.   

[mybleedinghands]

ladyeagle,
BC isn't the only one.  haha.
inside joke time! *coughlosercough* 

[3sdown]

RMC's Schedule-

First 6 games are on the road or at a neutral site.  Will be interesting how the Yellow Jackets handle these road games, especially since there will be some youth/inexperience at certain positions.  Also, the openning tournament for RMC is at Rhoades' alma mater...Would be interesting if Lebanon Valley and RMC make it to the title game of the tournament!

Also, 4 of Macon's last 6 games are of the regular season schedule are on the road. 

Interesting schedule!  And Lincoln twice in the same season!

[jboogie33]

Well as far as answering guilford questions is abbout who is going to score. Scottie how can you say guilford needs to have a stud freshman come in and step up. Did you not know guilford is returning most of the players from last year. If i am not mistaken Jamel Taylor, Eric Belkoski, Ray Edmond, Thomas Burge, and Jordan Snipes will all step their games up more and more as the season started winding down  last year . burge, snipes, and edmond will step up and produce more as a trio then what kerry did. Belkoski may be undersize but a will hold his own in the post and don't think that jamel is not going to step up. It seems he is really going to get his chance to show he is better then what his career at guilford has been so far. He has showed signs of that progress late in the season but it should be a full season effort this year. As from everyone else. Also their is nothing worng with guilford. Coach Palembo did what he had to do to make this team a better unit. He will him them ready to play every night.

[mybleedinghands]

Nothing wrong with Guilford? That's not what I've heard from a certain person who shall go nameless.

[diehardfan]

laughing that scottie figured that out 

back to basketball owning your life again I see 

[mybleedinghands]

emory and henry's roster is now up. not sure if this is before cuts or not because there are 22 people listed. http://www.ehcsports.com/mbasket/rost06mb.htm

[eagleslam]

Alright... with the start of practice this past weekend, I have officially caught the bug of another season.  This year's ODAC race, I think, will prove to be exciting yet again.  There is no team that does not have question marks:

BC - they have a lot of options for point guard, but who will it be?
       how long will it take to get chemistry with the transfers?

EMU - will anyone step up and start making outside shots to extend defenses?
          who will be their point guard?
          can they handle teams being ready for them?  5-2 to start, 2-9 finish

E&H - plenty of offense, but where is the defense?

GC - who will take the place of Atkinson as the main scorer?
        who will help Strong now that Lawhorn is gone?

HSC - will chemistry be an issue?
          will experience, or lack thereof, be an issue?

LC - where will the offense come from?
        will there be an improvement in rebounding?

RC - who will step up in the post?

RMC - who will be their point guard?

VWC - who will step up and be the man to extend the defense?
           how will they handle getting everyone's best shot?

W&L - how will their 0-18 record effect them?


Despite this, each team has a lot already going for them.  It will most certainly be a great year. 
         

[eagleslam]

Anotehr thing I have noticed as well is that this league, which has had some real good point guards and wing players the past few years, may be a post dominated lague this year:

Wansley, Adair, and Sager are almost locks to be 1st Team unless they get injured.  Phil Hawley and Clay Michael return from the 2nd Team, and both could make first this year.  Josh Fox transfers to BC.  Jason Lentz (EMU) and Ben Strong (GC) return, as do Cvijanovich, Kasse, and Lewick at HSC.

Teams that do not have a lot of size, like RC, LC, and E&H all have experienced players returning at point guard and the wing.  So the match-ups will be interesting this year.

And although I am not going to make any preditions on order, I will say that VWC and HSC, in my opinion, have the two most talented teams as of now.  As we all know, talent does not always win out, and that is why the games are played.

[mybleedinghands]

EMU - will anyone step up and start making outside shots to extend defenses?
          who will be their point guard?

RC - who will step up in the post?

EMU - i know they have a kid from heritage high school here in Lynchburg thats a pretty good 3 point shooter (Delaney Brown). He is more of an off-guard, so i'm not sure just how much playing time he'll get though

RC - One Name: Josh LaPorte. He's a beast. If he can improve his FG%, he will be one of the best all-around beasts in the confernece. that kid has ridiculous potential.

[jdubyadubya]

And, consider the X factor. I think this will be the year of the freshmen who will step in and step up to help their teams in big ways.

[eagleslam]

STH...

If the kid from Lynchburg can shoot as well as you make it seem, he'll have his chance to get minutes.  But, he is just a freshmen.  That in and of itself is a question mark.  As for LePorte, I do not think he is the answer in the low post.  Last year he was 6-6 and 200 lbs.  If he put on 10 lbs. this summer, he'll be 6-6, 210 lbs.  Do you think that is big enough to be a true low post player?  Do you think he can battle with the other big men in the league on a nightly basis and perform at a high level throughout the season with that size?  He is a very good rebounder, but is a tough match-up for other teams.  Putting him in the post takes away that advantage.


JWW...

Freshmen will definately have the chance to make an impact.  Each team has holes to fill, and the freshmen will get their chance to get minutes.

[mybleedinghands]

eagleslam,
Brandon Adair gets the job done in the lowpost. He's 6'5", 205 lbs. You don't always have to be tall and weight 225+ lbs to get the job done down low.

[jeloesel]

Eagleslam is right.  LaPorte is unlikely to be moved into the low post position (except in spot duty).  I'd expect Ben Lawler to be the heir to Kevinn Hunter's spot in the middle.  Lawler played about 10 minutes per game last year, and I'd expect that to increase substantially.  I expect that his backup will be a "commitee" of players.  Mike Zurek, for example, will have five fouls to give, and if you get any points. it will be a bonus.   With the abundance of good centers in the ODAC this year, I think it will be an challenge for the Maroons to clog up the middle to prevent opponents from dominating inside.  I think Lawler will turn out to be "serviceable" in that role.