MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[steelyglen]

I suppose I really have too much time on my hands but if I read this correctly...for every post we make here... 32 times someone peeks into our room and takes a look!    No other board is looked at more per post than this one! What difference does it make...I don't know, none I suppose, but apparently we matter in D3 hoopsland! tick tock tick tock...

[jdubyadubya]

Yes, and Steely, as our new all and powerful commissioner, this must make you feel incredibly regal. Yes?

[steelyglen]

jdubyadubya...and the first regal order of business would be to retire #44 as an ODAC number...ya with me?   

hey you gotta like the effort...I'm even spelling your name right now!

[hasanova]

"One very nice feature this year if you go to the ODAC website (www.odacline.com/mbball) or go through the Bridgewater basketball page and click on the ODAC icon (I guess all of the schools have an ODAC link)...they have audio from each of the head coaches talking about their respective teams. Very nicely done ODAC office."

steelyglen - I agree.  It was very nicely done.  I know Guilford's website has a link to the ODAC site and I think all the other schools do as well.

We had some very nice conversations last winter about old (late 1960's and 1970's) Carolinas Conference basketball.  By the way, my nephew was being very heavily recruited by Bridgewater his Senior year (2003-2004).  I saw a Bridgewater coach at many of his games starting with a Christmas tournament in Franklin, NC.  His team ultimately went 29-2 and won the NCHSAA 1A title at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill.  I was encouraging him to go to Guilford, but he ultimately signed with DII Newberry.   He is a coach's dream at 6'7" with a great three-point shot and court savvy.  I'm biased, of course, but a 1490 SAT and a 4.0 HS GPA also made him pretty easy to push through the Admissions Office!  I'm not sure how I would have handled it if he was in an Eagle uniform playing against the Quakers!  lol    

[steelyglen]

You would have felt great about your nephew being an Eagle. Bill Leatherman is first rate as a basketball coach and even more so as a human being. My son played for Bill for 4 years and still holds him in the highest regard. Being in Raleigh I am still amazed at the effort Bill and Chris Ihle (his ass't. at the time) put in on Kyle. Kyle was recruited by Newberry as well. Nothing against those guys but at least from this side, Kyle certainly made the right decision. Bill was very helpful in getting Kyle to Europe to play ball in Germany. Good luck to your nephew!

Just tell him not to forget the Eagles. Dan Rush & Ramsey Yeatts (both BC All-Americans) thought the grass was greener on the other side and when things didn't work out like they had hoped they came to BC and had great careers. Let's hope Josh Fox follows in those footsteps. Bill Leatherman has that kind of effect on kids...

[hasanova]

You would have felt great about your nephew being an Eagle. Bill Leatherman is first rate as a basketball coach and even more so as a human being. My son played for Bill for 4 years and still holds him in the highest regard. Being in Raleigh I am still amazed at the effort Bill and Chris Ihle (his ass't. at the time) put in on Kyle. Kyle was recruited by Newberry as well. Nothing against those guys but at least from this side, Kyle certainly made the right decision. Bill was very helpful in getting Kyle to Europe to play ball in Germany. Good luck to your nephew!

Just tell him not to forget the Eagles. Dan Rush & Ramsey Yeatts (both BC All-Americans) thought the grass was greener on the other side and when things didn't work out like they had hoped they came to BC and had great careers. Let's hope Josh Fox follows in those footsteps. Bill Leatherman has that kind of effect on kids...

Thanks.  Joseph liked BC and thought the coaching staff was great.  His father (my brother) is a Lutheran minister, so I think that partially affected his decision to go Newberry, which is Lutheran.  Actually, things did not work out at Newberry, so it's funny you mentioned that.  The Newberry Head Coach with whom he signed in the spring of 2004 bolted for UT-Chattanooga two weeks after his signing.  He got a few minutes in a couple of early season games, but the new coach brought in all new assistants and his own recruits.  It was pretty obvious his plan was not going to allow Joseph to shoot outside.  You know how these things go.  He asked for his release and matriculated at Montreat last January.  He's eligible to play this season and I know he will be a big asset for the Cavaliers.  He's #42 on their 2005-06 roster if you want to check on him this season.

[mybleedinghands]

1.         Virginia Wesleyan                95 (6)
2.         Randolph-Macon                  90 (3)
3.         Hampden-Sydney                75 (1)
4.         Roanoke                             56
5.         Eastern Mennonite               55
6.         Guilford                               49
7.         Bridgewater                         48
8.         Lynchburg                           36
9          Emory and Henry                 30
10.        Washington and Lee            11

I'm normally not the one to criticize preseason polls much since they are basicalyl pointless, but picks 6-8 is just bull****. I agree wholeheartedly with picks 1-3 and 9-10, can't argue with those, and picks 4-5 are reasonable even though I don't necessarily agree with them, but picks 6-8 are ridiculous. 

Guilford returns 6 players who got at least 15 minutes a game. They also have have 2 guys that have proven to be good players in the ODAC (Ben Strong and Jordan Snipes) along with a few other players that have proven to be bonafide role players. They did lose their two best players and there are some problems with the team from what I hear and they have 2 seniors, but they haven't played a whole heck of a lot the past 3 years.

Bridgewater returns only 4 players averaged at least 15 minutes a game. Of those 4, only ONE averaged more than 7 points a game! I know they have some freshmen and transfers that are supposed to be good, but what ahve they proven? Nothing! They lost 6 players to graduation (including 3 of their top 4 players) along with harry moore, meaning they lose 4 of their top 5 players. They also only have 2 seniors.

Lynchburg returns 5 players who played in at least 20 games, and 3 more who would have played in at least 20 games if they wouldnt have gotten injured.  Of those 8, four averaged 20 minutes a game and it would have been 5 if not for the injury to Reed Fairchild.  The combined scoring for those 8 players is 47.6 points a game.  We retrun  9 of our top 12 players to go along with the fact that we will have 5 seniors, 3 juniors, and at least one sophomore receiving most of the minutes, and this is from a team that improved their conference wins total in a league that was arguably the deepest conference from top to bottom last year, and that was with 2 of our starters injured for a great deal of the conference games.  Also, you have to take into account that we have a lot of senior eladership this year, when in the past the seniors have shown much leadership. We were also winning or only down a few points in the last 2 minutes of nearly every conference game last year.  Now with the increase in senior leadership and a vastly greater emphasis on condition this year, a lot of those late game losses aren't going to be late game losses this year. LC returns just about as much as any other team in the ODAC with only one particularly significant loss (Pehanick, yes Aaron Smith is a loss, but he was somewhat of a liability on the offensive side of the ball), which is the same case with VWC and RMC. We've proven we can compete with any team in this league: beat guilford twice, nearly took down VWC in early february, beat bridgewater on their home court, and nearly beat RMC in the conference tournament for the second straight year.

Now, once you take into account all these numbers, theres is no way that Guilford should only have one more point than Bridgewater, and there is no way that Bridgewater should have 12 more points than LC. Bridgewater returns Clay Michael and not much else, LC returns Manos, Albright, Sweeney, Reed, Prior, Sheaff, and Vasiliou. Bridgewater returns one of their top 5 players from last year. LC returns 9 of their top 12 players. That's a huge difference.

[steelyglen]

Scottie... the great thing about ODAC basketball is that everything will be determined between the black lines. Pre-season polls mean little if nothing at all. Just ask Jim Loesel...we're 2 months away from his first regular season poll, right Jim? If the Hornets are everything you say they are, they'll get their chance to prove it. No need to get your panties in a bunch this early in November.

I think history has a lot to do with pre-season polls. Right or wrong, what teams have done in the past matters. And what is it, 19 or 20 straight losing seasons for LC...well that sticks in your head.

"Bridgewater returns Clay Michael and not much else..." is really not an accurate statement, but if it helps you sleep better and justify your position then so be it. I've spouted off a couple of times about what Bridgewater returns so I won't bore the masses with it again, and while I won't pretend that BC returns anything like EMU, Guilford
or hell maybe even Lynchburg, they do return some significant pieces besides Michael that will play huge roles this season. Winning begets winning Scottie...once Lynchburg can tie a couple of plus .500 seasons together I think they'll see a little more "love" from the other ODAC coaches! Returning a lot of sub-mediocrity usually means more sub-mediocrity.

But again and lastly, the Hornets will get their shot at proving everyone wrong. Then you can have the last laugh!

[hasanova]

Scottie says:  "I'm normally not the one to criticize preseason polls much since they are basicalyl pointless, but picks 6-8 is just bull****. I agree wholeheartedly with picks 1-3 and 9-10, can't argue with those, and picks 4-5 are reasonable even though I don't necessarily agree with them, but picks 6-8 are ridiculous."

I can't say too much about the other teams without seeing them play, but I think Guilford will be a lot faster and more aggressive this year.  I'm looking forward to Genaro's return next year, but the Quakers had to play a more deliberate half court game when he was in the line-up.  When the big guy got his hands on the ball inside there was a real good chance he'd score, but he had to platoon.  Guilford will also miss Atkinson, but I wish him well at NCCU.  Guilford may have a dozen guys this year scoring 5-10 points a game with half of those on a rotating basis for high scorer.   Watch for a team willing to dive for loose balls and run the fastbreak.  I'm satisfied with the #6 seed until they establish a better track record, but they did beat RMC and BC twice each last year and VWC once on their way to a second straight 15-win season.   And I know, we lost twice to LC and twice to H-SC.  We could have won all four, but I give the Hornets and the Tigers credit for never giving  up.   

[jeloesel]

Steely,
This year my first poll may not appear until the middle of January. 

I think one of the reasons Lynchburg was voted so low is because the Hornets carry the burden of scottie too hottie.

[jdubyadubya]

Amen Brother Loesel! Yes, Steely, let's retire #44!!!

[mybleedinghands]

Steely,
This year my first poll may not appear until the middle of January. 

I think one of the reasons Lynchburg was voted so low is because the Hornets carry the burden of scottie too hottie.

Burden? We've improved each year I've been here.

[jdubyadubya]

You tell 'em STH. I wonder who your counterpart at VWC will be this year now that Mattie retired. 

[mybleedinghands]

You tell 'em STH. I wonder who your counterpart at VWC will be this year now that Mattie retired.

Whoever he/she may be has some big shoes to fill!

[jdubyadubya]

I gotta tell you that the ODAC audio of the coaches is the coolest thing I've heard in a long time. Way to go ODAC!