MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[mybleedinghands]

The NEws and Advance (the Lynchburg Newspaper) has an Lynchbrg men's basketball preview article in the paper today. It is also viewable online. http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA%2FMGArticle%2FLNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128768204504&path=!sports A well written article in my opinion!

[ladyeagle]

Tongue and cheek? wow. 

Ladyfan- Even if EMU ever finished after BC (which isn't gonna happen this year), they would have to continue their success for many years to really get the respect that Bridgewater does in the valley.  I am not saying that Dean is a bad coach or that EMU has horrible basketball.  I am just saying that Bridgewater has a tradition of excellence in sports, and our coaching staff also has a lot of stature in the ODAC.  Although some of the players you've named are decent, none of them is a huge standout, another reason why Bridgewater will have such a high strung name.  People in the valley read articles just to hear the name "Easterling" (and at one point Williford).   You can't just win some games to get the notice that Bridgewater does.  There are many factors.

[baselinejam]

deanslist...not sure of the pecking order in the ODAC. I believe preseason polls are to give us fans something to crow or whine about. I know there are coaches within the ODAC who will vote their team 10th (or thereabouts) every yearin the preseason, so I always take the pre-season poll with a grain of salt. I believe the ODAC is as wide open as it has been in a while, but given BC's history of upper tier finishes, I wouldn't bet against them.

That may be but 9 of 10 voted for my Gennies to come in last this year. We'll see.

[Pat Coleman]

Maybe we could set up an In-Game Updates discussion topic under the general ODAC Conversation discussion topic, as we had last year during the season.  I don't know how to do it and wonder if Pat's the only one who can set it up.

Anyone can do this, but it has to be done in the South Region discussion.

[Llamaguy]

[...]
Especially in the early going, I think team will be very good one night and not very good on other nights. The Pa. tournament this weekend will be a very stern test for this young team!

Yeah, I'm hoping for a win over Dickinson and keeping it respectable with York.  But I won't be surprised if we come away 0-2, seeing Cathlin and Drewer won't be making the trip.

Did something change with Drewer. Leatherman said postgame after JMU that Drewer would miss Friday's game but would be available on Saturday.

And a side note: Drewer will make the "All Expressions Team" for sure! Looks like a guy who would slug it around and buy some minutes. But the kid can play and is pretty entertaining will he is at it.

[steelyglen]

Llamaguy...my understanding from people inside the basketball program is that Drewer will sit for one game. The reasons are unimportant but Matt should be available Saturday. Andrew Cathlin, as I understand it, will not be available this weekend as well, so both frontcourt and backcourt depth will suffer this weekend.

I know Coach Leatherman is very high on Drewer and sees him making a significant contribution to this team, but like everyone else out there, those minutes will have to be earned at every practice!

Good luck to the Eagles this weekend...on the field and in the gym!

ladyeagle... I like your style!

[steelyglen]

in reply to a question Scottie asked earlier this week... if there is interest in the "pick'em" this season, I will once again pull out the abacus and keep score if "Jimmy" will serve as "the pick'em guy". Obviously not for this weekend, but we can begin with Thanksgiving weekend. Maybe throw in a football game or two to keep it interesting early.

Jimmy- drop me an e-mail and let me know where you stand. I'll be back with everyone the first of the week with the set-up, if we do it!  In the meantime post or e-mail as to whether you are "in or out" with the pick'ems! No need ro get to the trouble if the interest isn't there!

[ladyfan]

Ladyeagle,

I believe I have hit a nerve.

See you Dec. 3, tip off 7:00 p.m.

[mybleedinghands]

I just created a topic in the South Region for ODAC Game Updates. Please post in-game updates instead of in this topic!

[ladyfan]

One other question ladyeagle, and it may be totally immature of me to ask, but knowing a little bit about the Bridgewater program myself I will. Based on some of their athletes' actions in the last year, just what section of the paper do people in the valley read to see about Bridgewater athletes?

I know boys will be boys, but shouldn't some of the arrogance be toned down?

[mybleedinghands]

ladyfan,
That's a bit uncalled for

[gogenerals]

       The W&L tip off tournament opens tonight with the Generals taking on Manhattanville, a team that returns five starters from a 16-12 team. The other two teams in the tournament, Southwestern and Mary Washington, each received votes in the D3 Hoops top 25 poll.
         The Generals, however, return their three leading scorers from last year's team, and many of W&L's young players played a significant amount last year.   

I like the Generals in this one!  Go W&L!!!

[gogenerals]

Also, as a topic of conversation, what do you all think about early season scheduling?
          Is it good to play teams that are cupcakes to try and get a few W's and boost some confidence?
          Is it good to play the best teams possible to try and prepare for the ODAC run?

[mybleedinghands]

gogenerals,
Not going to say I like W&L's chances in this tournament, but I'd have to say if I was a betting man I'd bet that W&L to at least get 2-3 wins in the ODAC this year. I would say more than that, but after the kind of year they had last year, I'm not going to have the expectations on the year all that particularly high for them.

As far as scheduling is concerned, if I were a coach, I'd want the very first game to be against a cupcake for confidence purposes as you said, then the next be a team that was around .500 last year, then schedule all tough teams after that.

[algernon]

Ladyeagle,

I believe I have hit a nerve.

See you Dec. 3, tip off 7:00 p.m.

A guess "a tradition of excellence in sports" is either being pretty loosely defined by Ladyeagle, or else it involves a pretty short memory.  If Ladyeagle is speaking of football, I wonder whether it's reasonable to refer to 5-6 excellent years as a tradition of excellence?  If so, Bridgewater has a tradition of excellence in football.

What makes a tradition of excellence?  To me, it seems that Hampden-Sydney might speak of a tradition of excellence in basketball, given their win percentage and number of ODAC titles over 17-18 years.  Randolph-Macon also has an excellent win percentage in basketball over the past few decades, with 8 NCAA tournament appearances since 1990.  On the other hand, I think it's a stretch to speak of Hampden-Sydney having established a tradition of excellence in football on the basis of their 4-year record of 33-7.  It's just too short a period of time.  (The Tigers' have a winning record in football of 468-411 over the last 114 years.)