MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[2RMCFans]

Even though we lost (and are not sure of the score but think it was 66-61) it was a good, exciting game that could have gone either way in the last minutes. 

Congrats to the Tigers for a game well played.

GO JACKETS!!!  It's on to Salem!

[Brian Hamilton]

The game between HSC and RMC sounded as though it was really well played.  In the first half there was a combined 10 turnovers.  Danny Jones had a huge game for RMC and Turner King (25 points) and Jonathan Mudd( 18 points I believe) had big games for HSC.  The largest lead of the game was only like 6-8 points.  HSC was up four once and five another time with the ball and shot and missed.  Macon then came down and canned three pointers on both possessions to close the gap.  Congrats to RMC on a great season.  I know this is hard to stomach right now, especially since you have a week and two days off, but it looks like you'll likely get a shot at HSC again next Friday.  

The tourney is certainly shaping up to be interesting!  At this point, I think that 3 ODAC teams have a chance to go to the dance.  GC and EMU are almost locks provided they do not slip up on Saturday and win at least their first round game in the tourney.  I think VWC must win Saturday and then make it the 2nd round, possibly the championship.  There chances are hurt, however, if someone other than GC or EMU wins the tourney.  I think everyone else, as DonHo insinuated, must win the tourney.

As for this weekend, Fleet will probably be pretty full to welcome the Marlins to town.  We will try to be sure to roll out the red carpet and maintain our class.  Safe travels to everyone and we only have a week and 4 days left of basketball season for most of us.

[sludge]

But overall vw fans have no class...

Hey wait a minute, go easy!  I was only a VWC fan for one game, and I'm over it.  I promise, it won't happen again.

I thought you was gonna say, VW is the last crew you'd want representing the ODAC, because they  done it so much recently...

I was making fun of the VWC baiter there. 

[hasanova]

But overall vw fans have no class...

Hey wait a minute, go easy!  I was only a VWC fan for one game, and I'm over it.  I promise, it won't happen again.

I thought you was gonna say, VW is the last crew you'd want representing the ODAC, because they  done it so much recently...

I was making fun of the VWC baiter there. 

sludge speaks the truth.  I'm 100% sure his comments were meant tongue in cheek!

[hasanova]

As expected, the Quakers rolled tonight.  I think the starters had 92 total minutes.  Anderson and Akinsola sat out to nurse some injuries from the W&L game.  Henson with 22 and Sanborn with 21 (in 16 minutes), so the reserves got many more minutes than normal.  Bonner also in double figures with 11.  He doesn't get as much press as Clay and Tyler, but Rhett's a heady, efficient player - he's the glue that holds this bunch together in my opinion!  Shirts and skins, he'd always be one of my picks!

[therock]

All fan bases have some "not so good" fans. You won't find a single school in the ODAC without some fans of that nature, it's not just limited to VWC.

[algernon]

Congrats to RMC on a great season.  I know this is hard to stomach right now, especially since you have a week and two days off, but it looks like you'll likely get a shot at HSC again next Friday.  

The tourney is certainly shaping up to be interesting!  At this point, I think that 3 ODAC teams have a chance to go to the dance.  GC and EMU are almost locks provided they do not slip up on Saturday and win at least their first round game in the tourney.  I think VWC must win Saturday and then make it the 2nd round, possibly the championship.  There chances are hurt, however, if someone other than GC or EMU wins the tourney.  I think everyone else, as DonHo insinuated, must win the tourney.

Yes, I think that #4 RMC vs. #5 HSC on Friday the 26th is pretty much a done deal.  RMC is locked into the #4 seed .... and the only way that HSC loses the #5 seed is if they lose to VWC while W&L defeats EMU.  While both games could go either way, I think the chance that they'll both go W&L's way is pretty slim.

Play-in games appear to be:
#6 W&L (or HSC) hosts #11 Emory & Henry
#7 Winner of BC/Lynchburg hosts #10 Roanoke
#8 Loser of BC/Lynchburg hosts #9 Randolph

On Friday the 26th, we'll see:
#1 EMU (unless they lose to W&L) vs. #8 BC/Lynchburg or #9 Randolph
#2 Guilford (unless EMU loses to W&L) vs. #7 BC/Lynchburg or #10 Roanoke
#3 Virginia Wesleyan vs. #6 W&L (or HSC) or #11 Emory & Henry
#4 RMC vs. #5 HSC (or W&L)

[algernon]

Kudos to Turner King (25 points on 10-15 shooting), Jonathan Mudd (18 points, going 10 for 12 from the foul line), and Harrison George (10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals), Ben Jessee, Colin O'Neill, Karlis Trops, Randall Ward, Alex Potopov, and all the other contributors in a big win in Crenshaw!!  This is the first time that I have seen the Tigers win at Macon in a good number of years .... not sure how many, but the last time the Tigers won in Crenshaw might have been in 2002-2003.  Next Saturday, the two teams will likely meet for the tie-breaker in Salem.

The Tigers have now won 7 of their last 9 games, with victories over #12 EMU and #16 RMC!

[algernon]

Based on games through Sunday, February 14, the next ranking (tomorrow) may look something like this ....

South Region In-Region Record Overall Record
1. Guilford                  20-2                 20-2
2. Eastern Mennonite 14-2                18-3
3. Texas-Dallas           17-3                 18-4
4. Virginia Wesleyan   18-3                  20-3
5. Austin                   18-5                18-5
6. Mary Hardin-Baylor 17-5                17-6
7. Randolph-Macon     13-4                19-4
8. Maryville (Tenn.)    14-3                19-4

EMU jumps to the #1 spot in region. You are right on, keep winning and Yoder Arena will host several NCAA Tournament games. 

With a current ranking like today's (below), EMU has a good chance of even hosting a sectional if they continue to win every game until then ....

South Region In-Region Record Overall Record
1. Eastern Mennonite   14-2           18-3
2. Guilford                  20-2            20-2
3. Texas-Dallas          17-3            18-4
4. Virginia Wesleyan   18-3             20-3
5. Austin                   18-5            18-5
6. Randolph-Macon     13-4            19-4
7. Maryville (Tenn.)     13-3           19-4
8. Mary Hardin-Baylor  17-5           17-6

Undoubtedly, that's a tall order, at least until the end of the ODAC tournament, and I'm hoping they'll lose to HSC in the semifinals or championship game ..... 

[Jacketlawyer]

Kudos to Turner King (25 points on 10-15 shooting), Jonathan Mudd (18 points, going 10 for 12 from the foul line), and Harrison George (10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals), Ben Jessee, Colin O'Neill, Karlis Trops, Randall Ward, Alex Potopov, and all the other contributors in a big win in Crenshaw!!  This is the first time that I have seen the Tigers win at Macon in a good number of years .... not sure how many, but the last time the Tigers won in Crenshaw might have been in 2002-2003.  Next Saturday, the two teams will likely meet for the tie-breaker in Salem.

The Tigers have now won 7 of their last 9 games, with victories over #12 EMU and #16 RMC!

Congrats to the Tigers on a gutty win.  When was the last time they won at Crenshaw?

[bigrips77]

Last year, #7 met #8 in the ODAC Tournament final... while that's highly unlikely to happen, it would not surprise me at all if a team seeded 5-7 makes it to this year's championship game.  H-SC, W&L, and BC can beat anyone in the Conference on any given day.

As for the big night in the ODAC that was Wednesday:

-  Tigers with the huge win at Randolph-Macon.  I think we're starting to see the Hampden-Sydney of old reappear on the ODAC map.  While they lose King to graduation, they have many pieces coming back and, if Vick can build upon the strong recruiting classes he has already brought in, the Tigers may be back in the thick of things real soon.  As for R-MC, I think that loss will be a killer for their Pool C hopes... Jackets will probably need to get in via an AQ.  Good news for the rest of us in the league is that we may be headed for a third meeting between the two rivals in the quarterfinal round which would be one heck of a game in Salem.
-  Won't speak too soon though on that matchup just yet though... W&L looks dangerous too and could trip up the Royals this weekend.  Opened the game tonight with a 22-3 run over Roanoke in just under 10 minutes to cruise to their 16th win of the season.  It's been a rough year for Page Moir's bunch.
-  EMU winning games despite poor shooting from the outside spells doom for the rest of the league come next week.  First the 20 point drubbing of VWC and now a come-from-behind win over Bridgewater.  Question for those at the game... how well did EMU function offensively without Twine in the lineup?
-  Not surprised by the Guilford/E&H result... glad the Quakers took care of business without losing any key players to injury.
-  Congrats to Lynchburg for locking up a home game in the ODAC first round by beating Randolph 59-52.  That assures the Hornets at least the 8th seed with one game to go (@ Bridgewater Saturday).  Bad news for LC is that they'll probably see their new cross-town rivals next week in the first round.

Finally, I think we can start projecting the All-ODAC teams... I'd imagine one more game won't make too much difference in the minds of those who will be picking the team.  Any thoughts?

[dcrmc]

As an R-MC fan, kudos to the Tigers, particularly Turner King.  Great performance.

It was a hard fought game, but the Jackets were outplayed and frankly outcoached in this one.  Our shooting was woeful and right now, unlike HSC and Mr. King, the team seems to be missing a leader - someone who will take charge and put the team on his back.

I am not sure though if that is a player issue and coaching issue.  I understand we have a deep team, with players deserving of time.  But I frankly was thoughly baffled by the rotations Coach Davis used last night.  Players seemed to be coming in and out constantly which looked to me defeated the purpose - no flow, no momentum ever was built.  Very disjointed performance.

This team has seemed to disregress from the beginning of the season - not sure why whether it is fatigue or lack of confidence, but something seemed to be missing last night.

Hopefully they can take stock of themselves and begin to right the ship.  Right now it looks like unless they win the Tournament, we will have another 20 win season with no NCAA appearance.

[Emu435]

to biggrips i would say that losing austin twine is hurting the royals in alot of ways.  George Johnson is having to take over the ball handling, with Martin Harrison to share some of that duty off of the bench.  I think the biggest hurt in this matter is that George doesnt get the open looks he used to get at some three's.  George was 1 for 5 from three point range.  this said...

Eli Crawford who averaged just over 11 points before this week, has stepped up in a huge way for us up here in Harrisonburg.  He scored 19 points monday, and pulled 20 last night, where he added 8 from the free throw line alone.  He got 2 big steals late in the second half that led to fouls, 1 which was a shooting foul.

my only complaint here in the ODAC are the refs.  i played varsity basketball in high school for 4 years, and i never remember so many touch fouls as i see in the ODAC.  Last night players would get barely touched and a foul would be called.  i think this is college basketball and the refs should let the players play more than they do.

lastly i think EMU has showed alot of composure this week when the three's were not raining in for them.  This was a problem that alot of people have noticed, but if they can manage to win when they arent shooting well from behind the arch i think they can go a long way.  They won last night from the free throw line.  they scored 30 points from the line alone.  


GO ROYALS!

[WooHoopsntrack01]

WLU is dangerous!!!!!!!!!!!!  Lets Go Gennies! 

[bigrips77]

Here's my picks for All-ODAC as of now.  I'll pick it just like the ODAC coaches will at the end of this weekend, with six on each team (I also added a 3rd team because this league has some real talented players) followed by my 3 person rankings for POY and COY.  The only one I will shorten will be my top 3 for FOY.  Lots of tough picks for the coaches to make:

First-Team
G - D. Trawick, BC
G - S. Fields, VWC
G - C. Henson, GC
G - G. Johnson, EMU
F - T. Phillips, EMU
C - T. Sanborn, GC

Second-Team
G - T. King, H-SC
G - S. Echols, LC
F - DJ Hinson, EMU
F - D. Vaughn, VWC
F - B. Goetsch, W&L
F - D. Jones, R-MC

Third-Team (hon. mention?)
G - R. Bonner, GC
G - JD Dyson, E&H
G - P. Walker, Roanoke
F - H. George, H-SC
F - Zac White, W&L
C - Brandon Braxton, R-MC

POY
1.  Todd Phillips (EMU) - the guy is a gamer... just shows up big whenever the stakes are high.  Has it all - shooting, rebounding, quick hands, athleticism.  Phillips earned this one...
2.  Tyler Sanborn (GC) - a VERY close second... has vastly improved in his time at Guilford.  Hard to resist 20 pts and 14 boards a game.
3 (tie).  Dominic Trawick (BC) & Stephen Fields (VWC) - Trawick can light it up on any given night... big reason why Bridgewater will be a tough out in the tournament.  Fields is a consistent leader for the Marlins all over the floor.  His game has elevated up a notch this year.

FOY
1.  Harrison George (H-SC) - impressive athletic build, really cleans up in the paint nicely.  Hope he stays at H-SC for four years... could be a great get for the Tigers in the long term.
2.  Colton Hunt (RAND) - Leads the team in scoring (12.2) and added nearly six boards a game.  Great get for Nunley and the Cats.
3.  Chris Astorga (VWC) - Has done a great job for the Marlins, first off the bench and now as a starter.

COY
1.  Kirby Dean (EMU) - It's a crock if he doesn't get this award... incredible job building his program to where it is today.  The pieces and the guard play is in place for them to make a run this year.
2.  Dave Macedo (VWC) - Second straight year the Marlins have had double-digit newcomers, and he quickly turned them into ODAC contenders.
3 (tie).  Nathan Davis (R-MC) & Tom Palumbo (GC) - Davis for getting the Jackets up to #1 in his first season and really making the ODAC look good early on.  Palumbo for consistency again... his Quakers continue to turn heads down in Carolina and are the most balanced threat in the league IMO.