MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[Brian Hamilton]

First time I've been on the computer since getting back from Salem last night.  I have to start by congratulating the Yellow Jackets.  They mandhandled and outplayed HSC in every facet of the game on Friday.  If they play like that, they can play with (and beat) anybody.  They were hitting all of their shots and playing good defense.  They followed that outstanding performance up with a victory over EMU, a team that had gotten them in Harrisonburg.  I really hope that RMC will get an at-large if they do not manage to beat GC (though that is very possible the way they are playing and their depth may help them with the quick turnaround). 

Also congratulations to GC for their journey to the ODAC championship game.  They are right where most people would have picked them to be at the beginning of the season, though that is often tougher to do than people give you credit for.

Also congratulations to EMU and VWC on fine seasons and hope that you too will be continuing your season.  It would be great to see the ODAC get 4 teams in the tourney.  A lot will depend on upsets.  I know I'll be checking on Monday to see who got in.

Safe travels to all of the GC and RMC fans.  I guess we have a long offseason to start getting ready for some payback at the Jackets.  At least we still have the football championship and hope we can bring home a second tennis championship.  I would hate for W&L to win like their 18th in 21 years or something ridiculous like that.

[algernon]

Congratulations to the Quakers and the Yellow Jackets!

This, to me, looks like a current approximate guess on the order for Pool C bids .....

1 UW-Whitewater
2 Middlebury or Williams
3 Guilford or EMU
4 St. Thomas
5 MIT
6 St. John Fisher
7 John Carroll
8 Virginia Wesleyan
9 Lycoming
10 Richard Stockton
11 Illinois Wesleyan
12 Brandeis
13 Calvin
14 Randolph-Macon

I'm not sure Randolph-Macon is even really that low, so it seems to me that the ODAC's very likely to be represented by 4 teams.

These are the teams that possibly could get a Pool C bid ahead of the Yellow Jackets, were they to lose their conference's AQ:

Carthage
Texas – Dallas
Whitworth
Anderson
Franklin & Marshall
Central

[ODACHOOPS]

Another unfortunate streak that was snapped last night after the Tigers were bounced by RMC was 15 straight years of not losing in the first round of the ODAC tournament.  Shaver and Smith certainly set a very high standard of excellence.  After a very up and down year that consisted of many high's and low's, hopefully next year the Tiger's can continue to build on the HSC tradition.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Congratulations to the Quakers and the Yellow Jackets!

This, to me, looks like a current approximate guess on the order for Pool C bids .....

1 UW-Whitewater
2 Middlebury or Williams
3 Guilford or EMU
4 St. Thomas
5 MIT
6 St. John Fisher
7 John Carroll
8 Virginia Wesleyan
9 Lycoming
10 Richard Stockton
11 Illinois Wesleyan
12 Brandeis
13 Calvin
14 Randolph-Macon

I'm not sure Randolph-Macon is even really that low, so it seems to me that the ODAC's very likely to be represented by 4 teams.

These are the teams that possibly could get a Pool C bid ahead of the Yellow Jackets, were they to lose their conference's AQ:

Carthage
Texas – Dallas
Whitworth
Anderson
Franklin & Marshall
Central

There are others who have been tracking Pool C more closely than I this year, but a couple of comments:

Anderson was already beaten by Defiance this afternoon; not sure how they compare to Randy Mac.

RMC is definitely in ahead of Brandeis and Calvin.

I'm almost certain the ODAC is a four team entry this year.

[emufan]

I wasn't at the game, but according to the DNR, the technical on Coach Dean wasn't handled properly. 

Typical ODAC officiating.  If the ref would have blown his whistle when he gave Coach a T, then RMC wouldn't have been able to hit  a three. (the play would have been dead) I have never seen someone get a T but not stopping the game at the exact moment.

[sludge]

That game was wicked close.

[algernon]

Another unfortunate streak that was snapped last night after the Tigers were bounced by RMC was 15 straight years of not losing in the first round of the ODAC tournament.  Shaver and Smith certainly set a very high standard of excellence.  After a very up and down year that consisted of many high's and low's, hopefully next year the Tiger's can continue to build on the HSC tradition.

Shaver established a standard of excellence that is still felt at Hampden-Sydney and has, in fact, had an effect on the entire conference.  He arrived in 1986 and had a couple of conference titles and NCAA trips already under his belt after 6 years at the helm.  He then took the Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen in 1994 and the Elite Eight in 1995.  With Dee Vick assisting Shaver in recruiting David Hobbs, Alex Robbins, and Kevin Garst in 1995, along with T. J. Grimes, Chris Fox, Jeremy Harris, and Jack Jirak in 1996, the Tigers got back to the Sweet Sixteen in 1998 and then went to the National Championship game in 1999.  That kind of success helped Shaver and Vick recruit the talent that took the Tigers back to the Final Four in 2003.  The fact is that Shaver's standard of excellence was far-reaching, having a generalized effect upon the quality of play throughout the conference, and a long-term effect upon the quality of Tiger basketball .... the tremendous success of Shaver's 2003 team and the type of guys he had playing on that team (Randall '04, Monroe '04, and Willson '04, in particular) were important to the Tigers' ability to recruit the likes of Mike Edwards in 2003 and get Green, Prehmus, Kaase, and Murray to come to HSC in 2004.  The classes that arrived in 2005, 2006, and 2007 (Classes of '09, '10, and '11), although not without some excellent players (King in particular), haven't been as impressive as those classes recruited during Shaver's last year (2003) and the '03-'04 year following his team's 2003 Final Four appearance. 

This year's Hampden-Sydney team played the most difficult schedule they have ever played.  I think there is no doubt about it.  Of the Tigers' 13 losses, one was to a Division I team and 7 more were to teams ranked among the Top 25 in the country.  They beat 2 teams ranked among the Top 25 (Randolph-Macon and EMU) and stayed very close in both games against #4 Guilford.  Although they completely lost it in the quarterfinal game, after the #4 Yellow Jackets took a strong early lead ..... I want to know when was the last time that the Tigers had to play a quarterfinal against a team with a 20-5 record and a national ranking?!!  In my opinion, the Tigers had a very solid season and were among the best 50 teams in the country.  2009-2010 had its highs and lows, but it's one they can be proud of.  Many of the guys can look forward to next year, knowing that they have a solid group of returnees to which I expect Dee Vick and Larry Blunt will add a strong set of recruits.

[stillfamily]

The ODAC is supposed to be the best league in the nation. Why do they have pathetic officials? The worst officiating I have seen in years was on display during the RMC vs. EMU game. The technical foul was a complete crock. Coach Dean was given a "T" for stomping his foot b/c Orie P. had a RMC player climb his back for a reb. The official didn't even call the T until 10-15 secs later when RMC went to the other end of the court and scored a 3. On top of that Orie got called for a push foul which on tape was awful as well. That was a huge swing that wouldn't take place with good officials. Furthermore, the last play of the game was the worst call I have ever seen in basketball. RMC could have been called for a foul when Todd Phillips missed a shot with 5 secs. left, but no whistle. RMC went down and missed a layup with some contact and no whistle. Then the whistle blows with 0.01 on the clock for a call that was questionable at best. The buzzer sounded in the gym, but there was still 0.01 left. How is that possible? The referee crew was awful, only 1 of the refs was being consistent. Mitch and the taller older guy have no business officiating at this level.  They took the game out of the players hand. At best the game goes into O.T. and kids decide it.
On another hand, RMC played well  regardless of that last call. EMU didn't play great by any stretch of the word and still had a chance to win this game.
Somebody in the past posted that VWC had no class and bad mouthed VWC. Well they need to look at their own team before they talk about someone elses.

[hasanova]

Just got back from Salem (and I was there last night as well) - great basketball all around.  I didn't see the two afternoon games yesterday, so I'll reserve comment other than to say who would have believed 84-48 in a Randolph-Macon/Hampden Sydney game?  Wow!

With no upsets until today, the semifinals were the Top 4 conference teams and four Top 20 national teams ... super!  The RMC/EMU game was tight throughout and I initially thought EMU had it when they led 80-76 with about 30 seconds to go.  RMC played the end really well, but I think EMU was hurt by a lack of overall "big game" experience.  I know the wins over VWC, RMC and GC in the regular season were "big," but the regular season is the regular season and tournament play is heightened pressure.  Anyway, congratulations to the Yellow Jackets for the win and to EMU for a great season - I think we'll see both of you next weekend!

VWC's athleticism and skill always scare me and tonight was no exception.  It was tight for about 10-15 minutes with the Marlins having the early edge, but Guilford started to pull away by hitting some perimeter shots and led 39-30 at the half.   With VWC double- and triple-teaming Sanborn, the guards and forwards had to knock down some shots ... and they did.  My own shout-out goes to Stephenson and Monroe ... very key baskets in addition to what you'd expect from Sanborn, Henson and Bonner.  Overall, the best team won tonight, but I believe VWC will also be in the NCAA's next weekend.   Congratulations to both teams for their fine seasons!

[donho]

  Great win Jackets!!
  Here's hoping that both teams show up today on top of their game and give it their all!! Regardless of the outcome two good teams ='s two great seasons.
  Go JACKETS!!

[2RMCFans]

Congrats to Guilford!

If we're going to talk about fans' bad behavior, there's plenty of blame to go around, but at least we did not see R-MC's President running the sidelines inciting us.

We agree there were some bad calls, but they benefited both teams; and, we also could not figure out when the technical was called, but we were right in front of the player foul and thought that was properly whistled first, then the T was called on the coach's reaction to it.  Just goes to show, perspective is everything.   Maybe we didn't really see what we thought we saw.

What a year when 4 ODAC teams look headed to NCAA's.  All of our schools benefit from the word going out far and wide what a talented basketball conference this is.

GO JACKETS!!!!

[donho]

 2RMCFans, stillfamily posted after midnight which means probably had a long ride home and was plenty tired. Hey they are a fan of the game,and yes people see things differently. Lets overlook the last sentence of the post. I in the past have expressed my dislike for VWC however I never talked about the school president or anything like that.
  I do however wish I had not used the words "no class". Lets take the high road on this matter.
  Stillfamily you all had a great season by any standardsand it is going to continue, enjoy the ride.

[hasanova]

2RMCFans, stillfamily posted after midnight which means probably had a long ride home and was plenty tired. Hey they are a fan of the game,and yes people see things differently. Lets overlook the last sentence of the post. I in the past have expressed my dislike for VWC however I never talked about the school president or anything like that.
 I do however wish I had not used the words "no class". Lets take the high road on this matter.
 Stillfamily you all had a great season by any standardsand it is going to continue, enjoy the ride.

I also decided to give stillfamily a break last night ... trust me, I know what it feels like to be the #1 seed and not make it to the championship game ... just look at Guilford's opening round double OT loss to W&L in 2009!  Man, was that a long ride home ... and then you have to sweat it out until Monday to see if you get an NCAA bid!

Emotions do run high in games like yesterday's between EMU and RMC ... and it's easy to focus on the technical when you lose such a close game with 0.1 seconds to go ... rarely, however, does one call cause a team to lose.  One of my brothers taught me a new word last year ... hermeneutics ... it comes from Hermes and his thoughts on religion, but it also applies to sports.  Basically, it discusses how two biblical passages/events can be seen in totally different ways by people reading or seeing the exact same thing ... both persons are good, reasonable people, but both are convinced they're right!  Hopefully, EMU can quickly puts this in the rearview mirror and focus on preparing for what I feel will be an NCAA bid for next weekend.  If it gives them hope, I go back again to Guilford's 2009 finish where, after losing in the ODAC's first round, the Quakers returned to Salem three weeks later!  It can happen!

As the old adage goes and my coaches always told me, the harder you work, the luckier you get.  Hopefully, EMU will refocus and work hard this week.  We're rooting for you!

[hoopstermom]

D3 hoops is still projecting all four of ODAC top teams to make it to the playoffs!!   They have even proposed a bracket structure.  Their scenario has RMC and VWC meeting in the sweet 16 but EMU and Guilford would be in different brackets... with a possibility of 3 of the final four teams being ODAC teams!!!
Would that be saaaa weeeeet or what!!!   

http://www.d3boards.com/playoffs/proj-mbbbracket2010.pdf

Maybe if RMC wins the final, they could all four end up in different brackets.

[hasanova]

D3 hoops is still projecting all four of ODAC top teams to make it to the playoffs!!   They have even proposed a bracket structure.  Their scenario has RMC and VWC meeting in the sweet 16 but EMU and Guilford would be in different brackets... with a possibility of 3 of the final four teams being ODAC teams!!!
Would that be saaaa weeeeet or what!!!   

http://www.d3boards.com/playoffs/proj-mbbbracket2010.pdf

Maybe if RMC wins the final, they could all four end up in different brackets.

Pat Coleman's proposed this type of bracket for several years, but I expect geography and cost considerations to trump this scenario when the official NCAA bracket's released tomorrow.  I think ODAC four teams will get in, but I expect ODAC teams will face each other sooner rather than later!