MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[78rmc]

78RMC.....Surprisingly???....

2RMCFans....You are so correct, Dylan Cole out with the flu...Andre Simon and Akeem Holmes really stepped it up. A break out game for Akeem. Coach Davis doing very well thus far. Many games yet to play....for every team....

Yeah, was not aware that the series had become so lopsided.  Not sure what your '......Surprisingly???.....' is for?  At least, it surprised me.

[78rmc]

Wait,wait,wait. You mean that a team with 4 (four) ODAC first teamers lost to a team made up of leftovers and newbies? Davis for coach of the year!!!! Oh still have 8 games to play, well maybe I should calm down and let things playout.
  GOOOO Jackets!! Nice job Coach Davis.

Okay, Don, I'm on the bus now!

[2RMCFans]

P.S. to the posts above about scholastics & hoops:  David Carlson graduated from R-MC so that means he worked his way to a 2.0---- or better.  Credit to him; because he persisted in the classroom (when it probably would have been easier for him to transfer).

We wish the same for all ODAC players, because D-III is about way more than sports.

[hsctigers2002]

Surprisingly, R-MC has now won 13 of the last 15 regular season games against H-SC.

I knew Bubba Smith let things get bad here, relative to H-SC's terms of success, but that is inexcusable. Dee Vick just started righting the ship late last season from the mess that Bubba left after inheriting a team that only had one player (Turner King) that resembled anything close to All-ODAC talent at the time. This year's team is the closest we have gotten to restoring the glory years of H-SC hoops that ended in the 2003-04 season when Bubba was able to roll with a bunch of Tony Shaver players. Dee has had three straight strong recruiting classes and there is only one Bubba era recruit left over (Ben Jessee), so hopefully the W's against Macon start coming. It's not much of a rivalry when the other team wins nearly every time, just like in football where H-SC has won 10 of the last 11.

[78rmc]

78RMC.....Surprisingly???....

2RMCFans....You are so correct, Dylan Cole out with the flu...Andre Simon and Akeem Holmes really stepped it up. A break out game for Akeem. Coach Davis doing very well thus far. Many games yet to play....for every team....

Yeah, was not aware that the series had become so lopsided.  Not sure what your '......Surprisingly???.....' is for?  At least, it surprised me.

(Well, okay, you caught me.  It was not as much surprising, but a little dig to my HSC 'friends'.)

[78rmc]

Surprisingly, R-MC has now won 13 of the last 15 regular season games against H-SC.

I knew Bubba Smith let things get bad here, relative to H-SC's terms of success, but that is inexcusable. Dee Vick just started righting the ship late last season from the mess that Bubba left after inheriting a team that only had one player (Turner King) that resembled anything close to All-ODAC talent at the time. This year's team is the closest we have gotten to restoring the glory years of H-SC hoops that ended in the 2003-04 season when Bubba was able to roll with a bunch of Tony Shaver players. Dee has had three straight strong recruiting classes and there is only one Bubba era recruit left over (Ben Jessee), so hopefully the W's against Macon start coming. It's not much of a rivalry when the other team wins nearly every time, just like in football where H-SC has won 10 of the last 11.

Actually, it's 9 of the last 11 in football, but still not good from a RMC perspective.  At least on the basketball side, the games have been much more competitive even if RMC has dominated.  Many of those games could have gone HSC's way, much less so in football, where RMC has lost by wide margins.  Agreed that Vick is doing good things, his teams will be very good for some time as I think they're very talented.  I was quite surprised that Williamson and Anderson didn't dominate the paint Saturday, especially with Cole on the bench.  Their day will certainly come and maybe very soon.  On this one day, Holmes and Simon were up to the task!

[hasanova]

Tough week for the Jackets, at Lynchburg (RMC won a close one earlier this season in Ashland) and the hated Tigers come to Ashland on Saturday.  I'd say a 1-1 week is good for the Jackets, winning both would finally make a believer out of me for this team.  0-2 is not out of the question.

I feel the same about the Quakers this week with Emory & Henry at home and Virginia Wesleyan on the road Saturday.  The first E&H game was an overtime win by GC in Emory and the Marlins, of course, are smoking almost everyone this season.  I hope for 1-1, but would be ecstatic with 2-0!

I went back and got my post from last Tuesday, the 17th.  It was a great week for Quaker hoops!  I expected to beat E&H at home, but only hoped to beat VWC on the road.  So, I am, indeed, ecstatic with Guilford's 2-0 week.  You know, Quaker fans talk a lot about Josh Pittman, and he is a game-changer, but two other players on this team have been rock solid this season:  Senior guard Gabriel Lowder and Freshman Forward Will Freeman.  If Guilford can beat VWC on the road, then I think we have a shot against anyone in the league.  The regular season title's still wide open, don't you think?  As seen against both Guilford and Salisbury, it looks as though you have to control the tempo against the Marlins and keep it to a game in the 50's or 60's.

[78rmc]

'nova, congrats on the VWC win.  Yes, keeping VWC in the 50s or 60s is correct, as RMC only lost by 3 at VWC at 63-60.  RMC's schedule is favorable as we get VWC and Guilford at home and the away games are less challenging, except HSC.

[Seatfiller]

Seems as if Guilford has VWC number as they always seem to beat them at least once a year

[hsctigers2002]

Surprisingly, R-MC has now won 13 of the last 15 regular season games against H-SC.

I knew Bubba Smith let things get bad here, relative to H-SC's terms of success, but that is inexcusable. Dee Vick just started righting the ship late last season from the mess that Bubba left after inheriting a team that only had one player (Turner King) that resembled anything close to All-ODAC talent at the time. This year's team is the closest we have gotten to restoring the glory years of H-SC hoops that ended in the 2003-04 season when Bubba was able to roll with a bunch of Tony Shaver players. Dee has had three straight strong recruiting classes and there is only one Bubba era recruit left over (Ben Jessee), so hopefully the W's against Macon start coming. It's not much of a rivalry when the other team wins nearly every time, just like in football where H-SC has won 10 of the last 11.

Actually, it's 9 of the last 11 in football, but still not good from a RMC perspective.  At least on the basketball side, the games have been much more competitive even if RMC has dominated.  Many of those games could have gone HSC's way, much less so in football, where RMC has lost by wide margins.  Agreed that Vick is doing good things, his teams will be very good for some time as I think they're very talented.  I was quite surprised that Williamson and Anderson didn't dominate the paint Saturday, especially with Cole on the bench.  Their day will certainly come and maybe very soon.  On this one day, Holmes and Simon were up to the task!

Both Khobi and Cam were a bit limited in the first half because the refs weren't calling clear fouls against Macon (refs also screwed up several foul calls and no-calls that went against R-MC as well) in the first half as each combined for eight first-half points on 4-10 shooting, 0-2 FTs. When the refs started calling the fouls in the second-half, they had their way with 13 points on 3-5 shooting, 7-9 FTs. For the game they combined for 21 points, 9 rebounds out of the center position, that's a pretty good day if you ask me!

I just wish we would have played Cam more, he was clearly a much better defensive matchup for Andre Simon. Simon is too quick for Khobi, and Simon burned him multiple times due to the quickness. Cam is just as quick as Simon and is a very good on-on-one post defender,and is obviously a quality offensive player as he showed in the second half. Of course, I also wish we wouldn't have given Holmes at least three wide-open dunks, what the hell did our defense think was going to happen when a 6-7 center is left open at the basket?

[78rmc]

Holmes show me a couple of things yesterday that I've not seen this year, a nice spin move for a layup and a baseline jumper, to go along with the dunks.  This kid has developed nicely so far this season and I hope he gets more playing time.  I'd also like to see Hunter play more, just to see what he can do.  When he's gotten in, he's produced, usually a basket with a minute or two of play.  Will also be exciting to see him develop, could become a dominant player in a year or two.  Coach seem to know what he's doing with these two guys, giving them short stints to build their confidence.

[hsctigers2002]

The Guilford vs Virginia Wesleyan game is the start of a stretch with five games in 10 days for the Marlins. Could be a very telling sign of just how good they really are. That stretch of games is really going to test the Marlins physically and mentally. It should prepare them pretty well for the ODAC Tournament with having to play up to three games - I assume they won't be hosting a first round game at this point - in just three or four days.

Yesterday was also the start of a big three-game road stand for the Tigers. A hard fought and competitive L for the Tigers yesterday, but will they play strong on the road - which they never seem to be able to do consistently - or will continual road woes come back to hurt them against Lynchburg and Randolph? If the Tigers can win both games, it should really keep them in contention for a top two seed and probably a near lock for top four. One loss will make the road a bit difficult and take them out of top seed contention. Two losses and looking at probably only the #3 or #4 seed at best. Got to take care of business now with the final three games of the season being at Virginia Wesleyan, at Guilford, and home against Randolph-Macon - those could very likely be three losses to end the regular season!

[hasanova]

Seems as if Guilford has VWC number as they always seem to beat them at least once a year

Since Randolph joined the ODAC, I believe Guilford's only played VWC once per year in the regular season.  The Quakers were 64-61 spoilers in Greensboro last year and 60-55 upset winners over the Marlins at the beach yesterday. Ironically, VWC is GC Coach Palombo's alma mater.

[hasanova]

The Quakers are currently 13-5, 7-2 with seven games to go:

1-25  Randolph
1-29 @ RMC
2-1   Roanoke
2-8   W&L
2-11  @ Randolph
2-15  HSC
2-18  @ EMU

Four at home and three on the road.  I don't know if it hurts or helps, but all four home games are on Wednesday nights.  I know Coach Palombo takes all opponents seriously, but the RMC and HSC games loom large.  The last time we played Hampden-Sydney at Ragan-Brown, there were about 400 very boisterous Tiger fans led by the Tiger mascot who invaded the arena after the game was underway.  The refs held up play until they were in the stands.  In the waning moments, HSC went ahead on a Harrison George steal and dunk with about 18 seconds to go and then Rhett Bonner put GC back in front on a drive to the basket with eight seconds to go.  Guilford preserved the win with a blocked shot on the right side of the basket as time expired.  Really, one of the best college games I've ever seen - and I've seen a ton!

[maroon2]

Just out of curiosity I was checking out all of the ODAC schedules and they really need to take a look at home they schedule. Only one team plays Macon, Sydney, and Va Wes twice. Some play only 3 games while most play 4. It is time with Shenendoah coming in to go to divisions.