MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[rmc1982]

D-Mac-I will agree that EVERY team needs a little luck and a good draw to make it to the finals but after seeing VWC last week in Crenshaw Gym I DEFINITELY think they have what it takes to make it back to Salem.Even in losing to the Jackets last week they looked like they could turn it on and off when they wanted.The reason they lost was that they seemed to go to sleep at times and ,althogh we had something to do with their poor shooting with our defense, they shot badly.They are absolutely the QUICKEST team in DIII that I have seen in a long time.They have the most suffocating defense and pressure full court that I have seen, also.As I said last week, if they had played defense the whole game like they played the  last 5 minutes the game outcome would probably have been different.I think R-MC is definitely capable of playing with anyone in the country but our youth under pressure is our hindrance.In the NCAA's you cannot look past ANYBODY and you must play at a high level at ALL TIMES......I just don't know if the Jackets can pull that off this year..........but the Fish can!

[donho]

 rmc82, I have seen both teams play both early and later on during this season. All things being equal I think both R-MC and VWC can make some noise in the NCAA'S. Note I said CAN.Will they?  That remains to be seen.
The freshmen at this point are nolonger freshmen on the court. While R-MC may not have the quickness that VWC has they do have some players that have that quick first step. Croskey,Badger and Giggetts come to mind. IMHO it is time for Croskey to step up and be bigtime.
   The ODAC again has three teams in the top eight of the region.  2,3 and 7      VWC,R-MC and GC.

[algernon]

Certainly Guilford and HSC can make some noise in the NCAAs. Guilford has beaten both RMC and VWC.  HSC has played very tight with VWC at VWC and with RMC at RMC.

Of course, both the Quakers and Tigers are in the position of needing to win the ODAC tournament to even get to the NCAAs, but either team could certainly do that.  Actually, I think that the Yellow Jackets might be in the same boat, that they'll need to win the ODAC tournament to even get to the NCAAs.

[donho]

 Really!! HSC can make some noise in the NCAA'S. IF they win on saturday they will make some noise, and thats a big IF. Tell me other than Patrick Henry what good team has hsc beaten?
Tight or not a L is a L and a W is a W.

[donho]

 Nice win tonight for NOVA'S  Quakers. Man tough group, I call a GC win and they take my karma.

[hasanova]

Quakers over the Tigers tonight in Greensboro, 83-72.  A very physical, hard-fought game from start to finish. HSC may be the most physically talented team I've seen Guilford play this year, but the Tigers lost their composure a couple of times in this game and it cost them.  Overall, it was a really great game!

Guilford is 17-7, 11-4 and HSC is 17-7, 10-5.  Even if they finish tied at 11-5 in the ODAC, GC will get the #3 seed due to winning the one head-to-head match-up. 

[hasanova]

donho, you did call it.  One karma restored.  +1

[algernon]

Guilford is 17-7, 11-4 and HSC is 17-7, 10-5.  Even if they finish tied at 11-5 in the ODAC, GC will get the #3 seed due to winning the one head-to-head match-up.

You're right.  Hampden-Sydney will definitely be playing as the #4 seed.  Game time for the Tigers at the ODAC Tournament on Friday the 24th will be 3pm.

Guilford, in fact, has a good chance of playing as the #2 seed.  To do that, they need to beat EMU, and HSC needs to defeat RMC in Fleet Gymnasium on Saturday.

For what it's worth, these are my predictions for the weekend:
Guilford defeats Eastern Mennonite in Harrisonburg
Virginia Wesleyan hosts and defeats Emory and Henry
Bridgewater hosts and defeats Roanoke
Hampden-Sydney hosts and defeats Randolph-Macon
Lynchburg hosts and defeats Randolph
Virginia Wesleyan hosts and defeats Washington and Lee

If my predictions prove correct, the final standings and tournament seedings will be as follows (figuring in the tie-breakers). 

#1 - Virginia Wesleyan    14-2    
#2 - Guilford    12-4    
#3 - Randolph-Macon    12-4    
#4 - Hampden-Sydney    11-5
#5 - Lynchburg    9-7    
#6 - Randolph    7-9    
#7 - Emory and Henry    6-10    
#8 - Bridgewater (Va.)    5-11    
#9 - Eastern Mennonite    5-11    
#10 - Washington and Lee    5-11    
#11 - Roanoke    2-14

Friday 2/24 ODAC Tournament schedule would be:
1pm:  #1 VWC vs. #8 Bridgewater/ #9 EMU
3pm:  #4 HSC vs. #5 Lynchburg
6pm:  #2 Guilford vs. #7 Emory & Henry/ #10 Washington & Lee
8pm:  #3 RMC vs. #6 Randolph/ #11 Roanoke

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

D-Mac-I will agree that EVERY team needs a little luck and a good draw to make it to the finals but after seeing VWC last week in Crenshaw Gym I DEFINITELY think they have what it takes to make it back to Salem.Even in losing to the Jackets last week they looked like they could turn it on and off when they wanted.The reason they lost was that they seemed to go to sleep at times and ,althogh we had something to do with their poor shooting with our defense, they shot badly.They are absolutely the QUICKEST team in DIII that I have seen in a long time.They have the most suffocating defense and pressure full court that I have seen, also.As I said last week, if they had played defense the whole game like they played the  last 5 minutes the game outcome would probably have been different.I think R-MC is definitely capable of playing with anyone in the country but our youth under pressure is our hindrance.In the NCAA's you cannot look past ANYBODY and you must play at a high level at ALL TIMES......I just don't know if the Jackets can pull that off this year..........but the Fish can!

Did I miss something? I was answering this:

Does VWC have enough fire power to advance to the final four ? I've not seen them this year other than the blow out game at HSC. It was hard to tell if they are that good or if HSC was that bad for that particular game.

With this:

Remember the year VWC won the national title... they actually had to hit a game winner at the buzzer in the Elite 8... and have a major run in the title game including a huge 3 late from Ton Ton Banega to win it. Don't think blowing out opponents is a true measure of how good a team is, especially considering VWC has had a target on their back all season and play in one of the toughest conferences in the country.

It will depend on their bracket/draw and how they match up with teams ahead of them.

I was indicating that not having blow outs doesn't necessarily say a team doesn't have the ability to go the Final Four... that's all. I wasn't knocking on the Fish.

[HSCDad]

Just back from Guilford  Sad to see H-SC fall but 17  3 pointers by Guilford was hard to combat.  H-SC defense would hold for 30 seconds and then one of 4 Guilford shooters was open for a three - most times it striped the net.  They have more pure shooters than I have ever seen in Div III - to score 51 points in a half against H-SC pressing defense was a great job and they won in a big way,

[HSCDad]

My error on Guilford's 3 pointers  actually 10 but it seemed like 17!!!

[y_jack_lok]

Remember the year VWC won the national title... they actually had to hit a game winner at the buzzer in the Elite 8... and have a major run in the title game including a huge 3 late from Ton Ton Banega to win it. Don't think blowing out opponents is a true measure of how good a team is, especially considering VWC has had a target on their back all season and play in one of the toughest conferences in the country.

It will depend on their bracket/draw and how they match up with teams ahead of them.

The 2008 Wash U national championship team was 19-6 entering the NCAA tournament and won its first four tournament games by 5, 3, 8, and 9 points respectively before having a relatively easy time against Hope and Amherst in Salem. Wash U matched up well against the teams in Salem because they both thought they could guard Troy Ruths without double teaming him and he burned both of them for 30 points or more. Four of Wash U's regular season losses were against UAA teams who knew how to defend Ruths. KNOW YOUR OPPONENT!!

[2RMCFans]

R-MC shot 90% on FTs last night & only turned the ball over 11 times (8 of those in the first half!).    Those numbers are really going in the right direction for late season play.  The veteran players have been consistently good, but we agree that the development of the freshmen & sophomores has been critical to this season's success. 

As for the veteran Croskey, before last night he was leading the ODAC in 3's made.  Not sure where that stat stands this morning, but we hope he makes a lot more. 

Congrats to all the winners last night.

GO JACKETS!!! 

[78rmc]

Numerous milestones set in Crenshaw last night:

http://athletics.rmc.edu/sports/mbkb/2011-12/releases/201202157hd2sx

[hasanova]

Just back from Guilford  Sad to see H-SC fall but 17  3 pointers by Guilford was hard to combat.  H-SC defense would hold for 30 seconds and then one of 4 Guilford shooters was open for a three - most times it striped the net.  They have more pure shooters than I have ever seen in Div III - to score 51 points in a half against H-SC pressing defense was a great job and they won in a big way,

HSCDad, it was a pretty good college basketball game last night, don't you think?  I was actually hoping a few hundred HSC students and the Tiger mascot would show up as they did two years ago.  The Tigers have some long and lean "athletes" - probably one of the most athletic teams the Quakers have faced this season.  Guilford does have some three point firepower and many of them were very timely last night.  Gabriel Lowder (#5) is having an especially good senior season in this regard.  Trust me, the Quaker players, coaches and fans all take a game versus the talented Tigers very seriously.  It was a big relief to win last night.  Thanks for making the trip to Ragan Brown!  Good luck the rest of the season - unless, of course, you happen to face the Quakers again in Salem.