MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[y_jack_lok]

The latest, through games of 12/22:

D3 vs non conf D3

1   NESCAC      55   22   0.714   
2   WIAC          34   15   0.694   
3   Newmac      47   21   0.691   
4   UAA            43   20   0.683   
5   CCIW         48   23   0.676   
6   ODAC       44   22   0.667  
7   NJAC          27   17   0.614   
8   MACC         29   19   0.604   
9   Landmark   32   21   0.604   
10   OAC          27   19   0.587

AHA - my conference still has you guys by .009 points!

(Of course, we were 2nd a few days ago.   With such small data sets and close rankings - things can change awfully quickly!  We still have 7 of 8 with winning records, but North Park is looking even much worse than expected.)

As I'm sure you know, I stole this from my good buddy, hopefan, from the "D3 vs..." thread over in the Multi-Regional topics. North Central's two wins over EMU and Bridgewater are a key factor in the CCIW's ever so slim lead over the ODAC. If NCC loses either of those games the ODAC is in 5th and the CCIW in 6th. 

[2RMCFans]

R-MC wins 2 tough games this weekend (v. Birmingham Southern & Dickinson) while Guilford takes 2 losses in 4 very tough games.  Zeb Richardson (GC), Akeem Holmes & Marcus Badger (both of R-MC) received all tournament honors with Badger as MVP. 

Hoping that the Jackets will be practicing from the charity stripe a lot this week.

Happy New Year to all the ODAC!

GO JACKETS!!! 

[y_jack_lok]

Hoping that the Jackets will be practicing from the charity stripe a lot this week.

AMEN!!!

[hasanova]

R-MC wins 2 tough games this weekend (v. Birmingham Southern & Dickinson) while Guilford takes 2 losses in 4 very tough games.  Zeb Richardson (GC), Akeem Holmes & Marcus Badger (both of R-MC) received all tournament honors with Badger as MVP. 

Hoping that the Jackets will be practicing from the charity stripe a lot this week.

Happy New Year to all the ODAC!

GO JACKETS!!!

Glad the Jackets won over Dickinson.  I drove to Ashland this weekend and was so frustrated after GC's game versus BSC that I hit the road for home.  Guilford was done in Saturday by DC's ridiculous 17/29 from three and on Sunday by BSC's press and their inability to hit the simplest shots around the basket.  Quakers need to practice everything in my opinion.

[coccougars]

#5 Williams 60   W&L 58 in Lexington.  Good defensive effort by Generals against high-octane group from NESCAC.  Based on earlier commentary, it looks like H-SC should pick up an easy one when Ephs go over to Farmville later in the week.

[Seatfiller]

Roanoke with the win over Frostburg State today 82-74, Frostburg State falls to 0-9

[y_jack_lok]

Through games of 12/29, therefore does not include the aforementioned Roanoke win over Frostburg State. Also, Lynchburg and H-SC had wins yesterday over D3 opponents and there is the above and below mentioned W&L loss to Williams, all of which will be in the next post. But the E&H loss to Montreat will not as Montreat is NAIA-D2.

D3 vs non conf D3

1   NESCAC       56   23   0.709
2   Newmac      48   21   0.696
3   CCIW          51   24   0.680
4   UAA             44   21   0.677
5   ODAC          50   26   0.658
6   WIAC          39   21   0.650
7   OAC            35   21   0.625
8   MACC          31   19   0.620
9   Landmark    32   22   0.593
10   MIAC         29   20   0.592

[algernon]

#5 Williams 60   W&L 58 in Lexington.  Good defensive effort by Generals against high-octane group from NESCAC.  Based on earlier commentary, it looks like H-SC should pick up an easy one when Ephs go over to Farmville later in the week.

What commentary is that?

How good are the Ephs?  On the one hand, they are #5 in the country and made it to the Elite Eight last year. 

On the other hand, their 9-1 record this year has been achieved against an extremely weak schedule, with their best win a 5-point win at home against Springfield (7-2).  Of particular interest is their 8-point win at W&L against Washington College, a team that HSC beat by 25 in Fleet, and their very close 2-point win over W&L, a team whose best win this season may be their 3-point victory at home over Roanoke!

Are the Ephs tremendously overrated?  Or are they very much the same team that made it to the Elite Eight last year?  They return 3 starters, including preseason All-Americans Michael Mayer and Taylor Epley, so I think that they're NOT overrated and have simply been cruising this year against a weak schedule.  A win at HSC (now 7-3, with wins over Springfield and Mary Washington) would cement the Ephs' position as one of the top 5 teams in the country.

An HSC win would be huge and, if the Tigers are able to pull it off, might very well pull HSC back into the lower part of the Top 25.

[Bucket]

#5 Williams 60   W&L 58 in Lexington.  Good defensive effort by Generals against high-octane group from NESCAC.  Based on earlier commentary, it looks like H-SC should pick up an easy one when Ephs go over to Farmville later in the week.

What commentary is that?

How good are the Ephs?  On the one hand, they are #5 in the country and made it to the Elite Eight last year. 

On the other hand, their 9-1 record this year has been achieved against an extremely weak schedule, with their best win a 5-point win at home against Springfield (7-2).  Of particular interest is their 8-point win at W&L against Washington College, a team that HSC beat by 25 in Fleet, and their very close 2-point win over W&L, a team whose best win this season may be their 3-point victory at home over Roanoke!

Are the Ephs tremendously overrated?  Or are they very much the same team that made it to the Elite Eight last year?  They return 3 starters, including preseason All-Americans Michael Mayer and Taylor Epley, so I think that they're NOT overrated and have simply been cruising this year against a weak schedule.  A win at HSC (now 7-3, with wins over Springfield and Mary Washington) would cement the Ephs' position as one of the top 5 teams in the country.

An HSC win would be huge and, if the Tigers are able to pull it off, might very well pull HSC back into the lower part of the Top 25.

Mayer has been out for a month with injury and illness—he brought a lot of rust to the Warner Center this w/e. And the Eph shooters were uncharacteristically frigid as well...this obviously has the potential to spell bad news for a team that runs a Princeton-hybrid offense.

Williams is still trying to figure things out right now. They are nowhere close to maximizing the talent that they have 1-5. I know Coach Maker would be the first to say this. But I strongly believe as we inch toward March they will be right in the thick of the hunt for a national title.

[madzillagd]

Agreed Bucket.  I think we are still a few weeks away from seeing the true Williams team after a very injury-filled start.  Mayer went out in the 3rd game of the year, the 6'10 back up center Flynn went down the week before the season started and will not play this year, so they played the last month starting a 6'7 center and having their 6'7 freshman wing play the backup center.  Several other injuries that starters are playing through so their performance to date has been nowhere near where they should be yet they've been able to go 9-1.  This weekend the combination of integrating Mayer back into the rotation and poor shooting, they really looked bad.  The question will be if they can improve in time for HSC or if they are still floundering a bit. If I was HSC I would really focus on Epley and see if they can keep him off track for one more game.  He went 1-3 and 1-6 on 3s this weekend.  After starting the year 0-4, he proceeded to go 31-51 on 3s (61%) and always seemed to knock one down when they needed one. If he gets rolling the other shooters tend to follow. 

[marlinpg10]

Didn't see the hsc game but was told by someone who watched it that an hsc player punched a Williams player after the game..any one have insight on this?

[algernon]

Didn't see the hsc game but was told by someone who watched it that an hsc player punched a Williams player after the game..any one have insight on this?

That's not true. A Williams player (#21) went toward some HSC fans (alumni), taunting them after Williamson's in-and-out missed bucket just at the buzzer (which would have sent the game to OT). An HSC player stepped in to respond to the Williams player and it ended without punches.  We heard another Williams player reprimand #21 for letting the HSC fans provoke him to engage so inappropriately.

By the way, it was a great game!  The best game I've seen the Tigers play this year.  Special kudos to Khobi Williamson and Leon Hargrove!  The Tigers have proven they can play with any team in the country .... 2-point loss to #5 Williams, 6-point loss to #20 Wesley, and wins over #27 Mary Washington and #46 Springfield.

[y_jack_lok]

Didn't see the hsc game but was told by someone who watched it that an hsc player punched a Williams player after the game..any one have insight on this?

That's not true. A Williams player (#21) went toward some HSC fans (alumni), taunting them after Williamson's in-and-out missed bucket just at the buzzer (which would have sent the game to OT). An HSC player stepped in to respond to the Williams player and it ended without punches.  We heard another Williams player reprimand #21 for letting the HSC fans provoke him to engage so inappropriately.

I was watching the game online (no audio) and it certainly appeared to me that the H-SC player threw a punch at the Williams player. What the Williams player may have said or done (if anything) to provoke that, I have no idea. A few players from both teams stepped in and that was the end of it. It appeared that the H-SC coaching staff sent their team directly to the locker room without the usual post-game hand shakes between the players. The two coaching staffs did shake hands and the H-SC coaching staff shook hands with most of the Williams players.

[madzillagd]

Y,   That is exactly what I heard and it came from the guy that got hit so I have no reason to doubt him. I was watching as well but paying more attention to the reaction of the crowd behind the bench than to the minor scuffle.  I definitely can confirm that the Williams player involved never stops talking and probably needed a gentle reminder to shut up and be more gracious in victory.

Regardless, that was definitely one of the best games I've seen this year. Despite the 4 pt lead at halftime, Mayer really struggled in the first half and Williamson was playing fantastic. Being able to double him with size really helped keep his numbers down even though he wasn't missing.  Obviously a game that could have gone either way. As predicted, Epley was able to get back in rhythm and the others followed suit unlike the previous two games. From my perspective H-SC was a shooter away from winning this one going away. When Williamson was doubled down low they got a lot of open looks from 3 but were not able to knock them down and/or guys didn't take them.   

Anybody have a clue whether this is going to be a home and home series? Probably scheduled as a one-off since Williams was in the area but obviously it would be fun to have a rematch.

[tigerfanalso]

How many games can a team lose and still have an opportunity for "pool C" ? I know it depends on the season/circumstances but historically speaking, what is a realistic win/loss record for "pool C" consideration ?