MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[hasanova]

Final Guilford 70, Albion 56
Final Bridgewater State 83, Greensboro 82

The Quakers pulled away from the Britons starting about a minute before the half and won by 14.  Big rebounding edge at 47-27.

Tight game between the Pride and the BSU Bears.  Greensboro hit two free throws to go up 82-81 with 8 seconds to go.  They stopped one shot by BSU and the ball went out of bounds with 1.9 seconds to go.  On the inbound, the Pride didn't box out well and 6'7" Joseph Carty muscled in a shot at the buzzer for an 83-82 win.

It's not a true tournament, so the games are predetermined, but BSU/Guilford and Albion/Greensboro meet tomorrow. 

[CMR]

Didn't get to watch the game but it looks like a good W for the Jackets over FDU-Florham 81-61. Judging by the fact that Florham was only charged with five personal fouls I'd say they were playing a zone defense -- and not a very good one given the Jackets 11 3-pointers, though zones can be susceptible to this if the opponent's offense is passing effectively and getting good open looks. Grayson Midulla with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, no fouls in 24 minutes; Montese Adams with 9 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, no fouls in 20 minutes. Good stuff from a couple of sophomores off the bench.

Agreed, good balanced offense for the Jackets.  20 assists to only 5 turnovers, outstanding.  FDU played man, but the Jackets were moving the ball very well to get open shots.  Many of the 3s were contested, but they were falling.  Probably best overall game for the Jackets this year.  Lots of guys played and contributed, second five is no drop off, witness Midulla and Adams.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Thanks for the info. Not sure how a team can play man defense for 40 minutes and only get whistled for five fouls, but good for Florham. Good to hear about the ball movement. Important whether against a zone or man defense. Thirty points and 20 rebounds from any number of players off the bench (let alone just two) is something any team would love to see every game.

[CMR]

^^^ Thanks for the info. Not sure how a team can play man defense for 40 minutes and only get whistled for five fouls, but good for Florham. Good to hear about the ball movement. Important whether against a zone or man defense. Thirty points and 20 rebounds from any number of players off the bench (let alone just two) is something any team would love to see every game.

The Jackets don't have that one player that's going to give you 20 pts every night, but they've got 5 or 6 that can do it any given night.  Makes them harder to defend, but it'd also be nice to have that one go-to player.  The Jackets can go 10 deep and that'll pay off down the road.  The team I saw last night wanted to play, unlike some earlier games.  I've been harsh on this team, but the last two games were major steps forward.  My criticism of the current RMC program is mainly comparing to teams of years past, but what I'm seeing is a generally drop in DIII quality.  So, maybe it's not just RMC, but overall DIII issue, maybe explained by previous conversations on costs.

[CMR]

^^^ Thanks for the info. Not sure how a team can play man defense for 40 minutes and only get whistled for five fouls, but good for Florham. Good to hear about the ball movement. Important whether against a zone or man defense. Thirty points and 20 rebounds from any number of players off the bench (let alone just two) is something any team would love to see every game.

On the fouls, lots of no-calls, the refs let them play, very good game flow.  I like a game where the refs stay away, unless it's obvious.

[RMC FAN90]

How the Jackets respond tonight and on wednesday against Va. Wesleyan will give us an idea of just how far this team can potentially go. If all the cylinders are firing  then look out. The players need to play with confidence and the coaches need to coach with confidence in the players, only way to be successful. Adams was a rebounding machine last night, he came up big. Midulla has a chance to be that go to guy maybe not this year but his jr and sr year. Has a sweet stroke and played great defense last night. There  is depth on this team, i see Noe and Taylor having big games tonight in a win.
GO JACKETS!

[CMR]

How the Jackets respond tonight and on wednesday against Va. Wesleyan will give us an idea of just how far this team can potentially go. If all the cylinders are firing  then look out. The players need to play with confidence and the coaches need to coach with confidence in the players, only way to be successful. Adams was a rebounding machine last night, he came up big. Midulla has a chance to be that go to guy maybe not this year but his jr and sr year. Has a sweet stroke and played great defense last night. There  is depth on this team, i see Noe and Taylor having big games tonight in a win.
GO JACKETS!

Good analysis!!

[y_jack_lok]

Thanks for the added info on the Jackets CMR and FAN90.

I agree that overall talent in D3 seems to be declining a bit -- unless I've watched too much basketball the past 15-16 years and just can't tell. If the cost issue is a factor in this, though, then it would seem that some leagues like the SUNYAC and WIAC would be able to dominate in many sports. The WIAC seems to always have one or two schools that are strong in most sports, but the SUNYAC less so. Just some random thoughts.

[hasanova]

Final Guilford (9-2) 77, Bridgewater State (7-4) 56
Final Greensboro (6-4) 81, Albion (3-8) 75

The Quakers pulled away from the Bears, as the night before versus Albion, starting about a minute before the half and won by 21.  Four players in double figures for Guilford.

I didn't see the GCP/AC game, but the Pride won both halves by 3.  GCQ's next game is Wednesday at home versus ODAC foe Roanoke.

[y_jack_lok]

Congrats to the Jackets on the win over York. After starting 0-3 they are 6-2 in the last eight games. Except for the wins over Ferrum (by 14) and FDU-Florham (by 20) the win or loss differential has been seven points or less -- so 4-2 in "close" games.

[CNU85]

CNU with a big win against a rival. Good story and highlight clip http://cnusports.com/news/2017/1/1/mens-basketball-mcfarland-nets-27-as-captains-hold-off-marlins-86-75-in-new-years-day-battle.aspx

[Hawks88]

Huntingdon hires Guilford Associate Head Coach Caleb Kimbrough as Associate Head Coach and to replace Mike Pugh as Head Coach when he retires at the end of the 2017 season. Looking forward to seeing what he can do with the program.

http://www.huntingdonhawks.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/releases/20160602hd9xb2

Caleb Kimbrough was a great player for the Quakers from 2004-08 and a terrific assistant in the ODAC (2009-10 at W&L and 2010-2016 at Guilford).  I predict he will do a wonderful job for the Hawks ... he'll be greatly missed at Guilford!  Oh yeah, he spent a year traveling the globe in 2008-09 playing for the Washington Generals ... the longtime "foe" of the Harlem Globetrotters.

After an 0-10 start Mike Pugh has announced his immediate retirement and Caleb Kimbrough will go ahead and take over as head coach at Huntingdon.
http://www.huntingdonhawks.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/releases/20161230jaijwh

[hasanova]

Noticed in the news release that Caleb will be assisted by former Guilford teammate and 2007 national POY Ben Strong.  These guys played together in middle school and high school in Chapel Hill and then at Guilford from 2004-2008.  I wish them much success with the Hawks.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Noticed in the news release that Caleb will be assisted by former Guilford teammate and 2007 national POY Ben Strong.  These guys played together in middle school and high school in Chapel Hill and then at Guilford from 2004-2008.  I wish them much success with the Hawks.

I think they tended to succeed together. LOL

Congrats to both.

[CMR]

VWC - totally disrespectful during National Anthem, Khory Moore swinging punches and rushes RMC bench, only personal fool, no technical, officials talk for three minutes.  VWC is a bunch of thugs and total embarrassment to ODAC.