MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I just listened to the archived Hoopsville interview with R-MC coach Josh Merkle. Some really interesting thoughts in there not specifically related to Randolph-Macon. Great questions from Dave and interesting insights from Coach Merkle. https://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2019-20/feb23

Thank you. I try my best.

Josh was great as always.

[hasanova]

Congratulations to R-MC on an outstanding regular season -- 23-2, 15-1. Whatever happens in the post-season, you should be proud of what you've accomplished.

I wholeheartedly agree!

[Seatfiller]

Tonight's games are:

BC at Hampden Sydney

Emory and Henry at Ferrum

I expect BC and HSC to be competitive. You also have no clue which Emory and Henry team is going to show up tonight.

[rmc1982]

I just listened to the archived Hoopsville interview with R-MC coach Josh Merkle. Some really interesting thoughts in there not specifically related to Randolph-Macon. Great questions from Dave and interesting insights from Coach Merkle. https://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2019-20/feb23

Thank you. I try my best.

Josh was great as always

I think the guys at the Richmond  paper must have also seen your interview....sounds strikingly familiar in this morning's edition.  https://www.richmond.com/sports/college/plus/as-postseason-arrives-for---r-mc-it-s/article_da51310d-c316-5b26-a051-4d25c6ee9756.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share via @RTDSports  It's in the "Subscriber PLUS" part so you may not be able to read it  but if I was still at R-MC and the professor was Ed Schmidt(who still runs the clock at basketball games btw) I would have gotten sent to honor court....heehee Nice job on the interview Dave. I listened to the tape also..
Also- there was an article on VWU in the Norfolk "Va Pilot" this am....http://digitaledition.pilotonline.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=6a5b8099-5caf-41c5-bcf2-e622cf1eaf60 - After missing nine games, Golston is back for Marlins       
Looks like this tournament is gonna be, to steal a phrase from the Guilford radio announcers( who are GREAT btw Hasa) a "Donnybrook"! Any number of teams could win this thing!! Hasa those announcers remind me of the old ACC announcers Billy Packer and Jim Thacker of the old "Pilot Life" ACC broadcasts  back when it was just 7 teams!

[rmc1982]

FIXED IT HASA!!   Anyways it should be a good tournament! Too bad I'm gonna be in Colorado Springs all weekend on a business trip but will keep up on here...... That loss Saturday could be good for us....Talking to frat bros last week at the HSC game( a lot of basketball players were in the SAE house , along with Y_Jack_lok also) I said a loss wouldnt really hurt us mentally and may be good for us.... Most of them replied that  we needed to win out. Saturday just about the time the game was ending I got a text from former Jacket All American and HOF'er Jesse Hellyer saying..."There's your loss".....Only time will tell if we bounce back strong but I think we will.....hopefully enough to win the tournament this weekend!.....Gotta run one heck of a gauntlet to get it though!!!.....GO JACKETS!

[hasanova]

I swear I've never been too good about posting things right----it looks like I quoted MYSELF! Anyways it should be a good tournament! Too bad I'm gonna be in Colorado Springs all weekend on a business trip but will keep up on here...... That loss Saturday could be good for us....Talking to frat bros last week at the HSC game( a lot of basketball players were in the SAE house , along with Y_Jack_lok also) I said a loss wouldnt really hurt us mentally and may be good for us.... Most of them replied that  we needed to win out. Saturday just about the time the game was ending I got a text from former Jacket All American and HOF'er Jesse Hellyer saying..."There's your loss".....Only time will tell if we bounce back strong but I think we will.....hopefully enough to win the tournament this weekend!.....Gotta run one heck of a gauntlet to get it though!!!.....GO JACKETS!

Just make sure you scroll far enough down to bypass all the brackets.  You can correct it by moving your quote through the Modify option.

Almost no team is invincible, but sometimes, as you note, a squad needs a wake-up call.  Guilford's had several this season, but the Feb. 5 home loss versus Ferrum seems to have served as a catalyst for ending the season on a positive note.  With that said, there are a number of ODAC teams, with RMC leading the pack, capable of winning the tournament this weekend!  It's not the way the AQ and selection system works, of course, but I think the ODAC could make a strong case for four (or 5) teams in the Top 64.

[y_jack_lok]

As Coach Merkle said in the interview (not precise words, but my takeway), there is always something to be learned, room to improve and things to work on. So the Guilford game was very helpful to the Jackets in that regard. The next challenge is to put that all to work in practice and games. We'll see how that goes this weekend. No doubt all the other teams are working just as hard to win. Should be a great tournament.

As to hasanova's point about four to five ODAC teams with a strong case for the top 64, certainly the parity is there among the top 4-5 teams in terms of who can beat who on any given day. But the full season records, regional rankings, SoS, etc, are what will likely be the deciding factors in NCAA tournament selection. If R-MC or VWU wins the tournament I'm guessing (literally, I'm just guessing) that they will be the only two teams to move on. But if aonther team wins the ODAC tournament, then R-MC and VWU might both get bids. But even that depends on other factors -- in what round did they lose, what happened in other conference tournaments that affects their AQs, and on and on. Makes my brain hurt to think about these things.

[Pat Coleman]

May well be five ODAC teams among the top 64 (debatable), but regardless, the NCAA Tournament is not the top 64 -- it's 43 conference winners and the next-best 21.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The Week 3 men's regional rankings are out: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2020/02/men-regional-rankings-third

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Guilford #7 in the South region. Obviously helped by Saturday's win and an otherwise strong finish to the season as noted by hasanova.

[thescottharris]

Tonight's games are:

BC at Hampden Sydney

Emory and Henry at Ferrum

I expect BC and HSC to be competitive. You also have no clue which Emory and Henry team is going to show up tonight.

I would say it would be a nailbiter if it were at E&H because they have been playing really well at home this month, but on the road, YIKES. They got the 76ers syndrome this month - they can seemingly beat anyone at home but go on the road and it's a horror show.

For the the H-SC BC game, will be another loss for the Tigers if they play as pathetically on defense as they did this weekend. On the bright side, there is little room to be worse defensively unless you want to consider NBA All-Star game type defense as a possibility.

[hasanova]

May well be five ODAC teams among the top 64 (debatable), but regardless, the NCAA Tournament is not the top 64 -- it's 43 conference winners and the next-best 21.

Agree, but as I qualified my post, "It's not the way the AQ and selection system works."

[Seatfiller]

So I (tried) watched both ODAC games tonight

Ferrum wins in a close one against Emory and Henry 87-84.  This was close throughout the entire game. Something really strange was Emory and Henry was down by 2 and held the ball when there was only 13 seconds left in the game. E and H didn't attempt to score until there was 5 seconds left on the clock (they were down this entire time).  The shooter dropped the ball going up for a lay up and that was game.

Hampden Sydney beats Bridgewater 72-59.  It was a close game in the first half.  In the second half Bridgewater couldn't keep up with HSC as they started turning the ball over a good amount and taking bad shots.

[y_jack_lok]

H-SC over BC and Ferrum over E&H. So on Friday H-SC wil play R-MC and Ferrum will play VWU.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

May well be five ODAC teams among the top 64 (debatable), but regardless, the NCAA Tournament is not the top 64 -- it's 43 conference winners and the next-best 21.

Agree, but as I qualified my post, "It's not the way the AQ and selection system works."

You did say that ...

But when people throw out "top 64" in an argument, it tends to be confused that they are talking about the national tournament - since it is a 64-team field. And many others like to believe, pretend, hope, whatever that NCAA tournaments are always the "best" 64 (or 68 WTF?!) teams in the country ... despite there being NO indications of that possibility with AQs.

As a result, we get arguments that .500 teams who won their AQs shouldn't be in the tournament while also getting the arguments a fifth placed team in a conference should be in despite being no where close to the conversation.

So ... we all tend to remind everyone (Pat didn't quote anyone as if he was replying directly to anyone) the particulars. I know I tend to post with not only the idea of engaging in the current conversation, but also to inform the casual reader or someone not involved, yet, in the conversation to understand the particulars before we slide down a path that isn't relevant.