MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[jdubyadubya]

Jim - You know I've been noticing that there's a lot of weeding out of players going on - we heard it all summer about Guilford, then Roanoke, and a little bit about HSC with Mladen not returning. As you said, the programs will be the better for it. I'm not aware of any discontent at VWC but I'll keep my ears open. We are going down to the TipOff Tournament this weekend. Peter gets his 1000 point ball on Friday night. He leaves Nov 29 for a 3 week tour of US military bases in Europe and then back to begin the US tour on December 23. Ah, the life of living out of a suitcase!   

[ODACfan1]

Emory and Henry opens the season this weekend in the Mount St. Josephs(Cincinnati) tournament.  They will face defending OAC champs, John Carroll, in the opener on Friday afternoon.  Anyone have any info on John Carroll.  We are expecting some good things from this group of WASPS this year. 

[justafan02]

For those that asked, Adair put up his numbers against Marymount I believe in the scrimmage.  On another note, It's def. going to be a battle in the Batten Center.  Trinity is pretty tough and NC Wesleyan will be no cake walk for either VWC or Trinity.  I remember last year against Lebanon Valley when Fitch put up his heroics.  Glad the season is about to begin.  Early tests for VWC  include Trinity, NC Wesleyan and HSC pretty soon as well.  All the out of conference games for VWC include some pretty big South Region competition.  Fun to watch.

[ruthless]

EMU had its second scrimmage of the year tonight at home vs Mary Washington. First quarter EMU won by 21, second quarter they were up as much as 20 and after some substitutions ended up winning by 6. They looked real good had at least five in double figures, and Lentz didn't play. Get ready ODAC, he come the Royals.

[deanslist]

I was in attendance tonight in Harrisonburg to watch the final scrimmage for the Royals against a Mary Washington team that is receiving national votes for the top 25. EMU looked very impressive tonight, especially from the standpoint that Coach Dean can play 12 or so players and still feel confident with what he has out on the floor.  EMU won the first 2 periods of play by over 25 points! Because of this years talent and deep bench, EMU showed pressure all over the floor and pushed the ball in transition quite a bit! I think a big key for the Royals this year is that the opposing team won't be able to focus on one or two players. EMU has a lot of players that can step up on different nights and drop 15 to 20 points. Coach Dean and his staff has once again done a great job of bring in a freshmen class that will contribute right away! This is going to be an exciting season here in Harrisonburg and you can feel the excitement on campus since Midnight Madness took place about a month ago. There is no doubt the Royals will be playing tough "D" all over the court, pushing the ball in transition, and getting substitutions in and out of the game like it's going out of style. EMU tips off this Saturday night at Southern Virginia and has there home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 22 against the always athletic Shenandoah squad. 

[mr_divac]

steely...i suppose i will do you proud over at Page High, however i should let you know that i went to Grimsley High School, home of the mighty Whirlies. i almost hate playing against them because i plan on winning, but it happens. and the carolina stuff, so many people on my team are Duke fans it scares me...lol!!!

[stillfamily]

Deans list you know i just heard the News....The night in the burg tonight will hopefully set the tone for the season. As the royals did handle MWC on their home floor. NOw it is only a scrimmage, it means absolutely nothing and nobody knows who played and who didnt....For instance MWC may have had some players out and were not at their full strength. ..but that is a scrimmage for teams to build on and thats what both will do let's hope.....I am pumped and i cant wait to see the boys put it together!!!!!!!!!!

[mybleedinghands]

unless southern virginia has improved dramatically from last year, EMU should run them off the floor this weekend. last year we handled them easily. we could do just about anything we wanted against them.

[steelyglen]

mr_divac...a "whirlie"? I should have known. By the way, in your 4 years on the "dark side", did you ever figure out what the hell a "whirlie" is?  ::)And is "Tiger Rag" still the fight song? A Whirlie, a 'Heel and a Quaker, I believe that is 3 strikes against you mr_divac...you may be seated

[steelyglen]

Jim/JWW... I for one, am glad to see coaches (at least on the ODAC level) running their own programs and doing what's right for the name on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back. It's not time just yet for the inmates to run the asylum.

deanslist...sounds very impressive for the Royals. 12 deep without a drop-off? Not many teams can say that! So no excuse for the Royals not to finish in the top 4 and certainly pound Bridgewater twice this year. You got 'em where you want 'em! Better get 'em while they're down!

It'll be interesting to see what the Eagles bring to the table tonight. They will certainly be outmanned at every position, so tonight is more about finding that "team" and executing the BC game plan. Looking forward to some first hand reviews tomorrow!Still haven't heard much about Ryan Glover. Is he still hurt, will he be part of the rotation? Same with Dan Cunningham...he came on towards the end of last season and provided some quality minutes at the 4 and 5. Lots of questions and not a lot of time to figure it out.
Maybe 7th was a little high!

[algernon]

The Tigers' SID's "Season Preview" can be read at http://www.hsc.edu/athletics/basketball/2005_06/preview0506.html

[ODACfan1]

Does Bridgewater and EMU play tonight or something?  Can I get some info on this please?  Thanks

[ladyfan]

Bridgewater plays JMU in an exhibition tonight at  the convo. I beleive a donation of a canned good or something is all that's required for admission.

Steely, EMU may have it this year to compete with and/or beat Bridgewater, but you can never count Leatherman out. Boy did they look good last night. Arrignton was back playing at his level of days of old! The freshman looked very good for only their second "live" performance of their college careers. Last but certainly not least, the question is who is going to stop Parkes, Sager and Whiting? All three had around 16-20 points, with 3-4 assists apiece to eachother. Coach Dean really does have 8-9 players that can contribute without much of a let down. To put up close to 110 points on a team that has all 5 starters back and is pre-season top 25 in the country is doing something. Again just a scrimmage, the real teams are made in the tough days of January and February. We'll see.

[DenbowsRoomie]

Generals season preview is up on their website.

http://athletics.wlu.edu/mbasketball/pre0506.htm

[steelyglen]

ladyfan...that's what I hear. I really expect EMU to win 20+ and at least 12-13 conference games. You're right, scoring 110 on a pre-season possible top 25 team is impressive. Nobody in the ODAC should hang with them except maybe Macon, Wesleyan and maybe Sydney. This could be the Royals year!