MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[hasanova]

Congratulations to Virginia Wesleyan for making the Final Four.  Good luck this weekend!  Reel in the title! lol

[algernon]

Some Final Four matchup notes:

http://www.iwuhoops.com/TOURN06.HTM

Titan Q .... Thanks for the link.  Great source of information about these Final Four teams!

[jdubyadubya]

Yeah, that's great comparative stuff. Re. the match-up of Myrick and Adair....Myrick is a player but hardly ever passed the ball off. On the last offensive play for VWC vs. Lincoln, Adair had the option(it was a designed play) to put up the lay up and maybe get fouled or pass the ball into the corner to Balenga. He chose the latter and Balenga nailed the 3 pointer to win by one. It was a spectacular play. Adair was named MVP of the series. Re. Sumpter, expectations are that he will be dressed and ready to go Friday night. 

[algernon]

What do the IWU v. VWC match-ups look like?  Who should be guarding who?  What are IWU's strengths/weaknesses?

Having looked at their schedule, it seems that information on their strengths/weaknesses could best be obtained from their conference foes, so I hope that some posters from North Central, Augustana, and other CWIW teams will clue us in ........  IWU began the season by rolling over non-conference opponents in their first 10 games, winning almost all of those games by 10-30 points.  There was one tough opponent in that group -- Puget Sound -- and perhaps there were other tough opponents, although it's not clear that there were.

Once IWU got into their conference schedule, against some quality opponents like North Central and Augustana, they lost quite a few games, beginning 4-3, then winning 4 in a row, and then finishing with a 2-3 record (including the conference tournament).

Their record in both regular season and conference tournament against conference foes was 10-6:

Against North Central:  1-2
Against Augustana:  1-2
Against Elmhurst:  1-1
Against Wheaton:  1-1
Against bottom 3 teams:  6-0

North Central, Augustana, and IWU made the NCAA Tourney.  The bracket was set up so that all 3 teams might have made it to the Sweet Sixteen (at one of the 3 CWIW schools?), but North Central got knocked off by St. Thomas in their first round game.  In the Sweet Sixteen, Augustana was beaten by Puget Sound, who was then beaten the following night by Illinois Wesleyan.

[jdubyadubya]

I'm wondering what kind of fan support the Marlins will get on Friday night. It's spring break at VWC so all the students are gone. I'm hoping that the Roanoke College faithful and the strong ODAC support base in the Valley will come out.   

[algernon]

I'm wondering what kind of fan support the Marlins will get on Friday night. It's spring break at VWC so all the students are gone. I'm hoping that the Roanoke College faithful and the strong ODAC support base in the Valley will come out.   

JWW .... A lot of the VWC students will check their e-mail over the break, so VWC needs to make sure that its students get the word that Virginia Wesleyan will be in the national Final Four!  I suspect that VWC has a lot of students who might make the trip to Salem on Friday afternoon to see the 8pm game.  There are even MORE students who will go to Salem on Saturday if the Marlins play in the national championship game.  The students would be excited about the possibility of a major celebration in Salem on Saturday evening!

[hasanova]

I'm wondering what kind of fan support the Marlins will get on Friday night. It's spring break at VWC so all the students are gone. I'm hoping that the Roanoke College faithful and the strong ODAC support base in the Valley will come out. 

Well, it certainly helps that a Virginia team (and ODAC member) is in the Salem Final Four.  If I was a student at VWC and lived close enough to make the trip, I would definitely be there!  Sadly, however, the DIII Final Four has to go head-to-head with 1st & 2nd round DI games on TV and in Greensboro, so some casual fans might stay away.  I've been thinking about making the trip just to see some good basketball, say I was at a Final Four and to root for a fellow ODAC member!

[Titan Q]

What do the IWU v. VWC match-ups look like?  Who should be guarding who?  What are IWU's strengths/weaknesses?

Having looked at their schedule, it seems that information on their strengths/weaknesses could best be obtained from their conference foes, so I hope that some posters from North Central, Augustana, and other CWIW teams will clue us in ........  IWU began the season by rolling over non-conference opponents in their first 10 games, winning almost all of those games by 10-30 points.  There was one tough opponent in that group -- Puget Sound -- and perhaps there were other tough opponents, although it's not clear that there were.

Once IWU got into their conference schedule, against some quality opponents like North Central and Augustana, they lost quite a few games, beginning 4-3, then winning 4 in a row, and then finishing with a 2-3 record (including the conference tournament).

Their record in both regular season and conference tournament against conference foes was 10-6:

Against North Central:  1-2
Against Augustana:  1-2
Against Elmhurst:  1-1
Against Wheaton:  1-1
Against bottom 3 teams:  6-0

North Central, Augustana, and IWU made the NCAA Tourney.  The bracket was set up so that all 3 teams might have made it to the Sweet Sixteen (at one of the 3 CWIW schools?), but North Central got knocked off by St. Thomas in their first round game.  In the Sweet Sixteen, Augustana was beaten by Puget Sound, who was then beaten the following night by Illinois Wesleyan.

Illinois Wesleyan had some very good non-conference wins.  As I'd rank the teams they defeated...

1. St. Xavier, home (81-61) - NAIA D1 at-large team (beat D1 Illinois Chicago)
2. Olivet Nazarene, home (87-68) - NAIA D1 champ of CCAC
3. Westmont, road (76-60) - solid NAIA D1
4. Puget Sound, neutral (104-87) - D3 Elite 8
5. Wash U, road (83-56) - D3 bubble team...just missed Pool C
6. Hanover, home (73-61) - perennial D3 power that had good, not great, year
7. Wabash, road (79-67) - D3, had pretty good season in NCAC
8. Chicago, road (71-67) - D3, had pretty good season in UAA

(Texas-Dallas and Illinois College weren't very good.)

IWU faced D1 U. of Illinois in an exhibition on Nov. 3.  It was a 6 point Illini lead at halftime and 45-44 at 13:23 before the defending national runner up pulled away...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/ILLINI.HTM

http://fightingillini.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/110305aaa.html

[algernon]

Thanks for the info on IWU's non-conference opponents.  I didn't know anything about the NAIA teams that IWU played.  Do you think any of the 3 NAIA teams were as good as North Central or Augustana?

[Titan Q]

Thanks for the info on IWU's non-conference opponents.  I didn't know anything about the NAIA teams that IWU played.  Do you think any of the 3 NAIA teams were as good as North Central or Augustana?

I think #10 North Central, #13 Augustana, and receiving votes Elmhurst were all slightly better than the best non-conference teams IWU faced (Elmhurst is not ranked due to their # of losses, but check out who the losses are to).  I realize Puget Sound just beat Augustana, but Augie's starting point-guard did not play and against UPS of all teams, that is a killer.  I'd take Augie 7 times out of 10 with Drew Wessels.

The CCIW finished:

Augustana 11-3
North Central 9-5
Elmhurst 9-5
Illinois Wesleyan 9-5

The games between the contenders were almost all tight...any of these 4 could have won the CCIW with a few bounces of the ball.  I think it is safe to say it was the best league in the nation this year.

[naismith]

Best of luck to Wilkes U. alum Dave Macedo and his VW Marlins in the Final Four. 

Naismith

[diehardfan]

Since I already wrote all this for fans of another board, I thought I'd post the info on the other school boards as well. Here's the scoop on the ticket info here, in cause anyone was wondering. Hope to see many of you there!

Does anyone know when tickets for Friday nights IWU game will go on sale at IWU?

You can just call the Salem Civic Center directly and order them,and then pick them up at Will Call...at least that has been the case in the past.

They won't be available at IWU, as far as I know. You can order tickets in one of two ways:

1) Order them from www.Ticketmaster.com, and pay all sorts of rediculous services charges.
2) Order them from the Box office at the Civic Center. The phone number is one of the many bizarre d3sports numbers programmed into my phone  and it is 540-894-6022. You will still pay a service charge ($2) but it is much less than through Ticketmaster (which is $6-$7).

The second option is better, even if it wasn't less expensive. because the Civic Center knows where each school's designated fans section is, and you can request to be put in the IWU section.

You will then just need to pick up the tickets the day of the game from the will call window. The line has never been very long.

I have also picked up tickets the day of the game from the ticket booth, and gotten a great seat by requesting that the put me as close to the floor and the middle as possible. Heck, I've even gotten a good sized block of tickets just for the second day and gotten great seats that were all together when my sis and a group of friends from home decided to come down at the last second for the championship two years ago.

The Final Four, as far as I can tell, has never gotten that close to selling out. It may get closer than normal this year, with VaWes and IWU there, but I wouldn't worry too much about the tickets.

[justafan02]

This is a rumor I have heard but there has been absolutely no substantiation of it whatsoever, so I think we had best let it die.

Pat,

It is not a rumor anymore.

[justafan02]

I think VWC will have a lot of fan support from the marlin faithful Friday and if they win, Saturday.  The ODAC fans alone in the Roanoke area outnumber the current student body at VWC anyway.  Hopefully I can make the treck Friday night and hopefully get to watch them play live on the internet Saturday.  Looks like it is going to be one heck of a match up as it should be.

[Pat Coleman]

This is a rumor I have heard but there has been absolutely no substantiation of it whatsoever, so I think we had best let it die.

Pat,

It is not a rumor anymore.

Where was the published report?

1) Comments or rumors of a defamatory nature without published substantiation will be removed. NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTS. If we haven't noticed them yet, we will and will remove them. Repeat offenders are subject to banning from the system.