MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[VW-16]

So, I guess this is the time that what Pat Coleman did or didn't write doesn't matter.  Calm down in the future.

Pat,
We all appreciate the time and effort that goes into this site. I am not a regular poster but enjoy being able to listen to what others have to say. The fact is nobody from d3hoops really gave VWC much of a chance which is OK but, when they overcome the odds you should expect some posters to state their case. Some times you have to have thick skin.

I am a VWC graduate/athlete and former coach who now resides in Maryland so I would like to thank you for the coverage because it was truly wonderful to be able to see the Marlins win a National Championship.

It was very nice to see games on video, is there a chance that this could happen more often next year?

[Greek Tragedy]

Congrats to Virginia Wesleyan on their big win tonight. 

[baselinejam]

WOW !!!!

VW has much to be proud of.

Great year, great final 2 games!!!

[naismith]

Once again,

Congratulations to Coach Dave Macedo and his National Champion Marlins!!

As an ancestral Colonel and Wilkes University Alum, I can vouch that many Northeast Pa. hoop fans were pulling for Coach Macedo and his very talented squad.


Well done.

Naismith

[algernon]

What a great experience, to be at the games and see the Marlins win the National Championship!!  As Brian Hamilton has said, I just wish that the Marlins were the 2nd ODAC team to do it ... and I remember how close Hampden-Sydney came 7 years ago when they took the defending national champions to double overtime.  After seeing the Marlins beat two of the very best teams in the country, IWU and Wittenberg, there's no doubt that the Marlins are deserving national champions -- the best team in the country.  They never gave up, always played very tight defense, and had multiple scoring threats in Adair, Balenga, and Fantin.  And what a great job of doing it all even without the services of one of their starting five!

[hasanova]

VWC, if you're fishing for a compliment, here it is:  Yippee!  Congratulations from Guilford College fans and all the ODAC!

[Ryan Coleman]

We all appreciate the time and effort that goes into this site. I am not a regular poster but enjoy being able to listen to what others have to say. The fact is nobody from d3hoops really gave VWC much of a chance which is OK but, when they overcome the odds you should expect some posters to state their case. Some times you have to have thick skin.

As do you.

[diehardfan]

I just love the fan support VWC is getting here from other teams in the ODAC. I love it when conferences join together in support of their tourney rep.

Eyanivich (sp) was Michael Jordan esq.  Tyler Fantin and Ton Ton w/ HUGE baskets and Brandon Adair is one of the top players in the country, bottom line....

Kudo's to Ill Wes.  extremely talented and classy bunch, just ran into a stubborn VWC team.  Go Marlins.....WOW.

lol... worst spelling of Amelianovich ever!     Though, it just reminds me of that time when I was talking to the Amelanoviches and the Dauksases, and the Dauksases mentioned that they weren't even sure how to spell Keelan's last name!

Stubborn is a great word for the Marlins. After watching the first set of games this weekend (only my second game involving an ODAC team, now that I live in Cali) I had to believe that VaWes would pull it off. (I posted comments about the first game after the blog on the first page.)

Clutch is a great word to describe Ton Ton's performance. The absolutely worst position for Witt to be in, was to need to make a shot from downtown at the end of the game, when their big guys are really their only really good players... and his two treys at the end of the first game just absolutely killed IWU.

Adair, who will obviously read this, cause you know he likes to post it up on occasion,  was stellar... I haven't found where the All-America team is on the site, but Adair sure made a great case for himself as an All-American. He looked a littled jittered in the beginning of the game tonight under the tv lights, but he obviously revovered quite quicky! Lots of fun to see him battling in the paint with the Witt big guys on both sides of the floor.

I had a tremendous time down in Salem this weekend, and the games were absolutely incredible. So a big congrats from this Wheaton fan for showing me such a good time! The five hour flight each way was totally worth it!

VWC has to be the obvious choice for preseason #1, after winning the national championship, and returning basically everyone but Fitch (who is a key player, but still only one player out of their lineup)... well that is unless Adair doesn't come back? I heard from a player parent that he only has one semester left needed to graduate, so I suppose that's a question someone closer to the program than me will have to clarify. Lol... how's that for stirring the pot.

Incidentally, lay off Pat. Yeah it was shorter, yeah, another poster and I discussed how we thought that was funny, and somewhat suggestive. But to suggest that he didn't give VA Wes a lot of coverage when he was calling the games, updating the website, and arranging all the stuff relating to getting the games on TV, in addition to his job and raising a family stuff, it's really just crazy unfair.

[algernon]

diehardfan ... You passed by so quickly during the halftime of the IWU / Amherst game (exiting above the Amherst bench) that I didn't get a chance to call out your name and thank you for the cookies 2-3 years ago. 

The All-Americans are now posted.  As I understand it, the selections were announced yesterday before the national championship game.  Congratulations to Coach Macedo, voted D3 National Coach of the Year, and Brandon Adair, 1st Team All-American!

During the NCAA Tournament, the Marlins had the opportunity to play against 3 First-Teamers (IWU's Amelianovich & Dauksas, as well as Lincoln's National POY Kyle Myrick) and 1 Second-Teamer (Witt's Russ).

[Titan Q]

Interesting flashback to the postgame interview with Scott Trost after IWU's win over Puget Sound...

Me: "Coach, your semifinals opponent will be Virginia Wesleyan, any thoughts about them?"

Trost: "I don't know anything about them, and I don't really care."

Oh...he cares now.

This comment is so misleading I really can't  believe it was made (on two boards here on D3hoop.scom).  As someone who also interviewed IWU head coach Scott Trost in the minutes after the IWU/UPS sectional title game (for WJBC Radio), I had a chance to ask the question, "What do you know about Virginia Wesleyan?"  Scott Trost gave basically the same answer as above, but it was crystal clear that he meant, "We're going to enjoy this enormous win and we'll worry about Virginia Wesleyan tomorrow when we get home, get the tape, etc."  Pat, to take that comment so literally and suggest that Scott Trost somehow disrespected the Marlins or didn't take them seriously is just ridiculous.  Come on.

[Titan Q]

An amazing weekend for Virginia Wesleyan.  Ton Ton Balenga has to go down as one of the most clutch players in Division III history with his winning shots vs Lincoln, IWU, and Wittenberg.

The Va Wesleyan win over Wittenberg was almost identical to the win over IWU in the overall flow of the game.  The Tigers could never put the Marlins away and the Marlins just kept fighting back.  Incredible clutch performance by guys like Adair, Fantin, and of course Balenga.

Congrats to Virginia Wesleyan and the ODAC on a national title!  Had a great time in beautiful Salem, Va as always.

[patcummings]

Interesting flashback to the postgame interview with Scott Trost after IWU's win over Puget Sound...

Me: "Coach, your semifinals opponent will be Virginia Wesleyan, any thoughts about them?"

Trost: "I don't know anything about them, and I don't really care."

Oh...he cares now.

This comment is so misleading I really can't  believe it was made (on two boards here on D3hoop.scom).  As someone who also interviewed IWU head coach Scott Trost in the minutes after the IWU/UPS sectional title game (for WJBC Radio), I had a chance to ask the question, "What do you know about Virginia Wesleyan?"  Scott Trost gave basically the same answer as above, but it was crystal clear that he meant, "We're going to enjoy this enormous win and we'll worry about Virginia Wesleyan tomorrow when we get home, get the tape, etc."  Pat, to take that comment so literally and suggest that Scott Trost somehow disrespected the Marlins or didn't take them seriously is just ridiculous.  Come on.

He said it Bob, but count me amongst the gang who thought he was right...that it really wouldn't matter who IWU played after their sectional wins.  I thought it was going to a Titan-riffic weekend in Salem based on what I had seen in the sectionals...I was wrong, a bunch of us were wrong.  Just interesting to look back to his immediate reactions.

[mybleedinghands]

LOL, why do people keep voting in the poll AFTER the game has been played??

[Pat Coleman]

An amazing weekend for Virginia Wesleyan.  Ton Ton Balenga has to go down as one of the most clutch players in Division III history with his winning shots vs Lincoln, IWU, and Wittenberg.

Call him Mr. March.

[Jacketlawyer]

Congrats to the Marlins on a fantastic season. Don't know if anyone saw it, but that 3 pointer to win the game last night is CNN's play of the day for today (March 19, 2006).