MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[FortyFour]

My personal opinion is that they're two of the best coaches in the country, probably about equal.  I certainly can't see rating either as significantly better.

I tend to agree with you on this as well.  It's hard to argue with the success that Coach Rhoades has had at RMC during his tenure, and Coach Macedo has had the Marlins in back-to-back National Championship games.  The fact of the matter is that both schools are tremendously lucky to have these men at the helm, and I would take either of them coaching my team any day of the week.

[DeWayneCarter]

VWC came ready for this game and because they did, they are now sitting in first place. Lots of trashtalking between the two teams early and often and the game was VERY VERY physical, which shows how much these two teams don't like each other. Tyler Fantin, who scored his 1000th point with his three pointer early in the ball game, was a force down low again, and is making his case for 1st team all-ODAC. Also, the defensive effort by VWC helped them gain the victory. Both teams were playing physical defense in the first half, but the 18-0 run to start the 2nd half for the Marlins was what did the trick. VWC had a good crowd on hand as did RMC. The refs let these guys play alot, missing fouls, TONS of traveling violations, and a lane violation at the free throw line, but all of this made the game much more interesting and entertaining.

[rmc1982]

GP05 and DeWayne-I congratulate your Marlins-you certainly deserved to win today and you did what you had to do,at precisely the right time,to take us out today.That being said ,however,although you played good defense[as we did-we held you way below where you like to play]we also shot 20% in the 2nd half[28% for the game]and if you saw the same game i did,not alot of it was the marlins defense-we just shot badly.Alot of the shots we missed were wide open,and even you guys would have to admit it was WAY out of character for us to shoot that badly.On the Macedo/Mike Rhoades issue-i earned alot of respect for Dave Macedo today-he DID outcoach Mike,as much as i hate to admit it.I have no idea why Mike took out Carlson today for the last 13min of the game or so,unless he said something to Mike or one of the wesleyan kids.On the trash talking-from where I was sitting it was the VWC kids who did the lions share of that-it was a physical game that at times i think the officials let get a little out of hand,on BOTH sides-but  there were at least 3 or 4 kids for VWC that ,in my opinoin,try to start trouble with their mouths AND their elbows.All in all,today you kicked our a__ good...but as my dad used to tell me,"the sun don't shine up the same dog's a__ every day"...we'll live to fight again another day...and you can bet we've got feb 16 circled on our schedule,as i'm sure you do,too....good game today,fellas,you deserved to win.......

[GP05]

That being said ,however,although you played good defense[as we did-we held you way below where you like to play]we also shot 20% in the 2nd half[28% for the game]and if you saw the same game i did,not alot of it was the marlins defense-we just shot badly.

RMC certainly could have shot better but I would actually say the opposite, a lot of it was indeed Marlin defense.  Every shot was contested and VWC was physical enough to never let the Jackets get into a rhythm.  RMC played great defense as well, you're right.  It was just that one run that did it for the Marlins.  Most games VW is going to shoot better also.  Even shooting poorly, they still pulled away.  Give credit where credit is due; there was great defense played tonight on both sides.

[Jacketlawyer]

  Wow, the jackets laid an EGG today. Simply put they played awful! Can not win in the ODAC when some of your better players give up. Jackets have to stop bit..en and PLAY!

I'll take the loss, although I had to triple-check the score on that game--thought I was going crazy. 

I'd rather split the series and win the tournament.

[hasanova]

  Wow, the jackets laid an EGG today. Simply put they played awful! Can not win in the ODAC when some of your better players give up. Jackets have to stop bit..en and PLAY!

I'll take the loss, although I had to triple-check the score on that game--thought I was going crazy. 

I'd rather split the series and win the tournament.

Thirty-eight is certainly rare in the shot-clock era.  How do you think Coach Majerus felt when his St. Louis U. team posted a whopping 20 a few weeks ago?!

[rmc1982]

That being said ,however,although you played good defense[as we did-we held you way below where you like to play]we also shot 20% in the 2nd half[28% for the game]and if you saw the same game i did,not alot of it was the marlins defense-we just shot badly.

RMC certainly could have shot better but I would actually say the opposite, a lot of it was indeed Marlin defense.  Every shot was contested and VWC was physical enough to never let the Jackets get into a rhythm.  RMC played great defense as well, you're right.  It was just that one run that did it for the Marlins.  Most games VW is going to shoot better also.  Even shooting poorly, they still pulled away.  Give credit where credit is due; there was great defense played tonight on both sides.

i'm certainly not trying to take anything away from VWC-they deservedto win yesterday,no question-but if we shoot 38% like you did and score before the 14 min mark of the 2nd half and go better than 2-15 behind the arc we win-alot of those shots,although contested[you can say that about any shot]were open looks we usually stick-bit if ,if,if-you won yesterday-next time may be our time.......your team is quick,and fast,but you'll never convince me that you're THAT much better than us....the last few years i left the batten center knowing we had just gotten beat by a superior team-yesterday i just left thinking we beat ourselves....

[sludge]

Speaking of coaches, Palumbo is no slouch, and after watching Guilford - Bridgewater, I see what people were saying earlier about Leatherman, he's flat out good.

About those three pointers by Dom Trawick for Bridgewater:  9 - 15, amazing!   Alot of guys can't do that in an empty gym!   I'll bet it helped a bit being at home.

It looks like Bridgewater tried one-and-help against Strong, intead of doubling him constantly.  That help has to arrive mightly quickly, because if Strong had the position he wanted by the time the help arrived, it didn't matter how many show up.

Guilford is pleased with every road victory (who ain't?), although there are things to learn from this one.  We got outrebounded, for one thing.

It took big steals down the stretch from Belkoski, a hard, hard charge taken by Kimbrough, and heads up offensive play by Edmund and Icewater Kimbrough to pull this one out.

[hasanova]

Sludge, I assume you and muckraker stayed over last night for Guilford's game with EMU game this afternoon.  Post something later when you get a chance  - probably after you get back to NC.  I listened to the BC game on the web ... the Eagles certainly had me worried, especially with Dom Trawick seemingly scoring at will at times.  The Quakers would get an 8-13 point lead and then, boom!, it would all evaporate! 

[donho]

  rmc1982
     Sometimes I watch parts of games by looking at different matchups rather than watching the score board. That being said I had my eyes on Carlson for much of the first half. He didn't play because he took himself out of the game by not showing up to play. Ex. ( walking to bench at time outs, trash talking instead of playing, crying to the ref's, joggingback on defense, basically playing no help defense) I mean this is a game that you want to make a statement. Your team has just put together a very nice 12 game win streak,your at the top of the conference, you are playing vwc at home, a team that has been to the last two  D-111 finals and you show up talking trash? On this board numerous posters have talked about how good he is and that he is a player and that any team would want him to play for them, not yesterday!  IMO that is why he finished the game on the bench. Hope the young man bounces back next week. I pointed out Carlson because you brought up his benching but he by far was not the only none player yesterday.

[baselinejam]

Let the rumors fly and the games begin. Good luck and Woolridge is the real deal.

Mhmm . It would be nice if we could have a true D3 center we could play so Mason could play  the 4 since his game is more suitable to the 3 and the 4 seeing as he was a D1 small forward his one year at Marshall and a power forward at Fork Union.

How'd you like the match up yesterday?

I hear Woolridge could flat out shoot it but his handle could use a little work.

[3sdown]

Congrats to VWC on the win...I like, Yellow Jacket Fan, had to triple check the score for the game b/c I couldn't believe a Rhoade's team had only scored 38 points.  I wasn't at the game so I can't comment on VWC's defense, but I am sure that it was a mixture (good defense and horrible shooting).  I had posted 4 keys to the game for RMC and here are my comments on them:

1.  Justin Short--Only 9 points (2-9 from the field) and only 2 assists with 4 Turnovers.  He has to play better for RMC to be successful.

2.  Jeremy Dixon--Only 7 points (3-9 from the field), 6 Rebounds in 25 minutes.  He also fouled out.  I had said he needed to play his average minutes (and probably more) and he didn't.  He has to play more (by staying out of foul trouble especially in big games) and be more productive with the minutes he plays.

3.  Perimeter Play/Shooting--Appeared to be horrendous.  Shooting was horrible. 18 Turnovers to 5 Assists.  

4.  David Carlson--He did not simply show up as it appears to me.  1-7 from the field (0-4 from the 3 point line) for 3 points.  Played 22 minutes.  Can't speak to his attitude during the game, but it appears from DonHo's comments that the "negative" Carlson showed up yesterday.  To me Carlson is quite simply the key to this team's success.  When he reverts back to the attitudes described by DonHo then Macon quickly can dissipate whereas when he is on top of his game (in all aspects) this team really comes together.  And obviously this was not the case during yesterday's game. 

VWC I am sure did some good things yesterday.  Defensive effort as well as an ability to control the game from a physical standpoint (...I gather this from other posts).  However, RMC did hold VWC to 56 pionts and is not a bad defensive effort in itself especially in a run away game in the last 10 minutes of the game.  Rhoades has to be somewhat pleased with that effort, especially in the 1st Half.  The offense on the part of RMC was seriously lacking, perhaps nerves, environment, etc.  RMC has the offensive talent...It just was not clicking yesterday and may have been affected by VWC's pressure/physicality.  Rhoades and the players can work on that and fix that issue relatively easily, especially since the talent is present to do so.  Defensive effort is a problem much harder problem to fix...

Again, congrats to VWC on the win.

[GP05]

Teams shoot very poorly often but almost always score more than 38 points.  There was a lot more to it. That 18-5 turnover to assist ratio for RMC was key.  I guess you can always make the argument that a team should've shot better etc but those 18 turnovers were forced by the Marlins.  They played the kind of defense that has perplexed some very good offenses the past couple of years.  Every ODAC team has seen it at least once.  I'm not saying 38 is characteristic of RMC, they're generally much better.  However, on this night it was that classic Marlin D that forced 18 turnovers and put several key players (Short, Dixon, especially Carlson) out of their games.  I feel like every ODAC team has tasted that tenacious pressure defense at one time or another.  It had been missing; it finally showed up. 

RMC did hold VWC to 56 and I was the first to say there were 2 great defensive efforts in that game, not just one.  Both teams played well on that end of the floor.

rmc, I'm definitely not saying VWC is a lot better than RMC.  The first half proved the teams are close.  It was that one single VW run to start the second half, that's it.  Don't mistake my admiration for the defensive effort that finally showed up yesterday for any disrespect of the RMC team.  I don't look forward to playing them again, quite honestly. 

[mybleedinghands]

Let the rumors fly and the games begin. Good luck and Woolridge is the real deal.

Mhmm . It would be nice if we could have a true D3 center we could play so Mason could play  the 4 since his game is more suitable to the 3 and the 4 seeing as he was a D1 small forward his one year at Marshall and a power forward at Fork Union.

How'd you like the match up yesterday?

I hear Woolridge could flat out shoot it but his handle could use a little work.

I won't provide my analysis of the game for many reasons, but I have to say the team offense didn't do much to help any individual player's performance yesterday and Kusimo had one of the best individual defensive performances I have seen against Mason this year. And well our defense didn't make things difficult for Bienemann or any other General, but to their credit they were a very crisp passing team and is clearly a very well coached and disciplined team.

IF W&L finishes strong down the stretch, they should be the 5th seed, maybe even higher, in the ODAC Tournament and Hutchinson should be getting major Coach of the Year discussion.

[hasanova]

Final:  Guilford 103, EMU 75

From the game portions I heard, not close after the 1st 10 minutes.  Strong 29/12, but only played 25 minutes.  Also, Henson (19 pts/5 reb/6 asts) & Belkoski 15 for GC ... Lyons 18 for EMU.

Quakers now 12-4, 7-2 ... Royals are 4-11, 1-8.  EMU had to be tired after yesterday's high-scoring E&H OT game, but back-to-back games are risky.   What'll GC think next Sunday after playing RMC & VWC!

After four straight solid wins, the Quakers are in an ODAC 4-way tie for 1st.  Top 25 again?