MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hasa, I stand corrected on the numbers.  But I have great confidence in Ben's finish this year (as well as his stats in 'The Show').

His senior numbers so far are not justifying him entering the 'best ever' conversation, but I've got my fingers crossed for the second half!

[hasanova]

The Top 25 is posted.  VWC is 14 and Guilford returns at 23.  RMC and RC drop out, but came in 27 and 30, respectively, in the voting.

[hasanova]

Hasa, I stand corrected on the numbers.  But I have great confidence in Ben's finish this year (as well as his stats in 'The Show').

His senior numbers so far are not justifying him entering the 'best ever' conversation, but I've got my fingers crossed for the second half!

I hope he'll have a great finish as well.  As Ben goes, so do the Quakers.   Maybe his late season play will be so good, we'll play 34 games this year ... and win the last one played. 

[old_lion]

Hasa, I stand corrected on the numbers.  But I have great confidence in Ben's finish this year (as well as his stats in 'The Show').

His senior numbers so far are not justifying him entering the 'best ever' conversation, but I've got my fingers crossed for the second half!

A couple of comments/questions ...

1) I don't know about "the best ever conversation", but 25 and 11 ... 57% and 77% ... those #s are very solid.

2) How did a talented, 6'11 guy end up in DIII? But ... kudos to Strong for that decision. Way too many big guys with a little talent end up riding the bench, or being limited role players at higher levels ... when if they had gone somewhere more appropriate to their abilities (we all know guys like that), could have had the great college experience that Strong has had.

[hasanova]

Hasa, I stand corrected on the numbers.  But I have great confidence in Ben's finish this year (as well as his stats in 'The Show').

His senior numbers so far are not justifying him entering the 'best ever' conversation, but I've got my fingers crossed for the second half!

A couple of comments/questions ...

1) I don't know about "the best ever conversation", but 25 and 11 ... 57% and 77% ... those #s are very solid.

2) How did a talented, 6'11 guy end up in DIII? But ... kudos to Strong for that decision. Way too many big guys with a little talent end up riding the bench, or being limited role players at higher levels ... when if they had gone somewhere more appropriate to their abilities (we all know guys like that), could have had the great college experience that Strong has had.

I think Ben Strong was a late-blooming prospect at Chapel Hill HS ... in both talent and a growth spurt.  As a Guilford freshman, he was about 205 without the polish, strength and stamina he has now.  Some DI's tried to lure him away after his stellar Sophomore season, but I'm so glad he honored his commitment to Guilford and to his teammate Caleb Kimbrough, with whom he's shared the same court since about 8th grade.  He's also been to a Big Man camp every summer and the improvement each season has been very noticeable.

[DenbowsRoomie]

Coach Hutchinson also recruited Ben Strong and, at the time, described him as raw in skill but coming together as a physical specimen.  Let's not forget, when Ben came into the ODAC, Genaro Lawhorn was the de facto "beast" of the Quakers and was definitely the main focus of opposing teams.  I will always remember in 2005, Ben's freshman year, (my working year at W&L) when Femi Kusimo on a fast break crammed a dunk right over Ben Strong, all 6'10" of him.

Since then, it's clear that Ben Strong has become the most effective player in the ODAC on both sides of the ball.  It's speical when an athlete of superior physical ability combines his talents with a consistent work ethic -- only good things can result from that.

I can only dream about Ben joining Bienemann and Kusimo in that freshman class of '04-'05.  Now that would've been fun to watch.

[steelyglen]

Well Pat, some things ( and people) never change...at least you are consistent

[algernon]

In addition to shooting the ball well, the Gennies seem to be solving some problems of years past, cleaning the boards better and protecting the ball.  They forced Sydney into 21 TOs and only 7 assists.  I haven't seen any games yet so my perspective is limited, but some good things are going on in Lex.

The Generals played well, but I have no doubt that Sunday was not their best game.  Playing their best basketball, the Generals might have beaten the Tigers by 30 points.  I have never seen a Hampden-Sydney team play so poorly. 

Without Tyler Murray or Drew Prehmus on the floor (both are captains, and either is capable of 15-25 points on any given night), the Tigers are not the same team they were in early January.  On Sunday, the Tigers scored only 17 points in the first half .... had 7 assists and 21 turnovers for the game .... and were relying too much on Turner King, who took 41% of the Tiger shots .... not that the problem is really captured by any statistic.   I think that Drew's team leadership, ability to score, and steady rebounding has kept the Tigers competitive in the absence of Tyler, so they will be considerably better once he is back, but the team is in a period of transition since Tyler's injury and time will tell what they make of it.

[Pat Coleman]

Well Pat, some things ( and people) never change...at least you are consistent

Don't know what to tell you -- look around the site and see all the other conferences that are set up that way.

http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=5533.0
http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=4053.0
http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=4044.0
http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=4055.0
http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=4086.0
http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=4054.0

[Tigerfan]

I haven't talked with Steely in some time, and maybe I'm way off on this one, but I doubt that he was thinking of the website setup.

[Pat Coleman]

I haven't talked with Steely in some time, and maybe I'm way off on this one, but I doubt that he was thinking of the website setup.

I hate to be a stick in the mud, but we still have a pick-em thread, and that's where picks belong.

I know this annoyed Steelyglen before and I fear it may again, but the rules have not changed.

I think that my tone has been far more conciliatory on this board the past 12 months. If someone is seeing otherwise, I apologize, but they may well be mistaken. I don't deal with the board in anywhere near the same way I used to.

If it's something else entirely, you'll have to let me know. That was a rather vague statement.

[Pat Coleman]

If you recall, one of the reasons why people disagreed with my decision last year was because they liked the traffic that that pick 'ems generated on the main board.

However, this year, there have been 416 posts in the past 26 days (since games started being played again after the holiday, basically). That's 16 posts a day. That's pretty darn good, all things considered. I would consider the volume of posts a success -- we have more posters than we did last year. [remainder deleted after offline clarification]

[Pat Coleman]

Same span last year, Jan. 3-29, 311 posts. So, a 34% increase.

[DenbowsRoomie]

golf-clap.

[Pat Coleman]

Yeah, I know. Sarcasm is deserved.