MBB: Centennial Conference

[Gabriel]

As a Cent. Conf. alum, I was pleased to stumble onto this board. You all might be very helpful.

I have a friend who has been recruited by most of the conference. He wants to go to a good school that will also have a good team for the next few years.

It looks like he has narrowed his choices to McDaniel and F&M (Dickinson might also still be in the mix). I have two questions. First, is McDaniel a good enough school to turn down the other two?


ddm28

In response to your posting, I think your friend might be overlooking one of the best colleges in his/her search----Ursinus College.  Look at recent polls in Smart Money and U.S. News & World Report for their views.  It is a very challenging school academically and has, arguably, the best and most successful basketball program in the Centennial Conference over the past eight years and it will get better as long as Kevin Small is the coach.   It is difficult to gain admission even if you are an athlete.  Ursinus' top two basketball recruits last year were not admitted due to marginal academic credentials yet are playing for other good DIII schools.  Also, it is difficult to make the cut for the basketball team as Coach Small values character and initiative very highly.  For a basketball playing student athlete at the DIII level, in my opinion, Ursinus is the best of the best.

Gabriel

[Gabriel]

1/28/2009 Picks.

McDaniel    too tough on their home court
F&M           again, home court is the deciding factor
JHU            Hopkins is slightly better
Ursinus      will be tough in the dim gym but the Bears will do it
Haverford  don't think Swarthmore will win a game.

[Gabriel]

Reserved Seat,

The F&M/Ursinus game was an excellent game.  Ursinus had the opportunity to win at the end but couldn't convert the inbound play.  You are right about out of control drives.  The Bears lack an inside game when Howell is out and have to make up for it with drives to the hoop.  Noonan and Cousart are trying to make things happen--not always successfully.  They miss Matt Hilton more than you can imagine.  He was and will be a conference player of the year candidate.  He is that good both offensively and defensively.  I can't  criticize Noonan and Cousart as both played excellent games--they gave it their all.

The keys to the game were fouls and foul shots.  F&M was called for only 11 fouls and Ursinus for 18.  Howell was assessed two "chippies" in the first minute and a half of the game and sat the rest of the first half, a real killer for a team that has little post presence.   Noonan had to sit for five minutes---at a time when Ursinus lost the lead in the second half due to his fourth foul----an ill advised offensive foul.  Noonan did not get to the free throw line at all despite scoring 25 points.  Hmmm!
F&M converted 18 of 21 foul shots and Ursinus 9 of 10.  The foul shot differential was more than enough to win the tight game. 

F&M knows they will be in for a fight in Collegeville on February 11.

[d3hoopsfan]

As a Cent. Conf. alum, I was pleased to stumble onto this board. You all might be very helpful.

I have a friend who has been recruited by most of the conference. He wants to go to a good school that will also have a good team for the next few years.

It looks like he has narrowed his choices to McDaniel and F&M (Dickinson might also still be in the mix). I have two questions. First, is McDaniel a good enough school to turn down the other two?

DDM28,

First of all, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the colleges(McDaniel, F&M, and Dickinson) in the Centennial Conference.  If your friend has a successful academic career at these colleges, he will have plenty of opportunities available to him upon graduation.  Future employers will acknowledge the solid academic reputations and will appreciate the hard work he demonstrated as a student-athlete.  I think many factors go into a final decision.  These thoughts may help:

Where do you see yourself fitting in the best-academically and athletically?  Did you like the campus/facilities,etc.?  How much interest has the coach shown you?  Where does the coach see you fitting into the team?  Do you like style of play? Current players?
Academic Scholarships/Grants available? Tuition,etc?  Playing Time? Do you want a key role as a freshman(starter or key bench player) or are you willing to play minimal minutes until you are an upperclassmen?

As far as basketball:
McDaniel-  Young, upcoming coach in 2nd year with program.  The program is on the rise and is having a very good season thus far.  They have a strong recruiting class of freshman this year to go along with a good mix of sophomores and juniors returning.  They seem to be a program that is committed to being a top contender in the CC for years to come.
F&M- Good program over the years with an established coach.  A starting line up and key reserves that is filled with freshman and sophomores. They will be a top tier team for at least the next 2-3 years, but their line up seems established for this time period.  So getting quality minutes if any, may take a few years.
Dickinson-another quality program over the years that is loaded with seniors(Grell, Leszczynski, among others)  Dickinson will be looking to fill many voids next year.  It many take a few years of reloading before they will be able to compete with the top teams in the CC.

[old ends]

Results for 1/26

oldbballer          4   -  1  Congrats on your 1st pick
Brce4               3  -  2
Reserved Seat   3  -  2
D.B.Cooper        3  -  2
Diplomaniac1     3  -  2
UniqueNewYork  3  -  2
r.e.mcnickels     3  -  2
Old Ends           3  -  2
Gabriel              3  -  2
Tucker1129       4  -  1

Overall
Old Ends            38  -  12  (.760)
Reserved Seat    36  -  14  (.720)
Diplomaniac 1     36  -  14  (.720)
UniqueNewYork   36  -  14  (.720)
D.B.Cooper         34  -  16  (.680)
Tucker1129         8  -   2  (.800)
Brce4                31  -  19  (.620)
Gabriel              29  -  21  (.580)
r.w.mcnickels     29  -  21  (.580)
oldbballer            5  -   0    Start rankings next pick.

[old ends]

Picks for 1/28/09

F & M
Gettysburg
Haverford
Muhlenberg
John Hopkins

enjoy

[old ends]

What they said about Last Nights Games

F & M :http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/233105

Gettysburg: http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/articles/2009/01/27/sports/gettysburg_college/doc497f00b28cbfe866503668.txt

Gettysburg again :http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_11560387

Dickinson: http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2009/01/27/sports/local/doc497ea303b8939437655176.txt

enjoy

[Reserved Seat]

Old Ends,
I think I was only 3-2.  I didn't check everyone but I think you gave us credit for Washington winning.  Most of us should have one more wrong and Tucker should have one more right.  You'll probably have to check, because I may not have checked everyone.

[BRCE4]

Picks for 1/28
F&M( Can't see an up and down Dickinson winning here)
McDaniel ( Gettysburg may have trouble away against most athletic team in league)
Haverford ( Swat down to 9 players just doesn't have enough talent)
Mules ( tough pick but Mules are really tough at home)
Hopkins ( Home court pick)

[old ends]

Thanks RS
Had that game marked wrong from the start....

All have been changed

[r.w. mcnickels]

Reserved Seat,

The F&M/Ursinus game was an excellent game.  Ursinus had the opportunity to win at the end but couldn't convert the inbound play.  You are right about out of control drives.  The Bears lack an inside game when Howell is out and have to make up for it with drives to the hoop.  Noonan and Cousart are trying to make things happen--not always successfully.  They miss Matt Hilton more than you can imagine.  He was and will be a conference player of the year candidate.  He is that good both offensively and defensively.  I can't  criticize Noonan and Cousart as both played excellent games--they gave it their all.

The keys to the game were fouls and foul shots.  F&M was called for only 11 fouls and Ursinus for 18.  Howell was assessed two "chippies" in the first minute and a half of the game and sat the rest of the first half, a real killer for a team that has little post presence.   Noonan had to sit for five minutes---at a time when Ursinus lost the lead in the second half due to his fourth foul----an ill advised offensive foul.  Noonan did not get to the free throw line at all despite scoring 25 points.  Hmmm!
F&M converted 18 of 21 foul shots and Ursinus 9 of 10.  The foul shot differential was more than enough to win the tight game. 

F&M knows they will be in for a fight in Collegeville on February 11.

Reserved and Gabriel-

That was one of the more exciting games I've seen in the past couple of years.  The Bears have an impressive ability to make other teams play their style.  F&M usually likes to dictate the tempo by "grinding it out" and working the shot clock, but it's hard to do that against Ursinus.  The Bears always seem to play with a controlled urgency that gets F&M out of its comfort zone.

F&M finally had some success on defense in the second half (including several key stops near the end).  Brooks also hit a huge "three" late in the game, near the end of the shot clock, that turned the tide in F&M's favor.

Milligan drew a lot of fouls - which has become one of his strengths.  It's sometimes easy to forget he's a freshman because he makes so much happen, including the big steal that clinched the game.  Noonan is my bet to be POY in the conference.  Cousart should also be at least a second team all-CC selection.

Foul shots were a key, but not the only one.  F&M outscored Ursinus off turnovers 22-9, and 13-8 on second chance points.  Obviously losing Howell early hurt the Bears.

I'm sure the Dips know they'll be in for a fight in Collegeville - they were fortunate to survive this one.  But just about every game in the conference is a fight this year.

[diplomaniac1]

Folks -

Well, there is another tough slate of games to choose from again for tonight's contests. Here goes nothing. The following are my selections and rationales for the 1/28 pick-ems:

Dickinson  @   Franklin And Marshall:   F&M. (Still don't quite yet know how to evaluate the Red Devils this year. Just like the win again Urinsus, the Dips need to get a win and get this monkey off their backs as well. Mayser Center advantage goes to the Dips).

Gettysburg   @   McDaniel:   McDaniel. (I picked the Terror due to their toughness at home. I may be wrong but I think that the Terror may also have too much athleticism and may be too physical for the Bullets).

Haverford   @   Swarthmore:   Haverford. (Nothing else to say).

Ursinus   @   Muhlenberg:   Muhlenberg. (Mules win if they can get the ball inside to Barnes and Liddig and if the big boys stay out of foul trouble. Throw in officiating that allows rugby in the "Mule Barn" or the "Bat Cave" and it adds up to a close win for the Mules).

Washington  @   Johns Hopkins:   Johns Hopkins. (More balanced Jays win another close game in Goldfarb).

Weather and job meeting obligations are the only things that would and are actually going to prevent me from being at Mayser tonight. Go Dips!

Enjoy the games. Good luck to all teams, fans, and prognoticators. Travel safely. Regards to all.

Eric

[Gabriel]

r.w.

Good observations regarding the F&M/Ursinus game.  F&M has some real talent which will make them tough for the next four years----if they can keep them together.  They clearly are better than the Bears in the low post.  Ursinus just does not have the horses.

[tucker1129]

Picks for 1/28/09

McDaniel
F&M
Muhlenberg
Hopkins
Haverford

We will see how this plays out.

[UniqueNewYork]

My picks

F & M
McDaniel
Haverford     
Ursinus         
John Hopkins