MBB: Centennial Conference

[Reserved Seat]

Official attendance at F&M 2,012.(nice crowd, but still plenty of empty seats)  Hope to see a bigger crowd tomorrow.  What was attendance like around the nation?

[r.w. mcnickels]

F&M was picked as one of the teams most likely to disappoint.  Good.  I hope they get wind of that and use it as motivation. 

Not sure what it was, but the team looked pretty fired up.  It's been a while since the gym was that loud.  F&M got tons of easy looks early on, then pretty much cruised.  In a possible sign of things to come for Wesley, Rashawn Johnson broke his iPod while dunking during pre-game warmups (but he is clearly a gifted player, and Brooks did a nice job on him as noted by Reserved Seat).

Tomorrow will be different because Brandeis has players taller than 6-3 and actually plays defense.  The Judges look like a more experienced version of F&M.  The home crowd will help, but I think Brandeis should move on to the Sweet 16.  Anything more than this is gravy for F&M.  The Dips have now gained some NCAA experience, and they didn't disappoint when they were picked to do so.

For anyone who couldn't make it, here are some pics from F&M's basketball page:

http://godiplomats.prestosports.com/sports/m-baskbl/2008-09/NCAAtourney/satpix

[r.w. mcnickels]

Hi guys

Well my vacation in Fl went south . Got some bug in me while sailing off the Fl coast and spent a few days in the Hospital.
Got back to the house in Sanibel where I fell and broke my hip. It is the same one that I broke as a 12 yr old boy and back then they let it heal and it caused my limp. Well they are going to but a new one in when I get back to MD. I leave to go home tomorrow with my daughter driving, she sould have been on the NASCAR circut.

Glad to see both Gettysburg and F&M got into the dance and I hope they do well. My feeling is that they both might get out of the first round. F  & M could have problems with the age of the team, if they get to point where they get behind in points thier heads may drop. Gettysburg, it depends which team shows up. If they keep playing as they have been they should do alright in the first few rounds..

Will be watching or listening, but will be on my back for some time before therapy kicks in. Will keep ya posted when they allow me to sit up again.

Good luck to both teams.
OLD

Old Ends-

Hope all goes well.  At least you have the D-III playoffs to keep you entertained while you're on the road to recovery...

[crambam]

Hopefully the Dips are hungry for more.  People keep saying they can't do it.  Brandeis will be a big test.  Let's see if they can rise to the occasion.  The good teams do.

[r.w. mcnickels]

Just noticed that Brandeis coach Brian Meehan was the coach of the 2000 Salem State team that F&M faced in Salem.

F&M hasn't fared well against teams from New England in the NCAA tournament over the years.  It will take their "A" game to change that tonight -- should be a great game.

[ronk]

  The teams match up well, especially when Hollins comes off the bench. Anticipating a fine game, with F&M the victor by the homecourt advantage.

[crambam]

SWEET 16!!!!!  They haven't disappointed yet, though holy cow they almost choked.

[Reserved Seat]

F&M inexperienced(youthful) team got a taste of tournament play.  Cruising along with a twenty point lead late in the second half.  Brandeis went to a full court pressure causing F&M to become completely out of synch.  Between turnovers and missed foul shots, Brandeis brought the game back to a one possession game with a chance to tie or win it with the last shot.  Fortunately for F&M the shot didn't drop.  Credit has to go to Brandeis for not packing it in as Scranton had the night before.  F&M's sweated it out in the hot gym until the final shot.
Brandeis can hold their heads high for an outstanding effort.  They had an excellent starting five.
F&M will go back to the drawing board to practice how to break a pressure.  F&M's youthfulness almost did them in tonight.
Looking forward to the naming of the site for next week's game.  The crowd played an important part to F&M early lead(13 points at the half).
I believe the bracket comes down to Salem State, F&M, Mass/Dartmouth, and Desales.

[r.w. mcnickels]

Unbelievable!  We got the close game a lot of people expected, but not in the manner we expected.  What an amazing run by Brandeis in the second half after a dominating 30 minutes by F&M.  Hard to believe the Dips are in the Sweet 16.

This team continues to surprise me, despite a near-collapse of epic proportions.  I thought a good season would have been making the CC playoffs.  They've proven me wrong all season.

I guess we'll find out soon about the sectional site.  My guess would be UMass-Dartmouth, based on their record (best of the four teams) and location.  Salem State just traveled to Widener, so maybe the NCAA will make the PA teams go up to New England.  F&M is slightly less than 400 miles away from UMass-Dartmouth, but right around 400 from Salem State.  UMD also has a decent sized gym (3,000).

[saratoga]

All the very best from a great number of Scranton fans to F&M. My guess is that you will get the host site for the Sweet 16. There is no way Desales will get it & the 2 Mass. schools are iffy at best as far as bringing in a crowd & the green. The spirt of Donny Marsh lives on exactly 30 years later.

[crambam]

Did they change the rules as to who hosts the Sweet 16?  When I was in school, let's say the Middle Atlantic Conference was playing the East.  The top team from one of the regions would host no matter what.  The next year, the region that didn't host, would get their shot for their top team standing. 

[r.w. mcnickels]

crambam-

I'm not sure when they changed the rules, but it is different than when they rotated regions and the top remaining seed hosted.  A combination of factors go into it.  This post from the Multi-Regional topics section lists the criteria:

The Championships Committee has prioritized the following site-selection criteria for all championships:

1. Quality and availability of the facility and other necessary accommodations;

2. Geographical location (which may include such factors as rotation of sites, weather, accessibility, and transportation costs);

3. Seeding, and;

4. Attendance history and revenue potential, which shall be considered necessary to assure fiscal responsibility.

http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/champ_handbooks/basketball/2009/3_mbasketball_handbook.pdf

(page 7)

[D.B. Cooper]

The Dips game was both exhilarating but also almost gave me a heart attack. The part where they looked like an experienced team dicing their talented opponent on the way to a FF was unbelievable. Then there was the team that showed up to play the final 8-9 minutes, missing countless free throws, acting like they never had seen or practiced against a trapping press before, McNally heaving the ball to Judge players in desperation 3-4 times. But they did somehow win in spite of all these bad plays. I hope they can get to Saturday, probably in Massachusetts, so I can go to the 7th E8 games in my lifetime, this being only the second one that I wasn't expecting along with Alex Kraft's 2000 squad road warriors.

[stamolpid]

Franklin and Marshall hosting sectionals.  Sweet indeed!

[Reserved Seat]

My seat is reserved for another game, and hopefully, two.

Sorry to hear about the injured players at Salem.  Hopefully, they will be able to play by Friday.