MBB: Centennial Conference

oldknight · January 12, 2011, 11:44:34 AM

The passing of a great man should be noted here. Dick Winters, F & M Class of '41, and the main character of the Band of Brothers miniseries, died on January 2:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/01/dick_winters_who_inspired_band.html

Gabriel · January 12, 2011, 12:49:30 PM

Picks for 1/13/2010

Swat over JHU---home court and Swat is the better team
Muhlenberg over F&M---big upset in the dungeon
Washington College over Dickinson----home court advantage---good match up
Ursinus over Gettysburg----Bears continue to improve, they are at home and need this one
Haverford over McDaniel---home court for the Fords and post F&M let down for the Terror

Picks for 1/15/2010

F&M over Washington College---Dips in foreign territory on the road but good enough to win
Ursinus over McDaniel---a tough match up for the Bears at McDaniel but they have the talent to win
Haverford over JHU---Fords improving, JHU seems to be going the other way
Gettysburg over Muhlenberg---another good match up but home court should prevail
Swat over Dickinson---Garnet tough at home

diplomaniac1 · January 13, 2011, 09:46:01 AM

Folks -

Here are the Conference games for the rest of the week for those participating in the "Pick-Ems" as follows:

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Johns Hopkins @ Swarthmore
F&M @ Muhlenberg
Dickinson @ Washington
Gettysburg @ Ursinus
McDaniel @ Haverford

Saturday, January 15, 2011

F&M @ Washington
Ursinus @ McDaniel
Haverford @ Johns Hopkins
Muhlenberg@ Gettysburg
Dickinson @ Swarthmore

All pick are due by tip-off. Good luck! Enjoy. Regards to all.

Eric

diplomaniac1 · January 13, 2011, 06:00:40 PM

Folks -

Here are my selections for tonight's "Pick-Em" games:

Swarthmore over Johns Hopkins

F&M over Muhlenberg

Dickinson over Washington

Ursinus over Gettysburg

Haverford over McDaniel

Good luck. Enjoy the games! Regards to all.

Eric

r.w. mcnickels · January 14, 2011, 10:11:34 AM

A great win for Muhlenberg last night, as the Mules hit numerous huge daggers and shot 10-for-16 beyond the arc for the game. Curry looks like he will be a very good player over the next few years (he already is).

Zone defenses are giving F&M big trouble. From the perimeter, the Dips shot only 2-for-12 and 3-for-16 vs. McDaniel and Muhlenberg, respectively. Tough to beat a zone with shooting like that.

F&M needs to approach each game like a playoff game, because that's what their opponents are doing (I noticed the comments below in post-game coverage this week). Otherwise, the Dips' season will spiral downhill rather quickly.

From Carroll County Times:

Quote
"I'm not going to lie. I feel like we get up, we get more excited for Franklin & Marshall games, usually because they're ranked coming in here. So it's a big game," junior forward Marcus Dyson said. "It's euphoric, it's a great feeling [to win]."

From the Muhlenberg website:

Quote
"It was more motivation for us because of their high ranking and their history," said sophomore Rob Berish, who scored a career-high 12 points. "Nobody had trouble getting up for this game."

Gabriel · January 14, 2011, 11:06:10 AM

Don't follow my leqd when it comes to the "pick ems". I had only one right yesterday---that being the F&M game at Muhlenberg. Good analysis by r.w. on that game.

Ursinus lost to Getty 59-56 in a game that was 29-29 at the half and Ursinus led 56-55 with 52 seconds to go. Ursinus did not score again but Getty did.

The Bears have shown marked improvement in their defense. They are are more physical and playing good team defense. Their early season woes were due to a very poor defense and careless ball handling. Certainly, a lot of this due to the inexperience factor with 6 of the 11 players being freshmen or sophomores.

A significant problem all season is that they don't have a closer---a player who take over in the waning minutes of a close game---like Milligan, or Shattuck, or Cousart. Ursinus is 5-9 this year and the kids are obviously frustrated. Of their 9 losses. 7 have been very competitive games where they either led at the half and/or the games were decided in the final minute or two.

The only thing they can do is continue to work hard and get better. Hopefully they will start again with a win at McDaniel this Saturday.

Reserved Seat · January 14, 2011, 12:40:32 PM

I too was impressed with the Mules' Curry. He has some rough edges, but he was fearless against F&M. If one game can tell a lot, he seems to have a great future ahead of him.
The big man wasn't as impressive, but he takes up a lot of space, which doesn't hurt.
F&M had a horrible night shooting(two in a row). No question, Muhlenberg played a better game, keeping F&M off-balance most of the night.
The only good thing about the evening for me was that I found a good place to eat-The Tavern on Liberty.
Hopefully F&M can turn things around at Washington as McNally goes for the scoring record.

docmarc · January 15, 2011, 09:34:18 AM

What is killing the Diplomats is the schedule. 4 straight tough road games and 6 out of 7 on the road. The schedule makers were unfair.

Beyond that whining, the problem for F&M is that it cannot beat a zone defense. TAKE A SHOT!!! Don't always try to go low- it may not be there.

Besides that, where is Lusty Larry? And where is Coleman with his F&M bashing.

docmarc · January 15, 2011, 09:35:32 AM

Congrats to McNally. He should get the F&M record for points scored today.

Reserved Seat · January 15, 2011, 09:49:38 AM

McDaniel was the first stop on the road.

Reserved Seat · January 15, 2011, 09:53:18 AM

Picks -- 1/15/2010

F&M-McNally sets F&M scoring record in tough win
McDaniel-if they play like they did against F&M
Haverford-playing at a higher level than JHU
Muhlenberg-Curry and Liddic carry Mules to victory
Dickinson-young team playing well

diplomaniac1 · January 15, 2011, 12:42:52 PM

Picks for today:

F&M over Washington (have to get a road win soon)
McDaniel over Ursinus
Haverford over Johns Hopkins
Muhlenberg over Gettysburg (could go either way)
Swarthmore over Dickinson (home court)

I am not traveling to Chestertown today. Regards to all.

Eric

Pat Coleman · January 15, 2011, 01:10:44 PM

Quote from: docmarc on January 15, 2011, 09:34:18 AM
What is killing the Diplomats is the schedule. 4 straight tough road games and 6 out of 7 on the road. The schedule makers were unfair.

Beyond that whining, the problem for F&M is that it cannot beat a zone defense. TAKE A SHOT!!! Don't always try to go low- it may not be there.

Besides that, where is Lusty Larry? And where is Coleman with his F&M bashing.

There haven't been any F&M fan allegations to respond to yet, unlike last March. If there are, I'll be around to respond -- don't worry.

Swat Fan #1 · January 15, 2011, 07:45:53 PM

Seems like everyone is beating everyone. This makes for a fun season! Well done everyone who posts about the games. I love hearing about the games I am not watching.

Swarthmore played a great game today with four players in double figures. Their entire Junior class missed the first half of the season as they were all overseas for the first semester. It has been a challenge trying to find chemistry after they all came back.

The last 10 games should be fun!

oldford · January 16, 2011, 10:20:21 AM

...and Wednesday is another round between great archrivals: Fords vs Swat!! I expect it to be a very exciting game, especially given Swat's performance Saturday against Dickinson. For a number of reasons (Equinox, shared classes, proximity of fan base), there is no strong homecourt advantage in this series. Since the CC started, Haverford is 10-7 at home and 9-8 at Swat. It is therefore a pretty even series, although Haverford has won 7 in a row. With the exception of last year's second game, most of the contests have been very close (as is true for almost any game played between any CC team this year).