MBB: Centennial Conference

[Reserved Seat]

After watching F&M's 2 scrimmages, the starting 5 are not yet as good as last year's starting 5, but the rest of the team will provide more depth.  Replacing  experienced big men like McNally and Baker will be difficult, but a healthy Henry, freshmen Lee and Braham, and Hayk, along with Sedano and Early will give Robinson a lot of choices.   The starting 5 have the potential to be greatly improved by the end of the season.  They haven't had the time together to know when they can be aggressive on defensive-knowing someone has their back.  F&M relies greatly on defensive, and their inexperience will show in the beginning of the year.  Talking to Georgio has provided different quotes than the one quoted.  I expected tonight's game to be close.

[UCHooligan98]

uchooligan98
I'd love to see your preview.

Resereved, unfortunately i have not been able to watch much in recent years to give a better preview than what youll find in the CC official guide.  I know the type of player Ward is, and that he's good enough to challenge for player of the year, and i like our coach.  Thankfully i have finally reached a certain professional status that will afford me the opportunity to catch a few games this season (maybe even a few in person). 

[diplomaniac1]

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

Ursinus
Coast Guard
Ohio Northern
McDaniel
Merchant Marine
F&M
Dickinson
St. Mary's
Muhlenburg
Washington

Regards to all.

Eric

[Reserved Seat]

In an exciting and interesting game, F&M was able to slip by Neumann in the waning minutes.  F&M had numerous turnovers caused by the relentless ball-hawking play of the Neumann defenders.  Despite throwing a stable of fresh defenders at Milligan, Georgio was able to come through in the clutch, offensively and defensively in the final minutes of the game.  Hayk played a tremendous game leading all scorers, as he and Milligan both scored over 20 points each.
One of F&M's Achilles heel was extremely prevalent as the team failed to hit a three until just before the final 2-minute point--a key 3-pointer by Milligan for the team's only 3 of the night.  Foul shooting another yearly problem was adequate(26-34).  Neumann should have a winning season in their league.
Tomorrow's game against Oneonta should also be challenging.  Oneonta dominated Kean in the second half of the first game.  They have size, speed, 3-point shooting, and good defense.  I'll be in my 'reserved' seat for 4 games tomorrow.

[Reserved Seat]

Another tough night for the CC.  Several close games, just not enough to win.  JH was the most surprising result, as they stunned St. Mary's.  I know my picks(guesses) weren't great.

[Reserved Seat]

I believe I might not be able to get to a computer again before the next picks are due so here's my sort of best guesses for 11/19
F&M over Oneonta in a close game(hopefully Oneonta is cold behind the 3-line)
Muhlenberg over Immaculata(Muhlenberg may be the team to beat in the CC)
Dickinson over Catholic(should give an idea of what Dickinson has)
Plattsburg over Ursinus(Ursinus appears to need sometime to gel as a team)
Goucher over McDaniel
Gettysburg over Drew
Merchant Marines over Haverford
Washington over Stevenson
Salisburg over John Hopkins(could JH pull 2 upsets in one weekend)
Coast Guard over Swarthmoe

[D.B. Cooper]

Tonight's picks below but 1st:

F&M right now looks like 14-15 win team at best. Georgio & Hayk are very good but the only other player who looked he had a clue plus a killer instinct was Salandra (he should start at center from now on), Henry played timid & scared to shoot or go to the rim strong, not at all like the far biggest player on the court. Nearly 30 TO's was frightening plus no 3-point threat. They need to find a way to get Phelps on the floor to see what he can do just to keep good teams honest. I was disappointed not to see him play even if there are concerns about defending or having turnovers (look what everone else did).

Oneonta SUNY (gets revenge over Dips for 2010 1st rd. NCAA loss in Long Island) Dips need to cut TO's in half & play much better to upset Red Dragons (9 point favs)
Catholic
Muhlenberg (no maybe about it the Mules are the team to beat, could it be JHU as next favorite?)
Plattsburg
Gettysburg
Goucher
Haverford
Stevenson
Salisbury State (Jays lose heartbreaker, possibly in OT)
Coast Guard

[Reserved Seat]

Despite a ragged game by both sides, F&M pulled out to a 64-46 win over Oneonta.  F&M dominated the boards and keep enough pressure on Oneonta to prevent them from getting open threes.  Playing an off-game for him, Georgio still managed to score.  Early foul trouble keep Hayk out of most of the first half, but he still lead the the team with 11 rebounds.  Salandra put together two good games in a row to join Milligan on the All Tournament team.  Robinson had the opportunity to good deep on the bench with most players getting valuable minutes especially defensively.
Unfortunately, the game wasn't as entertaining as the fast-paced first game between Kean and Neumann.

[oftdip]

I too saw both F&M games this weekend and feel the team is still far from its "#17" ranking... Georgio and Hayk are certainly the 'go-to' individuals but the balance of the starters need to get to elevate their games quickly if play-offs are too be dreamt... What I liked from the weekend - defensive intensity, rebounding, use of plenty of new fast athletic faces, quick passes for the open man (F&M staple where ball does not hit the floor for 6-8 passes minimum and movement is key...), playing "pissed off" where they just dropped into another gear because they knew they sould have been playing better...
What I do NOT like - Georgio's senior leadership - too much winey-face, hands in the air over the frosh mistake, careless outlet or down-court pass to someone who is not quite Tolliver, Baker or McNally - Georgio - you are the most gifted athlete in F&M history in decades and this is your senior year and you are an All-American... when you were positive & supportive, you were THE LEADER out there; that's makes you the ALL-AMERICAN we know so well;Salandra - keep cool - you are going to get lousy calls the next three years - McNally and Baker got hosed all the time, but they did something to cool their jets and yet maintain their intensity - you are a tough son-of-a-gun from NY and play that way; Sloppy 'high-light' film passing (F&M's style of the decades may be 'boring', but Robinson knows the fundamentals win tight ball games and runiing his offense and locking down defensively gets you to March); foul-shooting; maturity - yes, it will come with time and minutes played...
Ursinus is just two weeks away... that will be the first test...

[Gabriel]

Excellent tournament in Rochester.  Four quality and well matched teams.  Rochester is really good. Unfortunately, Ursinus did not qualify to play them.  Rochester guard DiBartolomeo is the real deal---a terrific guard.  It was a pleasure to watch them,  ball movement and spacing were terrific.

Ursinus played 70 minutes of decent basketball but totally unraveled in the second ten minutes of the Keystone game.  28 turnovers for the game with about half coming in the second ten minutes of the game.  The Bears dug a hole too big to climb out of.

Ursinus looked like a different team against Plattsburgh.  They cut their turnovers to 14---played good defense and rebounded well.  Ward was doubled and tripled most of the time but still managed 29 and 21 points.  He is much more patient than last year---much improved.  Three freshmen played significant minutes and all contributed.  A good building block.  Playing quality opponents in the preseason will pay off.

[UCHooligan98]

great analysis Gabe, thanks for the insight

[Reserved Seat]

Gabriel,
Thanks for the info.  I wish more fans would summarize their teams' games.  The more CC teams win, the better it makes the CC look.

[UCHooligan98]

hey guys

I'd like to be in the picks league as CC action starts, but wont have the time to get in on a regular basis.  so i'm going to use the following formula for all CC games and i'll tabulate my record at seasons end:

Ursinus to win all games
F&M to win all non Ursinus games
Swat to lose all games
Hopkins to lose all non-swat games
Washington to lose all non swat and non JHU games.
all other games won by home team. 

thanks

[Gabriel]

Picks for Tuesday---upset Tuesday

Washington
Gettysburg
Hopkins
Swat
Ursinus

[centfan]

tues

f&m
muhlenberg
haverford
mcdaniel
dickinson