MBB: Centennial Conference

[diplomaniac1]

Fellow Diplomat Fans -

I was unable to make it to Lancaster for this weekend's tournament. Can anyone provide any comments on and insight into the games and/or offer their impressions of the 2006-2007 edition of the Diplomats? Please advise. Thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Regards,

Eric

[fritzdis]

I went to both F&M games, and it didn't seem like I was watching the same team the second night.  They looked pretty bad against a team that went 5-20 last season and then pretty good against a team that went 23-6 (and took Lincoln to OT, and was picked by the coaches to win their conference).  I suspect F&M will be up and down a lot early in the season as Robinson figures out his rotation (he substituted a ton against Del Val).

This looks to me like a team without any stars.  The guards aren't the kind that will take over a game on offense very often, so the big men (if you include Teschke) may have to shoulder a lot of the scoring load, and I'm not sure yet if they can do that on a consistent basis.  If Hamme turns out to give you 15 points every night, this team could do very well, but that's a big if.

On defense, they're not tremendously quick or big, but they obviously did something right to hold Widener to 44 points (the fewest by Widener in at least the last 7 years from what I found).  Outerbridge gives you good pressure on the ball, and the interior help looked pretty good.  One area where I think they struggled in both games was covering screens around the perimeter.  I don't think this will be a lock-down defense, but it should keep them in a lot of games at least.

[Reserved Seat]

Definitely seemed to be two different teams. Saturday night they played with more intensity.  They seemed to match up better with Widener than Delaware Valley.  At this time, there appears to be no go- to-player.  It will be interesting to see which team shows up on a nightly basis.

[bballmom54]

I also saw both F&M games, and Saturday's rotation was clearly much stronger.   There's a lot of talent on the team and with more practice and competition, I wouldn't count them out!

[commish]

There is a full slate on tonight's Conference men's basketball menu, including live video from Haverford as the Fords take on Catholic.  The CCBN is hoping to provide live video (and live audio at worst) of the Franklin & Marshall-Lebanon Valley contest from Lancaster.  You can also find links to live stats and play-by-play on the Centennial "Gameday" site at http://www.centennial.org/basketball/men/gameday.html

[crambam]

In all the years I've been watching them play, I have never seen F&M look as bad as they did against LVC.  About the only thing about that game that was good was that I actually got to watch it live through the internet.  I'm really hoping this is the start of something new because I would LOVE to be able to watch F&M hoops from NYC.

It will be nice to see more games again. 

I just hope they play better. 

[Coach K]

Heading up to see Muhlenberg vs. Haverford tonight... hoping to see a good battle. Any thoughts on who should win??

[Leo]

The OT loss to McDaniels was a tough one to swallow, but give credit to McDaniels outcoaching the Bears. Coach Small is beginning to smell like Coach Andy Reid (Philadelphia Eagles) in that he is stubborn and is not a gameday coach that requires insight in what is happening and making changes throughout the game. Coach Small had Stanton and Garvey as terrific shooting guards making previos Bears one dimensional outside shooting team. Now it looks like he is making Shattuck into one, but he is not close and should not be considered a shooting guard. His strength is in his quickness, jumping and slashing abilities, and to make his team mates better by being part of the offense. It is early in the season, but I hope that we are not looking at another one dimensional outside shooting team in Shattuck when the Bears have the making of a good inside game in the likes of Fabian, Furey, Shattuck and Shema. Today's game plan should of pounded the ball inside to the likes of Furey, Fabian, and at times, Shattuck. Rebounds were 50 - 42 in favor of the Bears. It was frustrating to see the missed layups from the offensive rebounds, but Coach Small should of continued with that game plan in lieu of a woeful 3-22 from the 3 pt line. At least fouls were getting called (and some were not) where the Bears went to the line 31 times. I can't believe that 22 3 pointers were taken when previous games were 12 and 9 respective. Again, Shattuck is not a 3 point shooter (as evidenced by his 2-8 shooting). Play the ball more inside to Furey and let him pass off to the cutting Fabian or Shattuck, or back outside to the guards. The play at the end of regulation with 7.5 secs remaining was horrible. Putting the ball into Shattuck's hands for the win when he was having a bad night was ill-conceived. I thought the players Cousart, Page, Garvey and Burnett played reasonably well given that they are freshmen. Coach Small has the opportunity to develop a team with a preferred inside game over the outside shooting. The CC coaches are not respecting the Bear's inside game, and why not .. Coach Small is not committed to it. Yes, it is early in the season, but have confidence and committment to a team game plan, and not a one night shooter. Coach Small should take Shattuck aside and say, "you have great penetration ability and ball control ... work the inside to dish and pass, make the layup or small jumper ... more than 5, 3 pointers a game should result in a benching."

Success sometimes breeds content. This Bear's team is not like the Stanton and Garvey era. Build the game plan around the player's strength's, and work the inside game more. If not, then the CC coaches will let the Bear's ghost of previous CC Conference Championships dictate this season and let the Bear's live or die with an only outside shooting game.  I believe that Coach Small can make that change and not be stubborn like Coach Andy Reid from the Eagles.

Time will tell.

[Terrorizer24]

First off, the school is McDaniel.  Not McDaniels.  Second, the player you were mentioning is two-time CC player of the year Mike McGarvey, not some guy named Garvey.  Third, McDaniel isn't the team it used to be.  Coach Flynn has his squad playing great and at the top of the league.  The victory over Ursinus at Ursinus isn't as shocking, as the fact that the Terror still managed to pull out the W dispite having 5 players foul out.  The officiating can NOT be an excuse for the bears in this one.  The bears inside game could be better, and the fact that they didn't stick with it against McDaniel is becuase the Terror have some big bodies of their own.  Daniel, McKay, Arrington, and physical Chris Prior off the bench are big bodies that make the inside game difficult. Tonight's matchup between Hopkins and McDaniel should be interesting.  The terror and their rowdy fans could make their home floor a difficult place to play.  The Conference's top 2 go at it in Westminster tonight.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I have gotten a chance to see both McDaniel and Johns Hopkins play... and I would agree that McDaniel is a far better team this season than I bet many thought they would be. At the same time, Johns Hopkins is far better than I thought they would be this season.

Despite losing their starting point guard, the Blue Jays have shown me they are a rather well rounded team. They certainly have a lot of skill inside with Nawrocki and Griffin and with PJ Valerio leading the guard play, they will do well. I was also impressed with the play of freshmen O'Connell... he is going to be a very good player during his career at JHU. You also can't overlook the good play from guys like Kamm, Beggans, Purcell and others.

As for McDaniel... very impressed with them. Coach Flynn has done a very good job in a quick amount of time. Thier win over Goucher in the third-place game of the Maryland Tournament was a great game by McDaniel. They took advantage of Goucher's weaknesses and never let down even when Goucher ran at them a few times.

While Ursinus has certainly fallen off, I wouldn't count the Bears out. Look for these three teams to run for the title... with maybe F&M, Muhlenberg, and Washington playing spoiler.

[Leo]

Well Mr. Terrorizer, McDaniel had their 15 mins of fame at the expense of the Bears. I listened to the game tonight against JHU on WTTR.AM 1470, and I would agree that you have the number of physical bodies on the team, but you did not mention talent in the same sentence. Maybe the effort against JHU displayed that tonight. JHU outrebounded McDaniel very easily like the Bears did. However, JHU made their layups and the Bears did not. JHU shot better from the 3 point line than the Bears which brings me back to my rant against Coach Small and his game planning. Shattuck is not a shooting guard in the likes of Stanton and McGarvey. JHU stood firm in their game plan and let their cream of talent rise to the top in the 2nd half. Unfortunately, the Bears abandoned their inside work and pretended to be a team from the Stanton and McGarvey era. The Bear's game last night against Gettysburg showed that they are a better team when they work the inside game. Tommorrow against Drew University will see if that continues.

Mr. Terrorizer, I am a Bear's fan and my criticism was about Coach Small's coaching. I am sorry that you feel slighted and hurt that I felt the Bears lost the game and McDaniel did not win it. Certainly, McDaniel did nothing tonight to change my opinion. Just enjoy your 15 mins. of fame in beating the Bears.

Please note that I have corrected my spelling regarding McDaniel and McGarvey. While it is easy to correct my spelling, it may be difficult to raise the talent level of the Green Terror.

With warm regards,
Leo

[Terrorizer24]

Hopkins was a far better team than McDaniel tonight.  The terror simply had no answer for the Blue Jay ball movement.  The terror was very concerned with containing the blue jay inside game and did relatively well in the first half, but the big men of hopkins did a great job of finding the open man, and the open guys hit their shots.  The first half made it seem like the game was going to be very close, but in the second half the blue jays got hot and the terror went ice cold.  As for you LEO, the big men of HOPKINS are much bigger and better than the big men of the Ursinus Bears, they dictated the game, and McDaniel was unable to play the transition game that they are so good at.  I still believe that McDaniel is a better team than Ursinus, and they are a much better team than they showed tonight.  Those two are still my top two in the CC.  Ursinus is my #3, if they makes you feel better.

[Terrorizer24]

A 5 point win over a 1-5 squad doesn't quite show me that the bears are a better team.  If that helps you sleep then ok.  The Terror will be back on track Saturday at Gettysburg.

[commish]

Some notes from the home office ... how 'bout those Johns Hopkins Blue Jays?  9-0 for the first time since 1991-92 with a senior-dominated lineup ... Nawrocki is playing like a CC Player of the Year candidate.  Hop will get a chance to strut its stuff on the national stage after the holidays against nationally-ranked Mississippi College.  On that same day (Dec. 29), two-time defending CC champion Ursinus squares off nationally-ranked Lawrence ... but we're counting the days to Jan. 11 (31 if my count is right) to the Bears and the Blue Jays on the hardwood in Collegeville.  McDaniel is off to its best start in recent memory ... while Muhlenberg and Franklin & Marshall are also just a game off Hopkins' pace at 3-1.  Keep an eye out on Swarthmore (1-3) who has losses to JHU, Ursinus and Muhlenberg, but knocked off the Diplomats at Tarble.

Hopefully we can get some discussion going on what promises to be a very competitive Centennial season.

[Pat Coleman]

I wish I could contribute but I'm no longer in the area.