MBB: Centennial Conference

[CCD3Basketball]

Happy New Year to all! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! But now, it's back to hoops! Although, over break, a lot of teams put in some impressive work. I think it will be a crime if Dickinson is not ranked when the new polls are released tomorrow afternoon.

Anyhow, here are my predictions for the Centennial games this week:

Sunday

Swat @Gallaudet: Give me Swat. The better team.

Haverford @DeSales:I wanna pick the Fords but I'll take DeSales

Monday

Wesley @Washington College: Fully expect a high scoring slugfest in this one. If WAC can keep shooting the 3 ball like they have been recently I like their chances. The problem: No height for WAC and Wesley has a 6'8 post player averaging 18.1 and 11.7 per game (and he shoots 71%). Toss up for me, but give me Washington at home for the upset.

Kings @Muhlenberg: Muhlenberg to me is the second best team in the CC right now behind Dickinson. Fully expect them to win this game and for Killing to have another big night. Would like to see Hargrove finally get going too.

Wednesday (finally, some more confefence games!)

Washington College @Dickinson: A long trip up to Carlisle combined with the fact that Dickinson is playing so well...I like the Red Devils

Swat @F&M: I'll take F&M. They have also looked good over break. Not used to seeing F&M already have 4 losses by January but I think those early season struggles are long gone.

Ursinus @Gettysburg: Gettysburg rolls at home

Muhlenberg @McDaniel: The Green Terror will be fired up for this one. But, I still like the Mules.

Haverford @Johns Hopkins: Hopkins gets the win, in convincing fashion

I'll make my Saturday picks once I see how the rest of the week goes. Glad to see a full schedule of games again!

[DipsWin13]

I don't believe that he played in the Tournament over the weekend, but it is worth noting that Xavier Braham is listed as an active member on the F&M roster after a year (and a half) long absence: http://www.godiplomats.com/sports/m-baskbl/2013-14/bios/braham_xavier_rvqr

Obviously it's impossible to predict what his game will look like or if he can return to form from when he last played, but he did show a lot of potential as a freshman off the bench, and it certainly can't hurt the Diplomats to get a little bit more front court depth with experience.

[madzillagd]

I also noticed Rogo wasn't with F&M the team at Haverford. He isn't on the teams roster on the website at present. I can only presume he has left the team. I thought he looked better in more of a flexible wing role in his injury shortened freshman season. Playing strictly point guard did not seem to be his strength and his playing time was decreasing markedly. Perhaps reseved seat can fill us in if this is not what's going on.

FYI - Rogo is now playing for Randolph College in the ODAC. 

[Reserved Seat]

Rogo transferred. He wasn't happy with his playing time.  He's on the bench for Randolph--played 4 minutes in their last win.
F&M may have suffered a significant injury at practice yesterday.  Waiting for details, player being evaluated, currently on crutches.

[Reserved Seat]

After injuring his ankle early in the week, one-legged Salandra politicked his way to a start.  Despite being limited by his injury, he scored 11 points to tie with Porter for high scorer along with Keedy from Swarthmore.  Salandra played excellent defense throughout the game.  With his start in doubt, Salandra still played 35 minutes, but didn't participate in the opening tip for the first time this season.   Salandra left the rebounding to Moune who gathered in 15 rebounds along with 10 points. Faison and Phelps, also, reached double points with 10 each.  F&M picked up 11 steals to go with 7 blocks.  Hopefully, with a few days to continue to recover, Salandra with be at full speed by Saturday.  Faison contributed some big threes in his biggest game of the season.

[CCD3Basketball]

Salandra on one good leg is still a better defender than most fully healthy players in the conference! Hope he gets ready in time for the showdown with Washington this Saturday.

McDaniel beats Muhlenberg tonight! Who honestly saw that coming? Big rally by the green terror to grab that win.

Washington looked great early against the Red Devils, building an 8 point halftime lead. Then, Gerry Wixted made his presence known as Dickinson won by 12.

[CCD3Basketball]

Here are my picks for tomorrow's games:

Dickinson @ Ursinus: No reason for me to believe Dickinson will lose this game. Red Devils.

Haverford @ McDaniel: Big win the other night for McDaniel over the Mules. Haverford still in search of CC win #1. I like McDaniel.

Johns Hopkins @ Swarthmore: Blue Jays are playing really well right now. I'll take them in this one.

Gettysburg @ Muhlenberg: Should be a great matchup. Gettysburg had a little trouble with Ursinus the other night before pulling away to win. Muhlenberg has lost it's last 2 games and won't be in a good mood. I think Gettysburg has a chance, but the Mule Barn is such a tough place to play. I don't think Killing will let them drop 3 in a row. I'll take the Mules.

Franklin and Marshall @ Washington College: The CC Game Of The Day. F&M has been looking great lately, while Washington hasn't been producing wins but has been playing extremely well against good competition (8 point halftime lead @ Dickinson wednesday night). Washington has been a thorn in the side of F&M in recent years, defeating the Diplomats while they have been ranked in back to back seasons. One area where I think F&M excels over other teams is their depth. 4 different players are averaging 10+ points per game, so committing to stopping just one player is impossible. Washington has been relying heavily on the 3 ball lately, and they have one of the best 3 shooters in the conference in Pat Morgan. I really think this game could go either way, but, I'll take the Shoremen at home in an extremely tight matchup.

Curious to see others thoughts on tomorrow afternoon's games?

[diplomaniac1]

Here are my predictions for tomorrow's (Saturday, January 11) Centennial Conference games:

Dickinson @ Ursinus:   The Red Devils are and should be the heavy favorite. I will take the Devils handily.

F&M @ Washington:   Chesterton on a Saturday afternoon has historically been a tough place for the Diplomats to play! If Salandra is fully ready to go, I believe that the Diplomats will win this one even if it is in the Cain Center.

Haverford @ McDaniel:   Could be a close game. I will go out on a limb and say that after a big win earlier this week McDaniel will have a let-down. Fords win a close game on the road in a mild upset.

Johns Hopkins @ Swarthmore:   The Blue Jays should win this one as I think they are too strong inside for the Garnet.

Gettysburg @ Muhlenberg:   The Mules win at the "Barn".

I will not travel to Chesterton to see the Diplomats play. I have a late morning commitment and the early 2:00 P. M. start time precludes the trip from Myerstown. However, I hope to make the trek to Allentown early next week.

Enjoy the games. Regards to all.

Eric

[D.B. Cooper]

I noticed that Joe Krong is not on the F&M roster anymore. Perhaps reserved seat can find out what happened. It is a shame as I thought he had a lot of promise, even a potential key player by next year. Dips can afford no more player loss, depth is already a critical flaw.

Dips next trip to Mule Cavern should end their winning stretch. Once they get the likely foul trouble on Moune and/or Salandra the Mules will be ready to roll the Dips, this year there is no Hayk to bail them out. Right now it looks like Dickinson will easily win CC going away, with Mules, Jays and Dips battling to avoid play in game against McDaniel, with Gberg & Washington hoping to sneak in if anybody falters.

[Reserved Seat]

Krong was unhappy with playing time and transferred.
Keep an eye on the roster, another player will be coming off soon.

Tough game in Chesterton, but F&M survived the tenacious defense barely.  On F&M's first 7 possessions of the second half, six of them ended up in turnovers without coming close to getting off a shot.

[HoopGuru]

Wheels appear to be coming off in Collegeville.  Doesn't look like any team chemistry, everyone out to get their own, no fight on Defense - have given up 94, 90, 80, and 90 pts the last 4 games.  Giving up 83 ppg.  Just not really sure what is going on but they are tough to watch thats for sure.  Looks like Dickinson on track to host the playoffs, not really sure if F&M can compete with them this year or not, Muhlenburg is probably the one team that can and will be a match-up to watch.  McDaniel seems to be surprising teams, always a tough place to play down there

[diplomaniac1]

Here are my predictions for Tuesday night's Centennial Conference games:

Ursinus @ Washington:   Shoremen

Johns Hopkins@ Dickinson:   Could be a close game. However, I think the Devils will claim the win.

McDaniel @ Swarthmore:   McDaniel

F&M @ Muhlenberg:   I will pick with my heart and take the Diplomats to pull off the upset.

Regards to all. Enjoy the games.

Eric

[Swat Fan #1]

I think Swat appears to have taken a step backwards recently as they played back to back terrible games. In 13 games, I believe they have started four different point guards. I also think playing some really bad teams out of conference was not a good idea. Yes it got wins, but didn't show them where they were weak. 39 and 47 points will not win many games at the college level. I do hope they bounce back but if they take KB's threes away and JK (their best player) keeps getting limited playing time, I don't know where the scoring is going to come from. For reasons I don't understand, seniors get less playing time than they got the previous three years. I think it demoralizes them. Of course there may be a reason why that I don't know. I thought SL played incredible when he got the chance and has been sent back to the bench for unknown reasons. Just my two cents as I think I am the only Swat guy on here. Cheers all!

[CCHOOPS12]

Mid Season Thoughts:

Dickinson- Very impressed in their conference play but even more impressed with how they have played outside the conference. Would love to see them ranked top 25 this week.
F&M- Nervous to say the team is back with all the roster changes and it's tough for me to believe in a team without a PG especially when they have to beat PG's like Killing and Honig. If they win Tuesday in Allentown, that will prove ALOT.
Muhlenberg- The team with the most talent from top to bottom. Need to see it more consistently. Hargrove always seems to play better second semester. Even though the Red Devils seem to be the class of the conference, the mules have beat them the last 4 out of 5 games with a sweep last year when the Devils won the league.
JHU- Will finish in the 2/3 game. There difficult schedule will help them down the stretch. Burgarinovic needs to raise his game for them to fight for hosting the tourney (the only way I see them beating the Mules or Red Devils)
McDaniel-I am not surprised with the play from the terror but will be surprised once they start winning away from Westminster. @Swat next...trap game??? Pupelis is tough matchup in this league
Gettysburg- Love the productive from their freshman class but seems like that's all they have. What is going on with Emerusabe?
Washington- Been very impressed with Morgan. Just don't think they have enough to win on the road but watch out if you still have "@Washington" on your schedule
Haverford- Don't sleep on the Fords as they are going to have some big wins in the second half of the year that will turn some heads.
Swat - It is amazing how much the coach can't figure out who the best players are on his own team after 2 years.
Ursinus - At the point it is painful to look at the box scores...shows you how fast a program can fall with players being selfish.

[CCD3Basketball]

Happy Monday, if there is such a thing. Here are my picks for Tuesday night:

Ursinus @ Washington: Close loss to F&M Saturday will leave Washington in a bad mood. I think they win, big.

Johns Hopkins @ Dickinson: I think the Blue Jays can and will give Dickinson all kinds of trouble. But in the end, look for Wixted and company to bring home another win.

McDaniel @ Swarthmore: This has trap game written all over it, right? Longer road trip for McDaniel plus the Garnet are due for a win. That being said, I think the Green Terror sneak one out, but it will be closer than most think.

Gettysburg @ Haverford: The Fords defense actually matches up fairly well with the pace Gettysburg plays at. And Haverford is due for a W, like Swat. I'll take the Fords.

F&M @ Muhlenberg: Awesome matchup here. I think this game will tell a lot about how the 2/3 playoff race could shake out. I know F&M is the hottest team in the CC right now but I can't find a way how they win this matchup. The Mules are a much deeper team and Hargrove is starting to play a little like his old self. I don't think the Diplomats will be able to slow down Malique Killing enough in this matchup. Give me the Mules at home.