MBB: Centennial Conference

[sunny]

Very impressed with how F&M has looked so far this year. Did not see them being undefeated at this point. It's not very often we see one of coach Robinson's teams being "overlooked" sort of speak when the season started, with all of the attention on Dickinson (rightfully so) and JHU to start the year. Federici is just what they needed.

Also, congrats to Gerry Wixted for becoming Dickinson's all-time leading scorer over the weekend. Curious to see how they respond to an early 6pm game this Wednesday night at WAC following a 3+ hour bus ride.

Gearing up for exclusive conference play and can't wait!

I'm going to try and be at the game Wednesday.  I'm 35 minutes from Washington College and I can't miss this chance to get a look at them.  I went to the big WAC upset of F&M last year (which precipitated their fall to earth, poll-wise).  That F&M team was a mess - beyond hope.  I'll be anxious to see what they look like in February when they come to town.

You're thinking of two years ago.

[HoopGuru]

Wow. Dickinson and F&M are both overranked for sure

[Pat Coleman]

Who would you rank ahead of them?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Wow. Dickinson and F&M are both overranked for sure

F&M, maybe, but Dickinson has an experienced squad with upperclass leadership.  Almost no one in the country can boast both of those this year.  Sure, they might lose on any given night, but that's true of literally every team in the country this year (except for maybe Whitewater).

[Reserved Seat]

F&M is definitely inexperienced but their confidence is building with every game.  One of their strengths right now is that they don't rely on one player.  Every player has had at least one bad game, but someone else picked them up.  Odds are good that they won't go undefeated, but they should be in every game.

[7express]

If I wasn't 250 miles away from F&M and Dickinson, those 2 matchups should be great this year.  Hope F&M is still unbeaten for the first one.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Headed to Washington College tonight.  I'll be the one guy wearing an Eastern Nazarene College t-shirt - if anyone is around.  Come say hi.

[D.B. Cooper]

CC season starts again. Classic let down game for young Dips against much improved SWAT. I expect a tough battle potential for Garnet win. We'll see.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Dickinson was very impressive tonight.  Wixted didn't play - some guy with a D on his hat said he punched someone in practice this week - but the team was still really good.  They've got a lot of talent and the freshmen seem to be coming along pretty well.  They've got some growing to do, but they're as good as any team I've seen this year, certainly deserving of where they're ranked nationally.

They play a style that's going to make it difficult for them to really blow out anyone and the coach really seemed to focus on getting the bench guys PT and experimenting with lineups over actually taking it to WC the whole time.

The game was never in doubt, really.  Washington College hit like five or six threes down the stretch to close the gap, but Dickinson hit like 15 of 16 from the line in the last two or three minutes, a really impressive display.

I've been to a few Washington College games now - they certainly aren't as bad as their record and they've got a sophomore, Drury, who's really impressive - but that coach must be the nicest guy in the world.  I just have never seen a college coach so bad at coaching.  The players still look tentative in the offense, even when it was mostly seniors on the floor, they take timeouts in the strangest spots, and there just doesn't seem to be any order or system to how he's using lineups and matchups.  I feel like an average coach would have them at 4-6 or 5-5 right now.

[Reserved Seat]

F&M played a sloppy game at Swarthmore.  They missed numerous lay-ups and gave up easy baskets.  Swarthmore played excellent defense and controlled the boards, but F&M forced the Garent's guards to turn the ball over on steals.  Yonda was able to score on several uncontested lay-ups.  F&M missed their first shots from the floor. 

[givengo]

Dickinson was very impressive tonight.  Wixted didn't play - some guy with a D on his hat said he punched someone in practice this week - but the team was still really good.  They've got a lot of talent and the freshmen seem to be coming along pretty well.  They've got some growing to do, but they're as good as any team I've seen this year, certainly deserving of where they're ranked nationally.

They play a style that's going to make it difficult for them to really blow out anyone and the coach really seemed to focus on getting the bench guys PT and experimenting with lineups over actually taking it to WC the whole time.

The game was never in doubt, really.  Washington College hit like five or six threes down the stretch to close the gap, but Dickinson hit like 15 of 16 from the line in the last two or three minutes, a really impressive display.

I've been to a few Washington College games now - they certainly aren't as bad as their record and they've got a sophomore, Drury, who's really impressive - but that coach must be the nicest guy in the world.  I just have never seen a college coach so bad at coaching.  The players still look tentative in the offense, even when it was mostly seniors on the floor, they take timeouts in the strangest spots, and there just doesn't seem to be any order or system to how he's using lineups and matchups.  I feel like an average coach would have them at 4-6 or 5-5 right now.

Not Dickinson's best outing, but the pieces are all there.  This is the time to work things out, and it doesn't hurt them to play without Wixted.

[r.w. mcnickels]

I didn't expect Dickinson to be quite this good after losing Honig. The CC playoffs will probably go through Carlisle again, and the Devils should make another deep run in March.

F&M has also surprised me. The win over Stockton was big, but that did not look like the No. 4 team in D-III. And they were without their point guard. I think the Dips will fall soon, if not in one of their next two home games, likely at McDaniel (site of the young '09 team's first loss, and several other losses by highly ranked Dip teams).

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Dickinson was very impressive tonight.  Wixted didn't play - some guy with a D on his hat said he punched someone in practice this week - but the team was still really good.  They've got a lot of talent and the freshmen seem to be coming along pretty well.  They've got some growing to do, but they're as good as any team I've seen this year, certainly deserving of where they're ranked nationally.

They play a style that's going to make it difficult for them to really blow out anyone and the coach really seemed to focus on getting the bench guys PT and experimenting with lineups over actually taking it to WC the whole time.

The game was never in doubt, really.  Washington College hit like five or six threes down the stretch to close the gap, but Dickinson hit like 15 of 16 from the line in the last two or three minutes, a really impressive display.

I've been to a few Washington College games now - they certainly aren't as bad as their record and they've got a sophomore, Drury, who's really impressive - but that coach must be the nicest guy in the world.  I just have never seen a college coach so bad at coaching.  The players still look tentative in the offense, even when it was mostly seniors on the floor, they take timeouts in the strangest spots, and there just doesn't seem to be any order or system to how he's using lineups and matchups.  I feel like an average coach would have them at 4-6 or 5-5 right now.

Not Dickinson's best outing, but the pieces are all there.  This is the time to work things out, and it doesn't hurt them to play without Wixted.

Yeah, it seemed pretty clear the coach was using the game for experimentation.  He only played Sophomore Robert Picka 11 minutes - the kid scored 8 with 6 boards and was very impressive running the floor and defending with confidence.  He's listed at 6'11" (although that might be a little exagerated) and he seems to have room to pack on some weight if he hits the gym hard.  There's a real future there, but they seem to be saving him for some reason.  Looking at the roster - they're going to lose five seniors, but there's a very strong core coming back.  I was impressed.

[givengo]

I didn't expect Dickinson to be quite this good after losing Honig. The CC playoffs will probably go through Carlisle again, and the Devils should make another deep run in March.

F&M has also surprised me. The win over Stockton was big, but that did not look like the No. 4 team in D-III. And they were without their point guard. I think the Dips will fall soon, if not in one of their next two home games, likely at McDaniel (site of the young '09 team's first loss, and several other losses by highly ranked Dip teams).

Honig was a big loss, but Dickinson was already reloaded. I checked stats and through 12 games four different players have been high scorers so far this season --three times each--that's balance. They're getting solid bench play, rotating 10 or 11 guys, so things are looking good in Carlisle right now.
I did get to see F & M play Richard Stockton.  Not to take anything away from F & M, but I was underwhelmed by Stockton in a big way.  Too much one on one ball, and maybe the loss of their point guard explains that somewhat, but if they're playing at the level of a nationally ranked team they should have more cards to play in their deck. I think a 6 and 6 Cabrini could take them down at current strength.
Anyway, the season really starts now in the Centennial, and it's always a meat grinder.  Fun times!

[CCD3Basketball]

Last night was just another example of how crazy the conference can be at times. First to everyone's points...

-Dickinson was definitely more threatened last night than I think people realize. Still, being able to go 3+ hours away from home and win without Wixted, and also on a night where Angradi was just 1/6 shooting 3's, is impressive. Agree with Hoops Fan, WAC is not as bad as their record indicates. From what I have observed, they always fight hard right to the finish, but their inability to consistently shoot the ball and rebound is usually what does them in. Tough week for the Shoremen, having to play Dickinson last night then turn around and play #11 F&M on Saturday. Yikes.

-Speaking of the Diplomats, if that was one of F&M's worse games, and they still made easy work of an improved Garnet squad, that's scary. Very impressed with this freshmen Federici. Looks to have been another good snag by G-Rob. Moune continues to impress as well. Don't sleep on the Garnet though, they seem to be well improved from a season ago and could make some noise around the push for the 5 seed. In my opinion, its a 3 team race for the regular season title: Dickinson, F&M, and of course, last years champs, Johns Hopkins.

-As for Johns Hopkins, wow. Effectively blow a 20 point lead to Haverford last night and then "Hammer" the dagger home as time expires (see what I did there?) to hold on for the win. Every good team gets these types of scares during a course of a season. Last night might have been that one for the Blue Jays.

-Who saw Ursinus beating Gettysburg going into last night? The Bears had been getting waxed in early conference play, but then they go out and beat Gettysburg, who already owns a win over Dickinson? Now all of a sudden its 4 wins in the last 5 games for Ursinus as well. And a real head scratcher for the Bullets.

-Muhlenberg was due for a nice CC win, and they got it last night against McDaniel. Not enough rebounds by McDaniel to withstand a second half surge by the Mules. I still have questions about this Muhlenberg team, but last night was definitely a good win for them.

There's great, meaningful matchups across the board this weekend as well. Looking forward to it!