MBB: Centennial Conference

hoop master · January 21, 2015, 11:14:09 PM

Wow. didnt see that one coming,,,Dickenson wallops Dips. A thrashing in a big moment. Maybe its Dips who are overated not Dickenson. Congrats to them. Still thinking Hopkins is very strong , but Dickenson at home are very tough and meet blue jays home on valentines day. Last game of regular season with Dickenson at F and m might determine who hosts, pending any upsets of big three by other teams in conf.
In the race for other spots, no other surprises tonight, other then Haverford losing in ot in the " battle of the brains" to Swathmore. Back and forth game, with Haverford with ball and down 1 with 10 seconds left and then a turnover by throwing ball out on in bounds play. Swat then misses two foul shots with 5 seconds left and Haverford races down and misses makeable three at buzzer and lose. Fords James Levine who averages about 7 a night, lead Fords with monster game with 27. Ford guards are dangerous, though playing without a player taller then 6'2 sometimes in their rotation makes it difficult defending down low and offensively without post play.

Reserved Seat · January 21, 2015, 11:15:21 PM

Tonight Dickinson was taller, stronger, quicker, and more experienced than F&M. Dickinson senior-laden team fought off F&M's early second period run to turn the game into a rout. F&M couldn't buy a bucket, shooting under 30%. F&M closed a second quarter gap of 15 points down to 5(45-40) taking the Dickinson crowd out of the game. Following a breakaway dunk by Cox, it was all downhill for F&M as they only scored 8 points in the 11 1/2 minutes, being outscored 36 to 8. Every thing went Dickinson's way the last quarter as they easily handled F&M.

centfan · January 21, 2015, 11:21:16 PM

f&m blown out decisively by dickinson. f&m seems to lack skill and didn't show up to battle tonight. wixted is still the competitor he was as a freshman...at one point he got blocked and went right back at them for a strong finish and an "and one". f&m didn't have the toughness or confidence that dickinson had. dickinson still doesn't seem very gifted individually besides wixted but coach gets everything out of them...balanced scoring, patience, energy, good shot selection and hard work. g-rob needs to get more out of his guys...they didn't show much heart tonight.

CC Fan · January 21, 2015, 11:47:00 PM

Typical Gburg McDaniel game tonight. I was hoping Brooks or Merlo wouldn't get off tonight, but brooks went 4-6 from 3pt line. Gburg seems to always be susceptible to the 3 ball. Were down by as much as 16, cut it down to 6 or so, but never felt like McDaniel would lose it. Gburg needs more production from bench, especially if they are not going to a knock down the three's. Congrats to Gordon for having 8 assists and 0 turnovers against an always pesky defense. He now has over 500 points, 300 rebounds, and 200 assists!

Not shocked by the Dickinson win, and honestly by the margin. Devils have been in these games lately, and are experienced. F&M as a group has not. Lee and Moune have been in some. But when you are young these types of games happen, especially on the road. The Dips will bounce back and be fine. I would not expect this point margin at the last game of the year. I am not an F&M fan, I don't hate them or anything, but to say G Rob needs to get more out of them is not really fair. They are very inexperienced...have 2 losses...and are ranked!!! For now anyways.

Hoopdog14 · January 22, 2015, 12:24:03 AM

No surprise with Dickinson and F&M. Dickinson is tall, long and run a very disciplined offense that relies on passing and not dribbling which results in open uncontested shots. Angradi and Hinnenkamp keep getting better which will make life difficult for JHU. The one crack in the armor is Chris Cox is not a pure point guard and they may be susceptible to a pressure defense.

Muhlenberg's McClary nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory again as the Mules hung on to dear life to eek out a 3 point win at home against a clearly undermanned Ursinus. Killing broke the school scoring record then seemed to be benched by McC for the last 5 minutes. Rindock picked up slack left by the injured Stavetski putting in 17 points. Unfortunately he is a liability on defense which forced the Mules into a zone defense which allowed Ursinus to come back from down 13 to up by a bucket with a few minutes to go Mules went ahead by 6 with about 3 minutes left. Not content to win with that margin McClary decided to go into a 4 corner stall which resulted in bad shots and a shot clock violation. Ursinus had a shot at the end to tie but Draper who seemed to be clipped on the shot clanged one off the rim from 3 range

givengo · January 22, 2015, 12:46:44 AM

Quote from: centfan on January 21, 2015, 11:21:16 PM
f&m blown out decisively by dickinson. f&m seems to lack skill and didn't show up to battle tonight. wixted is still the competitor he was as a freshman...at one point he got blocked and went right back at them for a strong finish and an "and one". f&m didn't have the toughness or confidence that dickinson had. dickinson still doesn't seem very gifted individually besides wixted but coach gets everything out of them...balanced scoring, patience, energy, good shot selection and hard work. g-rob needs to get more out of his guys...they didn't show much heart tonight.

I agree with much that you said --Gerry Wixted played a great game again tonight as usual, and deserves every accolade he gets. But Brandon Angradi has been named a D3hoops player of the week this season when he tied a conference record of 10 threes in a game. Angradi, Collins, Hinnenkamp and Wixted have been high scorer at least three times each. Each of the four played a huge part getting the team to their Elite 8 finish last season. I don't see that as a crew without individual gifts. They also play five freshmen who get meaningful minutes, so they are deep.

centfan · January 22, 2015, 08:35:14 AM

givengo...
i hear what you are saying and respect it. to me wixted is really the only guy on dickinson who can truly make plays. knocking down open looks and getting baskets from an active motion offense and ball movement is what dickinson does best. coach trains role players, team play, and it works. basic, fundamental basketball. to me wixted has been the core ever since he arrived and the success of the team is centered around him. they all play hard and focused on every play, but he gets it done. the centennial in general only has a handful of standout players each year. generally it is teams that we remember rather than individuals. in this conference dickinson always overachieves with a somewhat bland lineup. coaching makes a huge difference since so many players can't do it on an individual basis. guys like wixted, hammer, federico, killing are the exceptions. i was surprised at how far dickinson went when honig and wixted were together and i credit the coaching. honig was a competitor, smart, could shoot, could run the team, but to me not a standout point guard in terms of talent, quickness, athleticism, defense. he was another player who impressed y overachieving due to quality guidance and demands from his coach.

hoop master · January 22, 2015, 09:22:34 AM

Well said cent fan....though Honig was pretty good.

centfan · January 22, 2015, 11:25:36 AM

agreed...pretty good

givengo · January 22, 2015, 12:02:49 PM

I guess the truth will out on the talent question for Dickinson next year, in the post Wixted era! Love the way Gerry plays-- such a smart a player; he's a true gamer. He leads the team in assists, blocks, points and rebounds. Still, there is only one ball to go around, and with an all American who's also the all time leading scorer on the floor, not one but several other players manage to have great stats in the Centennial. They know what they need to do and how to play. Angradi will likely pass Honig next year as the all time leader in 3 point shooting. I agree with your assessment of Honig and last year's team. He was more a two guard. My point to yours is, that it's too easy to classify teammates of great players as roll players without enough talent to be more than that, when they're doing what they should be doing.
I also agree that Coach Seretti is a savy guy. He and his staff do an outstanding job of adapting and getting players to step up. He pushes players to assume multiple rolls, and keeps his lineup fresh. He had his team primed and ready last night to take apart almost every aspect of F & M's game, and freshmen played key rolls in both halves.
I'm excited for the rest of the Centennial season. Hopkins and McDaniel are both tough. Fun conversation--thanks.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · January 22, 2015, 02:30:00 PM

I saw Dickinson play without Wixted, I still thought they were pretty darn good. They're losing a lot, but I was really impressed with Picka, the Sophomore. He's big, with room to fill out, good feet and pretty athletic. They're playing him real limited minutes right now, but I can see a pretty big jump if he keeps working hard. I think they're losing five seniors, which will be tough to replace, but they're getting plenty of contributions from underclassment to at least keep them competitive.

Hoopdog14 · January 22, 2015, 02:38:48 PM

That's the great thing about basketball at every level. It is the team that is well coached and executes its offensive and defensive schemes that win. They don't have to be the most talented or athletic. Dickinson does that with or without Wixted. Other teams with a star who can get it done---not so much!

CCD3Basketball · January 22, 2015, 04:16:59 PM

Count me as being one who was not overly surprised about last night. F&M was due for a bad game (the loss at McDaniel I wouldn't consider "Bad" because the Dips struggle historically in Westminster and only lost by 1) and last night they had it. Nobody could get hot and Dickinson was just too much last night. I expect the Dips will be much more prepared the second time around in Lancaster. Every young team has one really bad game over the course of a season; last night was that one for F&M. I fully expect them to bounce back.

Still only 2 games of separation between 1st and 5th. Isn't the Centennial beautiful??

hoop master · January 22, 2015, 09:42:10 PM

Coaching does make the difference.-- getting the most out of the players the staff recruited is a skill. Getting the players recruited is a skill. Having a strategey to maximize the strenghths and minimize the weakness, with each years group is a skill and makes for a winning program. As previously said, rarely in this conf does just one player carry the entire team. Just looking at some of the bottom dwellers in conf, i mention Haverford as an example, as they have had three 1000 plus scorers in three successive years-- with a fourth at 996, and still the staff has been unable to produce a winning record going on the 4 th year. Despite players abilities, coaching in its entirety helps separate the pack besides just having the players.

hoop master · January 24, 2015, 06:05:21 PM

Dips win as expected coming off of Dickenson fiasco. Dominating first half against over matched Haverford zone was the difference, Figueroa and Federici--- " F and F" boys on fire from nba land. Second half Fords went to man to man defense and cut lead to 10 , but couldnt over come initial lead. Haverford outscored Dips in second half. Alarming for Dip fans considering recent slump, national rating, and hope to win conf. Moune not the factor he was in first meeting. Some how Dips always seem to have challenge in Haverford home.