MBB: Centennial Conference

HoopGuru · February 02, 2015, 07:43:56 PM

Yeah, your argument for basketball being a non-contact sport seems to center more around dirty play from a team, which if that happens it tends to be when you have one team (F&M) who is physically/athletically superior to another team (Swat). Although I cant vouch bc I did not watch the game, just from watching numerous games over the years, a team like Swat might believe the only chance they have to compete and win is to make the game sloppy and physical in the hopes it gets F&M frustrated to the point they are making uncharacteristic mistakes. I know when I used to play, this was one of the things that WC did extremely well. They played hard/aggressive/physical (not necessarily dirty) knowing that refs could not call every single foul...it just wasn't realistic. And bc of this, they were able to compete with every single team regardless of what it looked like on paper.

njf1003 · February 02, 2015, 10:23:19 PM

Really nice article about how Federici ended up choosing F&M. Some of the stuff you never hear when a player just shows up on the court!
http://cityofbasketballlove.com/2015/01/federici-shining-in-freshman-campaign-at-franklin-marshall/

centfan · February 03, 2015, 08:35:54 AM

Federici is a very good freshman player and I am glad he is happy at F&M. The truth is that the basketball is better in NESCAC than it is in the Centennial, and Williams and Amherst are better schools than F&M. Coach Robinson is very lucky to have him.

CCD3Basketball · February 03, 2015, 11:58:53 AM

I think Federici has a decent shot at being named CC Player Of The Year, but ultimately because he is a freshman I am not sure if he will get it. It has been a really long time since a freshman got the honor (in fact, has it ever happened? Alex Craft from F&M and Andrew Powers from Gettysburg are the only two sophomores to ever win) and I think that guys like Wixted or Hammer (more so Wixted) have a better shot at it. That being said, there's no question to me that he should be All CC First Team as a freshmen (something else that I believe has hardly ever happened).

As for tomorrow's games, you have to start with the JHU/F&M clash, and what a game it should be! Also, Dickinson already lost to Gettysburg this year and now they have to go down to Gettysburg for the rematch with the Bullets.

Also, what's going on with McDaniel? All of a sudden losers of 4 in a row and a team that was once comfortably in the playoffs now has just a 2 game cushion on the Mules (who own the breaker thanks to a season sweep), Swarthmore, and Ursinus. 3 of their last 6 games are against Dickinson, JHU and Gettysburg, plus they have to go to Washington tomorrow night, which might not look like a threat because the Shoremen are 2-17, BUT, up until 4 years ago, McDaniel had lost the previous 17 matchups inside of the Cain Athletic Center. Combine that with the fact that, for some reason, the Green Terror are on a slide right now, and that could turn into a dangerous game for McDaniel.

HoopGuru · February 03, 2015, 12:30:22 PM

I am glad that you brought the games up tomorrow night CCD and specifically McDaniel. As interesting as the top 3 spots are shaping up to be, with the recent struggles of McDaniel, the final 5th spot has become very interesting as well with 6 games remaining. Assuming that last spot will be one of; McDaniel, Muhlenberg, Ursinus, Swat. McDaniel still has games with Dickinson and JHU (both at home), Muhl still has F&M and Dickinson (Home/Away), UC has Dickinson and F&M (Home/Away), and Swat has JHU at Home. Remaining schedules are below and predicting wins for McDaniel tmw at WC, Haverford and at Swat would get them to 9-9 and I am not sure if any of those teams at 4-8 can get to that mark. Obviously, a loss tmw night by McDaniel and wins by Muhlenberg and UC/Swat winner will make it more interesting heading into the wknd.

McDaniel Muhlenberg Ursinus Swarthmore
@WC vs. Haverford vs. Swat @UC
vs. Haverford vs. Gburg vs. Dickinson vs. JHU
vs. Dickinson @ Swat @ F&M vs. Muhlenberg
@ Swat vs. F&M @ WC vs. McDaniel
vs. JHU @ Dickinson vs. Haverford @ WC
@ Gburg @ UC vs. Muhlenberg @ Haverford

hoop master · February 03, 2015, 02:18:26 PM

HAVERFORD Fords can be the big determinant on who gets to 4/5 position for playoffs. Though sitting at the bottom and not regarded highly, Haverford with the acception of games against the big three, --- though Hopkins was very fortunate to win their first game against Haverford, have either won or lost very narrowingly to all the others they have faced. . With Gettys, Muhl, Swat, Ursinus, McDaniel, left on their schedule, besides Wash, Fords can win all or of course lose all, but eitherway will have a say on final standings. With three srs as starters ending their career, would be hard to think they will drop all. Should be an interesting battle in CC for berths. John Hopkins still my pick at the end for the top, and hopefully three bids to dance from conf.

Hoopdog14 · February 03, 2015, 02:45:53 PM

McDaniel & Gettysburg seems to be in a late season slide. Haverford can be trouble but the team to watch as spoiler is Swarthmore. Both McDaniel and Muhlenberg have Swarthmore on the road and Swarthmore has beaten the Mules on the Mules home court earlier.

givengo · February 03, 2015, 03:11:35 PM

Criteria for honors will likely predicate on who wins the conference. Federici is my bet for Rookie of the year, if I have the terminology right. I don't see him as POY unless he leads his team to both regular season and/or playoff championships, then a run into the tournament. This year it's far too early to talk POY, as we have three teams ranked, three teams maybe plus one (whoever wins the Centennial) in contention for tournament bids. It may not stay that way, but for now leaders on those three teams are the main contenders for POY.
The Centennial is currently in position to get two teams into the NCAA tournament. If Hopkins wins the conference, Dickinson should still get a bid, If F&M wins, there is a chance both Dickinson and Hopkins get bids, though not as likely. If Dickinson wins, not sure where that leaves Hopkins and F & M. There are still too many games left at this point. Fate is in the hands of the players where it belongs.
Lots of good basketball ahead at any rate. Of particular interest, tomorrow night's games...Hopkins vs F&M, Dickinson at Gettysburg. I don't do predictions (bad karma). but I will say I think one game will be close, and one game will not.

Reserved Seat · February 04, 2015, 10:12:06 PM

Fantastic game at F&M, both teams played solid defense without being physical. Only 12 fouls were called on each team. F&M struggled with their shooting more than Hopkins(29% to 39%) Hopkins controlled the boards in the first half, but F&M came on in the second half with Moune ending up with 15 boards. Bugarinov and Hammer combined for 29 points while Lee and Federici combined for 28.
F&M seemed to dribble into positions where they left no option for a good pass. F&M's strength for shooting threes disappeared with a 3 for 21 performance, many of the shots tightly contested by the Blue Jays. Key turning points were and 8-2 run by Hopkins at the end of the first half, and a key turn over by F&M down the stretch. F&M missed a shot under the basket but slapped the ball out to center court were Figueroa grabbed the ball only to have it punched out of his hands for an easy lay-up. Tough loss for F&M and a great win for Hopkins.

hoop master · February 05, 2015, 11:00:02 AM

Haverford gave its typical scare to their opponent, as game was tied at 6 min remaining mark, before Muhlenberg stepped on gas and Fords ran out of gas. Mules youth shows itself with some inconsistant play, but also shows their future potential as they closed the game out nicely. With McDanial and Gettys still two games ahead, still a steep climb for Mules to get to 5th spot. If Haverford can surprise McDanial this weekend, can make the race tighter.

centfan · February 05, 2015, 09:56:30 PM

reserved seat..you are a class act. i know you are a huge f&m fan, but you are always fair about how you discuss a game. that is not easy. thanks for being a great poster on this board and good luck to your team the rest of the way.

Hoopdog14 · February 05, 2015, 11:18:57 PM

Haverford came back from a 16 point deficit to gain the lead late in the game. And just as for a spell in the first half, Haverford lost the ability to shoot, shooting a dismal 18% from 3 pt. None was due to a ferocious Mule defense but just stone cold shooting. Once again the Mules relied on non-Killing sources for offense with the hope to just outscore the opponent. Talented young team yes on offense but defense is not a skill like shooting. Like rebounding it is heart and attitude. This game plan works on the bottom third of the conference but is more difficult against the rest.

Hunter provided some nice blocks but spent a good portion of the game in foul trouble. The offensively talented Rindock had another sharp game on the offensive end and stayed out of foul trouble. Of course to be called for fouls you need to be at least with an arm's length of your man. Haverford also pushed the ball up court exploiting a slow recovery of the Mules from the offensive end resulting in some easy lay-ups. But in the end Haverford ran out of 3 magic

CCD3Basketball · February 06, 2015, 04:50:20 PM

As always, looking forward to the games tomorrow. All the current CC playoff teams have interesting road tests tomorrow for their own respective reasons (save for McDaniel, at home against Haverford). Ursinus could give Dickinson a good, high scoring game, Swarthmore is playing much better basketball, plus they could catch Hopkins off guard after the big Blue Jays win over F&M, Gettysburg heads to the Mule barn (which Mules team will show up? Could be a barnburner) and F&M has to go to C-Town, a place that has given them extremely close games and even a loss 2 years ago to a winless WC team. Potential big tests for all the current playoff teams!

hoop master · February 06, 2015, 10:37:26 PM

Haverford always gives up size to opponents, and relies very heavily on the three ball. Haverford has a 6'8 fosh who would give them length, but for some reason gets very limited minutes. With many starters getting 30 plus minutes a game all season, minimally getting him minutes would give others needed rest. As natural fatigue comes from battling - usually from behind, the legs go and so does the three accuracy. Fords have enough talent to compete against teams4-10 in conferance. Hopefully they will be the surprise against a home tough Mcdanial tomorrow.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 07, 2015, 05:06:45 PM

I'll eat my words from before. I went to the Washington College - F&M game today and WAC really came out firing. Any complaints I had about coaching were, for the most part, gone. Not only were the guys ready to play, they came out with a solid game plan and knew exactly how to execute it. They were tougher, more physical, and proactive throughout.

The F&M team is very young and they certainly could have won the game. They've got more talent, but they weren't as aggressive as WAC. It seems like it's still just the learning curve. F&M didn't play poorly at all, just not up to what they needed to win.