MBB: Centennial Conference

[BeRightOn]

At Swarthmore, Walsh proved too much for an undersized Washington squad even with the reining Player of the Week Zac O'dell sitting long stretches in foul trouble and Nate Shafer not playing due to injury. The game was wide open by the half and stayed that way.

[txg]

At Swarthmore, Walsh proved too much for an undersized Washington squad even with the reining Player of the Week Zac O'dell sitting long stretches in foul trouble and Nate Shafer not playing due to injury. The game was wide open by the half and stayed that way.

What is Shafer's status, does anyone know?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

At Swarthmore, Walsh proved too much for an undersized Washington squad even with the reining Player of the Week Zac O'dell sitting long stretches in foul trouble and Nate Shafer not playing due to injury. The game was wide open by the half and stayed that way.

What is Shafer's status, does anyone know?

It was an achilles injury - he was supposed to have an MRI on Monday.  I haven't heard anything about the results.  I attended the Dickinson game last Saturday where I believe he was going to try and play, but it was too painful in warmups.  He was jogging on it, but clearly hampered.  Unless the MRI revealed real damage, I doubt he's out for the year or anything.

[CCD3Basketball]

So, what do we think about the games on the list for tomorrow? Here's what I think:


F&M @ McDaniel: F&M is too talented for this McDaniel team to run with this year. In the past, this game would have given the Dips fits. This year, I don't see that happening. Federici and co are on a mission.


Johns Hopkins @ Ursinus: This should be a fun matchup. I think both these teams will make the playoffs but this game is full of potential first round bye implications. The Helffrich Hooligans will be out in full force in this one, and I think the Bears just have a little too much firepower for the Blue Jays to deal with.


Muhlenberg @ Washington: This could be fun. Mules are 0-4 since the injury of Michael Morreale but are still right in the playoff chase. Meanwhile WAC hasn't won (or played that great) since their 2OT win over Dickinson at The Palestra. Mules are 1-7 on the road this year, and I think the Shoremen find a way to eek out a close win.


#11 Swarthmore @ Gettysburg: Swat continues to lead the CC by one game as they take their show on the road to the Bullets. Speaking of, what's happened to Gettysburg this year? Didn't see them being 5-13 at this point of the campaign. Swat should be able to easily control the boards and tempo and pick up the win in this game.


Haverford @ Dickinson: The Fords have shown flashes of a team that could make a little bit of noise next season. The Red Devils, meanwhile, have been far too inconsistent this season, but still find themselves right in the playoff picture. Oh wait, the first meeting? Dickinson 101, Fords 59. Yeah, nevermind. Dickinson walks away with this one.


What do you all think?

[Gabriel]

CCD3Basketball

Don't disagree with any of your picks or the rationale.  But-----there are no "sure things"and that's why we play the games.

[CCD3Basketball]

CCD3Basketball

Don't disagree with any of your picks or the rationale.  But-----there are no "sure things"and that's why we play the games.

It's true, this conference has shown that anything can truly happen

[Swat Fan #1]

At Swarthmore, Walsh proved too much for an undersized Washington squad even with the reining Player of the Week Zac O'dell sitting long stretches in foul trouble and Nate Shafer not playing due to injury. The game was wide open by the half and stayed that way.

Yeah, I think Walsh is a beast and really underrated. I really like his all around game. He and O'dell have played very well together, but I still think that as Yonda goes, the team goes.

[iwumichigander]

Regarding plays,  I don't think it's what plays you run, it's how well you execute them.

So true. Same goes for coaches who like to hide their games so the rest of us can't watch them On Demand.

Coach K, Sabin, etc. seem to win championships or at least be in the conversation pretty often... running stuff they have been running for years and having their games completely available and broken down ad nauseam for YEARS.

If players can't execute, it doesn't matter what you are trying to run. I see it every day. I can see one team running a 1-2-2 full court trap that is easily broken and the other running the same trap and getting steals a plenty.

So correct - it is execution.  I have seen plenty of "average " teams that go deep into the tournament because they just execute better at both ends of the floor.  In short, five guys play as one.

[Hank Mardukas]

After reading all of your posts I see how much this blog has missed me, so I have decided to make my return to the blog as I sit at my kitchen table, drinking my hazelnut coffee with nonfat skim milk and sugar.... with a splash of rum . I like the topic of discussing coaches and as many of you know I am a strong believer of my views and stand by what I say, but can admit when I'm wrong. I consider myself somewhat as a figurehead for this blog, similar to what Hubert Humphrey was to the democratic party in the 1968 election. I believe that the Cent historically has some of the best coaches in basketball, but this year there are many new faces who still have something to prove. I have been very impressed with what Loffler has been able to do at Hopkins. They are a fundamental team and exceeded my expectations. Landry over at Swat is a basketball genius and a great recruiter, I believe Swat will be the equivalent to what F&M has been the last decade. Robinson is a legend, there is no debating that. The best coach I have ever personally talked to although it ended with me getting escorted out of the gym by 2 Muhlenberg Managers back in 92'. Hopkins over at my place of worship has overall done a pretty good job with the Mules. He is missing perhaps the teams best player in Peter Morreale. "Big Pete", which they call him on campus suffered an undisclosed injury this past month. In his place came the Spence Duke of Hazard, the undersized big man who has outperformed my prior expectations. When I first saw Duke, I couldn't believe that Hop would start this kid, but boy was I wrong. Watching Duke track down rebounds reminds me of a lion hunting down a zebra, which I had the opportunity to see back in 88' when I was in Rhodesian which is currently known as Zimbabwe. On the topic of the Mules the musically talented "DJ" Jake Brown is also a big contributor, drawing up there newly implemented 1-2-1-1 press. After doing my weekly google search on Jake Brown I came across an article that he is the newest member of the Scranton Shamrock's. I am a little nervous that he will have trouble managing his time with all that basketball and adding his aspirations to become a top-tier DJ. 

[BeRightOn]

Nice piece on Swat basketball:

https://player.fm/series/series-1511256/swarthmore-g-zack-yonda-on-teams-success

[Gabriel]

Nice piece on Swat basketball:

https://player.fm/series/series-1511256/swarthmore-g-zack-yonda-on-teams-success

It is a nice piece.  Thanks for sharing.

[D.B. Cooper]

I didn't hear all of the last 2 F&M broadcasts but I was curious if Tate was sick or injured as he hardly played @ McDaniel and had no fouls. Also It seems like Groll hasn't played the last 2 games is he sick, injured or just not playing. Dips definitely need Tate for a chance against top CC teams, and what happened to the Groll that had 27 or 29 points vs LVC and I think 10+ rebounds. If RS or anyone else knows, otherwise I'll ask next Saturday when I plan to be at Mayser to see if Dips can even the score against the Muhls.

[CCD3Basketball]

So, what do we think about the games on the list for tomorrow? Here's what I think:


F&M @ McDaniel: F&M is too talented for this McDaniel team to run with this year. In the past, this game would have given the Dips fits. This year, I don't see that happening. Federici and co are on a mission.


Johns Hopkins @ Ursinus: This should be a fun matchup. I think both these teams will make the playoffs but this game is full of potential first round bye implications. The Helffrich Hooligans will be out in full force in this one, and I think the Bears just have a little too much firepower for the Blue Jays to deal with.


Muhlenberg @ Washington: This could be fun. Mules are 0-4 since the injury of Michael Morreale but are still right in the playoff chase. Meanwhile WAC hasn't won (or played that great) since their 2OT win over Dickinson at The Palestra. Mules are 1-7 on the road this year, and I think the Shoremen find a way to eek out a close win.


#11 Swarthmore @ Gettysburg: Swat continues to lead the CC by one game as they take their show on the road to the Bullets. Speaking of, what's happened to Gettysburg this year? Didn't see them being 5-13 at this point of the campaign. Swat should be able to easily control the boards and tempo and pick up the win in this game.


Haverford @ Dickinson: The Fords have shown flashes of a team that could make a little bit of noise next season. The Red Devils, meanwhile, have been far too inconsistent this season, but still find themselves right in the playoff picture. Oh wait, the first meeting? Dickinson 101, Fords 59. Yeah, nevermind. Dickinson walks away with this one.


What do you all think?

3-2. Meh. Maybe I should just stick to observing? Nice job by the Mules to overcome a pair of big deficits and boy was I wrong about the Blue Jays.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Good thing this isn't called a blog...

[guest323]

Is this a down year for the conference? Hasn't G-Burg's coach has been there since Lincoln was in office?