MBB: Centennial Conference

[diplomaniac1]

There could be some really close games tonight and some of the match-ups will be really difficult to pick. At any rate, the following are my selections and supporting musings for tonight's (1/26) pick-ems:

Haverford   @   Washington:   Washington.  (Shoremen too tough at Cain Center for the Fords who are coming off a huge upset victory).

Muhlenberg   @   Swarthmore:   Muhlenberg.   (Even on the road, the Mules should win this one easily).


Ursinus   @   Franklin And Marshall:   Franklin And Marshall.   (Dips win a close one at Mayser and, hopefully, establish thmesleves as a legitmate contender).

Johns Hopkins   @   Gettysburg:   Gettysburg.   (Bullets should have a strong rebound at home after a big loss. Should be close though as Jays are a tough match-up for them).

McDaniel   @   Dickinson:   McDaniel.   (Terror should also be very hungry and rebound after a very tough loss in Mayser.  Besides, it is hard to pick the inconsistent Devils right now. I just don't know which Devils team will show up.  Terror may be too quick and physical for Devils even on the road.)

I hope to make a quick trip to Mayser Center straight work tonight in time for the Dips epic battle against the Bears tonight. I could be a few minutes late.

Good luck to all teams and to all fellow prognosticators. Enjoy the games! Regards.

Eric

[UniqueNewYork]

Pick-em's for 1/26/09

Washington
Muhlenberg 
Franklin & Marshall
Gettysburg
McDaniel       

[r.w. mcnickels]

Fellow Centennial Fans -

Here is some interesting reading from this morning's Lancaster Intelligencer Journal. The link to the article follows below:

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/233067

Weather permitting, I hope to make tonight's game at Mayser Center. Enjoy. Regards to all.

Eric

Eric - thanks for posting that article.  The part about the new offense was interesting to me.  F&M hasn't changed much over the years, but the Dips have shown a more fluid offensive set this year (in the few games I've seen, at least).  I wasn't sure if the addition of Milligan was the reason for that, or there were some tweaks involved.  Robinson credits assistant Chris Rogers for some of the changes.  Perhaps old dogs can learn new tricks, on occasion...

Also, Robinson was a guest on Hoopsville the other night.  It's an interesting interview, at least if you follow F&M (it begins about halfway through the program):

http://www.d3hoops.com/audio/09/hoopsville/hoopsville012209.mp3

[r.w. mcnickels]

1/26 picks for "Monday Night Basketball:"

Gettysburg
F&M
McDaniel
Washington
Muhlenberg

Ursinus will give F&M yet another nail-biter in Lancaster, but for the first time since '05, this clash should go to the Dips.

Washington should be able to hold down the home fort as Haverford could still be on cloud nine after the big win over the Bullets.  Dickinson will come close to upsetting McDaniel, but the Green Terror will play lock-down defense in the Kline Center.

[ddm28]

As a Cent. Conf. alum, I was pleased to stumble onto this board. You all might be very helpful.

I have a friend who has been recruited by most of the conference. He wants to go to a good school that will also have a good team for the next few years.

It looks like he has narrowed his choices to McDaniel and F&M (Dickinson might also still be in the mix). I have two questions. First, is McDaniel a good enough school to turn down the other two?

The Centennial seems to be tiered academically and he is concerned that a McDaniel degree is not as valuable.  US News Rankings are not the end all and be all they claim to be but they can give you an idea of how good a school is. McDaniel alums, defend your school.

1st: Swarthmore 3rd, Haverford 10th, JHU 15th as a University in US News
2nd: F&M 42nd, Dickinson 45th (both usually with acceptance rates around 40%), Gburg 49th,
3rd: Mul. 71st, Ursinus 81st, WAC 94th
McDaniel- Tier 3

Second, is something wrong with the F&M program that they have such a young roster and have had so much turnover on their roster in the past few years?
I know G-Rob is notorious for over-recruiting but is something up in Lancaster?

[Reserved Seat]

F&M and Dickinson both have good academic reputations.
F&M has been down the last few years, but Robinson seems to have righted the ship and has F&M sailing along.  With the youth on the team, F&M should be strong over the next few years.  If you look at Robinson's career wins, you'll see he had some bumps in the road(mid-80's and late 90's), but some new blood always seemed to bring the team around.  F&M has more potential on this year's team compared to the last few. 

[old ends]

Pick-em's for WEDS 1/28/09

Dickinson      @  F & M
Gettysburg   @  McDaniel ( tough one to pick)
Haverford     @  Swarthmore
Ursinus         @  Muhlenberg
Washington  @  John Hopkins

Welcome oldballer to the picks. Have fun as we do all you can win is the same thing Reserved Seat got last year, which will be doubled this year ,, let's see if my math is good  2  x  0  =  0

I hope these get in look like a little nasty weather moving in for Weds.

Good luck and enjoy

[old ends]

Congrats to Miguel Jones, McDaniel Conference player of the week.

Read the rest here and enjoy:
http://www.centennial.org/basketball/2009/MBK_126.pdf

enjoy

[old ends]

Stats are in with some interesting things to look at. Remember these are withing the Conference only:

SCORING OFFENSE
## Team                      G   W-L   Pts Avg/G
--------------------------------------------
1.Ursinus.............       9   5-4   678  75.3
2.Washington..........   9   4-5   668  74.2
3.Franklin & Marshall.  9   7-2   654  72.7


SCORING DEFENSE
## Team                     G   Pts Avg/G
--------------------------------------
1.McDaniel............      9   537  59.7
2.Gettysburg..........    9   553  61.4
3.Johns Hopkins.......  9   560  62.2

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGES
## Team                      G     FG   FGA   Pct
---------------------------------------------
1.Franklin & Marshall.  9    249   489  .509
2.Ursinus.............        9    245   491  .499
3.McDaniel............       9    216   476  .454

TURNOVER MARGIN
## Team                     G  TEAM   Avg  OPP   Avg Margin
--------------------------------------------------------
1.Washington.........  .  9   134  14.9  175  19.4  +4.56
2.Johns Hopkins.......   9   119  13.2  143  15.9  +2.67
3.Franklin & Marshall.  9   139  15.4  161  17.9  +2.44

STEALS
## Team                      G  Steals  Avg/G
-------------------------  ----------------
1.McDaniel............       9      98  10.89
2.Franklin & Marshall.  9      85   9.44
REBOUNDING MARGIN
## Team                  G  TEAM   Avg  OPP   Avg Margin
--------------------------------------------------------
1.Ursinus.............    9   348  38.7  288  32.0   +6.7
2.Dickinson...........   9   342  38.0  296  32.9   +5.1
3.Muhlenberg........  9   368  40.9  325  36.1   +4.8

read the rest here: http://www.centennial.org/basketball/men/2009stats/confonly.htm

enjoy

[Reserved Seat]

Old Ends, unfortunately I spent all my winnings from last year at one time.

As r. w. predicted, it was another nail-biter in Lancaster.
The game was an offensive display as evident by the 83-80.
Ursinus moved the crispy and earned numerous uncontested lay-ups.  Howell accumulated numerous points under the basketball.
In the first half Ursinus drained 7 of 14 threes to F&M's 1 of 5.
Noonan had a fantastic game despite being saddled with 4 fouls.  Noonan still played an aggressive 34 minutes. 
Ursinus had several changes to win the game but didn't seem to be patient enough to get good opportunities.  Ursinus got called for several out of control drives.  At times it seemed Noonan had one thought in mind-shoot.
F&M got well distributed scoring which makes it hard for an opponent to key on any one key player.
F&M lead by one with about 10 seconds to go, and Ursinus had possession of the ball.
After a timeout, Ursinus had the inbound pass stolen by Milligan, who then knocked down two foul shots for the final margin.  Ursinus had time to work for a three point shot but were  unable to get an open look before the buzzer.
Milligan had another great game directing F&M's offense.
Another great D3 game.

[oldbballer]

Dickinson wins!!!  My faith has been restored.  They have finally changed the line-up to include a very talented freshman named Aaron Hill.  Congrats to Coach C. for making the change in the line-up.  Now all he has to do is put Tim Crouch in for Matt Dolan and I believe he will have a very strong starting 5.  Kiz Grell, Tom Leszczynski, Corey Kenney, Tim Crouch and Aaron Hill.  Maybe he'll read this board and take some sound advice.

[Reserved Seat]

Pick-ems for Wednesday 28th

F & M(tough at home)
Gettysburg(need to win to earn home court for play-offs)
Haverford(Swarthmore continues to have problems)
Ursinus (tough to win at Muhlenberg, but Ursinus needs a win)
John Hopkins(could be a toss-up)

[BRCE4]

Mules win a squeaker at Swat. What was interesting  was the foul shooting. Mules were 26-26 and Swat was12-13 in what is supposed to be an NCAA D3 record for foul shooting in a game 38-39. Fundamentals live on in D3.

[oldbballer]

Pics for 1/28

Gettysburg (Tough one to pick - going to be a battle)
Dickinson (Still believe in this team's ability)
Hopkins (this one will be tough, but I will gowith Home court advantage)
Muhlenberg (at home)
Swarthmore (a long shot - taking a chance with this pick)

Good luck to all

[D.B. Cooper]

1/28 picks

Dickinson (hasn't lost in years at Mayser, now at Kline they have lost some games)
McDaniel (I have no clue who should be favored here)
Haverford (SWAT may upset in rematch if Fords are out of contention)
Muhlenburg (Bears can't stop Liddic inside, 3-point gunners may not shoot well enough in Memorial)
JHU (should win at Goldfarb, likely a battle though)