MBB: Centennial Conference

[r.w. mcnickels]

Nick Shattuck is the best player in the history of the Centennial Conference. 

I think it's Dave Jannetta.

You could also make a great argument for Dennis Stanton. 

Not taking anything away from Shattuck - all three could stake their claim.

[old ends]

Here is what the papers are saying about yesterday.

Washington: http://www.washingtoncollegesports.com/mbasketball/releases/09gettysburg2.html

Ursinus: http://www.ursinus.edu/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1139

F & M: http://godiplomats.prestosports.com/sports/m-baskbl/2008-09/news/Swarthmore2

McDaniel: http://www.mcdaniel.edu/athletics/menbasketball/eventrev.cfm?id=272592592596

enjoy

[old ends]

Pick-em for 2/4/09

Swarthmore    at   McDaniel
Gettysburg      at   Dickinson
John Hopkins   at   F & M
Muhlenberg     at   Haverford
Ursinus           at   Washington

get them in before tip off

[Reserved Seat]

Best Player in the History of the Centennial Conference--boy, would that be a biased discussion.
Jannetta, Stanton, Shattuck, add Kraft(2000 first team All-American)

F&M's game was very sloppy.  F&M could never pull away.  Swarthmore picked a very good defensive game, but F&M had a lot shots that went in and out.  Ordonez played an excellent game.  F&M had a very balanced scoring attack which I believe is a key to their success, since you can't key on anyone player.  McNally was even one of the top 5 scorers and he's the season leader for F&M.  Brooks  and Scovil had outstanding games.  Milligan had a good game and makes things happen for F&M along with Brooks.  Baker had a solid game with rebounding and scoring.  Selig had some key moments, but is still struggling with his ankle injury.
Despite their record, Swarthmore came to play and never back off.

Hopefully, my continued polishing of my blue-tinted crystal ball will play off again for this Wednesday.

Pick-ems for 1/4/09

McDaniel(way too agressive for Swarthmore)
Gettysburg(what's going on here-two weeks ago I would have said an easy win)
F & M(continue to grow and mature)
Muhlenberg(tough one to call)
Ursinus (another tough one to call-Washington is the only team I haven't seen play this
              year)

[Gabriel]

Picks for 2/4/2009

McDaniel (Swat has the will but not the way)
Dickinson (In an upset, both teams wildly inconsistent)
F&M (JHU will give them a game but home court prevails)
Haverford (Again, home court will be the decider)
Ursinus (Bears shooting well, if only the could defend)

[BTEXPRESS]

Went to see Dickinson play Haverford on Saturday. The Red Devils were winning 40 to 23 at half and in complete control. The second half was a disaster for Dickinson. They could do nothing right and let the Fords tie the game at 50. Then it looked like the Devils righted the ship and took a 5 point lead only to lose at the end. What an up and down team. They have talent but something seems to be missing. They didn't seem to play as a team in the second half, very disappointing loss.

[terror 30]

2/4/09 picks

McDaniel (Too athletic for Swat Especially at home where the Terror have won their last 6)
Gettysburg (Both teams struggling but Gettysburg will get it together)
Johns Hopkins (Upset! I think Bill Nelson will have the Jays ready to play at Tough F & M)
Muhlenberg (In a close one! In the end too much size for Haverford)
Ursinus (I think this will be another battle! especially at Washington)

McDaniel has 6 tough games remaining... Including at Gettysburg, at Hopkins, Home vs Ursinus, and at Washington... Yes that is correct "AT WASHINGTON" where the terror have not won in something like 10 years.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Curious... would playing Gettysburg or Ursinus actually be considered "tough" anymore?

I will say it publicly for the first time, Gettysburg is my biggest disappoint so far this season. After returning so many players from last year's impressive team, losing to Haverford and Washington College (at home) while losing three of the last four is not something I expected from this talented and experienced a team. They need to run the table at this point and lose only in the CC championship game if they want a Pool C bid (though, that is still a long-reach). They of course also just have to win the conference AQ to make the tourney.

[Gabriel]

Curious... would playing Gettysburg or Ursinus actually be considered "tough" anymore?

I will say it publicly for the first time, Gettysburg is my biggest disappoint so far this season. After returning so many players from last year's impressive team, losing to Haverford and Washington College (at home) while losing three of the last four is not something I expected from this talented and experienced a team. They need to run the table at this point and lose only in the CC championship game if they want a Pool C bid (though, that is still a long-reach). They of course also just have to win the conference AQ to make the tourney.

d-mac,

I would agree with you.  The two biggest disappointments have to be Gettysburg and Dickinson in that order.  Neither team is mentally tough enough to be a contender.  One could argue that Ursinus has been a disappointment as well, however, they were overrated in the preseason.  They are what they are-----6 and 6 which is about what I expected after Hilton went down.

[r.w. mcnickels]

Curious... would playing Gettysburg or Ursinus actually be considered "tough" anymore?

I will say it publicly for the first time, Gettysburg is my biggest disappoint so far this season. After returning so many players from last year's impressive team, losing to Haverford and Washington College (at home) while losing three of the last four is not something I expected from this talented and experienced a team. They need to run the table at this point and lose only in the CC championship game if they want a Pool C bid (though, that is still a long-reach). They of course also just have to win the conference AQ to make the tourney.

Gettysburg is a disappointment, but I wouldn't leave the Bullets for dead.  This slump has been unexpected, but the Bullets have some talented seniors who could easily put this behind them.

If I'm remembering this right, the current Gettysburg situation is similar to F&M in 2000 and Catholic U. in 2001.  Both of those teams had a core of seniors who were expected to roll through the regular season, but went through horrific slumps in January and were left for dead.  F&M then put together a run to the Final Four, and Catholic won the national title the following year.  I'm not saying Gettysburg will match those runs, but the Bullets could still right the ship.

[terror 30]

D-Mac

You are right! Gettysburg has really been slipping the past couple of games but overall they are not performing as they did last year. After seeing them play early on in the season against a very below average York team, I didn't understand where the fire and passion had gone from a year ago. In knowing that Gettysburg returned almost everybody I was really excited for this upcoming season and to hopefully see them make a legitimate run through the NCAA's. Last year, Capkin proved to me that he was the purest shooter in the league and that he was capable of hitting the clutch shot. WHAT HAPPENED??? Powers, coming off a tremendous freshman year, seemed to be with no to very little improvement. He is still having a good season but I think that a lot of people can agree with me when I say that he has not lived up to his potential... The good thing about Powers though is that he is only a sophomore and with the other 4 starters graduating it is his team from now on. I was looking forward to a dominant Gettysburg team.

And As I've stated before I just don't see the togetherness and the fire that they showed to us last year. Maybe it's because of rising negative attitudes? At McDaniel, Dorsey seemed to bring the whole team down. He scored 2 points and clearly had a beef with Coach Pietrie. Showing disrespect to Petrie and his fellow teammates by not listening in huddles and trying to consume attention with his pouty attitude. After playing 28 minutes and fouling out of the Washington game he had only 2 points for the second game in a row. Gettysburg has been the biggest disappointment for me this year as well. I'm hoping Capkin can turn his season around in these last 6 games by showing us what he did last year, SHOOT THE ROCK!!!

I have to say that McDaniel is the biggest surprise of this season. I am going to be a little biased here but stick with me. I would have never thought, at this point of the season, McDaniel would be fighting for first place... After losing their bigmen -  All Conference Chris Prior (graduation) and leading scorer Brett Foelber (graduation), as well as Chad Arrington due to Team Violations, McDaniel and Coach Kevin Curley have really put themselves in a great position. Josh McKay has thrown out his arrogance and selfishness to play TEAM basketball. If you remember 2 years ago McKay would try to play more of a perimeter game by shooting 3's. Not saying he wasn't a horrible 3-point shooter, but at 6 foot 9 has had a very successful season playing great defense (except for the Muhlenberg Game) and dominating games (F & M and Hopkins). Chad Arrington has had his most productive and consistent season averaging almost 9 ppg and 7 rpg. The guard play, which is lead by Miguel Jones and Kevin Henry, is either on or its off but the defense that Coach Kevin Curley has established makes up for that and seems to be a lot more consistent this season. It's now or never for McDaniel. They lose 8 seniors at the end of this season. In the end, the lack of experience will hurt them. But I am excited to see how it turns out...

What you think?

[d3hoopsfan]

I think most people thought McDaniel would have a decent year, but agree in that they have surpassed most expectations-besides their own.  Now your comment about "It's now or never for McDaniel" doesn't really make too much sense to me.  It seems as though the program is turning a corner and will not be reverting back to its old ways.  You mentioned 8 seniors are graduating, but how many of them actually contribute?  As of late, McDaniel has been starting 2 seniors(McKay and Arrington) and have 2 seniors they play off the bench(Finch, Odulami).  With 3 of their starters and top scorers back in Miguel Jones(Junior), Kevin Henry(Soph), and Louis Sarris-Grau(Fresh) they have a nice core group returning, with some other key backups and a solid crew of freshman that will get alot more playing time as sophs.  Also, if you look around the league, many teams will be losing alot of key players after this season, with the exception of F &M.  Think about teams like Gettysburg(just about everyone gone, except Powers), Dickinson(4 out of 5 starters gone), Ursinus(Noonan, but return many juniors), etc.  So while I hope this nice run continues for this season, I by no means expect this trend to stop after this season.  Success breads more success and hopefully the program continues to rise.

[Reserved Seat]

Pre-season rankings(current place)
1. Gettysburg (18), 162----(3)
2. Ursinus (2), 137----------(T4)
3. Dickinson, 126------------(9)
4. Johns Hopkins, 107------(T4)
5. Franklin & Marshall, 82--(1)
6. McDaniel, 79--------------(2)
7. Muhlenberg, 75----------(T4)
8. Haverford, 67-------------(T4)
9. Washington, 34----------(T4)
10. Swarthmore, 29--------(10)

It's going to be an exciting run to the finish.  Eight teams still with good chances for the play-offs.  Dickinson will need some major upsets.

[BRCE4]

Picks for 2/4
McDaniel ( Simply too good for Swat)
Gettysburg (Due for a good game)
F&M(JHU doesn't have a good enough team to win this one)
Mules( need this one to keep playoff hopes alive)
Wash ( much improved and very tough at home)

[terror 30]

d3hoopsfan:

No one was saying "McDaniel will be in the top 3 teams in the league" in the preseason... I know that the preseason polls voted on by coaches and SIDs doesnt mean anything but  they were seeded 6th (in the lower half of the conference).

The program has continued to progress throughout the past 3 years. You have to remember that just 2 and a half seasons ago the terror lost their coach in the middle of the season. Before then they had been on a winning season and looking to clinch 4th in the conference. Kevin Curley has taken a "decent" team and turned them into a 2nd place team focusing on defense.

Jones, Henry, and Sarris-Grau are all very good players and are having great years! Other than those 3 players there is only 1 player returning next year that has played in 9 or more games (McDaniel has played 19 games total) and I mean this in all due respect but I dont know what you mean by "key backups."

Its a definite that they need a great recruiting class next year to fill the gaps that they will lose with McKay, Arrington, Finch, Odulami, and others. You have to remember that 6' 7" Senior/Captain Steve Wilson (who gave them some size before tearing his labrum in his shoulder) is also graduating. There are 11 players who average 10 minutes or more on McDaniel's Team so it is really hard for you to see what they are losing unless you watch them play. The core group of Jones, Henry, and Sarris-Grau will be good but what will they have past that? Jones has to be a huge leader next year being the lone senior.