MBB: Centennial Conference

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Well they did play Transylvania and St. Mary's on the road (Transy being a tournament there, SMC turning into a regional rivalry of sorts)... so they seem to be more willing now to go for those harder games that will boost  their SOS. They have 7 games out of conference and avoiding the Lancaster Bibles of the world is a good thing.

[Pat Coleman]

I think the anomaly isnt as much F&M as a good home team vs bad road team (I mean they have won two big road games in the NCAA tourney in recent years), its their propensity to lose to, no offense, bad teams.  They won this year at Muhlenberg, JHU and Gettysburg, which makes the three bad losses so hard to figure. 

It is really puzzling, no doubt. Even if they were not taking these games seriously the first or second time it happened, you'd have to think that by Saturday they realized that they had to play their 'A' game even if it was against Swarthmore.

[Gabriel]

Let's face it, there is no outstanding team in the CC this year just as there is no outstanding player in the mold of a Georgio Milligan or Nick Shattuck.   F&M is good but very inconsistent.  They do not have Milligan.  He could carry the team and he refused to lose.  That being said, I think there is more parity in the league this year than any time in recent years----less of a gap between #1 and #10.  Whoever wins the CC is not likely to go very far in the post season. 

[Pat Coleman]

Let's face it, there is no outstanding team in the CC this year just as there is no outstanding player in the mold of a Georgio Milligan or Nick Shattuck.   F&M is good but very inconsistent.  They do not have Milligan.  He could carry the team and he refused to lose.  That being said, I think there is more parity in the league this year than any time in recent years----less of a gap between #1 and #10.  Whoever wins the CC is not likely to go very far in the post season. 

Perhaps. They're not likely to get a home game or a particularly kind matchup, but it's not like there are a ton of unbeatable teams within 500 miles, either. In the right bracket, F&M or Dickinson could certainly win a game, maybe two.

[r.w. mcnickels]

Being on the road has always been interesting for F&M, especially over the last four or five seasons. For whatever reason, they are prone to play bad games when away from Mayser.

I think the worst losses for F&M over that time (not counting this year) actually took place in Mayser: the losses to Washington in 2010 and 2012, and the 46-45 loss to Hopkins in 2010.

F&M's road schedule has always been the subject of debate, so I was glad the Dips played Transy on the road and continued the series at St. Mary's this year. I thought they were on the right track a few years ago when they scheduled games at DeSales, at Catholic and at Alvernia, maybe not all in the same year but in the same time period. Then there have been a couple years recently without any "signature" non-conference road games.

I didn't think F&M was as good as everyone was saying at the beginning of the year, so the team's current record doesn't surprise me. But I figured they'd lose in places like Allentown and Gettysburg, not Chestertown and Swat.

I wonder how F&M's road record compares to other top D-III teams during the Robinson era. In general, I think winning on the road at any level of basketball is more difficult but also more rewarding than winning at home. Two of F&M's most exciting NCAA runs for me were those that included three wins away from Mayser: in 2000 and 2010. I think the win at St. Mary's in the Sweet 16 is one of the best in team history.

[onetinsoldier]

Let's face it, there is no outstanding team in the CC this year just as there is no outstanding player in the mold of a Georgio Milligan or Nick Shattuck.   F&M is good but very inconsistent.  They do not have Milligan.  He could carry the team and he refused to lose.  That being said, I think there is more parity in the league this year than any time in recent years----less of a gap between #1 and #10.  Whoever wins the CC is not likely to go very far in the post season.

i think you are being generous in calling F&M good.  I'm not sure the conference has a "good" team this year.  From an efficiency standpoint, they're above average defensively and rebound well but do not have anything about which to be excited. 

And i'm not sure parity is the right word.  Parity would imply that the bottom of the conference rose.  From what i'm seeing the bottom is the same as it has ever been, it is just F&M has fallen back to the middle for the first time in a few seasons. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Let's face it, there is no outstanding team in the CC this year just as there is no outstanding player in the mold of a Georgio Milligan or Nick Shattuck.   F&M is good but very inconsistent.  They do not have Milligan.  He could carry the team and he refused to lose.  That being said, I think there is more parity in the league this year than any time in recent years----less of a gap between #1 and #10.  Whoever wins the CC is not likely to go very far in the post season.

i think you are being generous in calling F&M good.  I'm not sure the conference has a "good" team this year.  From an efficiency standpoint, they're above average defensively and rebound well but do not have anything about which to be excited. 

And i'm not sure parity is the right word.  Parity would imply that the bottom of the conference rose.  From what i'm seeing the bottom is the same as it has ever been, it is just F&M has fallen back to the middle for the first time in a few seasons.

I would agree with this... I don't think the top of the conference is all that good, though Dickinson is certainly playing well and F&M has their moments. I admit as a Top 25 voter I probably put too much stock in the team early on despite plenty of second guessing in my head about what they lost and what they had back.

Unfortunately, the conference isn't as good as it has been in the past. I think the success of F&M over the last few years has hidden the fact the rest of the conference is floundering. This year F&M has come back to the rest of the conference and we now see what we have been missing for many years... this conference is in a bit of a rut right now. I think the Landmark, MAC-Commonwealth, and CAC may be better top to bottom, though the CAC certainly doesn't have any world beaters at the bottom. I would say the CC is better than the CSAC and maybe the MAC-Freedom, but it is close on that last one.

I hope things can improve...

[welldusted]

Another factor being ignored is injuries. F&M is missing Early and Figueroa which significantly weakens their scoring and depth both inside and on the wing.  Which means more minutes for the starters, and late season fatigue and lack of focus against "weaker" opponents.  I would expect F&M to finish strong.  However, the tournament will be the most wide open it has been for years. I can make a case for 4, and maybe all 5 playoff teams, as champions. 

[onetinsoldier]

I would agree with this... I don't think the top of the conference is all that good, though Dickinson is certainly playing well and F&M has their moments. I admit as a Top 25 voter I probably put too much stock in the team early on despite plenty of second guessing in my head about what they lost and what they had back.

Unfortunately, the conference isn't as good as it has been in the past. I think the success of F&M over the last few years has hidden the fact the rest of the conference is floundering. This year F&M has come back to the rest of the conference and we now see what we have been missing for many years... this conference is in a bit of a rut right now. I think the Landmark, MAC-Commonwealth, and CAC may be better top to bottom, though the CAC certainly doesn't have any world beaters at the bottom. I would say the CC is better than the CSAC and maybe the MAC-Freedom, but it is close on that last one.

I hope things can improve...

Agreed, and this is a bit of what i was saying the other day.  The Centennial hasnt had a ranked Regional team, other than F&M, in four years.  So you get other Mid Atl conferences where an at large is possible because Teams A,B and even C get to have wins over each other. 

[Gabriel]

I think parity is the right way to put it-----perhaps mediocre parity is better.   I say parity because perennial doormat Swarthmore is much better this year and is a not an easy win.  A few years back, Swat and Haverford were sure wins----but no more.  Dickinson and McDaniel weren't very good either prior to their current coaches arriving on the scene.   Washington is having a down year but that was expected after losing 7 or 8 seniors last year.  Hopkins is certainly better this year after several down years.

Somebody mentioned F&M having key injuries---to Early and their back up point guard.  Every team has injuries this time of the year.  Some players are playing through them, others are not.   Ursinus had only 12 players on their roster at the beginning season and 2 of the 12 have not and will not play this season due to injuries and academic issues leaving them with almost no depth.

[Swat Fan #1]

I have said it before and I will say it again, Porter in nothing less than a class act! I just love the kid! Last year, my mother in law told him to stop guarding her grandson so well in a game. He smiled and talked to her for a long time after the game. This year, he made a point to come find me after the game and we had a great chat. All of you F&M supporters should be proud to have such a great kid on your team. He is the best defender I have seen in my four years of watching the Centennial Conference.

Hey, how about a little bit of love for Swat? That was a huge win on senior day!

[centfan]

i would agree that the CC is not a particularly good conference this year relative to previous years, and F&M is having a down year. There is no standout point guard in the league and our best bigs are often inconsistent. Most teams are winning on the play of two guys with many decent (but not starter quality) players playing defense and limiting errors on offense. Dickinson, Hopkins, Muhlenberg and Gettysburg fall in that category for me. F&M has the best athletes but not alot of skilled basketball payers. I would agree that I do not expect our conference champion to go far in the tournament. No team seems particularly reliable this year or has guys who can make good decisions and make plays in crunch time. What alot of teams seem to hope for is that they will have a good night as reliability both on an individual and team level seems hard to come by.

[Reserved Seat]

Swat Dad,
Terrific win for Swarthmore.  Their players just seemed to want to win as they out-hustled F&M for numerous rebounds.
Last year F&M had two go to players in Hayk and Georgio, an inside player and outside player.  This year F&M has no consistent outside force, but it would be great to see Brewer take a few more shots.  With all the injuries this year, F&M is limping through their schedule.  After Hayk fouled out and Cedric went out with a facial injury, the only big player left was Jon Salandra.
As Grabriel stated, Ursinus and F&M have no depth.  Swarthmore had 17 players in uniform on Saturday, even though most of them didn't play.  F&M looks like they will have to win 4 quality games in the next two weeks.

[centfan]

congrats to swat...they are working hard, had several close losses this year, and i am sure were extremely excited to get a win against F&M.

[commish]

Just to add to the "true road game" debate is this article from Monday's Wall Street Journal. Hardly your traditional sports newspaper, but the WSJ has some quality sports reporting and here's an example.

"College basketball's heavyweights have turned into quivering weaklings this season when faced with an increasingly formidable foe: an opposing team's gym. Through Sunday afternoon's games, teams ranked in the Associated Press's top-25 poll have won just over half of their true road games (.569), the second-worst rate this decade, off from a peak of .627 in 2004-05. (True road games are ones played in the opponent's arena, as opposed to at a neutral site.)"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324196204578296154005873738.html