MBB: Centennial Conference

[centfan]

strange game going on at ursinus...killing has about 23 in 10 minutes of first half. shoots every time down. my feeling is that muhlenberg will pay the price for allowing so much emphasis on one player. looks a little like kobe...give malique the ball and everybody stands around and watches. killing took 21 shots in the first half and muhlenberg is  up 5 (36-31) at half.

[Hooper]

strange game going on at ursinus...killing has about 23 in 10 minutes of first half. shoots every time down. my feeling is that muhlenberg will pay the price for allowing so much emphasis on one player. looks a little like kobe...give malique the ball and everybody stands around and watches. killing took 21 shots in the first half and muhlenberg is  up 5 (36-31) at half.

Probably had to do with Ursinus packing in a soft zone in the first 10 mins of first half.   They were basically tempting killing to take 3's.   I would as he shoots 30% from 3.   So he did and made 5 3's in the first 10 mins.  They switched to a matchup zone, but that didn't help much.   Ursinus doesn't have anyone that can guard him one on one.  Saw the stats.  Killing shot 15-29. Had 4 assists and one TO.    I wouldn't get too concerned, it is one game and was a function of matchup problems for the bears.   Second half the ball distribution was better for Muhlenberg and the lead grew exponentially to 25.   

[centfan]

just watched f&m/dickinson. porter did a great job and shut down honig (2-12, 5 pts,4 turnovers) and took him out of the game. salandra and moune (who had 16 pts 7 rebounds) handled wixted very well (1-6, 7 pts, 6 turnovers). i think the toughness and athleticism was too much for dickinson, which i expected. salandra had 10 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and is a consistent, solid presence.  dickinson outrebounded f&m 41 to 31 but f&m's defense was very good. f&m is playing well without being deep. phelps looked good. phelps, porter, salandra, moune and lee are the best 5 in the conference when they are on the court together. other teams have their stars but f&m has five guys who can make plays. they are tough and are starting to gel. they are tenacious and used to winning.

[Reserved Seat]

F&M took advantage of Wixted's twisted ankle, and with Porter's defense on Honig, F&M was able to control.  But for one more point by Phelps, all five F&M starters would have been in double figures.  Honig struggled getting off any good looks and shot 2 for 12 with some horrendous turnovers.  Poor foul shooting(18 of 34) by F&M kept the game tight to the end.  The ugly loss to McDaniel on Saturday keeps F&M from sharing the lead.  Dickinson controlled the boards, by blocks by F&M help counter that advantage.

[CCHoopster]

cchoopster
i guess you are a dickinson fan!!
what you say is all true, but i still feel that the number of guys who can make plays on dickinson is limited
(and it was limited last year as well)
their second game in the 2013 tourney was a wake-up call in terms of the different levels of play within D3
f&m actually seems more balanced than dickinson to me despite their rough start this year
dickinson still has f&m twice,muhlenberg twice and mcdaniel once more this season
i expect f&m to be tougher for them than muhlenberg, as wixted should get the best of the mules down low much easier than what he has to deal with against f&m
good luck

No, not a Dickinson fan at all. I follow the MAC Commonwealth Conference the most. Dickinson/FnM are local schools to me so I get a chance to watch them some. Since Dickinsons turnaround, i've tried to catch a DC/FnM game each year. Got to go to the game with my son last night. They have become some great games!

I didn't watch the Devils game last year in rd 2 so I'' take your respected word for it! By the score I imagine you are right. Tough to win on the road in the NCAA's! CC should be a contested finish for the top spot. Good luck all

[CCHOOPS12]

After seeing the Mules / Bears game last night....

Coach Small has completely given up... He decided to NOT guard the best scorer in the conference...Killing had 28 in the first half. Then in the second half he decides to make NO adjustments. Killing did a great job of getting his teammates involved in the second half (Stavetski, Hargrove) It is embarrassing how much bad Ursinus is on defense.

VERY impressed with MCD winning on the road without Pupelis... that makes that 6 road wins in the conference in a row...I am a believer!!!

Can't wait the stretch run

[CCD3Basketball]

Here are my picks for tomorrow's games:

Muhlenberg @ Johns Hopkins: early 1pm tipoff for what should be a great game. Malique Killing destroyed Ursinus the other night but Hopkins plays much tougher defense than the Bears do. This is a pick em game for me, but I'll take the Mules on the road. Hargrove needs to be dominant in the post.

Ursinus @ McDaniel: boy, so much for me thinking the Green Terror would have a letdown at Gettysburg the other night! I think McDaniel runs away with this one.

Haverford @ F&M: huge, huge, HUGE win for F&M the other night over the Red Devils. I like them to roll in this game too.

Dickinson @ Swarthmore: I think the Red Devils are steaming mad about what happened the other night and I think they take it out on the Garnet.

Gettysburg @ Washington: It's never too early to start talking playoff eliminators and I think we have one of those here. Both teams need a win to stay fairly close in the CC playoff chase. Either JHU or Muhlenberg will be in 5th place at 6-4 after their matchup earlier in the day. Both the Bullets and Shoremen can stay within shouting distance if they pick up a win. I'll take the Shoremen at home in a close contest.

[diplomaniac1]

Here are my picks for Saturday's (tomorrow's) Centennial Conference games:

Muhlenberg @ Johns Hopkins:  Should be a close game. Mules sometimes have trouble away from the "Barn". So, I will take the Blue Jays in a coin flip game because of the tough defense that they play and because I think they will limit Hargrove inside.

Ursinus @ McDaniel:   McDaniel. Bears give me no reason to think that they can hang close to the Terror.

Haveford @ F&M:   Diplomats should win at Mayser Center as long as they don't have a let-down.

Dickinson @ Swarthmore:   Devils will rebound from tough loss to the Diplomats on Wednesday and should win going away.

Gettysburg @ Washington:   Another close game that could go either way. I will take the Shoremen who are always tough in afternoon games at home in Gill Center.

Hope that everyone is surviving this difficult and trying winter season? Enjoy the games! Regard to all.

Eric

[centfan]

sat picks:
hopkins
mcdaniel
f&m
dickinson
washington

[centfan]

solid win for hopkins over muhlenberg
hopkins had 5 guys in double figures and played together
solid team basketball, hopkins looked tough with a bunch of guys contributing
all starters played well plus vasiliadis and kotoulis off bench
killing just can't do it alone but he tries...
33 points,.13-24 shooting, 3 assists, 6-7 from line, 6 turnovers

[Reserved Seat]

F&M received a career effort from Salandra, as Jon carried the Dips to tight win off a hungry Haverford team.  Haverford kept fighting back and received double figure scoring from 3 players.  F&M could never pull away and allowed the Fords to keep battling back into the game.  F&M seemed to have a hard time getting the ball into Moune, but Cedric pulled down 15 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. Port struggled to get on the scoreboard but scored several key points during the last minute.  F&M needs to finish strong to earn home rights for the play-offs. Currently they control their destiny if they keep winning.

[Reserved Seat]

Killing should try to get his teammates involved instead of doing it himself.  Curry impressed me when he was a freshman, but he never gets an opportunity with Killing hogging the ball. Hargrove has never impressed me, but he's a big body and the ball occasionally has to be fed into him to take advantage of his height.  As long as Killing is a one-man team, Muhlenberg will struggle to win a champion ship.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Another Hoopsville episode is lined up for tonight (Sunday, January 26). Join us as we catch up on the last few days and talk to the following guests:

- #11 York (Pa.) WBB coach Betsy Witman
- Marian MBB coach Mark Boyle
- #13 Montclair St. WBB coach Karin Harvey
- Babson MBB coach Stephen Brennan
- Guilford MBB coach Tom Palombo
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Thank you and enjoy the show!

[CCD3Basketball]

Hopkins looked good yesterday against the mules. They could be a dangerous team come playoff time. Killing is probably the most talented player in the conference (either him or Wixted) but he turns the ball over far too much and is too emotional on the court at times.

A little surprised at how F&M had a little trouble with haverford yesterday, but in the end a win is a win. Dickinson handles Swarthmore like I thought they would. And a great game in chestertown yesterday as Gettysburg took out Washington in overtime.

Does anybody else get the feeling the 5 playoff teams might be set? I know the bullets are only a game behind the mules but in the end I think the mules have enough talent that they won't fall out of the top 5. The only real question left to me seems to be the seedings.

[Gabriel]

After seeing the Mules / Bears game last night....

Coach Small has completely given up... He decided to NOT guard the best scorer in the conference...Killing had 28 in the first half. Then in the second half he decides to make NO adjustments. Killing did a great job of getting his teammates involved in the second half (Stavetski, Hargrove) It is embarrassing how much bad Ursinus is on defense.

VERY impressed with MCD winning on the road without Pupelis... that makes that 6 road wins in the conference in a row...I am a believer!!!

Can't wait the stretch run

CCHOOPS,

Obviously, you don't know Coach Small very well----he does not give up.  The Bears are coming up short this year---that's obvious.  Any win will be an upset,  in my opinion.  However, he has some younger players who will get better as they mature.

To identify their problems this year, one needs only to look at their junior class---there is none.  Two of the four brought into that class, Phil Walker and Jermaine Kamara,  are no longer at Ursinus.  The other two, Mike Marciano and Trey Harry, can't get out of the trainer's room and have had no significant impact.

The senior class is marginal---Jesse Krasna is a really good player but is literally playing on on leg due to a chronic foot problem.  Ryan Adams is good offensively but is playing out of position.  Pat Vasturia is what he is----a great kid who can shoot but is limited athletically---particularly on the defensive end.

I think Coach Small will bring in some blue collar kids who will be physical, and commit to defense and team play.  They appear to have chemistry problems this year----and that needs to be corrected. Go Bears!