MBB: Centennial Conference

[centfan]

nice to see swat at the top of the conference and ursinus playing well. tough start for f&m but great for the conference to have other teams stepping forward and competing so well.

[Polly Math]

A little early to be writing off F&M.  They are the defending champs.  They have one of the the best, if not the best offensive players in the conference.  Their play in the paint has not been up to the accustomed standard but it should improve, and the standard of post play in the conference as a whole is not where it was 3-4 years ago, so it may not hurt them too badly.  Also their coach has seen a thing or two, so I'm told. 

I would also hold off naming the Swat Coach as the "top coach in the conference."  I can think of 4 current conf. coaches that have won multiple conference titles and gone on deep tournament runs.   I admire the job Coach K has done in turning things around at Swat but to date he has one playoff win.   Lotsa ball to be played, and I would be shocked if any team is a clear favorite when the playoffs start.

[Gabriel]

A little early to be writing off F&M.  They are the defending champs.  They have one of the the best, if not the best offensive players in the conference.  Their play in the paint has not been up to the accustomed standard but it should improve, and the standard of post play in the conference as a whole is not where it was 3-4 years ago, so it may not hurt them too badly.  Also their coach has seen a thing or two, so I'm told. 

I would also hold off naming the Swat Coach as the "top coach in the conference."  I can think of 4 current conf. coaches that have won multiple conference titles and gone on deep tournament runs.   I admire the job Coach K has done in turning things around at Swat but to date he has one playoff win.   Lotsa ball to be played, and I would be shocked if any team is a clear favorite when the playoffs start.

Welcome to the board, Polly Math.  Really good posting and I couldn't agree with you more.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Quite the adventure at Swarthmore today.  I'm glad I made the drive.  Neither team was really on their game today, but Dickinson was certainly playing better for most of it.  It was so engaging I rarely even looked at the scoreboard.  Just great basketball.

Swarthmore briefly took a lead with three minutes to go, but Dickinson kept their collective foot down and had a four point lead with 13 seconds left.  Swarthmore brought the ball up - I'm not sure exactly what happened because it was on the other side of the court from me, but I think Mike Hinkley went for a steal against Matt Brennan, who forced up a shot attempt to draw the foul.  Three FTs with 3.7 seconds on the clock.

Brennan hit the first, missed the second, and badly mangled his intentionally-missed third, but it still found some iron and the ball got tapped to Zack Yonda in the corner, who hit a fadeaway three with three Red Devils flying at him, hands in the air.  Tie ballgame.

In the OT Robbie Walsh, who hadn't had a particularly good day for 40 minutes, suddenly showed up with some clutch FTs and a big block to seal it.

A GREAT day of basketball.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I also want to mention how impressed I was with Swarthmore's two big freshmen - Zac O'Dell and Nate Shafer - they're both really polished for first year players, with some smarts and skills (not to mention the size).  I'm not sure how many minutes they'll get this year, but they're going to be big contributors in the future.

Both Swarthmore and Dickinson should be better next year than this year - very few seniors and a lot of good young players who will improve.

[Reserved Seat]

F&M struggled to hold on for a win at Haverford.  F&M needs to tighten up their defense; it still looks too helter skelter.  The Dips are still giving up too many open shots.  F&M did come out ahead on rebounds(37/29) with a well rounded effort.  Four players had 5 to lead the team.  Haverford's rebounds were also spread out evenly.  F&M still looks like they have to gel on offense--too many turnovers.  F&M, also, gave away at least 5 points on made baskets negated by fouls away from the play.  Haverford came up big with 7 blocks to F&M's none.  F&M lead in assists 17-11, and at one point had a 17 point, but couldn't put the game out of reach of the Fords.  Eggers/18, Federici/12 and Stoma/12 lead the F&M scoring.  Sherman/20, Scibelli/17, and Lang/14 lead the Fords. On offense F&M needs to get more open looks for their shooters, especially Federici, who only took 5 shots. Federici only needs a small opening to launch his shot.  Too many passes are dropped interferring with the flow of the offense.  Once F&M gets use to playing without Moune, they will improve drastically.  Stoma continues to display great potential, and when he puts all the pieces together he will help greatly in the post.  Moune played very little as a freshman, so Stoma is way ahead in early experience.
Sounds like they had a great game at Swarthmore.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The F&M - Dickinson games should be interesting; neither team can get any rebounds.

[Team First]

Ryan, you're right that the Dickinson/Swarthmore game was certainly compelling. The only thing I would add is that both squads showed moments of who they're going to be later in this season and they both should be very good. Dickinson has to clean up the rebounding problem but the difference in the official stat sheet is a bit of a head scratcher. It really didn't seem as lopsided as 47-23. I suppose I could watch the film and see for sure...Um, no.

Really looking forward to the entire season. Looks like it'll be quite the battle for the top five with a tough road ahead for perennial favorites F&M and Hopkins and an opportunity for others. Can't figure out Gettysburg from their results but I'll get to watch them on Wednesday as the Red Devils face the Bullets at 8.   

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ryan, you're right that the Dickinson/Swarthmore game was certainly compelling. The only thing I would add is that both squads showed moments of who they're going to be later in this season and they both should be very good. Dickinson has to clean up the rebounding problem but the difference in the official stat sheet is a bit of a head scratcher. It really didn't seem as lopsided as 47-23. I suppose I could watch the film and see for sure...Um, no.

Really looking forward to the entire season. Looks like it'll be quite the battle for the top five with a tough road ahead for perennial favorites F&M and Hopkins and an opportunity for others. Can't figure out Gettysburg from their results but I'll get to watch them on Wednesday as the Red Devils face the Bullets at 8.

Yeah, both teams will be very good next year and maybe by the end of this year.  Dickinson's rebounding problem is a real problem and it'll prevent them from doing real damage against top teams, but it's probably not going to slow them down too much in the Centennial.  Of course, it'll be less of an issue if they just hit shots at a higher percentage.

[centfan]

i am happy for coach small at ursinus for a good start to the season. he is a good coach and a good person with a great tradition at his school who has been having some down years of late.  go bears!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I don't want to get too late in the season to make my bold prediction sure to be wrong (I think I stole that from someone - Mike and Mike, maybe?) - I'll go out on a limb and say F&M doesn't make the conference tournament.  I think they're fifth best right now - so there's a chance it happens and I'd like to be in on the ground floor.

[centfan]

Ryan:
5th place team makes play in game against 4th place team. are you saying f&m finishes 6 or lower?
also, i think f&m will make top 4. i think gettysburg will fade a bit as season goes on. my top 4 are swat, dickinson, f&m and ursinus. lots of ball left.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ryan:
5th place team makes play in game against 4th place team. are you saying f&m finishes 6 or lower?
also, i think f&m will make top 4. i think gettysburg will fade a bit as season goes on. my top 4 are swat, dickinson, f&m and ursinus. lots of ball left.

Yep.  Gettysburg worried me a little bit and I guess we'll know a little more after F&M plays Hopkins tonight, but if there's ever going to be a year when F&M gets left out of the post-season, I think it'll be this one.  Sports media is all about hot takes these days, right?  Here's mine.

[sunny]

but if there's ever going to be a year when F&M gets left out of the post-season, I think it'll be this one. 

FYI, F&M missed the Centennial Tournament three years in a row - 2006, 2007, 2008 - and also missed in 1997, but they have made it every other year in the conference's history. Amazingly, they have never won a Centennial Conference Tournament game outside of the Mayser Center, but they've only had five chance to do so. They are 0-3 in true road games in the tournament's history, 0-2 in neutral-site games, and a whopping 23-5 at home. Their last true road game in the conference tournament was the 2003 championship game.

[CCD3Basketball]

It's a tad too early to start making playoff predictions I think, but the chatter is definitely great! 

While I think F&M is having difficulties right now, keep in mind that we are only three games into the CC season, and Robinson has plenty of time to turn things around. They have a tough one tonight at Hopkins, as both of those teams could badly use a confidence boosting win.

The one thing I can say right now with certainty is this: Swarthmore appears to be really good. They've won their 3 CC games in a variety of ways:

1. Controlled the game against Washington after building a solid lead

2. Were absolutely dominant defensively at Muhlenberg

3. Erased a 10 point second half deficit against arguably one of the top 2 teams in the CC in the last 5 years in Dickinson to win that game


Frankly, all 5 games on tonight's schedule should be good. Can a young Washington squad keep up the momentum from knocking off Gettysburg Saturday against McDaniel tonight? Gettysburg and Dickinson is a great matchup too. Muhlenberg might even get a road test from Haverford tonight. And of course, the battle for first place between Swarthmore and Ursinus should be a doozie too.