MBB: Centennial Conference

[Gabriel]

Ha. Plus k to you.

I don't have much Centennial knowledge pre-2004 but my starting five would be -- Wixted (POY, and versatile player), Milligan (I liked his style at guard), Mike McGarvey (one of the best pure passers in D3), Dennis Stanton (great scorer) and Andrew Powers (Really, really good post at Gettysburg).  Next five are Nick Shattuck in a Manu Ginobli role, Liddic, Danny Nawrocki who had the biggest arms I've ever seen on a D3 basketball player, Ian McCormick and Cam Wiley in the young-gun-who-has-to-carry-the-veterans-bags-to-pay-his-dues role. I'm really high on Wiley and think he'll be a total stud by his senior year.

Oh, and I never saw Killing play but I hope Muhlenberg SID Mike Falk used the headline "Killing them softly" at least once for a basketball recap.

Gordon

I like your list but I think you slightly underestimate Shattuck.  He was a totally selfless player who could have averaged 30 per game instead of 20-21 had he been at all selfish---but he always put team first.  At 6'5" played out of position at the 4 as a senior and was a scoring machine in the paint. Leads the CC in career scoring even though he did not start as a freshman and is a two time POY and All American.  He would be in my starting line up.

[Red Onwuatuegwu]

Hank I usually agree with most all of your comments but I disagree with the Rindock prediction. Rindock's injury history did not serve him well last year as he was never able to fully hit his stride. A full year of him being healthy and the new fantastic hire by Goff will have this kid as the comeback player of the year and a chance at making first team all cc. I have to say I really like the hire of coach Hopkins and think he will be able to get the most out of his players. This is something that Muhlenberg just hasn't been able to do in the past few years for whatever the reason may be. Many bloggers seem to have different opinions on this subject and I won't say my opinion mainly because I don't want to upset the bday boy but expect Muhlenberg to make a push as a top dog in the cent within the next 5 years.

[diplomaniac1]

Guys -

In all of this discussion, I am surprised that there was non mention of Chris Finch from the great Diplomat teams of the early 90's?!? Just food for thought and discussion. But, then again, maybe I am just showing my advanced age. Regards to all.

Eric

[HopkinsNest7]

Slow start at work today so I figured I would fire up another brain child of mine... as many of you know I obsess over the world of theoretical so here are some trades I think could benefit some teams if the Centennial commish ever allows these type of off season activities.

Players not having contracts makes this kind of activity quite difficult so I have formed my own grading system that will make this compatible.

Players will be rated 1-5 (5 being the best)"

5- Absolute stud. Franchise player that you can build a team around, nearly untouchable.
NBA comparison: Kevin Durant
Cent Comparison: Brandon Federici

4- All start, but not impossible to get moved at a deadline to improve a team.
NBA comparison: Isaiah Thomas
Cent Comparison: Elijah Wright

3- Above average role player who still carries trade value and can help a contender.
NBA comparison: Trevor Ariza
Cent Comparison: Brian "Please Dont Touch My Raf" Rafferty

2- Likely a throw in player to a bigger name, usually a young guy who at least carries some optimism.
NBA comparison: Patrick McCaw
Cent Comparison: Danny Duffey

1- True throw in player, usually just a dump for a team.
NBA comparison: Joel Anthony
Cent Comparison: Anyone not lettering for their respective sqaud.

In my head some centennial boosters have really stepped up an donated big time money and got a tv deal with ESPN 3. This gives each team $100,000 to deal with in the off season or give illegally to players as a form of motivation.

Here is my inaugural block buster trade that I can see going down:

Franklin and Marshall College: Joe Scibelli (5 star)
                                $5,000

Haverford College: Ignas Slyka (4 star)
                              Lionel Owona (3 star)
                              Mike Rice Jr. (1 star)

In Federici's final season he is going to need a superstar to help him carry the offensive role. This pushes Tate back into a roe as a tertiary scorer allowing him to lock down on defense more. After two seasons of playing on a plummeting team Scibelli is ready for a new look, despite Doherty taking the helm. Though it seems Haverford is dumping a lot in their best player they are addressing immediate needs. Since Brett Cohen graduated about 6 years back the Fords havent had a strong big man who can board up. Despite being somewhat of a disappointment thus far, Owona gives them a veteran physical presence in his last year. He also has a ring. Think Kendrick Perkins. Additionally they get the ROY in Slyka to expand their winning window and give Doherty a centerpiece to recruit around. Lastly Mike Rice Jr. is more so like trading for a name. Austin Rivers effect.

I feel like this trade would give F and M a good shot at another title and create some excitement in Havertown. I hope others will join in on some trade banter as I can only wish this becomes a reality.
                             
                             

[GoDiplomats]

Here is my all time centennial roster if I have to play a basketball game against the martians to save the earth from mass destruction. (Bill Simmons idea)

Starters:
Malique Killing: fearless leader who may be able to win this game by himself. Can score from all three levels of the court and is a pure winner when dialed in.
Georgio Milligan: Impossible to press and a relentless on ball defender, him and Killing could be a two man press while also providing 50+ points of high powered offense.
Brandon Angradi: unconscious shooter who can space the floor for the prior two guards. Tough shot maker who will be unaffected by the mythical wingspan of these aliens. It will be an issue if kawhi leonard shows up at the game as it is proven he's not actually human.
Spencer Liddic: bruising 4 who will exert sheer will into the glass and become a walking double double. As consistent as the Cent has ever seen. Abington product.
Gerry Wixted III: Small ball center who can space the floor and score in a number of ways. Can afford the lack of rebounding here because Liddic will be busy pounding the glass like a drum. Makes for a dynamic offense.

Bench:
Alec Stavetski: perfect replacement for the inevitable finger sprain for Angradi. 4 point play machine. Jamal Crawford.
George Bugarinovoc: poor mans Liddic as he will terrorize the martians glass as well. Impressive mid range game and he is a doctor so he might be able to fix Angradis finger.
Gibby Graves: do it all forward who can play 4 positions and defend 5. This may be a stretch but I have to give Haverford some love since they couldn't land McClary.
Cam Wiley: Malique Jr. Simple as that.
Rob Walsh: only true shot blocker on the roster but can be a big time deterrent at the rim. Look for him to play 15 minutes and block 2-3 shots. Efficient.

Coach: Scott McClary. Let's be real, would this blog be a thing without that guy? I would trust him with this squad to defend the earth. A well balanced offense and array of crafty defenses makes McClary the only true candidate to coach the Centennials best.

Disappointed, but not surprised at all, to see the Moune and Gyokchan snubs. Cedric was by far a way better shot blocker and scorer then Rob Walsh. Far superior athletle and more athletic, you're going to claim Diplomat bais but the stats prove it. Gyokchan could flat out score the ball in his sleep, no need to further expand on this point.

You clealry are incompetent in your Cenntenial confrence all-team observation. JUST PATHETIC. SHAMEFUL. 

[gordonmann]

Gabriel:

I appreciate the thoughts on Shattuck. He was awesome in that run to the Final Four.

In your opinion, who was better -- Stanton or Shattuck?

Also, check out this story.  Wicked Smart!

http://www.hopkinssports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/052617aaa.html

[Gabriel]

Gordon,

Close call---- but I'll take Shattuck as the better all around player.  He was a better rebounder, defender and passer.  Dennis was a terrific scorer and still holds several individual CC records.  Nick tended to focus on getting  team mates involved more.   But ------ he could ramp it up as needed to carry his team.  Slick around the basket but Dennis was the better 3 point shooter.  Two games stick in my mind.  First UC @Swat in Dec 2007---Bears trailed by 12 at the half against a very good Swat team.  Bears were terrible so Shattuck took over in the second half---scored 25(as I remember) of his 32 points and led team to a 68-59 victory.  Second most memorable game that year was at Dickinson---Bears down by 2 (41-39) at the half against a very solid Dickinson team.  Shattuck took over in the second half scoring a total of 46 points for the game in leading the Bears to a 93-79 win. 

McGarvey on the other hand, still holds conference records in assists and steals. An underrated defender he was the best I have seen in the CC at looking off his defender and knocking down threes.  Not bad for someone barely 5'7".

[HopkinsNest7]

Early morning on the beach still waiting for the wife to hurry up so figured I'd toss another trade out there that I could see benefitting the Centennial:

Muhlenberg College: Josh McWilliams (4 star)

McDaniel College: Owen McLeod (3 star)
                           Ryan Gaynor (2 star)

The Mules have lacked a go to scorer since Killing departed for the real world and McWilliams can be that guy for Kevin Hopkins for two years. A consistent 15+ a night out of him will bring a level of consistency the Mules haven't seen in years. McLeod can provide some similarity in production just without the volume of offense. Probably a defensive upgrade here.

Gaynor is the key part of this package as he can flourish into a dominant player at some point and be a true scorer off the Green Terror bench.

[Gabriel]

Ha. Plus k to you.

I don't have much Centennial knowledge pre-2004 but my starting five would be -- Wixted (POY, and versatile player), Milligan (I liked his style at guard), Mike McGarvey (one of the best pure passers in D3), Dennis Stanton (great scorer) and Andrew Powers (Really, really good post at Gettysburg).  Next five are Nick Shattuck in a Manu Ginobli role, Liddic, Danny Nawrocki who had the biggest arms I've ever seen on a D3 basketball player, Ian McCormick and Cam Wiley in the young-gun-who-has-to-carry-the-veterans-bags-to-pay-his-dues role. I'm really high on Wiley and think he'll be a total stud by his senior year.

Oh, and I never saw Killing play but I hope Muhlenberg SID Mike Falk used the headline "Killing them softly" at least once for a basketball recap.

Having seen McGarvey, Stanton(loss to Scranton), Powers, McNally, and Milligan in NCAA tourney action(other half of regional doubleheaders involving Scranton), I'd probably pick Milligan as the best over Powers in this group; to be fair, McGarvey was only a freshman when I saw him.

ronk,

The game you are referring to is one Ursinus fans are still upset about.  Ursinus had one of its better teams in 2002-2003 and won the CC regular season at 13-0 and the post season  beating F&M in an O/T thriller for the championship.  Bears were first seed in the region but could not host because the AD at the time failed to file with the NCAA to host---hence the game was played at Scranton vice Collegeville.  Bears paid the price losing to Scranton 77-75 in front of 1,800 mostly Scranton fans.  Bears led most of the game and Scranton began fouling in the second half.  The strategy worked because many of the Scranton fans were directly behind the Ursinus backboard waving whatever they could get their hands on. The result, the Bears made only 8 of 20 (40%) of their free throws.  Steve Erfle was a main target and made only 5 of 11 as he and the ever reliable Dennis Stanton missed key free throws in the closing minutes.  I don't fault the strategy but fault the Ursinus AD for failing to file to host at Ursinus. Think the outcome would have been much different---but--we'll never know will we.

Regarding Mike McGarvey,  yes he was a freshman and he kept Ursinus in the game with 19 points including 5 of 6 three pointers as well as 5 assists and 3 steals. Dan Luciano (CC POY) had a sub par game.  Tough game to sit through as a Bears fan.

[ronk]

Gabriel,
    Agree that the outcome was affected by the Ursinus admin decision; one fears when contests are affected by unearned consequences of such external factors unrelated to play of the participants.

[Corporal Hicks]

       Interesting you say that @GoDiplomats about Moune.  I almost forgot about him when thinking about an all time Cent team.  I think he should definitely be considered and absolutely be regarded ahead of Walsh.  Nothing against Walsh as I enjoy the way he mans the paint, but Moune was another breed.  Cedric could dominate a game on both ends of the court leading his team to some very successful seasons.  Moune to me seemed to fly under the radar with his quiet demeanor, but dont under estimate his legacy.  I think he was also apart of the reason why Federici was able to play so freely and comfortable his freshman year making the acclimating process a lot easier.  That and along with Centennial Popovich's system that he continuously runs and gives opponents fits.  Hey @Red,  I think it was you who mentioned earlier about your relation to Cedric?  If thats the case, and you don't mind me asking, what is the relationship and also what is Cedric doing with himself in his post centennial era?

Corp.Out.

[Reserved Seat]

Don't forget Cedric played basically one-handed his senior year due to a shoulder injury.

[Corporal Hicks]

            @Reserved Seat, very true I almost forgot about that.  Just another reason why I believe he could have made an impact at a higher level. 

[Hank Mardukas]

This is my first post in a while, I've been at my cabin at Lake Wallenpaupack with the family, including all 9 of my Grandchildren. We had a family 3-legged race and each team was a different school, and this was the finishing lineup.

1. Gettysburg
2. Haverford
3. McDaniel
4. Muhlenberg
5. Franklin and Marshall
6. Dickson
7. Swat
8. Washington
9. Hopkins
* Unfortunately we did not have enough people to complete the entire cent, so Ursinus was not represented. I understand this has nothing to do with current Cent news but loved this idea and wanted to share it with my fellow fans of the Cent.

[Corporal Hicks]

      @Hank, seems like a direct correlation of what the season will look like to me  .   On another note, just curious to see if any of you fellow message boarders are following the NBA finals?  I could not be more disappointed in Tristan Thompson.  Getting out rebounded by a guy who is in the middle of his adolescent years (Curry).  Seems like I found another direct correlation: Anytime a Kardashian starts dating a player, their play starts to tail off.  Thoughts and opinions encouraged.

Corp.Out.