MBB: Centennial Conference

[ReturnOFmonix]

SWAT TT Over 124.5

[Hank Mardukas]

With the way Hopkins is teaching the Mules show to play defense ill take the over 

[HopkinsNest7]

I'm going to have to take the under here. Historically Amherst had been successful after holiday breaks (Mules had 4 days or so) and I expect nothing less than for Hopkins to continue that trend. He does not strike me as a coach who spends his holiday at a dinner table or on his couch. Kinda seems like a guy who thanks his wife for a well cooked meal and takes his gravy right back into his film room to break down a woefully ineffective defense. Look for the Mules to expand the defensive playbook.

As for an over/under I have been monitoring... I know obviously we all crave centennial banter here but it is important to patrol the high school ranks because after all, legends along the likes of Stanton (Ursinus) and Wixted (Dickinson) have to be bred somewhere. Johns Hopkins has some serious recruits down in south jersey so my line I would like to set is the opening game for Saint John Vianney.

I know Monix will love this one...

Saint John Vianney (-4.5) at home vs Red Bank Regional. Man can some of those guys on Red Bank stroke it so this is gonna be a track meet. I got the over/under at 152.5.

Go Blue Jays!!

[Swish3]

Good win for Dickinson yesterday defeating CNU at their place where they haven't lost in a couple of years. It wasn't the prettiest game but neither was it pretty watching Michigan State disrupt UNC's offense last night. If it's true that defense wins championships...well, time will tell. 3-1 against this level of competition all on the road ain't too shabby a start to the season. Offensively, the Red Devils are getting contributions from every position and guys seem to be finding their roles. I'm excited but of course it's a long season and the conference is off to a good start as well. Should be a fun one.

Yep, nice win for the Red Devils...they were good defensively and made some big shots at critical times to keep the Captains at bay for much of the game.

[ReturnOFmonix]

Corn dogs for all fans if the Mules let up 100 points tonight....come hungry!

[gordonmann]

We decided to troll ourselves with this week's Around the Region. 

Enjoy.

http://d3hoops.com/columns/around-the-region/mid-atlantic/2017-18/franklin-and-marshall-federici-records

[BeRightOn]

I see in the new Top 25 Swarthmore is #12, yet no mention of Swat anywhere in the Daily Dose...

[Swat Fan #1]

That's ok. We want to fly under the radar for as long as possible. Swat looks unbeatable at this point. Their offense took a huge leap forward. Cam is clearly the best player in the league, but Yonda is right there with him. I have not seen a weakness yet this year. They look like they can score 100 every night. Walsh could also end up first team all conference this year as he is doing all the little things you need to win. I see Swat going deep into the NCAA's this year.

[Gabriel]

SwatFan#1

I remember you saying the same thing about F&M during the Georgio Milligan years.  Tough to go unbeaten and I don't think it will happen this year either.  No doubt Swat is a really good team----but there are others---even in the CC.

[CCHoopster]

I would bet against Swat going undefeated. Certainly no indictment on them but there is talent at Dickinson who just beat CNU on the road. Hard time discrediting them at this point.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I would bet against Swat going undefeated. Certainly no indictment on them but there is talent at Dickinson who just beat CNU on the road. Hard time discrediting them at this point.

The problem for Dickinson is size - they don't have enough.  It's what hurt them against Swat last year.  I brought this up to Seretti at the Great Lakes Invitational - he seems to be getting a little annoyed with those questions.  At least we know they'll have a good game plan - now just to see if they can execute.

Swat has Middlebury on the schedule, right, if my memory serves me?  That'll be a great test for them.

[swatfan#2]

Tale of two halves for Swat last night.  Looked much better defensively in the first half, generating stops that they consistently turned into points on the other end.  Held the Mules to 14 although I'm sure some on this board will credit that to the Mules.  Second half a whole different story as the Mules out-scored their first half total in about six minutes.  Again, very worried about Swat's perimeter defense.  With Walsh, Shafer, and O'Dell, the interior defense and rebounding are there.  Far too easy from three for my comfort.

At Dickinson Saturday which could tell us a bit about both teams.  Tough place to play.  Looking forward to it.

And Swat does play at Middlebury on January 2.

[Team First]

The Dickinson/Swarthmore match-up should be a good one....again. Dickinson is not a small team. They have the option of playing a lineup of 6'7", 6'6", 6'5", 6'4" and 6'1" (four seniors and a junior) which we saw for several minutes last night. Dickinson can counter size with ball pressure like they did against St Thomas. That game got away from the Red Devils during one stretch in the second half when they went small and St Thomas played big for a few minutes. But they went really small with four guys under 6'2" on the court at the same time (if my memory serves me right). Regardless, in that game, Dickinson came all the way back to make it a possession game down the stretch. The Dickinson guys aren't heavy but that plays into their defensive pressure scheme. I haven't seen Swat play yet, but I do hear the game will be a battle inside. I'll be there Saturday to see first hand how the match-up plays out. Hopefully the Kline will be rocking!

[Gabriel]

Ursinus let one slip away from them last night losing to F&M 77-69.  Bears led by 14 with under 8 minutes to play and, for whatever reason,  they stopped pushing, turned the ball over too many times and let F&M back in the game. Another case of playing not to lose instead of playing to win.  Give credit to the Dips as they played excellent perimeter defense to shut down Ursinus' guards Eric Williams and Ryan McTamney and rebounded well.  Ursinus' perimeter defense was much better than it had been holding Federici to a single point in the first half.  He did score 21 for the game but that is a reasonable result together with holding Tate scoreless.  Slyka was the difference scoring 28 points including a prayer 3 from near mid-court as the shot clock was winding down in the second half.  A tough loss for the Bears but they showed they can play with one of the top teams in the conference.  Go Bears!

[Swat Fan #1]

Yeah, I used the term unbeatable and that was a huge mistake. I don't think they will go undefeated, but I think they will win the league by two games.

I remember saying that about F&M and Georgio, and I still think that was the best DIII team I ever saw. I was at and have been a fan of Ithaca College for 35 years and watched teams there that were really good. None of them were close to Georgio's team. I actually have a funny story to tell about him. My son was just home for Thanksgiving and he came up. My son told me about an out of bounds play F&M ran his Freshman year under the basket. My son was guarding the guy inbounding the pass and backed up to under the basket. He remembers the ball being passed and him looking up only to have Georgio throw it down on him. We had a good laugh over that one. He told me that Georgio had a great sense of humor. One game my son was at the free throw line and Georgio looked over at Porter and said, "Oh boy, he about to drop twenty on you." Even the ref laughed. 

The league is looking very strong this year with many teams better than last year. Anyone else thinking that the new coach at Hopkins is already really good? Cheers all and everyone have a wonderful holiday season!