MBB: Centennial Conference

Started by swish, March 01, 2005, 04:51:33 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 4 Guests are viewing this topic.

saratoga

Thanks, R.W. It will be interesting to see how the Dips react to that type of serious pounding the rest of the season. Regroup or retreat??? One thing is for sure, some teams will not fear playing F&M right now & some others may actually be looking forward to the opportunity.

Coach C

RW -

Transition year?  It's been 30 friggin years years since a loss to Swat.  How many transition years have been in that time span where the Dips still managed not to trip on the doormat?

We HAVE to be mission something!

C

r.w. mcnickels

Quote from: R.W. McNickels on January 14, 2006, 07:39:18 PM
I don't think, however, that a 31-point loss to 2-12 Swat can be chalked up to that line of reasoning.

C-

If you read my post more carefully, you'd notice I said the loss could NOT be chalked up to this being a transition year.  The Dips don't have many "down years", and when they do, they still manage to beat the Swats of the world.  So even though this isn't a typical 20+ win F&M team, it's a shocker.  F&M has completely collapsed since the Lincoln game, and lots of people would like to know why.

Two people who certainly don't mind seeing F&M struggle are Bill Nelson and Kevin Small.  Hopkins/Ursinus should make for an exciting 2-horse race in the CC.

Any thoughts from swish or fritz on the situation?

fritzdis

Quote from: R.W. McNickels on January 15, 2006, 08:03:58 PM
Any thoughts from swish or fritz on the situation?
Unfortunately (well, maybe fortunately), I haven't seen any of the last 3 games, so I can't begin to understand what has happened to F&M.  They looked pretty good against Ursinus.  What has caused them to just collapse like this is beyond me.

D.B. Cooper

#184
I have also not seen the F&M games since the Ursinus loss. Although I was not as impressed with the Dips in that tilt as Fritz. Ursinius looked much better in addition to poor Dip 3-point shooting & wretched Foul shooting. The Bears would have won easily if not for some late 3 point misses & a rash of a late mostly unforced turnovers that almost let F&M get back into the game.
I can't remember a worse conference loss since the late 70's than this one to SWAT. The only similar margin results came from riled up good Princeton teams. Or to FF squads Hope & Illinois Wesleyan in '96.
I followed the team in 84-85 that only won 8 games & they never seemed to give up losing many games but exhibiting great effort & in close heartbreaking games, plus I don't recall any loss by more than 20 or so.
The post Mehaffey/Henry FF remnants of 96-97 have some analogy to this years team. They went 11-13 after getting off to a decent start. That team also had one upperclassman (Josh Fabian) who had to shoulder most of the scoring load often scoring between 25-40 while the rest of the team couldn't be counted on (sound familiar to anyone whose seen Brandon Smith try to win games this season). There is at least one startling difference. The 96-97 team had an excellent frosh class including Maiatico, Ritacco & Sadowski all key players that eventually almost won the national title in 2000. This years frosh class is unfortunate to say the least.
Unless Robinson can start recruiting better players again F&M will have trouble even making the CC playoffs for a long time. This years sudden collapse may relate at least partly to injuries. Otherwise I can't see why the players like Outerbridge (was wearing a wrap on his shooting wrist vs Ursinius) & Leonard (knee) are playing less & ineffective when they try. Chasen looks to be out indefinately with what looks like a cast + Ortho boot as he looked OK last year at times. As an alum & long term follower this is as down about the program as I have ever felt.

swish

Do any of the oldtimers (mrmxyztplk) know the reason why players like Sadowski and Keliher (both good players from what I hear)left the program after a year or two?

r.w. mcnickels

swish-

From what I remember, Kelliher had a family to attend to, and didn't have time for basketball after his sophomore year.  It's too bad he couldn't play all four years.  Sadowski took a year off (don't know exactly why) but came back to play his junior and senior seasons.  Without him, there's no way F&M would have made the 2000 Final Four.

D.B. Cooper

Swish, R. W. McN's explanation of the Kelliher situation is generally correct & I see no reason to get any more specific about the personal concerns that apparently led him to leave the team after one outstanding season. It is a shame he never played college ball after that. If F&M had him during the relatively lean 96-97 & 97-98 seasons perhaps they may have had more success then. He was so quick, great on defense & got steals as spectacularly as anyone since the greats Al Taylor '83 or Donny Marsh '79.
I heard suggestions at the time that Sadowski may have taken a year off to concentrate on his school work although there could have been other factors too. In any case I concur that without him they wouldn't have made the FF in '00, his superb effort against CUA in the Patterson air hanger gym along with Kraft's heroics resulted in extending a road upset string that never seemed to end until the last second basket from the Calvin PG edged the Dips in Salem.

gordonmann

This week on the Centennial Conference Basketball Network...

Two teams on the brink of the Conference Playoffs battle for the fifth and final playoff spot as the McDaniel Green Terror take on the Gettysburg Bullets.

Can the Green Terror sweep the Bullets and gain a critical head-to-head advantage?  Or will Gettysburg get the leg up for that last spot?

Pregame starts at 1:50 with tip-off at 2 PM on www.bcmonsters.com.

swish

Congratulations on a game well played. Haverford is not a juggernaut (sp?) but holding any team to 38 points is a great feat. Take it one game at a time and even with a couple more losses F&M might make it to the CC play-offs.

Coach C

Ugh.  38.  In a men's game.  Not pretty.

C

r.w. mcnickels

Where are the Ursinus and Hopkins fans?  This could be one of the best seasons the fans in Collegeville have seen in a while (at least as good as '03).

The interesting race will be for seeds 3-5.  Haverford looked awful on Saturday.  After all the talk about Elefterakis earlier in the season, he was totally taken out of his game by F&M's defense.

Reserved Seat

Hopkins' fans???
There weren't even 50 Hopkins' fans at their home game against F&M.
The gym was dead, and it was a close game.
Embarrassing for a first place team.

r.w. mcnickels

I've always wondered why Hopkins struggles to fill that small gym.  Nelson brings in talent year after year, and his teams are often in the thick of things.  It's a great place to watch a game.  Maybe all the focus is on lacrosse in Baltimore?

Pat Coleman

I think the focus is on Baltimore in Baltimore. Similarly, Catholic, in a big city, doesn't draw very well (though it draws better than JHU).
Publisher. Questions? Check our FAQ for D3f, D3h.
Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.