MBB: Centennial Conference

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

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noonhooper

First day of games where everyone plays an opponent for the second time. It is a great chance to see any changes over the last few months. Some teams are coming out of the three-game week limping, others are feeling good. Who ya got?

Wash@Fords: Washington is playing well and they beat the squirrels at home last time, but only by 4. I am glad to see Scibelli looks healthy this season after a knee injury slowed him down. Washington has been playing well lately, I think they keep it rolling on the road with a W

Gburg@Ursinus: Was not impressed with the "firepower" I see on the court for the bullets lately. I think this is a game that Ursinus gets at home because they have a bunch of long dudes who can score. And as a coach said recently during March Madness "Dudes are dudes" and thats all you need sometimes. https://thebiglead.com/2015/03/19/north-florida-coach-ballers-make-plays-dudes-are-dudes/

Mules@Swat: Mules have been playing well recently but this is he type of game that a team like Swarthmore should win easily at home. Interestingly these are the top 2 3-point defenses in the country right now and both teams love putting up shots from outside. The Shafer/O'Dell tandem inside could be the difference.

Hopkins@Dickinson: This is a tough one because JHU is a different team without their best player, but the Jays coaching staff is definitely good enough to make the adjustments. Having a relatively easy schedule last week gave them a chance to adjust without falling behind in the standings. Im going to say the Devils smell blood and wear out the thinner roster of JHU at home for the win.

F&M@McDaniel: Normally everyone would say "McDaniel is tough at home" and "these two teams always play each other close" but the reality is that McDaniel has a lot of issues this season and F&M lost by 3 at their place earlier in the year. Can we really imagine the Dips not coming in totally locked in for some payback?




Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

To be fair about Hopkins ... they have been adjusting to life without Delaney since Christmas. Last week was their first opportunity. While they played well in Vegas, they also did lose three straight to start this part of the season without Delaney.

I think they adjusted well in Vegas, though they were also dealing with O'Neil being sick which didn't help as Villa got worn out. I think they will prove to be just as dangerous without Delaney.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

noonhooper

Totally agree. I think a Vegas tournament right out of break is a tough time to judge a team with that kind of roster change either way (other teams dont know how to scout them, the team trying to figure out what will work). So I sort of threw those two out. I think a major issue for them will really just be minutes distribution. Who picks up the 27 minutes and handles to ball? I don't think they are out of it at all in the long run, but against a team that can play a lot of tough guards like Dickinson does they could struggle.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh



Hope you didn't decide to take a night off or two from games? You would have missed some important results. While Wednesdays and Saturdays tend to be the big "nights" of any week in Division III, games on any night could have major ramifications.

The algebra this time of year is both simple and complicated. Conference schedules, for the most part, have moved into the second half and teams seeing teams a second time sometimes have an advantage. Rivals, of course, have an advantage. There are also distractions as some teams have been sitting on mostly empty campuses for several weeks and may be bored. Or second semester classes are beginning and changes to schedules can be an abrupt adjustment. There are also long road trips that can take a team's focus. Plus, the weather. Yeah, Mother Nature loves changing things around.

All of it can lead to upsets or strange outcomes. From blowouts to close battles. On any night, you are bound to see something you will be chatting about the next day.

Thursday's show includes guests from a couple of the hottest teams in men's basketball: Capital and Swarthmore. We also hear from an island squad and find out if the Whitman women's upset of George Fox should have been a surprise. And Springfield's Naomi Graves chats about how the U.S. Marine Corps has helped her coach and preach diversity.

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If you have questions about Division III basketball, feel free to send them and we will answer them on a the show. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com or use any of the social media options.

Guests Schedule (order subject to change):
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Gabriel

Wow!  What a game.  Ursinus defeats Swat 94-88.  That was one of the best D3 games I have seen in some time.  Both teams played very well and the Bears prevailed.  Swat shot 45% overall---43.3% from three and 83.3% from the line and had only 7 turnovers. They played an excellent game and, in my view, are still the team to beat in the CC.

But, my friends, my Bears are in the hunt.  When they played earlier at Swat they were down two starters and today they were without George Gordon, a key rotation player on a day when you are playing against three excellent bigs.  Bears shot 53% over all including 64% from three and an amazing 89% from the line.  The best game Ursinus has played this year.  Go Bears!

Swat Fan #1

Yeah, Swat gave up 57 points in the second half. I was shocked but have to give Ursinus credit. Biggest shocker? Ursinus bench - ZERO points and still a win!

centfan

Congrats to Coach Small and Ursinus for their big win over Swat. 94 points against a strong Swat defensive team...the Bears came to play!

Gabriel

Quote from: Swat Fan #1 on January 19, 2019, 11:31:49 PM
Yeah, Swat gave up 57 points in the second half. I was shocked but have to give Ursinus credit. Biggest shocker? Ursinus bench - ZERO points and still a win!

Bench has been solid this year for the Bears.  As I said, George Gordon did not play due to flu (10 points/game) and Lucas Olshevski had a tough day missing at least four layups.  Both are normally solid rotation players.  Bruce Edwards did not score but he played solid defense.  Hard to name one Ursinus star as they all played well but Eric Williams certainly led the way with 30 points even though guarded very closely.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

I've been impressed with Ursinus, though curious about their inconsistency. I've seen them and then always wondered later why they didn't seem to be better from time to time.

I'm not surprised they beat Swat... I think they have that capability. They also shot really well and, from what I was told and surmised, attacked Swat's defense. That cat might be out of the bag and Swat adjusts, but well done by the Bears.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

Gabriel

D-Mac,

Ursinus has been inconsistent this year although obviously talented.  Part of the reason is they lost their sophomore starting point guard two days before their first game in November so they have had to improvise at that position.  Then they lost two starters for the whole month of December.  The two are now playing again but rusty having missed so much time.  Think they will be fine for the rest of the season.

centfan

thanks for the report Gabriel
Go Bears! Go Coach Small!

gofords

Tough one last night for the Fords. Played Swat even @Swat with Scibelli only playing 20 mins with foul trouble. I think they're better than their record indicates and I think Coach Doherty has done a great job considering where the program was a year and a half ago.

Gabriel

gofords,

Couldn't agree more.  Fords are getting better by the hour it seems.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)


I'm going to Swat - F&M today.  I'm not sure if the almost losing will wake Swat up.  Excited that I have no idea what to expect from either team.
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centfan

ursinus is looking solid right now...playing well together with three solid players in williams jr, stark and mctamney. unselfish, excited and patient in their win over dickinson yesterday.
fords playing good basketball with several close losses. scibelli is their clear leader but they are also playing well together as a unit.
good job by coach small and coach doherty