MBB: Centennial Conference

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

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Polly Math

Cent Fan:  I was actually thinking of Brett Cohen at Haverford, a very good forward who was much overlooked.   I hadnt forgot Liddic, who holds the conference rebound record and probably will for some time, but he is a little further back down the timeline.  You could throw in McNally (F&M) and Dolan (Dickinson) if we are going back to the 2010 time frame. 

Hoopguru:  Many of the guys mentioned were not your immobile "one foot in the paint" bigs -- Gyokchian and Wixted did a lot of their damage from the three point line, as well as the post, and Bugarinovic and Cohen had nice mid-range jumpers. They were versatile scorers and rebounders and good rim protectors.  Even guys like Kevin Hargrove or Jon Ward did not have outside scoring range and were more pure post players -- but I still think if they were in the league now they would be feasting.  If younger versions of any of these guys (or the other guys I mentioned) showed up on any Centennial campus today I doubt they would advised to try cross country or volleyball.  Basketball hasnt changed that much.     

Gabriel

UC Bears upended Dickinson 82-77 in an terrific road win against a very good Dickinson team.  Dickinson's only lead was 2-0 and the Bears led the rest of the way with their biggest lead 9 points.  Matt Knowles scored 27, Zach Quattro hit for 13, and freshman Shane Stark 10.  Bears four forwards as a group scored 34 points are certainly playing much better of late.  Bears defense was solid and they did an excellent job of closing the game. Hope it continues.  Go Bears!

HoopGuru

Polly Math: yes, you make my point for me.  As I was stating the true big, 5 man, back to the basket is going away because it is inefficient to play pounding it into the post to let a guy back down and try to score inside. Those guys you mentioned had the skill set to do damage in many ways, which is what I am saying about the game changing to having versatile F's.  I am not saying that scoring out of the post is going away, just the true 5 man who sits in the post and expects to always play in there.  They may or may not be feasting in the CC today, but that doesn't mean their teams would be good or playoff teams.  I don't think when Ward was at Ursinus they made the playoffs outside his freshman year.  Yes, if there was a Wixted or Gyokchian, then I believe those teams would certainly be better, but, again, much more versatile Forwards.

Very nice win on the road for Ursinus at Dickinson.  Hope they can keep it rolling.
"Separation is in the preparation"

Polly Math

Hoopguru:  Gotcha -- I am not going to restart the debate about why Ursinus didn't have more success in the first half of this decade. I wasn't on the board then but there is lots of commentary about it if you page back on this forum.   My take: Ward was a good forward, but F&M and Dickinson and Hopkins had better ones, and more of them.   Either way, its spilt milk now.   

Ursinus made my point for me last night, by shooting 50% from the field and winning on a night when they were 20% from the 3 pt line.  That what happens when you own the glass.   Coach said last year that Ursinus was going back to basics in how they recruit and play, and it is clearly paying off.   There is also a lot to like about Dickinson, they are fast and aggressive and make life miserable for opposing guards, but they got outplayed in the paint, and a team that has interior passing and shoots from 2 feet will more often than not beat a team that swings the ball and shoots from 20 feet. 

Anyway, should be an exciting tourney.  Most years there are 2, maybe 3 teams that have a legit shot at taking the trophy.  Looks like this year there will be 5.  Hopkins smacked Swat in Baltimore last night,  and for all their early season woes, F&M has won 2 straight and plays Swat on Saturday.   Things could get very interesting very soon. 


HoopGuru

Yes, they seem to be getting back to basics with how they recruit and seem to have a team that enjoys playing together/understands their roles on the team.  I am not that sold on Dickinson this year.  They certainly have the athletes on the team to compete in the league this year, but I watched that game last night online, and if other coaches/teams see how UC defended them they might have more troubles moving forward.  They were literally defending their guards standing mostly in the paint.  Dickinson actually was fortunate to have one of their guys hit a couple threes, but it wasn't from any of their athletic guards.  And for as much as their on-ball defense from these guards is talked about, the UC guards, specifically Knowles outplayed them.  Not sure what the Dickinson guards were doing on-ball, but they were giving up straight line drives to the baseline with absolutely no help behind.  UC actually missed more opportunities to take that straight line drive to get more lay-ups.  With their athletes, I'm not sure why Dickinson would be playing so far to one side of the offensive guy pretty much giving up that baseline straight drive.  I think they will struggle to be consistent if they (Dickinson) get defended that way in future games..just my opinion
"Separation is in the preparation"

Hoopdog14

Polly Math, I agree with you if you control the glass your own the court.  While the 3 pt line has changed the game, it is teams with big guys in the paint that make the difference.  They made plod and back their way in but it exposes the perimeter shooters to more free looks.  Whether man-to-man or zone they can't rotate fast enough to cover.  A big man with a mid-range jumper is a coach's dream.  Many perimeters shooters are just that, perimeter shooters.  If they don't have wide open looks they shoot miserably.  A team with a big man who can shoot mid-range and a perimeter shooter who can go to the iron will set a lot of teams on their heels.

And the CC does have a shortage now of big men.  I still think the CC is a bit weaker because  of it.

Team First

HoopGuru, not taking away from Ursinus who played very well and are a good team, but Dickinson did not execute on defense in that game. Offensively, the Red Devils scored enough points Thursday to have beaten Susquehanna, CNU and Swarthmore in their previous losses against those ranked teams. They were not connected on defense as you noted by the ease of which the Ursinus players had free runs to the rim in the half court. Not sure where the breakdowns were but the rotations just weren't there. You aren't going to win too many games giving up layups...unless of course you're trading twos for threes running the Grinnell system, which they aren't doing. Through the first part of the season, Dickinson had a top 20 defense. That is no longer the case and it's not due to who they're playing. As a Red Devil fan I'm ready to see the early season defense again.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)

Quote from: Team First on January 13, 2017, 10:24:39 PM
HoopGuru, not taking away from Ursinus who played very well and are a good team, but Dickinson did not execute on defense in that game. Offensively, the Red Devils scored enough points Thursday to have beaten Susquehanna, CNU and Swarthmore in their previous losses against those ranked teams. They were not connected on defense as you noted by the ease of which the Ursinus players had free runs to the rim in the half court. Not sure where the breakdowns were but the rotations just weren't there. You aren't going to win too many games giving up layups...unless of course you're trading twos for threes running the Grinnell system, which they aren't doing. Through the first part of the season, Dickinson had a top 20 defense. That is no longer the case and it's not due to who they're playing. As a Red Devil fan I'm ready to see the early season defense again.

To me it feels like the roster is stretched a little thin.  When they were really defending early on, they were getting outrebounded terribly.  It may be an issue of having to focus on both without quite the right manpower to do it well.  Do you know if Picka is going to make it back to the team this year?  That would really help give them some cover on both fronts.
Lead Columnist for D3hoops.com
@ryanalanscott just about anywhere

Team First

Picka is in uniform warming up.

Reserved Seat

If this is the way Swarthmore plays all their games, they are the dirtest team in the league.  Between throwing elbows and undercutting rebounders, Swarthmore did all they could do to injure F&M's players.  Even their announcer was biased and obnoxious.  Several times after 'her' team was charged with an intentional foul, she admonished the crowd about sportsmanship.  These comments should have been directed at the Swarthmore players.  Cam Wiley appeared to be attempting to egg Jared Wright into a fight, knowing F&M is currently thin at the point guard spot(while Tate recuperates from an ankle injury incurred in the Albright game)  At one point Wiley tried to tackle Wright under the basket after his shot was blocked by Wright.  Wiley was, also, called for a technical near the end of the game.  Chris Bourne was called for 2 intentional fouls after nasty attacks on F&M players.  Yonda several times took out the feet of rebounders. Jordan Phelps was laid out with a deliberate elbow to the head, forcing him out of the game permanently to go through concussion protocol.
Federici had a quiet game scoring 21 points despite battling a cold.  J.C. McGrath proved he's a force scoring 30 on 10/14 shooting and going 10/10 from the foul line after constantly being pushed around.  F&M played solid defense outside keeping the Garnet from getting any good looks form the outside.  Bourne and Walsh played a solid game under the basket, trying to take advantage of their height.

BeRightOn

Was F&M v Swarthmore physical? Yes.
Wholesale cheapness by Swat with intent to injure? I don't think so.

Reserved Seat

Sure looked like it.  Where does tackling fit into basketball?  What about the elbow to the head of Phelps? 

Gabriel

Quote from: Hoopdog14 on November 15, 2016, 07:54:38 PM
Moune will be tough to replace but Robinson always seems to have F&M land  their feet.  Swarthmore is the logical pick to win.Kosmalski is the top coach in the conference.  G-burg will have size and experience to battle and Nelson and Seretti will have Hopkins and Dickinson in contention with several key players returning.  Washington is still re-building and McDaniel may struggle.  Haverford will have ups and downs.   The Bears and the Mules don't have the horses or the coaching to muster up a challenge.

Hoopdog,

Any more thoughts?




Swat Fan #1

Reserved Seat, sounds like a very physical game. What happened with the technical fouls? I am out of town and saw the score and your comments. Nothing on the game write-up about them.  Thanks!

CentCraze88

 Hoop Dog,

Have you watched any Mules games of late? Strong start, but seem to be falling apart as they have in the past.