MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[seminoletiger]

Not even if they change the date and location and only tell Lynchburg.

[mybleedinghands]

I predict that Lyncburg will...hehe  ...win the...tee heehee  ...ODAC....haha ...championship if they  ...LOL...ah nevermind!

hell, you never know! what if the basketball gods or godesses were to grace us with their presence and lead us to win 12 straight games (9 regular season, 3 odac tournament) or at least 3 straight tournament wins?? 

[tigerfanalso]

I am a new poster so bear with me as most of you probably do not want to hear what I have to say.  Some posters seem to think the quality of play in the ODAC has improved and the league has gotten better. What has happened over the past several years is that the level of play at the bottom of the league has improved but the level of the play at the top has really come down, way down. Not one team in the league could compete with the really good HSC and RMC teams of recent past. Those teams competed on a national level and were always in contention to host a regional. Not one ODAC team, RMC maybe being the only exception, has a chance to compete on a national level, which indicates to me the level of play is not close to what it once was; more competitive within the league but really no team that has a chance of going deep into the tournament . As a HSC fan I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

[mybleedinghands]

I am a new poster so bear with me as most of you probably do not want to hear what I have to say.  Some posters seem to think the quality of play in the ODAC has improved and the league has gotten better. What has happened over the past several years is that the level of play at the bottom of the league has improved but the level of the play at the top has really come down, way down. Not one team in the league could compete with the really good HSC and RMC teams of recent past. Those teams competed on a national level and were always in contention to host a regional. Not one ODAC team, RMC maybe being the only exception, has a chance to compete on a national level, which indicates to me the level of play is not close to what it once was; more competitive within the league but really no team that has a chance of going deep into the tournament . As a HSC fan I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

I only got to see the legendary HSC and RMC teams one year (the last year that they were truly amazing), but from waht I did see compared with today, the quality of HSC and RMC definitely isnt as high as it was 2 years ago.

[seminoletiger]

tigerfanalso,

Sometimes the truth hurts.  I agree with virtually everything you wrote.  Great first post...where ya been?

[Jacketlawyer]

As of today, I'm in complete agreement with STH and TigerFanAlso on their most recent comments regarding ODAC basketball and R-M/H-S.

But we still have the second half of the season to go, gentlemen.  We'll get to find out!!

[algernon]

While I will readily agree that none of the current teams seem as good as the 2003 version of the Tigers or the Yellow Jackets, I do think that we've got some teams at the top of the ODAC who could do quite well in the NCAA tournament this year.  HSC is 12-2, VWC is 13-3, and RMC is 13-3.  Excluding their beating up on each other, these teams are 11-1, 12-2, and 12-2.  HSC has a 23-5 record since they reached their nadir against RMC last year.  RMC has a similarly fine record since then and some good wins this year over St. John Fisher and Lincoln.  VWC has a 11-game winning streak and who knows how far they'll go before they get stopped.  Each of these teams has done well to this point in the season and it's hard to say how deep they might go in the tournament.  We'll find out ....

[Jacketlawyer]

Here's some Mapquest information:

All Sports Cafe, 2326 Grandin Rd SW, Roanoke, VA 24015   540-725-5155 or 725-2077
Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Blvd (corner Texas St.), Salem, VA 24153

The two are less than 5 miles apart.  From the Civic Center, go southeast on Roanoke Blvd toward Fisher Ave (0.4 mile).  Rurn right onto VA-419/Electric Rd (0.5 miles).  Turn left onto US-11/Apperson Dr, continue to follow US-11 (3.3 miles).  Turn right onto Grandin Rd SW (0.3 miles).  A-SC is 2326 Grandin Rd.

Also, appreciate the Mapquest directions, Hasanova.l

[hasanova]

That being said, if the league continues to beat itself up (like last week), I don't think anyone should expect more than the conference champion and maybe one other team to advance to the NCAAs.  And I say that with a realistic belief that the conference champion could very well be someone other than RMC, HSC, or VWC.

Interesting.  I was thinking the same thing - especially regarding the ODAC tournament.

[Jacketlawyer]

That being said, if the league continues to beat itself up (like last week), I don't think anyone should expect more than the conference champion and maybe one other team to advance to the NCAAs.  And I say that with a realistic belief that the conference champion could very well be someone other than RMC, HSC, or VWC.

Interesting.  I was thinking the same thing - especially regarding the ODAC tournament.

I can't QUITE buy into this opinion. . . . yet.  But I know it can happen.  I remember watching R-M get knocked out of the ODAC tourney in the first round by Lynchburg two years ago.

OUCH

I guess we have to watch and see what some of the lower tier teams are doing towards the end of February, and see what the pairings are.  Playing a team for the 3rd time in the tournament after winning the first two games always makes me nervous.

[tigerfanalso]

I've been around a long, long time and just got really tired of all the conversation about how good the quality of play in the ODAC is. I've seen good play in the ODAC, but not for several years. I've seen really good players recently, but not a really good team; defined as one that has a chance to compete well in the NCAA Tournament.  If one does this year, it is RMC because of their play under the basket; however lack of guard play will keep them from advancing but so far. HSC does not have a chance this year nor does VWC because I don't think either team is deep enough. I've been to the final four twice, to many regional finals and every team at that level went 9 to 11 players deep without losing quality. Sports tend to go in cycles, the quality of play at the top of the ODAC will return one day, but I don't think this is the year... I hope I'm wrong .... Go Tigers  

[seminoletiger]

Algernon,

Without getting into a huge debate, I think you have to look at more than simply team records to determine whether the quality of play/talent has declined in the ODAC this year.  Every year, it seems that there are teams from lesser-known/smaller talent conferences that enter the tournament with gaudy records that get thrown to the wolves in the first round or two.  I'm not saying that someone from the ODAC can't get on a roll from now until the end of the conference tourney, but I still think 2 or 3 wins in the tourney by one of this year's ODAC teams would be a remarkable achievement.

[hasanova]

I predict that Lyncburg will...hehe  ...win the...tee heehee  ...ODAC....haha ...championship if they  ...LOL...ah nevermind!

hell, you never know! what if the basketball gods or godesses were to grace us with their presence and lead us to win 12 straight games (9 regular season, 3 odac tournament) or at least 3 straight tournament wins?? 

Mathematically, for a team that is 2-14 (0.125 winning percentage) to win 12 in a row, the probability is 0.125 to the 12th power or 1 chance in 68,719,476,736.  Yeah, it's possible, but it sure isn't probable.  Personally, I'd bet on something more likely, such as an asteroid hitting the Salem Civic Center at the exact moment the opening tip is tossed in the air for the 2006 championship game.     Vaya con Dios!

[seminoletiger]

TFA,

To add to your comment (I've been around a while also), the Tigers were on a good little run since late last year, but this team and last year's team have/had uncharacteristically short benches as compared to past HSC teams.  It's also very uncharacteristic that we have a player averaging 20+ points, which is akin to the Russell Turner or Nate Schwab era of Tiger hoops.  I'm sure there may be exceptions, but the really good Tiger teams were 10-12 deep with 4 or 5 guys averaging in the low teens in point production (ie.  on any given night, opposing teams really didn't know who to stop!)  The Tigers have been "young" for the past couple of years, but still continue to bring in good quality athletes.  

Laakso and Lawton have been great additions to the current Tigers, but I still wonder how good this team could be without the early/unexpected losses of Dowell, Bowne, and Cvijanovic (ie. a team legitimately 10-11 deep).

[tigerfanalso]

I totally agree with the last post which I think supports my argument. If an ODAC team goes 2 or 3 wins into the tournament this year that event  would be preceived as a tremendous achievement, but in the past the ODAC often had teams that if they lost in the first two rounds it was preceived to be a let down or an under achievement. Again, I hope I'm wrong because nobody enjoys ODAC b'ball more than I do, but I just don't see a dominant team which means no ODAC team could expect to host a region, which makes it very difficult to go deep. Beating a good team on it's home court in a regional is not done very often. If VWC, RMC, or HSC could run the table, maybe that school could host a region which could prove me to be wrong and believe me, I hope I am wrong because it helps all ODAC schools in recruiting if one of the member does well in the tournament; if two schools happen to perform well it helps that much more