MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[y_jack_lok]

^^^Just looked at the Pfeiffer schedule. They beat Lynchburg by six points, lost to H-SC by 13.

In addition to today's game vs Guilford, which is likely to be a high scoring affair, Pfeiffer will also play VWU on Saturday and Averett at the end of December. Though not ODAC, they also have two games scheduled with CNU, plus a couple of exhibitions vs D1 schools (Longwood and High Point). If nothing else, they should have a solid D3 non-conference NPI.

[Tigerfan]

The ODAC rolled tonight, winning 6 out of the 7.  Randolph couldn't quite get the win against Mary Baldwin, falling by 3.  The highlight of the night was Guilford's utter shellacking of Pfeiffer, 121-85.  In the little I watched, Pfeiffer had no clue how to defend.  They tried to run with the Quakers and got run right out of the gym. 

[Tigerfan]

The ODAC was 9-4 over the weekend.  Saturday was a little rough at 5-4, but Sunday was 4-0.

That brings the ODAC non-conference record to 36-18, which is very respectable.

Adding on the games of Monday and Tuesday, the non-conference record is 43-19.

[Tigerfan]

State of the ODAC now that Pre-Thanksgiving games are over by looking at my preseason picks:

1.  Randolph-Macon: so far so good with a little concern over lack of size with the Joe Bachman injury.  Defense and rebounding can carry a team a long way and Jabril Robinson is justifying his Preseason All American selection.

2.  Roanoke:  playing well and winning games, but I'm still not sure that the loss of Joshua McClary hasn't been a big loss to their offense, particularly their ability to attack the basket.

3.  Virginia Wesleyan: playing like an experienced Dave Macedo squad.  Omari Deveaux has been stellar.

4.  Hampden-Sydney:  My conventional thinking was that the seniors would be leading this team.  Not exactly the case.  The sophomores (Stickney, Lynch, Bizzelle and Moye) and 6'9" junior leaper Alex Cannon have stepped to the forefront alongside seniors Fernald and Radcliffe.  The defense is approaching elite level.

5.  Lynchburg:  probably less satisfied with their start than the other ODAC teams.  3-3 and got smoked by Catholic.  Top returning scorer and All ODAC Michael Gray has missed 4 games and was ineffective in the other 2.  I'm assuming an injury has sidelined him.  Their current play would cause me to move them to #8.

6.  W&L:  5-0!  As previously mentioned, Addison Newkirk has been a big addition to the Gennies.  Amorosi is showing the ROY honor was not a fluke.  Senior Colin Ryan has been absolutely stuffing the stat sheet:  15 ppg, 7 rpg, just under 6 apg. 

7.  Guilford:  new style of play is immediately successful, so far. The Quakers are fast and relentless. GC's biggest battle is off court.  They find out in early December if they retain accreditation by SACS.  A loss there, although it would be followed by appeals and court battles, would be hugely detrimental. Accreditation is required by the ODAC Constitution. 

8.  Shenandoah:  Also 5-0!  They've got height, ball handling and shooters.  6'7" Ellis Wright has emerged as a big time 3 point shooter and scorer. 

9-12.  Averett, Bridgewater, EMU and Randolph have picked up some non-conference victories, but no win raises eyebrows.  Last season, Averett had some impressive early season wins against CNU and Maryville which even got them some Top 25 votes - then the ODAC season started.  However, Averett still might emerge as the best of these 4.


So, how are the Top 4 going to shake out?  Can Shenandoah and W&L get wins against the Top 4?  Will Guilford's style work against the Top 4? 

The ODAC starts with a bang next week:  Hampden-Sydney at Macon and Roanoke at Guilford.

[thescottharris]

VWU announcers: please take some time to learn the pronunciation of player names. 

Sadly a lost art for many in the broadcasting world these days. Dirk Nowitzki played in the NBA for 21 years and still pretty frequently couldn't even get his name pronounced right by ESPN or TNT people. Top people in the profession setting a bad example doesn't help matters either.

It's a day one lesson everyone should be taught and it should be continually stressed. It was something I always told my student broadcasters and PA announcers they needed to do. It was their job to reach out to the coaches in pregame to get pronunciations.

Like I get it, sometimes with difficult names you're going to screw it up eventually even if you do get the pronunciations because expecting perfection is not the least bit realistic, but you have to put in the effort to try to do it right and to not repeat a mispronunciation if you do mess it up once.

[thescottharris]

^^^ Do the official scorers, who register points in the official score book, also operate the scoreboard in the gym? Whether yes, or no, I'm assuming the basket in question was not recorded either place. I'm also assuming that archived game video has been reviewed and the unrecorded basket has been verified. Not questioning what you are saying. It's a real shame something like that happens. Hard to know how the game would have played out if it had been recorded correctly. Could have affected decisions to call timeouts, whether/when to start fouling, etc., etc.

That is two different jobs, but the scorebook is the official score. So if they screw it up, then the scoreboard will also have to be incorrect.

[thescottharris]

You made me want to look at the play by play.  The box score p-b-p shows the specific problem; it also makes no sense on its face.  P-b-p accurately shows Paider of UWL scored a contested layup at 16:44 to trail by 1, 38-37. Hampden-Sydney inbounds, gets it across half court and calls timeout at 16:30 (time ran off the clock while H-S retrieved ball that went well off the court after made basket).  At the very same 16:30 on the p-b-p, Paider is inaccurately given 2 more points for a layup.  That simply did not happen on the video, nor should it have happened on paper; UWL is given a basket when H-S had possession.  They lead by 1 now. Their next score will happen at 15:33. Why the problem was not cleared up after multiple visits to the scorer's table by Tiger coaches is a mystery. 

Unless the official scorer logged the time on each point - which they are technically supposed to but as someone who has done it a bunch of times and used to train people on it, it is admittedly hard to keep up with and can easily be skipped - then there is no way of knowing when the mystery two points should have been added in the official stats. So at this point you just put it in there to make the score match what the scorebook has and call it a day.

[y_jack_lok]

Happy Thanksgiving.

[rmc1982]

BIG WEEK for RMC this week-HSC comes to Crenshaw tomorrow night and Roanoke saturday! Gonna be a telling week in the ODAC!

[y_jack_lok]

I watched some of the Guilford/Greensboro game last night. Guilford's new coach has certainly brought a different style of play to the Quakers. While it's not a full-on System style, it's very close. They work a little more to find shots than a true System team, but don't waste too much time. Back court defense is more similar to what I've witnessed with Greenville, half-court defense a little less so, but still plenty of pressure.

And what is it with schools that start with "G" (Grinnell, Greenville, Guilford) and this style of play?

The game was played at the UNC Greensboro coliseum and the video quality, which came via Flo Sports, was the best I've seen. Really crisp and clear. I suspect this has to do with superior equipment at UNCG, which would confirm what people have said that streaming quality itself is not controllable with just the Flo platform.

[Tigerfan]

I'll be returning to Crenshaw for the first time since the disaster of 2019 - that being the last year of the Dee Vick era.  I think I still have PTSD.  I told my colleague for that trip that the Jackets could spot us 30 points and still win.  I was wrong; they could have given us 50.  Final was closer to a merciful 40.  This makes 2  trips to Ashland in the last couple weeks.

The Tigers are 8 point 'dogs by D3 Datacast.  Sounds about right for visitors to the gym of the experienced #2 nationally ranked Jackets.  The young Tigers are still a work in progress with Coach Kimbrough still tinkering with the lineups.  The one with both Alex Cannon and Shane Fernald is very interesting.  In particular, the Tigers need to be more efficient on offense and eliminate some of the sloppy possessions. Points will be at a premium with these two ultra focused defensive and rebounding teams.   

[rmc1982]

Tigerfan- Thank you for those eloquent words but this game should be closer than 8 points! I have said it before and I'm saying it now that teams with "bigs" give us fits, especially if its on a night that we're not lighting it up from outside. You guys have size inside- inexperienced size yes but size nonetheless. Yes we have an experienced team and yes we're in Crenshaw where it can get so loud you have to scream at the person next to you to hear but you have an AWESOME coach and kids that listen. I heard today from a frat brother that as of this morning there were still about 200 tickets left so its not a sellout-yet! That typically means more tickets for you Tiggers! Its an early December game on a Wednesday night the week after Thanksgiving-I usually go myself but the timing doesent work for me so I'm watching on FloSports just like lots of other people.....but mark my words.....it will be closer than 8 points and you very well may win!