Waynesburg Season Wrap-up | Jackets Hit Rough Patch in Conference Play




I haven’t mentioned Waynesburg (our Team B) since January (whoops), and at that time, they were “hanging in there” with a 5-8 record.

After that post, the Yellow Jackets ran into a little bit of trouble and suffered through a 1-12 finish, with the lone win coming against Geneva (who was actually a pretty good team). Even though the 6-20 (2-12) record doesn’t look that great on paper, it should be considered an improvement over how the team finished in 2009-10 (2-22, 0-12). Here’s what I said coming into the season:

I'll say six wins. Why? I'm not sure, but I think they'll be better. There's still a long way to go before this team can be considered good (or even average), but I have faith that Christner will get them on the right track. Six wins seems to me like it would be decent improvement.

Please join me in patting myself on my back for a “correct” prediction.

But seriously, Waynesburg made some strides in the W-L column, but they also improved according to the Massey Ratings. The Jackets finished the ’09-10 season ranked #396 in Division III with a -1.405 rating. After this season, their ranking climbed 41 spots to #355, and their numerical rating jumped to -.763.

Not numbers we would care to see out of our Calvin program, but they represent year over year improvement from Waynesburg. This was a program that was at the back of the back a year ago, so they have a long way to come.

The good news is that the Presidents’ Athletic Conference doesn’t contain any programs that can be thought of as a traditional power (like a Calvin or a Hope), so Waynesburg probably has a better chance of building a winning team than, say, Alma does. We’ll keep our eyes open.

All in favor of renewing Waynesburg as our FFTMAG Team B for another season say “aye”.

Waynesburg is "Hanging in There"

Always remembering that Waynesburg is our Team B.

I realized about three weeks ago that I was well overdue for a Waynesburg update post. As you can see, I got right on that.

Before the season began, I predicted six wins for our Team B. Looks like the Yellow Jackets are well on their way to reaching that total.

Through thirteen games, Waynesburg has compiled a 5-8 record. They've played some rather poor competition, Massey rates their schedule 322nd in the nation, my D3 vs. D3 RPI spreadsheet rates it 366th, but five wins looks like good improvement for a program that only won two games last season.

They're doing it the only way they can; by beating the bad teams, and hanging with the better teams.

Against the weakest 'half' of their schedule (Penn State-Beaver, Oberlin, Hilbert, Grove City, Mount Aloysius, and Westminster PA), they're 5-1. They're 0-7 against the 'tougher' opponents (La Roche, Bethany, Marietta, Rochester Tech, Baldwin-Wallace, Mt. Union, and Thiel), but they've been keeping it close more often than they've been blown out.

Two of the losses came in overtime, against La Roche and Mt. Union, and claimed second half leads over Hilbert and Thiel.

The Presidents' Athletic Conference is rather weak as a whole so the Yellow Jackets may still find three or four (or more) wins before conference play ends. They get Grove City and Westminster (Pa.) at home, and the still need to play Washington and Jefferson twice. At worst those four games will probably look like toss ups.

Overall, I'd say the season is going quite well. They've had their opportunities to make the W-L record look even better, but they seem to be making good strides in the competitiveness category (if that exists). Who knows, maybe they'll steal an upset or two.

Waynesburg Season Preview

Remember, Waynesburg is our Team B for the year. It's a collective effort; we're all rooting for them.

Roster
The first thing that hit me when I looked at their roster was how incredibly small they are. The average height for a Waynesburg player is only 6-1.5; Calvin's 15 guys average 6-4.4. That's a difference of nearly three full inches per player.

The good news is that they return twelve players, including four starters. Experience doesn't necessarily guarantee success with the win-loss record. They're returning lots of guys from a team that was very bad. They managed just two wins, and only one versus a Division III team. Coach Christner has his work cut out for him with this team, but there's no where to go but up (height joke, get it?).

Schedule
Waynesburg plays in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (officially the 'PAC', but often referred to as the PrAC), which is easily the weakest of the four Great Lakes Region conferences (MIAA, OAC, NCAC). There's no Calvin or Hope or Wooster or Wittenberg or John Carroll caliber team in the league, so the prospects for the future aren't terrible. They should be able to come up with at least a handful of conference victories this season.

The non-conference portion of the Waynesburg schedule also holds some winnable games. Hilbert, Marietta, Oberlin, and Mount Union were all under .500 teams a season ago, and Baldwin-Wallace and La Roche muddled around .500. None of these games are gimmes by any stretch of the imagination, but they should provide the Yellow Jackets with some tough competition that's around their level.

Statistics
The Yellow Jackets were outscored by nearly 13 points per game last year, and it's easy to see why. As a team they only shot .376 from the floor, .246 from three point range, and .596 from the stripe. And in a stat that would drive coach Vande Streek up the wall, they were -156 in total rebounding margin (over six per game). Lots of room for improvement here.

Prediction
I'll say six wins. Why? I'm not sure, but I think they'll be better. There's still a long way to go before this team can be considered good (or even average), but I have faith that Christner will get them on the right track. Six wins seems to me like it would be decent improvement.

Until Further Notice, Waynesburg is My 'Team B'

I sometimes enjoy selecting a 'Team B' to follow and root for. When it comes to baseball, the Colorado Rockies are my Team B. One of my college roommates was from Colorado Springs, and there was a lot of Rockies baseball on the TV while they made their magical run to the World Series in 2007, so I joined in on the fun. Sometimes my selections are more or less random. I enjoyed watching Mississippi State's run to the SEC Tournament championship in 2009, so they were a favorite of mine when the NCAA tournament began the following week.

Sometimes my Team B is permanent (like the Rockies), but sometimes they only last through the season (Mississippi State). Either way, I find it enjoyable to follow a team that I would otherwise know nothing about. I feel it helps me gain a national perspective.

My only rule for Team B is that it can't be a world-beating favorite. No Yankees. No Lakers. No UW-Stevens Point. Our new Team B, the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets, have no problem meeting that requirement.


Image: waynesburgsports.com



You can probably guess why I chose Waynesburg to follow for the year, but in case you cant I'll give you a hint:


Photo: calvin.edu

 That happy man, of course, is none other than new Waynesburg head basketball coach, and former Calvin assistant, Mark Christner.

I had Coach Christner at Calvin for basketball class. He was a good dude, and a smart basketball man, but he has his work cut out for him. The last two years, Waynesburg has finished with records of 6-18 (2010) and 8-17 (2009). They went 2-10 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PrAC if you're d3hoops.com, PAC if you're everyone else) both years.

I look forward to watching Chrisner help turn that around this year.

Waynesburg preview coming sometime in the future.