"The philosophy behind it is to try get the best players on the floor even if they have to move one position down (ie Thompson from 2 to 1 when Wallis was hurt) or one up (Nading from 3 to 4) to adapt to allow the best five to be on the floor together."

Wydown Blvd. - I agree! Some teams such as Memphis, and Salem State College do not start 5 guys in the actual positions but rather play their best 5 and get up and down the floor.  It seems like there are a lot of talented guards coming into the NESCAC. A guard-heavy team leads towards fast breaks and pressing defenses.

It will be interesting to see how teams use their incoming guards, especially on teams such as Middlebury who were successful last year.

I've noticed the recruits seem to be from all over the country more so than most rosters have shown the past couple of years, am I right in thinking this?

Got a chance to see Jeremy Lin play at UConn this past season.  He had over 30 points. He's a hard-nose player with a big upside in terms of playing the point position for Golden State.  Between Monta Ellis, Stephon Curry, and Jeremy Lin they will have a lot of guard power and explosive fast breaks.

How do people feel about the 3 guard offense?

Villanova uses it.  They had it with Corey Fisher, Scottie Reynolds, and Maalik Wayns and also years before with Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry and Scottie Reynolds.

Any NESCAC teams use this offense? Most SF/3-men seem to be slashers with decent height.


BTW Lin's younger brother was visiting NESCAC school's this spring, http://voice.paly.net/node/22187

Not too worried about my NESCAC street cred...

As for my prediction about 4 teams from the NESCAC making the tournament, I stand by it.  Bowdoin, Trinity, Amherst, and Middlebury all made it 3 years ago and their was definitely no 'perfect storm' as Speedy pointed out. 

In order for this to happen, Amherst, Bowdoin, Williams, and Middlebury all need to have that non-league domination that Middlebury seemed to have all year. Middlebury and Williams WIN the games they are supposed to win.  Bowdoin and Amherst were too inconsistent, losing out of league games and some NESCAC contests which shattered their chances.

Mainehoops - thanks for the feedback.  I would argue that Williams is not as good as this years team, as would most people who watch Blake Schultz play basketball....the same goes for Colby and Adam Choice.  Going to be a tough year for the Mules.

"I don't think anyone objective would even "argue" that Hanley is the best player in NESCAC.   I'd say Wang, Whittington (both of whom could well be preseason all-Americans), Meehan, Sharry (probably in that order)" Nescac 1
-You named 4 players, 2 of which Will Hanley has beaten hands-down statistically, and 2 of which play for teams that were ranked below Bowdoin in the NESCAC....then the next guy you listed was Hanley, so actually YOU are "arguing" that Hanley is possibly the best player in the NESCAC. 

In terms of Hanley's partner in crime, O'Connell, he scored 275 points this season.  Bowdoin's two starting guards COMBINED for 241 points with over 10 minutes of playing time than O'Connell was playing...those numbers don't add up in terms of trying to win a game, so the fact that he was coming off the bench is irrelevant. If Sharry is one of your top 3 players in the NESCAC I should point out that O'Connell and Sharry played in the same conference in high school and O'Connell had his first of 2 co-league MVP's (Jr, Sr year) and the state scoring title before Sharry even started for Boston College High his senior year.


Could someone help me out with Hamilton?  Any chance they crack the top half of the league?

Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Middlebury will all make the NCAA Tournament this coming year and I believe Williams will still have the talent to reach the Elite 8, possibly Final 4.

How is Hamilton? Not familiar with them, what league are they coming from?

Good stuff! Williams is with out a question the team to beat next year due to their size and their solidness across the board, let alone the fire from this seasons' NCAA Tournament run. Also, Bowdoin will definitely be missing Mike Hauser's 5 ppg and Mark Phillips' 6 rpg... In terms of incoming frosh through out the league, the teams relying on that (such as Wesleyan with Shasha Brown or Connecticut College with Demitrius Porter two years ago) may improve but will not excel with out experience. With that said, Bowdoin will fight for the top 2 teams in the league due to the fact that there is no two-player combination besides Wang and Whittington that can answer the numbers that Will Hanley and Ryan O'Connell will accumulate this upcoming season. Ryan Sharry, Shasha Brown, and Connor Meehan are the other top-notch guys that come to mind in the NESCAC, yet none have a partner in crime that can average 20 plus points per contest.  Hanley and O'Connell averaged 25 ppg combined with O'Connell taking less than 8 shots per game and Hanley taking only 11 field goals per game (Hanley shooting 50% and O'Connell shooting 47% from the field, respectively).  Bowdoin's team can now play a fast pace game with Randy DeFeo (3 year starter) at the point and get twice as many transition points with the best perimeter shooter in the league with O'Connell spreading the floor, and arguably the best player in the league with Hanley running the lanes. James Wang will get his 20 and create for other perimeter role players, while Whittington will get his 15 and 10.  Williams and Bowdoin have two go-to guys which is why they will put a lot of points on the board this year and I am sure we will not be watching traditional NESCAC set-up offense when watching Williams and Bowdoin.

Congratulations to the Williams team on their success this year!

My son was a recent graduate of the football team at Williams and I usually follow my alma mater's league where I played basketball in the NE-10.  But with that said, I began to follow NESCAC basketball and last night I was refereeing a summer league game outside of Boston where Ryan O'Connell of Bowdoin College had 38 points.  His performance was not the usual spot up 3 point shooting but rather drives to the hoop as well as pull up jump shots and a coast to coast sprint for a dunk.  I saw him play last season and he did not play much.  In high school he averaged 12 points per game his sophomore year and his junior year came back averaging 29 ppg and leading the state in scoring.  Between him and future All-American Will Hanley, I believe Bowdoin will place in the top 2 in the NESCAC.  Has anyone seen this kid shoot the long ball? Wow.