My son played for Jeff Brown.  An excellent coach, but more importantly an even better guy. 

2013 Painful.  I kind of know the Midd PG here.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3xeop5q-Pk


Triple OT.

Quote from: Bucket on January 30, 2025, 06:40:54 PM

Quote from: jumbomumbo on January 30, 2025, 05:43:40 PMWould anyone happen to know the last time 2 NESCAC teams were ranked this high nationally in a head to head matchup? #1 Wes vs #9 Tufts makes for an average ranking of #5 in the country. I'm sure there were some Amherst - Williams teams ranked highly in the past decade or so, very curious as to the answer here

My mind immediately goes to a Midd-Amherst clash in Pepin. My recollection is that they were #1 and #2, maybe #3.









A Willy Workman intentional FT miss and putback with less than a second on the clock sent the game to a 3rd OT.

Aaron Toomey won it at the buzzer with an NBA-range 3 in the third overtime.

Am thinking this was 2012 or 2013?

I see your post.

From a Midd fan who rooted against his teams for years, Congrats to Dave Hixon on getting inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame along with a really impressive class. 

Quote from: nescac1 on February 04, 2023, 04:48:24 PM
Sobel very clearly double-dribbled before the winning hoop.  I watched pretty closely and I sure didn't see a touch by a Trinity defender. 

Key for Williams today was the two-way play by Glatzer and Lee.  They were stellar on Ravetz and Johnson respectively and had two of their best offensive games to boot.  Go Ephs!

I beg to differ.  I watched pretty closely as well, as did the refs and Cosgrove who was in their ears the whole game and he didnt make a peep on the biggest play of the game.  The ball was touched.  Midd escaped after a very good effort by Trinity especially on Sobel.  It happens.  Go Panthers! 

Great week for the Panthers.  Tough wins on the road.  You don't win titles in January but you do get experience that helps later on.  Midd sure got that this week. 

Quote from: Old Guy on January 15, 2023, 10:04:44 PM
Just a great weekend at Middlebury. I'm blissed out and I have a life: I read books, talk politics, go to plays, hang out with my grandchildren (who seem to like me).

Most important, two NESCAC wins. The Colby game yesterday was terrific. Young Girl II called it "fiercely contested," and that's apt. Colby is a good team playing a stretch of formidable NESCAC opponents. Midd got off to a fast 10-2 start, led by as many as 12 in the first half, up 8 at the break (36-28), and went ahead 13 at one point in the second half, . . . but it was 66-61 with 1:47 left. Midd closed it out 6-2. Colby played with urgency throughout. Tough game. Good win! Big animated crowd. Box score cited attendance at 767. I'm not sure who comes up with that precise number — do they count noses? Pepin was 3/4 full. Very exciting game. Great to have the boys at home.

Stevens did a very good job on Poulton, holding him to 12 points (4-12 FG/3-7 from three). Will King played hard and well. He's a handful. Midd was great defensively, man-to-man, the whole way. Brennan had a Brennan double-double (11 pts 10 boards). Nash Goldman came off the bench and hit two big threes when Colby went to a 3-2 zone. Evan Flax really ups the tempo when he comes in, pushes it relentlessly, and doesn't mind shooting the ball.

Midd, as has become customary, led in rebounds, 37-25, and made 19-20 free throws (Sobel went 5-6, had the only miss). That helps. Stevens was 4-4 and Osher 5-5: they're ice. Neither team shot well from three, but there weren't many open shots. Sobel had seven blocks! and prevented anyone getting to the hoop. He only took 9 shots (5-9) for 15 points with 8 rebounds.

The alumni game Saturday morning was a delight. Not a lot of hoopla. Over 20 returnees: the old guys (2008-2014) played the younger guys (2018-2021). No refs (call your own), no unies: really high level pickup. I feared that the older guys (who included Ryan Sharry, Tim Edwards, Nolan Thompson, Peter Lynch, and other stalwarts in their mid-30s) were overmatched against these kids (Matt St. Amour, Matt Folger, Jack Farrell, Jack Daly, Max Bosco, Griffin Kornaker et al), but they prevailed 80-53. Tim Edwards, Midd '10, was easily the premier etoile, much to delight of the assembled current Midd players, hitting 8-10 three point shots. each one farther out. En fuego. Edwards, some may recall, was a defensive player, winning the DPOY a couple times. He played in Germany for a time after he graduated; he's clearly still playing somewhere now in his mid-30s (I didn't get a chance to speak to him at length). The young guys were hampered by a full 13 player roster. Hard to parcel out the minutes.

I regretted missing the Saturday night dinner, but I had an even higher priority: a birthday party (mine!) with family (three of my adult kids and grandchildren). Pretty damn good weekend.

Just read this and I'm glad to hear the group of great guys from the 2008-14 era took care of business without one kid, a point guard special to me who is currently living down under in Sydney.  That guy who wore #5 over his four seasons at Midd let me know how sorry he was he could not be there but assured me he will be at an upcoming alum game soon.  When he shows up, you and I can pace on the far side of Pepin again just like when I was too nervous to stay on our side during the 2nd half of games  as we did for many nail biters back then. I've been following this year's squad.  So proud and happy to see what's happening... 

I have really enjoyed reading the analysis of defense, help defense, all the other Xs & 0s stuff, rankings, pool this and that etc etc.  For me the real story here week in and week out is how expectations have changed over a short NESCAC season.  Midd playing mostly with young inexerienced players and Sobel who is coming back from time off before the pandemic, was a team virtually nothing was expected from when the season began.  Now they are in conversations no one ever thought they would be a part of.  Credit of course to Sobel and the young kids who should benefit big time from this experience next year and beyond, but even more so to Jeff Brown.  I have watched Jeff coach for close to fifteen years getting the most out of the diverse talent he has every season. I don't think a coach who has finished 2nd or 3rd in our league has ever won coach of the year, but from someone who saw our kids come damn close to winning it all, so far, this ranks as one of Jeff's best coaching seasons.       

Anyone here from Bowdoin remember a guy named Jason Kirck who played for Bowdoin in the 90s?  He is in some pretty hot water in Connecticut where he is coaching at the Sacred Heart Academy of Hamden.  The story made me kind of sick to my stomach. Read this and judge for yourselves.   https://www.courant.com/sports/high-schools/hc-sp-high-school-sacred-heart-lyman-hall-girls-score-20220105-20220104-cxradfm7bjayndekktib5m4xam-story.html
 

With win over Endicott Jeff Brown now has 400 as a coach at Midd.  Could not happen to a nicer guy. 

Quote from: maineman on November 09, 2021, 10:17:51 AM

Quote from: grabtherim on November 09, 2021, 09:40:01 AM

Quote from: Old Guy on November 02, 2021, 09:40:26 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on October 25, 2021, 04:53:03 PM

Midd roster also posted and they are in the exact opposite situation.  Not one senior and (obviously) no fifth-year players.  Sobel is as reported back, which is huge, for them but he is one of only two guys returning (Moore) who have seen a single meaningful minute on the floor.  They have a nice group of frosh who will surely be major contributors right away but, frosh are frosh.  Seems like there will be some growing pains for Midd this year but Jeff Brown usually finds a way and with this entire group back next season, plus a few big-guy recruits coming in, the future seems brighter than the present ...

Checking in: nice to be back. Local hoops makes winter in VT more tolerable. Can't wait to get back in the gym and watch some hoop. Middlebury is in a rebuild, for sure. I haven't been in the gym for 20 months so have no personal observations to make. I did talk briefly to someone in the know and asked, "will we be any good?" and he said, "we could be pretty good, . . . but not this year." Maybe we'll sneak up on some people. Expectations.

I don't pay much attention to news about recruits before they arrive (though I do read the posts — thanks NESCAC1, and others). I'm going to the games, no matter what. I wait till they get here. Like in teaching, you teach the kids in your class. I root for the players with "Middlebury" on their shirts, always have. Don't get me wrong: I exult when Midd wins and despair when they lose. I prefer the exultation, but I love the Panther players and appreciate their efforts either way, enjoy getting to know their families. I have had a ball the last decade and a half (Midd has made the NCAA tourney 11 of the last 13 years) and hope we can get back to that level.

It's hard not to feel especially sad for the lost season of 2021 for the Middlebury seniors. Middlebury's top six players (playing time) were in the class of 2021. I think it was safe to say the team would have been one of the best in D3 (especially with the big guy coming back). I think this article from the local paper was presented here before, but it makes the point: https://www.addisonindependent.com/2021/04/29/karl-lindholm-mens-basketball-grieving-a-lost-season/

I wish I had had a chance to watch Tommy Eastman play another season for the Panthers. He was in the top rank of talents I have seen at Midd over many years. He's at Brandeis this year attending graduate school (he was a Physics major at Middlebury). I'll be watching some of their streamed games, likewise those of CWRU (my graduate school!) where Griffin Kornaker is also playing as a grad student.

Carry on, friends. Here we go!

OG all the best to you, and I hope to see you in Pepin this year.  As I read your article, I felt a knot in my throat and as I read on  a bit of pride as well.  As the parent of a former Panther hoopster I cannot imagine how my son would have dealt with the lost season.  My heart goes out to the seniors in every sport not only in our league, but across the country who lost their last year of doing what they love to do in the year they know will be their last doing so.  The pride I felt was when you wrote about the crowds at Pepin.  When my son arrived on campus, all I heard was Midd was a "hockey school", and that was proven true to me when an NCAA bound Panther team was playing a tight one vs Williams early in his playing days in front of 100 or so folks while what was then a middle of the road Men's Hockey team would have a full house against anyone they played.  Things changed big time over the next four years, and I am happy the trend has continued and the town has "embraced" the hoop team.  To all of the experts and prognosticators out there, you may be right, but don't discount what Jeff Brown can get out of the talent he has.  When the other teams out talent you, hard work on the defensive end may be one way of giving your team a chance.  As talented as Jeff's teams were in their heyday they won many of their games at the defensive end with hard work.  My take is this bunch will play defense which will frustrate the hell out of some teams, and likely produce a few surprises along the way doing so. I sure hope so.  Go Midd!!     

Grab- heyday suggests past tense.  Hopefully, this is the dawn of a new era.

You are correct, and I hope you are correct but facts are facts,  Over the five seasons from 2008-09  thru 2012-2013 the Panthers, won the league for the 1st and 2nd time,  went to the dance every year, advanced pretty far in it,  and averaged going 25.6 - 3.6.  That era woke up the town and the campus to hoops in addition to hockey.  Heyday indeed.  No one would be happier to see it happen again and dawn now than me. Go Midd!!   

Quote from: Old Guy on November 02, 2021, 09:40:26 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on October 25, 2021, 04:53:03 PM

Midd roster also posted and they are in the exact opposite situation.  Not one senior and (obviously) no fifth-year players.  Sobel is as reported back, which is huge, for them but he is one of only two guys returning (Moore) who have seen a single meaningful minute on the floor.  They have a nice group of frosh who will surely be major contributors right away but, frosh are frosh.  Seems like there will be some growing pains for Midd this year but Jeff Brown usually finds a way and with this entire group back next season, plus a few big-guy recruits coming in, the future seems brighter than the present ...

Checking in: nice to be back. Local hoops makes winter in VT more tolerable. Can't wait to get back in the gym and watch some hoop. Middlebury is in a rebuild, for sure. I haven't been in the gym for 20 months so have no personal observations to make. I did talk briefly to someone in the know and asked, "will we be any good?" and he said, "we could be pretty good, . . . but not this year." Maybe we'll sneak up on some people. Expectations.

I don't pay much attention to news about recruits before they arrive (though I do read the posts — thanks NESCAC1, and others). I'm going to the games, no matter what. I wait till they get here. Like in teaching, you teach the kids in your class. I root for the players with "Middlebury" on their shirts, always have. Don't get me wrong: I exult when Midd wins and despair when they lose. I prefer the exultation, but I love the Panther players and appreciate their efforts either way, enjoy getting to know their families. I have had a ball the last decade and a half (Midd has made the NCAA tourney 11 of the last 13 years) and hope we can get back to that level.

It's hard not to feel especially sad for the lost season of 2021 for the Middlebury seniors. Middlebury's top six players (playing time) were in the class of 2021. I think it was safe to say the team would have been one of the best in D3 (especially with the big guy coming back). I think this article from the local paper was presented here before, but it makes the point: https://www.addisonindependent.com/2021/04/29/karl-lindholm-mens-basketball-grieving-a-lost-season/

I wish I had had a chance to watch Tommy Eastman play another season for the Panthers. He was in the top rank of talents I have seen at Midd over many years. He's at Brandeis this year attending graduate school (he was a Physics major at Middlebury). I'll be watching some of their streamed games, likewise those of CWRU (my graduate school!) where Griffin Kornaker is also playing as a grad student.

Carry on, friends. Here we go!

OG all the best to you, and I hope to see you in Pepin this year.  As I read your article, I felt a knot in my throat and as I read on  a bit of pride as well.  As the parent of a former Panther hoopster I cannot imagine how my son would have dealt with the lost season.  My heart goes out to the seniors in every sport not only in our league, but across the country who lost their last year of doing what they love to do in the year they know will be their last doing so.  The pride I felt was when you wrote about the crowds at Pepin.  When my son arrived on campus, all I heard was Midd was a "hockey school", and that was proven true to me when an NCAA bound Panther team was playing a tight one vs Williams early in his playing days in front of 100 or so folks while what was then a middle of the road Men's Hockey team would have a full house against anyone they played.  Things changed big time over the next four years, and I am happy the trend has continued and the town has "embraced" the hoop team.  To all of the experts and prognosticators out there, you may be right, but don't discount what Jeff Brown can get out of the talent he has.  When the other teams out talent you, hard work on the defensive end may be one way of giving your team a chance.  As talented as Jeff's teams were in their heyday they won many of their games at the defensive end with hard work.  My take is this bunch will play defense which will frustrate the hell out of some teams, and likely produce a few surprises along the way doing so. I sure hope so.  Go Midd!!       

With tongue firmly in cheek, I say to my good friend Bucket: I sure hope Edward is faster than his old man...

Quote from: Bucket on August 13, 2021, 12:40:04 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on August 13, 2021, 07:49:28 AM
Two recent Nescac 2022 commitments:

Midd: Edward Witherington, 6'6 forward, Fairhope H.S. (AL)
Trinity: Trevor McDonald, 6'5 guard, Canterbury School

Little know fact that is probably only interesting to me: Edward's father, Big John Witherington, was two years ahead of me at W&L. During basketball tryouts my freshman year, he was the only person I finished ahead of in the pre-season timed mile run. And he was about 8 inches taller than me. My college "career" ended w/ those tryouts. Big John played for 4 years. And by the looks of things, Edward is better than his old man. (As we all want our sons to be.) I look forward to welcoming them to Vermont!

Quote from: Painter66 on June 04, 2021, 12:34:13 PM

Quote from: ronk on June 01, 2021, 03:30:41 PM
As a Scranton fan, got to add Travis Farrell's 3-pointer to beat Middlebury in the 2012 NCAA round of 16.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOXEHtNrCTo

It's been nine years, and that moment still haunts this former Midd player. That team had a chance to win it all.

Painful, Painful, Painful.  Did I mention this was painful? 

Not an easy listen with the Midd Kids. You can feel their sense of loss, but they are mature beyond their years.  Very tough for the Seniors in our league and for all of the kids losing a season as they did. As a parent of a kid who played in the league I also feel for their folks and their families too. Bad cards to be dealt.  Most importantly, let's hope all of them come out of this healthy and the memories they carry with them in the years to come as it has for the kids, now young men, I met and got to know well thru my son,  will keep this crop of players laughing, smiling, telling stories, and being teammates for the rest of their lives.