Conn losing Shill is a huge blow for the Camels program. IMO Shill was the best freshman in the conference from a pure talent standpoint and I also think he was one of the top PGs overall in the conference because of his tremendous ball skills and ability to change speeds. Either way this is a big loss for a team that had aspirations to comet for a playoff spot in the 2013-2014 season and beyond.

Conn now has to find a reliable point guard that can break pressure and make plays. I know that they did not bring in a PG for this recruiting class because they had Shill so I am not sure who they will turn to to handle the PG duties. Vadas will once again be the focus of teams as the top scorer in the conference so Conn better find some answers quickly...

UMass-Lowell is moving to Division 1. American East Conference...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/02/14/umass-lowell-joining-america-east/xVWHftRXWIMVPg40IStHxL/story.html

Congrats to Amherst on the win. Clearly the best basketball team in Division 3 this season. Not too early to start the discussion of next year shall we....

Early (super early) predictions of NESCAC standings next year:

1. Amherst
2. Tufts
3. Williams
4. Bowdoin
5. Middlebury
6. Connecticut College
7. Trinity
8. Colby
9. Bates
10. Hamilton
11. Wesleyan

All NESCAC Candidates:

1st team: Toomey, Kizel, Epley, Mayer, Vadas, Wohl, Palleschi, Ferris
2nd team: Hurley, Madlinger, Shill, Hart, Green, Hudnut, Starks

POY: Basically any one on the first team
COY: Could be Sheldon if they are able to overtake Amherst at the top spot
DPOY: From the games I have seen, Shill from Conn seems to be the best defender on the guys that I have listed on the All NESCAC teams above. No real stand out defender on either 1st or 2nd team though.
ROY: Do not personally know enough about the freshman coming in and impossible to tell until they have played..

Now lets get the debate going. Cant wait until next November

Quote from: NEhoops on February 18, 2013, 06:53:21 PM
It will be interesting to see how the all-league teams shake out. I don't think we can discount the value that the coaches give to seniors when voting. With that said it will be interesting to see if any of the top teams get three players recognized. Here is my ten, it's a little top heavy and it includes three Amherst players. 

Anderson – Senior and leading scoring of a top four team; second team last year
Brown – Senior and leading scorer in the conference; two time all league selection
Callaghan – Senior; second team last year
Epley – Fifth leading scorer in the league
Kaasila – Senior; top ten in points/rebounds/FG%
Kizel – Leading scorer of a top four team; top ten in assists/steals; first team last year
Mayer – Leading scorer of a top four team; top five in rebounds/FG%
Thompson – Senior; top ten in points/3FG%
Toomey – Leading scorer of #1 seed; top five in assists/steals/3FG%; first team last year
Workman – Senior; top ten in rebounds/assists/3FG%; second team last year

POY: Toomey – he is the most important player to any team in the league
DPOY: I know the contenders, but haven't seen everyone play enough to comment on it
ROY: Palleschi – second leading rookie scorer; top ten in rebounds/FG%. Hart had a great year as the top rookie scorer and they could be co-winners
COY: I think Hixon is the front runner, but not the clear cut favorite. It's a funny award. Greg Popovich has won four NBA titles and led the Spurs to the best record in the league six times - maybe more, but only has two COY awards

NEHoops,

Good post. Your all league teams look pretty good for the most. As I have stated and as I think most posters on here would agree, once you get into that second team all CAC area, things can get very close and there can be a lot of tossups. POY is still a tossup in my opinion, but I think it will go to either Toomey or Workman, but I have to give the slight, slight edge to Workman. But Toomey can easily win that award, as both are very deserving. DPOY has to go to Thompson. After watching Midd a few different times this season, Thompson is clearly deserving of this award and has stepped up to the defensive occasion multiple times. ROY IMO should go to Paleschi but if there was to be a co-winner, I would go with Shill over Hart. After looking at their head to head matchup box score, Shill clearly won that battle. Hart was a great scorer this season, but Shill had better all around statistical averages. However, I do feel that Paleschi was the top frosh in the league this year. COY should go to Hixon as well. Looking forward to this weekend of NESCAC hoops.

Quote from: nescac1 on February 15, 2013, 05:22:19 PM
Nice first post, wrm238.  I think that your all-NESCAC teams are pretty much spot-on and I agree with Workman as POY.  I'll reserve my final picks until the NESCAC tourney.  I could see Nate Robertson, Kaasila, or Callaghan sliding on to the second team, depending on how things turn out there.  I think this year there is a very clear top four, but 5-15 (the aforementioned group plus Lynch and Pieri) are very, very close / tough to distinguish. 

As for rookies, I think Hart has to be ROY.  Conor Green, possibly, over Hudnut, but otherwise your all-rookie team also looks spot-on.

Thanks Nescac1. Trying to get more involved on this board. I couldnt agree more with you that 5-15 in this league is very hard to distinguish. I feel that 2 teams in the big 3 could get a 3rd member on an all league team depending on how the playoffs turn out. As for Middlebury getting a two on 1st team I feel that Thompson slightly edges Kaasila and Epley in terms of performance this year so I feel he is most deserving. Still very tough to come up with a POY because Workman and Toomey are both so deserving. I agree that this postseason will determine a lot towards post season accolades.

In response to walzy for ROY honors, Hart has had a tremendous season. However, IMO I think that Pasleschi edges him out because he has had a more statistically well-rounded season compared to Hart. He also was a major factor for gaining the 4th seed in the playoffs. If we were to stay on the statistics aspect, Shill has had the most well-rounded statistical averages of any frosh, but Conn did go defeated in conference play, making it tough for the coaches to identify him as the top frosh. If it is worth anything, the box scores for both the Conn-Hamilton game and Tufts-Hamilton game have Shill and Paleschi having better statistical numbers than Hart. Nonetheless, Hart has had some very good games vs some top teams in the CAC this year. All 3 are very deserving and cases can be made for all 3. Looking forward to the announcements of POY, ALL-CAC teams, and ROY. Cant remember a year in the CAC with this many good frosh. Bright future ahead. Any more thoughts?

As an avid NESCAC basketball fan, I seem to have some questions and comments regarding the All-CAC teams. The crazy team is spot on, good job Walzy. However, problems arise with the 1st and 2nd all NESCAC teams. I think there will be five kids on the first team: Toomey, Workman, Mayer, Kizel, Thompson. Second teams should be as follows: Anderson, Ferris, Sha, Epley, Vadas. Player of year has to go to Workman. He does it all, offense and defense and defensive player of year should go to Thompson. In an outstanding year for first years, there seems to be a bunch of deserving players. My order looks like: Paleschi, Shill, Hart, Halydyna, Hudnut. I think Paleschi edges out Shill and Hart because his team has made the NESCAC playoffs and he was a big reason why. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if Hart or Shill won the award either, as both had good first year seasons. Coach of the year has got to go to Hixon. Undefeated in NESCAC play is just a tremendous job. Any disagreements with my post season accolades???