I'm glad to see that Bates is back on track with two 20-point road wins over Salem State and University of New England, after starting the season with a couple of losses to Brandeis (at home) and Maine Maritime (on the road). Two key Bates players (Coyne and Lynch) were missing from the first two games with pre-season injuries, but now Lynch is back and pitched in 25 last night at UNE. Hopefully Coyne follows soon. Spellman continues to look good...

I think that everyone should get over it and remember that Amherst can actually be beaten once in a while. (I know, big surprise!) What ever happened to giving the other team some credit? I think Krill (or anyone else) misses that shot 90% of the time. So why not give the kid some credit for making a miraculous shot to win a big game? Geesh...

Quote from: D3HforLyfe on February 17, 2018, 03:01:47 PM
I'm glad this topic was brought up again. My favorite idea is creating two divisions (similar to how NESCAC baseball does it), and you play a home and away with everyone in your division and alternate with the conference opponents out of division. For instance, the two divisions I think would look like this:

North:
Bates
Bowdoin
Colby
Middlebury
Hamilton

South:
Amherst
Conn College
Trinity 
Tufts
Wesleyan
Williams

The obvious problem is that with 11 teams, the south obviously has one more game. There are few different ways to fix that problem, my favorite being adding a 12th NESCAC team from the Boston area who becomes an easier travel partner for Tufts. Bump Hamilton down to the south, and then add Tufts and the new Boston member to the north. 6 in each... I think the positives are plentiful - (1) It gets us to a 15 game conference slate, with 9 OOCs (which I think is a good number); (2) It makes sense travel wise. Obviously NESCAC sports run on a tight budget. With divisions, most of the added games will be locationally convenient and will avoid expensive overnight trips. (3) It keeps in tact the Little 3 and BBC while eliminating the goofy rivalry games that aren't conference games.

Obviously many other factors to consider, particularly when adding a whole new school to the conference. With that said, at least at face value, I think this is a fun idea that could help the league. In terms of playoffs, you keep it how it is - 8 teams, ranked 1-8 without disruption from the divisions.

What do people think? About to dial in to Midd-Wes, enjoy the day!

Those divisions are pretty uneven from a travel standpoint. May be better to go with East and West...

Bates will play its first-ever game against a "Grinell Offense" team today, hosting the University of New England. As many of you already know, this style of offense features a full court press, double-teaming the ball to force turnovers, and a minimum of 50 3-point attempts per game. The theory is, "If you beat our press, you can have a 2-point basket, but we'll force turnovers and beat you with threes." These types of teams average over 100 points a game and make 5-man substitutions every 3 or 4 minutes. Should be interesting in the Den today...

The post-Delpeche era for Bates got off to a rocky start this weekend with a blowout loss to Trinity and a squeaker OT win against a weak MIne Maritime Academy team (picked to finish last in their conference).

The "new" Bobcats feature a 4-guard offense with a smallish (6'7") center, and the guards setting up on the perimeter. Against Trinity, the team would run a few high screens to get an open shot from the outside, with no one in to rebound. With the team experiencing a cold shooting night, it was basically one-and-done for the offense. The Bobcats fell behind early and the game got more out of reach with each passing minute. As noted earlier, Bates was out rebounded by 56-27.

Against MMA, the team shot a little better, but Bates controlled the boards, 51-40, again with only one big on the floor for most of the game. As with anything new, it may take a while for the Bobcats to find the right mix of outside shooting, driving to the basket, and working it inside to be effective. The guards are all competing for minutes and one will need to stand out as a floor leader and distributor of the ball for the offense to get moving.

St. Amour is almost incapable of maintaining that cold shooting pace. I have to think Midd will pull it out without too much difficulty by the end of the 2nd half when things return to "normal".

Congratulations to Midd on a great championship run in NESCAC. They truly were the class of the league this year. Good luck on the road to Salem...

Bates will need to put all of the pieces together today to beat a strong and surging Middlebury team. The Bobcats will need the twins to come up big inside, but unless the 3-point shooting is close to 40%, it will be very difficult to pull off this road game.

I couldn't find anything on tiebreakers on the NESCAC site, but here's what a NESCAC hockey site had for the rules:

If teams tied during the regular season, or there is a 3-way or more tie, the following tie breaking procedure will be used:

Best record among tying teams, against one another (head-to-head).

Most conference wins (in games that are part of the conference schedule and count toward league standings).

Comparison of results of conference games played against top 4 teams (including all teams at the 4th spot).

Comparison of results of conference games played against top 8 teams (including all teams at the 8th spot).

Comparison of results of conference games played against conference teams in rank order.

Comparisons shall be made one team at a time starting with the highest ranked team. If the tie remains after comparing results against the highest ranked team, the results against the next team in rank order shall be used. This process is continued until a winner is determined.

Coin flip (or similar random action involving all tied teams).

Sadly, tonight's game is not at the cozy confines of Alumni Gym, but it represents a chance to see how Bates can compete with the elite teams on the road. This will be a big test after last week's big win over Tufts...

Marcus Delpeche had his way today (28 points, 11 rebounds) against a Palleschi-less Tufts team that really needed Palleschi. Marcus was simply unstoppable as Bates built a lead as high as 18 points in the second half. Ice cold shooting from long range kept the Jumbos from getting the deficit under nine points as they tried to dig out of the hole.

It was a big win for the Bobcats after being on the wrong end of the score in two home games last weekend. A win against a full-strength Tufts team might have been more difficult, but you play them as they come and hope for the best. This win goes a long way toward helping to get the Bobcats into the post season. Next stop: Amherst.

Midd played a smothering and collapsing zone defense, which flustered the Bobcats' ability to generate much offense inside. They also beat the Bobcats down the floor for a bunch of easy baskets. Unfortunately, low percentage shooting on threes kept Bates from making it close in the second half.

Bates gets another road win, this time at Bowdoin, to start their NESCAC season at 2-0 for the first time since 2006. The game was tight until midway through the second half, when the Polar Bears built a 9 point edge. Then, Bates' coach Jon Furbush brought FY Tom Coyne back into the game. And what a difference he made!

Coyne proceeded to single handedly erase the deficit with a deep three and two old fashioned 3-point plays. Then, a couple of clutch free throws by Marcus Delpeche put the Bobcats ahead for good.

This year's NESCAC schedule gives Bates 6 home games, so a couple of road wins to start the league season gives the Bobcats a CBB title and a lot of hope to start league play.

Bates had an easy road win at Colby last night and led for the entire game. The Delpeche twins are looking formidable, but the big difference from last year is the improved overall outside shooting. This year's Bobcat team has about 6-7 legitimate 3-point shooters. Zone defenses gave last year's team fits as the Bobcats generally shot threes at a low percentage. This year's shooting brings the opponents back to man-to-man quickly, where the Delpeches can work their magic.

Looking forward to seeing if this balanced style can work against the Polar Bears on the road today...

Bates beats Farmingdale State and Framingham State at NYU Holiday Classic played at the Hunter College facility on the Upper East Side. (NYU is building a new facility, so they will be without a home for a year or two.) Both Delpeches earned spots on the all-tournament team with strong play at both ends. It's the last year for these twins and it seems that they are looking to make the most of it.

As another poster noted, Jeff Spellman looked strong in his first minutes as a Bobcat. With Spellman in the mix, there will be fierce competition at the guard spot as we head into NESCAC play. Also, guard Shawn Strickland will be back from a foot injury in a few days, making it even more competitive for those minutes. Overall, the guard play is much improved over last year.