Top 25 talk

[me]

Games like this make me question the talk of so much parity. Colorado was supposed to be decent and they look like a high school team.

[Greek Tragedy]

Games like this make me question the talk of so much parity. Colorado was supposed to be decent and they look like a high school team.

I think Whitman is making a lot of teams look like high school teams.

[me]

Games like this make me question the talk of so much parity. Colorado was supposed to be decent and they look like a high school team.

I think Whitman is making a lot of teams look like high school teams.

A lot of not so good teams. Puget Sound played them really tight. Really the only team they've played.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

CC is down a starting guard and their ballhandling isn't great to begin with - plus they had some real foul trouble.  I'm sure they're better than they played last night.  One thing's for clear, you can't replicate what Whitman does in practice.  Maybe a team like MArietta that goes 20 deep could pull it off, but for the most parts, it's going to matter how quickly a team's backcourt can adjust to the speed and pressure.  One thing that's hard to see on the feed is how big the Whitman guys are.  They're throwing 6'3" guys with quickness and long arms at you all over the place.  Very few teams could handle it last year and it looks like they've only gotten better.

Whitman is missing two starters, but don't seem to really have missed a beat.  UPS had to hit 17 threes the other night to even be in the game.

[me]

But if you can bust their stuff, that's what you're going to get. Wide open shots and layups. Colorado even when they broke the press didn't attack it. Puget Sound knew what to do against it and did it well and nearly got the win.

And yes the officials calling two different games didn't help at all, but they were beat before they even got into the penalty.

[me]

Also, 17 3s isn't far off UPS's average. They take 40 a game. It looks like that's who they are.

[smedindy]

Does Whitman play a variation of the Mayhem defense? (I really should know, but you know how things are). That is, press, press, press, go for steals, close guarding all of the time, and utilize a quick offense taking the first good shot.

Alaska Anchorage's women play it and their box scores are similar.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Does Whitman play a variation of the Mayhem defense? (I really should know, but you know how things are). That is, press, press, press, go for steals, close guarding all of the time, and utilize a quick offense taking the first good shot.

Alaska Anchorage's women play it and their box scores are similar.

It's aggressive, all-out defense.  I'm not sure its anything specific.  They just pressure the ball at all times and trust their team speed to cover open spots and passing lanes.

[BigMike33]

Ryan,

You just watched Middlebury Skidmore

Does Middlebury's speed compare to Whitman???

Also does Middlebury's size give Whitman a problem. It is very athletic size

Appreciate your perspective and work

[me]

Does Whitman play a variation of the Mayhem defense? (I really should know, but you know how things are). That is, press, press, press, go for steals, close guarding all of the time, and utilize a quick offense taking the first good shot.

Alaska Anchorage's women play it and their box scores are similar.

It's as you describe but I don't know if they call it that.

Bridgeland coached under Vance Walberg and uses the same offense Calipari used at Memphis and early in his tenure at Kentucky, which was Walberg's dribble-drive offense. Defensively they press 94 feet and it's not a token press at all. More similar to West Virginia except the refs have taken WVU out of their press most games this year by making themselves the center of attention with ticky tack fouls.

So if you've seen any of that, you might have some idea of what they are.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ryan,

You just watched Middlebury Skidmore

Does Middlebury's speed compare to Whitman???

Also does Middlebury's size give Whitman a problem. It is very athletic size

Appreciate your perspective and work

Nobody compares to Whitman's speed.  The Babson team that beat them last year did so more by simply withstanding the punch and being incredibly physical.  Middlebury takes care of the ball and moves with confidence, which means they can probably hang.  The teams that gave Whitman trouble last year (Rochester and Babson) simply didn't make turnovers and had very confident ball handlers.

Size might be an issue for Whitman this year without Jojo Wiggins, but they're pretty big and they just don't let teams into halfcourt sets very often.  Babson had Isaiah Nelsen down low, but his effectiveness was generally the speed with which he could receive a pass and get to the rim.

There are definitely teams out there who can compete with Whitman - we saw four CCIW schools play last night who have the capability.  I suspect there are a handful more.  I'm really just not sure you can replicate Whitman's pace in practice, maybe unless you put a sixth defender out there on the press?

This Whitman team, talent-wise, is not as good as last year's, but I do think they're more confident and more focused, which can be its own problem.

They're #1 for a reason, but I don't think it's a runaway juggernaut or anything - the tournament will be tough, especially with how the brackets may work out.  A lot of good teams in the West and Central this year and moving enough of them out could be geographically impossible.  A long way to go before that, though.

[me]

Most important thing is when you beat their press, you have to punish it. If you wait, you just end up having to go through the fun house again.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

First semester finals may have started, or about to start, but that hasn't stopped the action on the hardcourt from being formidable. Even the first winter storm of the season didn't stop the games on the East Coast.

On Sunday night's episode of Hoopsville, Dave tries not to scratch his hair (out) as he and guests try and decipher the action of the past few nights and week. While the women seem to have settled in this week, the men's side continues to produce results that make things more complicated. Are there any great teams in Division III?

It just may be too early, still, to really know.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can watch the show LIVE starting at 7:00 p.m. ET right here: http://bit.ly/2kjEiau

You can also send your questions to the show and have them featured on the Hoopsville Mailbag segment. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com.

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Carissa Sain Knoche, Chicago women's coach
- Brian Morehouse, No. 8 Hope women's coach
- Dan Raymond, Ithaca women's coach
- Jeff Brown, No. 2 Middlebury men's coach
- Matt Goldsmith, TCNJ men's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
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iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
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[Darryl Nester]

How They Fared (Nearly Complete)

Wisconsin-LaCrosse @ #15 Wartburg started at 6:00 instead of 4:00 -- I will edit that result in when it goes final.

Top 25

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#1	625	Whitman	6-0	def. Colorado College, 111-69
#2	580	Middlebury	6-0	def. Plattsburgh State, 92-68; won at #16 Skidmore, 91-76
#3	560	UW-Whitewater	7-1	LOST to (n) Adrian, 53-66; won at Trine, 64-53
#4	514	Augustana	6-1	def. #28 North Central (Ill.), 79-72; won at Carthage, 70-61
#5	440	Hanover	6-2	LOST at Transylvania, 81-95; def. Bluffton, 59-54
#6	436	Williams	8-1	won at Westfield State, 70-63; def. Fitchburg State, 106-56; def. T#47 Springfield, 68-51
#7	419	Ramapo	7-1	def. Rutgers-Newark, 60-47; won at Kean, 95-57
#8	407	UW-Oshkosh	7-0	def. Finlandia, 104-60; won at Calvin, 79-74
#9	391	Whitworth	8-0	def. Colorado College, 85-73
#10	371	UW-River Falls	7-1	def. St. Thomas, 71-57
#11	369	Washington U.	6-1	def. Central, 87-83
#12	364	Lycoming	9-0	won at Alvernia, 73-62; def. Widener, 74-63
#13	354	Marietta	6-2	won at La Roche, 81-75; LOST to T#29 John Carroll, 82-93
#14	343	Swarthmore	8-0	def. Ursinus, 67-60; won at Delaware Valley, 75-61
#15	270	Wartburg	8-1	def. #39 Loras, 98-87; def. UW-La Crosse, 72-69
#16	222	Skidmore	6-1	LOST to #2 Middlebury, 76-91
#17	219	Rochester	8-1	won at SUNY Geneseo, 82-60; def. (n) St. John Fisher, 82-64; def. (n) Nazareth, 75-63
#18	193	Wesleyan	8-0	won at Vassar, 83-68; def. Brandeis, 71-61
#19	175	Ohio Wesleyan	7-1	won at Wabash, 81-74; won at Oberlin, 67-58
#20	148	Eastern Connecticut	8-1	def. Manhattanville, 78-59; LOST to WPI, 70-75; def. Plymouth State, 107-55
#21	142	Amherst	6-1	def. Anna Maria, 78-41; LOST at Babson, 71-72; won at Lasell, 89-62
#22	81	Baldwin Wallace	4-2	LOST at Muskingum, 78-91
#23	79	New Jersey City	8-0	def. Kean, 87-76; 12/09 at TCNJ postponed
#24	73	St. John's	6-1	won at Macalester, 114-96; def. St. Olaf, 72-46
#25	39	Franklin and Marshall	8-1	def. Johns Hopkins, 65-59; LOST at Albright, 63-79

Others receiving votes

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#26	38	MIT	9-1	won at Emmanuel, 80-56; def. Rhode Island College, 76-63; won at Fitchburg State, 85-63
#27	36	Christopher Newport	6-2	won at St. Mary's (Md.), 76-52; def. Wesley, 83-69
#28	34	North Central (Ill.)	3-4	LOST at #4 Augustana, 72-79; LOST to T#37 Illinois Wesleyan, 66-68
T#29	27	Bowdoin	8-2	LOST to St. Joseph's (Maine), 58-77; def. Bates, 70-63; def. Maine-Farmington, 87-67
T#29	27	John Carroll	6-1	LOST at Mount Union, 83-87; won at #13 Marietta, 93-82
#31	22	Nichols	8-1	won at Roger Williams, 91-79; won at Becker, 90-77; won at Anna Maria, 106-76
#32	21	St. Norbert	7-1	won at Lawrence, 73-59; def. Cornell, 61-51
#33	18	Hamilton	8-0	won at SUNYIT, 112-96; def. Bard, 89-83
#34	15	Randolph-Macon	6-2	def. (n) Misericordia, 67-56; LOST at Juniata, 64-75
#35	9	Cabrini	5-2	won at Cairn, 80-70; LOST at Gwynedd Mercy, 92-103 OT
#36	8	Dickinson	5-2	won at Gettysburg, 73-68
T#37	7	Illinois Wesleyan	7-1	won at #46 Wheaton (Ill.), 82-79; won at #28 North Central (Ill.), 68-66
T#37	7	Lake Forest	7-1	def. Illinois College, 79-62
#39	6	Loras	5-3	LOST at #15 Wartburg, 87-98; LOST at Augsburg, 78-79
T#40	5	Colby	6-2	LOST to Bates, 79-82
T#40	5	Keene State	7-2	def. Albertus Magnus, 78-67; def. Southern Maine, 73-58
T#40	5	York (Pa.)	7-0	def. Frostburg State, 92-75; won at Marymount, 88-76
T#43	4	Emory	5-2	def. Covenant, 80-73
T#43	4	Virginia Wesleyan	8-1	LOST to Averett, 59-63; def. Roanoke, 58-55
T#43	4	Wooster	5-3	def. Hiram, 91-70; won at DePauw, 83-63
#46	3	Wheaton (Ill.)	6-2	LOST to T#37 Illinois Wesleyan, 79-82; won at Elmhurst, 98-95 2OT
T#47	2	Hobart	4-2	won at Carnegie Mellon, 89-75
T#47	2	Springfield	4-2	LOST to Trinity (Conn.), 54-72; LOST at #6 Williams, 51-68
T#49	1	Puget Sound	6-2	IDLE
T#49	1	Salem State	7-2	won at WPI, 96-91 OT

[smedindy]

Does Whitman play a variation of the Mayhem defense? (I really should know, but you know how things are). That is, press, press, press, go for steals, close guarding all of the time, and utilize a quick offense taking the first good shot.

Alaska Anchorage's women play it and their box scores are similar.

It's aggressive, all-out defense.  I'm not sure its anything specific.  They just pressure the ball at all times and trust their team speed to cover open spots and passing lanes.

Yeah, it's probably the same principles. This got popular with VCU and Shaka Smart a few years ago.