MBB: NEWMAC

[T990]

...that was cruel to put them [MIT] in the bottom right corner bracket.   MIT has a tough road ahead.

It does seem strange that #13 MIT is sent to the pod at the #10 rated team while none of the teams in Plattsburgh is ranked.  And schools like Plattsburgh, Merchant Marine, and Albright get to host yet none of them is ranked.  MIT only has 3 D3 losses.  The driving distance from Nazereth College or Medaille College to Plattsburgh is the same as to Cambridge, MA according to Google Maps. 

Obviously the wisdom of setting up these brackets is beyond me.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

They don't pay any attention to the d3hoops.com rankings.

MIT's SOS hurts their seeding for tournament purposes, as did not winning their conference tournament.

Medaille and Plattsburgh won their conference tournament and they got those spots. 

They had to send three teams south, Clark and Albertus make sense due to rank and location.  MIT is in essentially the 8-9 game in their region.

The only other likely spots I would have seen for them are Plattsburgh's and Brandeis' spots.

I'm not sure the potential William Patterson matchup will be much harder than the potential St. John Fisher matchup would have been.

[Hugenerd]

Anyone notice how everyone in the NEWMAC has a pretty good SOS besides MIT?  I think this is mainly because they all get "credit" for playing MIT at least twice, which essentially adds a ~42-6 record to their SOS which brings it up a lot.  Too bad they could not host, I think if they had taken care of business this weekend it may have been a possibility.  Regardless, they got into the tourney, so you cant complain.  Looking at DeSales site, MIT will have a size advantage, as they have against nearly every team they have played this year, but DeSales has some really talented guards, so it should be interesting to see the clash of styles.

[Pat Coleman]

Also, MIT won't be No. 13 anymore this week.

[BBallers]

Just an observation:  In the 2 earlier games between Clark and MIT, MIT scored 54 and 59 points.  Yesterday they scored 59 points again.  In the 3 games, Clark scored 51, 52, and yesterday had 71.

Looking at Clark's 3 top scorers from yesterday, in the 3 games they went:

Mitch Renshaw  11p, 0p, 19p  (game1 pts, game 2 pts, game 3 pts)

Mark Alexander 12p, 17p, 15p

Jack Minister  5p, 3p, 19p

Minister and Renshaw were the difference, with Renshaw hitting 7 of 8 from the field and Minister hitting 5 Treys.  Clark got 38 points from 2 guys who put up a total of 11 and 8 in the previous games.

Excellent analysis.  The real difference maker was Minister.  From what I've seen, he is a designated shooter who seldom drives and often fouls.  He is one of those players who should never be left open.  His 3-pointers per minute are significant.  Oh well, credit still goes to Clark and I will be rooting for them in every game except when they play MIT.

MIT fans must have been sweating it a little bit...They had to have been confident, but that was cruel to put them in the bottom right corner bracket.   MIT has a tough road ahead. 

I'm sure there were some anxious moments as the team was listening to the announced brackets.  I am also disappointed in having to potentially face a top-10 ranked team in their second round.  Hopefully, MIT can dig down and play some good defense.

[mass_d3fan]

hugenerd,


   I managed to get to Cambridge yesterday for the title game.  The game was a wild one, but I guess I missed the real fireworks on Sat.  MIT was unable to finish strong with a tied game midway through the 2nd half and then WPI winning big over Springfield.  Big win,  but also a big loss as well.   WPI lost top rebounder and 2nd leading scorer Fernando Perez for the championship game when he and Ryan Coburn of Springfield both threw punches after Coburn hit Perez in the face with an elbow and then Perez retaliated with shove.  Later Calaveri & Etten got hit with double Ts and Pat Crean went off on a ref for a double T of his own near the end of the game.  6 Ts and 51 fouls overall!  I looked back at the play-by-play to check that out after what people were telling me about that game.  Everyone I talked to that saw the game agreed on one thing - the officials had extremely poor control over the game and then had to over compensate to get it back. 

   Yesterday, early on it looked like it might be a blowout...by Clark!  They got things moving and had a 21-9 lead midway in the 1st half.  WPI did finally get back into it led by Jeff Robinson (9pts) & Matt Carr (6 pts).  Clark got a bucket in the final 10 seconds from Minister to make it a 6 pt lead at the half.

   In the second half, it was Ben Etten show for the engineers.  He played all 20 minutes scoring 16 pts.  The only shot his missed was a free throw.    The game  bounced from 5 to 8 pts until 12 minutes to go when Kyle Nadeau found Carr for a big dunk that triggered a 13 to 6 run.  Robinson dished to Carr for a layup that gave the Engineers a 56-54 lead with 7 minutes to go.  It would be the last lead for WPI.   Vayda missed a 3 and then WPI had 2 open looks to extend the lead, but missed both shots.  Chris LoPiano found Minister for 3 and Clark was backon top.  They opened it up to 5 pts when Carr made a great 3/4 court outlet pass to Etten who was fouled on his layup and he cut the lead to 2 with 3:34 to go.  2 Vayda free throws made it 4 pt lead then a questionalable traveling call on Etten and missed shots by both teams gave Clark the ball and Vayda,  who had been contained most of the day by the tandem of Carr and Bennett Lessard, hit 3 coming off a screen to open make it a 7 point game.  Clark sealed the game by hitting 7 of 10 free throws in the final minute.

Robinson (18 pts, 9 rebs), Etten (18 pts), Carr (10 pts, 7 rebs) & Nadeau (8 pts, 8 assts) led the way for the Engineers.  Lone senior Bennett Lessard put up 4 pts and 4 rebs to go with a tremedous effort on the defensive end in his final collegiate game.

Clark was led by Mark Alexander with a game high 21 pts to go with 4 rebs , Jack Minister (18 pts, 6 rebs) and Brian Vayda with 13 pts and 5 boards.


Good Luck To MIT in their 1st round game against DeSales.

Congradulations the the Clark Seniors - Jack Minister, Chris LoPiano, Mark Alexander, Slader Lyell, & Reed Powell.  Best of luck to them & the entire Cougar team when they play Albright!

[emesb]

Boy talk about sour grapes. MIT didn't take care of business. If they had made to the final and lost that might have helped. Clark played MIT strong both times during the regular season. Clark lost at least 8 games by 4 points or less. Jekyl and Hyde team they threw big punch in the first half most of the time but couldn't close it out. They are loosing seniors  buut they still have a young core. My felling was if Clark had a chance to get their it was this year. As MIT matures they will be that much tougher.

[Hugenerd]

mass,

I couldnt make the game on Saturday, but it wasnt too difficult a decision to make, it was my daughter's 3rd birthday, and then I didnt feel like going to the final after MITs semifinal result.

hugenerd,


  I managed to get to Cambridge yesterday for the title game.  The game was a wild one, but I guess I missed the real fireworks on Sat.  MIT was unable to finish strong with a tied game midway through the 2nd half and then WPI winning big over Springfield.  Big win,  but also a big loss as well.   WPI lost top rebounder and 2nd leading scorer Fernando Perez for the championship game when he and Ryan Coburn of Springfield both threw punches after Coburn hit Perez in the face with an elbow and then Perez retaliated with shove.  Later Calaveri & Etten got hit with double Ts and Pat Crean went off on a ref for a double T of his own near the end of the game.  6 Ts and 51 fouls overall!  I looked back at the play-by-play to check that out after what people were telling me about that game.  Everyone I talked to that saw the game agreed on one thing - the officials had extremely poor control over the game and then had to over compensate to get it back.  

I heard it was more than just a shove by Perez, I heard it was a left (not suprisingly) to the head of Coburn that required 4 stitches to close.  Too bad, they sorely missed him in the championship as he is their real inside presence.

[Hugenerd]

MIT dropped to #5 in the final NE region rankings.  MIT Basketball Blog

[Hugenerd]

Clip of MIT NCAA Selection 'Party' at MIT Basketball Blog.  Ever wonder what its like to wait until the last pick to see if you are into the dance:

MIT NCAA Selection Party at MIT Basketball Blog

[mass_d3fan]

Nerd,

  You are correct from the accounts I heard.  Once the punches started to go, Perez got the best of Coburn.  What everyone I spoke with said though was the crew let the elbow by Coburn go with no call and Perez's retaliation shove.  The double T's and ejections were only whistled and called after both players started throwing punches.  The game was apparently very "chipy" with a lot of trash talking before this, so my bet is that the play that led to the fight was the proverbial last straw for both of them and the frustrations came out.

I have seen similar situations (none getting to the point of punches however) in a lot of games over the last few years where officials can't seem to call a game consistently from start to finish and the players get frustrated that plays in one part of the game are let go, then all of a sudden the crew starts to call a completely different game.

If you look back at the play-by-play of the box score, WPI was called for 7 fouls in the next 3 minutes after the fight while Springfield was called for 1 (Cavalieri's T with Etten).  In the 2.5 minutes before the fight, there was one foul called on each team.

As far as Perez being WPI's real inside presence, that really was not true after conference play started, especially down the stretch.  In that semifinal game, he only had 2 pts and no rebounds before getting ejected.  Jerome Stewart and Carr both stepped up and provided better overall balance on the inside for the Engineers.  As we have discussed many times, Perez's game is actually easy to defend right now.  Stewart has a good variety of moves both left & right on the block and has a very effective jumper out to about 15 ft.  Carr has developed a very good jump hook and has 3pt range as well the ability to finish strong above the rim. 

If you look at the numbers since that loss to MIT in Worcester,

Perez  - -  21.5 mpg/8.1 ppg/5.8 rpg in 6.5 games
Stewart – 20.5 mpg/7.1 ppg/4.1 rpg in 8 games
Carr  - - - 17.9 mpg/6.6 ppg/5.9 rpg in 8 games
Lessard – 14.3 mpg/3.1 ppg/4.4 rpg in 8 games

In my view it was because of a greater diversity in their low post game that WPI went 6-2 in those 8 games after going 4-4 in the previous 8 games.  Having more than one person to go to inside opened up the outside game for Nadeau, Robinson & Etten

They also had a 6'6" freshman, Joe Wesoloski, stepped in and played very well after Perez was lost to the team.  In order to compete with MIT over the next couple of years, WPI needs to have Carr to continue to improve and Wesoloski & Jameel Galloway need to step up and become a bigger part of the playing rotation.  If they don't bring these players (or someone else in that 6'6" to 6'9" range) along as a major part of the team, there is no way they will handle MIT.  We saw that this year and I think we all agree that the young MIT front court will continue to get better over the next few seasons.


Congrads on your daughter's birthday.  You obviously made the correct choice - > The only game you should be at on her birthday is one she is playing in!  Don't worry that will be happening in no time!

[Hugenerd]

Thanks,

MIT already has at least 3 more 6'5"-6'9" forwards players that have verbally comitted to MIT.  One is the recently mentioned Will Dickson, who at 6'8"-6'9" is averaging nearly a double double with 17.5ppg and 9.5 ppg for his high school in Dallas.  

Also 6'6" Tim Donegan, another forward recruit of the Pittsburgh area has already let his interest in MIT known with an article in the Pitt Tribune (Donegan to MIT article)

[magicman]

New Top 25 Poll has been released;

http://d3hoops.com/top25/

[tball]

I believe the Donegan article is from a year ago.

I am hoping MIT wins on Friday, good chance I can make it to the Saturday game.  Maybe the email sent to the area alums generates some interest for the weekend.

[Hugenerd]

I believe the Donegan article is from a year ago.

I am hoping MIT wins on Friday, good chance I can make it to the Saturday game.  Maybe the email sent to the area alums generates some interest for the weekend.

You are right. 

Yeah, I hope some people show up to cheer on MIT.  Also, Jimmy Burke's high school is within 15 minutes of William Paterson, from what I hear, and Mitch Kates is about an hour away, so they should have some other local support as well.