MBB: NEWMAC

[rlk]

Curry provided a stiff challenge for MIT yesterday.  Curry maintained a lead of 3-8 points for most of the first half until about the middle of the second, when MIT went on a run to take a lead that reached 11 points.  Curry played tough the rest of the way, but MIT hung on.

Some of the problem was cold shooting in the first half, but it looked to me like Curry was able to take MIT out of its offensive rotation for a while.  Two freshmen started (Justin Pedley, who has been getting a lot of starts and minutes lately, and Russell Johnson).  Andrew Acker had a nice game off the bench.

It's very evident how much we lose with Karraker and Hollingsworth out.  Jimmy Burke is a good shooter, but he isn't Karraker, and I don't need to tell anyone here what Hollingsworth provides.  Mitch Kates has led our scoring every game.  We have a tough schedule coming up, with Tufts and Rhode Island College this week and some other tough non-conference opponents before we start conference play in January.  A couple of promising signs, though, are our defensive stops (Curry had been averaging about 90 ppg, and their three explosive scorers, A. J. Stephens, Sedale Jones, and Lambros Papalambros, were held to 11, 8, and 12 points respectively) and our younger players (Acker, Dennis Levene, and Matt Redfield are all sophomores, in addition to freshmen Pedley and Johnson).

My game photos: http://rlk.smugmug.com/Sports/Basketball/MIT-Curry-Mens-20121124/26703072_9tVJM4#!i=2234395844&k=9gh36s7

[WPI89]

Great holiday weekend for the NEWMAC - with 5 of the 7 teams still undefeated - and the top end looking strong!

Anybody have any thoughts on the Grinnell situation?

[rlk]

Anybody have any thoughts on the Grinnell situation?

Read Jack Taylor (RIC coach) here: http://deadspin.com/5962514/d+iii-players-138-point+game-is-a-sham-record-and-shouldnt-be-celebrated-by-anyone

As I commented on Facebook, I have to agree here. This record is a joke. Given that the opponent (Faith Baptist Bible College) isn't even in the NCAA, I don't think it should count.

The entire game plan here was to get Taylor the ball outside for the three, to the point where he wasn't even supposed to get back on D, and other Grinnell players who got O-boards kicked it back out to him rather than go for the easy putback. The video highlights made it look like he wasn't even getting contested for the 3. One of Faith Baptist's players himself had 70 points, suggesting at least a tacit agreement.

They do win quite a few games (usually with outlandish scores), and they've won their conference regular season several times, but by my count, they haven't actually won their conference since 2001 and they apparently haven't won an NCAA tournament game, period. This kind of silliness isn't going to work against a good team. I'd pay to watch them play a really good (D3) team from that region, like UW-Whitewater or Illinois Wesleyan (or, of course, any of the strong NE teams). The results would not be pretty.

I wouldn't even call it an exhibition.  A staged shootaround is a better description.

And speaking of RIC, I expect them to pose a stiff challenge indeed to MIT Thursday night.  We'll have to step up our game against the Anchormen.  And we have Tufts tomorrow night, which will be another very tough one.

[WPI89]

Agree RLK - seemed like a silly game and Grinnell has pulled this stuff in the past - just never to that level clearly.

[rlk]

Agree RLK - seemed like a silly game and Grinnell has pulled this stuff in the past - just never to that level clearly.

They pulled it last year against Principia, which is a D3 school but which finished 0-25 for the season (even Caltech did better than that :-) ).  Griffin Lentsch scored 89 points.  From what I can tell, Lentsch is genuinely a good player.  They pulled it in 1998 (the record before Lentsch was also set by Grinnell).  Looking at how many FT's he shot (22), I don't think Principia was very happy about it (and I notice they're not on each other's schedules this year).  Taylor only shot 10 against Faith, suggesting they weren't even really trying to stop him.

Regardless, it makes D3 look like a circus.  That, we can do without.

http://d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2011-12/boxscores/20111119_cx5w.xml

[WPI89]

First in season top 25 this evening, correct?  Can't find too many losses with the pre-season top teams, so not much room to break in I don't think.  Hopefully WPI moves up the "others" list.

Everyone think MIT stays 1 all year - or do they need to start put a hurting on some of the inferior teams?

[madzillagd]

First in season top 25 this evening, correct?  Can't find too many losses with the pre-season top teams, so not much room to break in I don't think.  Hopefully WPI moves up the "others" list.

Everyone think MIT stays 1 all year - or do they need to start put a hurting on some of the inferior teams?

On the Top 25 topic ( http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=4097.7125 ) I had posted records as of the 11/21.  There had been 10 teams that had already lost a game at that point.  I know some others lost again (Wesleyan for example) in the last couple days so I'm guessing there may be 5 new teams that make the list. 

[Hugenerd]

Jimmy Burke is a good shooter, but he isn't Karraker, and I don't need to tell anyone here what Hollingsworth provides. 

I agree with the Hollingsworth sentiment, but don't really understand your comment about Burke.  So far this season, Burke is shooting essentially the same percentage from 3 that Karraker did last year (actually slightly better), he's averaging twice as many assists, fewer turnovers, is getting to the line at 6 times the rate Karraker was last season (drawing more fouls), and all that in about the same number of minutes a game (2 minutes less per game than Karraker).  Karraker just shot more (8.2 3s attempted per game to Burke's 5.8), so he made about one more 3 per game. You can never have enough shooters on your team, but I think Burke has done a great job in filling in for the loss of Karraker.  The one guy you can't replace, though, is Hollingsworth.  Hopefully he and Karraker's recovery from their off season surgeries will continue to progress and we will see them in time to get into some sort of game shape before the games that really count.

[Pat Coleman]

First in season top 25 this evening, correct?  Can't find too many losses with the pre-season top teams, so not much room to break in I don't think.  Hopefully WPI moves up the "others" list.

Everyone think MIT stays 1 all year - or do they need to start put a hurting on some of the inferior teams?

First poll is tonight, yes. I have heard from one voter who won't have a ballot in until later tonight so there might be a delay in the poll posting.

Even without losses, there's always the chance for some No. 1 votes to change hands. Four ballot yet to come in and it is going to be another tight top three.

[rlk]

Jimmy Burke is a good shooter, but he isn't Karraker, and I don't need to tell anyone here what Hollingsworth provides. 

I agree with the Hollingsworth sentiment, but don't really understand your comment about Burke.  So far this season, Burke is shooting essentially the same percentage from 3 that Karraker did last year (actually slightly better), he's averaging twice as many assists, fewer turnovers, is getting to the line at 6 times the rate Karraker was last season (drawing more fouls), and all that in about the same number of minutes a game (2 minutes less per game than Karraker).  Karraker just shot more (8.2 3s attempted per game to Burke's 5.8), so he made about one more 3 per game. You can never have enough shooters on your team, but I think Burke has done a great job in filling in for the loss of Karraker.  The one guy you can't replace, though, is Hollingsworth.  Hopefully he and Karraker's recovery from their off season surgeries will continue to progress and we will see them in time to get into some sort of game shape before the games that really count.

From the two games I've seen (Harvard and Curry), it appeared to me that Burke has a harder time getting open than Karraker.  It might be the size difference (Burke is 5'10", Karraker is 6'4").  That may explain the difference in attempts.  It was my impression at Harvard that Karraker would have been more effective at spreading the floor.  But that's just how it looked to me.

Then again, going through my photos, I did see a nice drive to the rim by Burke through heavy traffic, and if I remember correctly, he made it (he certainly got the shot off cleanly).

Hollingsworth is definitely not the sort of player you run into in D3 that much, and Harvard's bigs would have had a lot tougher of a time blocking his hook.  I don't think Curry could have effectively defended him without leaving somebody else wide open.

[7express]

First in season top 25 this evening, correct?  Can't find too many losses with the pre-season top teams, so not much room to break in I don't think.  Hopefully WPI moves up the "others" list.

Everyone think MIT stays 1 all year - or do they need to start put a hurting on some of the inferior teams?

Considering I think they'll lose to RIC Thursday (RIC is playing better and the Murray Center is extremely tough to win at), they may only be #1 for the next 6.5 days.

[magicman]

New D3hoops Top 25 poll is out. MIT still #1 with 10 first place votes and 600 points. WPI in the ORV category is #33 with 28 points.  Here's the link:    http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/week1     

[Hugenerd]

New D3hoops Top 25 poll is out. MIT still #1 with 10 first place votes and 600 points. WPI in the ORV category is #33 with 28 points.  Here's the link:    http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/week1   

MIT lost 2 first place votes, but picked up 6 points overall to stay a single point ahead of VWU.

[magicman]

New D3hoops Top 25 poll is out. MIT still #1 with 10 first place votes and 600 points. WPI in the ORV category is #33 with 28 points.  Here's the link:    http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/week1   

MIT lost 2 first place votes, but picked up 6 points overall to stay a single point ahead of VWU.

I wondered if they lost or gained 1st place votes or points. I looked for the preseason poll for that info before I posted, but didn't see a link for it. I figured you would come on and let us know the score though. Thanks.

[Hugenerd]

Jimmy Burke is a good shooter, but he isn't Karraker, and I don't need to tell anyone here what Hollingsworth provides. 

I agree with the Hollingsworth sentiment, but don't really understand your comment about Burke.  So far this season, Burke is shooting essentially the same percentage from 3 that Karraker did last year (actually slightly better), he's averaging twice as many assists, fewer turnovers, is getting to the line at 6 times the rate Karraker was last season (drawing more fouls), and all that in about the same number of minutes a game (2 minutes less per game than Karraker).  Karraker just shot more (8.2 3s attempted per game to Burke's 5.8), so he made about one more 3 per game. You can never have enough shooters on your team, but I think Burke has done a great job in filling in for the loss of Karraker.  The one guy you can't replace, though, is Hollingsworth.  Hopefully he and Karraker's recovery from their off season surgeries will continue to progress and we will see them in time to get into some sort of game shape before the games that really count.

From the two games I've seen (Harvard and Curry), it appeared to me that Burke has a harder time getting open than Karraker.  It might be the size difference (Burke is 5'10", Karraker is 6'4").  That may explain the difference in attempts.  It was my impression at Harvard that Karraker would have been more effective at spreading the floor.  But that's just how it looked to me.

Then again, going through my photos, I did see a nice drive to the rim by Burke through heavy traffic, and if I remember correctly, he made it (he certainly got the shot off cleanly).

Hollingsworth is definitely not the sort of player you run into in D3 that much, and Harvard's bigs would have had a lot tougher of a time blocking his hook.  I don't think Curry could have effectively defended him without leaving somebody else wide open.

You also have to take into account that Karraker was playing with Hollingsworth, who draws a lot of double teams and is not averse to kicking the ball out to open perimeter shooters, which may have helped get Karraker some more open looks. They are both great shooters, but Karraker is more a pure spot shooter, while Burke also has the ability to play some point and create his own shot off the dribble. Karraker is clearly a good player, and has had a tremendous career so far, but I just like Burke's game overall.