MBB: NEWMAC

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

MIT with an easy win tonight. I only know because I have Ian Hinkley on my fantasy team. Anyway, I noticed they were up 29 at halftime and basically held that lead the whole game, yet Pilsbury plays the whole 40 minutes while Cho and Hinkley each play 38. I don't know the team dynamics regarding the bench, but doesn't that seem a little excessive? Play three starters 38 or more minutes in a 30-point game? It's not like Salem St cut it to 15 or anything. Just curious.

https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2019-20/boxscores/20191205_ok4g.xml?view=boxscore

MIT doesn't often have much of a bench.  They went to the Final Four with six guys a few years back.  Having two starters play such low minutes usually means injuries, but I don't know any more than you.

[WPI89]

Good question. Cant help either. Had several big MIT backers as regulars on the board in the past but not lately. Big Nerd come back!!!!

[Smitty Oom]

https://www.mitathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/2019-20/roster

I mean they have 12 players listed on the roster. That would be a lot of injuries to not have enough guys to finish out the final 5 minutes when up 30.

[BaboNation]

Babson 81   Salem State 75

Hard to figure this one.   Final exam fatigue?  Salem State went toe to toe for 37 minutes and had leads as large as 7 in the 2nd half.  In the end Babson survived, but this one was very much in doubt from the outset.

Salem's Animashaun was a force on both ends all game (22/14), and their team quickness got easier baskets around the rim than any opponent this season.  They also packed the paint on defense, contributing to a season high 17 Babson TOs.

Gao came off the bench for a mere 3 minutes after starting all season.  He got banged up in the Amherst game.  So, I don't know if this is a temporary switch due to injury or something else.  Bradanese had another big game for the Beavers (18/5) and every one of Coolahan's  22 points were critical. 

Overall, Brennan subbed early and probably would have reduced starter minutes even more than he did if the game was more comfortably in hand.  With a quick turnaround game tomorrow against Tufts, I'm sure he's trying to keep fresh legs.

[BaboNation]

Babson 99   Tufts 85

The intensity that was missing from Babson's game against Salem State came back in this one.  Everything worked on offense and they were able to get open, easy looks all over the court.
I liked this matchup from the beginning.  If you're going to beat Babson this year you're going to have to slow it down to a half-court game, show a tenacious, quick defense, or a tall, strong, prolific front line.

While Tufts has plenty of offensive firepower, I just don't see them as elite within the NESCAC.  I've watched them several games and they can be sloppy with the ball, and though they are big inside, they aren't particularly mobile on defense.  I see them finishing 4th-6th in the NESCAC. 

I also question keeping Aronson on the bench (2 fouls) for the last 14 minutes of the first half as the game was getting out of hand.

Oftring (29/10 in only 26 minutes) got whatever he wanted inside and out.  Jaworski had an efficient 26.  Matt Pattyson, often overlooked for all the little things he does, played a solid 24 minutes.  FY Kirkpatrick played by far his most minutes (23) and had his best game yet, finishing with 7.  Bradanese started and put together back-to-back very good games.  Ainge was Ainge.

Great way to get to the holiday break.  Hopefully FY Corey heals well enough that he can get his feet wet in the New Year.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The basketball season now finds itself square in the middle of not only the holidays, but also finals. Teams are taking breaks to focus on academics and either not playing until the new year or finding openings to fit in games here and there.

And while the tempo of games subsides a bit, there is still plenty of news swirling around Division III. Tune in as Dave and guests tackle all of the news this week in what should be a jam-packed Hoopsville on Thursday night.

Topics will include the latest news of two Capital Athletic Conference members announcing they are leaving for other conference homes. What is next for the CAC which will be down to just three members by 2021-22 season. The rumors about St. Thomas's future continue to swirl, we at least try and put some of those rumors to rest. And a MIAC president finally speaks out about the decision to push UST out the door. Maybe he should have not said anything.

Plus, there is a new number one team in women's basketball, a team that nearly completed an undefeated season has reemerged, another former champion is showing they may be back in the hunt, and a program we haven't talked about in a long time has made it known they are ready for the season.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can watch Thursday's show LIVE with the following options:
- Main page: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville
- Show page: http://bit.ly/2rFn0MF (or www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2019-20/dec12)
- Facebook Live Simulcast: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
- YouTube Simulcast: www.youtube.com/d3hoopsville
- Team1 Sports: www.team1sports.com/Hoopsville/
- Team1 Sports app (Android TV, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku) - you will either find it under the "live" section or search for the Hoopsville channel

If you have questions about Division III basketball, feel free to send them and we will answer them on a the show. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com or use any of the social media options to the right.

Guests Schedule (order subject to change):
- Doreen Carden, Albion women's coach
- Jill Pace, No. 1 Tufts women's coach
- Stephen Brennan, No. 14 Babson men's coach
- Keith Bunkenburg, No. 24 Benedictine coach

If you enjoy the show via the podcasts, choose your favorite avenue to listen and/or subscribe via the the following four avenues (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville




https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-hoopsville-30984615/

We also have the podcast now on iHeartRadio, Tune-In and others coming. We will update them once we have better abilities to do so.

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/d3hoopsville

[BaboNation]

While waiting for the post-holiday games to resume I watched the Wheaton Lyons take on Bridgewater (VA) in a Staten Island tournament.

Wheaton prevailed and had their best Massey-rated win to date (though that's not saying much at #208).  The Lyons roster lists an incredible 9 freshmen on a 15 man roster.

But the guy worth tuning in to see is FY Aaron Williams.  He's now averaging 19.4/game (albeit, against inferior competition).  He's listed at 6'5", and though the team roster doesn't provide a weight, I'm guessing (charitably) around 235+.  It's not a body type you often see in D3 hoops.  Offensively, within 10 feet of the hoop he's very good, especially for a FY.  Soft hands. Quick off his feet.  Good instincts.  But he's a liability defensively, except as a rebounder, and he's not in shape for running up and down the court.  In fact, he's often walking.  If he can get himself in shape over the coming years and round out his game he could be special.  As it is he'll get consideration for NEWMAC ROY, though I think MIT's Kael Kordonowy is the better all-around player, has faced tougher competition, and that difference will show once the conference schedule begins.

Wheaton will have another tough year against most every team in the NEWMAC except Clark.  I'd be surprised if they can do better than 3-11 in conference.  And if they ever have aspirations to make a Pool C run in the future they MUST improve their non-conference schedule.

Been on my mind for a while ... if MIT's Giannis Chatziveroglou doesn't already have a nickname, playing at a prestigious tech school like he does, how can he not be The Greek Geek?

[BaboNation]

E. Conn. St. 77   Babson 76

Wow.  What a weird experience.  Don't believe all the stats you might see until they're fixed.  Guys are listed on the box for the wrong team among other things.  Video cut out with about 4 minutes left in the first half with Babson up around 14 and didn't come back til about 3 minutes left in the game with Babson down 7.  And unlike most games, no announcers, no score at the bottom of the screen, and no panning to the scoreboard at any point.

Oftring was in sweats for the whole game, after making D3 Hoops team of the week before the holiday break.  But FY Corey made his first appearance of the season.  Great to see.  The lay-off didn't seem to hurt in the first half.  Coolahan had at least 20 at the half.

Oh well.  There is carnage all over the national top 20.

Congrats to ECS.

[BaboNation]

I amended the final score from my previous quote now that I have reliable information.  Now I better understand why Babson, with the ball in the final 5 seconds, and down only 1, attempted a contested 2-pointer by Coolahan from about 12 feet, rather than attempting a 3-pointer.  All available information indicated Babson was down 3 at the time. 

The rest of this post, hopefully constructive more than a rant, will deal with the feed from Trinity over the internet.

Let me first say it's a pleasure to "attend" far more games mid-winter in the virtual sense than ever would have been possible pre-internet.  For that I am grateful.  And in fairness to many production crews, many times students are participating in the process.  We all went through learning curves in life, and for some of these folks this is a side gig to their regular vocation or field of study.

That said, Rule #1 for all sporting events:  Keep the viewers/listeners aware of the score.  Rule #2 (for sports where clocks are involved):  Keep the viewers/listeners aware of the time remaining.  This game was a failure on both counts.
I tuned in for the preliminary game of this tournament between Trinity and Regis.  For that game, I think they had Steve Vecchione on the play-by-play.  He always does a professional job IMO. 

That Trinity failed to provide a play-by-play guy for the nightcap was disappointing, but understandable.  However, if you aren't going to provide audio then the burden gets heavier on the video side of your broadcast.  This is where it gets worse.  For the first time in recent memory, this broadcast did not provide a running score at the bottom of the screen.  Compounding the problem further, the camera never panned to a scoreboard (usually done during TOs, or critical 2nd half dead ball situations).  So, as a viewer, you'd have to keep a running score in your head, and you'd better not look away for 15 seconds.  Then there were the clocks above each backboard, at a severe angle to the camera.  The video had a flicker on each clock.  I'm guessing that if you were actually in the gym this flicker was not present, or game action would have been stopped and the problem rectified.  More likely the problem was manifested in the broadcast and the feed wasn't synced properly.
And then of course the feed froze late in the first half and only returned with about 4 minutes left in the game.  Stuff happens.  I get it.
Here's where it gets a little funny; whoever was assigning players to teams in the digital arena messed up.  Some Babson players were showing on the ECS side, and some ECS players showed on the Babson side.  D3 Hoops (getting it's feed from Trinity) showed Babson trailing by 19 when they were ahead by 19 ... the totals were reversed all night!  If you believed the "Live Stats", Babson's Max Gussen had the game of his life.  Trouble is, he never even played.  The source of the problem seemed to be that the digital box score person (or whatever they're called) assigned the uniform numbers of some players to the wrong team.  So, Max Gussen (Babson) was really Seth Thomas (ECS).  Thomas was the POG, by the way.

As often happens the Live Stats went down when the video went down.  Then when the video returned I relied on the clock from the Live Stats to provide time remaining.  Unfortunately, the Live Stats froze again in the final minute, leading to my confusion on the score at the final possession.

[BaboNation]

Emerson had a nice gut-check win last night over Nichols, after almost giving it away.  The Lions still have the potential to be more that spoilers in the NEWMAC this year, but key SOS losses out of conference aren't going to provide much wiggle room for a Pool C bid.
It should be noted (and I wonder how often this is overlooked) that Emerson played without their best player, O'Connor yesterday.  Hopefully nothing more than the flu.  Same goes for Babson, which has now played 2 straight without Oftring, and the last game without Ainge.  I really hope the NBA tendency toward "load management" hasn't found its way to D3 basketball.

[BaboNation]

Middlebury's win @ Springfield confirms what I've felt to this point ... they are the best team in New England right now.  Obviously, there's still a long way to go this season.

An off-night for Ross to say the least.  Something like 4-17.  Some of it was good D by Ingram, et al.  Some of it was early double-teams.  Some of it was Midd's interior size.  But, he's overcome all that before.  As the game wore on I think even he couldn't believe he was this off ... missing BOTH FTs ... when does that happen?

I thought the turning point was the first half with Springfield up 15.  Midd started a run, Ross picked up his 2nd foul and went to the bench, and Post (immense to that point) seemed to wear down from carrying the load (almost by himself) on the defensive boards with Sobel contesting everything.

Midd almost gave it away at the end with missed FTs (we have to trust the box score and announcer here, because the video only showed the inactive end of the court - twice).  It really summed up the night, with Ross driving, down 2, but unable to finish.  I thought he took off too soon, but maybe he was afraid of a block.

I expect that Midd will win the NESCAC regular season. 

So now Ross comes to Babson next week coming off one of his worst shooting games of his career.  Just great. 

[BaboNation]

Springfield 84   Babson 81

Jaworski had the game of his career 32/10 and played 30+ minutes guarding Ross one-on-one, but Springfield's supporting cast (Witter-Costa-Lindsay) outplayed their counterparts, and Ross and Post were efficient down the stretch, facilitating and scoring.  Ross had 14 of his team-high 24 in the last 10 minutes, none of them easy (2 FTs mixed in), and while Post had a "quiet" 14/10 he was finding the open man off double-teams all night and broke the last tie (78-78), finding Lindsay wide open for a layup.  Back breaker.
Ainge had a 3-point make with 10 seconds left and a step-back 3-point miss at the buzzer that could have forced OT.  I wish he was looking for his own shot with more regularity.  He's got a smooth stroke.
Speaking of pure shooters, I'm pretty sure it's been a long time (without checking box scores) that Coolahan has gone 0-fer (0-4) from the arc.  At home, no less.  Still, he was able to use his size to finish in the paint with 13.

Babson had a 40-39 halftime lead despite 7 TOs (mostly unforced) in the first 10 minutes.  It was strange not seeing the ball in Ainge's hands more often.  The team finished with their worst A/TO of the season (11/11).

Credit to Springfield for taking the ball to the hoop more often, leading to their deserved edge at the FT line.
The difference was better production from The Pride from 3, and more production, whether directly or indirectly, taking their men off the dribble.

Another tough game coming up @ WPI.

[BaboNation]

Babson 93    WPI 81

It may sound like an overreaction, but I felt that Babson really needed this one coming off a home loss to Springfield.  A loss would have meant 3 of their last 4 after starting 9-0, and the elite of the conference would have had a 2-game lead. 

Like I said after the last game, it's not often Babson's Coolahan goes 0-fer from the arc, but this was ridiculous!  He had 22 at the half on 8-8 FGs overall (4-4 from 3).  I guess he had a toenail on the line or it would have been 5 3's.  He finished with 35 on 13-13, 5-5, and 4-4!

Babson went on an offensive blitz mid-way through the first half, closing with a 29-6 run.  Brennan shortened the bench (8 saw action) and all contributed.  I believe this was the first start for FY Kirkpatrick.

WPI has a huge size advantage, but in the first half Babson was able to provide help on the inside, and WPI was a little impatient with entry passes.  They corrected this in the 2nd and Stephenson started taking them to his torture chamber.  Credit to WPI for closing a 20-point deficit (around 9 min. left) to within 6 with under 2 to play.  And Reid Walker, a key part of their team on both ends was hobbled and only made a cameo appearance.

In the end, WPI lost despite shooting 63.5%!  But, A/TO favored Babson 20/8 vs. 21/15.

The 93 points is 15 more than WPI has allowed all season.

Elsewhere in the NEWMAC, in a stunner, Clark took down Emerson (who I thought were starting to put things together) 82-73.

[BaboNation]

Babson 94   Coast Guard 92 (OT)

Wow!

The first half was as bad as Babson has played this year.  Flat, seemingly disinterested on defense, and completely out of sync on offense.  Taking nothing away from CG, who took everything that was given, the Green & White looked like they expected to just show up for the win.  At the half, CG by 18, 49 - 31.

I noticed Asst. Coach Droney spending a lot of time with the players in the shoot-around coming out of the halftime break.  He's certainly someone worth listening to, given his experience on the National Championship and Final Four teams.

The difference in effort, particularly on the defensive end became immediately apparent.  Babson kept chipping away, with Jaworski and Ainge carrying the heavy load, but CG made some tough shots to keep the Beavers at bay.

The key turning point came with 1:40 left, CG up 8 with the ball.  Jaworski forced a backcourt turnover that led to a foul.  Babson outscored CG 10-2 over the last 90 seconds to force overtime.  Their last basket came on a clear out for Jaworski at the FT line extended.  He up-faked and finished at the rim, almost the identical play that clinched the Amherst win.

Both teams looked a little gassed in OT.  Witkowski hit a big 3 to tie the game a final time before Coolahan (named to the D3 team of the week) hit a short, twisting, turn-around jumper at 5 seconds left for the game-winner.

CG probably deserved this one.  Valdez and Perez had very strong games, and Kane was a force inside and on the boards.

It was curious that Ainge didn't start either half for Babson.  Not sure what that was about, but he had a huge second half.  Jaworski gets my POG.

Around the NEWMAC form held, with Springfield, WPI, and Emerson victorious.  The Emerson-MIT game tape probably shouldn't be saved, considering both teams combined scored 26 second half points.  NEWMAC teams better get MIT in this "down" year, because they're sure to reload before you know it.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

That was one of those games where having a PG like Ainge makes a real difference.  They needed good shots at the end of the game and he seemed very confident to get the ball where it needed to be.  That's going to be invaluable come tournament time and pretty exciting that he's only a junior.