MBB: NEWMAC

toooldtoplay · January 16, 2010, 04:42:19 PM

MIT holds on to win by 3. The D stepped up in the second half holding Clark to 17 points and 51 for the game. Shooting was off today at 4-17 from 3 but Clark shot 4-23 and 1 for the last 15 I believe.

Hugenerd · January 16, 2010, 07:33:38 PM

The conference road games are never easy. I am glad MIT was able to gut out a tough one in Worcester. Clark is a solid team, they have some really talented players, and were 10-5 coming into the game. Although MIT shot 50% overall for the game, their three point shooting was not where it has been. I wasnt able to make it to this game, so I cant provide much insight, but MIT needs some of these types of games to stay sharp. You dont learn too much about yourself in blowouts, but when you gut out close conference wins on the road, it really shows you something about the team.

MIT has two at home next week.

Hugenerd · January 16, 2010, 07:47:35 PM

In other NEWMAC action, Wheaton falls 73-74 to Babson at home. Coppola still not playing.

WPI beats CGA comfortably 68-55 at home.

Every team in the NEWMAC now has at least 1 win:

MIT and Springfield are atop the standings at 3-0. CGA is 2-2. WPI and Clark tied at 1-2. Babson and Wheaton bringing up the rear at 1-3.

clarkie · January 17, 2010, 01:06:14 PM

I was at the Clark v. MIT game. It was a dousy for Clark as they could just not make a shot in the second half--they were leading by 13 with 5 minutes to go in the first half. When you lose a game with 9 team turnovers, compared to MIT's 21, you know shots were just not going in.

With that said, MIT definitely has talent, but the #9 team in the country? When I was at Clark, a #9 Amherst would have demolished a now #9 MIT. It says more about D3 than it does about MIT, but I was very surprised to read the program and see that MIT was #9.

I think the rematch in a few weeks will be a war of a game.

Hugenerd · January 17, 2010, 02:10:12 PM

Quote from: clarkie on January 17, 2010, 01:06:14 PM
I was at the Clark v. MIT game. It was a dousy for Clark as they could just not make a shot in the second half--they were leading by 13 with 5 minutes to go in the first half. When you lose a game with 9 team turnovers, compared to MIT's 21, you know shots were just not going in.

With that said, MIT definitely has talent, but the #9 team in the country? When I was at Clark, a #9 Amherst would have demolished a now #9 MIT. It says more about D3 than it does about MIT, but I was very surprised to read the program and see that MIT was #9.

I think the rematch in a few weeks will be a war of a game.

Earlier in the week, the #1 team in the country lost by 23, I am sure they didnt look like a top 10 team that night either.

On Wednesday, MIT destroyed WPI and they looked pretty darn impressive. What counts is Ws and Ls. Despite playing poorly for much of the game, MIT was able to pull out a win in a conference road game versus a pretty good team. Clark also played Brandeis tough at home earlier in the season, who is also a top 20 team and beat #3 WashU on the road on Friday. I think this is good for the young MIT squad. If you blow out every team, you dont know what to do in a close game. MIT got down by double digits, they may have panicked a little, but they kept their composure overall and were able to mount a comeback and pick up a win on the road. I would rather them have some of these types of games now, and be prepared for it later in the season, then win every game by 30 and be completely clueless when they play a tough opponent in the postseason.

tball · January 17, 2010, 02:48:15 PM

MIT only had 15 turnovers to Clark's 9.

Hugenerd · January 17, 2010, 06:27:23 PM

Here is an article from the Boston Herald:

http://bostonherald.com/sports/college/basketball/view.bg?articleid=1224731&format=&page=2&listingType=colbb#articleFull

It is about a Harvard recruit, mainly, but on the second page there is a couple paragraphs about MIT and Tommy Ammaker's thoughts on the programs.

mass_d3fan · January 17, 2010, 11:03:40 PM

Well, I did manage to get to the 2nd half of the MIT/Cark game yesterday.

MIT was down 8 at the half, and certainly did not play like they did Wed. against WPI. A letdown is natural after such a big & emotional win agaist the team that has dominated the conference regular season for the last 6 years.

That being said, the Engineers did what needed to to secure the win. Clark did not play well in the 2nd half and let MIT off the hook with a series of bad shot selections and turnovers. Kates was again key with some key driving buckets and running the offense. From what I was told about the first half and saw in the second, The lob to Hollinsworth was there all day, but MIT did not fully take advantage of it. Just about everytime they did, they got a quality scoring chance.

The bottom line here is MIT got a win, not a good performance, but since every most every ranked team will have a "stinker" win or two over the course of a season, its not anything out of the ordinary.

They now need to focus on Springfield. I don't think a similar performance against the Pride will result in a victory. Springfield can match up with MIT frontcourt better than Clark did, but I am not sure if their guards can match the Engineer's backcourt though.

Clark must also refocus as they host WPI on Tues in a game both teams must have.

toooldtoplay · January 18, 2010, 12:49:45 AM

Clarke is a solid team and will make alot of noise before the season is over. Mass-fan is correct as the shot selection was poor when the tide was turning. A little more patience could have resulted in a different final.

Hugenerd · January 18, 2010, 01:29:26 AM

Quote from: toooldtoplay on January 18, 2010, 12:49:45 AM
Clarke is a solid team and will make alot of noise before the season is over. Mass-fan is correct as the shot selection was poor when the tide was turning. A little more patience could have resulted in a different final.

Conversely, one of the hallmark's of MIT under Coach Anderson is good shot selection. They dont often take bad shots, as Coach Anderson is very honest with players about their roles on the team and what their skill set is. Obviously some guys have greener lights than others, but you dont often see guys doing things they shouldnt be on offense. Playing within the system is what gets MIT a lot of quality, makeable shots for their bigs and open shots for their perimeter players.

magicman · January 18, 2010, 04:07:21 PM

Updated Pool C rankings from the Pool C board on the Multi-Regional Topics page.
Includes all games through 1-17-10.

Numbers include regional results only.

REG # WP OWP OOWP RPI NAT Pool REG OVR CONF Team

NE 01 0.909 0.549 0.548 0.6388 010 A C 10-1 14-1 NESCAC Middlebury
NE 02 1.000 0.481 0.532 0.6236 015 A C 14-0 15-1 NEWMAC MIT
NE 03 0.846 0.507 0.591 0.6129 022 C 011 11-2 11-2 UAA Brandeis
NE 04 0.889 0.494 0.553 0.6076 026 C 014 8-1 10-2 NESCAC Colby
NE 05 0.800 0.536 0.529 0.6005 032 A C 12-3 12-3 LEC Eastern Connecticut
NE 06 1.000 0.407 0.559 0.5935 042 C 023 12-0 14-1 NESCAC Williams
NE 07 0.667 0.586 0.511 0.5871 050 C 028 10-5 10-5 LEC Mass-Dartmouth
NE 08 0.700 0.539 0.545 0.5807 060 A 7-3 8-5 MASCAC Bridgewater State
NE 09 0.786 0.503 0.530 0.5804 062 C 033 11-3 12-3 NEWMAC Worcester Polytech
NE 10 0.625 0.579 0.505 0.5719 074 A 5-3 8-4 NAC Husson
NE 11 0.750 0.496 0.516 0.5646 085 A 9-3 10-3 CCC Gordon
NE 12 0.400 0.684 0.490 0.5643 086 C 050 4-6 6-8 NESCAC Bates
NE 13 0.778 0.451 0.560 0.5600 092 C 055 7-2 8-2 NAC Thomas
NE 14 0.750 0.483 0.517 0.5583 093 C 056 9-3 10-3 LEC Western Connecticut

Hugenerd · January 19, 2010, 10:32:11 AM

This article mentions two of the MIT commitments:

http://www.nehoopnews.com/news/601/New-Years-Day-Dish-2010.php

There is one error, NicK Davis is from Nebraska (not Wisconsin, as it says in the article).

tball · January 19, 2010, 07:31:32 PM

Does not look like Alexander is playing for Clark tonight.

Hugenerd · January 20, 2010, 10:08:14 AM

In NEWMAC action last night, WPI beat Clark 67-57. As previously mentioned, Mark Alexander did not play.

Babson knocked off another NESCAC school at home, beating Bowdoin on a buzzer beater (see front page) a week after beating Amherst. Babson is undefeated in out-of-conference home games, but 0-2 in conference home games (they lost 72-70 to Springfield and 72-45 to MIT).

toooldtoplay · January 20, 2010, 04:24:57 PM

Big game tonight for first place in the NEWMAC. I think it could go either way.