MBB: NEWMAC

amh63 · October 10, 2012, 11:30:25 AM

Another post wrt MIT on the NESCAC board today. I watched MIT live last season in the quarter finals at F & M. I was not surprised that they won over an undersized opponent, but was still impressed with the team talent/play on the floor. I really wanted to have Amherst meet MIT in the finals....to see how the best of the NEWAC does against one of the best in the "CAC". The "gods" of BB and the inconsistent refs prevented the meeting....as well as the fine play of the host team. I have posted that uneven foul calls prevented Amherst's top front court defender (and conf. Defensive Player of the Year )to hold down the General's top scorer. MIT found a way to stop that fine player. Anyway, it looks like on paper, that MIT is taken a step up in the NE region this season. Will follow the team to see if the team develops into a true powerhouse. Also hope Amherst gets another chance to play MIT

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · October 10, 2012, 11:48:26 AM

Quote from: amh63 on October 10, 2012, 11:30:25 AM
Another post wrt MIT on the NESCAC board today. I watched MIT live last season in the quarter finals at F & M. I was not surprised that they won over an undersized opponent, but was still impressed with the team talent/play on the floor. I really wanted to have Amherst meet MIT in the finals....to see how the best of the NEWAC does against one of the best in the "CAC". The "gods" of BB and the inconsistent refs prevented the meeting....as well as the fine play of the host team. I have posted that uneven foul calls prevented Amherst's top front court defender (and conf. Defensive Player of the Year )to hold down the General's top scorer. MIT found a way to stop that fine player. Anyway, it looks like on paper, that MIT is taken a step up in the NE region this season. Will follow the team to see if the team develops into a true powerhouse. Also hope Amherst gets another chance to play MIT

It was more about F&M's defense and the fact Amherst's top guard couldn't figure out how to play with the rest of his team when he was cold from the floor that night. Foul calls are foul calls and they went both ways. F&M seemed better prepared... MIT then took advantage of a dinged up Georgio Milligan for F&M and sound, sound defense.

MIT will be a challenge this season for everyone since they return practically the entire Final Four team (who came close to getting to the championship game) and bring in plenty of recruits that can help with depth. I am pretty sure MIT will be the only team from last year's Final Four that will be in the preseason Top 5.

amh63 · October 10, 2012, 02:24:51 PM

To Dave.....several comments......with my apology to the NEWMAC regular posters!
First.....Guess we call it as we see it.
That applies to the refs at the games.
Second....I do hope that in the USA in general, and on D3hoops in particular, that CIVIL discourse and one's opinion can be given without fines/punishments by some "administrator". Really now!

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · October 10, 2012, 02:30:44 PM

Quote from: amh63 on October 10, 2012, 02:24:51 PM
To Dave.....several comments......with my apology to the NEWMAC regular posters!
First.....Guess we call it as we see it.
That applies to the refs at the games.
Second....I do hope that in the USA in general, and on D3hoops in particular, that CIVIL discourse and one's opinion can be given without fines/punishments by some "administrator". Really now!

Where do you see anything but civil discourse... I am stating my opinion for someone who was at the game covering it. And in many conversations with many different people from different points of view, I wasn't the only one who thought that way.

And what fines/punishment from an "administrator" would you be alluding to?

WPI89 · October 10, 2012, 03:13:05 PM

Now now boys......we play nice over here on the NEWMAC site.....unless of course we are all mad at Nerd!

Dave - change his call-name to Amh62 - kind of like taking away Karma points!

BBallers · October 11, 2012, 11:40:40 AM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on October 10, 2012, 11:48:26 AM
Quote from: amh63 on October 10, 2012, 11:30:25 AM
Another post wrt MIT on the NESCAC board today. I watched MIT live last season in the quarter finals at F & M. I was not surprised that they won over an undersized opponent, but was still impressed with the team talent/play on the floor. I really wanted to have Amherst meet MIT in the finals....to see how the best of the NEWAC does against one of the best in the "CAC". The "gods" of BB and the inconsistent refs prevented the meeting....as well as the fine play of the host team. I have posted that uneven foul calls prevented Amherst's top front court defender (and conf. Defensive Player of the Year )to hold down the General's top scorer. MIT found a way to stop that fine player. Anyway, it looks like on paper, that MIT is taken a step up in the NE region this season. Will follow the team to see if the team develops into a true powerhouse. Also hope Amherst gets another chance to play MIT

It was more about F&M's defense and the fact Amherst's top guard couldn't figure out how to play with the rest of his team when he was cold from the floor that night. Foul calls are foul calls and they went both ways. F&M seemed better prepared... MIT then took advantage of a dinged up Georgio Milligan for F&M and sound, sound defense.

MIT will be a challenge this season for everyone since they return practically the entire Final Four team (who came close to getting to the championship game) and bring in plenty of recruits that can help with depth. I am pretty sure MIT will be the only team from last year's Final Four that will be in the preseason Top 5.

I did not see the Amherst game, but I remember some of the comments. I did see the MIT game and F&M had a good defense that may have been one of the top ranked D3 defenses. Amherst may have had a better team in a neutral site in a 5-game series, but am not sure. Can't comment on the officiating, but there is a home court advantage. I believe F&M won that particular game convincingly. The home court selection is another topic.

I agree with your comments about MIT as they are only missing one starter from last year's team. The most significant recruit is probably the 6"10" kid from Greece and I don't believe any other recruits will see much playing time. I believe MIT's sophomore is a better recruiting class and some of them will be vying for the one starter's spot. My primary concerns about MIT this year are their defense, chemistry, potential over-confidense and injuries, as many of the starters are nicked up.

BBallers · October 12, 2012, 07:59:25 AM

Some of the MIT injuries have taken a turn for the worse as Noel Hollingsworth, MIT's All-American center may be out for the season. Since Noel is a 5th year senior in graduate school, this could be career ending. I will never forget Noel's game against Farmingdale State in one of last season's NCAA tournament games where he made 16 of 26 shots for 37 points and 12 rebounds against their All-American center AJ Mathews who was limited to 11 points and 5 rebounds. If this is true, Noel will certainly be missed as he was one of the best low post scorers in D3. Hopefully, more details will prove these rumors wrong. I believe Noel was the best center in MIT history. Noel is a warrior in playing through many injuries last season.

WPI89 · October 12, 2012, 09:35:31 AM

Nerd - where are you? Any depth to the Hollingsworth story?

Hugenerd · October 12, 2012, 12:24:11 PM

I haven't heard anything about Noel's injuries...I know he played pretty much all of last season with a stress fracture in his foot.

Nescac1 is on top of this on the other board, but I will mention it here also:
I also wouldn't sleep on Reinier Strobos, who is a sophomore, but will be on the squad for the first time (he was out with injury last year and was not with the team). He played on a really big time AAU squad in Texas and is a 6'7" athletic wing player. He is someone they could start at the 3 along with Tashman and Hollingsworth. They may also have Jimmy Burke back this year, who had an exceptional freshman season, but has missed the last two years to injury. They also have Todd Cramer coming in, who was arguably Caltech's best player the 2 years he played there, so he could provide depth on the wings.

There are some other really talented freshman also, from what I hear, but I am not as familiar with them.

Practice starts on Monday, should be fun.

madzillagd · October 12, 2012, 12:43:05 PM

Quote from: Hugenerd on October 12, 2012, 12:24:11 PM
who was arguably Caltech's best player the 2 years he played there,

I've never seen the kid play but I have to say, this is completely meaningless. Not sure if you're familiar with SCIAC hoops at all but Caltech has traditionally been horrible. That's not to say they haven't had any good players go through the program, just that as a team they suck. There's no nice way to put it. We are talking years and years of not winning a single league game and I think the one win they did get this past decade got vacated because of their violations. My assumption is if this player is making the leap to MIT it's because he has some game but it will be interesting to see if he gets time on one of the best squads in the country as opposed to one of the worst.

Hugenerd · October 13, 2012, 10:41:15 AM

Quote from: madzillagd on October 12, 2012, 12:43:05 PM
Quote from: Hugenerd on October 12, 2012, 12:24:11 PM
who was arguably Caltech's best player the 2 years he played there,

I've never seen the kid play but I have to say, this is completely meaningless. Not sure if you're familiar with SCIAC hoops at all but Caltech has traditionally been horrible. That's not to say they haven't had any good players go through the program, just that as a team they suck. There's no nice way to put it. We are talking years and years of not winning a single league game and I think the one win they did get this past decade got vacated because of their violations. My assumption is if this player is making the leap to MIT it's because he has some game but it will be interesting to see if he gets time on one of the best squads in the country as opposed to one of the worst.

You left out the rest of my sentence, where I said "he could provide depth on the wings."

amh63 · October 14, 2012, 06:20:07 PM

Hugenerd.......puzzled a bit about your comments wrt practice starting on Monday. This past Friday was "Midnight Madness" for the Div. 1 big boys....so that they can start formal practice with coaches involved. Did your comment mean the NEWMAC of the Div.3 or even Div.3 in general? I'm aware that the "CAC" starts about two weeks after other Div. 3 schools. In the case of Amherst, it follows the end of football season which ends Nov. 10. Three Amherst football players are listed on the BB team....so there is a practice handicap for the NESCAC in general and Amherst in particular.

BBallers · October 15, 2012, 09:20:46 AM

Quote from: amh63 on October 14, 2012, 06:20:07 PM
Hugenerd.......puzzled a bit about your comments wrt practice starting on Monday. This past Friday was "Midnight Madness" for the Div. 1 big boys....so that they can start formal practice with coaches involved. Did your comment mean the NEWMAC of the Div.3 or even Div.3 in general? I'm aware that the "CAC" starts about two weeks after other Div. 3 schools. In the case of Amherst, it follows the end of football season which ends Nov. 10. Three Amherst football players are listed on the BB team....so there is a practice handicap for the NESCAC in general and Amherst in particular.

Todd has been scrimmaging with the team for a while, so I believe Coach Anderson is aware of his skills. He is not the tallest (6'4") or most athletic player, but he is steady. I agree with Hugenerd that he is in the mix for a potential rotation spot depending on how many players Coach Anderson will use in his rotation. Caltech has been improving since the MIT lead assistant coach took over the program. They are still a very poor team, but improving despite the lack of school support. I'm confident that the coaches would have discussed Todd prior to his transfer.

The open starters on MIT probably depends on what type of a lineup Coach Anderson. As a pure athlete, Reiner would probably be the selection. If they want size, they could use possibly use 6'8" Dennis Levene who had some playing time last year at the 3, but mostly played the 4 position. If they want shooting, then Jimmy Burke is a lights out shooter (think a 5'11" Jamie Karraker) and there may be some other potential players. If Noel is out, then the leading replacements are between three 6'8" players, Dennis Levene, Matt Redfield (who is a leaper) or the physical Andrew Acker. I don't believe any of the freshman will be in the mix, at least not initially. I have also heard that 6'8" Will Dickson, the last remaining Junior class recruit may be leaving the team. I hope not as he brought some good offensive skills to the team. When you have so many roster players, playing time gets limited. With the academic burden of MIT student athletes, it is understood why many will decide to leave if they do not anticipate playing much.

Looking forward to the season!

Pat Coleman · October 17, 2012, 04:30:27 PM

The full preseason D3hoops.com MBB Top 25:
http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/preseason

GoTech73 · October 17, 2012, 04:57:59 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on October 17, 2012, 04:30:27 PM
The full preseason D3hoops.com MBB Top 25:
http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/preseason

Pat, I like your "I'll just leave this here....." approach.

Congrats MIT! Though I'll feel a lot better if some of the injury rumors floating around here are dispelled...

Just curious, have any other NEWMAC teams been in the #1 spot or is this a first for the conference?