MBB: NEWMAC

[BBallers]

I am trying to be objective (I recognize this is difficult for me) and want to reiterate that my concerns only relate to MIT winning a national championship, not just being a good team.  The bar is raised.  I also want to clarify that this is only my opinion based on limited viewing of players and I recognize that I could be wrong and often hope I am wrong.  I sincerely hope that my concerns are not taken out of context or irritating to anyone.

What is irritating to me is not your views, you are absolutely entitled to those and whatever those may be, they are fine.  However, I know who you are, your ties to the program, and how you are getting information about the program, and what is irritating me is that you are sharing information that is very speculative and not something to be shared freely in a public forum.  The health of a given player, especially before any games are played, is the matter of the medical staff, the coaching staff, and that players family.  For us to speculate on these injuries, especially extrapolate and say they are potentially season ending is a complete disservice to that player and the program.  Trust me, I am aware of these players situations, but I will not post on here that a player is out for a given number of games even before they know for certain how serious an injury it is or how long they will be out.  Are some of the players rehabbing from injuries right now? Yes.  Does anyone know for certain how long those injuries will take to heal? No.  And until I do know for certain, I will not sepculate about that player's condition because that is not fair to them.  Go on any other board right now and see if anyone else is listing specific injuries about specific players.  It just isn't happening.  Its fine to say your heard someone may be hurt, but to go into specific details about locations of the injury and speculate timetables at this point in the season doesn't help anyone, especially if you are a supporter of the progam.

It will all depend on matchups.  I think there are a number of players in the mix and, to be honest, I am not that familiar with all the newcomers yet (I am no longer on campus so I havent seen any practices or anything).  There is also no certainty that Jimmy will start.  He played 25 mpg as a freshman as the 6th man, so maybe coach wants to keep him in that role, but I am sure he is the frontrunner for the off guard spot at this point, with Dawson as the 3rd guard in the mix.  On the wings you have Strobos, Levene, Cramer, Karraker, along with some younger players who may be in the mix for playing time (Pedley, Simpri, Prus, Johnson) and in the post you have Acker, Redfield, and Tsontzos (they also have another freshman big who is pretty good, Miles Nolting).

In any case, it should be an exciting year to watch MIT basketball.  I just prefer to talk about things I do know about the team currently, than speculate about injuries that may or may not have an affect on the long term goals of this year's team.
[/quote]
My apologies.  I have never tried to hide who I am and certainly did not try to divulge any personal or confidential information that the players readily discuss.  My very limited view of the players is by watching them or by listening to their opinions.  The information could be considered speculative because it is definitely hearsay.  I honestly did not intend to be a disservice to any players or the MIT program and sincerely apologize if this was revealing confidential information.  I have not gone on other boards, but only the doctors and God can be certain of a player's condition and related playing timetables.

Agree with your opinions with matchups with opponents.  I also like discussing the team's performance much more than injury speculation.  As mentioned, MIT is deep enough and talented enough to contend for a national championship and I am looking forward to the Harvard game (scrimmage for MIT and regular game for Harvard).

[BBallers]

I agree that Lampros may be more athletic than Noel, but I believe he is less athletic than Dennis Levene, Matt Redfield, and Andrew Acker at this point.  Athleticism isn't everything and this is merely my opinion at this juncture.  I am confident Lampros will improve and I am rooting for him to improve.  I know Dennis played some wing (small forward) position last season, but I thought the majority of his minutes were at the power forward position.  Dennis is very athletic with size and an excellent player, but not sure if he is a better 3 than a 4.

In MITs system, there is no differentiation to that detail.  There are wings, who play the same role, and post players.  Levene is capable of playing on the wings or in the post, but he is a more natural fit on the wings.

1) I agree with your comments on the statistics on team defense and scoring margin and hope it continues.  An argument could be made to the level of competition where these statistics were derived, but stats don't lie.  Kates and Tashman are great defenders, but Kates may have to defer his defense for all of the efforts he puts into setting up plays as a point guard and scoring.  Same could be true for Tashman as he takes a larger role on offense with Noel out.  I am concerned about the lateral movement of small forward position with Levene or Reinier against smaller and quicker opponents and Burke getting posted (he can more than make up for it by his great shooting).  My hope is that the scoring defense and scoring margin statistics continue like last year.  If a lesser talented team takes advantage of some defense matchups, that is the only scenario where I can see MIT losing and that would still have to be coupled with MIT missing shots.  IMO, 3 for 20 in 3-pointers was the primary reason for MIT losing in the NCAA.

MIT may play primarily man-to-man, but they play very strong help defense, so even if there is a quickness matchup at one position, the team will adjust.  Also, there is nothing to say that lineups wont vary with the situation.  MIT has the option of playing big or going smaller if they want to this year.

2) My apologies for not specifying my definition of chemistry in this context.  You are absolutely correct that all of the players are friends on and off the court, fraternity brothers with a strong senior base.  My concern with chemistry is primarily who will be able and willing to defend against the opponents top scorer, turnovers and shot selection because we have so many scorers on the team.  I agree they are well coached and team oriented and that MIT's chemistry is better than most teams, including possibly every NEWMAC team.  My hope is that MIT wins the national championship and this chemistry concern only relates to the other nationally ranked teams that they will play in the NCAA's.  Paul Dawson may be the answer to the lock down defender.

I don't know what team chemistry has to do with guarding the other teams best player.  In any case, if that player is a post scorer, Tashman would guard them (remember the job he did against AJ Matthews last season in the tourney? He held him to 4 points and 1 board in the first half when the game was close, he came in averaging 23 and 17).  If it is a perimeter player, it could be Kates (he did a great job against Milligan last year in the tourney), Burke, or Dawson.  A taller wing could also emerge as a defensive stalwart.

3) You are correct in your points with the senior leadership and one goal.  My only concern is just human nature and with MIT not playing as competitive of a schedule as most of the other ranked teams.

I guess we will agree to disagree on this point.

4) Losing Noel (feet problems) is a huge loss for MIT for his almost automatic post scoring plays.  Same for Jamie (knee problems) and his outside shooting in the early part of the season.  I agree with you that MIT has possibly more depth than possibly any D3 team, but losing these players will have an impact.  I also agree that this is the deepest team Coach Anderson ever had.

I am trying to be objective (I recognize this is difficult for me) and want to reiterate that my concerns only relate to MIT winning a national championship, not just being a good team.  The bar is raised.  I also want to clarify that this is only my opinion based on limited viewing of players and I recognize that I could be wrong and often hope I am wrong.  I sincerely hope that my concerns are not taken out of context or irritating to anyone.

What is irritating to me is not your views, you are absolutely entitled to those and whatever those may be, they are fine.  However, I know who you are, your ties to the program, and how you are getting information about the program, and what is irritating me is that you are sharing information that is very speculative and not something to be shared freely in a public forum.  The health of a given player, especially before any games are played, is the matter of the medical staff, the coaching staff, and that players family.  For us to speculate on these injuries, especially extrapolate and say they are potentially season ending is a complete disservice to that player and the program.  Trust me, I am aware of these players situations, but I will not post on here that a player is out for a given number of games even before they know for certain how serious an injury it is or how long they will be out.  Are some of the players rehabbing from injuries right now? Yes.  Does anyone know for certain how long those injuries will take to heal? No.  And until I do know for certain, I will not sepculate about that player's condition because that is not fair to them.  Go on any other board right now and see if anyone else is listing specific injuries about specific players.  It just isn't happening.  Its fine to say your heard someone may be hurt, but to go into specific details about locations of the injury and speculate timetables at this point in the season doesn't help anyone, especially if you are a supporter of the progam.

BTW, if Noel and Jamie were playing along with Tashman and Mitch, who do you believe would be the fifth starter?  My guess would be Jimmie Burke, with Jamie moving to the small forward spot.  I'm assuming you would agree, but coach may want to go big.  If Noel and Jamie are out, who do you think would start along with Tashman and Mitch?  I'm assuming Acker (or Redfiled) along with Dennis and Jimmie.  Again, appreciate your comments and look forward to this season.

It will all depend on matchups.  I think there are a number of players in the mix and, to be honest, I am not that familiar with all the newcomers yet (I am no longer on campus so I havent seen any practices or anything).  There is also no certainty that Jimmy will start.  He played 25 mpg as a freshman as the 6th man, so maybe coach wants to keep him in that role, but I am sure he is the frontrunner for the off guard spot at this point, with Dawson as the 3rd guard in the mix.  On the wings you have Strobos, Levene, Cramer, Karraker, along with some younger players who may be in the mix for playing time (Pedley, Simpri, Prus, Johnson) and in the post you have Acker, Redfield, and Tsontzos (they also have another freshman big who is pretty good, Miles Nolting).

In any case, it should be an exciting year to watch MIT basketball.  I just prefer to talk about things I do know about the team currently, than speculate about injuries that may or may not have an affect on the long term goals of this year's team.

[WPI89]

Nerd - I think you are bullying BBaller a bit.  Not sure it was even him that originally (over a month ago) speculated Noel's injury was possibly season ending.  In any case I (and others) have been begging for any info and I think BBaller has been generic enough as to not betray any insider secrets.

Pretty sure Coach Bartley, Coach Brock and the rest have other means of scouting MIT besides sorting through the half truths on this board.

This is about fun.  I know you don't need me fighting your battles BBaller but just wanted to say thanks for your contribution.

[BBallers]

Nerd - I think you are bullying BBaller a bit.  Not sure it was even him that originally (over a month ago) speculated Noel's injury was possibly season ending.  In any case I (and others) have been begging for any info and I think BBaller has been generic enough as to not betray any insider secrets.

Pretty sure Coach Bartley, Coach Brock and the rest have other means of scouting MIT besides sorting through the half truths on this board.

This is about fun.  I know you don't need me fighting your battles BBaller but just wanted to say thanks for your contribution.

I don't really understand bullying on the internet.  If I crossed the line, it will not be the first time and it was definitely not intentional.  I actually am glad it was brought to my attention as I did not think about that perspective when I was typing.  I do not have any agenda except being an MIT fan first and NEWMAC fan second.  I appreciate the note, but I'm a big old boy whose feelings do not easily get hurt.  I do admit that I enjoy reading this forum and I have a better appreciation for the other NEWMAC teams from reading the comments.  Hugenerd has great insight regarding MIT and D3 basketball in general and I enjoy reading his comments, even when it is different than mine.  Just hope Hugenerd doesn't put me on his ignore list, if such a list exists here.     Thanks.

[Hugenerd]

Nerd - I think you are bullying BBaller a bit.  Not sure it was even him that originally (over a month ago) speculated Noel's injury was possibly season ending.  In any case I (and others) have been begging for any info and I think BBaller has been generic enough as to not betray any insider secrets.

Pretty sure Coach Bartley, Coach Brock and the rest have other means of scouting MIT besides sorting through the half truths on this board.

This is about fun.  I know you don't need me fighting your battles BBaller but just wanted to say thanks for your contribution.

First off, it was BBallers who was the first to speculate about Noel's injury.  Secondly, I don't think my tone was bullying at all.  He mentioned in his previous post a few times about hopefully not "irritating" people, and I simply stated that the only thing that irritated me was the constant speculation on injuries.  At this level, there are no injury reports, etc., so divulging all types of information, when other schools do not, can be a competitive disadvantage.  Even at the D1 level they don't like sharing this kind of information. Do you remember when Lane Kiffin stormed out of a media session about 20 seconds in when he was asked about a player injury earlier this season?  In my opinion, that type of information should not be shared.  That is why when I was actually a player or a coach, I never posted, because a lot of that information should only be privy to those in the progam.

Nerd - I think you are bullying BBaller a bit.  Not sure it was even him that originally (over a month ago) speculated Noel's injury was possibly season ending.  In any case I (and others) have been begging for any info and I think BBaller has been generic enough as to not betray any insider secrets.

Pretty sure Coach Bartley, Coach Brock and the rest have other means of scouting MIT besides sorting through the half truths on this board.

This is about fun.  I know you don't need me fighting your battles BBaller but just wanted to say thanks for your contribution.

I don't really understand bullying on the internet.  If I crossed the line, it will not be the first time and it was definitely not intentional.  I actually am glad it was brought to my attention as I did not think about that perspective when I was typing.  I do not have any agenda except being an MIT fan first and NEWMAC fan second.  I appreciate the note, but I'm a big old boy whose feelings do not easily get hurt.  I do admit that I enjoy reading this forum and I have a better appreciation for the other NEWMAC teams from reading the comments.  Hugenerd has great insight regarding MIT and D3 basketball in general and I enjoy reading his comments, even when it is different than mine.  Just hope Hugenerd doesn't put me on his ignore list, if such a list exists here.     Thanks.

I don't hold any hard feelings with anyone.  You just kept saying that you hoped you weren't "irritating" anyone, and I decided to tell you the one thing that was bothering me.  Thats all, no more/no less.  I like having lots of enthusiasm for MIT on the boards, so I hope my comments don't dampen your enthusiasm.  I was just letting you know where I was coming from.

In any event, the players listed on the roster are a part of the team.  I'm not disagreeing with you that it is unlikely that Hollingsworth or Karraker will play against Harvard, but I hope to see them for the real season opener.  Whether that is realistic or not, I am not sure the players even know at this point.

[BBallers]

I don't really understand bullying on the internet.  If I crossed the line, it will not be the first time and it was definitely not intentional.  I actually am glad it was brought to my attention as I did not think about that perspective when I was typing.  I do not have any agenda except being an MIT fan first and NEWMAC fan second.  I appreciate the note, but I'm a big old boy whose feelings do not easily get hurt.  I do admit that I enjoy reading this forum and I have a better appreciation for the other NEWMAC teams from reading the comments.  Hugenerd has great insight regarding MIT and D3 basketball in general and I enjoy reading his comments, even when it is different than mine.  Just hope Hugenerd doesn't put me on his ignore list, if such a list exists here.     Thanks.

I don't hold any hard feelings with anyone.  You just kept saying that you hoped you weren't "irritating" anyone, and I decided to tell you the one thing that was bothering me.  Thats all, no more/no less.  I like having lots of enthusiasm for MIT on the boards, so I hope my comments don't dampen your enthusiasm.  I was just letting you know where I was coming from.

In any event, the players listed on the roster are a part of the team.  I'm not disagreeing with you that it is unlikely that Hollingsworth or Karraker will play against Harvard, but I hope to see them for the real season opener.  Whether that is realistic or not, I am not sure the players even know at this point.
[/quote]
One of my many faults is stating things not necessarily in a PC manner, including some potential knee jerk reactions regarding a player's performance.  My opinions are never meant personally as every MIT player that I have met seems to be class acts with bright futures ahead of them.  That was my initial concern about irritating anyone with my posts.  Appreciate the direct response and look forward to reading more posts.  If my future posts are perceived to be out-of-line, I would encourage the feedback.  My MIT enthusiasm has not changed...

[BBallers]

Appreciate the clarification on academics.  If a student has a lot of disposable time and are not getting playing time, they may still choose to stay on the team, but because of the academic burden on players, it may not be worth their limited disposable time to stay with the team.  The primary reason is what you mentioned, i.e., playing time.  MIT had their Beaver Madness on Friday night after their football game (MIT won, upsetting a ranked opponent) where the girls basketball team scrimmaged each other followed by the men's team.  As you could expect, MIT has a lot of height and depth and it ended up being a dunk fest.  I also noticed that 6'8" Will Dikson was in the stands, so I assume he quit the team.

*Ahem*.  That's women's basketball, not girls' basketball.

Since I am brining up my many faults, here is another example.  I guess it shows my age.  My apologies and I appreciate the feedback.  Thanks.

[Pat Coleman]

BBallers -- don't worry about what someone else thinks you are allowed to share and not allowed to share. There's only one person who gets to make that call around here and I'm usually *very* permissive, as long as it's within the TOS.

But as a father of two girls, I am a stickler about it being called women's basketball.

Keep sharing and posting. That's how this board gets better.

[BBallers]

BBallers -- don't worry about what someone else thinks you are allowed to share and not allowed to share. There's only one person who gets to make that call around here and I'm usually *very* permissive, as long as it's within the TOS.

But as a father of two girls, I am a stickler about it being called women's basketball.

Keep sharing and posting. That's how this board gets better.

I appreciate the note, but I'm good.  I DID ask if anything in my post was irritating and HN just responded.  Not a big deal.  It's better that than having to argue with HN over basketball issues because he is usually right.

Unfortunately, at my age, all the players appear to be boys and girls, instead of men and women.

I appreciate you maintaining the site because it has so many perspectives.  Thanks.

[amh63]

Interesting discussions.  Never thought two MIT supporters would get sensitive wrt to their team.  Must be the "pressure" of being rated number 1 in the pre-season!  See what you started Pat C. (just kidding here).  I decided to jump in since I have, like Hugenerd, ties to MIT....after Amherst that is.   If I was a newbie to this board and read the discussions, I could think that there was a "fantasy" league going on here and "bets" would be made on the games ahead....NOT at this level of D3 or in the NEWMAC, me thinks.   
To me, it is fun discussions BEFORE the season even starts.

[BBallers]

Interesting discussions.  Never thought two MIT supporters would get sensitive wrt to their team.  Must be the "pressure" of being rated number 1 in the pre-season!  See what you started Pat C. (just kidding here).  I decided to jump in since I have, like Hugenerd, ties to MIT....after Amherst that is.   If I was a newbie to this board and read the discussions, I could think that there was a "fantasy" league going on here and "bets" would be made on the games ahead....NOT at this level of D3 or in the NEWMAC, me thinks.   
To me, it is fun discussions BEFORE the season even starts.

Amherst always has a good team and I wish them well.  My fan allegiance is MIT first, NEWMAC second and NE Region third.  NE region has 3 of the top 5 teams in the country with Amherst, Middlebury & MIT.  It would be great to have these 3 teams in the Final 4 in Atlanta.  The NBA news is heating up after the James Harden trade orchestrated by MIT grad & Rockets GM Daryl Morey.  Can't wait for the pre-season D3 games to begin and related discussions about the respective players.

[amh63]

A couple days after the start of allowed practices.....Amherst has filled out its schedule for its Tip-off Tournament.  Last year, it had Wash. & Lee from the strong ODAC conf.   This year there are 3 other New England teams.  One of the teams, Curry College will meet Amherst in the first game.  I bring this point up here since Curry will also play WPI and MIT soon after with both Wesleyan and Williams to follow.  Curry's schedule may allow ....in a secondary way....a means to judge some of the top teams in New England....comparative speaking early in the BB season.

[Hugenerd]

A couple days after the start of allowed practices.....Amherst has filled out its schedule for its Tip-off Tournament.  Last year, it had Wash. & Lee from the strong ODAC conf.   This year there are 3 other New England teams.  One of the teams, Curry College will meet Amherst in the first game.  I bring this point up here since Curry will also play WPI and MIT soon after with both Wesleyan and Williams to follow.  Curry's schedule may allow ....in a secondary way....a means to judge some of the top teams in New England....comparative speaking early in the BB season.

Maybe if the games are competitive, but comparing scoring margin in blowouts won't tell us much.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

A couple days after the start of allowed practices.....Amherst has filled out its schedule for its Tip-off Tournament.  Last year, it had Wash. & Lee from the strong ODAC conf.   This year there are 3 other New England teams.  One of the teams, Curry College will meet Amherst in the first game.  I bring this point up here since Curry will also play WPI and MIT soon after with both Wesleyan and Williams to follow.  Curry's schedule may allow ....in a secondary way....a means to judge some of the top teams in New England....comparative speaking early in the BB season.

Maybe if the games are competitive, but comparing scoring margin in blowouts won't tell us much.

Curry's got a strong backcourt.  I don't think they'll be competitive overall, but we should be able to learn something about the Amherst and MIT guards' defense (although probably the one thing we know the most about already).

[Hugenerd]

Video link for this Friday's Harvard/MIT matchup:

http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/harvard.portal#