MBB: NEWMAC

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Nation wide season opener on Thursday at 12:01 am

Clark U  vs Worcester State

Are there any others who open this way?

MIT has an exhibition against Harvard on Tuesday.  That has become an annual event; last year it was a 4 point game with 90 seconds to play and 9 points in the end.  It was most emphatically not a stereotypical D1-D3 game.

Not sure what you think is a stereotypical game, but DIII has played well against all kinds of DI opponents especially this year. No, Salisbury beating UM-Eastern Shore isn't worth writing about, but there have been some pretty interesting results. MIT is pretty darn good. I could even see them getting the win. It isn't like Harvard is Duke.

[WPI89]

Seems when MIT has had their best teams, Harvard has also been quite good - IE - The Bartolotta and Hollingsworth years at least partially matched up with Jeremy Lin at Harvard. 

i am not sure if MIT has won the game in modern times - but tonight could be close.

[rlk]

Nation wide season opener on Thursday at 12:01 am

Clark U  vs Worcester State

Are there any others who open this way?

MIT has an exhibition against Harvard on Tuesday.  That has become an annual event; last year it was a 4 point game with 90 seconds to play and 9 points in the end.  It was most emphatically not a stereotypical D1-D3 game.

Not sure what you think is a stereotypical game, but DIII has played well against all kinds of DI opponents especially this year. No, Salisbury beating UM-Eastern Shore isn't worth writing about, but there have been some pretty interesting results. MIT is pretty darn good. I could even see them getting the win. It isn't like Harvard is Duke.

Harvard's not exactly a bottom feeder itself, and I imagine Tommy Amaker (what did you say about Duke?) is warning his players not to underestimate the Engineers.  I have my camera gear all packed for the game  .  "Stereotypical D1-D3 game" is something like what happened during my era, when we lost 86-50 to a rather weaker Harvard in the mid 1980's.

One of my favorite plays from last season was Seth Towns (Ivy League player of the year and NBA prospect) going up for an offensive rebound, and Nacho Nwana grabbing it -- think strip sack -- right out of his hands.  Nacho's brother, by the way, is in this year's freshman class and is also playing.  Quite a recruiting class for the Engineers, with 8 frosh.  It will be interesting to see whether any of them are immediate impact players, as Ian Hinkley and Hamilton Forsythe were last year.  MIT has a pretty stacked lineup.

Oh, and someone else rejoins the NEWMAC -- Matthew Droney, of the Babson national champion team, was hired as an assistant coach by MIT.  He certainly knows what it takes to win, and he has played against a lot of the upperclassmen.

[nescac1]

MIT looks quite loaded indeed.  While it's always hard to tell with frosh, and MIT will have limited minutes available, keep an eye out for the kid from Greece, who looks like he could be really good (although doubly-hard to tell with international players), and Dan Pilsbury, who had great success in a H.s. league with a long history of players who have excelled at the D3 level (most recently Vinny Pace and Eric Murdock Jr.). 

[rlk]

Seems when MIT has had their best teams, Harvard has also been quite good - IE - The Bartolotta and Hollingsworth years at least partially matched up with Jeremy Lin at Harvard. 

i am not sure if MIT has won the game in modern times - but tonight could be close.

We've never beaten them in the modern era.  We did once, in the 1960's I believe.

Last year's game was much closer than any of the Kates/Tashman/Hollingsworth games.  First time in the modern era that it was meaningfully a game in the second half (much less in the final 2 minutes).

[rlk]

MIT looks quite loaded indeed.  While it's always hard to tell with frosh, and MIT will have limited minutes available, keep an eye out for the kid from Greece, who looks like he could be really good (although doubly-hard to tell with international players), and Dan Pilsbury, who had great success in a H.s. league with a long history of players who have excelled at the D3 level (most recently Vinny Pace and Eric Murdock Jr.).

One of the Middlebury fans tipped us (here) off about Hamilton Forsythe last year.  Forsythe went to high school with Mark Polger (sp?) and they were very good friends.  Forsythe was our only player with the height to guard Polger in the Sweet 16.

[WPI89]

Seems like YouTube is showing the game live:  no promises on quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPGzXsPaxx0

[BaboNation]

Great to have D3 hoops back.

MIT and Springfield will be the class of the league barring some miracle.  If anything ... scary to think it ... MIT might even be better this year.  That's all good.  I'm a firm believer that lesser programs are forced to get better when the elite teams get better.  A rising tide lifts all boats, or something like that.

Anyway No Easy Wins Make A Champion.

Babson is probably middle of the league this year.  Of the 5 frosh Bradanese is probably the most intriguing and ready to contribute.  Wouldn't surprise me to see 1/2 freshman starters.

[WPI89]

Harvard creeping away after a dead even first half.

[rlk]

Met Matthew Droney tonight before the game.  Very nice guy.

Alas, after a flat first half Harvard went on a run the first 3 or 4 minutes of the second and we were not able to pull back.

[BaboNation]

I watched the Springfield- WNEC game which was much closer than the 95-84 final would indicate.
Pettway's quickness gave the Pride a lot of trouble for most of the game, often taking his dribble from the top of the arc and finishing with layup after layup.
Down 9 in the second half around the 15 minute mark Ross just took over for 90 seconds ... 3 coast-to-coast breaks finishing at the rim each time, then dropping it off to Witter on the 4th drive.  Tie game.

This game wasn't safely in the win column til the final minutes.  Costa (frosh) played meaningful minutes down the stretch and looked really smooth.  Just what the rest of the NEWMAC needs, another weapon for Springfield.

Ross finished with 35/16/6.   Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The season is kind of, sort of, possibly underway in Division III. With the earlier start being decided less than ten months prior, not every program was able to take advantage of the new date. There are still teams who haven't tipped off their seasons while others have already played two or three games this season.

That doesn't mean we can't find topics to talk about on Hoopsville!

Sunday, Dave is back live in studio with plenty of DIII conversation. Plus coaches talk about (high) expectations and being in charge of a program for the first time. Can St. Thomas women take the next step as a program? How will MIT's season be engineered? And from All-American to head coach, what it's like to take over a program for the first time.

Plus, the winningest men's coach in Division III history will not start the season on the bench. More on what has lead Glenn Robinson to take a medical leave of absence.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. Sunday's show will hit the air at 7:00 p.m. ET and be watched here: http://bit.ly/2PPm16G. If you miss the show, you can always watch it On Demand. An audio-only podcast will also be available on the right side of the page (available shortly after the show goes off air).

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 Scheduled (order subject to change):
- Larry Anderson, No. 5 MIT men's coach
- Ruth Sinn, No. 5 St. Thomas women's head coach
- Mike McGarvey, Lycoming men's coach

If you enjoy the show via the podcasts instead, you can get access to them or subscribe one of the three following ways (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville




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[BaboNation]

Tough loss to start the season.  Winnable game, despite an excruciating 24 turnovers.  Credit to JWU for staying with full court pressure for 45 minutes - it worked.  Babson never completely had it solved.
All that said Jaworski (who has improved a lot over his solid freshman season) was shooting 2 FTs, down 1 with a second left in regulation.  He could only make 1 to force the OT.

Not sure if Brandon Johnson was injured in the 2nd half.  He didn't play the last 15 minutes, including OT.  They need him going forward.

My kingdom for a pure point guard.

[WPI89]

Babo - keep it up - best 'color" commentating since Hugenerd was active on this page back in the day!  Kudos.

[BaboNation]

Hey thanks WPI.

You've got a tough home opener on tap with Magnus.  I noticed your incoming freshman have Old School size.  Wow!  I'll check in on that game for sure.

NEWMAC preseason poll had you at #3.  Thoughts on the season?