MBB: NEWMAC

[WPI89]

Going to end up a 40 point or so loss.  The only thing I will add is classy (as always) by Bartley - to give the entire squad minutes. 

[stlawus]

Does Babson always use a CCTV security camera to livestream their games?

[BaboNation]

St. Joseph's CT  76  Babson 59


The game got out of hand in the last 10 minutes, but honestly this one was never in doubt.  Babson played St. Joe's twice last year and had a chance to win both, but ended up on the short end of both.  But this year St. Joe's has more veteran leadership, has a deeper bench, and has an extra gear when they need it.

Jacee Martin 20/6 was outstanding, and Tyree Mitchell 14 and Jalen Samuels 12/7 off the bench could not be contained.  They didn't even need a big game from Powell, though he had 6 boards and 2 blocks.

For Babson, other than Bradanese 19/7 and Amado 10/10 the offense was struggling all night.  And Amado was only 1/13 from the field.  He's got talent, but he also has freshman moments.  So far, no one has stepped up to consistently hit from the outside.  34% from the field and 3/19 from the arc won't keep you in many games.  And the only other low post threat (Beau Smith) went down with an injury in only 5 minutes of action.  Cline has size, but his game tends to be on the perimeter or fall-aways.

With most of the game operating out of a half-court offense the team needs better ball distribution from their guards, which right now is PG by committee.  Andrew Kirkpatrick still hasn't played this year and his steadiness on offense is missed.

And now, if Smith is going to be out for an extended period it will put more of a load on the shoulders of Bradanese (who himself left the game briefly with an injury).  Without Parker Mason being ready for action the current 7 game gauntlet is now looking even more daunting.

[BaboNation]

Does Babson always use a CCTV security camera to livestream their games?

I think their coverage is better than most.  Emerson does some of the best camera work I've seen, including multiple cameras and replays, but that's kinda their lane.  As long as the camera operator is always following the ball I'm happy.

[BaboNation]

While I didn't see the game, Emerson had a quality home win over #25 Brandeis.

Still very early and the quality of opponents is all over the place, but from the games I've watched so far I'd rank the league like this:

WPI   Head and shoulders #1.  Lowther came back looking even more muscular and stepped up his already solid game.  FY Adams looks like a vet already.   Those 2 are very realistic POY & ROY respectively.  After them there are steady contributors but no 1st team level players imo.

(2-4 are so close they are interchangeable)

MIT   If the first 7 in the rotation stay healthy they'll be a force in conference play.  They took it to UM-Dartmouth (best team in NE?) for 30 minutes before wearing down maybe.  Hinkley and Chatziveroglou are both key to their success and Hinkley has already missed 2 games.

Babson   I was higher on them earlier, expecting to have seen FY Parker Mason by now, and junior PG Kirkpatrick still hasn't played.  They aren't getting enough production from their guard play (and too many TOs), and if Bradanese ever goes down the inside depth drops off considerably.  Hopefully the tough out of conference schedule has them playing well when league play begins in January.

Emerson   They looked very meh against Nichols, but then get a solid win over Brandeis.  There's plenty of experience (Waterhouse, Martin, Houston), but not guys that take over a game like they've had in the past like Gray and O'Connor.

Clark   Off to a good start.  Maybe one quality win (Bates).  Biko Gayman is quick, but can be hot one game and ice cold another.  Davern gives them inside strength.  The team is rebounding off the conference floor, but I need to see them against more quality opponents before ranking them higher.

Coast Guard  Not much after Drummond.

Springfield   The cupboard looks bare.  There was nobody that was going to replace Ross or Post, but this looks like a multi-year rebuild

Wheaton  I can't see them finishing any higher than 7th.

[WPI89]

+1 Babo

[BaboNation]

Babson  82 Bates  71


Spencer Cline with the game of his career (including St. Anselm's), finishing with 31/6, including 4/8 from the arc, and 11/12 FTs, including front-ends of 3 1 and 1s.  Bradanese was a steadying force with 18/10.  And Dorney with easily his best game at 12/5.

For Bates, Baxter didn't shoot for a great percentage, but requires constant attention and finished with 26.  Ward (8/10) impressed me with his low post finishes and stout defense.  I believe this was his first game of the season.  He looks like a good one.  Harris was a factor in the paint on defense altering shots in limited minutes due to foul problems.  On offense though he lacks the strength to hold his position.  He's reminiscent of what I saw from Sarr 2 years ago.  Speaking of which ...

The game was notable for some key absences.  Bates: Sarr;  Babson: Smith (walking boot), Welch, and Amato from the normal rotation.

The game started out ugly with TOs (Bates didn't have more points than TOs til 6 minutes left in the 1st half) and Babson opened up a 22-4 lead.  Once Bates started taking better care of the ball they stormed all the way back to take 1-2 point leads in the second half.  Then Cline seemingly couldn't miss from anywhere.

Absolutely had to have this one.  Next up Colby in Maine.

[BaboNation]

My reflections on the WPI-Wesleyan game (having watched 30 minutes):

While this was a dominating win for Wesleyan, I don't think this is a seismic correction to the New England power teams.  I still think WPI is a 20+ win team bound for the tournament as an AQ or otherwise.

I do think Wesleyan is one of the few NE teams (very short list) capable of both smothering the low post action and closing out on perimeter shots.  They certainly contained WPI's top forwards in this one.  That said, I think coach Bartley's game plan was sound.  WPI is built to create offense from the inside first.  They tried and tried again, with small successes, usually on 2nd chance putbacks.  Many teams would have relinquished the paint a lot sooner.  I think that is a mistake.

I do think there was one adjustment that WPI was late to make.  They were feeding Adams too often from the wing and the double-team was coming from the weak side.  Later on they interchanged Adams and Lowther on the high and low post, allowing for a pick & drive or jumper.

But above all, when the double arrives and the ball is kicked out to an open wing man they must knock down those shots with better efficiency.  Admittedly there weren't a lot of wide open looks in this one, but there were some, and this continues to be the only recurring problem with WPI defeats.

[WPI89]

Thanks, Babo - I missed the game entirely.   - thanks for the analysis.

[BaboNation]

Colby 78  Babson  74 (OT)

Another winnable game slips away on the road.  This one is harder to take than Salve Regina, because Babson had a 13-point lead and the ball with 10 minutes to play.  But defensive lapses allowed Tyson to heat up and hit 4 key 3-pointers down the stretch to get the game headed to overtime.  Kirsch had an open 3 on the last possession but his shot was off line all the way.

Very uncharacteristic of Babson teams to be unable to close out games like this, but it's largely a reflection of how many new young players are in the rotation.

This also snapped a 9 game winning streak against NESCAC teams going back 3 years.

[BaboNation]

Babson  78  Bowdoin  54

This one got out of hand early, with Babson jumping out to a 17-0 lead in the first 7 minutes behind some smothering perimeter defense and sloppy play by the Polar Bears. 

Good matchup for Babson.  While Bowdoin has talent, they're young and don't have the dominant inside game nor the quick slashing guard that gives Babson trouble.

The infirmary must be filling up fast in Wellesley.  Cline is the latest DNP after 2 strong games.  That adds to the rotational absences of Amato, Kirkpatrick, Welch, Gao, and Smith.  Most troubling, without the 2 'bigs' who normally give Bradanese a blow, Cline and Smith, it will stress the interior defense if these are prolonged injuries.

But, maybe due to these absences, or maybe because he was ready, we got the first look at 6'8" Parker Mason, subbing for Bradanese.  Mason finished with 9/6 in 16 minutes.  He's got a good outside stroke, but rushed things inside, as often happens with frosh.

Bradanese ... what can you say?  26/5 (12/15) in just 24 minutes.  He had everything working.

Hopefully the roster gets healthier soon.  The schedule doesn't have any breathers.

[Greek Tragedy]

Good work, Babo. +1 turkey giblet.

[BaboNation]

I've got to give some respect to a couple of teams that have struggled to rise within the NEWMAC.

Clark is off to a 6-0 start and it's entirely possible they could be 11-0 at the start of league play.  While they haven't had a murderers row schedule the same could be said of other teams around the region.  And in the past Clark has found a way to come up short against even lesser opponents.  They are being led by soph guard Saintilus 17.7/7 who is playing his first year.
Dalvern F and shifty GR Biko Gayman G are returning, key contributors.  Clark's best win is probably Bates, so they certainly haven't been fully tested.  They still like to run, run, run, and get into a shooting match.  I still don't see them cracking the top 4 spots of the NEWMAC, but I'll concede I didn't see Saintilus being this productive.

Wheaton at 5-3 has faced a tougher schedule than Clark.  But the story here is Alex Carlisle, who is averaging 30.5 ppg.
And he has not been shooting in crazy volume; he's been extremely efficient:  60.1%, 48.1%, and 88.1%.  And he's getting to the line a lot, as good scorers do.  He's averaging 7.4/game on FTs alone.  I like FY Bubar's game too.  He's been productive at 8.9/4. 

Both teams are in action tonight.

[BaboNation]

Brandeis  72  Babson 65 

Opening night of the Big 4 Challenge.  Brandeis (H) will face Tufts in the championship, while Babson will play Salem State tomorrow in the consolation.

Hard to explain how out of sync the Babson offense looked tonight.  Did they have final exams on their mind?  Bradanese (7) was bottled up all night by Hagerty.  But there was little support from the rest of the lineup.  Moreover, they were underwater in A/TO (8/10 vs. Brandeis at 16/8).  The ball wasn't moving like it should.  And they continue to struggle from deep.  Babson fans have been spoiled by very good 3-pt shooters for years.  Suddenly that's not an area of strength.

On a positive note, Kirkpatrick played his first game of the year in a sub role and  Welch, Amato and Cline returned after missing several games each.

Brandeis had been beaten handily by NEWMAC's Emerson (with Eastman) @ Emerson and WPI (w/o Eastman) at home just 3 days ago.  Brandeis was the better team tonight.

Just one more D3 opponent before the break.  Salem State's zone defense may either be a remedy or ...

Right now I am dropping Babson to 5th in the NEWMAC, with Clark jumping up to 4th.  5-1 at home but 0-3 away has something to do with that.

[BaboNation]

Babson 82  Salem State  80  (OT)

Consolation game of the Big 4 Challenge.

Whew.  Well, not technically an away game (neutral court), but nice to finally win one away from the friendly confines of Staake Gym.

For Babson, a big game from Dorney (21/21) who is settling in nicely as a starter and being assertive on the offensive end.  Welch had a huge pull-up jumper to help close things out in OT.

For SS, a monster game from Conner Byrne (27/19) on 12/14 from the floor.

SS had the better looks most of the game, but gave up a ton of 2nd chance opportunities on the boards.

This certainly helps going into the break at 6-4, rather than 5-5.  Lots to work on before traveling to Amherst at the end of December.  Babson will play an exhibition game against Harvard on Monday.