MBB: NEWMAC

[BaboNation]

Bad night for the NEWMAC. Looking like a down year?

Yeah, looks like a down year for sure, maybe the worst in the last 10 years.

Emerson misses a lot with Waterhouse's graduation, but they've also played without Max Davis to start this season.  If they want to be sure of a Pool C bid they need to go on a run.  Quickly. 

Clark may finally have a winning conference season, but I don't see them being substantially better than last year.

All of the above is a concern for WPI's postseason hopes.  They may go through Jan-Feb without being tested.  Still waiting to see Swedberg in action.

[nescac1]

While not a great loss at ALL for Emerson, Bridgewater State seems to have brought in some legit talent in the off-season.  They are led by three guys all new to the team: Precious Okoh, putting up a 24-3-4, was a regular rotation player as a first-year and sophomore at UMaine (but did not play there last year), Emerson Halblieb, a 6'9 big man who is averaging 16-10 on 73 percent shooting, is a grad transfer from Purdue, where he was the MVP of the club team league, and frosh point guard Dante Kikuba is averaging an impressive 10-6-7 in his first three college games.  Their other two leading scorers are another first-year and a transfer who was a starter at Nebraska Wesleyan, which typically has a strong hoops program.  None of those five guys seems to have played varsity college basketball last year, so you figure there will be some rust to work out and it will take time for them to mesh as a unit ... a good sign for a team that's already 3-0.  That Halblieb played all-American Houston to a statistical standstill is especially impressive, he must be legit. 

Bridgewater State's coach was just elevated to the head job in May so that is an impressive job already scouring some off-the-beaten track places (as well as finding quality frosh) for top-shelf talent.  A sign that it may be a program to watch in the region ... I like also that he is clearly unafraid to schedule tough non-league games, Christopher Newport, Wesleyan, Emerson, UMD, Guilford, that's some quality competition. 

[BaboNation]

While not a great loss at ALL for Emerson, Bridgewater State seems to have brought in some legit talent in the off-season.  They are led by three guys all new to the team: Precious Okoh, putting up a 24-3-4, was a regular rotation player as a first-year and sophomore at UMaine (but did not play there last year), Emerson Halblieb, a 6'9 big man who is averaging 16-10 on 73 percent shooting, is a grad transfer from Purdue, where he was the MVP of the club team league, and frosh point guard Dante Kikuba is averaging an impressive 10-6-7 in his first three college games.  Their other two leading scorers are another first-year and a transfer who was a starter at Nebraska Wesleyan, which typically has a strong hoops program.  None of those five guys seems to have played varsity college basketball last year, so you figure there will be some rust to work out and it will take time for them to mesh as a unit ... a good sign for a team that's already 3-0.  That Halblieb played all-American Houston to a statistical standstill is especially impressive, he must be legit. 

Bridgewater State's coach was just elevated to the head job in May so that is an impressive job already scouring some off-the-beaten track places (as well as finding quality frosh) for top-shelf talent.  A sign that it may be a program to watch in the region ... I like also that he is clearly unafraid to schedule tough non-league games, Christopher Newport, Wesleyan, Emerson, UMD, Guilford, that's some quality competition.

That's all good stuff and I agree BS has improved, but there's no getting around Emerson being 1-2 with all games at home.  I'm just looking at some simple math assuming they don't get the NEWMAC AQ.  I expect they go 0-2 against WPI and lose at least one other in the NEWMAC.  That would be 5 losses (6 really if they lose somewhere in the NEWMAC postseason).  They still have games @ Brandeis, @ Keene State, Wooster (N), Worcester State (H) ...

And while Tufts is a quality team I don't think they are as good as they were last year when Luke Rogers was healthy, despite what comparative records might show and despite what they may well do to my squad on Saturday.

Emerson has Suffolk at home for their next D3 game.  No gimme.  If they don't pull that one out the hole will get very deep.

On a side note Williams looks very, very good.

[nescac1]

Agree on all BaboNation!  Emerson is definitely in dicey shape, especially with a LOT of challenging non-league games ahead (at Keene, Wooster, at UMass Lowell (!), at Brandeis, maybe WSU and Suffolk too). It's quite possible NEWMAC is a one-bid league this year.  Although then again SOMEONE is gonna get some pool C's from regions one and two and there seem to be a lot of conferences with one contender and then a big drop in those regions (maybe everyone outside of NESCAC, and even there, I'd say there are two teams and then a big drop).  I'd agree with your take on Tufts.  I think they are probably in the 3-4 range in NESCAC but I'm not sure just how deep NESCAC is going to be this year. 

I was mostly just curious about Bridgewater given how TERRIBLE they were last year (and losing their best players heading into this year) and was surprised at some of the new guys on the roster.  I am very curious how a just-hired coach found / ended up with really good players from the Purdue club league and Nebraska Wesleyan, plus a guy who had been a sometime-starter at Maine, certainly ...

I'm definitely excited to see what Williams does this season ... if how they played in the second half vs. WSU is the starting point, the team looks a lot better than last year.  But, it's very early! 

[BaboNation]

Tufts 82-73 over Babson, building a 14 point halftime cushion with fundamental basketball:  pick-and-roll, backdoor cuts, high-low lobs, etc. that caused some 2nd half defensive adjustments.  The Jumbos are a good balanced team.

The game got down to 4 in the last few minutes, but the deficit was too great to overcome.
Babson's offense consisted largely of Amado slicing through the lane, Amado jab-stepping for a fallaway jumper, and Amado driving and dishing.
Right now there's too little coming from the starting guards.  I like Kirkpatrick, but when his jumper isn't falling it seems to affect his whole game.  He ended up playing just the first 9 minutes.  Injury or coaching decision?  And grad Cibull has not provided production either.  Those 2 should be expected to provide more veteran leadership.
Still need to find someone capable of posting up low besides Amado who gets swarmed.
I do like FY O'Toole, but he's going to need time to develop his game.  And I like FY Lauder, but he hasn't played since starting game 1, so I assume he's banged up.

If the 22-23 Babson edition is going to write a story it may as well start with the Big 4 Consolation game against Salem State.  That was the same opponent that started a Babson run last season.

Til then, Nate Amado (31 today - 26/9 through 4 games) is worth tuning in to see.

[WPI89]

Needed one like tonight Fitchburg wrong place wrong time. Turkey will taste much juicier after putting one together on all levels.

[BaboNation]

Babson wins its 5 straight in the annual rivalry with Amherst 66-54.

This was one Babson absolutely had to have with just 3 out of conference home games and Ryker Vance not playing for Amherst (to me, their best all-around player).

Nate Amado was again the best player on the court (20/6) but injured his right arm with about 5 minutes left and favored it thereafter.  Such is the state of the team that he played the rest of the way but he missed the handshake line to chat with the trainer.  He's essential to this team on both ends.  And his 6th straight 20 point game is the longest streak in team history since some guy named Flannery.

The game was almost a replica of the Tufts game in reverse.  Babson dominated on both ends (even outrebounding the taller Mammoths), racing out to leads of 11-0, 19-3, before ending the half up 35-21.  But careless Babson ball-handling and better Amherst execution in a spread offense cut it down to 4 or 5 before Babson settled down to close it out.

At 4-2 the remaining 5 games before conference play are all probably in the 40-60% winnable probability (assuming Amado is healthy).  The Hope game is a lot more realistic if Evan Thomas is still sidelined with his injury.

It's still too early to say how good the team is.  Probably in the 3rd spot in the NEWMAC, but 2nd or 4th if things go either way.

I don't think Amherst is a NESCAC contender this year, but they certainly will need Vance to make any kind of run.

[BaboNation]

Babson falls to Bowdoin in Maine 82-74.

Werkman, McGowan (28), and even FY Bessire took it to Babson in the paint, off the drive, and on some basic cuts that got them back in the game and in control down the stretch.
The FT disparity in Bowdoin's favor was a reflection of one team's ability to generate mismatches down low.

We got a glimpse of Babson's offense without Amado (22) when he left the game down the stretch for about 5 minutes;  some god-awful possessions.

Trick or treat right now for Babson fans with a very green team that isn't getting enough from the upperclassmen.

[BaboNation]

Babson wins @ Brandeis 88-76.

You never know what kind of game you're going to get around final exam time, and I wonder whether outside thoughts played into this one.

Anyway, 3rd chance is the charm for Babson in terms of getting a signature win after losing to St. Joe's and Tufts earlier in the season.

Very interesting starting lineup going small with Amado jumping center.

Andrew Gao with the best overall game of his Babson career 15/3 and strong deny defense.  Grad Ryan Cibull with his (hopefully) breakout game with 10 points, 5 assists and no TOs.  Kirkpatrick off the bench, playing under control with 18 points and 5 assists.  Gorgol (7/7) with great board work.  And Amado 16/7/5 didn't have to carry the offense for the first time all season.  Just 4 team TOs for the game and a 31-24 rebounding edge with a smaller lineup most of the night.

I don't know if this will be a trend, but the two Babson bigs (Mason/Woolhouse) played a season-low 12 minutes combined. 

Harris (23) Lien (20) and Edwards (15) got Brandeis off to a torrid start hitting 8-11 from the arc in the first half, but why was Justice playing so few minutes?  And as much as I want to compliment the Babson offense there was some bad defense played by the Judges in the 2nd half particularly.

That's it until the Hope & Chicago holiday trip. 

Side notes: 

Always enjoy listening to Jonah White on the play-by-play.  Good game prep.  I guess this was his last game for the season,  He had a nice stat, saying Babson has something like the 8th fewest FT attempts in all of D3 (a reflection of the team offense to date).

Another Babson player has departed from the roster (Staiti).  I don't think we need to read anything into this, but that makes 6 since last year, not including graduations.  So, from a Covid high of 21, the size is now 13.  The one that's missed the most by far is Dorney.

Edit:  Congratulations to women's coach Judy Blinstrub on win #700!

[D3Parent1]

Bobonation thank you for the great analysis   I have no skin in this game but I alway appreciate your thoughts.   Good luck to Babason

[deiscanton]

Thanks to Brandeis for temporarily keeping an archived feed of last night's Brandeis v Babson men's basketball game up on their live video website.  I was able to rewatch the second half of the game this morning.

Jonah White did confirm that last night's Brandeis vs Babson basketball game was his final game as the regular PBP commentator for Brandeis Athletics, as he is studying abroad for the spring semester and is scheduled to graduate in May.

Joshua Hertz, who served as color analyst last night for Jonah White, will be taking over the PBP for all Brandeis home athletic contests-- scheduled to start with the NYU at Brandeis doubleheader on January 7th, and will be doing the PBP for all Brandeis UAA men's and women's basketball home games, and then will continue in the spring with Brandeis baseball and softball games.

Josh Hertz started PBPing for Brandeis last March with baseball and softball, and did some Brandeis home soccer games in the fall already.  Mr. Hertz currently serves on campus as the general manager for the Brandeis student radio station, WBRS 100.1 FM, in addition to his PBP and color duties for Brandeis Athletics as well as pursuing his Brandeis undergrad studies.

BTW, Babson, great game last night.  You earned the win, and hopefully you can be in the Pool C conversation again come conference tournament time.

[WPI89]

Belated congratulations to Coach Bartley on win 400.  Here's to many more - 24 or so this year would be a great start!

[BaboNation]

I watched the Emerson-Wooster game from Florida, with Wooster winning 63-56.

Houston only played the first 5 minutes of the first half after picking up his 2nd foul.  He finished the game with 12/13 but Nick Everett did a very good job fronting him, recovering, harassing his dribble all game.  The other Wooster big man (Kurt) didn't show the same quickness and strength in ball denial.  Houston's light afternoon of 4/4 from the field is a little misleading because Wooster fouled him a number of times to put him at the line (4/6) or in non-shooting situations.

Emerson probably overdid the entry passing when it wasn't there, leading in part to 21 TOs.

Still no Max Davis sighting for Emerson, though he's still on the roster.  I don't want to sound like the guy is an AA, but his game would help.  A lot imo.

So Emerson is 5-4 with the tournament game against Augsburg tomorrow and @ Keene St before the new year and conference play begins.  With no real signature win to date and losses mounting they are probably going to need to win the AQ to make the tournament or go on a tear.  A win @ Keene is a huge lift, but it might be necessary to achieve the latter path.

[BaboNation]

Around the NEWMAC in holiday week:

WPI is still the clear head of the pack, but the loss at Hamilton certainly shows some vulnerability and will give other conference foes hope to steal a game when league play begins.

Concerns:  Outside shooting and rotational depth behind Lowther and Adams.  WPI under coach Bartley has always looked for inside offense first, and he's had some dominant threats inside.  But when teams are able to take that away they must be able to hit outside shots consistently.  Beyond Callahan, there are still questions.  Furthermore, always a strong defensive team, they've been uncharacteristically less than dominant on the glass where they have a marginal edge thus far.  They miss what O'Donnell could give them backing up Adams last year, and while Sevilla is a strong defender he's a notch or two less productive than what they were accustomed to receiving from McNamara the last few years.  I expected they'd get a lot more from Swedberg, given what he produced at Clarkson, but I'm assuming he's got a lingering injury.

Holiday week games:  Fri. St Joseph's CT (H).  Really tough matchup.  Full disclosure:  I didn't think STJ was a worthy #13 after downing Babson.  In my (weak?) defense, I think STJ has taken it to another level since then and are really locked in now,  Kinder especially.  WPI will find it very, very difficult to get clean looks anywhere inside.  Everything will be contested, and someone will step in to deny a drive.  So, outside shooting to open up spaces will be essential.

Clark:  Not head and shoulders #2, but they show some flashes of improvement, and have faced better OOC competition (notably Tufts) than in years past.  Isaiah Taylor is a legitimate threat to become the all-time top scorer in team history.  They still favor a fast paced, wide open game.  I like McArdle a lot inside (15.3 RPG in the last 3 are Houston type numbers).  He's much more of a low post presence than what they got from Dalvern for years and he has helped flip the team FG and RPG totals from net negatives to positives.  Normally I'd say let's wait til conference play to see if this holds up, but with the upgrade in OOC scheduling I think it's likely to continue.  I'm anxious to see McArdle against Houston and Adams.

Holiday week games:  Williams (H) Nazareth (H).  Um, better hope you catch Williams flat, but even then, there's so much depth that it could get ugly quickly.  I haven't seen Nazareth, but their resume is daunting.

Babson:  Hope (A);  Chicago (A).  Babson catches a break with Evan Thomas out, but Hope is still very good.  McKenzie is a pure shooter with great range.  The team picks up defensively much higher than what Babson usually sees.  It will be interesting to see if Babson sticks with the smaller unit they played against Brandeis. Would need no worse than a split to keep within Pool C consideration, and a victory over Hope would add another signature win.  Going forward it remains to be seen whether FY Tyler Lauder will be back from injury to solidify the inside.  He hasn't played since game 1 and it's asking a lot from a FY, but I think he's the only strong matchup they have against Houston and Adams.

Emerson:  Fri Keene State (A).  At 5-5, with no signature wins they are hanging by a thread for any Pool C hope.  They'd almost have to have this one and/or run the table in NEWMAC play.
Max Davis (14 ppg) saw his first '22-'23 action the last 2 games.  The offense is still iffy and stagnant beyond Houston and the defense is middle of the pack.

It's been a rough start to the NEWMAC season, and while these 4 seem to be the clear top half of the conference I won't be shocked if they come out of this week 0-6 (fwiw, Massey has WPI over STJ as the only 'W').

[SpringSt7]

Clark:
Holiday week games:  Williams (H) Nazareth (H).  Um, better hope you catch Williams flat, but even then, there's so much depth that it could get ugly quickly.  I haven't seen Nazareth, but their resume is daunting.

Ironically, Clark caught a flat Williams team today and lost by 17. They built up a 16 point lead in the first half on 7 made threes but went into half up 6 after some really sloppy play and lost all the momentum. It was over after that. Isaiah Taylor went 3-19, that didn't help either.

I have seen Clark in limited stretches this year but see no reason why they can't steal the NEWMAC. Now, it's unlikely, but they play a very defined style that is perfect for pulling upsets. Plus, if the presumed championship game against WPI (no offense to anyone else, they've only played in about 6 in a row) is played at their tempo, they have more firepower to win a shootout. Plus, McArdle can bang against Adams and Houston at least at a serviceable enough level to force others to put them away.

Normally you would say a 3pt shooting team has just as much of a chance to shoot themselves out of the game too, but they have 4 guys shooting over 40% from 3 on 4+ attempts each. Those numbers will definitely go down as their schedule improves in conference play, but it seems fairly reliable so far through 10 games.