MBB: NESCAC

amh63 · January 13, 2013, 11:13:41 AM

Old Guy...glad you are ok....afraid you were at a local first aid clinic. I like your term, "treasure". In one "CAC" tourney game, Amherst's Andrew Olsen made a basket....the "shot" as it is often referred to at Amherst...that helped Amherst beat an underdog Tufts team. I cannot treasure that game since I could not look at the last minute of the game...my BB partner who "knew" Amherst would win had to shout out the result of the basket to me,,,,who had my eyes covered and head down like a kid.
Speaking of "discussions" about outcome of a critical game due to a possible foul.....I tend to remember such a discussion last season in one of two Amherst vs. Middlebury squeakers in LeFrak. You have "mellowed" Old Guy.
Did check the box in the Bates vs. Bowdoin game and it seems that 7-footer Swords did help in the Polar Bears' win.

There is only one Div.1 undefeated team, since No. 1 Duke lost.....and there are fewer D3 undefeated teams today, I believe. With respect to the rankings, Franklin and Marshall, the No. 14 ranked team lost to Washington College, a team that had NOT won a game previously.
Guess there will be more head scratching among the polls pickers.
Amherst gets to meet the now fired up Cardinals at home on Tuesday. Thanks Panthers for the favor.

toad22 · January 13, 2013, 01:24:33 PM

Williams had a very satisfying weekend of bball. On Friday, Wesleyan threw everything they had at the Ephs. Down 30-13 after about 10 minutes, something had to start happening for the Ephs, or they were done. They went into a 2-3 zone, and shut Wes out till the end of the half, 8+ minutes. Mike Callaghan and Sha Brown were both great during their run. I didn't think Williams played badly, but what performance by Wes. The comeback was the result of the zone. It really bothered Wes, and seemed to pick up Williams' offense. James Klemm scored 10 straight points to bring his team back from 23-30 to a 33-30 lead. When are other teams going to figure out that Klemm can really shoot? He is a senior who has a career 3pt shooting % in the mid 40s. The second half was back and forth until about the 5 minute mark, when Williams pulled away. Taylor Epley was the primary scorer, but Mike Mayer and Dan Wohl also chipped in. Wesleyan is a dangerous team, and I'm happy to be by them.

Conn College was a whole lot less suspenseful. Williams jumped on the early and never let up. I thought that the entire team played well. Taylor Epley has become something of a scoring machine. He can be slowed down, as in the Tufts game by very tight defense, but only at the expense of leaving a little more room for others. That directly led to Williams shooting 70% for the game, and a comfortable win.

Middlebury, Amherst and Williams seem to be creating some spread over the rest of NESCAC. I'm happy with that, as it greatly improves the chances of an at-large bid to the NCAAs, if Williams doesn't win the league championship. In my mind there is very little spread between Midd, Amherst and Williams so far. So, it will likely come down to head to head matchups.

magicman · January 13, 2013, 02:41:21 PM

Hamilton trying to break into the conference win column leads Trinity 29-25 at the half.

magicman · January 13, 2013, 03:50:39 PM

Hamilton pulls away from Trinity in the 2nd half and wins their first conference game as they down the Bantams 66-48.

Matt Hart led the Continentals with 13 points. Brad Gifford had 10 points and 6 rebounds. Joseph Lin added 9 points and 5 rebounds. Peter Kazickas and Eric Benvenuti both had 9 points as Hamilton had a balanced scoring effort.

Trinity was led by Jamil Ebo with 13 points. Jaquann Starks had 9 points and Shay Ajayi added 8.

Hamilton is now 1-3 in NESCAC play 8-8 overall and will next travel to Middlebury on 1-18.

Trinity drops to 1-2 in the conference and 7-9 overall. They will next host Colby on 1-18.

nescac1 · January 13, 2013, 08:16:02 PM

The bad news for NESCAC is that there are more really bad teams (Hamilton, Trinity, Conn College, Colby, I don't include Bates as I think they are solid and have a lot of close losses to good teams) in the conference than I can recall at any given time. The combination of Colby and Hamilton with coaching changes, and Conn and Trinity with massive player defections and reliance on frosh, equals four major rebuilding efforts. The good news it that I also can't recall so many frosh playing prominent roles on so many squads. The four teams noted above should all be radically improved next year, assuming all the key players actually return. Amherst, Williams, and Midd will remain contenders for NCAA slots. Tufts could finally join them if its current strong group of frosh makes big strides. Bowdoin (for certain) and Bates (likely, although they do lose their only big guy) should be improved as well. Really, only Wesleyan looks like a team that will be taking a big step backwards in terms of talent next year. But for this year, NESCAC seems to be as weak outside the top three as I can recall. I do agree that Midd-Amherst-Williams will be a major battle. A lot of it will come down to who matches up best against who, which really can't be ascertained until the big showdowns begin next week.

Speaking of Midd, I see that Midd's coach Jeff Brown will be on Hoopsville (this site) tonight. I'll be curious to hear what he says. Is he at all candid, or is he more like Coach Maker, who makes coachspeak -- revealing absolutely nothing of any use while seemingly responding to questions -- into an art form. Seems like Midd has hit a tough stretch with its depth suffering a big blow due to injuries. If Sinnickson, who really impressed me last year, comes back in time for the Williams game, that would be a big boost for the Panthers.

Old Guy · January 13, 2013, 08:21:58 PM

Interesting weekend. The league is tighter, top to bottom, than in previous years: Middlebury has two one-point wins against Tufts and Wesleyan; Amherst squeaked by Hamilton; Wesleyan gave the Ephs all they wanted in Wmstown. Tufts got by Colby by just seven. Bates played great against Midd and lost by three.

What's the first big upset? Hard to handicap these games. I am as partisan as anyone, but I told someone this weekend, if you get six points, don't hesitate to take Wes. Midd plays Bowdoin in Brunswick in a couple of weeks. Where's Walzy when we need him?

maineman · January 13, 2013, 08:35:49 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on January 13, 2013, 08:16:02 PM
The bad news for NESCAC is that there are more really bad teams (Hamilton, Trinity, Conn College, Colby, I don't include Bates as I think they are solid and have a lot of close losses to good teams) in the conference than I can recall at any given time. The combination of Colby and Hamilton with coaching changes, and Conn and Trinity with massive player defections and reliance on frosh, equals four major rebuilding efforts.

Just wondering? Who were the defections and where did the players end up playing?

nescac1 · January 13, 2013, 09:23:52 PM

Maineman, Trinity lost a ton of really talented non-seniors from last year's team: Cam Sutton, Carter Trent (Dallas Baptist), Varun Ram (walk on at Maryland), Mike O'Loughlin (currently one of Wheaton's leading scorers), Adam Skaggs, leading scorer Eric Dean (a very good player), and Jon Seltzer (who I think left part-way through last year). The coach I can only assume is not very, well, player-friendly. Especially when he lost two guys heading into their SENIOR years in Sutton and Skaggs, plus a bunch of the top recruits from his last two (and actually, first two) recruiting classes. In fact, that group might be able to beat a few other NESCAC squads all by itself. It just seems really strange.

Conn College also has a history of players leaving the program en masse, often right before their senior years. Demetrius Porter, an all-NESCAC level guy, left before his senior year. From last year's team, two more rising seniors, Boris Jeremic and Rob Harrigan, each left the program. Harrigan in particular could have made Conn much tougher than it has proven to be so far. IT seems like virtually every year, at least 1-2 upperclassmen who were rotation players leave the team. This rarely seems to happen at NESCAC schools other than Conn (and now Trinity).

Because there are no Trinity or Conn posters, hard to have any insight into whether it is an issue of recruiting players who are bad fits (academically or otherwise) for the schools, whether the coach is just not fun to play for, or a combination. But clearly, neither school will ever be competitive again in NESCAC (and remember, these are both teams that made it to the Final Four back in the 1990's, so there is some hoops tradition there) unless and until the rate of attrition abates.

Colby is a different situation, its huge turnover is due to a coaching change and a need for an infusion of new talent. Another school with a very proud hoops tradition that has fallen on hard times (back in the late 1980's and early to mid 1990's, it was Colby and Williams as the big NESCAC hoops powers year in and year out), but I have a feeling in a few years that we'll see Colby again being very competitive.

nescac1 · January 13, 2013, 09:32:00 PM

This is only tangentially NESCAC-related, but there is a connection to Rochester due to its coach, former Amherst assistant Luke Flockerzi. Plus, Rochester is a team that NESCAC squads often face on the road to Salem. The Rochester star, John DiBartolomeo, is posting perhaps the most impressive stat live I've ever seen for a D-3 guard:

24 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5 apg, 2 spg, 2 TO pg, shooting percentages of 52/55/91. Given that he must be the focus of every team's defense, that is just unreal. Simply incredible numbers.

Bucket · January 13, 2013, 10:03:18 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on January 13, 2013, 09:32:00 PM
This is only tangentially NESCAC-related, but there is a connection to Rochester due to its coach, former Amherst assistant Luke Flockerzi. Plus, Rochester is a team that NESCAC squads often face on the road to Salem. The Rochester star, John DiBartolomeo, is posting perhaps the most impressive stat live I've ever seen for a D-3 guard:

24 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5 apg, 2 spg, 2 TO pg, shooting percentages of 52/55/91. Given that he must be the focus of every team's defense, that is just unreal. Simply incredible numbers.

Was very impressed with DiBartolomeo when Midd played Rochester in the tourney a few years ago. Very, very good.

frank uible · January 14, 2013, 04:24:14 AM

This seasson to date Rochester is undefeated and has prevailed over Hamilton by 22 at Hamilton.

Ethelred the Unready · January 14, 2013, 06:07:07 AM

Quote from: frank uible on January 14, 2013, 04:24:14 AM
This seasson to date Rochester is undefeated and has prevailed over Hamilton by 22 at Hamilton.

I saw that game and came away very impressed with DiBartolomeo. Offensively he got to the basket at will and I thought he had uncanny court vision. The majority of his assists (8 I think) came from finding teammates spotting up as he was going strong to the basket and drawing the defense to him. But he was most impressive on the defensive end. Don't often see the kind of defensive intensity this kid has from such an offensive weapon.

magicman · January 14, 2013, 06:54:19 AM

Quote from: Ethelred the Unready on January 14, 2013, 06:07:07 AM
Quote from: frank uible on January 14, 2013, 04:24:14 AM
This seasson to date Rochester is undefeated and has prevailed over Hamilton by 22 at Hamilton.

I saw that game and came away very impressed with DiBartolomeo. Offensively he got to the basket at will and I thought he had uncanny court vision. The majority of his assists (8 I think) came from finding teammates spotting up as he was going strong to the basket and drawing the defense to him. But he was most impressive on the defensive end. Don't often see the kind of defensive intensity this kid has from such an offensive weapon.

DiBartolomeo has been good since he first stepped foot on the court for Rochester. He has to be a leading candidate for First Team All American honors this year and be in the discussion for Player of the Year as well. He was a preseason 2nd Team All American pick but he's moved up the list considerably with the year he's having. Plus his team is doing great as well, that never hurts one's chances.

maineman · January 14, 2013, 09:24:39 AM

Quote from: nescac1 on January 13, 2013, 09:23:52 PM
Maineman, Trinity lost a ton of really talented non-seniors from last year's team: Cam Sutton, Carter Trent (Dallas Baptist), Varun Ram (walk on at Maryland), Mike O'Loughlin (currently one of Wheaton's leading scorers), Adam Skaggs, leading scorer Eric Dean (a very good player), and Jon Seltzer (who I think left part-way through last year). The coach I can only assume is not very, well, player-friendly. Especially when he lost two guys heading into their SENIOR years in Sutton and Skaggs, plus a bunch of the top recruits from his last two (and actually, first two) recruiting classes. In fact, that group might be able to beat a few other NESCAC squads all by itself. It just seems really strange.

Conn College also has a history of players leaving the program en masse, often right before their senior years. Demetrius Porter, an all-NESCAC level guy, left before his senior year. From last year's team, two more rising seniors, Boris Jeremic and Rob Harrigan, each left the program. Harrigan in particular could have made Conn much tougher than it has proven to be so far. IT seems like virtually every year, at least 1-2 upperclassmen who were rotation players leave the team. This rarely seems to happen at NESCAC schools other than Conn (and now Trinity).

Because there are no Trinity or Conn posters, hard to have any insight into whether it is an issue of recruiting players who are bad fits (academically or otherwise) for the schools, whether the coach is just not fun to play for, or a combination. But clearly, neither school will ever be competitive again in NESCAC (and remember, these are both teams that made it to the Final Four back in the 1990's, so there is some hoops tradition there) unless and until the rate of attrition abates.

Colby is a different situation, its huge turnover is due to a coaching change and a need for an infusion of new talent. Another school with a very proud hoops tradition that has fallen on hard times (back in the late 1980's and early to mid 1990's, it was Colby and Williams as the big NESCAC hoops powers year in and year out), but I have a feeling in a few years that we'll see Colby again being very competitive.

nescac1, thank you for all the information. Regarding Colby, I agree that Whitmore's retirement put the program on hold, but I think they will be back to being competitive in a year or two.

amh63 · January 14, 2013, 10:29:56 AM

The Rochester vs. Hamilton game mentioned by Frank and saw by E-T-U (the poster with the long handle) was early in the BB season. I too saw the game to observe potential future Amherst teams. I posted that I was impressed by Rochester but admit that I did not notice the star guard's play outside the context of the team. Rochester's coach who left Amherst to take the rein at Skidmore was noted by some as a great recruiter and it seems he is continuing to be a top recruiter as well as a coach. The UAA teams that were on the road this weekend seems to have taken loses....including the highly ranked Wash. U. team. Road trips can be rough ones.
Oh yes, there are no undefeated Div.1 teams after the top two ranked teams got upset.
Being an undefeated team in Div.3 should get credit in the rankings....Rochester, Middlebury, and WPI in our immediate region.