MBB: NESCAC

[Ethelred the Unready]

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.

I think you're right about the Hamilton game.  DiBartolomeo only played about half the game and while he led the team in scoring with 17, it wasn't a game he needed to dominate.  Also coach Flockerzi had a stop in Rochester between Amherst and Skidmore and as much as I like him (he recruited my son to Rochester when he was an assistant), the juniors and seniors on the this team were brought in by Coach Neer and his staff while Luke was at Skidmore. 

Oh, and most people just call me Ethelred - the Unready is assumed.....

I apologize for making this a run-on post, but something was nagging me so I checked out the UofR roster.  I remember in Coach Neer's last year a number of players didn't return to the team.  And I remember there wasn't much of an effort in recruiting during his last year.  So I looked at the roster and saw that of the 2 juniors and 3 seniors on this years team, 3 start, one has been a bench player during his career and the other is the starting QB who joins the team after football.  So you are right  - the kids Flockerzi has brought in over the last couple of years appear to be solid contributors.

[Bucket]

Just watched this Middlebury student's video project for a Film and Media Culture class, starring Dylan Sinnickson:

http://vimeo.com/57383233

Sinnickson had an electric year as a freshman last season, showing a ton of promise and was slated to be a big contributor this year.

A broken arm on the eve of the season has kept him in street clothes this year...but hopefully not for long. Really looking forward to his return to the hard court. 

[amh63]

Ethelred.....Thanks for the clarifications/info on Rochester's HC Luke Flockerzi.  Some trival about Luke, Amherst and U. of Rochester that maybe of interest to you.  I met Luke several times; once in Salem Va. and once at Amherst; both times after he had left Amherst.  His bio cites his recruiting effort for the Amherst Championship teams of '07 and '08 that played in the NCAA final games.  Two of his "recruits" so to speak are presently serving as assistant coaches at Amherst.  The taller of the two...the 6'11" player was recruited out of Saratoga, NY.
I have also walked the U. Of Rochester campus, dined there and even visited the athletic building where BB is played.  In the lobby of the  "field house" on the left side there is a trophy case of sorts that holds a 50 year old basketball...a game ball for a win by a Yellowjacket team over an Amherst team in a post season game.  Hope it is still there.

A question for you...being a follower of the UAA games.....where are the postings of the UAA games found on the D3hoops Message board?

[Ethelred the Unready]

Etheired.....Thanks for the clarifications/info on Rochester's HC Luke Flockerzi.  Some trival about Luke, Amherst and U. of Rochester that maybe of interest to you.  I met Luke several times; once in Salem Va. and once at Amherst; both times after he had left Amherst.  His bio cites his recruiting effort for the Amherst Championship teams of '07 and '08 that played in the NCAA final games.  Two of his "recruits" so to speak are presently serving as assistant coaches at Amherst.  The taller of the two...the 6'11" player was recruited out of Saratoga, NY.
I have also walked the U. Of Rochester campus, dined there and even visited the athletic building where BB is played.  In the lobby of the  "field house" on the left side there is a trophy case of sorts that holds a 50 year old basketball...a game ball for a win by a Yellowjacket team over an Amherst team in a post season game.  Hope it is still there.

A question for you...being a follower of the UAA games.....where are the postings of the UAA games found on the D3hoops Message board?

Under "Multi-Regional Topics" . 

[lumbercat]

How does the quality of Basketball in the UAA compare with the NESCAC?

[Charles]

How does the quality of Basketball in the UAA compare with the NESCAC?

According to Massey Ratings the UAA has 6 teams in the top 100 SOS. NESCAC highest SOS is Tufts at 135. WIlliams at 140 and Middleybury at 278, the 8th highest SOS in the NESCAC. FWIW, WPI is at 263.

[madzillagd]

The new Top 25 is out (http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/week7).   Midd stays the same - although they got jumped again.  Apparently if they don't lose a game, all remaining undefeated teams will get a chance to pass them up before they get a shot at 1 or 2 again.  If St. Thomas or Rochester lose this week, look for WPI to end up in the #2 spot next week according to the pattern. 

Williams with a big jump from 18 to 10.  I'm surprised by this just because the voters seemed to be hesitant to slot Williams near the top all year.  I thought at best they would hit 13 or 14 this week.  In Williams related news Stevens is back in at 24 with an 11-1 record. 

Amherst jumps 5 spots to #16 after a light week of only 1 game.  LJs benefit from teams falling in front of them. 

[Ethelred the Unready]

How does the quality of Basketball in the UAA compare with the NESCAC?

I can't really give an unbiased answer to that question.  The only 2 NESCAC teams I've seen in person were the aforementioned Hamilton game this year and the Middlebury/Rochester game in the NCAA's several years ago.  I have to say that unless Hamilton got a LOT better between the time they got crushed by Rochester and then SUNY Morrisville, I'm a little surprised by how close their NESCAC games have been.  I will say this about the UAA:  you can't overestimate the effect travel has on these teams.  This weekend Wash U won in the final seconds at Emory and then flew to Rochester for a noon game on Sunday.  They pretty much ran out of gas in the second half of that game.  I know that in the winter of 2009, Rochester won both games of the Brandeis/NYU weekend for the first time ever.  And as much fun as the Chicago/WashU weekend is (and it is a recruiting tool), I can't imagine winning both games in that weekend.  I imagine the NESCAC has more ancient rivalries (I have a nephew intimately involved with sports administration at one NESCAC school), but the UAA consistently plays quality basketball.

[amh63]

Indeed....Wash. U was in the Final Four in 2007 and watched Amherst win the title in 2007 (met the coach and fans in the hotel bash after the game).  Washington U. returned in 2008 to beat Amherst in the title game and won another title in 2009.

Ethelred.....Thanks....found it.....overlooked the place in an earlier search.

Read the latest UAA postings and was surprised to see Brandeis presently second in the standings behind Rochester.  Amherst played Brandeis at home earlier in the year and had a solid win over the Judges....after just loosing to Babson.  Babson has been an up and down team this season and depends heavily on an offense built around 3-point shooting.  They shot the lights out against Amherst...12-23 and won.  They  got crushed recently by WPI when nothing dropped from outside.  Just some more data for posters who want to make comparative score analyses for projecting to the post-season battles ahead.

[walzy31]

I guess I'm bored too. So, I'll say that I went to watch Duncan Robinson, a future (2013-2014) Eph play the other night. The game, vs Taft was a semi-blowout, so it was tough to see really serious action, but generally, I'd say that Robinson is a super talent for our level. He is tall (6'7"), graceful, he plays like a PG, and shoots the lights out. At the D3 level he will be very good, good enough that he is likely to be in the games late, when it really counts, as a first year.

I've heard Duncan Robinson is the real deal. Not happy about it.

[walzy31]

Will we see a FULL slate of "CAC" predictions/projections today .....from Walzy?

Sorry for my absence. I was traveling for the better part of the past three weeks and focused on lines I could actually put money on.

First NESCAC weekends I haven't posted spreads for in 8-9 years. Now that college football is over, I'll get back on it.

[frank uible]

For the last 29 years WashU has hosted an annual four team men's basketball tournament (Lopata Classic). NESCAC teams have been invited at least 9 times - Tufts (1), Trinity (4), Colby (1), Weleyan (1), Amherst (1), Hamilton (1). In only 3 years has a NESCAC team made it to the finals (Trinity, Amherst, Hamilton). No NESCAC team has won the championship. WashU has won the tournament 22 times and has been runnerup twice.

[walzy31]

How does the quality of Basketball in the UAA compare with the NESCAC?

The top 2-4 teams in both the UAA and NESCAC consistently have battled for final fours and national championships over the past 10 seasons. Wash U and Brandeis have been the most consistent teams in the UAA (with Rochester being inconsistently very good). Amherst, Williams, & Middlebury the most consistent in the NESCAC. Amherst has been bounced by Rochester and Wash U in NCAA games, and has eliminated Brandeis seemingly every season from the NCAAs. Similar brands of basketball, quality of players, and quality of coaches. Add in the WIAC and those three conferences to me are THE three conferences in D3 (no offense to the MIAA / OAC / CCIW or ODAC which usually have one dominant team each year that goes far but doesn't win it all - Hope / Wooster/Witt / Va Wes / Ill Wes / Augustana etc).

[walzy31]

For the last 29 years WashU has hosted an annual four team men's basketball tournament (Lopata Classic). NESCAC teams have been invited at least 8 times - Tufts (1), Trinity (4), Colby (1), Weleyan (1), Amherst (1). In no year has a NESCAC team made it to the finals much less won the championship.

I'll trade Lopata Classic victories for final four appearances every day of the week.
Amherst, Middlebury, Williams have gone to Salem a lot since 2003. More times than UAA teams...but UAA teams also have a tougher road to Salem (other than Brandeis).

[walzy31]

Tuesday January 15, 2013 NESCAC Spreads

Amherst -8.0 Vs. Wesleyan
O/U: 144.5