MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Thanks for the info, Toad and Madzilla.  Wow, now that explains why they looked lethargic / a bit out of synch.  Pretty damn gutty / impressive to come back from eight down in the second half with half the team sick, that shows a tremendous amount of character and toughness.  Fingers crossed that the team gets closer to 100 percent as they head into the brutal at-Amherst / Middlebury week unfortunately, only two days to heal up for Amherst so hopefully the flu is of a 48 hour variety. 

Agreed with Toad's comments re: Daniel Wohl.  He has been the ultimate glue guy this year ... making key defensive plays (including many blocks or turnovers forced in big situations), always playing steady / heady ball, being an excellent finisher around the rim, rarely trying to do much but still making plays for his teammates, and also able to hit open threes.  The Ephs would not be where they are without him.  The frontcourt of him, Epley and Mayer is already pretty darn good, and it will be fun to see what they can accomplish going forward as they grow together over the next year.  Still would love to see a bit more of Kilcullen, who makes positive plays whenever he is in the game, but Maker seems to be going with his veterans up front. 

NEHoops, your top ten looks pretty good but I'd swap Matt Vadas and Mike Callaghan in for Safford and Pieri, who are both a year away from entering that echelon.  Vadas, in fact, I'd put in the top five along with Mayer, Toomey, Kizell, and Epley, with Nolan Thompson, Willy Workman, and Sha Brown right there as well.  That should be 8/10 all-NESCAC slots most likely, with only the last two being more competitive, but Anderson and Callaghan have both earned it and being seniors will more likely be recognized. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

I asked about that. They all got flu shots.

Mrs. Y and I both got flu shots.  We still got the flu (though very brief and fairly mild).

[frank uible]

It turns out that medical science is not as effective as we peons are commonly mislead to believe. We should not be surprised. On the heirarchy of sciences medicine falls just above witchcraft and just below prestidigitation.

[magicman]

It turns out that medical science is not as effective as we peons are commonly mislead to believe. We should not be surprised. On the heirarchy of sciences medicine falls just above witchcraft and just below prestidigitation.

I'm glad you didn't have those two reversed. We prestidigitators appreciate that.

[amh63]

A.P. Angel......nice to "hear" from you again.
Grabtherim.....the poster above is referring to

Greg St. Jean, a senior player on the Cardinals....an honorary captain? and vocal supporter on the bench.  He has not played in several years due to an injury.  Actually caught his comments on the Wes. broadcast of their football games.
Expect more posters for Hamilton in the future.  The Conn. posters disappeared since their glory days....after their coach went to Brown?
There are Trinity posters around....on the footboard board and the last one....an former asst. coach for Amherst...for BB has not posted
since he left the area for a job in the pro ranks....admin job.  Tufts has an occasional poster, but mainly on the WBB board and in football.  Supporters for the Maine schools, often do not seem to identify themselves with a particular school.....except for Old Guy, it seems to me.  Maine 1 maybe a Polar Bear supporter.  Guess the Maine supporters are more "selective".

[amh63]

On this quiet "CAC" Monday......19th ranked Albertus Mangus.....whose coach was just on Hoopsville......loses to Anna Maria in a high scoring game 97-88,  Anna Maria took more shots..dominated the boards and A. Magnus missed more foul shots....took around 40 foul shots!  In any case, seems Amherst's "weak" out of conference schedule just go a little bit stronger.

Thinking a little more about the NCAA "15 dressed players" RULE IN THE POST SEASON...more like remembering.....I think it is based on that evil thing called MONEY.  In Div 3 BB, money considerations have a big impact, IMO, on post-season tournament games....what site to play at and the traveling squad size, etc.  This year, when the Elite Eight games are scheduled for Salem Va.....placement of selected schools at regional sites should prove most interesting.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

On this quiet "CAC" Monday......19th ranked Albertus Mangus.....whose coach was just on Hoopsville......loses to Anna Maria in a high scoring game 97-88,  Anna Maria took more shots..dominated the boards and A. Magnus missed more foul shots....took around 40 foul shots!  In any case, seems Amherst's "weak" out of conference schedule just go a little bit stronger.

Thinking a little more about the NCAA "15 dressed players" RULE IN THE POST SEASON...more like remembering.....I think it is based on that evil thing called MONEY.  In Div 3 BB, money considerations have a big impact, IMO, on post-season tournament games....what site to play at and the traveling squad size, etc.  This year, when the Elite Eight games are scheduled for Salem Va.....placement of selected schools at regional sites should prove most interesting.

A) Thanks for the shout-out to Hoopsville... I think.
B) The player rule is based on money and I believe it is true across the board, including for D1. There are hotel rooms and transportation to keep in mind and thus they aren't going to pay for extra rooms and such for a team that happens to have more than 15.

Also, it is a fairness factor that you aren't going 18 deep or able to find guys to make up for injuries against a team that may not be able to go as deep.

Remember there are basically NO regional sites this year. There will be single games the first three weekends of the tournament leading up to Salem for the quarterfinals and semifinals. So that means there will be 30 hosts on the first weekend, 16 hosts the second weekend, and 8 hosts the third weekend. This will not only give more schools the opportunity to host men's games but also the chance for men and women to be hosting at the same site on the same weekend (if logistics allows). Furthermore, it may give the committee a little more creative powers as they don't have to worry about three teams traveling to one site, but rather one team traveling to one site per game. We shall see, though...

[frank uible]

Re Rule of 15, (a) each team can unilaterally decide what its own traveling number should be in order to effect its economies, thereby avoiding interference with another team's selection of an appropriate number for it, and (b) the 16th man on a NESCAC basketball team is never, or virtually never, a realistic factor in winning or losing.

[NEhoops]

Nescac1, great insight. I have organized the list by class. Seniors definitely have an edge in the voting and I think a team's record in conference play factors in as well. With that said Callaghan should definitely be on the list. Based on ten players being selected which is usually the case, Pieri is out and it comes down to Vadas and Safford at this point. If Vadas was a SR I'd have to go with him, but based on the stats and the games I've seen my final pick is Safford. Clearly a long way to go, but just wanted to get the debate going early and often.

SR
Scott Anderson – Tufts
Willy Workman – Amherst
Mike Callaghan – Wesleyan
Shasha Brown – Wesleyan
Nolan Thompson – Middlebury

JR
Aaron Toomey – Amherst
Joey Kizel – Middlebury
Taylor Epley – Williams
Mike Mayer – Williams

SO
Graham Safford - Bates

[Old Guy]

This year's senior class at Midd is special. Thompson is getting his just due, but let's not neglect Jake Wolfin, the career assists leader and soon to reach 1000 points.

Sharry and Locke may have made the Panthers into a national power, but that backcourt - Wolfin/Thompson - joined by Kizell one class behind, all starters since day one) goes a long way to explaining Middlebury's incredible record over the last 4 1/2 years
- 126-14 (NESCAC 51-6) The overall record might in part be accounted for by SOS, but not the NESCAC record. Could that be the best winning % in D3 over this time?

[Panthernation]

- 126-14 (NESCAC 51-6) The overall record might in part be accounted for by SOS, but not the NESCAC record. Could that be the best winning % in D3 over this time?

Been wondering the same thing. Looked through the top 25 from the past few years to check, and indeed, nobody else has 14 or less wins in that time period, so Middlebury has the best winning % in all of D3 basketball since the start of the '08-'09 season. Next are Whitworth and St. Thomas (16 losses each).

St. Thomas, by the way, picked up that 16th loss tonight, which means there are only three undefeated teams left in the nation (and all are from the northeast).

[Panthernation]

- 126-14 (NESCAC 51-6) The overall record might in part be accounted for by SOS, but not the NESCAC record. Could that be the best winning % in D3 over this time?

Been wondering the same thing. Looked through the top 25 from the past few years to check, and indeed, nobody else has 14 or less wins in that time period, so Middlebury has the best winning % in all of D3 basketball since the start of the '08-'09 season. Next are Whitworth and St. Thomas (16 losses each).

St. Thomas, by the way, picked up that 16th loss tonight, which means there are only three undefeated teams left in the nation (and all are from the northeast).

In fact, Middlebury has the fewest losses in D3 basketball in each of the following time spans:

-2012-13 (0),
-2011-13 (4),
-2010-13 (6),
-2009-13 (10), and
-2008-13 (14).

[frank uible]

Time to move to the Big Ten.

[pick and roll]

Midd might not be quite ready for Big Ten or ACC but these teams are a lot more fun to follow than the early NESCAC days when a 500 record in conference was a reason to celebrate! 

[WPI89]

Oh where o where did your Walzy go - I hope the Karma Cops didn't meet him in an alley with a lead pipe?  Still in desperate need of 3 karma dollars...........

Anyone know when the first regional rankings come out?  Middlebury, WPI, Williams, Amherst, RIC, MIT, Magnus...........?