MBB: NESCAC

[gordonmann]

Williams has the same schedule structure, though a little different times...

Friday (Women)
6:00 PM – Emory University (24-3) vs. Whitman College (22-5)
8:00 PM – Ithaca College (27-2) vs. Williams College (24-5)

Saturday
4:00 PM – Catholic University (25-3) vs. Williams College (24-4) (Men)
7:00 PM – Friday's Winners play for the right to advance to the Final Four

I'm going to these games. Stop by and say hello if you will too.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Gordon - you are making the trip to Williams?! I am so jealous.

[daoustian]

Amherst posted the Plattsburgh preview -- doesn't add a ton, but at least content is being generated to deal with the slew of releases upcoming for spring sports previews and winter playoffs.  Busy time of year for SIDs.  https://www.amherst.edu/athletics/teams/winter/basketball-m/articles/2012-13/0304_plattprev

[magicman]

Magicman........Got a little BAD news for you concerning game times on Sat.   The Amherst website just announced the men's game will be at 4PM!
Stats and video feed will be provided.
Thought something was funny when this morning there were TBD on start times for the MBB and WBB games.  The final WBB game on Sat....is listed at 7:30PM.  Must be an NCAA thing to clear the gym after the men's game for different set of tickets, etc......more rest for the women playing the Friday late match.
Was also shocked to see that Tennis and Lacrosse games are scheduled on campus when such team previews have not been posted!
Time for Sat WBB game moved to time noted.....still some adjusting.....Add Baseball game on Sunday to the un previewed teams....as of today.!

amh63,
Thanks for letting me know about the time change. I would have found out about it when I went to the Plattsburgh State practice tonight but your post certainly had me grumbling. Now the 2 NESCAC-SUNYAC games will overlap with the 3 PM and 4 PM starting times. I knew it was to good to be true when they announced the original times to be 3 PM and 7 PM. At least I get to watch an hour of the first game before I have to start switching back and forth. Will only leave the Amherst-Plattsburgh game during time outs though, as obviously that's the more important game to follow for this fan.

[Vandy74]

Magicman........Got a little BAD news for you concerning game times on Sat.   The Amherst website just announced the men's game will be at 4PM!
Stats and video feed will be provided.
Thought something was funny when this morning there were TBD on start times for the MBB and WBB games.  The final WBB game on Sat....is listed at 7:30PM.  Must be an NCAA thing to clear the gym after the men's game for different set of tickets, etc......more rest for the women playing the Friday late match.
Was also shocked to see that Tennis and Lacrosse games are scheduled on campus when such team previews have not been posted!
Time for Sat WBB game moved to time noted.....still some adjusting.....Add Baseball game on Sunday to the un previewed teams....as of today.!

amh63,
Thanks for letting me know about the time change. I would have found out about it when I went to the Plattsburgh State practice tonight but your post certainly had me grumbling. Now the 2 NESCAC-SUNYAC games will overlap with the 3 PM and 4 PM starting times. I knew it was to good to be true when they announced the original times to be 3 PM and 7 PM. At least I get to watch an hour of the first game before I have to start switching back and forth. Will only leave the Amherst-Plattsburgh game during time outs though, as obviously that's the more important game to follow for this fan.

magicman,
Midd fans will be doing the opposite.  Too bad.  I really wanted to see that Amherst-Plattsburgh game in it's entirety.  I have a ton of respect for both programs.  I'm glad the Panthers had Plattsburgh early in the season.  They are extremely well coached and always a tough team to beat but I expect Amherst will win it with little, if any, nail-biting time.  They are the favorite to win this whole thing in my opinion.

As middhoops has already reminded me privately Coach Brown and I think differently as far as game plan strategy is concerned and I'm not the one who is the most successful hoops coach in the school's history so I won't offer most of my suggestions here.  I do see the Lynch vs McMahon match up as very important.  McMahon has fouled out of the game 4 times this season.  Lynch must help him do it again, and Roberts must do likewise with Sternkopf.  Unless the Panther perimeter defenders can do something that hasn't been done all season Middlebury is going to need to supplement it's 3 point offense with a strong contribution from inside.  Jensen will be needed to contribute both ways.

[magicman]

Magicman........Got a little BAD news for you concerning game times on Sat.   The Amherst website just announced the men's game will be at 4PM!
Stats and video feed will be provided.
Thought something was funny when this morning there were TBD on start times for the MBB and WBB games.  The final WBB game on Sat....is listed at 7:30PM.  Must be an NCAA thing to clear the gym after the men's game for different set of tickets, etc......more rest for the women playing the Friday late match.
Was also shocked to see that Tennis and Lacrosse games are scheduled on campus when such team previews have not been posted!
Time for Sat WBB game moved to time noted.....still some adjusting.....Add Baseball game on Sunday to the un previewed teams....as of today.!

amh63,
Thanks for letting me know about the time change. I would have found out about it when I went to the Plattsburgh State practice tonight but your post certainly had me grumbling. Now the 2 NESCAC-SUNYAC games will overlap with the 3 PM and 4 PM starting times. I knew it was to good to be true when they announced the original times to be 3 PM and 7 PM. At least I get to watch an hour of the first game before I have to start switching back and forth. Will only leave the Amherst-Plattsburgh game during time outs though, as obviously that's the more important game to follow for this fan.

magicman,
Midd fans will be doing the opposite.  Too bad.  I really wanted to see that Amherst-Plattsburgh game in it's entirety.  I have a ton of respect for both programs.  I'm glad the Panthers had Plattsburgh early in the season.  They are extremely well coached and always a tough team to beat but I expect Amherst will win it with little, if any, nail-biting time.  They are the favorite to win this whole thing in my opinion.

As middhoops has already reminded me privately Coach Brown and I think differently as far as game plan strategy is concerned and I'm not the one who is the most successful hoops coach in the school's history so I won't offer most of my suggestions here.  I do see the Lynch vs McMahon match up as very important.  McMahon has fouled out of the game 4 times this season.  Lynch must help him do it again, and Roberts must do likewise with Sternkopf.  Unless the Panther perimeter defenders can do something that hasn't been done all season Middlebury is going to need to supplement it's 3 point offense with a strong contribution from inside.  Jensen will be needed to contribute both ways.

Vandy74,
I have to agree that Amherst is certainly favored and probably along with St. Thomas one of the top choices to win the Walnut and Bronze. As I mentioned earlier I thought Amherst was going to the Final Four last year and with most of the important parts returning this year another NCAA bid was just a formality. I do hope you're wrong though and the game will be closer than most people think it will be. I have no illusions concerning the outcome but I know that Plattsburgh played a tough schedule this year and the team has improved considerably over the course of the season. The fact that our best player will be sitting on the bench with a cast on his leg has tempered my enthusiasm for any hope of an extended stay in this year's tournament. The Cardinals are deep though. After watching practice tonight they are loose and full of confidence. I just want to see a good game regardless of the outcome.

I'm sort of conflicted in the Cortland-Middlebury game. Of course I have to root for my conference so I'd like Cortland to win the game but I've always been partial to Middlebury in the NESCAC league. I've watch Coach Brown since he was a player at UVM and then he used to come to Plattsburgh and play in our semipro PBA Tournament for a number of years after he graduated. He was alway worth the price of admission. For the past 2 years Middlebury has been my team in the D3hoops Undefeated Pool and I've been fortunate to win the contest with them last year and this year. Wish they didn't have to play Cortland, but it is what it is.
The McMahon-Lynch matchup will be important for sure. McMahon has been an underrated player the past few years with the SUNYAC having a number of good big men. It's amazing how close Cortland and Middlebury are statistically. Even Lynch and McMahon have very little separation. Lynch outscores McMahon by a few ppg but McMahon outrebounds Lynch by a few rpg. Lynch is a few percentage points better shooting free throws but McMahon has the same edge shooting from the field. In terms of fouls Lynch has 70 in 26 games and McMahon has 72 in 28 games. Both teams rely heavily on their guard play and both have a number of long range shooters. The scoring averages are almost identical as are the ppg they give up. This game should come down to whichever team is hotter from behind the 3 point line. It will be interesting to see which player Nolan Thompson will be guarding. I'm sure it will be Jesse Winter or Jeremy Smith. I'm hoping they put him on Winter since I have Smith on my NCAA Fantasy team, but I'm guessing he'll be on Smith, much to my chagrin.       

[middhoops]

Great summary, Magicman.

[walzy31]

Round of 32 Prop Bets

Does at least one NESCAC team get eliminated this weekend?
Yes -200
No +150

Which NESCAC team's high scorer on 3/9/13 is the highest scorer out of all three teams?
Amherst +100
Middlebury +200
Williams -130

Number of games NESCAC teams play in this weekend that have bad officiating?
O: 2.0 (-130)
U: 2.0 (+100)

[ronk]

Magicman........Got a little BAD news for you concerning game times on Sat.   The Amherst website just announced the men's game will be at 4PM!
Stats and video feed will be provided.
Thought something was funny when this morning there were TBD on start times for the MBB and WBB games.  The final WBB game on Sat....is listed at 7:30PM.  Must be an NCAA thing to clear the gym after the men's game for different set of tickets, etc......more rest for the women playing the Friday late match.
Was also shocked to see that Tennis and Lacrosse games are scheduled on campus when such team previews have not been posted!
Time for Sat WBB game moved to time noted.....still some adjusting.....Add Baseball game on Sunday to the un previewed teams....as of today.!

amh63,
Thanks for letting me know about the time change. I would have found out about it when I went to the Plattsburgh State practice tonight but your post certainly had me grumbling. Now the 2 NESCAC-SUNYAC games will overlap with the 3 PM and 4 PM starting times. I knew it was to good to be true when they announced the original times to be 3 PM and 7 PM. At least I get to watch an hour of the first game before I have to start switching back and forth. Will only leave the Amherst-Plattsburgh game during time outs though, as obviously that's the more important game to follow for this fan.

magicman,
Midd fans will be doing the opposite.  Too bad.  I really wanted to see that Amherst-Plattsburgh game in it's entirety.  I have a ton of respect for both programs.  I'm glad the Panthers had Plattsburgh early in the season.  They are extremely well coached and always a tough team to beat but I expect Amherst will win it with little, if any, nail-biting time.  They are the favorite to win this whole thing in my opinion.

As middhoops has already reminded me privately Coach Brown and I think differently as far as game plan strategy is concerned and I'm not the one who is the most successful hoops coach in the school's history so I won't offer most of my suggestions here.  I do see the Lynch vs McMahon match up as very important.  McMahon has fouled out of the game 4 times this season.  Lynch must help him do it again, and Roberts must do likewise with Sternkopf.  Unless the Panther perimeter defenders can do something that hasn't been done all season Middlebury is going to need to supplement it's 3 point offense with a strong contribution from inside.  Jensen will be needed to contribute both ways.

Vandy74,
I have to agree that Amherst is certainly favored and probably along with St. Thomas one of the top choices to win the Walnut and Bronze. As I mentioned earlier I thought Amherst was going to the Final Four last year and with most of the important parts returning this year another NCAA bid was just a formality. I do hope you're wrong though and the game will be closer than most people think it will be. I have no illusions concerning the outcome but I know that Plattsburgh played a tough schedule this year and the team has improved considerably over the course of the season. The fact that our best player will be sitting on the bench with a cast on his leg has tempered my enthusiasm for any hope of an extended stay in this year's tournament. The Cardinals are deep though. After watching practice tonight they are loose and full of confidence. I just want to see a good game regardless of the outcome.

I'm sort of conflicted in the Cortland-Middlebury game. Of course I have to root for my conference so I'd like Cortland to win the game but I've always been partial to Middlebury in the NESCAC league. I've watch Coach Brown since he was a player at UVM and then he used to come to Plattsburgh and play in our semipro PBA Tournament for a number of years after he graduated. He was alway worth the price of admission. For the past 2 years Middlebury has been my team in the D3hoops Undefeated Pool and I've been fortunate to win the contest with them last year and this year. Wish they didn't have to play Cortland, but it is what it is.
The McMahon-Lynch matchup will be important for sure. McMahon has been an underrated player the past few years with the SUNYAC having a number of good big men. It's amazing how close Cortland and Middlebury are statistically. Even Lynch and McMahon have very little separation. Lynch outscores McMahon by a few ppg but McMahon outrebounds Lynch by a few rpg. Lynch is a few percentage points better shooting free throws but McMahon has the same edge shooting from the field. In terms of fouls Lynch has 70 in 26 games and McMahon has 72 in 28 games. Both teams rely heavily on their guard play and both have a number of long range shooters. The scoring averages are almost identical as are the ppg they give up. This game should come down to whichever team is hotter from behind the 3 point line. It will be interesting to see which player Nolan Thompson will be guarding. I'm sure it will be Jesse Winter or Jeremy Smith. I'm hoping they put him on Winter since I have Smith on my NCAA Fantasy team, but I'm guessing he'll be on Smith, much to my chagrin.       

Since I've got Jesse Winter, I'm hoping Nolan will be guarding Jeremy Smith.

[nescac1]

Walzy, who gets to determine "bad officiating"?  My wild guess is that the estimation of games featuring "bad officiating" may closely correspond with the number of losses suffered by NESCAC squads ...

Duncan Robinson highlighted on ESPN recruiting blog:
http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncbrecruiting/national/post?id=5815

Best Non-Division I Player
Duncan Robinson (New Castle, N.H./Phillips Exeter)
2013, PF, 6-7, 190
Status: Committed to Williams College
It's rare that we profile a player headed anywhere other than the Division I level, but in this case it's completely justified. With several other elite prospects on the floor, Robinson was the best player on the court in the Class A final, finishing with 24 points on perfect 9-for-9 shooting (including 5-of-5 from behind the arc) and 11 rebounds en route to MVP honors. At Williams, an academic and athletic Division III powerhouse, Robinson should have the opportunity to develop into a star.

[Panthernation]

The McMahon-Lynch matchup will be important for sure. McMahon has been an underrated player the past few years with the SUNYAC having a number of good big men. It's amazing how close Cortland and Middlebury are statistically. Even Lynch and McMahon have very little separation. Lynch outscores McMahon by a few ppg but McMahon outrebounds Lynch by a few rpg. Lynch is a few percentage points better shooting free throws but McMahon has the same edge shooting from the field. In terms of fouls Lynch has 70 in 26 games and McMahon has 72 in 28 games. Both teams rely heavily on their guard play and both have a number of long range shooters. The scoring averages are almost identical as are the ppg they give up. This game should come down to whichever team is hotter from behind the 3 point line. It will be interesting to see which player Nolan Thompson will be guarding. I'm sure it will be Jesse Winter or Jeremy Smith. I'm hoping they put him on Winter since I have Smith on my NCAA Fantasy team, but I'm guessing he'll be on Smith, much to my chagrin.       

Magicman,

Our guess is that Nolan will guard Jesse Winter. We watched some of the Plattsburgh-Cortland game that's online, which backed up the statistical performances of both players. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but Smith appears to be predominantly a spot-up, catch-and-shoot player (he only averages 2.8 free throws per game) while Winter gets to the line at a much higher rate (4.8 attempts per game) and is the engine that runs the Red Dragons offense. In a lot of ways his offensive game is similar to Aaron Toomey's, both statistically and visually. While Smith has phenomenal range, which he displayed in the SUNYAC Final, Wolfin has shown he can shut down that type of player (he did a great job on Klemm the first time Middlebury and Williams played) and appears to be the right matchup, which would leave Kizel to guard Hefele/Manning.

One other note of interest, in the second half of the Curry game Middlebury's post players routinely doubled AJ Stephens and ignored Tom Durkin. They may be able to employ a similar strategy with McMahon when he and Sternkopf are both on the floor.

[frank uible]

The ESPN blog has to be kidding. Every year inner-city high school basketball produces hundreds of players not headed for division one, who can stuff up to the elbow and can shoot the lights out and who would far out shine any non-division one player to be found in such poopie pants places as NEPSAC.

[magicman]

The McMahon-Lynch matchup will be important for sure. McMahon has been an underrated player the past few years with the SUNYAC having a number of good big men. It's amazing how close Cortland and Middlebury are statistically. Even Lynch and McMahon have very little separation. Lynch outscores McMahon by a few ppg but McMahon outrebounds Lynch by a few rpg. Lynch is a few percentage points better shooting free throws but McMahon has the same edge shooting from the field. In terms of fouls Lynch has 70 in 26 games and McMahon has 72 in 28 games. Both teams rely heavily on their guard play and both have a number of long range shooters. The scoring averages are almost identical as are the ppg they give up. This game should come down to whichever team is hotter from behind the 3 point line. It will be interesting to see which player Nolan Thompson will be guarding. I'm sure it will be Jesse Winter or Jeremy Smith. I'm hoping they put him on Winter since I have Smith on my NCAA Fantasy team, but I'm guessing he'll be on Smith, much to my chagrin.       

Magicman,

Our guess is that Nolan will guard Jesse Winter. We watched some of the Plattsburgh-Cortland game that's online, which backed up the statistical performances of both players. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but Smith appears to be predominantly a spot-up, catch-and-shoot player (he only averages 2.8 free throws per game) while Winter gets to the line at a much higher rate (4.8 attempts per game) and is the engine that runs the Red Dragons offense. In a lot of ways his offensive game is similar to Aaron Toomey's, both statistically and visually. While Smith has phenomenal range, which he displayed in the SUNYAC Final, Wolfin has shown he can shut down that type of player (he did a great job on Klemm the first time Middlebury and Williams played) and appears to be the right matchup, which would leave Kizel to guard Hefele/Manning.

One other note of interest, in the second half of the Curry game Middlebury's post players routinely doubled AJ Stephens and ignored Tom Durkin. They may be able to employ a similar strategy with McMahon when he and Sternkopf are both on the floor.

Panthernation,
I would say that your assesment of Winter and Smith is correct. Winter is the engine and is more active both in distributing the ball and going to the hoop. I hope Nolan is on Winter. I know from watching Wolfin for the past 4 years that he's no slouch when it comes to playing defense but I'd rather have my guy matched up with Jake, than Nolan.

[nescac1]

Nice article on the front page on Williams/Amherst:

http://www.d3hoops.com/columns/around-the-nation/2012-13/williams-amherst-pair-of-rivals

[Charles]

The ESPN blog has to be kidding. Every year inner-city high school basketball produces hundreds of players not headed for division one, who can stuff up to the elbow and can shoot the lights out and who would far out shine any non-division one player to be found in such poopie pants places as NEPSAC.

He went to Exeter, they just beat Choate and the article was written by the Choate Coach.