MBB: NESCAC

[Pat Coleman]

Nobody makes their living broadcasting D-III basketball games, just like I don't make my living doing D3sports.com (although Dave is consulting with schools about broadcasting and doing other freelance after a decade or so as a TV news producer). I don't see where Dave was critical of Catholic's webcasting capabilities, lefrakenstein.

[Bombers798891]

I'm sure Ithaca will be a tough test for Midd, Frank.  One other player of note: while not one of their stars, G Eli Maravich is the nephew of Pete.  Interesting. 

But then again, they did lose eight games this year despite playing in a mediocre (at best) conference, including losses to Utica, Nazareth, Scranton, Elmira, Oswego, none of whom made the tourney.  Their only win vs. a top 25 team all year was last weekend vs. a Rochester team that completely fell apart late in the season (based on stats from the last few weeks, teams either figured out how to stop Dibartolomeo, or he was injured).  Ithaca also has the misfortune of relying on a star who plays the same position as Nolan Thompson.

Couple things to point out, vis-a-vie Ithaca, who despite everything I am going to say, remains the clear underdog:

1) "Their only win vs. a top 25 team all year was last weekend vs. a Rochester team that completely fell apart late in the season (based on stats from the last few weeks, teams either figured out how to stop Dibartolomeo, or he was injured)"

A. That was technically not Ithaca's only win over a top 25 team this season. They beat Stevens handily twice when the Ducks were ranked. Sure, they aren't now. But part of that is because Ithaca beat them.

B. Several of those losses came when the Bombers had starters out. Andrei Oztemel missed the Scranton game and the Utica game. Both he and Warech missed the Nazareth game and the Stevens loss. Consider that the Scranton, Utica and Naz losses were by a combined 7 points, and the Bomber beat Stevens twice at full strength, I wouldn't read too much into them. Yes, every team deals with injuries, but considering the Bombers are healthy now, the team that lost those games is not the one that will be playing on Saturday. Several players who saw significant time in those games (Brandt, Bevan, Ross, etc.) did not play against Rochester, and others (Jordan Healy) played more limited roles.

c. As far as Dibartolomeo being "figured out" let's not be naive. This guy was a senior, and had scored 42 points a week earlier and 38 a few games before that. You don't hold a guy like that to two points because *he's* been figured out. You do it because you've got a good scheme and good players. I heard he had sprained an ankle earlier in the week, so there might be more creedance to the injury thing, but he still played all 40 minutes, so he was clearly not just out there for appearances.

Of course, Middlebury is the favorite. And they'll probably win the game by 8-10 points. Don't think I'm being unrealistic. Just wanted to give you guys a more complete description of the way the Bombers' season went.

[nescac1]

Regarding DiBartolomeo, he was shooting at a historically high rate for a perimeter player, absolutely shooting the lights out from both two and three point range through the end of January.  Something dramatically changed over the past month, which is why I assume that he was most likely injured, or possibly teams just started paying such an overwhelming amount of attention to him and figured out how to limit his (and the team's) effectiveness.  Here are his shooting numbers since February 1 ... only one game over 50 percent after averaging well over 50 percent for the season prior to that:

1-7
9-18
2-9
5-16
12-21
3-17
6-16
11-27
0-8

The injury situation, on the other hand, was news to me and probably does explain most of those seemingly surprising losses.  Given that Ithaca is now at full strength and has some big-time talents on the roster, I think Midd's road to advance may be tougher than I originally assumed.  It does, however, still seem like a good match-up for Midd, given that Warech will have a very difficult time posting his usual stats vs. Nolan Thompson. 

[Bombers798891]

Regarding DiBartolomeo, he was shooting at a historically high rate for a perimeter player, absolutely shooting the lights out from both two and three point range through the end of January.  Something dramatically changed over the past month, which is why I assume that he was most likely injured, or possibly teams just started paying such an overwhelming amount of attention to him and figured out how to limit his (and the team's) effectiveness.  Here are his shooting numbers since February 1 ... only one game over 50 percent after averaging well over 50 percent for the season prior to that:

1-7
9-18
2-9
5-16
12-21
3-17
6-16
11-27
0-8

The injury situation, on the other hand, was news to me and probably does explain most of those seemingly surprising losses.  Given that Ithaca is now at full strength and has some big-time talents on the roster, I think Midd's road to advance may be tougher than I originally assumed.  It does, however, still seem like a good match-up for Midd, given that Warech will have a very difficult time posting his usual stats vs. Nolan Thompson.

That's fair to a degree, but the guy shot 47% from the floor over his sophomore and junior years on 586 shots. It's not like this great senior year came out of nowhere (although you're right that his 3-point shooting was probably unsustainable). He's had streaks of sub-.500 shooting before (5 straight earlier this season, 7 of 10 last season). Shooters can be streaky, (Oztemel is a prime example) but I just felt like the explanation you gave was a little too much "Well, teams had figured him out so it's not that big of a deal what Ithaca did." I apologize if it was an overreaction.

As I said, you're right that Mid is still the favorite, for any number of reasons. My aim wasn't to say you were wrong. I know at this time of the year, we're all seeing teams we never have, so it's a lot of scouting W-L records and stat sheets. I'm actually more concerned about Midd's outside shooting. Oztemel is really Ithaca's only gunner (though Maravich and Rossi are threats) and I'm not sure he's 100%. I'm expecting something like 81-67. Best of luck!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Before any of this came out, my overall impression of the Williams broadcast was simply that it wasn't very good.  I don't have any problem with the video or technical aspects - schools do what they can do; I don't think they should be obligated to do more than they want.  However, the announcers just weren't great.

I don't know if Williams has a broadcasting or media degree, but even without one, they should be putting better quality broadcasters on the air - even as students.

I didn't listen to the Amherst game, so I can't speak to that broadcast, but I didn't find the Williams announcers to be overly one-sided (they were less so than the "semi-professional" broadcasters from OWU during their game later on) - it just seemed like they didn't prepare well and they weren't very polished.

If there's no media/broadcasting program, you can't expect to have a long roster of possible broadcasters, but for a school with so many quality athletic programs, they should have some system of training and developing broadcasting talent.

Even student broadcasters should prepare.  I didn't think the Williams broadcast was terrible, I did notice the low quality

Then again, I listened to part of the Sixers-Magic game on the radio last night (Philly local broadcast) and the guy couldn't pronounce Aaron Afflalo correctly.  So there's that.

Overall I think there's a real gap between the number of broadcasting positions out there and the number of really quality broadcasters.  It's not as easy as the good ones make it seem.

I do think Williams can do better and perhaps this will be a reason to work on what they're offering.

[Matt Letourneau]

For the record, I'm not aware of Catholic having problems with their video feed...all year. (Just sayin').

I still can't even get the live stats to work.  I'm reliant on the Catholic website which only updates every so often.

Well... they did have problems like no broadcasters and sometimes no video due to lack for crew for about half the year... but feel free to think it was all good at CUA

Really beside the point now, but every time I tried to watch a game from home, I never had a problem.  Maybe there were issues for the games I was at in person or for a game I didn't try to watch early in the season for whatever reason.  In any event, what you describe is not a technical problem, and certainly for games of magnitude is not an issue.   

You have certainly elevated this issue now and I agree with you.

[nescac1]

Hoops Fan, Williams does not have a broadcasting major (nor does any NESCAC school).  But, the Ephs do have a pretty impressive group of alumni broadcast and/or sports journalists .... Tim Layden, Erin Burnett, Mika Brzenziski , Bethany McClean, David Marash, Peter Ley, among others.    The Sports Information department also gives an annual award to a student sports broadcaste,r and usually there are impressive students to choose from.

Williams-VWU game time set for 7:00 on Saturday.  Spring break starts on that day, so I imagine that there won't be a huge student turnout for the game, unfortunately.   

[grabtherim]

Hoops Fan, Williams does not have a broadcasting major (nor does any NESCAC school).  But, the Ephs do have a pretty impressive group of alumni broadcast and/or sports journalists .... Tim Layden, Erin Burnett, Mika Brzenziski , Bethany McClean, David Marash, Peter Ley, among others.    The Sports Information department also gives an annual award to a student sports broadcaste,r and usually there are impressive students to choose from.

Williams-VWU game time set for 7:00 on Saturday.  Spring break starts on that day, so I imagine that there won't be a huge student turnout for the game, unfortunately.

I really enjoy all the back and forth on the broadcasts, but as previously stated, I think the student announcers have to be taken with a big grain of salt.  They are not professionals, some are better than others and take pride in doing so.  What really should be better, given the relatively inexpensive options out there, is the audio and video quality of the webcasts. 

[lefrakenstein]

For the record, I'm not aware of Catholic having problems with their video feed...all year. (Just sayin').

I still can't even get the live stats to work.  I'm reliant on the Catholic website which only updates every so often.

Well... they did have problems like no broadcasters and sometimes no video due to lack for crew for about half the year... but feel free to think it was all good at CUA

Here ya go Pat. It's not like he was being super aggressive about it, but I think it's fair to say 'critical'.

And maybe 'make a living off of' is an exaggeration, but per his bio on this site "McHugh has started his own broadcasting, production, voice-over, and consulting company, "dmac Productions," in the Baltimore and Washington, DC region. Part of his work has included being the play-by-play voice for Stevenson football and high school games for Fairfax Sports Network in Fairfax County, Va."

Catholic is, of course, in the DC area.

I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that he has a skin in the game.

[LarryBasketball33]

I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that he has a skin in the game.

Apparently, unless you agree with him, it's a thin skin.  We need some games to discuss, but it's difficult to analyze and/or handicap these when one sides fans/pundits have never seen the other play in person or on the tube. 

[Pat Coleman]

For the record, I'm not aware of Catholic having problems with their video feed...all year. (Just sayin').

I still can't even get the live stats to work.  I'm reliant on the Catholic website which only updates every so often.

Well... they did have problems like no broadcasters and sometimes no video due to lack for crew for about half the year... but feel free to think it was all good at CUA

Here ya go Pat. It's not like he was being super aggressive about it, but I think it's fair to say 'critical'.

And maybe 'make a living off of' is an exaggeration, but per his bio on this site "McHugh has started his own broadcasting, production, voice-over, and consulting company, "dmac Productions," in the Baltimore and Washington, DC region. Part of his work has included being the play-by-play voice for Stevenson football and high school games for Fairfax Sports Network in Fairfax County, Va."

Catholic is, of course, in the DC area.

I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that he has a skin in the game.

Thanks. Dave brought that back forward a little while ago, too. I had missed it. Despite being a Catholic grad, I don't actually watch too many of their games online because I have to focus on the other 800-plus teams.

Don't believe Dave has ever offered his services to Catholic or is particularly put out they aren't working with him. I know Dave works with Stevenson and McDaniel. Is that enough full disclosure?

[nescac1]

Back to hoops.  Here is the box score from the last time Williams and VWU met, in the Sweet 16 of the 2011 tourney:

http://athletics.williams.edu/sports/mbkb/2010-11/files/ncaa5.htm

Troy Whittington single-handedly won that game, basically, as he frequently did late in that season.  That also happens to be the last full game Troy Whittington played before breaking his hand part way through the Elite 8 match-up vs. Amherst.  Ahhh, what could have been ...

Only three Ephs who played significant roles in that game are on this year's roster: James Klemm, Nate Robertson, and Taylor Epley.  Epley of course has improved immensely since then, and Mayer (who barely played as a frosh) and Wohl are added to the mix.  The Ephs will need Mayer to play the Whittington role of owning the paint to win this game.  That's not to say Mayer is right now at the level of senior-year Whittington, but he does have the capability of dominating on the interior vs. a smaller team like VWU (see the last game vs. Catholic, for example). 

Meanwhile, the Ephs should be very familiar with VWU as the four top players from that game are still starting ... Ford, Woodmore, Teasley, and Astorga.  Presumably those four have improved, which is pretty scary considering that I (among others) felt that VWU squad was probably the most talented team Williams faced that year, and at least three of those four, arguably all four, are all-NESCAC caliber talents.  On the bright side, it does seem like VWU hasn't added a lot of major pieces around them, mainly role players and depth guys. 

[2RMCFans]

At Amherst and Williams athletics is predominantly (close to the point of exclusively) for the benefit of the student participants, not the alums or other fans or constituencies. Consequently these institutions will favor that athletics announcing be conducted by students - irrespective of any of their shortcomings.

So be it!  Listeners should respect your rights to have any broadcasters that suit you at your home games.  Fortunately for us, our R-MC broadcasters are two seasoned professionals (both alums) who always call a game without resort to insults or childish humor.  It is hoped by more than a few R-MC sports faithful that although it involves yet another trip to Massachusetts for them this week, they'll be there for Saturday's game.  Those of us who have to stay home can mute the homers & listen to our own which works out well for everyone.

GO JACKETS!!!!

[lefrakenstein]

For the record, I'm not aware of Catholic having problems with their video feed...all year. (Just sayin').

I still can't even get the live stats to work.  I'm reliant on the Catholic website which only updates every so often.

Well... they did have problems like no broadcasters and sometimes no video due to lack for crew for about half the year... but feel free to think it was all good at CUA

Here ya go Pat. It's not like he was being super aggressive about it, but I think it's fair to say 'critical'.

And maybe 'make a living off of' is an exaggeration, but per his bio on this site "McHugh has started his own broadcasting, production, voice-over, and consulting company, "dmac Productions," in the Baltimore and Washington, DC region. Part of his work has included being the play-by-play voice for Stevenson football and high school games for Fairfax Sports Network in Fairfax County, Va."

Catholic is, of course, in the DC area.

I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that he has a skin in the game.

Thanks. Dave brought that back forward a little while ago, too. I had missed it. Despite being a Catholic grad, I don't actually watch too many of their games online because I have to focus on the other 800-plus teams.

Don't believe Dave has ever offered his services to Catholic or is particularly put out they aren't working with him. I know Dave works with Stevenson and McDaniel. Is that enough full disclosure?

It is indeed. And I wasn't trying to cast aspersions on Dave. Professional broadcasters are obviously better than the students from a purely technical perspective. I just think it's good for schools to give students that opportunity, and I personally enjoy the obvious bias of student announcers and think it adds to the uniqueness and fun of following d3 basketball.

[nescac1]

I wonder if someone will clue the Amherst broadcasters into this "controversy" and how, if at all, they will address it on the air.  My guess: snark.  One thing is for certain -- controversy = ratings, so I expect an additional, I don't know, 3-4 viewers tuning in to see how it all turns out ...