MBB: NESCAC

[grabtherim]

Old Guy, you are right on point.  The Midd kids have given their fans some great moments to remember.  I am a huge fan of McGuire as well, the Mark Twain of basketball, and his point is well taken.  If you ask me for one opponent's performance that will stick with me, it would be Workman in the 3 OT game.  He simply did everything possible to pull out that win.  Anyone know if he pursued playing ball in Europe or elsewhere after graduation? 

[pick and roll]

Not sure which was more of a surprise the home loss by Midd to Bridgewater State or Scranton.  Both were crushing.  Wonder how many of the Panther's losses the last several years were only one possession - Panther Nation must know that?

[nescac1]

Thanks for sharing your memories, guys.  And yes, I did mean the best overall performances by an opposing player in a single game, as opposed to a single soul-crushing moment, although that is certainly interesting as well.  Happy to be reminded of the Chris Shalvoy game, which (along with the prior game vs. Trinity) was the lone bright spot in the only rough patch (which lasted about three or four years) the Ephs have gone through over the past several decades. 

And pick and roll, I am pretty sure that Panther Nation has previously written on that very topic.  I think almost every loss the Panthers had for a several-year period came down to the last possession, or something like that. 

[Vandy74]

[quote author=nescac1


And pick and roll, I am pretty sure that Panther Nation has previously written on that very topic.  I think almost every loss the Panthers had for a several-year period came down to the last possession, or something like that.
[/quote]

Actually a case could be made for such a streak extending from the final loss of Thompson, Wolfin and Lynch's freshman season to the final game of their senior year.  The two minor exceptions both involved Williams.  The Ephs beat them 69-64 in their sophomore season but Midd was down by only 2 with 14 seconds left to play when Locke miss a pair of potentially game tying free throws.  In last season's NESCAC semis the game went into OT.  The score was tied at 80 each with just over a minute left to play and Williams went on to win 87-80.  The Panthers went 79-10 over that period of time.

[Panthernation]

Actually a case could be made for such a streak extending from the final loss of Thompson, Wolfin and Lynch's freshman season to the final game of their senior year.  The two minor exceptions both involved Williams.  The Ephs beat them 69-64 in their sophomore season but Midd was down by only 2 with 14 seconds left to play when Locke miss a pair of potentially game tying free throws.  In last season's NESCAC semis the game went into OT.  The score was tied at 80 each with just over a minute left to play and Williams went on to win 87-80.  The Panthers went 79-10 over that period of time.

Yes, not much to add to this. From the beginning of 2010 until North Central, Middlebury was always at least within a possession in the last 30 seconds of regulation. Close losses came to partially define that era.

On that note, Keene State 2012 should be added to the discussion of heartbreakers. Not many NESCAC fans were at that game, but it was memorable. Crazy environment, packed gym (Middlebury was 18-0 and #1 in the country, Keene State had made videos hyping their matchup and the crowd was hyped), Kizel played one of his best games ever, stopping every Keene State run with an outside shot. Middlebury's offense died in the last two minutes, and they lost 77-76. The fans stormed the court. 6'10" Center Rashad Wright was the standout individual performer for the Owls. Just 15 points, but 2 blocks, and 6 of his 9 rebounds were offensive. Middlebury was helpless against him on the glass late. That was dominance.

[old_hooper]

Another player worthy of mention for several stellar performances against opponents was Kino Clarke from Trinity.  The semi finals against Williams in the 2007 NESCAC tournament he was unstoppable if I remember correctly.  Still his team came up short and Williams advances to the finals and Shelvoy performance will go down as one of the best individuals efforts in a championship game.  Don't know that many Amherst fans would believe that the Jeff's would go on and win the national championship after that game.

[amh63]

Old Hooper....had an enjoyable time in Salem that year...stood on the playing floor chatting with players' families, etc.  Have few memories of the lost in the "CAC " championship....since I was not at the game.  Technology being what it was in 2007, the game was not available on line.

[NEhoops]

I posted this in the spring and not much has changed (I put the league into three tiers - alphabetically). I did recently add a list of the returning players for each team that averaged 10+min/game during conference play. The players marked with an asterisk averaged 10+points/game during conference play. I'd be interested to see other peoples preseason power rankings.

Amherst
Middlebury
Tufts
Williams
- No surprises with this group. The Lord Jeffs are the returning champs and have the best player in the country. Kizel will continue to keep the Panthers in the mix. The Jumbos will have great depth/balance, but will be on the road against Mid/Wil next year. Williams has the top scoring trio in the league and will look to battle for a conference title once again.

Bates
Bowdoin
Hamilton
- The Bobcats will be undersized, but historically have good success in league play; they also have a great trio to lean on as well. The Polar Bears won at home against the Bobcats in OT (Safford did not play). They have a strong group returning, but not really a breakout guy (a year older doesn't always equate to more wins – see Wesleyan this year). Hamilton seemed to be competitive in every league game this year. Good experience returning along with one of the best scoring guards in the league.

Colby
Conn
Trinity
Wesleyan
- Colby will still be young and their guard play is average, Hudnut is a great piece to build around. Conn won one game in the last two conference seasons; they have the ability to score, but still have a lot to prove. Trinity again will be limited by inexperienced and inconsistent play, they haven't made the tournament the last two seasons. Wesleyan's leading returning scorer is Glen Thomas (5.8ppg); long way to go for the Cardinals.

AMH

*Toomey 34.6
Kalema 25.9
Killian 22.7
Green 18.2
Pollack 11.6

BAT

*Matarazzo 32.8
*Safford 30.8
Boornazian 26.0
Cunningham 15.1
Selmon 12.8
Murphy 11.6

BOW

Hurley 38.3
*Pieri 34.1
*Madlinger 32.5
*Mathias 30.0
Swords 18.4
Hausman 17.4
White 10.0

COL

Stewart 26.8
Rogers 25.0
*Hudnut 24.2
O'Neil 23.4
Westman 20.7
Chase 20.2
Jann 17.7
Wilson 15.8
Gallego 10.0
Kalin 10.0

CON

*Shill 32.2
*Vadas 32.0
McKinley 25.2
Bullitt 20.1
McBurnie 19.6
Lopez 17.9
Gross 17.0
Turner 14.9
Deegan 10.1

HAM

Newton 30.8
*Hart 30.7
Kazickas 25.1
Gifford 23.9
Dean 13.3
Lin 11.1

MID

*Kizel 36.1
Jensen 22.1
Roberts 21.0
Merryman 16.0

TRI

*Starks 25.9
Gliedman 25.0
Ajayi 22.1
Simpson 20.2
Ebo 19.4
Conaway 18.8
*Papadeas 18.3
Spirou 12.2
Naylor 11.6

TUF

Cohen 27.8
*Palleschi 26.8
Firempong 25.0
*Ferris 22.5
*Haladyna 22.3
Moss 22.0
Folliard 15.7

WES

Thomas 25.1
Lynch 15.8
Robinson 15.1
Epps 13.6
Galvin 11.9
Bartner 11.6

WIL

*Epley 35.6
*Wohl 32.8
*Mayer 30.4
Weinheimer 15.0

[amh63]

NEhoops...thanks for your effort here...jump starting the upcoming season.  Practice is only several weeks down the line for D3 schools.  What is it for the NESCAC?
Do not know your definition of power rating.

[middhoops]

Call me naive, but regardless of Toomey's accolades; the most unstoppable player in this league (IMHO) is Michael Mayer.  With a surrounding cast of Epley, Wohl, and ....anybody I like them to take it all.
Thank you, NE Hoops, for getting this discussion going.

[nescac1]

I think your groupings are more-or-less correct.  The top four each seem to have added more than any other team in the off-season, too, as Williams adds two starter-caliber guys to the rotation (Duncan Robinson and Hayden Rooke-Ley) plus two other strong frosh, Middlebury brings in a great group of frosh guards and returns Dylan Sinnickson from injury, Tufts brings in a higher-level transfer and three very highly-regarded frosh, plus C.J. Moss missed much of last year to injury, and Amherst adds an enormous seven-man recruiting class, at least a few of whom are likely to have an instant impact.  Not to mention that all of these squads have rising sophomores who would have played for any other NESCAC teams, likely to emerge after riding the bench.  It is going to be very, very hard to break into that tier this year, with only Bowdoin having even an outside chance.

I do think Colby is going to get into that second tier if their first-year players, who were really impressive last year, make the sort of collective leap you'd expect.  Colby had a lot of tall, athletic guys up front, which is an area that both Bates and Hamilton are weak in. 

Other than that, the bottom tier looks right.  Trinity and Conn both seem to hemorage good players on a nearly annual basis under their current coaches.  And Wesleyan seems to be in for a MAJOR rebuilding year, although could be a Ewing Theory surprise as it seemed like they never played to their talent level over the past few seasons and probably need a fresh group of leaders, and could have a good one in frosh PG Rafferty. 

[madzillagd]

Call me naive, but regardless of Toomey's accolades; the most unstoppable player in this league (IMHO) is Michael Mayer. 

Agreed.  Toomey was the POY last year because his team took top honors, but I think Mayer has a good shot to win it this year regardless of whether they finish in the top spot.  That being said, he's got more offensive weapons around him this year and he could go the other way and not need to score as much, you never know. 

Same question as Amh63 - not exactly sure how you are ranking the teams.  Seems like you are taking the easy way out  and just doing tiers - are you going to give us your 1-11 prediction? 

[toad22]

Tufts has amazing firepower this year. They may be the most talented team in the conference. They could be the big surprise of the year. I'm not as sure about their coaching, so I'm holding off on predicting that. I do think they'll be very good. Amherst is always good, so they'll be up near the top again. Midd seems to me to be the team most looking for new leadership. Kizel is great, but they lost a lot of great guys. I know they are talented, but replacing that leadership will be key. Williams would be in some jeopardy, but Hayden Rooke-Ley is back after a year off with injury. He is an emotional, intense, leader. Williams should be in the top group. The best of the rest, IMHO, is Bowdoin.Assuming everyone is healthy, they are a real threat.

[madzillagd]

For the most part I think NE's groupings were right now.  I'll take it a step further and throw a prediction on the league finish.

1. Amherst -Have to reward the champs with the top spot.  That being said, I don't think we will know what Amherst has for at least a month as they figure out which underclassmen will be in the rotation. 
2. Williams - Arguably the most talented team this year.  Three excellent starters to lean on and a lot more help off the bench this year than last is expected.
3. Tufts - I really like the balance on the Tufts roster with both inside and outside threats.  If they do crack the top 3, they'll have to earn it with a win at Midd. 
4. Middlebury - I think Midd takes a temporary step back this year one spot mainly because of the absence of Lynch.  I really think they will miss his inside presence and tenacity.  The Sinnickson injury also worries me.  Sounds like he will be healthy by the time the season starts but it's just more time away from the court for someone they really need this year. 
5. Bowdoin - Might pick up another win this year in league but I don't see this team winning against the top tier teams... at Williams, at Midd, at Tufts. 
6. Colby - I too think Colby has some guys that could help them move up a little this year.  They won't threaten the top tier of the league but I expect some spirited battles with Bowdoin & Bates for that mid-level spot. 
7. Bates - Boornazion is going to be fun to watch this year but just not enough help to get them very far I think.
8. Hamilton - Hart, Hart and more Hart this year I suspect. 
9. Trinity - I'm tempted to put Trinity above Hamilton this year but I restrained myself.  A lot of guys played a lot of minutes last year so Trinity comes in with one of the most experienced rosters.  That being said, there didn't always seem like there was a rhyme or reason why the rotation was so big.  Be interesting to see if they use the kitchen sink approach again this year or the more talented guys start to get more minutes. 
10. Wesleyan - Rebuilding project.  Freshman PG Rafferty is my only reason to keep them off the bottom of the list.  I don't think his game will necessarily get them any wins, but his leadership might. 
11. Conn - Somebody has to be on the bottom. 

[P'bearfan]

Can't disagree with the ranking madz outlined.

IMHO, Bowdoin has a very solid core in Hurley, Pieri and Madlinger but there are two main questions:

1) Can Swords take his play to the next level consistently?
I think so and if he does it will make the P'Bears very tough;  his play could be the key to Bowdoin winning any single game against Amherst, William, Midd and Tufts.

2) where will the depth come from? 
Right now it's hard to see past these top 4.  Bowdoin will need a little luck to keep everyone healthy plus get solid contibutions from a few of the younger players.

Can't wait for the season to start.  Should be fun!

Go P'Bears!!