MBB: NESCAC

P'bearfan · October 16, 2013, 09:26:12 PM

QuoteLess talk about it but intrigued by Tufts Frontline- extremely rugged- Last year player of the year Tom Palleschi- has excellent fundamentals and is very strong - he was just shorter and not able to move Kaasila- Their new freshman big man appears to be more fluid and strong- wonder if they will play at same time at all

I'm not sure I can name 3 people in the country who could move Kaasila. That guy is both thick and strong. Hard to knock Palleschi for not being able to move him.

Agree that both of Tuft's FY big men have real potential - a nice combination of size and athleticism. Will be interesting to see how they do facing bigger, more experienced competition. Tufts could be very tough up front.

amh63 · October 16, 2013, 09:33:45 PM

The season must be close based on the quality of recent posts. Nabatoff and Berman, are indeed two Amherst FY players that can become valuable contributors. Berman is the solid PG recruit that has run the show in a top HS league. Nabatoff is the kid who grew a foot while in high school...playing two years as a guard. He can pass and is still learning to play in the front court. He is tough, playing on the football team. The two were in Atlanta sitting in the Amherst section watching the title win. Both have high BB IQs.
The season has started for a number of D3 schools. In the Little East, RIC is playing Exhibition Games and WCSU has started practices. Me, I am heading to Amherst on Thursday and hope to catch some informal practices over the weekend. Maybe catch a football game with classmates and friends.

madzillagd · October 17, 2013, 11:27:55 AM

I saw that note about RIC playing 3 exhibitions in Canada already. How many games are teams allowed to schedule for the year? I thought all Exhibitions, Scrimmages, etc. counted - RIC has 24 games on the schedule plus the 3 mentioned which would put them at 27. For some reason I had it in my head that 25 was the max. What is the actual number and/or do these Exhibitions not go towards the total?

P'bearfan · October 17, 2013, 01:57:30 PM

QuoteI saw that note about RIC playing 3 exhibitions in Canada already. How many games are teams allowed to schedule for the year? I thought all Exhibitions, Scrimmages, etc. counted - RIC has 24 games on the schedule plus the 3 mentioned which would put them at 27. For some reason I had it in my head that 25 was the max. What is the actual number and/or do these Exhibitions not go towards the total?

Bowdoin has 24 games listed on their web site (including a double header only 3 hours apart on the Jan 25th that might be a mistake). Let's say it's 23 games. They're also playing in a holiday tournament in Dec. I don't know the details of the tournament but there are enough games that it forced them to drop 1 game from their original regular season schedule. Since most tournaments would have you play at least 2 games I'm assuming they'll play 3 in this particular tournament. That will give Bowdoin a total of 25 total games.

ronk · October 17, 2013, 02:19:36 PM

Quote from: madzillagd on October 17, 2013, 11:27:55 AM
I saw that note about RIC playing 3 exhibitions in Canada already. How many games are teams allowed to schedule for the year? I thought all Exhibitions, Scrimmages, etc. counted - RIC has 24 games on the schedule plus the 3 mentioned which would put them at 27. For some reason I had it in my head that 25 was the max. What is the actual number and/or do these Exhibitions not go towards the total?

Scranton played 3 games in Canada this summer; maybe RIC did the same, so that it wasn't part of the 2013-14 season.

ECSUalum · October 17, 2013, 04:59:32 PM

Go to LEC thread where GoAnchorman.com has video of Coach Walsh that explained that if you go to Canada (allowed once every 3 yrs), he got essentially 2 weeks of head start on season.

AmherstStudent05 · October 19, 2013, 06:14:40 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on September 28, 2013, 12:10:38 PM
Random off-season question of the day: what are the best individual performances you've ever seen by an opposing player vs. your favorite NESCAC team?

For me, it would be (1) Wooster's Bryan Nelson, playing on one leg, destroying a loaded Williams front court in the 2003 Final Four (I can't imagine anyone ever topping that), (2) Wesley's Paul Reynolds in the opening round of the NCAA tourney last year, and (3) Carl Cochrane of Richard Stockton lighting up Chandler (and earning a standing ovation from the Williams crowd) in the 1997 Sweet 16.

Other memorable performers: Jamal Wilson from Amherst (I believe it was in an NCAA tourney game in Chandler, but I'm not positive when), Josh Jones of Husson in the 2011 tourney, Guilford's Tyler Sanborn in the 2010 tourney, Nick Bennett and Jason Kaslow of Stevens Point in the 2004 championship game. Unsurprisingly, most of those guys ended up as first-team all-Americans.

This reflects a recency bias and also a bias towards games late in the NCAA tourney, which tend to be the most memorable. Probably also a bias towards non-NESCAC players, since multiple games vs. the same player tend to get jumbled in memory.

Just catching up with this Board after being away during the offseason. I know this topic has now probably gone stale, but I did want to recognize Troy Ruths of Washington University. He absolutely killed us in the Championship Game back in 2008. He was incredibly impressive (we had no answers for him in the post) against what was obviously an extraordinary Amherst team. i have heard he is now a computer science whiz or something.

Also, having watched the Williams-Wesley game back in March, I also have to acknowledge the play of Paul Reynolds. He was simply tremendous. Easily the most impressive individual effort I have seen in quite some time (although I am partial for Toomey's performance against RIC earlier this year). No offense to the rest of the Wesley team, but Reynolds almost single-handedly led his team to a victory over a VERY good Williams squad (I couldn't tell from the webcast if he was fouled on his last three pointer, but it was close). Had Wesley won, that is one of those games where people who just saw the final score would (understandably) have concluded that Williams choked. In fact, there would have been absolutely no shame in that loss and indeed I was quite impressed with how Williams managed to somehow weather the Reynolds storm (and I am rarely impressed with Williams).

Really looking forward to the start of the 2013-14 season in a few weeks. As an Amherst fan, I am very excited about the talent that Coach Hixon has at his disposal. The question, of course, is how that talent will come together as a TEAM. Obviously, with Workman, Kaasila and Williamson gone, the Jeffs will be fundamentally different this year than they were last year. I dont think the same will necessarily be true of Williams. No disrespect to Nate Robertson, but Mayer-Epley-Wohl is a tremendous core to keep intact. For Amherst, will the team revert back more to its 2012 style where it was much more reliant on Toomey -- particularly in crunch time? Will Green or Kalema be able to shoulder a greater share of the offensive burden.

Anyway, I can't wait to find out.

Also, has anyone heard how the D3 tourney will be structured in future years. Will we at least be able to take 8 teams down to Salem like we did last year?

madzillagd · October 19, 2013, 08:05:17 PM

Last year's format was temporary for the anniversary so they revert back to the traditional Final Four format. Seems like a lot if folks liked it last year so maybe there will at least be some conversations about a possible change in the future but I wouldn't hold my breath if the cost was significantly higher.

amh63 · October 19, 2013, 10:05:31 PM

Back from Homecoming and gathered info from informal chats with players who crashed my tailgate tent. Only info to relate here is that rings were given out. There will be a banner raising in LeFrak in two weeks at Family weekend. In Nov.

nescac1 · October 21, 2013, 04:05:59 PM

Who are folks thinking will be the best non-NESCAC New England squads? WPI looks pretty loaded as they should have all but one contributor (and all their stars) back from a team that rolled through much of the regular season. WPI has yet to match its regular season success (vs. a typically fairly weak schedule) in the tourney, but they were very impressive as an underclassmen-dominated squad last year and could surprise. Should dominate NEWMAC this year. Brandeis brings basically everyone back and should be improved, they could be a lot tougher this year with a senior-dominated team. MIT still has some talent but will likely be a bit down losing its two star players. RIC is, once again, the most likely non-NESCAC team to make a deep NCAA run. As usual, the Anchormen boast a very impressive group of newcomers, including two community college transfers and a pair of impressive teammates of Sudanese descent from Maine:

http://www.goanchormen.com/rosters/ros_mbasketball.html

Grouping the New England teams pre-season, I'd say Amherst, Williams and Midd are still the teams to beat, followed very, very closely by Tufts, WPI and RIC (all six should at least earn preseason Top 25 consideration), with Bowdoin, MIT and Brandeis as the potential dark horses. Those seem to be the, roughly, the pre-season tiers. Anyone of note that I am forgetting? Typically the LEC has at least one more strong team.

ECSUalum · October 21, 2013, 05:47:31 PM

Coach Walsh mentioned in his above mentioned interview that they look to have more offensive punch this year, I assume coming from some of the newcomers.
If they can combine this and maintain their nationally ranked defense, they may be very dangerous in the NCAA tourney. I pick them to take another LEC title. It will interesting to see how fast the newcomers learn the "Walsh style" college basketball defense and how fast the RIC total offense materializes.

ECSU will be up there in the LEC standings, however, they will need to backfill for 6'6'' center Chris Robitaille, who, was very strong both offensively and defensively in his 4 year career. Chris will be replaced by some vg yet unproven young recruits. Sr. 3 point marksmen Brian Salzillo and So. Trechone Preston, the 2012/13 LEC Rookie of the Year will provide a lot of offense to back fill for Robitaille. Ultimately, I am not sure if ECSU can overcome RIC this year, assuming RIC jells as previously stated, Keene State has lost too much, and, IMHO, USM generally under performs

Otherwise, I see the Lord Jeffs, Ephs, and Panthers fighting it out for NESCAC and National titles. WPI is always strong and should be NEWMAC champs fighting it out with MIT

middhoops · October 21, 2013, 07:00:08 PM

Check out the Big 3 and their out of conference schedules. Middlebury is likely to see Alvernia, Franklin & Marshall, St. Mary's and Stevenson. All on the road. This looks like the year the Panthers don't go into January undefeated. That may be a good thing.

amh63 · October 21, 2013, 10:12:28 PM

Talked to my host/ friend wrt the extra games, etc. An UConn fan, he says that in Div 1 there is an allowance of extra games...early games once every three years. Teams are allowed to go over seas to play games...in Europe and elsewhere.

NYHOOPS8 · October 22, 2013, 10:37:21 AM

Quote from: middhoops on October 21, 2013, 07:00:08 PM
Check out the Big 3 and their out of conference schedules. Middlebury is likely to see Alvernia, Franklin & Marshall, St. Mary's and Stevenson. All on the road. This looks like the year the Panthers don't go into January undefeated. That may be a good thing.

Noticed Stevens hosting Williams in February this year towards the end of conference season and right after playing Middlebury. Its not technically a trap game considering Williams shouldn't have much of a test after the Stevens game but it will be a tough game to play against a team who beat them on their homecourt last year.

madzillagd · October 22, 2013, 11:57:08 AM

That should be a good game down at Stevens but I do expect a different result this year with Stevens losing their two top scorers. Williams just never got comfortable that game, part of that was the Stevens defense and part of it was the unexpected loss of Wohl for that game. After being up 10 at half time, Williams just tanked in the second half firing blank after blank. The Ephs were 2-15 from 3 the second half. Weinheimer, who started in place of Wohl, shot 8 threes the entire year and four of them came in the 2nd half of the Stevens game. Robertson who also didn't shoot that many put up 4 as well in the 2nd half. Just an odd game all around for Williams.