MBB: NESCAC

[toad22]

Kuntz graduated. I assume that Brian Nelson and Kevin Snyder are the other likely starters. Weisbrot hurt himself pretty badly last season but toughed it out. I hear that his back is still pretty bad, so I don't really know if he is ready to play. The Ephs are so thin that they will undoubtedly play freshmen a lot, particularly big guys.

[nescac1]

That is rough re: Weisbrot, especially since he is the only upperclassman on the roster over 6'5.  What is the problem with his back?  Toad, any other rising sophomores other than Snyder who have a shot to get serious minutes you think, or will the Ephs be relying on frosh for depth?   Looks like they'll have no choice at least at the 4/5. 

Interesting that Westbrook and the big guy from Wesleyan are coming back, along with Taylor/Hasiuk on Trinity.  Those two guys should pretty much compensate for the loss of Rhoten, and Wesleyan and Colby should both be improved with those additions.  I think NESCAC should sneak at least three into the tourney this year because I would imagine the conference, as a whole, will perform much better in non-conference games, helping the power ratings of the teams at the top -- very few teams lost any real firepower that will not easily be replaced.  Amherst and Tufts are both nearly locks with what they have back, and at least Bates will be a very strong contender.   And every other team, save probably Bowdoin, Wesleyan, and Middlebury, can credibly aim for 18-20 wins.

[toad22]

Weisbrot hurt his back in the Conn game. He fell on it very hard. He played with it the rest of the season, but it clearly hampered him. I don't know if this will be an issue in the upcoming season or not. As for 2nd year players, there is only Snyder as far as players who really showed much. Grant Meyer seems to have skills, but is thin. Who knows about big guys. They usually blossom later. For example, Chapin (the best D3 center I have seen), Coffin, and Mike Holland all really came into their own as Juniors. This will be a fun year to watch the Ephs, but I don't really think they'll end with many more wins than they had this year. A visit to NESCACs final 4 would be a good goal.

[YoungSnukes]

JeffRookie is a fool, please disregard all his posts. formerbant, THE PASSION. Thats why we love you and hate you. Im all about Thunder32, really good posts, though it wouldnt hurt to spell check ur ****, feel me? Best big man in the league: R. Kelly. Best shooter in the league: Chris Rose.  Best point guard in the league: Glenn Wong. No doubt. The ballhandling, the shooting, the no-look pass!

[formerbant10]

Snukes,

Does that mean Wong will be taking over for Olson??  Dead on with Chris Rose.

[JeffRookie2]

Why does everyone take these pot-shots at me? I was actually the one who said that Wong would be playing the point, other people said they thought he would be playing the 2. Cohen is the best big man in the league.

[formerbant10]

JeffRook,

Can't worry about things you can't control.  How good is Wong?  And as I mentioned before, all discussions about big men in the league start with Drew Cohen.

[JeffRookie2]

Its hard to say how good Wong is because he really didnt get much playing time last year. I think one of his main assets is that he will be able to larger guard points that sometimes give Olson trouble, much the way Corrigan did last season. (Wong is 6' 3") I'll try to get a little scouting report on him from someone on the team.

[thunder32]

So does anyone know for shure that Kelly is coming back next year and how did he do last year, did he even play?  Because right now any team that has a presence down low in contention.  Especially with a player like kelly.  Now I have no clue who Wong is or what year he is can anyone give a good scout on him?  It will be an interesting matchup when Cohen plays Kelly this year.  I would have loved to play Cohen last year but he was at a wedding during the Tufts game.  either way that should be a great matchup to watch because they are the two best centers in the league.  And i know i have awful spelling but I dont care enough about it to check it.  But thanks for the love.

[JeffRookie2]

Wong is an Amherst sophomore. 6'3 combo guard.

[formerbant10]

Thunder,

I heard from a pretty reliable source....same one that told me Kelly was out for a year....that he was all set on going back to Wes.  The year before he sat out he had turned into quite a good player, very different from Cohen, but extremely efficient and effective.  I still give Cohen the edge, but Kelly's presence promotes Wes from a laugher to a dangerous team.

[ballaholic4]

Although I agree with the direction of most of these posts, I have 2 points of issue concerning the upcoming year:

1) These people who keep saying Amherst has "all their weapons back" or is "re-loaded" need to slow down.  The last time I checked, they lost one of the best few players in the league last year, and a 6'6'' guy who shot 41% from three.  No matter how good the guys coming in for them are, you can't just assume that they're going to immediately slide back into form.  I think Wheeler is a great player, but the thing that's made amherst so tough the last 5-6 years is that they've always had a strong go2 player: Zieja, Scheil, Bedford.  And although Wheeler's good, he's never been the go2 type.  Oslon, like you said, is a distributer, and I think the fact that they have so much talent at the wing and post positions might actually hurt them if hixon doesn't set a clear rotation early.

2)  I love Drew Cohen, from what I've heard he's a great guy and I know he's a hell of a shotblocker.  But he's not the best big guy in the league, he touches the ball on every possession and usually takes a 15 footer (which he can hit) but completely slows the flow of Colby's offense.  He's a much better defensive than offensive player.  And since he's always rebounding, he doesn't really run the court at all.   

(alright 1 more)

3) And since I'm so tired of everyone givin' so much love to the guys down in mass (wheeler and rose) I'm gonna give a shout out to two maine doggs for the best shooter discussion.  Hippert from Bowdoin struggled a little to find his range his freshman, but shot 43% (55-127) from treyland last year, and at 5'11'' in Timberlands, he had 2 shoot over taller guys, something that wheeler and rose don't have to deal with.  Another GREAT shooter (the best in the league, both in my opinion and statistically) is Gaudet from Colby, a guy who flies under the radar, but is a 50% career 3point shooter and lead the league last year.  Shorter than hippert at 5'10'' and a hundred and nothin', this guy's gotta work for every shot he gets, and he makes it HALF THE TIME.  both are great freethrow shooters too, not that anyone was concerned.   

K4

[La Verdad]

Let's set the record straight...
Glenn Wong is a 2 guard.
JeffRookie is a fool.
Young Snukes is a legend.

[JeffRookie2]

I always seem to be the one who gets in fights on this forum and I cant for the life of me understand why. What happened to everyone being entitled to their own opinion? We'll see where wong gets most of his playing time, but really why so much angst over a guy who barely saw the floor last season? I've pretty much seen every Amherst home game for two years (I'll be a junior in the fall, so i wasnt around before that) and a lot of the road games, so I would like to think I know a pretty decent amount about the team and the NESCAC in general. I made a mistake in thinking that Kuntz was a senior, but give me a break.

[Baller10]

best player in the league that you have never heard of- fletcher walters. legit

I like that someone is moving the discussion away from just amherst kids though, interesting points bout hippert and goudet. Goudet goes 1-2 every night from 3ptr, far from an impact player, lets not waste our time. Hippert, talk about a gunner, he is def lookin to get his, though I guess he had to given the talent over at bowdoin, i mean Jac Arbour gets pt. wow.

Also heard Shalvoy broke his wrist in a summer league game...any truth to that?