MBB: NESCAC

[P'bearfan]

I think Stockton, despite the height advantage that Bowdoin has, will win this game.

Bowdoin will need to do two things to win this game:

-take care of the ball and limit turn overs
-Shoot well from the outside - which will leave single coverage on Swords

The P'bears first game of the year was against a very athletic W.Conn State team.  Bowdoin handled the pressure well and they'll need to do that again on Friday.

Looking foward to it.

[P'bearfan]

Lefrak, I too was a bit miffed by the Vadas selection.

Agreed...it's kind of hard to get excited about a player who's main defensive strategy is to plant himself as close to the opponet as possible and then flop when the guy he's guarding moves...

[lemonjello]

The All-NESCAC teams were fairly defensible, though I would've loved to see Killian crack the 1st team because of his recent play.  Swords making the 1st team was a bit surprising because he's just a sophomore, and much of his impact doesn't show up on the stat sheet (though was obviously acknowledged by his selection as DPOY).  He also deserves 1st-team honors for his goofy headshot and embarrassing mustache.  Robinson deserves 1st team based on his production (I still can't get over him shooting 47% from 3), but I'm not surprised that he only got 2nd team as a frosh (he has 3 more years to be a 1st-teamer, and should be a POY frontrunner as soon as next year).

As for snubs, Green, Sinnickson, and Sabety all have strong statistical cases for 2nd team, as does Boornazian from Bates.  Madlinger's numbers don't scream all-conference to me (efficient shooting, but not high enough volume), but if he is considered an impact defender, then I guess his selection makes some sense (and as a tournament team, it seems reasonable for Bowdoin to get 2). 

The NESCAC talent pool seems super-deep this year.  In an ordinary year, it's hard to imagine people putting up those kinds of numbers for winning teams being left off the all-conference list.  Or even someone like Kalema, who hasn't put up huge scoring numbers but is an impact player at both ends of the court for the league champion.  Perhaps it speaks to the parity of the league this year that Bowdoin gets 2 guys on the list, a guy from Hamilton makes 1st-team, and Colby (who beat Amherst) gets a guy.  The big 3 (Amherst, Mid, Williams) have a combined 5 guys on the list, I'm curious how this compares to previous years (maybe I'll even look at it if I have time).

[P'bearfan]

Swords making the 1st team was a bit surprising because he's just a sophomore, and much of his impact doesn't show up on the stat sheet (though was obviously acknowledged by his selection as DPOY).  He also deserves 1st-team honors for his goofy headshot and embarrassing mustache.

Swords is a junior, is averaging almost a double double for the season and 2.5 blocks per game.  Those are some decent statistics....regarding the other stuff....well I hope you get to communicate those opinions to him in person.

[Bucket]

The End of the Road...

http://vimeo.com/88314983

[lordofthejeffs]

Anywhere to place a few bets on the D3 tournament?

[amh63]

Bucket.....thanks to the production crew and you for the video.  For me it was a little of a memory lane...seeing the gym where frat teams battled for a title...where I tried to play pg.  Even saw myself in the video sitting behind you and your family.  Sometime I have to buy you a beer and/or a meal for the family.

Several other things that I wish to mention that the video raised.  One is a personal gesture.  During the cutting of the nets..both of the nets... by the Amherst team players, an Amherst assistant coach gathered a handful to past on to  fans/supporters.  I watched when he gave one to "his" trainer during his 4 years on the team.  The recent retired head trainer that for 26 years was the MBB trainer.
"Early" on Sunday of the game, I dropped by in my hotel area to get some OJ before going into town for breakfast.  I saw someone in a Williams sweatshirt looking at his tablet.  The person turned out to be a young Williams' asst. coach that is also a member of the Williams class of '11.  We talked briefly about football players that plays or played  on MBB teams.  He made a nice comment that Amherst will be strong in the years ahead.  He also knew about the big guard coming in next year...coached by Crotty...projecting the player to be a wing player.  After the game, in talking to several freshmen players/parents, etc., it confirmed for me that the NESCAC coaches, especially the assistant coaches know where the talent pool of recruits for next year are going around the conference.  Even the players seem  know.  Freshman Racy related some differences between Williams' Robinson play and his HS team mate that went up to play for UVM.  Someone related that those two players were rated by HBC Brown to be equally talented coming out of HS. 

We just discussed here the all conference selections.  It is a small pool of talented student-athletes that the coaches are fishing from.  It is one of the reasons I enjoyed watching the games over the weekend.  Players playing at high levels....the majority of the players on the floor strong candidates for all-conf. honors.  In the video provided by PN there was clear evidence of more candidates...maybe next year.

[nescac1]

Great job by the Midd students on the entire Road to Salem series.  We've certainly never seen anything like it before in NESCAC and, I imagine, nearly anywhere in D3 hoops.  I hope that the producers of the series continue to work in sports media, where I am sure they will go far. 

On another note, I agree with Toad that Toomey and Nogelo stand out as the two best players I've seen play in NESCAC (covering a 20 year period).  Someone asked about player of the year awards prior to 2000 -- NESCAC did award player of the year honors, and Nogelo won it both his junior and senior years (his junior year, he shared it with Jamal Wilson of Amherst, who as a senior was often unstoppable).  Nogelo was a three-time all-American who brought two Eph teams, each of which had significantly less overall talent than Toomey had to work with, to Final Fours.  He really carried those teams on his back, even facing at least one box-and-one defense in one late-round tourney game.  Unfortunately, the best team Nogelo played on was his sophomore year, but that team ran into the infamous Rowan team that was stocked with D1 transfers. 

I think that there is a big group of really great NESCAC players closely grouped in the next tier -- Crotty, Olson, Sharry, Mayer, Kizel, Coffin, Tabb, Tatum, Wang, Schultz, Whittington, Zieja, Harper, Rhoten, Wolff and Wilson all come to mind, although I'm sure I'm forgetting a few standouts.  To me, though, they are all a half-notch below Toomey and Nogelo, who  both had the incredibly rare ability to carry a team either by scoring OR by facilitating the offense without looking for their own shot, and seemed to seize control of the game when they stepped onto the court.  [One of my favorite Nogelo moments was, after a series of heady plays against an overmatched team, an opposing coach with a super-think Boston accent shouting at his players about what a "smahhhtt playaahhh" Nogelo was and questioning why they didn't play more like him, while they looked on incredulously, as he might as well have said they should play more like Larry Bird]. 

Duncan Robinson, who I agree should have been a first-teamer but his time will certainly come, has the potential to join that elite duo.  In fact, I think he is even better as a frosh than either Toomey or Nogelo were.  Both were incredibly hard workers and students of the game, who made immense improvements and added new facets to their repertoirs year after year. Robinsion as a frosh, accordingly, is not in the same category as either were as an upperclassmen.  But, if Robinson follows the same path, the sky is the limit. 

[lefrakenstein]

  He made a nice comment that Amherst will be strong in the years ahead.  He also knew about the big guard coming in next year...coached by Crotty...projecting the player to be a wing player. 

I believe that would be Johnny McCarthy,who has been discussed previously on this board, unless there is another player from the Middlesex Magic (Crotty's team, for which both Duncan Robinson and Brady Holding played last year) coming to Amherst

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/recruits/player/2470/Johnny-McCarthy.php

[AmherstStudent05]

Anywhere to place a few bets on the D3 tournament?

You should check in with walzy.  Even retired, I bet he is still interested in taking action on D3 hoops.  Hell, I'd bet that he will still be setting NESCAC lines even after he is six feet under.

[lefrakenstein]

The End of the Road...

http://vimeo.com/88314983

Thanks again for this series, I really enjoyed watching all of them, and not just because they're about NESCAC basketball; pretty much every aspect of them is really well done, from the cinematography, to the script, to the narration, it all seems really professional. Are either of the panther nation guys film majors? I imagine that making those probably required some prior film-making experience. I hope that the road will continue next season.

As an aside, I enjoyed the cameo by Pasta e Basta, an Amherst institution owned and operated (as of 2008 at least) by a Williams graduate. Always liked their linguine with clams.

[GingerBaker]

What happened to Western Mass culinary luminary Luciano?  I thought he owned Pasta e Basta, as well Antonio's in 'Hamp...guess times have changed.

[Old Guy]

The three aspects of life back in VT and the States that I have most missed this year here in West Africa:

1. The Red Sox World Series win in the fall.

2. My 50th h.s. (Lewiston, ME) reunion - it was all downhill after h.s.for me. My best friend, Butch, the second best basketball player in the state (behind Joe Harrington, who went to Maryland and became a big time coach), came back for the reunion from FL - I hadn't seen him forever. I had a lot of assists in high school: I just threw the ball to Butch and got out of the way. He played at UMaine.

3. Being unable to see "The Road to Salem." I can get snippets but not the whole thing. The first thing I will do when I get home in June is sit down and watch the entire production. What I have seen is so impressive. Half of Panther Nation is doing it, and one of the other producers is the editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper. I have been at Midd for a long time and there has never been anything like these guys in terms of their mature, skillful, and sophisticated work (at least since I was the sports editor of the school paper, before Edison and Marconi). Damon has also put together an oral history of Middlebury basketball. He's indefatigable, already a stringer for the Burlington Free Press and Boston Magazine. I suspect we won't see their like for a while. They are special. I'm glad they have posted their work on this site.

[Panthernation]

Thank you all for watching the Road to Salem and sharing your feedback. The final episode will be released next week. We will make sure to post the link here when it is available.

[amh63]

Lefrak.....Yep that is the person....son of an Amherst alum.  Did not want to miss spell his name...not good with spelling and remembering names,,,,but remember a person's walk or facial feature.

With respect to eating places in Amherst....there are constant changes and turnovers.   Vandy, Middhoops and Pat C. cited the High Horse Pub.  It is located where the Amherst Brewery was...under the building that was my bank.  Apparently, the Amherst Brewery moved closer to UMass into a larger place...near the Big Y, I hear.  Like anywhere, if a place serves good food, it survives.....especially in an area that has has five educational institutions so close by.