MBB: NESCAC

[thunder32]

Thanks for the updates guys good to hear some news around campus.  Anyone from Williams or Amherst willing to share their thoughts. 

[nescac1]

Sounds like Amherst, Tufts, and Bates are still the teams to beat, with Trinity the most likely challenger.  I'd be curious to hear who will likely be stepping up and earning front court minutes for the Ephs. 

Conn College has its roster up -- looks like a few of last year's players are not returning, inluding Young, one of their top guys.  May be tough to rise much in the standings given those losses and only three incoming frosh (only one of whom is a front court player, where Conn is suddenly very thin), no matter how deep they are in terms of quality guards. 

[formerbant10]

Anyone seen Bates yet?  We all know Ray and Stockwell are still there and have the ability to win games on their own....but they will need a few more weapons to break through to the next level.

Scary that Tufts got another big guy who shoots 3's and has a post game.  How tough is Pierce down low is my only question?  If he's a complimentary player to Weitzen, Tufts could be very good this year.

Tough break for Conn, it seems like only a handful of players have stuck it out for 4 years and it's tough to build a program up when upperclassmen leave.  Stone must have a monster year for them to compete.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Bates has a little recap of their summer trip to Ireland and the UK on their website.  They will benefit from getting some game experience together over the summer.

[nescac1]

Street & Smith has its D-3 preview out.   That is never that reliable, but thought I'd highlight the NESCAC mentions ... Amherst ranked 6th which is probably about right (although in terms of sheer volume of returning talent, other than Wooster and Virginia Wesleyan hard to say anyone trumps Amherst), Tufts, Bates, Williams possible breakthroughs (pretty on-target there, although you could put Trinity and possibly Colby in ahead of or alongside Williams), and Wheeler, Ray and Rose were all honorable mention all-americans.  Again, you could easily make a case that Cohen (for sure), Stockwell, Weitzen and Olsen should be ahead of those three, but all three do have a shot of earning all-region honors.   Wooster is ranked first overall which seems about right (although hard not to put the defending champs, who are third,  in that slot). 

If Tufts' big guy transfer can replace Martin's production (and/or Weitzen can step up and play 35 minutes per game as the go-to guy on offense) Tufts could break into the top ten by season's end with its pretty ridiculous back-court depth.  I think Bates will be at least top 25 and possibly higher as well -- really easy out of conference schedule, three top notch players (the big two plus Wholey) returning, and lots of role players also returning -- you figure at least 1 or 2 will step up to compliment the stars.   Amherst also has a ridiculously soft non-conference schedule -- should help rack up a gaudy record yet again, but the team may not be battle tested outside of 4-5 tough conference games come tournament time. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Street and Smith works mostly off of reputation, but they have been getting a little better as d3 has been getting more and more exposure.  They certainly lucked into Virginia Wesleyan last year, ranking then top ten pre-season when no one else even had them on the radar for title contention.


I think the NESCAC's profile helps a lot, however, it's also good for them as more western teams have come to underestimate the rankings and have been suprised by the NESCAC.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Where did you find the new Street & Smith's?  I can't find it anywhere.

[nescac1]

Barnes & Noble. 

[formerbant10]

Just remember that S&S had Ursinus ranked above Amherst last year in the top 10.  And Trinity was #3 or #6 (can't remember) two years back. 

Lot of guesswork in their rankings.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

As someone pointed out, they did get all four of last year's final four in the top ten preseason.  I think that can be attributed more to luck than skill, but still it's something for them to hang their hat on.


Of course, with the growth of d3hoops.com, it makes finding information a whole lot easier as well.

[Red1]

Hi all,

Bates had one big loss to graduation this year, and that was 2-guard Sean Cahill.  Although the Amhers and Tufts fans out there might not blieve it, Bates had the top ranked scoring defense in NESCAC and 2nd ranked field goal percentage defense (behind Cohen, I mean Colby).  Cahill was the anchor of that defense.

As for new recruits:  I know a lot of people associated with the team, so I've been asking around.  All I've gotten is that Bates has 3 freshman who are good enough to be starters right from the get-go.  We'll see if that pans out.

Look for Pat Halloran to step up and be a strong 2-guard this year.  He was one of Bates' best permimeter shooters last year.  He came in off the bench just to shoot 3s when Bates needed them.  Over time he improved into an all around player and was the 6th man for most of the Nescac schedule.

That's the low down and Bates as best I could get it.

Cheers,
Red1

[Pat Coleman]

Street and Smith works mostly off of reputation, but they have been getting a little better as d3 has been getting more and more exposure.  They certainly lucked into Virginia Wesleyan last year, ranking then top ten pre-season when no one else even had them on the radar for title contention.

We had Virginia Wesleyan #11 -- I wouldn't sell us short.

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/06/index.html

[formerbant10]

Pat,

You're Top 25 is always more accurate than S&S.  I'm guessing you release yours after them so they can't copy you exactly.

[thunder32]

Yeah it is but he did not have Tufts in the top 25, which I cant see why he wouldnt I think I had them ranked at number one on my list.  Just kidding but seriously any new news like injuries or new impact players on the teams we should know about out there in the NESCAC, also any ideas on the other NE conferences and how good they are going to be?

[Pat Coleman]

Thanks, formerbant.

Actually, we hold our poll that late to try to get the best possible information, but that's a good unintended result as well.