MBB: NESCAC

[P'bearfan]

Hope everyone is getting ready for a relaxing Thanksgiving holiday.

Looking forward a bit, the P'bears have a tough 4 game stretch ahead of them.  Between tomorrow and Dec 4th, Bowdoin will travel to UNE, Babson and Bates before returning home on Dec 6th to face Colby.  Things should get a little easier after that when Maine Maritime visits Morrell gym on the 9th.

Overall, Bowdoin has looked good in its first 3 games of the season but they will have to up their level of play in order to keep their perfect record intact.  They will need to get the ball into John Swords earlier in the game and more consistently.  Their 3 point shooting has been a bit streaky so hopefully the players get into a groove before we head for the Xmas break.

Good luck to the all NESCAC teams!

[magicman]

Good to see my friends middhoops and Vandy74 tonight at the Skidmore-Plattsburgh game in Saratoga. Hope they made it home safely. I still think they were sent there by Coach Brown to scout both teams since they will host Skidmore on 12-6 and travel to Plattsburgh on 1-6. Pretty sure Vandy was secretly recording the game. I purposely told my Cardinals to play only as good as necessary to walk out of Williamson Center with a win. It was fitting then, that the Cardinals' Reggie Williams was the star for Plattsburgh in Williamson Center. Plattsburgh looked terrible in the first half and fell behind Skidmore by 13 points. We finally caught them with 33 seconds left to play and then won the game in OT. My plan succeeded I think. The boys from Middlebury now think that this year's version of the Cardinals really suck and will be easy pickings when they come over in January.

By the way the early line on this game has Plattsburgh favored by 8 points. It will be interesting to see if that changes in the weeks leading up to the contest.

Plus K to both of you for putting up with my yelling at the zebras.   

[nescac1]

Quick out-of-conference note for those interested in future New England match-ups.  Albertus Magnus, which has modeled its program after Rowan in the mid-1990's and Cabrini in recent years (aka, consistently bringing in one-or-two year rentals from higher divisions and Juco) added quite an impressive player at the last minute this fall -- senior Tavon Sledge, former Iowa State recruit and former starter for a very good Iona squad.  As you might imagine, he is absolutely tearing it up in early games.  AMC now has two ridiculous athletes in the backcourt, as no one on Williams had a prayer of hanging with lightning-quick Eian Davis last year, but they may not be a very good fit ... both are small point guards and based on early stats, it seems like Davis may be having trouble adjusting to his new role (he is not at all a spot-up shooter and needs the ball in his hands to be most effective).  But if those two guys figure out how to play together in a system and not just run up and down the court making individual plays, Albertus is going to be pretty scary come tourney time ... especially because they still have one of the best big guys in the country to anchor the interior and a few experienced role players at the other starting slots.  I doubt any D3 team has more individual talent than Albertus, but they lost their cool repeatedly vs. Williams in the tourney last year and early reports this season suggest more of the same.  Should be interesting to watch. 

[amh63]

Yes this is a time for family and friends to gather..happy Thanksgiving to all posters here.  Stay warm and careful driving all!
Magicman...and yes MIDDHOOPS and Vandy74....I truly believe that you gathered for the dining and the spas in Sarotoga Springs....and the fellowship.... Basketball was secondary .
Me, watched a little of the Conn versus ECSU game in Willimatic last night.  Not sure what to say about Conn.  Had watched them versus Yeshiva earlier.  Very young team at this point and playing like one.  On the other hand, ECSU is a most interesting team that has a high upside.  It will be an opponent of Amherst in early Jan.  It is a school that is steadily trying to upgrade its OCC schedule...their WBB team has scheduled to play Amherst, Williams and Tufts...the upper tier if the CAC this season.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Quick out-of-conference note for those interested in future New England match-ups.  Albertus Magnus, which has modeled its program after Rowan in the mid-1990's and Cabrini in recent years (aka, consistently bringing in one-or-two year rentals from higher divisions and Juco) added quite an impressive player at the last minute this fall -- senior Tavon Sledge, former Iowa State recruit and former starter for a very good Iona squad.  As you might imagine, he is absolutely tearing it up in early games.  AMC now has two ridiculous athletes in the backcourt, as no one on Williams had a prayer of hanging with lightning-quick Eian Davis last year, but they may not be a very good fit ... both are small point guards and based on early stats, it seems like Davis may be having trouble adjusting to his new role (he is not at all a spot-up shooter and needs the ball in his hands to be most effective).  But if those two guys figure out how to play together in a system and not just run up and down the court making individual plays, Albertus is going to be pretty scary come tourney time ... especially because they still have one of the best big guys in the country to anchor the interior and a few experienced role players at the other starting slots.  I doubt any D3 team has more individual talent than Albertus, but they lost their cool repeatedly vs. Williams in the tourney last year and early reports this season suggest more of the same.  Should be interesting to watch.

I saw them down at Stockton last week.  Sledge is the real deal.  He's probably the best PG in d3, especially this year.  Very small, but he's strong and super quick.  Great court vision.  He was the starting PG on an Iona team that made the NCAA tournament two years ago - played 38 minutes against Ohio State in the first round.  Serious player.

Davis barely saw the court, let alone the ball in the game I watched, but they really don't need him.  They've got shooters and plenty of athletes, plus Big Vic in the middle.  If they can learn some discipline and find their roles, they'll be a title contender - but a big if from what I saw.

[Vandy74]

Good to see my friends middhoops and Vandy74 tonight at the Skidmore-Plattsburgh game in Saratoga. Hope they made it home safely. I still think they were sent there by Coach Brown to scout both teams since they will host Skidmore on 12-6 and travel to Plattsburgh on 1-6. Pretty sure Vandy was secretly recording the game. I purposely told my Cardinals to play only as good as necessary to walk out of Williamson Center with a win. It was fitting then, that the Cardinals' Reggie Williams was the star for Plattsburgh in Williamson Center. Plattsburgh looked terrible in the first half and fell behind Skidmore by 13 points. We finally caught them with 33 seconds left to play and then won the game in OT. My plan succeeded I think. The boys from Middlebury now think that this year's version of the Cardinals really suck and will be easy pickings when they come over in January.

By the way the early line on this game has Plattsburgh favored by 8 points. It will be interesting to see if that changes in the weeks leading up to the contest.

Plus K to both of you for putting up with my yelling at the zebras.   

Magicman....It was good to see you last night.  I suspected it was all an act on Plattsburgh's part.  No team could be as bad as they looked in that 1st half.   I'm sure you and Coach Curle took the refs out for drinks following the game and had a good laugh over the clever charade.  A lot of those calls make sense now.   Since the whole thing was a put-up job I guess it doesn't matter that my secret recording features more of that cute little girl with the cornbraided hair sitting (sometimes) next to you eating popcorn than it does the play on the court.  I'll have to use a better camera angle on my next undercover assignment.  Middhoops and I look forward to seeing you and your friends in Plattsburgh  on 1-6.  We expect as pleasant a trip home as yours was last season.  

[P'bearfan]

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

New D3 hoops poll out....biggest surprise is that Midd is not anywhere on the radar.  Doesn't make much sense to me.

[Bucket]

Those polls never make much sense this early in the season. I can't fault the voters, really. How much can they really know right now?

I mean, those who know the NESCAC well understand there probably is very little separating Amherst-Bowdoin-Midd-Williams, but I don't expect national voters to understand this right now. (And honestly, it's still a prediction on our part. Though after four games, I have no cause to think differently.) I'd probably sweat it a little more if rankings and/or polls had any impact whatsoever on any one team's season and postseason potential--but they have no impact whatsoever. It's a parlor game, good for bantering and bragging rights, which I fully enjoy taking part in, but that's about it.

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin defeats UNE 67-48.

The P'bears controlled the game from early in the first half.  UNE threatened a few times with good 3 point shooting (38.5%) but trailed by 11 at the break and never got closer than 8 in the second half.  Bowdoin dominated the boards where they held a 44-30 advantage and the free throw line from which they shot 92.9%.

Great win for the P'bears.  Hope all the players get some well deserved rest and enjoy time with their families.

[P'bearfan]

It's a parlor game, good for bantering and bragging rights, which I fully enjoy taking part in, but that's about it.

Sounds about right...

[Vandy74]

Bowdoin defeats UNE 67-48.

The P'bears controlled the game from early in the first half.  UNE threatened a few times with good 3 point shooting (38.5%) but trailed by 11 at the break and never got closer than 8 in the second half.  Bowdoin dominated the boards where they held a 44-30 advantage and the free throw line from which they shot 92.9%.

Great win for the P'bears.  Hope all the players get some well deserved rest and enjoy time with their families.

I watched this game P'bearfan and yes it was a good win but you omit a few interesting points.  UNE scored to make it 56-48 at 6:06.  They were a tired team that never scored again although at 5:15 Evrim Ozkan put up a 3-point effort just missing the shot that would have cut the lead to 5.  It was an amazingly clean game with very few fouls called.  Neither team would have shot from the bonus stripe if the Nor'easters hadn't fouled late in an effort to keep their slim hopes alive.  Devin Thompson who lit up the Panthers for 31 points was held to only 6.  It is interesting to note that junior Thompson is the most senior player on the UNE squad.

It was a solid team effort on Bowdoin's part with the commentator saying time and time again that it felt like they should be winning by a much larger margin.  Keegan Pieri led all scorers with 22 and Bryan Hurley added 14 along with 6 assists.  John Swords had 15 points, 11 boards and looked at times like he could score at will.

UNE takes on another opponent from the NESCAC when they host Bates on Sunday.

[nescac1]

Williams struggled a bit last night, which is not uncommon in that pre-Thanksgiving game which is always a weird one ... just couldn't quite get into a consistent groove on either end.  But the Ephs still managed to come away with their third straight win, thanks to very strong performances from Daniel Wohl (19 points, 8 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks) and Hayden Rooke-Ley (26 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 14-14 at the line).  Right now, Wohl and Rooke-Ley are both playing at an all-NESCAC level, as they combine to average 39-14-4, and both are shooting over 40 percent from 3.  Mike Greenman and Dan Aronowitz have evolved in their second seasons into solid supporting players ... both are capable of creating offense at times, but the Ephs need both to continue to grow to consistently perform at a high level in big games.  Still, I'm confident that 1-4, Williams is as strong as any team in NESCAC. 

Where the Ephs are really struggling right now is to get help from the supporting cast ... Ryan Kilcullen had his best game of the season vs. MCLA and needs to continue to build on that -- the Ephs need him to be a consistent 8-10 ppg and 8-10 rpg kind of guy who hits over 40 percent from three.  Most of all, Williams needs a LOT more out of its bench ... right now, no one on the bench looks like a big scoring threat.  Ed Flynn and Luke Thoreson are the two leading bench scorers and both have scored efficiently on a few attempts, but neither has received much playing time at all.  Flynn is one of the few Ephs who can finish on the inside, so (broken record) I'd like to see him get a few more minutes out there.  Chris Galvin looks like he definitely belongs defensively and in terms of ball-handling and court awareness, but has had a bit of trouble finishing some of the good looks he's been able to manufacture; still, if some of those shots start to drop, he seems like a solid player.  The other two frosh, Adam Kroot and Cole Teal, are clearly still learning the college game, including where and how to find their shots.  Williams will need all three to show they can provide some scoring punch off the bench, because right now Williams is WAY too reliant on its starting five.  The good news is that you figure the younger guys will grow into their roles as they get more comfortable in the Ephs' always difficult-to-learn system. 

The one area Williams does not need to improve upon is foul shooting ... the Ephs are shooting a scorching 85.7 percent from the line, which is probably not sustainable; but this team has some really solid foul-shooters.  The Ephs' overall FG percentage, currently sitting at 43.7, needs to be much closer to 50, (which it has generally exceeded during the Maker years, but without Robinson and Maker's efficient scoring getting over 50 was never plausible) because the Ephs don't generate a lot of second chance points.  That means creating a lot more easy looks close to the basket. 

A few other NESCAC notes.  The early leaders for POY are Chris Hudnut, who is posting an impressive 19-11-3 line, plus over 1 spg and over 1 bpg, and Dylan Sinnickson, who is posting monster stats in the early going: 22 ppg and 14 rpg, albeit with a lot of shot attempts and few assists.  Other guys who are playing at a first-team all-NESCAC level include Wohl and Rooke-Ley, Hunter Merryman, and John Swords. 

The overwhelming early leader for ROY is Amherst's Johnny McCarthy, who is unexpectedly leading a loaded Amherst squad in scoring.  Tufts' Vinny Pace also looks like an early contender, although Tufts' team performance continues to be a surprising let down. 

Trinity, based on early returns, has not improved on its shooting woes: through five games, the Bantams (against less-than-stellar competition) are shooting a putrid 26.5 percent from three, and 67 percent from the line.  No matter how physical they are inside (and they are outrebounding opponents, as expected, by over 9 boards per game) they will have to improve substantially on those numbers to contend.

Right now, Amherst and Middlebury still look like the top tier of NESCAC.  Bowdoin (which like Williams has a great starting group but depth concerns) is probably leading the next tier, but the next three games will show whether Bowdoin is right there with Amherst and Midd, or further down in the pack.  Williams, Tufts, Trinity and Colby all have plenty of talent, but all save for Colby have had some surprising early stumbles.  Bates has been the biggest early surprise, but the Bobcats often seem to start strong then fade off, so they need to prove they can sustain this level. 

[polbear73]

Thanks for your analysis, nescac1.  As said many times throughout this message board, there is a lot of talent spread pretty evenly throughout the conference this year although Amherst and Midd appear to be particularly loaded.  Will be interested to see how the depth issue effects both Williams and Bowdoin this year. 

[madzillagd]

Where the Ephs are really struggling right now is to get help from the supporting cast ... Most of all, Williams needs a LOT more out of its bench ... right now, no one on the bench looks like a big scoring threat.  Ed Flynn and Luke Thoreson are the two leading bench scorers and both have scored efficiently on a few attempts, but neither has received much playing time at all.  Flynn is one of the few Ephs who can finish on the inside, so (broken record) I'd like to see him get a few more minutes out there.  Chris Galvin looks like he definitely belongs defensively and in terms of ball-handling and court awareness, but has had a bit of trouble finishing some of the good looks he's been able to manufacture; still, if some of those shots start to drop, he seems like a solid player.  The other two frosh, Adam Kroot and Cole Teal, are clearly still learning the college game, including where and how to find their shots.  Williams will need all three to show they can provide some scoring punch off the bench, because right now Williams is WAY too reliant on its starting five.   

Actually Galvin is the leading bench scorer if you are talking overall points, he's got 1 point more than Flynn and 2 more than Thoreson (unless you're talking ppg then it would be Thor/Gal/Flynn).  I wouldn't hold your breath on seeing the two vets getting more PT regardless of production, unless there is an injury. I think if you look closely you'll see a scarlet letter on their jerseys  Thoreson played in the first 2 games, had 1 bad minute of play with two turnovers in one rotation and he's pretty much not been seen since which is ironic given the amount of leeway others have had in the turnover department (not to mention being able to defend your position). Flynn comes in every game, runs the offense to perfection, makes his layups and then loses his minutes the rest of the game to Sime. Not sure what it is they are doing wrong but it's funny to see them still leading in bench production categories while they sit on the bench. As you said, hopefully the freshmen (& Sime) will start producing down the line because so far there hasn't been much of that. Kroot has now played 5 games, 16 mins total, and has yet to record a stat of any kind.

The center breakdown:
Flynn: 38 mins, 12 pts, 6-8 fg, 7 rebs, 4 asts, 0 stls, 0 blks
Sime: 12 mins, 1 pt, 0-0 fg, 5 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl, 0 blks

The guard breakdown:
Thoreson 17 mins, 11 pts, 4-4 fg, 3 rebs, 2 asts, 0 stls, 3 blks
Teal:        49 mins, 8 pts, 3-10 fg, 4 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls, 0 blks
Kroot:     16 mins, 0 pts, 0-2 fg, 0 rebs, 0 asts, 0 stls, 0 blks

Production definitely needs to pick up with the guys that are getting the bench minutes because the starter production is going to go down in NESCAC play when Kilcullen for example has to match up against Swords, Sabety, George, & Daley.  You know you'll need Flynn during those games because Sime is not nearly big enough to guard them despite his strength. 

[lumbercat]

Nescacman-
Thanks for the early season update- I would  ad Safford of Bates to your list of top performers so far.