MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Amherst wins a tough road game 59-51 against ECSU.  Good win...period!  Both teams were tense for this game, imo, missing layups, etc.  Both teams played hard defense.  Announcer stated that Lindo, the Warrior Shot blocker and top rebounder...had 21 rebounds, 4 blocks...was exhausted at the half.
Conner Green played only 9 minutes in the first half...foul troubles again. 
Two more road trips ahead...at Hamilton followed by Williams in Willytown!  Do not know if the game with Williams is the one that counts!
Guess the team will be joined by Aaron Toomey when they get back to Amherst.
Oh yes....good night for all the CAC teams!

[7express]

The game that counts is this Saturday @ Williams, Amh.  The other game, the game that doesn't count towards the standings is in a couple Wednesday's @ Amherst.  Forgot the date off the top of my head but want to say it's the 21st.

[AmherstStudent05]

Grabtherim and 7express speak the truth. Thanks fellas.

All this teeth-nashing over a meaningless exercise is a waste of everyone's time.

Games and games alone will determine each team's fortune, not this silly poll. I, quite frankly, don't give much of a damn what a collection of folks think of my team. If it had any meaning or impact then I might feel differently.

Bucket, I think we agree on this, but just to be clear, games alone may not determine every team's fortune.  A collection of folks do matter -- the regional ranking committees. But we have some time before we have to worry about that.

Great night for the NESCAC. Like everyone else, I can't wait to finally get conference play underway. We can put aside schedule comparisons for a few weeks as we finally get to battle against each other.

Speaking of Midd, my man Connor Huff continues to impress. Seems like he is guarding all 5 positions at times. Also, still not sure how he is doing it, but turnovers seem to follow in his wake. At this point it has to be more than luck.  Very interested to see if this continues now that we have arrived at conference play.  Again, I would have thought he would have been a defensive liability at the 5. So far he has proven me way wrong. 

[Pat Coleman]

Also, this is starting to become a Richard Stockton vs. #1 ranking back last February in the top 25 pool, where there'd be a "while you were typing 100 new replies have been made".  I'd hate to see anyone else get perma-banned like that poster did.  Let's keep it cool in here.

I had to go back to work this afternoon and was unable to continue to participate in this conversation, but 7express is right here, especially considering grabtherim has previously been warned about ax-grinding.

Grabtherim -- my bad, you're right, I did inject an opinion this time after my previous posts on the subject were seemingly ignored.

[Old Guy]

It may be that there aren't very many really good teams this year. There do seem to be a great many good, but somewhat flawed teams. I think Middlebury is doing just fine with their philosophy of playing local, not very good teams, before league play. They tried the other approach last year, and it hurt them badly. If Midd can 8-2, or even 7-3 in the league, they pretty much guarantee a bid to the NCAAs.

Can't win dept: Midd was disparaged last year for scheduling brutally tough opening games and now has a "philosophy" of scheduling "local, not very good teams." Schedules are not made the week before the games are played. Salve Regina defeated Middlebury last year. It's early. I think by the end of the year, the Middlebury schedule (opponents' won-loss) will look about like everyone else's. When it's all said and done, Skidmore will have a nice record; Clark looks like a decent team in a good league (NEWMAC); Plattsburgh is worthy. It will all sort itself out.

Nice road win today for the Panthers, despite a poor first half by both clubs. Jake Brown was very good leading the attack - 10 points, seven assists, seven boards, four steals, great defense on the Cardinals' pg (Mitchell), picking his pocket a couple of times.

The Panthers were cold from the outside (Merryman, Sinnickson, St. Amour), except for Tarantino (6'7") who had a good game, inside and out (3-4 from three). He's emerged as a factor, played a lot in the second half. The coaches like their frosh.

Nice balance in Midd's scoring - 13,11,10,10,7. The Panthers have a number of weapons. Good luck, boys, with the Bobcats and Jumbos. I'm headed to Maine at the end of the week, hoping that Bates is still on break. I love that gym but it's a tough place to play, especially on a cold winter's night when the students are ready to rumble.

Incidentally, terrific video presentation by Plattsburgh, clear HD picture and very good announcer, animated without being annoying. Wife (Old Girl? maybe not) showed me how to hook up my computer to the TV, not that hard. Fabulous.

Watched the last ten minutes of the Colby-Husson game, a 99-94 Mule win. Husson was ranked #23 in the poll just out (I'd like Midd's chances against them), their only loss before today to Bates. Hudnut (26 points, 14 rebounds) is a very good player.

Bates (9-2) has a couple of nice wins after their two losses in Atlanta. Bowdoin (8-3) had a good road win today - Hausman had 28.

Gentlemen, start your engines: NESCAC games this week.

[toad22]

I was not one of those who disparaged Midd's scheduling. Last year I made the case for not playing really competitive teams early in the year. Middlebury has nothing to apologize for. The polls mean nothing. Strength of schedule only helps you if you win most of your games. If you lose more than 4-5 regular season games, you win the league or go home. The NESCAC is a tough league. I'm in favor of playing traditional non-league opponents with no attempt at trying to toughen your schedule if it seems weak.

[pinseeking1]

Nice come from behind win for Bates tonight against a tough Brandeis team. Bates controlled the boards and actually shot a higher percentage from 3 point range than from overall. (They missed a lot of makeable twos, I guess.) That's a little perplexing...

Now they've beaten Babson and Brandeis but got knocked out of the "others receiving votes" in the rankings. I'm not saying they deserve to be getting points because they did take two bad losses in Atlanta. However, just when you think things are turning down, the Bobcats start looking good again. This weekend will be very telling for this team...

[Bucket]

Grabtherim and 7express speak the truth. Thanks fellas.

All this teeth-nashing over a meaningless exercise is a waste of everyone's time.

Games and games alone will determine each team's fortune, not this silly poll. I, quite frankly, don't give much of a damn what a collection of folks think of my team. If it had any meaning or impact then I might feel differently.

Bucket, I think we agree on this, but just to be clear, games alone may not determine every team's fortune.  A collection of folks do matter -- the regional ranking committees. But we have some time before we have to worry about that.

Great night for the NESCAC. Like everyone else, I can't wait to finally get conference play underway. We can put aside schedule comparisons for a few weeks as we finally get to battle against each other.

Speaking of Midd, my man Connor Huff continues to impress. Seems like he is guarding all 5 positions at times. Also, still not sure how he is doing it, but turnovers seem to follow in his wake. At this point it has to be more than luck.  Very interested to see if this continues now that we have arrived at conference play.  Again, I would have thought he would have been a defensive liability at the 5. So far he has proven me way wrong.

Yes, in total agreement. Regional ranking committees play the role of tourney gatekeeper, but they are far better positioned to play that role.

Thanks for recognizing Connor's contributions. An unsung contributor, if there ever was one.

[polbear73]

It is too bad that NESCAC can't find a way to play a better balance between conference and non-conference games. The current system of playing teams annually results in each team playing 60% of their games out of conference, making for a lot of meaningless games and perhaps jeopardizing the legitimacy of the conference standings and seeding. To play each team twice however would swing the pendulum too far the other way and would allow for only five non-conference games. Ideally,
the conference would have an even number of teams allowing for the division into two divisions and play each division also twice and the other members of the league once, creating a 15 game conference schedule. Moot point, but interesting to think about.

[ECSUalum]

Amherst wins a tough road game 59-51 against ECSU.  Good win...period!  Both teams were tense for this game, imo, missing layups, etc.  Both teams played hard defense.  Announcer stated that Lindo, the Warrior Shot blocker and top rebounder...had 21 rebounds, 4 blocks...was exhausted at the half.
Conner Green played only 9 minutes in the first half...foul troubles again. 
Two more road trips ahead...at Hamilton followed by Williams in Willytown!  Do not know if the game with Williams is the one that counts!
Guess the team will be joined by Aaron Toomey when they get back to Amherst.
Oh yes....good night for all the CAC teams!

amh63,
see my comments over on LEC thread.  Congrats on a great game last night!!

[amh63]

Some more observations of the Amherst game....followed by impressions of the Panthers vs Cardinals game.
Did anyone notice the bright color shoes worn by the Panthers last night...other than me....yes, I know, I'm a shoe person.  Only person with black shoes was the top rebounder, etc, the Dark Knight, DK...very appropriate .  Smiled when the announcer stated that he would return to pronouncing Sinnickson's name the way he started the game.  Considering Vandy's prior post, why do people have a problem?  Mine is spelling DK's name.
Impressed with Daley's brief time on the floor...movement and smooth stroke.  Will be a problem for Amherst to guard.  Like Amherst in their away game, I felt that Midd was a little tight resulting in poor shooting and TOs in the first half.  See that the Panthers have a team that wants to run.  Seems both HBCs were making player adjustments as the game went on....a sign of a deep bench...good item...and a young team...not so good item as conference games awaits.
The Amherst game with the tough Warriors was a physical game...a point made several times by the announcers.  There were rebounding battles going on.  Believe the younger Amherst players were not adjusting to the physical game and missing lay ups or rushing their shots.  Of course, the Warriors were blocking shots!  Amherst could have used Pollack up front...did put in Levine...a steadying senior with size.  Amherst got beat many times down the floor for lay ups which got Coach Hixon to call time outs!...and instruct!  Not happy.  Otherwise, I believe Amherst wants to run when they can.  Hard to do when the other team gets 48 RBs.  ECSU had a big front line...Canney the center is listed at 6'11"... when you have the jumping jack Lindo with 21 RBs inserted.  The good point was the defense that stopped ECSU's leading scorer with only 11...most from break away lay ups/ foul line...held the Warriors to 51points!

[magicman]

A copy of my post on the SUNYAC board.  It's a long one.

Final from Tuesday's game:

Middlebury 63 Plattsburgh State 53

This game was supposed to feature two excellent offensive teams going at each other to see which one could come out on top. Some one forgot to tell the players that. I had predicted a 78-74 final score with the Cardinals winning and when I fired up my crystal ball to determine that outcome I was left wondering if I wasn't being a little too conservative in my forecast.

Sitting courtside with my friend from Middlebury, who was rooting his Panthers on, I said to him with 4 minutes gone by and the score 3-2, this final score of 78-74 that I predicted has no chance of happening now. And the next 16 minutes of action did nothing to change that statement. The 2 teams missed the first 10 shots in the game until Middlebury finally got on the board with 16:51 left in the half on a hoop and harm by Jake Brown. Plattsburgh countered with a pair of free throws by Reggie Williams on their next possession. The Panthers would grab the upper hand however and slowly built a lead that reached double figures at 19-9 with 8 minutes left in the half.

Both teams continued to have shooting issues... missing layups, throwing up air balls, taking ill advised shots. Plattsburgh seemed to have problems with Middlebury's length which made them rush their outside shots and had them forcing layups on their drives to the basket. Layups that were more often than not way off their mark. Middlebury seemed to victimize themselves with poor shot selections especially from long range and in the first half were only 2 of 10 with many of their attempts way off the mark. The Cardinals weren't much better hitting 3 of 13 from long range.

The Panthers' big man Matt Daley, missing in action for most of the year and slowly getting back into game shape entered the game for the first time with 7:45 left in the period. He immediately paid dividends as he made back to back buckets in 48 seconds to give Middlebury their largest lead of the half at 23-12. The Cardinals would fight back with 5 points from Ezra Hodgson and a 3 pointer by Eddie Correa with 19 seconds left to make the score 28-22 at the break.

The 2nd half started out on a good note by the Cardinals as they went inside to their big man Reggie Williams and then got a 3 pointer from Shamoy McIntosh to narrow the gap to 28-27. Through the first 5 minutes of the half it was back and forth action as McIntosh(9) and Williams(4) combined for all 13 of the Cardinals' 2nd half points. With 15:23 remaining the Panthers were in front 36-35. The next 6 minutes would determine the outcome of this game as the Panthers went on an 18 to 5 run fueled by a pair of trifectas from highly regarded freshman Nick Tarantino, 2 baskets from Dylan Sinnickson and another 2 buckets from Hunter Merryman. Suddenly there was under 10 minutes to play and the lead had ballooned to 14 points at 54-40. It would be the largest lead of the game.

The Cards had one last charge as Jordan Moody reeled off 6 straight points and a McIntosh drive to the hoop cut the lead back to a 2 possession game at 54-48 with 7:42 left to go. Plenty of time for things to happen. The things that happened though were Panther related as Dean Brierley scored inside and Merryman went to the line and made a pair to build the lead back to 10 points. 2 and a half minutes of no scoring by either side followed until Hodgson made a 3 pointer for Plattsburgh to cut the lead to 7. Jake brown was fouled, made 1 of 2, and when the Cards failed to score on their next possession, Sinnickson made them pay with a layup that boosted the lead back to 10. Plattsburgh countered with another basket by Hodgson and took a timeout with the 2 minute warning showing on the scoreboard. I believe the Cardinals' Coach Curle  told his team at that time to play defense and see if they could hit a couple of 3's to get it back to a 2 possession game. Unfortunately they didn't get the bounces as the Panthers missed, got the rebound, missed again, got the rebound and as Curle elected not to start the foul parade, they worked the clock and came away with the 10 point win as Sinnickson hit the last points of the game with 53 seconds left. Plattsburgh turned it over on their next possession and Middlebury ran the clock out.

As my friend from Middlebury stated and I agreed, this game was won by the defensive efforts of the Panthers. Last year Ed Correa was the main reason Plattsburgh  won in Pepin Gymnasium as he went 6x10 from 3 point range. This year he got a total of 2 shots in 31 minutes. He was 1x2 for a total of 3 points. last year he was the game's leading scorer with 22.  The Panthers simply weren't going to let him, beat them, again. The Cardinals have been held to under 71 points only one other time this year and that was a 60-57 win over Skidmore. To only score 53 points, well you have to tip your hat to the Panthers and in particular to Coach Brown. Always nice to visit with Coach Brown when he comes to Plattsburgh. Many fine memories of his playing days over here in the annual PBA Tournament every spring starting with the year he graduated from UVM.

The Panthers placed 4 players in double figures led by 13 points from Dylan Sinnickson (6x13 fg, 1x4 3's,). He also had 13 rebounds to notch his 7th double-double of the season. Freshman Nick Tarantino continues to impress as he scored 13 points (4x10 fg, 3x4 3's) and grabbed 6 rebounds. Jake Brown filled up the stat sheet with 10 points (4x8 fg, 0x1 3's, 2x3 ft) 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. Hunter Merryman added 10 points (4x13 fg, 0x5 3's, 2x2 ft) and 7 rebounds.

The Panthers shot the ball better than the Cardinals did from the field, while the Cardinals managed 1 more 3 pointer. The rebounding battle was won by the Panthers with a slight 44-39 edge and the turnovers were fairly even with 16 for Plattsburgh to 15 for Middlebury.  Here are the shooting stats

Middlebury's:  FG: 26-64 40.6%   3 Point FG: 5-21 23.8%   FT: 6-7 85.7%

Plattsburgh's:  FG: 20-63 31.7%   3 Point FG: 6-19 31.6%   FT: 7-10 70.0%

Plattsburgh was led by Shamoy McIntosh who captured scoring honors for the game with 15 points (6x12 fg, 2x3 3's, 1x3 ft) and tied for the team lead in rebounds with 7. Ezra Hodgson had 10 points (4x13 fg, 1x3 3's, 1x1 ft). Reggie Williams had 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.

Middlebury improves to 9-0 and will be back in action on Friday night to open conference play as they travel to Bates for a 7:00 PM tipoff.

Plattsburgh falls to 6-3 (1-1 SUNYAC) and  will return to conference play this weekend as they travel to western NY to take on Fredonia State on Friday night at 5:30 PM and Buffalo State the next day at 2:00 PM The Cardinals have now completed their non-conference play with a 5-2 record.

Congratulations to my Middlebury friends on the win last night in Plattsburgh. I told Vandy74 earlier in the week that in the past seven years  Middlebury was 2-2 against Plattsburgh in Pepin Gymnasium and 3-0 against Plattsburgh on the Cardinals' home court. I was hoping to end that jinx last night.

Well last year I had a pleasant ride home from Middlebury. This year my Middlebury friends had a pleasant ride home from Plattsburgh. 
                           

[amh63]

WPI played well at home....more interested in the movement of the coaches and their player insertions last night.
See that Tufts is playing a game tonight...interesting.  Will watch it to see how the team is progressing from earlier in the season.
Watched a bit of ACC games..The Georgia Tech game in Atlanta and the Virginia game in their new home palace.  Saw it while under construction....need to get inside and take a look around...to add it to my list of venues visited. Back to point here! Found it most interesting that in both the ACC games...GT vs Syracruse and Virginia vs NCS....the scores were in the 40's well into the 2nd half!  This is big time MBB with big fast talented players and low scores....also fine coaches.  DEFENSE prevailed it appears and well coached players made mistakes along with fine plays.  Same thing happened in both the Midd and Amherst games...Div3 games with low overall scores.   
With the conference games coming this weekend, I expect the games to have low scores and the best defensive teams to prevail.  Hope I'm right!

[7express]

Virginia is an excellent defensive team Amh, and wherever Tony Bennett has been, his philosophy, much like his father, has always been defense first and we'll worry about the offense later.  Even before he came to Charlottesville, and was in relative obscurity at the Paloose at Washington State in Eastern Washington, those Cougar teams were always in the top 30, top 20 in defense.

[Bucket]

Virginia is an excellent defensive team Amh, and wherever Tony Bennett has been, his philosophy, much like his father, has always been defense first and we'll worry about the offense later.  Even before he came to Charlottesville, and was in relative obscurity at the Paloose at Washington State in Eastern Washington, those Cougar teams were always in the top 30, top 20 in defense.

Again, speaking the truth 7express!

39 straight games that the Hoos have held ACC opponents to less than 50 % from the field.