MBB: NESCAC

[madzillagd]

Not everything rosy at Wes
http://wesleyanargus.com/2015/02/22/six-students-hospitalized-for-alleged-mollymdma-overdose/

[grabtherim]

This is the forum for this?  Really?  Why?

[madzillagd]

Because it's current news that unfortunately impacts one of the schools we chat about. No doubt the students involved will be known to the players on the team and it will be a talked about on campus all week. Feel free to go bury your head in the sand if you'd like.

[GoWesYoungMan]

re the terrible situation unfolding in Middletown, the focus obviously needs to be on the immediate health of the students involved and then attention needs to be directed at what seems to be a problem at wes ( a problem that likely exists at some other schools as well). I particularly feel for the parents of these kids, and just hope for a full recovery. That said, I'd like to request that this be the last discussion of this issue here on this board. I enjoy the banter about basketball and don't want to spend this opportunity defending or explaining other issues at wes or have to read defenses from posters about issues on other nescac campuses (even though such issues might be much more important than a basketball game).

[madzillagd]

Did anyone attack Wes?  Was there any defending that needed to be done? There was an incident on campus that made national news. No one is attacking Wes and no defense is needed. Everyone on this board is aware of what goes on a college campus. I don't think censorship is the answer. If I see stuff I think is relevant to student athletes and the posters on the board I will post it. If people want to smite me go right ahead. If Pat thinks it's too much I'm sure he'll jump in if he wants.

[grabtherim]

Hold the insults. Take a deep breath and think. This is not the place for this or your pontificating on why it should be discussed in this forum.  There is a time and more appropriately a place for everything. Clearly, you just don't get it.

[Pat Coleman]

There's nothing wrong with discussing this in this forum.

[toad22]

I want to congratulate Coach Gilbride and the Bowdoin team for a great game on Saturday. Like I wrote before the game, the team that plays well usually wins. Of course, I thought that was going to be Williams, but not so. The Ephs played a good first half, but couldn't sustain it. Over the years, I have been consistently impressed at how well Bowdoin is coached. I remember him well from his playing days at Providence. I am sure Dave Gavitt, his old coach, is looking down from on high with great pride.

I think Bowdoin has a good chance this weekend if they play as aggressively as they did vs the Ephs in the second half. They have perhaps the hottest shooter in the league in Hausman, Swords the defender, and rebounder, and Hurley, a very efficient distributor of the ball.

[grabtherim]

There's nothing wrong with discussing this in this forum.

Go right ahead but count me out.  Oh, and by the way, don't confuse "sticking one's head in the sand" with what I still see as the wrong venue. 

[polbear73]

I want to congratulate Coach Gilbride and the Bowdoin team for a great game on Saturday. Like I wrote before the game, the team that plays well usually wins. Of course, I thought that was going to be Williams, but not so. The Ephs played a good first half, but couldn't sustain it. Over the years, I have been consistently impressed at how well Bowdoin is coached. I remember him well from his playing days at Providence. I am sure Dave Gavitt, his old coach, is looking down from on high with great pride.

I think Bowdoin has a good chance this weekend if they play as aggressively as they did vs the Ephs in the second half. They have perhaps the hottest shooter in the league in Hausman, Swords the defender, and rebounder, and Hurley, a very efficient distributor of the ball.

Gracious comments, toad, and the same can be said for the three graduating Williams seniors, all of whom had great careers, were tremendous competitors, and added so much to a great Eph basketball program.

I think your comments about what Bowdoin has to do to be successful this weekend are spot on, particularly your mention of Brian Hurley, a not often mentioned but critical component for Bowdoin on both ends of the floor.  Looking forward to a great semi-final weekend. 

[P'bearfan]

I want to congratulate Coach Gilbride and the Bowdoin team for a great game on Saturday. Like I wrote before the game, the team that plays well usually wins. Of course, I thought that was going to be Williams, but not so. The Ephs played a good first half, but couldn't sustain it. Over the years, I have been consistently impressed at how well Bowdoin is coached. I remember him well from his playing days at Providence. I am sure Dave Gavitt, his old coach, is looking down from on high with great pride.

I think Bowdoin has a good chance this weekend if they play as aggressively as they did vs the Ephs in the second half. They have perhaps the hottest shooter in the league in Hausman, Swords the defender, and rebounder, and Hurley, a very efficient distributor of the ball.

toad - thanks for the kind words and acknowledgement of HBC Gilbride.  +K to you.

IMHO, Coach Gilbride does a great job of adapting his approach, both offensively and defensively, based on the personnel that he has.  He doesn't stick rigidly with a system but finds the best system for his players.  Not many coaches are that flexible.

Looking forward to the semi-final game this weekend.  Amherst will be a big challenge.

[nescac1]

Agree with Toad on Gilbride.  Saturday, Bowdoin won because they had the two best guys on the court, both of whom had absolutely dominating games.  But in many past years, some really, really talented Williams teams that ended up going far have struggled to beat Bowdoin teams, some of which seemed on paper to be outmanned.  I feel that Gilbride consistently gets a ton out of his talent, employs a lot of diverse and creative sets on both ends of the court, and players really develop over the course of their time at Bowdoin -- look where Swords or Hausman were as frosh (you could see the ability, but fairly limited impact), for example, compared to what they have become.  To me, he is the coach of the year for what he has done overcoming the loss of three strong senior players, plus adjusting for two major injuries to key players.   

I think the Final Four in NESCAC is a toss-up.  Trinity had the strongest season and is at home which is a big plus (I imagine there will be a rabid crowd on hand), but Wesleyan has been the hottest team in NESCAC of late and has the size and athleticism to match up well with the Bants.  Key for Wesleyan is Joe Edmonds sudden emergence as a distance shooter ... he is 15-22 from three over his last three games, after going 20-59 the entire rest of the season.  Rafferty and Mackey can be deadly shooters, and if Edmonds keeps shooting like that, suddenly Wesleyan has a lot of guys who can knock down threes around Davis' penetration, which also allows Kuo and Epps more space to work inside.  Tough team to guard if those three perimeter guys keep hitting. 

Amherst-Bowdoin also looks even on paper.  Amherst is a much deeper team with a substantially bigger reservoir of talent, but Swords is a great equalizer, either Hausman or Green could go off for 30 plus and it's hard to know who will have the hotter hand, and Hurley gives Bowdoin an experienced backcourt leader that Amherst lacks.  Both games are coin-flips, to me. 

[grabtherim]

Trinity has "Trinity Days" so most if not all of the students will not be on campus this weekend.  The way this season has gone, I will not be surprised by any result this weekend.  All of the games should be a good watch.  Good luck to everyone.   

[P'bearfan]

http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150223be1xxu

Congratulations to Lucas Hausman for another NESCAC Player of the Week award.  Well deserved!

[quicksilver]

Wow -- three weeks in a row as PoW for Lucas Hausman!!! I wonder whether that has ever happened before. What a year he is having for the P'Bears . .