MBB: NESCAC

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I would actually disagree with the point on the Ephs last season... while their offense was very good, it was the change in defense and buying into their zone that propelled them to the finals and nearly a national championship. They frustrated Albertus Magnus, though giving up points - also keeping them at bay throughout the game, they stimied and shutdown a hot-shooting Mary Washington team, then they annihilated Amherst including holding Toomey to his first basket with just a few minutes left in the game. They played good defense against UWW, though I wish I had seen more zone, and still were knocking on the door. I though the defense the Ephs showed in last year's tournament was pretty impressive.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

That's one thing easy to forget about d3 teams, they're not reloading every year.  Often the guys getting 8 minutes a game are going to be just as productive as the 30mpg senior they're replacing.  It's not always this way, but a d3 team is much more likely to have replacements available on the bench than a d1 school would be.

The problem is, with so many teams to follow, it's tough to know which ones.  I suspect the Babson bench will be able to replace a lot of what they lose this year, but we'll have to wait until November to find out.

[NothingButNESCAC]

We put our final wrap on this basketball season out today. A little lighter on analysis and heavier on personal insight. Interested to hear what people think of it. http://nothingbutnescac.com/2015/03/24/putting-a-bow-on-the-2014-2015-basketball-season/

[amh63]

Aware this should be on the baseball board.....however, Middlebury's star forward is starring on the "diamond"!  D. Sinnickson, aka DK, has been selected as the Player of the Week in the conference in baseball.  Seems he is a batting terror in Arizona.  Old Guy should be happy.  Expect he is out West now watching the games.

[nescac1]

Loads of NESCAC recruiting news here:

http://www.d3bballrecruits.com/ 

New recruits for Trinity, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby.  I'll leave it to the fans of the various schools to speculate as to who among them might see early playing time! 

One guy to keep an eye on is Mike Runcie at Wesleyan ... earned a lot of accolades in a region of NJ that produces some strong players.  As good as Wesleyan played late in the season this year, I think next year they will be a top-25 caliber team all season long with their top six guys back and now battle-tested, and some really good athletes coming off the bench in Jordan Sears (a potential break-out sophomore), Runcie, and P.J. Reed.  Wesleyan also had three frosh big guys this year, all 6'7 plus, any one of whom could emerge to provide some additional depth up front.

Still waiting for official word on the remaining Williams recruits, beyond the three from the ED round.  Since Williams decisions were released yesterday, hopefully it will come soon.  One of the early Eph recruits, Miye Oni, was recently named co-player of the year in his division (not the highest, but not the lowest, either) for all of Southern California -- impressive. 

[P'bearfan]

We put our final wrap on this basketball season out today. A little lighter on analysis and heavier on personal insight. Interested to hear what people think of it. http://nothingbutnescac.com/2015/03/24/putting-a-bow-on-the-2014-2015-basketball-season/

Great stuff guys!  Thanks again for a season of terrific coverage.

[gordonmann]

The Lord Jeffs and Clucks play Stevens Point and Adrian in the Hockey Final Four tonight.  It'd be cool if both won, setting up an all 'CAC final.

www.d3hockey.com

[Pat Coleman]

Game is tomorrow but I encourage everyone to follow the games live on D3hockey.com.

[30 for 30]

As we turn the corner into 2015-16 season a side story will be tracking the success of Robinson and Hart as they make the transition into major college basketball. It's all anecdotal at this point however with the red shirt years behind them talk about their prospects will grow. Came across the comments linked below re Hart. Two recent transfers from the GW back court will clear out traffic for Hart. Word is he took the year to get measurably stronger and refining his skills while impressing in practice all season. Lonergan appears to have a role for him. Any news on Robinson?

http://www.basketballforum.com/atlantic-10-conference/596650-10-team-team-2015-16-a-6.html

[nescac1]

Expectations for Robinson are also high.  He has used his redshirt to pack on about 15 pounds of muscle, so he should be able to guard 4's at the next level (a good thing because D1 wings would likely give some trouble with their quickness).  I think he will be able to score and score in bunches at the next level, so the question is how far his defense has come along.   

I think this was posted back at the time, but he set the Michigan record in a 3-point shooting drill: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2014/12/04/michigan-basketball-duncan-robinson/19882277/

Also, this from a recent post-season report from a Michigan fan site:

The X-factor in this whole discussion, and one that should absolutely not be overlooked, is Williams College transfer Duncan Robinson. Beginning next year, he will be redshirt sophomore, having been forced to sit out the most recent season by NCAA transfer rules.

So what's the big deal about Robinson? Well, he might just be the best shooter on the team. More than one player on the squad has described him that way, including some that would like to claim that title for themselves.

Robinson hit 45.6 percent of his three-point shots as a true freshman, and has had year off to work on refining his game under Beilein's tutelage. Albeit against a lower level of competition, that's a higher shooting percentage from long range than Nik Stauskas or Trey Burke ever shot at Michigan. And at 6-8, 190 pounds, Robinson has a very atypical build to be such an accurate outside offensive weapon. It could open all sorts of options for Beilein, who has shown that he knows what to do with good shooters.

[iwumichigander]

Re: Robinson - not just the players saying he is the best shooter on the team. The coaches are saying it too.  Word from Ann Arbor is Robinson going to be very very good.  High praise given the shooter the Wolverines have on a team that needs to get heathy and really needs a couple of bigs to compete in Big Ten.  Michigan has Robinson working with the strength, conditioning and nutrition staff.  He has already added 15 lbs of muscle.  I would expect to see him around 20-25 lbs heavier by the time official practice starts next season - say around 215 - 220 lbs muscled up.  The red shirt year gives him a unique opportunity to learn that complex Michigan offense and terminology.

[nescac1]

Good stuff, iwumichigander, thanks for the report.  I'm not surprised to hear that at all.  Really Robinson's only flaw as a frosh was lack of strength to battle inside, where he sometimes got pushed around by older, stronger players, and with a year to improve in that area, he's clearly ready to be a good D1 four -- he will be one of the best shooting forwards in all of D1, and has plus handle and passing ability for a D1 big guy.  In many ways, with his hoops intelligence, ability to see the floor, cut, pass, and shoot the lights out, he is the perfect stretch 4 for a system like Michigan's where he is not going to be asked to beat guys one-on-one off the dribble other than when they are running out at his shot, but again, the challenge will come on defense.   

I don't think we will ever see another frosh with Duncan's ability and impact in NESCAC play.  It's incredible that he wasn't a more highly sought after recruit in  high school.  Mike Nogelo is the best player I've seen in NESCAC, and I'd put Aaron Toomey second, and those are are almost certainly two of the best dozen D3 players of the past 25 years.  But neither were close to as good or as impactful as Duncan was as a frosh. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

There will always be somebody falling through the cracks for one reason or another.  A few years back when Grinnell had John Grotberg scoring all those points, it wasn't just because of the system.  He was a legit d1 prospect (Michigan State was interested), but broke his leg and missed his senior year.  He ended up scoring almost 3,000 points in d3.

It's rare, but it sure happens.

[gordonmann]

Injuries in the player's senior year of high school are frequently a part of those "How did he end up going there?" stories.

[P'bearfan]

Great time at the Bowdoin team banquet last night.  A very nice wrap up to the season and a warm send off for the seniors. 

Regarding the seniors, both Bryan Hurley and John Swords will look for opportunities to continue playing in Europe.  Don't know that either of them have definite plans yet but wish both the best of luck!

GoUBears!