MBB: NESCAC

[toad22]

Nostalgia: Ryan Sharry's senior year, he averaged 19 points a game, taking only 10.5 shots per game, shooting 61% (43% from three), with 10 rebounds a game. That's pretty efficient. Team was 26-4.

Sharry was a beast. He is one of the handful of "all time best" players I have seen in the NESCAC. He scared me all four years.

[Old Guy]

Nostalgia: Ryan Sharry's senior year, he averaged 19 points a game, taking only 10.5 shots per game, shooting 61% (43% from three), with 10 rebounds a game. That's pretty efficient. Team was 26-4.

Sharry was a beast. He is one of the handful of "all time best" players I have seen in the NESCAC. He scared me all four years.

On the court, yes. In person, shy, self-effacing, reserved. When he was a frosh, one of the coaches worried aloud that Ryan was "too nice" to be a great player.

[P'bearfan]

Tracking back a little to the Hausman-McCarthy argument.
If I was comparing the two to NBA players Hausman=James Harden and McCarthy=Kawhi Leonard. Harden is a dominant scorer who's effectiveness is solely because of his ridiculous ability to score the basketball. Both him and Hausman get to the rim a lot and make most of their free throws. Leonard meanwhile is an amazing defender who swallows his opponents because of his long arms... hmm that sounds familiar to McCarthy.
Both are great players in their own way and fit the rosters around them perfectly. At the end of the day, Hasuman is the better and more important player.

I think that's a pretty good comparison....I also think of Hausman as a James Harden type of player.  Have to agree that he is a critical piece of this year's Bowdoin team.

[amh63]

nescac1....thanks for the update.  Several questions come to mind.  Realize that Williams started a day earlier than Amherst....why the use of Twitter for the info vice just a roster update?  Are there rules against a roster update??
Do note the size of the players that are cited as guards.  Yes, the guards are getting taller and taller....looks like the outside game of Williams continues.

[Pat Coleman]

nescac1....thanks for the update.  Several questions come to mind.  Realize that Williams started a day earlier than Amherst....why the use of Twitter for the info vice just a roster update?  Are there rules against a roster update??

He did say it was the coach who posted on Twitter. The coach doesn't run the website. Most sports information offices aren't staffed to update winter sports during the first week of the fall season -- too much to do to get those sports up and running.

[Hoop4Life]

nescac1 ... thanks for the info. I can't wait to see these recruits develop in the next 4 years. Yes, they are tall.

[P'bearfan]

Had an opportunity to chat with Georgia Tech HBC Brian Gregory last night...very nice man and wish him and his team the best for this season.

One topic we discussed was the emphasis on small ball and the need for outside shooters.  From Coach Gregory's perspective, defenses have now advanced so far that they have negated the advantage of big men and the inside game (i.e. they can't dominate the game they way the used to).  This has led teams to play small and focus on outside shooting.  He mentioned the GSW playing with a 6' 51/2" center (Draymond Green) in the NBA finals as the perfect example.

Curious what other posters think of this relative to play in the NESCAC?  Williams just brought in a FY class full of size.  Obviously I don't know anything about these players and they may turn out to be world beaters, but did HBC App pick the wrong strategy?   

[nescac1]

I think size is still important in terms of defense and rebounding -- less so on the offensive end, I'd agree.  While GSW did win the title this year, size still matters at all levels of basketball.  Duke won last year's NCAA title in part thanks to having one of the best centers in college hoops.  San Antonio's success is attributable to many things, but first and foremost among them is Tim Duncan.  There may not be many truly elite post players around, but when you have one, it's an enormous asset -- look at Williams' success when they had Troy Whittington or Michael Mayer patrolling the lane, or Midd's with Ryan Sharry. 

As for Williams, the class may have a lot of size, but these big dudes from what I've been able to ascertain are not traditional posts (except perhaps Kempton -- there is very little about him, and no video, although his dad did play in the NBA, so he at least has good genes!).  Casey is an ace three point shooter, and Porath, Soto, Scadlock, and Heskett, despite being 6'6 or bigger, all seemed to do a lot of their scoring from behind the arc in high school, and none of them seem like they are really post-up guys at all.  They key to success in a system like App runs is to have at least four guys, ideally five, on the floor who can spread the floor from outside.  If those guys are big enough to be assets on the boards and defensively, all the better.  The question I have about the Ephs is, do they have enough quickness?  Never really a typical Williams strong suit, but it seems like very, very few guys on the roster have the ability to explode to the hole and create in that fashion (Aronowitz probably the best in that regard).  And without a dominant post presence, that means that the open shots will have to be generated from precise movement off the ball, passing and screening.  Of course, this is largely speculative since I've only seen short snippets, if anything, of the incoming players! 

[middhoops]

"Curious what other posters think of this relative to play in the NESCAC?  Williams just brought in a FY class full of size.  Obviously I don't know anything about these players and they may turn out to be world beaters, but did HBC App pick the wrong strategy? "

Oh yeah, size still matters.  Quality size.  And perhaps most especially when you DON'T have it. 
Many eyes will be on Bowdoin early in the season to note the absence of an effective seven footer. 
It's true that playing smaller, multi skilled athletes against less effective big guys (Timofey Mozgov of Cleveland) is a tactic that can work for a while. 
Still, I'd like to have Locke and Sharry back again.

Sabety and Swords are gone but there even more big guys coming into the NESCAC this season.  Teams in Western Mass are getting taller.

[amh63]

Small ball....hard to understand these new terms and all.  Understand that success tend for others to evaluate and follow.  Small centers, etc.  For me the underlying factors for a successful season from the pros to the Nescac are talent follow by team play and coaching in no particular order.
Coaches hope to recruit the best players they can get.  Coaches get the players to fit the system they prefer?  Or do they adopt the system to best fit the talent they have available?...a little like a chicken or egg question....nay, not really.
It is early for me in upper NY state.  I maybe only half alert.
The examples cited are both talented big front court players and smaller ones..all got better with fine coaching.  Coaches also want talented backcourt players that can see the court, handle the ball, etc. fine players that can shoot play defense etc.  again...come in all sizes.  Examples are galore in the pros..down to D3.
Will CAC coaches want Big Tall talented players for the front court?  You bet.  Big ball handling PGs that can shoot and play defense?  you bet and small ones too!
IMO, all the coaches have a preferred " style of play" and go recruit the best players they can.  The most successful ones adjust well in cases of injuries, transfers, etc.  Is there a name for that?

[P'bearfan]

Coaches hope to recruit the best players they can get.  Coaches get the players to fit the system they prefer?  Or do they adopt the system to best fit the talent they have available?.

Interesting question.   At Bowdoin, it's clear that HBC Gilbride is a master of adapting his style of play to fit the players he has.  I've really seen few other coaches who have absolutely no hesitation about abandoning what worked last year b/c it won't work this year.  Remarkable.

[NEhoops]

All coaches want good big men. The game hasn't changed, but more so the amount of skilled big men continues to diminish, thus coaches need to make adjustments. I think this is more the case in the NBA and DI, whereas the NESCAC can play a traditional lineup and be very effective. Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan are good players, but not "skilled" big men compared to Marc Gasol and Tim Duncan. Players with similar attributes as Howard and Jordan, are losing minutes to players that make more consistent contributions on the offensive end - see Andrew Bogut in this years finals. The Warriors were somewhat of the perfect storm based on having three players shooting over 40% from three and not having a lot of big man options (might have been different if David Lee was healthy).

[amh63]

NEhoops...fine points!  Plus K

[grabtherim]

I agree all coaches want height even if its not real talented height, the thought being you have to alter the opponent away from their comfort zone inside especially early in a game.  Still, when the game is on the line coaches almost always look to the guys who will go out and win it, which is not necessarily the big guy who helped you keep it close for much of the game.  When you get talented bigs in a league like NESCAC you are at such a huge advantage.  Guys like Sharry, Mayer, Kaasila, Locke, Pallechi, Swords, Sabety etc.  can fall through the cracks but are more likely to get grabbed up by a D1 program looking to develop them.  In my view the game has not changed all that much, great coaches get the most from their best players big or small, but always need some bigs around to help them get to crunch time.       

[toad22]

Maybe too much is being made of the size of the Eph players coming in this year. Only two are centers, two are forwards and two are guards. Porath and Kempton are the only real centers, and since Flynn, a senior, is the one holdover center, these two should play right away. Soto could also be used at center, if needed, but he is really a forward. Scadlock, though 6'6" seems to be more of a guard, and will likely move back and forth between front and backcourt as needed. Casey could be either a SG or a PG as needed, and 6'8" Heskett is a pure shooter, though I hope he can rebound some. I know he can dribble, pass and shoot. I don't think Coach App intended to bring in huge size, that just happened. He was looking for good shooting basketball players. Hopefully, that's what he got.