MBB: NESCAC

[P'bearfan]

Quote
Here we go again! Here at Midd, we are lying in the weeds, very hopeful, but not about to prognosticate (we remember our "Road to Salem" boast a few years back).

Yeah but that video series was really well done.  The students who put it together did a great job - especially the song that played in the opening credits.  Kinda miss it.

The music in the RtS series was written and performed by Innocent Tswamuno, a Midd student who graduated last spring. 

More of his music can be found here: http://www.middbeat.org/2014/05/15/new-music-from-innocent-tswamuno/

Thanks!

[amh63]

If I can recall the "press" releases, Amherst's Joe S. from down the road a bit.  Spoke with him in Val and in Alumni Gym a bit....seems to be adjusting to college life.  Well manner to an old alum .    Looking forward to see how he adjust to college level basketball.

[P'bearfan]

Watched the "Road to Salem" series again last night - perhaps an odd way to get excited about the upcoming season given that I'm not exactly the biggest Midd fan in the world.  However, in watching the series a couple of things stood out:

1) Wrote it earlier but again - this was a really well done series...kudos

2) Didn't realize that Coach Brown's early seasons were not that successful

2) Chemistry is a magical and fragile thing.  That Midd team returned a ton of talent but for whatever reason they couldn't pull it all together.   They were very competitive against outstanding teams from Williams and Amherst but they also lost to several less talented teams.  Not certain it's fair to say they played to the level of competition but something close to that.

So a couple of questions for the board:

-which NESCAC team has talent but is in danger of under-performing this year?  Which team is a sleeper?

-What was the key change that made the Midd program more successful?  The video talks about a "culture change" but I'm not sure I buy that.  Did the administration decide to support basketball and allow Coach Brown more flexibility in who he could recruit?

[nescac1]

I think the sleepers are Colby (only based on performance last year, with Hudnut and Stewart coming back from injuries and the best senior class in NESCAC, I think expectations are generally high, so may be unfair to call them a sleeper) and a DEEP sleeper is Conn College (probably a year away, but I think there is enough young talent on that team to pull a few surprises this season after years mired in the basement). 

I could see Trinity or Bates in danger of underperforming coming off runs to the Sweet 16 -- Safford meant a ton to Bates and they have a very green backcourt after losing the top three perimeter guys, which is always a cause for concern.  They are also much smaller on the perimeter than last year's team, which was a nightmare to score against with so much size and athleticism 1-5.  The frontcourt is however loaded with depth and talent.  Trinity is very highly regarded after its elite 8 run, but there are a few reasons for concern: the Bants relied on defense, toughness, and waves of physical players last year to overcome an at-times anemic offense, but the team looks significantly less deep up front this year and the team still has a lack of pure scorers behind Starks.  Also, Trinity lost only ONE game to injury from its top seven players last year, and it's unlikely to have such good injury fortune again.  The Bants can ill-afford to lose Starks, Ajayi, or Ogundeko for any extended period this year as it's unclear who besides them will put points on the board.  I could see either team challenging for an NCAA spot again, but also potentially falling back into the 5-8 slots in the league. 

[Old Guy]

Well... road games do carry a 1.25 multiplier on road games... though some of those games like Oswego are on neutral courts which is doesn't have a multiplier.

There are away and there are very away games. Rochester and Buffalo are very away games for Middlebury (300-400 miles away) and are quite nearby for some of the teams in the tournament (Oswego for example). Some neutral courts are more neutral than others.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

That may all well be true... but it doesn't impact the multiplier used on the schedule SOS numbers. It doesn't matter the distance or the specific location (for neutral games)... just the floor they are playing on.

[P'bearfan]

There are away and there are very away games. Rochester and Buffalo are very away games for Middlebury (300-400 miles away) and are quite nearby for some of the teams in the tournament (Oswego for example). Some neutral courts are more neutral than others.

Agreed but at least those are non-conference games and very much of Midd's own choosing.

When the Polar Bears travel to Hamilton on Feb 5th it will be a 400 mile one way trip.  Then they get to drive 180+/- miles to Midd before a 255 mile trip back to Brunswick. That's 835 miles or so in one weekend - for two very important conference games. 

Of course one could argue that Hamilton logs the most miles every season for their road trips.

[Bucket]

Watched the "Road to Salem" series again last night - perhaps an odd way to get excited about the upcoming season given that I'm not exactly the biggest Midd fan in the world.  However, in watching the series a couple of things stood out:

1) Wrote it earlier but again - this was a really well done series...kudos

2) Didn't realize that Coach Brown's early seasons were not that successful

2) Chemistry is a magical and fragile thing.  That Midd team returned a ton of talent but for whatever reason they couldn't pull it all together.   They were very competitive against outstanding teams from Williams and Amherst but they also lost to several less talented teams.  Not certain it's fair to say they played to the level of competition but something close to that.

So a couple of questions for the board:

-which NESCAC team has talent but is in danger of under-performing this year?  Which team is a sleeper?

-What was the key change that made the Midd program more successful?  The video talks about a "culture change" but I'm not sure I buy that.  Did the administration decide to support basketball and allow Coach Brown more flexibility in who he could recruit?

I have no idea if admissions philosophy changed, but I can speak confidently about the culture change. In the fall of 2006, a junior named Mike Walsh said "no more." He told his teammates that if you're going to be part of this team, you need to be 100 percent in. He didn't care how talented you were, he went to the coaching staff and said that if those players weren't 100 percent committed, he didn't want them as teammates. The previous years had seen a good bit of talent come through the doors, and it was talent largely squandered. Star players being booted from the team for boorish behavior midseason, lackluster offseason efforts, a mentality that you showed up for games, and that was about it.

Walsh changed the thinking that season. In February, Midd hosted its first NESCAC tournament game, an overtime loss to Colby.

The biggest win was buy-in from a quartet of very talented sophomores—Ben Rudin, Aaron Smith, Kyle Dudley, and Matt Westman.

The next year, Midd made its first NCAA tournament appearance. And when Rudin, et al were seniors, the team captured its first NESCAC title.

The cultural shift was the primary factor for this change in the Middlebury program. Players were buying in to Jeff Brown's emphasis on defensive intensity and were fully committed to an attitude of team-first that Walsh established.  And I think so many of them had something to prove, too. Just look at some of the biggest names in recent Middlebury history—Nolan Thompson not recruited at all; Jake Wolfin, not wanted by Tufts; Joey Kizel and Ryan Sharry, not wanted by Amherst; Andrew Locke, not on anyone's radar on the east coast. They all bought into the culture. The challenge, as always, is to have continuous buy in. I think the Panthers have it now, and here's hoping it is always the case.

[Bucket]

That may all well be true... but it doesn't impact the multiplier used on the schedule SOS numbers. It doesn't matter the distance or the specific location (for neutral games)... just the floor they are playing on.

I don't think Old Guy cares a whit about multipliers or SOS. Few people do. I think he's more in tune with the actual, human experience.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Well he quoted me per my comments about SOS... so thus my reply

[P'bearfan]

I have no idea if admissions philosophy changed, but I can speak confidently about the culture change. In the fall of 2006, a junior named Mike Walsh said "no more." He told his teammates that if you're going to be part of this team, you need to be 100 percent in. He didn't care how talented you were, he went to the coaching staff and said that if those players weren't 100 percent committed, he didn't want them as teammates. The previous years had seen a good bit of talent come through the doors, and it was talent largely squandered. Star players being booted from the team for boorish behavior midseason, lackluster offseason efforts, a mentality that you showed up for games, and that was about it.

Walsh changed the thinking that season. In February, Midd hosted its first NESCAC tournament game, an overtime loss to Colby.

The biggest win was buy-in from a quartet of very talented sophomores—Ben Rudin, Aaron Smith, Kyle Dudley, and Matt Westman.

The next year, Midd made its first NCAA tournament appearance. And when Rudin, et al were seniors, the team captured its first NESCAC title.

The cultural shift was the primary factor for this change in the Middlebury program. Players were buying in to Jeff Brown's emphasis on defensive intensity and were fully committed to an attitude of team-first that Walsh established.  And I think so many of them had something to prove, too. Just look at some of the biggest names in recent Middlebury history—Nolan Thompson not recruited at all; Jake Wolfin, not wanted by Tufts; Joey Kizel and Ryan Sharry, not wanted by Amherst; Andrew Locke, not on anyone's radar on the east coast. They all bought into the culture. The challenge, as always, is to have continuous buy in. I think the Panthers have it now, and here's hoping it is always the case.

Bucket - excellent post  +k to you!

[amh63]

Bucket....enjoyed your perceptive post wrt "culture change".  Your words of team, buying in or 100 percent commitment are the same as the hash tag phrases being used by the Amherst team in its social media postings...Twitter and Instagram pics.  They are #areyouin and recently #together.
Yes, the coaches are building effort with catch phrases on this talented team...IMO.

[Old Guy]

There are away and there are very away games. Rochester and Buffalo are very away games for Middlebury (300-400 miles away) and are quite nearby for some of the teams in the tournament (Oswego for example). Some neutral courts are more neutral than others.

Agreed but at least those are non-conference games and very much of Midd's own choosing.

When the Polar Bears travel to Hamilton on Feb 5th it will be a 400 mile one way trip.  Then they get to drive 180+/- miles to Midd before a 255 mile trip back to Brunswick. That's 835 miles or so in one weekend - for two very important conference games. 

I haven't talked to the coaches about this, but my sense is that the schedule, early season, represents an effort to enhance the strength of schedule (SOS). When Midd was going to the NCAAs year after year, the team was criticized for its SOS. A number of teams dropped us ostensibly because of their own league obligations (cf. Colby-Sawyer, Union, Norwich). It's easier to schedule non-league games before the holidays as conference competition starts generally in January. Indeed, most of the teams the Panthers play have a head start. If there's a benefit, it will be in NESCAC competition, not in the national or regional rankings, or won-loss record.

(I'm writing this as I'm watching a cable news station about the horrors in Paris - bizarre juxtaposition)

Of course one could argue that Hamilton logs the most miles every season for their road trips.

[Old Guy]

There are away and there are very away games. Rochester and Buffalo are very away games for Middlebury (300-400 miles away) and are quite nearby for some of the teams in the tournament (Oswego for example). Some neutral courts are more neutral than others.

Agreed but at least those are non-conference games and very much of Midd's own choosing.

When the Polar Bears travel to Hamilton on Feb 5th it will be a 400 mile one way trip.  Then they get to drive 180+/- miles to Midd before a 255 mile trip back to Brunswick. That's 835 miles or so in one weekend - for two very important conference games. 

Of course one could argue that Hamilton logs the most miles every season for their road trips.

I haven't talked to the coaches about this, but my sense is that the schedule, early season, represents an effort to enhance the strength of schedule (SOS). When Midd was going to the NCAAs year after year, the team was criticized for its SOS. A number of teams dropped us ostensibly because of their own league obligations (cf. Colby-Sawyer, Union, Norwich). It's easier to schedule non-league games before the holidays as conference competition starts generally in January. Indeed, most of the teams the Panthers play have a head start. If there's a benefit, it will be in NESCAC competition, not in the national or regional rankings, or won-loss record.

(I'm writing this as I'm watching a cable news station about the horrors in Paris - bizarre juxtaposition)

[grabtherim]

Watched the "Road to Salem" series again last night - perhaps an odd way to get excited about the upcoming season given that I'm not exactly the biggest Midd fan in the world.  However, in watching the series a couple of things stood out:

1) Wrote it earlier but again - this was a really well done series...kudos

2) Didn't realize that Coach Brown's early seasons were not that successful

2) Chemistry is a magical and fragile thing.  That Midd team returned a ton of talent but for whatever reason they couldn't pull it all together.   They were very competitive against outstanding teams from Williams and Amherst but they also lost to several less talented teams.  Not certain it's fair to say they played to the level of competition but something close to that.

So a couple of questions for the board:

-which NESCAC team has talent but is in danger of under-performing this year?  Which team is a sleeper?

-What was the key change that made the Midd program more successful?  The video talks about a "culture change" but I'm not sure I buy that.  Did the administration decide to support basketball and allow Coach Brown more flexibility in who he could recruit?

I have no idea if admissions philosophy changed, but I can speak confidently about the culture change. In the fall of 2006, a junior named Mike Walsh said "no more." He told his teammates that if you're going to be part of this team, you need to be 100 percent in. He didn't care how talented you were, he went to the coaching staff and said that if those players weren't 100 percent committed, he didn't want them as teammates. The previous years had seen a good bit of talent come through the doors, and it was talent largely squandered. Star players being booted from the team for boorish behavior midseason, lackluster offseason efforts, a mentality that you showed up for games, and that was about it.

Walsh changed the thinking that season. In February, Midd hosted its first NESCAC tournament game, an overtime loss to Colby.

The biggest win was buy-in from a quartet of very talented sophomores—Ben Rudin, Aaron Smith, Kyle Dudley, and Matt Westman.

The next year, Midd made its first NCAA tournament appearance. And when Rudin, et al were seniors, the team captured its first NESCAC title.

The cultural shift was the primary factor for this change in the Middlebury program. Players were buying in to Jeff Brown's emphasis on defensive intensity and were fully committed to an attitude of team-first that Walsh established.  And I think so many of them had something to prove, too. Just look at some of the biggest names in recent Middlebury history—Nolan Thompson not recruited at all; Jake Wolfin, not wanted by Tufts; Joey Kizel and Ryan Sharry, not wanted by Amherst; Andrew Locke, not on anyone's radar on the east coast. They all bought into the culture. The challenge, as always, is to have continuous buy in. I think the Panthers have it now, and here's hoping it is always the case.

Spot on Bucket. Walsh began the change, and paved the road for those who followed him by saying if youre not in get lost.