MBB: NESCAC

[jumpshot]

Anyone able to get proper video of Williams/Catholic game now underway ---or just live stats?

[nescac24]

Just live stats. Video link is last night's game.

[nescac24]

Jumpshot: Go to the live stats page, click on menus and select Williams v Catholic. Worked for me.

[jumpshot]

Thanks, nescac24. I figured it out as well just after my post.

Williams fortunate to be down by only a few at the half, as a typically well-coached Catholic team is schooling the young Ephs with several players showing why the city mid-range game is effective in producing high percentage shots from the foul line in, as well as getting to the hoop.

Williams is really dependent on three-point shooting, and apparently has yet to deploy any zone defense this season that with length might be valuable in the mix.

[jumpshot]

Catholic wins by taking away Williams perimeter game, with the only scoring coming from the Ephs' forwards. The Ephs need much better cuts and inside options along (slipping screens, etc.) with improved passing to optimize the same offensive scheme that has been so successful in recent years. Too predictable and defensible at the moment.

[nescac1]

Seeing the game in person I thought Williams played better than jumpshot gives them credit for.  That was a high-quality, hard fought basketball game and the Ephs played with a lot of intensity on both ends, especially in the second half when they fought really, really hard.  The Williams offense continues to be inconsistent: all the young players run hot and cold with shooting (sometimes rushing open shots a bit), are guilty of some sloppy turnovers in each game, and are still getting in sync with one another.  Heskett, Soto, Scadlock and Casey all have nice looking jumpers that just aren't falling consistently yet, but will as their careers progress.   It's hard to expect the offense to have the same kind of flow and coordination that we've seen in years past when half the rotation has been playing in the system for only a month and only one upperclassmen is a major contributor.  The Ephs generated plenty of good shots, certainly enough to beat Catholic, but unlike vs. Ursinus, the open threes were not falling for the shooters, the Ephs missed several gimme shots (at least 3-4 misses layups including a few that were WIDE open but rushed by frosh), and once again foul shooting was a problem. 

But what has surprised me is just how good this team is on defense, far better than last year's team and already better than several far-more-veteran Maker teams.  The Ephs have given up more than 65 points only twice, and in both those games they gave up fewer than 76.  That is an amazing stat for such a young team.  The effort on the defensive end is almost always there, and the front court rotation (Flynn, Scadlock, Heskett, Soto, Aronowitz, plus occasional minutes from Kempton) is CRAZY long, making things difficult for shooters in the lane.  Those guys collectively need to gain a lot of strength to deal with some of the burlier dudes they face, and learn how to avoid picking up some avoidable fouls, but they are just not fun for anyone to play against.  Scadlock and Heskett in particular are a very intriguing combination of length (both look taller than their listed heights, and both have VERY long arms) and athleticism.  Heskett looked totally lost on defense until this weekend but was an asset defensively in both games today, his talent level is readily apparent in person, and Scadlock has potential to be a lock-down defender who can guard four positions, the likes of which Williams has not had for many years -- he just needs to avoid reaching with those insanely-long arms, which gets his into foul trouble.  The backcourt rotation of Galvin, Teal, and Casey (with occasional minutes from Kroot/Thoreson) is also very big, and getting Galvin back, who is a very, very hard-nosed, physical defender, was huge for the Ephs.  Last night, Williams had no answer for Jay Howard up front -- he was too quick for Ed Flynn and too big and strong for the younger big guys, although Soto once again worked his butt off vs. a more physical player.  Howard is a real stud, and the Ephs are going to be in trouble all year vs. physical, athletic post players with 4/6 front court guys skinny frosh who really need a summer in the weight room.  Other than Howard though, who was able to consistently bull his way to the rim, Catholic had to take a LOT of tough mid-range contested jumpers, and to their credit they made just enough to pull it out. 

Individually, Aronowitz continues to play at a borderline all-American level.  His ability to slither around bodies in the lane for gorgeous finishes with either hand is sublime.  In the past his distance shooting was a problem so teams could play off him, limiting his driving lanes, but he's dramatically improved his three point shot over the past two years to the point where it is a weapon.  Kyle Scadlock, while not as consistent as Aronowitz, continues to make 3-4 jaw-dropping plays each game.  For some reason, it takes Scadlock awhile to get into the game and he is almost always better in the second half than the first.  If he can find his rhythm sooner in games, he will be a force to be reckoned with.  Unfortunately, while both had great games and in particular monster second-halves, they just didn't get any help at all in the second half -- they combined to go 9-13 with 24 points, while the rest of the team combined to go 2-15 for six points, including 1-5 from three (and those threes were good looks) plus a rough 1-4 from the foul line.  Williams' guards did really struggle in this one but Catholic I'm quite confident features the best group of perimeter defenders the Ephs will face all year -- Fonville and the Phanord brothers are all tough, quick, aggressive, fearless and have played meaningful minutes for four years.  Mitchell, while a frosh, is also a big, quick athletic guard who can really defend.  Catholic is very small up front and when the Ephs attacked the lane they were able to succeed, but they didn't attack quite enough until their big closing run which fell just short and the physical defense of the Catholic guards definitely threw the Eph backcourt off a bit.  Only Galvin really was able to match their physicality. 

Overall, a good learning experience for a young team to show they can play close to even on the road with a tough, veteran team.  The Ephs, while a flawed team in certain ways, are definitely starting to put things together, especially on defense.  If the frosh can start collectively hitting jumpers collectively the way they are capable of (no guarantee that will happen until they catch up to the speed of the college game, but hopefully it will occur at SOME point this season) and avoiding turnovers, they will be tough to beat as the season moves along.  And certainly, while a year way from being a REALLY good team, they are going to fight for a middle-of-the-pack NESCAC seed in my view, which is more than what was expected at the outset of the season.

[P'bearfan]

After a slow start in the first half, Bowdoin cruised to a 20 point victory over St Joe's (Me) last night, 86-66.

Bowdoin had trouble getting it's offense into gear in the first half.  They shot 51.7% from the field but only 33% from behind the arc.  Lucas Hausman picked up two early fouls and sat for most of the first half which contributed to the slow start.  However, St Joe's didn't have any of these issues.  They came out firing on all cylinders shooting 53.8% from downtown and 52% overall from the field.  At the break the teams were tied at 35.

Bowdoin came out of the locker room looking much sharper.  No change to personnel or scheme - they were just more in sync and shot the ball much better - going 55.6% from behind the arc and over 59% from the field.  The P'bears clamped down on defense as well as they held St Joe's to 42.3% from long range and only 45.5% from the field overall.

Once again Bowdoin had nice balance on offense with four players in double digits (Simonds - 20; Hausman - 17; Palecki - 11; Farley - 11).  Great to see this type of balance especially on a night when Hausman had to sit for so long.  Also have to call out Tim Ahn who had 7 assists in just 14 minutes of play coming off the bench.  He's developing into a very nice point guard. 

Bowdoin controlled the glass the entire game and were led by Fuller, Palecki and Farley who each had 6 rebounds.  Bowdoin's defensive pressure came from multiple players with Fuller, Donnelly and Palecki each causing 2 steals; Fuller added 2 blocks. 

While St Joe's isn't the strongest opponent Bowdoin will face, this was a nice opportunity for the players to shake off the rust and get back into the groove. 

Bowdoin will host Bridgewater State next Tuesday at 7 pm which should be a great final tune up before launching into conference play against Tufts on Friday the 8th.

GoUBears!!

[jumpshot]

nescac1 ---

I agree with all your comments. Accurate and complete as always. What remains to be seen, of course, is the degree and pace at which the transition in culture, skill, approach, work ethic, unselfishness, recruiting, etc., will be made to sustain a fully competitive program as in extended periods of the past. It takes a lot of coaching and standard setting, as always, with the current generation of student athletes, especially at NESCAC schools.

[polbear73]

I took away the same things as P'Bearfan from last night's game and agree with everything he has written.  This is a fun team to watch and, when shooting well, they could be that team that conference opponents don't want to play.  I look forward to seeing how this smaller but quicker, more transition oriented Bowdoin team will fare against taller, more physical teams in conference play.  It is certainly shaping up to be another fascinating NESCAC season. 

[gordonmann]

Trinity 78
Delaware Valley 64

(Corrected from before)

Thought I'd provide a quick recap of today's game in Hartford since I have a unique perspective on Del Val. I've handled audio and video coverage of their home basketball games for a couple seasons and have been their football play-by-play guy for over a decade.

Del Val came into the game on a 10-game winning streak. The Aggies lost the season opener against MAC Commonwealth champion Alvernia and won everything else after that, mostly over teams with losing records. Trinity was the easily the best team Del Val played over this stretch and Del Val will contend for its conference title so it's a quality non-conference game both ways.

Del Val's strengths are extremely tight man-to-man coverage by its guards, especially off the dribble, and a center in Chris Moran with a very balanced skill set. He has great outside touch, some nice low post moves and good timing on defense. He didn't play well today, but he has played like an All-American for most of the season so far. The Aggies prefer to play up-tempo because they can get bogged down in the half court, as happened for a large part of the second half.

The Bantams, particularly Hurd, were able to create open looks with crisp passing in the early stages of the first half. Trinity missed some open threes that should've staked them to a larger lead than 29-26 at the break. In the second half they converted more of those open looks, starting with Turnbull and then Starks, and pulled away for a double-digit lead with about 8 left. From that point on Del Val looked tired and frustrated and didn't offer much resistance.

Ogundeko was very impressive in outplaying Moran. Moran's a little undersized for a center and the Bants' big man took advantage of that. Starks was a non-factor in the first half and a deciding factor in the game clinching run. Trinity struggled a little to stay in front of Del Val guards Tyliek Kimbrough and Alex Matsinye early but kept the tempo down so Del Val never got going in transition.

On a personal note, it always makes me smile to see Ray Oosting Gymnasium. That's where I fell in love with Division III basketball. Seeing the tall, mahogany bleachers and the Bantams emblem brings back a lot of fond memories watching, covering and playing basketball at Trinity. This was a random matchup that's unlikely to be duplicated any time soon but one I personally enjoyed very much.

[amh63]

Two CAC teams played today at home against tough opponents and won.
Trinity beat DV and Gordonmann posted on his alma mater win.
Meanwhile up in Maine, Bates faced Babson ranked 24th in the rankings.  Bates won an exciting and tight game.  Babson came into the game with its only loses to CAC teams...6-3...left with its 4 th lost.
All the four losses were by seven or less points.  Bowdin, Tufts, Amherst and now Bates!

[pinseeking1]

That's right amh63, Bates played with a passion that they have had difficulty maintaining this season, so it's a really big win for them.

Babson's star player, Joey Flannery, was unstoppable and hit from both outside and inside as he made beautiful drives. Bates couldn't find a way to stop him. What was different about today's game was that the guards continually worked the ball into the Delpeche twins for good inside looks or they drew fouls. Also, down the stretch, Boornazian and Britton hit some huge clutch threes when Babson threatened. Malcolm Delpeche had an inside move for a dunk that left the Babson big man who guarded him flatfooted. The other twin, Marcus, had a career high game with 21 points. It was a big win for a Bobcat team that has had leads against good teams, but has been unable to finish off opponents.

This will give them a big lift going into Saturday's game against Brandeis and next week's NESCAC games at home against Colby and Bowdoin...

[P'bearfan]

Thought I'd provide a quick recap of today's game in Hartford since I have a unique perspective on Del Val. I've handled audio and video coverage of their home basketball games for a couple seasons and have been their football play-by-play guy for over a decade.

gordonmann - Small world - I grew up very close to Del Val - in Warminster.  My father and one sister both live in Doylestown.

Assume you will be at the Del Val v Swarthmore game on Sunday.  This should be a fun game given the great start Swarthmore is off to.  Coach K has done a tremendous job in a short time. 

One player to keep an eye on is Swarthmore FY PG Cameron Wiley.  He hasn't gotten much playing time so far (don't know the story but assume he may have been injured as he didn't appear in any of the early games).  I've seen him play quite a bit here in Atlanta.  IMHO he is one of the more individually talented D3 FY's in the country - e.g. he had very serious interest from Navy.   The big question will be how he gels with the rest of the team.

[amh63]

Lots of games on tap today!
Amherst finally makes an appearance in awhile .  Hope they are ready....long break and traveling to Memphis, etc.  will come back and face a slew of tough opponents next week...ECSU and two conference opponents...including my favorite one.

[jumpshot]

amh63 ---

You should not be too concerned regarding today's amHerst's scrimmage since their opponent Rust has not had a winning season in the past four years, is 3-8 this year having given up 80 or more points in 9 of their 11 games, including over 100 twice. Why do the ljs continue to play schools with fewer than 900 students, etc. on their way to the Final Four this year?