MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Vandy74......interesting post .  So what is the story behind the Mac- Jac term.

[Vandy74]

Amh63.....for all intents and purposes the importance of the Mac-Jack Rocking Chair is as much a fabrication as the Middlebury-Hamilton football rivalry itself.  It's noted every time the subject of football rivalries comes up that the Panthers, unlike every other NESCAC team, lost theirs when the conference began it's members-only schedule.  While it lasted the Middlebury-Norwich game was perhaps as storied as Amherst-Williams.  The Panthers' other pre-NESCAC regular opponents were more often teams now in the Liberty League.  I remember asking my father, who you know is Amherst '44, why we always played Uncle Charles' alma mater RPI but never his own.  In 1980, two friends on the Middlebury and Hamilton Boards of Trustees decided the two schools should become "rivals" in football with the prize being yearlong possession of a rocking chair which they named after themselves.  Such is the stuff of legend.

[jayhawk]

ESPN Boston article on Amherst College 2016 recruit , Eric Sellew http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/high-school/post/_/id/40499/concord-carlisles-eric-sellew-fits-the-new-mold-at-power-forward?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

scored 46 and 37 in two of last games

[polbear73]

Good game in Brunswick as Bowdoin outlasted Colby in overtime. A usual tale of two halves for the Polar Bears as they saw Colby storm back in the second behind Hudnut and Stewart to force overtime. Bowdoin freshman guard Jack Bors came out of nowhere to score 20 points, including a couple of clutch free throws down the stretch to support Simonds (19 points) and Hausman  (another remarkable 35 point effort) in an important game for both teams. Much has been written about this year's freshman class league wide and it should be noted that Bowdoin's consisting of Simonds, Ahn, O'Neal, and now Bors gives Polar Bear fans hope for the future. Hopefully Coach Gilbride can add some size along the way.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

There are just four weeks left in the regular season and teams are feeling the pressure to take care of business. Sunday night on Hoopsville, Dave McHugh talks to many coaches in the conference playoff mix. Whether they are trying to position themselves to stay at home for the tournament or just get into the playoffs, there is a lot on the line with less games to play.

You can watch Hoopsville starting at 7:00 PM ET here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/jan31

Tonight's guests include (in order):
- Brad Fischer, No. 11 UW-Oshkosh women's coach
- Casey Stitzel, Delaware Valley men's coach
- Mary Beth Spirk, Moravian women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Drew Gaeng, Hendrix women's coach
- Joe Reilly, No. 25 Wesleyan men's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
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Thanks!

[JEFFFAN]

Agree with many of the other posters about the challenges derived from the highly fragmented hoops NESCAC schedule.   So few games to comment on during the last weekend in January just doesn't seem right.

[GoWesYoungMan]

Important win for Wes yesterday at home. Conn College is improved and learning to win. Wes was down 8 at half but recommitted to its inside game to pull ahead midway in the second half. On a day when Davis and Mackey went a combined 1/12 from deep Epps/Kuo/Krill were 17/22 inside.

Wes is playing better but still has work to do. Wes is inconstant from deep and needs to do a better job of figuring who (if anyone) is hitting on a given night--something they did much better last year. Rebounding has become more of a strength. Turnovers remain an issue. Offensive flow was strong last year with a shorter bench, and was not as strong earlier this season. It seems much better this past month as roles have become more defined. One of the advantages of lengthening the bench is that it helps with program continuity. Of the six major returners this year, four are seniors. Going with that lineup again could have left a big hole for next year, but now Krill, O'Brien, Reed and Sears will all be much more ready for 2016-17.

Congrats to Hamilton on their victory. I remain impressed with how Middlebury has handled its early NESCAC run. Clearly the Panthers had a rough ten minutes to finish yesterday, but I expect they will be fine. For Hamilton a win like that will provide confidence in future close games.

[P'bearfan]

Just returned home after a quick trip to Brunswick to watch the Polar Bears defeat the White Mules.

Polarbear73 gave a great synopsis and I thought I'd add just a few thoughts / observations.

This was a big win for Bowdoin and hopefully a step forward.  It was the first time in a while that they put together back to back solid halves of play.  Also their overall defense was much improved from the Amherst and Trinity games.  Still some areas of improvement but the defense was demonstrably better.

Bowdoin played very well in the first half - balanced offense and tough defense.  Colby didn't shoot that well from behind the arc either.  Bowdoin went into the break with a 12 point lead.

Colby made a run a few minutes into the second half.  Their run coincided with Bowdoin's defense starting to falter.  Instead of folding, which happened in the last few games, Bowdoin's defense found its footing and held tough.  That was one of the more impressive things about the game.

Arguably the most impressive performance was Bowdoin triumphing in OT while Fuller and Palecki sat on the bench.  Palecki was injured mid-way through the first half (ankle sprain that was hopefully more painful than serious).  Fuller picked up his 5th foul with about 1 minute to go in regulation on one of many, many terrible calls/non-calls by the refs (more on that later).  Pulling out the win with two of their better rebounders and defenders on the bench was a great accomplishment.

Now to officiating - it was just terrible.  Our friends at NbN tweeted that the game hinged on a highly questionable foul against the Colby player defending Hausman in OT that sent him to the free throw line for 2 much needed points.  In all honesty that was a 50-50 call that Bowdoin was lucky to get.  However, to focus on that call is to "miss the forest for the trees". 

Hudnut is a big, tough and highly skilled player.  However yesterday he greatly benefitted from the poor officiating.  When Colby had the ball, Hudnut repeatedly roamed the lane for 6 to 8 seconds trying to get position for an entry pass.  The refs simply refused to call 3 seconds against him - despite protests from the Bowdoin coaching staff and fans (including one fan who openly questioned the refs' mathematical skills - i.e. their ability to count to 3).  When he did get the ball, Hudnut consistently hooked the Bowdoin defenders to move them out the way - again he was never called for a foul.  If these two things had been called straight up Hudnut would have had half the points he otherwise tallied.

Finally, have to give a shout out to the Bowdoin students and fans who nearly packed Morrell gym and created a great atmosphere.  Their enthusiasm contributed much to a great game and win.

Bowdoin will travel to Husson on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup and then make the big (and dreaded) road trip to Hamilton and Middlebury.  Here's hoping the Polar Bears can build on their good play and momentum from this weekend.

GoUBears!!

[amh63]

Will comment on all the OCC games that CAC teams have on Tues....on Tues. 
FYI, if posters have not listen in on the Hoopsville broadcast on Sun, check out the intErview with Wes HC.  His comments on his team, this year's conf start date on early games and most interesting to me, his comments on the rise of Wes's sports programs in recent years.....in particular Whalen's return to Middletown and the Little Three importance.
Oh yes, possible teaser for some posters here wrt to Thursday's broadcast.

[jumpshot]

Eps fortunate to be up by 2 at the half versus Ft. Kent considering 7 unforced turnovers, giving up 6 offensive rebounds to a smaller team, lazy defense, etc.

Eps hampered this season by acute and chronic poor starts, low energy, inept passing and ball handling....

Strange culture compared to the past ....

[jumpshot]

Someone will have to explain to me the root causes of not being willing to do the hard work of the game of basketball, namely rebounding and defense, in today's Ephs 4 point "win" over Ft. Kent. Coupled with unforced turnovers, not being ready to play, whatever ....including seemingly less joy in competing.

And don't offer the fact that school was not in session and the students were away from campus ....

Perhaps it's a generational thing ....

[nescac1]

Well, it goes down as a win but as jumpshot said it was not pretty at all.  Bobby Casey really bailed Williams out with a big second half, pouring in 13 of his 16 in the half and making big plays at crucial junctures, including a sequence of a three point play and two triples to turn a deficit into a solid lead.  Kyle Scadlock also played fairly well, contributing a 9-8-3 and playing with some defensive energy that the rest of the team was largely missing.  For everyone else, a game to forget.

There is so much that Williams needs to improve upon, and it won't be easy with only four game left before the NESCAC playoffs.

-- a broken record, but still too many possessions lost to careless, sloppy passes.  Passes need to be sharper as do guys moving towards the ball for the catch.  Have to anticipate guys poaching for steals better.  Fundamentals!

-- for the second straight game, Cole Teal and Dan Aronowitz, who both had been shooting it very well from 3, were way off.  Ephs missed a lot of WIDE open 3's this game.  If that continues, there just isn't much the team can do.  Need to start making the open looks again, which the team had been doing for a better stretch of play in mid-January. 

-- they were playing a short team who was in foul trouble, yet the Ephs didn't get the ball into the deep post enough.  Flynn, Aronowitz, Scadlock and even Heskett can use their size to work down there, but they just weren't getting touches close to the rim.  Ephs need to be a bit more patient and a bit more aggressive working the ball into the interior for high percentage looks.  Let the interior game set up the perimeter game, especially when the 3's aren't falling.  IN particular, Aronowitz needs to get the ball in attack position. 

-- on defense, the Ephs kept losing guys off the ball near the basket who either got open layups or easy offensive rebounds.  Need to help a bit less and keep better track of their men.  Part of the issue was too many guys with concrete feet, not moving well laterally until the last ten minutes when the defensive intensity, led by Scadlock, picked up considerably.  To give credit to the opponent, Marquis Glenn is a very good player who made a lot of good one-on-one moves and conversions, but the rest of the team got a lot of easy looks when guys lost their men in the half-court.  That is not characteristic of what has generally been a good half-court defensive team. 

-- teams have really scouted the Ephs casual passing of the ball around the perimeter to start half court sets.  Fort Kent was really overplaying the passes outside the 3 point line.  Guys need to recognize that and start cutting back-door to the basket to receive the ball with a clear path, them dump it to guys on the baseline, rather than forcing passing to guys when a defender is draped all over them. 

Now, the on the plus side, they got the win despite a non-existent crowd (school is not in session) and a generally lethargic effort.  They will have to amp up the intensity and precision about three-fold from where it has been the last five halves of hoops to win even one game this weekend. 

[P'bearfan]

http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/mbkb/2015-16/releases/20160201kag1sh

Congratulations to Lucas Hausman on being named NESCAC player of the week!  A well deserved accolade.


GoUBears!!

[with age came?]

OMG - I did release the "jinx"?? Two young teams on the rise and Midd having trouble at Hamilton (another road loss that looks so very unlikely when I saw a team that the Midds beat at home stomp the Conts by a massive amount- Tufts)....  I do enjoy this board though.. very raucous... being the offspring of  a "Lord Jeff" and Smith combo who is a Hamilton fan who graduated a "Red Raider" but now must be known as a Raider I find the NESCAC to be totally fascinating!!!  Such is the world we live in??!!  Yay Stock!!

[amh63]

withagecame......most interesting post with many intriguing inferences!  Plus K. Welcome to the board.  I must say that your alma mater has had many "rebirths" in the town of Hamilton NY.  First called Madison Un.....a break off group goes off to start Un. Of Rochester and then becomes Colgate.
In my first visit to Hamilton College in the village of Clinton, I headed to Your town of Hamilton .
I guess you do not mind that Texas Tech is called the Red Raiders, Lady Raiders.  Surprised that your mascot...Raiders was a very recent name change!
Your parents come from a fine combo of schools....have many close classmates with the same pairing of schools.
Maybe one day you will relate how you became a Nescac and Hamilton fan.