MBB: NESCAC

middhoops · March 15, 2016, 09:27:20 PM

Gregory Sager, please don't quote me, but thanks for bringing us the info on Benedictine. We follow a conference that tends to contemplate its own navel excessively. (amh63 being the exception to this rule, big time. he gets around.)
Any pre-game analysis you care to share here is appreciated.

Mr. Ypsi · March 16, 2016, 12:41:44 AM

Since Amherst acknowledges little inside game, I suspect you may get pummeled by Lucas Johnson. We in the CCIW have had some fun at Johnson's expense over the years (Benedictine is his third or fourth school, and he has boasted of his NBA future despite never getting any scholarship attention), but this year he has become a D3 beast on the inside. Watch out for a blind-siding like Salem 2014 when Mike Mayer was finally healthy.

JEFFFAN · March 16, 2016, 08:37:58 AM

Mike Mayer got healthy ? How about "when the Ephs had a kid who had no right whatsoever playing Division 3 basketball!" Heard the Amherst coach speak to a small group a few months after that season and he was clear that Robinson was far too good to be playing in the NESCAC.

Happy to be there and will enjoy the game on Friday. This team didn't win the NESCAC regular season or postseason tournament but they are still playing!

hoya73 · March 16, 2016, 10:36:44 AM

Ypsi and Jefffan--I saw all four of the Williams Amherst games in 2014 and we knew the Ephs were really, really good. We beat then the first three fairly easily, frankly to my surprise. It wasn't a blindsiding in Salem--Williams played great (especially Mayer) that day and Amherst didn't.
Hope the Purple and White can defend inside and control the tempo. If they can run their offense and get looks, they'll have no regrets.

toad22 · March 16, 2016, 12:14:10 PM

Quote from: JEFFFAN on March 16, 2016, 08:37:58 AM
Mike Mayer got healthy ? How about "when the Ephs had a kid who had no right whatsoever playing Division 3 basketball!" Heard the Amherst coach speak to a small group a few months after that season and he was clear that Robinson was far too good to be playing in the NESCAC.

Happy to be there and will enjoy the game on Friday. This team didn't win the NESCAC regular season or postseason tournament but they are still playing!

I take exception to the idea that Duncan Robinson had "no right" to play at Williams. Mike Maker was smart enough to recruit him, and Duncan was smart enough to accept. The fact that Duncan left after his coach went to a D1 team is regrettable for Williams, but nice for Duncan. The fact is that Duncan, as good as he was at Williams, was not the most important player on that team, Mike Mayer was. It is every coaches' job to recruit the best players they can for their team. I hope Williams finds 10 more Duncans, even if that means we lose some to transfer.

amh63 · March 16, 2016, 01:07:42 PM

hoya73....spot on as we posters like to say!

Assume your son will attend the gathering of head coaches in Salem. Should also see a reunion of coaches with close connections to Amherst...alums, former assistants but now head coaches, etc. An Amherst assistant coach, a player/assist. at Washington& Lee just up the road from Salem should have a reunion with his former HC, an Amherst grad.

hoya73 · March 16, 2016, 02:42:24 PM

AMH--yes son will be there as the Amherst coaching fraternity always travels well. I, unfortunately, have a commitment and can't make it. Hope it's a fun weekend.

iwumichigander · March 16, 2016, 02:43:33 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on March 16, 2016, 12:41:44 AM
Since Amherst acknowledges little inside game, I suspect you may get pummeled by Lucas Johnson. We in the CCIW have had some fun at Johnson's expense over the years (Benedictine is his third or fourth school, and he has boasted of his NBA future despite never getting any scholarship attention), but this year he has become a D3 beast on the inside. Watch out for a blind-siding like Salem 2014 when Mike Mayer was finally healthy.

I think two things Lucas Johnson has done to make himself a better player 1) learned that team is not spelled with an "I" and 2) accepted his role, responsibility and trusted his teammates.

Thoughts on Benedictine:
- 5 starters that average double figures and play an average of 30 minutes
- 1 really good sixth man
- 3 other good bench players
- you do not notice much drop in productivity with substitutions
- good guards
- Continuously improved over the season

Some specific challenges for the Bennies in Salem that Amherst may not have:
- Mental burden of being undefeated
- Adjusting to all the hoopla that is Salem including the travel, press, practice schedules and all the friends and relatives (Amherst been there and done that)
- Coach, staff and athletic department managing all the above (again, Amherst has an advantage)
- The realization which will hit the players at some point- You only have 40 minutes to win or go home

lefrakenstein · March 16, 2016, 04:08:06 PM

Greg, IWUMichiganer, thanks for your posts on Benedictine.

One question - was there anything in particular that led to the Bennie's big jump to national contender this year? You've mentioned the improved team play of Lucas Johnson. Was there anything else? (Impact freshman, transfers, etc.?)

gordonmann · March 16, 2016, 04:24:26 PM

We chronicled Johnson's journey from Benedictine and back again earlier this season, if that's of interest:

http://www.d3hoops.com/columns/around-the-region/central/2015-16/benedictine-johnson-long-road-ends

P'bearfan · March 16, 2016, 05:22:22 PM

Quote... Heard the Amherst coach speak to a small group a few months after that season and he was clear that Robinson was far too good to be playing in the NESCAC.

That's really rich coming from a Coach who continually stacks his roster with players who could see the floor at lower level if not mid-major D1 programs and ya' know actual D1 transfers.....jeeeesh.

iwumichigander · March 16, 2016, 05:28:54 PM

Quote from: lefrakenstein on March 16, 2016, 04:08:06 PM
Greg, IWUMichiganer, thanks for your posts on Benedictine.

One question - was there anything in particular that led to the Bennie's big jump to national contender this year? You've mentioned the improved team play of Lucas Johnson. Was there anything else? (Impact freshman, transfers, etc.?)

No transfers that I am aware of but Greg could have more insight. The return of Lucas Johnson just helped make an already good team an even better team. The article Gordon gave the link for provides good insight.
This is a team that plays together often "five as one". Johnson, IMHO, has legitimate D2 , maybe even mid-major, skills. Any starting player on this team is capable of going off and putting up 20 points and so is their sixth man.
Junior guard Tahron Henry is really good, has a big motor and a very quick first step. He is capable of blowing by anyone guarding him.
I do not tend to assess the Bennies by their conference (which Greg previously noted). I think the better assessment is both their non-conference success and tournament wins so far. Those capabilities probably a better gage of what the Bennies can do.
Is it fair to say some within the CCIW, and central region, felt the Bennies would stubble along the way? Yes.

hoya73 · March 16, 2016, 05:34:10 PM

Easy there P'Bear. The "transfers" were a walk-on from Arizona who wanted a better pre-med program and a second team player from FDU. While I love them both, no one is comparing them to Duncan.

JEFFFAN · March 16, 2016, 09:18:08 PM

Quote from: P'bearfan on March 16, 2016, 05:22:22 PM
Quote... Heard the Amherst coach speak to a small group a few months after that season and he was clear that Robinson was far too good to be playing in the NESCAC.

That's really rich coming from a Coach who continually stacks his roster with players who could see the floor at lower level if not mid-major D1 programs and ya' know actual D1 transfers.....jeeeesh.

Okay, okay - let me clarify. The coach's comment was offered clearly as the utmost compliment about Robinson. Nothing more, nothing less. Pure admiration for the very high quality player that Robinson was then and now we know ... is now.

Gregory Sager · March 16, 2016, 10:53:03 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on March 16, 2016, 12:41:44 AM
Since Amherst acknowledges little inside game, I suspect you may get pummeled by Lucas Johnson. We in the CCIW have had some fun at Johnson's expense over the years (Benedictine is his third or fourth school, and he has boasted of his NBA future despite never getting any scholarship attention)

That was really more his dad's thing than Luke's, Chuck. (Johnson's dad had a severe case of Little-League-Dad Fever during his kid's sojourn at Carthage.) And, let's be fair, it was several years and three transfers ago.

Also, he did get scholarship attention. He was on scholarship after leaving Benedictine, albeit at a D2 school (St. Leo). As was noted in the Around the Region column to which Gordon linked, he gave back the scholarship and returned to BU when he learned that not all of his credits were transferring to St. Leo, and that he'd thus have to attend St. Leo for an extra semester after his eligibility ended (i.e., he'd have to pay for it). Anyway, iwumich is right: Johnson's a legit scholarship-level player, and he's learned how to be both an unselfish teammate and a strong inside presence (he was allergic to paint when he was a freshman at Carthage).

NESCAC fans (who don't tend to get out much, according to middhoops

) might be interested to know that one CCIW board regular got so worked up over Luke Johnson and his dad, and brought them up so often -- even after Johnson had left the CCIW and moved on to Benedictine -- that we now refer to Johnson on the CCIW board as He Who Shall Remain Nameless. In fact, I remember reading that Around the Region column and thinking to myself, "Boy, I hope that nobody mentions this column on CCIW Chat. I'd hate to get into a whole 'nother round of Luke Johnson bashing, especially because the column's claim about his reason for transferring to Benedictine differs radically from the CCIW Chat scuttlebutt about it."