MBB: NESCAC

[AmherstStudent05]

Many thanks, Pat.  I am sure that my inquiry was a result of my legal background -- always looking to complicate the simple.  I know that lots of organizations use the "Honorable Mention" designation, but, going forward, wouldn't it just be simpler to convert this into a 5th All-American team?

Anyway, thanks again for responding to my question -- and for putting together such a fine list of honorees in the first place!

[magicman]

If anyone can direct me to a link for the box score of the All Star game that was played in Salem on Saturday I would greatly appreciate it. Post it here since I'll be checking back.

It doesn't appear to exist anymore.  Maybe Pat or Dave took a picture of the stats?  I left mine at the venue - I didn't think I'd need them again.

You could watch the replay - http://www.ncaa.com/video/basketball-men/d3 - and just make your own boxscore.

Hoops Fan,

Thanks for the link. Plus K

[JustAFan]

Northfield Mt. Hermon's 6'7" David Reynolds is headed to Bowdoin next fall according to NERR.

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/nmhs-reynolds-makes-pick

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

If anyone can direct me to a link for the box score of the All Star game that was played in Salem on Saturday I would greatly appreciate it. Post it here since I'll be checking back.

It doesn't appear to exist anymore.  Maybe Pat or Dave took a picture of the stats?  I left mine at the venue - I didn't think I'd need them again.

You could watch the replay - http://www.ncaa.com/video/basketball-men/d3 - and just make your own boxscore.

Hoops Fan,

Thanks for the link. Plus K

Your guy was one of the most impressive in the first ten minutes or so, but he got a little lazy towards the end and took too many shots without making them.  His final numbers weren't great.

[Gregory Sager]

" (MAYBE Duncan Robinson could have challenged that if he had stayed at Williams, but I doubt it.)"

Ouch!  That's cold.  If probably true.

I didn't mean it to demean DR in any way; he was an incredible D3 talent and I'm really enjoying following him at Michigan (in D1, I'm totally 'Go Blue').  But the men are just never going to be as dominated as the women unless a Michael Jordan-type decides for whatever reasons to forego D1 ball.  The women have made HUGE strides since Title IX, but still lack anywhere near the depth of talent, as evidenced by the number of women's teams vs. men's teams that enter the tourney undefeated each year.

That, plus the fact that we're talking about two completely different sports that thus have no competitive crossover, is why I would never make a statement like this:

I'm not sure there would be many dissenters that Sydney Moss is THE most dominant player (male or female) to ever play D3.  (MAYBE Duncan Robinson could have challenged that if he had stayed at Williams, but I doubt it.)

... without qualifying it by saying "most dominant in his or her particular sport (male or female) to ever play D3," because otherwise you could interpret it to mean that men's basketball and women's basketball have identical standards (and thus identical measurements of dominance). And they certainly don't. F'rinstance, in D3 men's hoops, a player is typically considered to be an excellent ballhandler and distributor if he has a 2:1 assist:turnover ratio. But in D3 women's hoops, the standard's more like something in the 1.25:1 to 1.5:1 neighborhood. Different standards, because of different competition with no crossover between them ... and thus different frames of reference.

Men's basketball and women's basketball are apples and oranges, and that's something that, as a broadcaster of both sports, I have to pretty consistently tell men's basketball fans when they put down women's hoops. Each sport needs to be taken as a whole on its own terms, and teams and players ought to be evaluated by the discrete internal benchmarks of each sport.

I will, however, validate my friend from Ypsilanti by saying that Sydney Moss is most likely the best D3 women's basketball player ever (although I can't vouch for that 100%, since there's plenty of D3 women's basketball players in the pre-Internet era that I never got to see). She's certainly the best I've ever seen, by a wide margin.

[P'bearfan]

Northfield Mt. Hermon's 6'7" David Reynolds is headed to Bowdoin next fall according to NERR.

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/nmhs-reynolds-makes-pick

Great news and thanks for posting.  +K to you!

David Reynolds - welcome to Bowdoin!!  We're very glad to know that you'll be a Polar Bear next year.

GoUBears!!

[AmherstStudent05]

Blah, blah, blah.  Give credit where credit is due, and keep in mind that this is not coming from a Hixon or Jeffs fan; Let's be honest: Hundreds of teams and everyone in our league would have signed up to be exactly where Amherst was last night.  They lost to an undefeated team by 3 points in a national semi with two shots to send it to OT.  Our league acquitted itself well all season and into the post season.  Despite my strong feelings and leanings, this is one of those times you have to be a good sport and congratulate a rival on a great season.  That said, I hope Midd goes out and kicks the tar out of them next season and beyond.

Completely agree. I am as big a Jeff fan as there is out there and I am thrilled with what they did this year. They were nowhere close to a dominant team in any respects yet they were still playing on the last Friday of the season.  When I read that fans might have been surprised at the loss, I scratch my head and ask what they were watching this year?  They played on the edge all season, including in the playoffs, and that obviously cuts both ways.  Very happy about their body of work.

To those Jeff fans who think that they will automatically be better next year ... be careful what you ask for.  Will the PG ever realize that his job is to get the ball to the wings and not to look for your own shot first?  (Aaron Toomey you are not.)  Who will become the power forward to actually pound the boards?  (See Benedictine, rebounding differential.)  No one I see on the roster who fits that bill. Green might have shot a bunch, but he allowed his game to be subsumed by the greater good this year and deserves kudos accordingly.  No tears shed for what they bring back but their weaknesses this year were not remotely Green centric.

Go Tufts girls!

Next year's Amherst squad will certainly feature plenty of experience.  For the past two seasons we have played the same 9-man rotation (Green, McCarthy, George, Dawson, Racy, Berman, Conklin, Nabo, and Riopel).  While there have been some variations in playing time -- for instance Nabo was a regular starter last season and generally struggled to find much playing time this year -- these are the nine guys who played.  Eight of these guys are coming back next season (I assume).

I calculate that next year's team will enter the season with 267 games of starting experience on the roster.  I have never looked at this "stat" previously -- either for Amherst or for anyone else -- but I have to think it is comfortably in the 99th percentile of past NESCAC teams.  And the experience is quite varied -- returning players will have plenty of experience with Salem and NESCAC championship games for instance.

Now, of course, you are quite right that this experience alone does not ensure that Amherst will have a successful season.  Connor Green is a big loss -- after all, he is the second leading scorer in program history.  And, despite all the experience, we will enter next season without any returning All-NESCAC players on the roster and without any 1,000 point scorers (although JMac and George are all but locks to get there by season's end and Racy and even Dawson could get there as well if things break right).

Most importantly, every season is different and next year's team could run in to all sorts of pitfalls (injury, bad luck, bad run of form, and/or could just run into other buzzsaws in the conference).  Still, I should think that expectations will be VERY high for Amherst next season (even if they do not get much out of the Classes of 2019 or 2020, which I am obviously hoping is not the case).

But, heading in to the NCAA Tournament I remember thinking there is a good chance that three of the four NESCAC representatives might be even better next year.  Middlebury brings back an awful lot of talent, as does Tufts (although the injury to Pace certainly complicates things).  Also, as toad mentioned, Williams should be much improved as well.  (I also agree with him that while Conn and Hamilton should also be better on paper, it remains to see whether this potential can be realized.)

Anyway, it would not surprise me at all to see at least another NESCAC appearance in Salem next year.  I know we still have a LONG time to go, but next season should be another fun one.

[magicman]

If anyone can direct me to a link for the box score of the All Star game that was played in Salem on Saturday I would greatly appreciate it. Post it here since I'll be checking back.

It doesn't appear to exist anymore.  Maybe Pat or Dave took a picture of the stats?  I left mine at the venue - I didn't think I'd need them again.

You could watch the replay - http://www.ncaa.com/video/basketball-men/d3 - and just make your own boxscore.

Hoops Fan,

Thanks for the link. Plus K

Your guy was one of the most impressive in the first ten minutes or so, but he got a little lazy towards the end and took too many shots without making them.  His final numbers weren't great.

Kyle was the only guy in the game with a double-double...14 points, 11 rebounds. I got the box score from Coach Curle today. He did have a few misses toward the end that would have boosted his numbers considerably.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

If anyone can direct me to a link for the box score of the All Star game that was played in Salem on Saturday I would greatly appreciate it. Post it here since I'll be checking back.

It doesn't appear to exist anymore.  Maybe Pat or Dave took a picture of the stats?  I left mine at the venue - I didn't think I'd need them again.

You could watch the replay - http://www.ncaa.com/video/basketball-men/d3 - and just make your own boxscore.

Hoops Fan,

Thanks for the link. Plus K

Your guy was one of the most impressive in the first ten minutes or so, but he got a little lazy towards the end and took too many shots without making them.  His final numbers weren't great.

Kyle was the only guy in the game with a double-double...14 points, 11 rebounds. I got the box score from Coach Curle today. He did have a few misses toward the end that would have boosted his numbers considerably.

Let's just say the official stat-keepers were counting maybe 20% of turnovers in that game.  Things got sloppy there for a while.  He was rebounding well, I'll give him that.  Some guys were more aggressive than others at getting their shots off.  It's pretty typical for an all-star game.

[P'bearfan]

....I calculate that next year's team will enter the season with 267 games of starting experience on the roster.  I have never looked at this "stat" previously -- either for Amherst or for anyone else -- but I have to think it is comfortably in the 99th percentile of past NESCAC teams.  And the experience is quite varied -- returning players will have plenty of experience with Salem and NESCAC championship games for instance.

Now, of course, you are quite right that this experience alone does not ensure that Amherst will have a successful season.  Connor Green is a big loss -- after all, he is the second leading scorer in program history.  And, despite all the experience, we will enter next season without any returning All-NESCAC players on the roster and without any 1,000 point scorers (although JMac and George are all but locks to get there by season's end and Racy and even Dawson could get there as well if things break right).

While there are no guarantees in life, I would be stunned if Amherst isn't one of if not the top team in the NESCAC next year.  They simply have too much talent. My own view is what they lose in outside shooting from Green's departure will be picked up by 2 or 3 people. 

[amh63]

There are a few freshman players that I see working into the rotation next year...having seen what it will take to get there.  For the incoming class, they may sit awhile...but who knows...another ROY maybe in the cards . Am sure the rebounding in balance seen against the Bennies will have to be addressed....and will be,IMO.

[middhoops]

It doesn't take a crystal ball to see that Amherst is totally stacked going into next season.  If there is a team in all of D3 bringing back more quality talent from top to bottom, I sincerely hope Middlebury doesn't schedule them in November.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

It doesn't take a crystal ball to see that Amherst is totally stacked going into next season.  If there is a team in all of D3 bringing back more quality talent from top to bottom, I sincerely hope Middlebury doesn't schedule them in November.

Christopher Newport is bringing back a lot.  North Central should be pretty good.

[jumpshot]

The hamster will also likely have a couple of transfers ....

[AmherstStudent05]

The hamster will also likely have a couple of transfers ....

That would be great!  Have anyone in particular in mind?