MBB: NESCAC

middhoops · January 22, 2017, 07:55:14 PM

Vandy74, Brownee and I traveled to Williamstown today.
We watched an old fashioned whuppin', much to our chagrin.
Bucket nailed it, perfectly.
Two years from now, like two years ago, and two years before that; I'll make the trip. Someday, hopefully I'll see my Panthers win a game in that gym. Not sure why I like that place so much.
Well done, Ephs.
Grumble, grumble......

BigMike33 · January 23, 2017, 02:46:30 AM

Tough day from start to finish from Panthers. FLAT. Missed free throws; no closeouts on 3. Missed wide open teammates with an opposite look as Williams was active defensively all day. Panthers thought they could just show for this one and got a well deserved lesson. Williams coach rotated 10 players very efficiently and kept Ephs fresh.

These types of losses on a talented experienced team are meat & potatoes for the coaching staff. Good thing for Panthers they get to come back on Tuesday. It will be a difficult week of practice for Panthers, which could be a serious problem for Hamilton on Saturday.

Having seen every team in NESCAC, this year in person & video, Tufts vs. Middlebury, in person, was an excellent game of runs, defense, offense, coaching, a real heavyweight match-up. These 2 teams are slightly better than the middle of the pack & it shows itself during stretch time when execution & fortitude are key.

Tufts execution against Middlebury in last two minutes was flawless. Ball in right players' hands consistently trying to sweat slight advantages in certain defensive matchups with success, then, knocked down Free Throws to seal the win.

In person, Great Middlebury win vs. Illinois Wesleyan on buzzer beating step back foul line jumper by Jack Daly. The world thought a St. Amour look but Coach Brown decoyed him on side because he liked match-up on Daly. Daly wastes 8 secs at top of key then dribbles in, jab step, Illinois defender now thinking drive...pulls and drains.

Looking forward to rest of season. Tufts weekend trip to Trinity & Amherst in two weeks will be interesting litmus. Middlebury showed today that certain places are tough to play in and the road contests against good teams are littered with potholes.

When I think of the loss of Palleschi and the gimpy knee braced leg of Vincent Pace, Tufts depth & stamina could be challenged in rest of season. Secondly, there just is something magical about St. Amour....everything about him....person, player, family--- incredibly talented on court, great teammate & tremendous human being.

P'bearfan · January 23, 2017, 08:19:35 AM

Tough weekend for the Polar Bears as they drop Saturday's game to Trinity: 53-71.

A combination of the Bantam's pressure defense and stone cold shooting in the first half put Bowdoin in a hole that they couldn't climb out of. The P'bears did manage to narrow the gap to 9 points in the second half but could get no closer.

Hopefully a few days off and a some strong practices this week can get Bowdoin ready for their trip to Colby on Saturday.

GoUBears!!

nescac1 · January 23, 2017, 10:15:57 AM

A few notes on conference stats / awards half-way through the NESCAC season. Matt St. Amour is now the overwhelming favorite for NESCAC POY -- 22.6 ppg (including 4 triples per game), 5 rpg and 2.5 apg, and no one else is even within five points. He benefits as well from being a senior who has had a distinguished overall career. I'd say Ed Ogundeko is really the only other player in contention right now (17 ppg, an incredible 14 rpg in NESCAC play), with likely future POY Jack Simonds a distant third.

ROY also has an overwhelming leader: Kena Gilmour has been spectacularly efficient in limited minutes, pouring in 12.6 ppg on 47/47/100 shooting in only 19 mpg. He also averages 4.6 rpg, insane for a guard given those minutes. His combo of athleticism and shooting ability is very rare at this level. Hamilton has stockpiled young talent and I think starts next year as the pre-season league favorite, which is pretty amazing considering where they were just a few years ago. Great job by their young coach

Lots of contenders for first runner up for ROY at this point: Tufts' Eric Savage, Bates' Nick Gilpin, Tom Coyne, and Jeff Spellman (Bates is gonna have a heck of a backcourt in two years' time as those guys mature together), Middlebury's Matt Folger, Colby's Ethan Schlager, Bowdoin's David Reynolds and Williams' Matt Karpowicz have all looked strong as rookies. This class started slowly but has started to come on of late. But again, it's Gilmour's award to lose.

Williams' Karpowicz has been particularly impressive in limited minutes (he actually leads NESCAC in points-per-minute in league play, although of course he benefits from being able to expend so much energy in limited court time). But his leage numbers are no joke: 7.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg, .5 bpg, in only 10.2 mpg in league play. In those six games, he is shooting 80 percent from the field and 100 percent from the line. Karpowicz has, like all frosh bigs, plenty to work on in his game (especially on defense), but he definitely has a knack for getting the ball into the hoop in traffic. He reminds me of Whittington, Mayer, and Coffin as young players -- raw around the edges, but flashes of all-American talent.

amh63 · January 23, 2017, 12:17:21 PM

Middhoops.....nice to hear from you. Yes Chandler Gym is an easy place to get to and Willytown is full of shops and good places to eat. Wife and I enjoyed visiting during summer time while attending plays, etc there. Also took time to chat with some coaches...now gone.
Am surprised that your cuz was not back home watching the Panthers's WBB team put a whipping on their counterparts. The ladies win was almost a reversal wrt the score. The Ephs ladies' do not reflect the talent level on the team.

Old Guy · January 23, 2017, 01:50:14 PM

Quote from: middhoops on January 22, 2017, 07:55:14 PM
Vandy74, Brownee and I traveled to Williamstown today.
We watched an old fashioned whuppin', much to our chagrin.
Bucket nailed it, perfectly.
Two years from now, like two years ago, and two years before that; I'll make the trip. Someday, hopefully I'll see my Panthers win a game in that gym. Not sure why I like that place so much.
Well done, Ephs.
Grumble, grumble......

I do remember a nice weekend in Chandler in 2011 when Midd won the NESCAC Championship with successive night wins over Williams and Amherst. Since then, a snake pit.

ContinentalDomer · January 23, 2017, 03:45:46 PM

If you're a Bowdoin fan, turn this off at the 1:30 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13mb6R3FYiU&feature=youtu.be

Driveway-quality shot by Johnny Mac.

PeterEscobar · January 23, 2017, 08:37:25 PM

Quote from: OldCardinal on January 22, 2017, 05:35:37 PM
Tufts has been the big surprise so far for me. Perhaps most notable has been their depth. We all know about Palleschi, Pace and Smith. But they have gotten huge contributions out of other players, when needed. This weekend they got 42 and 35 bench points. On saturday, with Smith limited to 6 minutes (not sure why) and Palleschi out, Dayton steps up with 25 pts and 8 assists. Engval has been unsung but very steady and good. It's the deepest Jumbo team I've seen in a while. They look for real to me.

Word on the street is Palleschi's season is over with a torn ACL.

Bucket · January 23, 2017, 09:00:03 PM

Quote from: PeterEscobar on January 23, 2017, 08:37:25 PM
Quote from: OldCardinal on January 22, 2017, 05:35:37 PM
Tufts has been the big surprise so far for me. Perhaps most notable has been their depth. We all know about Palleschi, Pace and Smith. But they have gotten huge contributions out of other players, when needed. This weekend they got 42 and 35 bench points. On saturday, with Smith limited to 6 minutes (not sure why) and Palleschi out, Dayton steps up with 25 pts and 8 assists. Engval has been unsung but very steady and good. It's the deepest Jumbo team I've seen in a while. They look for real to me.
Word on the street is Palleschi's season is over with a torn ACL.

That's awful, and I am so, so sorry to hear that. The young man has been through so much already, and to have this happen during his final season is so cruel. (I also feel for the program to have two devastating injuries in consecutive years to arguably the two best players.)

And while proper perspective will show that at least he has his long-term health (considering his heart ailment of a few years ago), I imagine that doesn't lessen the pain and frustration in this moment.

nescac1 · January 23, 2017, 09:01:11 PM

Oh man that stinks for Palleschi. Dude only overcame open heart surgery, stinks to lose the last half of his senior year after all he's been through. Tufts in general has had a load of tough injury breaks for several years. Who knows what the Jumbos would have done last year but for Pace's untimely ACL tear ...

jayhawk · January 23, 2017, 09:51:37 PM

Tom Palleschi has been an inspiration. He has strong work ethic and tight family. He will overcome but sad that this happenned.

ContinentalDomer · January 24, 2017, 07:40:53 AM

That's a shame. Tom Palleschi is a warrior and he always plays with guts. He has also been a great messenger about the value of perseverance.

Quote from: PeterEscobar on January 23, 2017, 08:37:25 PM
Quote from: OldCardinal on January 22, 2017, 05:35:37 PM
Tufts has been the big surprise so far for me. Perhaps most notable has been their depth. We all know about Palleschi, Pace and Smith. But they have gotten huge contributions out of other players, when needed. This weekend they got 42 and 35 bench points. On saturday, with Smith limited to 6 minutes (not sure why) and Palleschi out, Dayton steps up with 25 pts and 8 assists. Engval has been unsung but very steady and good. It's the deepest Jumbo team I've seen in a while. They look for real to me.
Word on the street is Palleschi's season is over with a torn ACL.

nescac1 · January 24, 2017, 09:58:31 AM

Reflecting on Palleschi's career made me think -- NESCAC should add to its post-season awards some sort of character-based award, for a student-athlete who has overcome obstacles to make a contribution to the program. Seems odd, really, that NESCAC does not recognize one player in that category for each sport.

Tufts has two quality back-up centers but neither is the physical post presence or rim protector that Palleschi is. His loss is enormous for them. Tufts already uses its tremendous quickness and depth to push the pace of games to a level difficult for most teams to keep up with. The Jumbos are now incentivized to push the pace even faster. They still present a tough match-up because they play small and fast and have loads of athletic shooters everywhere. But the Jumbos also have league games remaining with four teams (Trinity, Amherst, Williams, Bates) who have big guys who can hurt them inside. They may have a lot of trouble keeping guys like Ogundeko and the Delpeches off the glass without a physical presence like Palleschi.

P'bearfan · January 24, 2017, 10:46:33 AM

Very sorry to hear about Palleschi's injury. That's got to be devastating - especially given what he's overcome already and the high aspirations for the Jumbo's this season.

Best wishes for a full recovery.

grabtherim · January 24, 2017, 10:48:46 AM

Assuming this news is accurate, I feel awful for Palleschi. Hard to imagine an athlete who has battled or done more to compete in a sport he loves. At the end of the day, we often learn more about an athlete by how he competes versus his end results. By that measure, this young man is as good as we have seen for some time. All the best to him.