MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Interesting comments Nescac1.
I watched some NE D3 games last night....RIC and Keene St..  Some opponents of Nescac teams this season.  Both games were not competitive during the times I peeked in.  Should have looked in on the Springfield game.  Mr Ross was the difference in Springfield's win over Amherst last season.
It is unfortunate that there are few Conn posters here since this board was initiated by one..."Camel Time". 
Should note that the Camels may have 18 players listed but Not all can be carried through out the season, I believe.  Anyone aware of the particulars on the roster limit rules?
MIT over the years have had terrific players.  However, the players have dropped off the team due to the heavy workload of classes...especially during upper class years.  MIT's strong play by young players against the likes of Harvard is very positive.  I look at it in TWO ways.  A warning to D3 opponents in MIT's conference....AND an indication that Harvard with its Famous Duke player HC may have lost some recruiting wars.
Best to ALL the CAC teams this weekend!

[nescac1]

Actually, amh63, the last few Harvard recruiting classes (especially the current sophomore class, which was one of the top recruiting classes anywhere) have been quite heralded.  Whether that translates into wins remains to be seen, but Amaker has been a major draw for the Crimson -- it was impressive that MIT could hang with them, for sure.  And to correct my earlier post, it wasn't an exhibition game, but a game that counted! 

[Greek Tragedy]

Nice work, nescac1!

[amh63]

Got me interested in the Ivy League again.  Should check out the success of Harvard in recent years....Harvard was my "backup school".
Remember when the HC arrived at Harvard....basically cleaned house of the returning players and caused a minor storm with their parents.  Do not think that Harvard has built a new venue for basketball...yes out of touch.
Speaking of the Ivies, my daughter in the Ithaca area informed me that the HC of Syracuse has a son going to Cornell to play and study.

[nescac1]

Speaking of Amherst, folks have been assuming (myself included) that one of the two highly-touted frosh would play the point for Amherst, mostly because no one on the returning roster has ever seen any time at the point, but as amh63 has noted, the preview suggests that the job is junior PG Sinopoli's to start the year.  I've never heard of any Amherst folks talk much about him, but he seems based on his high school play like he will be a fun player to watch -- quick and a very nifty/creative ball-handler and passer, kind of a Jason (White Chocolate) Williams type.  I imagine he won't be a huge scorer for the Mammoths this year, but he could be an effective table-setter for other guys.

One more day!   

[ContinentalDomer]

Nothing But Preview - Hamilton:  http://nothingbutnescac.com/?p=5396

[D3HforLyfe]

(11) Colby -  Two years ago in November, things were bright in Waterville (or as figuratively bright as they can be way up there). A dynamic senior class led by the likes of Chris Hudnut, Luke Westman, Ryan Jann, Pat Stewart, and Sam Wilson were suiting up for what must have seemed certain to be a special last go. Many were predicting a top four finish and even a push at a league championship. They started the year 10-1 with wins over B-B-C rivals Bates and Bowdoin. Entering conference play, their hopes and expectations were understandably still high. However, after numerous injuries and bad bounces, things, as they sometimes do in sport, quickly turned bleak. They finished the season 16-8, but only 4-6 in conference and ultimately saw the careers of those great seniors come to the end after a first round 'CAC Tournament loss to number-one seeded Trinity.

Last season, despite All-NESCAC sniper Pat Stewart being granted a fifth year on a medical waiver, was a predictably long one. Everyone saw a rebuild on the horizon after being so heavily dependent on one class, and in the first year of laying a new foundation the Mules went 10-14 overall (with, lets say, a less than impressive out of conference slate) and 1-9 in conference. With a roster peppered with inexperienced freshman and sophomores making up their core, Strahorn decided to spit out lineups that were extremely shooter heavy and play a style of basketball that would make both Daryl Morey and Grinnell College happy. They shot more than 29 threes per game on the season with that number ballooning to better than 31 a game in conference play! That was more than double the attempts that Cosgrove's football team disguised as a basketball team shot last season during conference play. Still not understanding how many threes they were shooting? How about this: The 2016-2017 Colby College Mules shot more threes in a 10-game conference slate than the 1984-1985 world champion Los Angeles Lakers did an entire 82 game NBA season...Am I making pointless cross-era comparisons that fail to recognize the basic changes the game of basketball has seen in the past 30 years? Yeah, but I think it has helped to make my point. It is safe to say the Mules were getting them up there.

The strategy didn't work all too well. I respected the effort, nonetheless. The season was the definition of a restart - why not chuck 'em up there, change it up on defensive constantly, play gritty undersized line-ups, and try to make it fun? When you lose your home opener in the Colby Classic to Pine Manor, what other choice is there? What concerns me, though, is I don't know if it gets any better this winter. The group of young shooters is a year older, that much is true, but that doesn't assures any sort of success unless there was significant improvement in the off-season. The guy who will need to show the biggest improvement is Ethan Shagler. He started all 24 games as a freshman and averaged 6.7 PPG (on 38/40/75) to go along with 3.3 RPG and 2.3 APG. Clearly Head Coach Damien Strahorn has identified him as the player he wants to build around, and, while that alone is worrisome from an outsider's perspective, if these guys are going to eventually make a jump in the standings it will have to be on his back. It looks like this team will rely downlow on Sean Gilmore and Steven Daley, a duo that has much to prove as well. Gilmore averaged 7.7 PPG (46/37/71) and 2.8 RPG, while Daley averaged 4.9 PPG (51/0/62) and 3.8 RPG. During conference play it will be a battle every single night on the glass for the Mules.
On the recruiting trail, I'm not sure what Coach Strahorn is trying to do. It appears they brought in only two recruits and both of them are sub-5'10" guards. Matt Hanna comes in as a heralded player from Massachusetts, but I simply don't know how plugging in another small guard into the line-up helps solve any of their problems. 5'8" Sophomore Tyler Williams played 19 MPG as a freshman. I'm interested to know what Strahorn was thinking here because there doesn't seem to be much of a plan.

You put all of this together, and I don't know where to find the silver lining in the situation. Sorry Waterville. Similar as I wrote in the Conn College preview, remember that things can turn quickly. As for this year though, I guess my advice would be to get to the games early.  Pat Dickert is back for his senior year and the Internet phenomena will surely do some cool stuff in lay-up lines. Also, I guess we can be excited about the new athletic facility coming in 2020 (http://www.colby.edu/news/2017/06/01/generous-gift-names-basketball-arena-in-new-colby-athletic-complex/), right? I don't know, that's all I got.

The end of my nearly two week deep dive has arrived! I will post my finalized rankings tomorrow as well as my All-NESCAC and _OY choices. After that, I will probably take a break from posting for a bit. Thank you to all of the people on this great blog who read my pieces, I enjoyed giving my two cents and acting like a sports journalist as we prepare for another season in the best league in college sports. In my opinion, the NESCAC has just the right balance of basketball and perspective, and I get the feel that you on this forum understand that as well. I hope it never changes...Cheers!

[amh63]

The cited Amherst PG...Vic...played in a tough league in Florida.  Younger brother is at Vassar, but is presently injured.  I'm looking forward to see him on the floor.  MIT was one of his choices out of HS.
Harvard does have a new venue for BB.  On the Boston side of the Charles.  A renovenation of a former indoor track facilitity that became available.  Updated recently and holds just under 2000 fans.  Older venue in Cambridge is still around.

[middhoops]

 D3HfL, thank you!

No need to take a break.  Stick around, you have a following.

[Canvas Hightops]

Hey D3HforLyfe!
Maybe you could pick up with the LEC or SUNYAC.  Please don't stop, young man.
Your trip through the NESCAC has been a genuine treat.  Thank you.

[P'bearfan]

Got me interested in the Ivy League again.  Should check out the success of Harvard in recent years....Harvard was my "backup school".
Remember when the HC arrived at Harvard....basically cleaned house of the returning players and caused a minor storm with their parents.  Do not think that Harvard has built a new venue for basketball...yes out of touch.
Speaking of the Ivies, my daughter in the Ithaca area informed me that the HC of Syracuse has a son going to Cornell to play and study.

And Harvard's current venue lacks air conditioning...which is quite surprising considering the school's $36 bazillion endowment....and quite inconvenient when you spend 3 days there in June watching games.

[amh63]

Got a surprise today....Amherst's roster...minus pics....is up and there is a additional player!   A center candidate from Durham N.C.!  Not previously mentioned.  From the School of Math & Science.  No mention of a transfer so I take the player as a "walk-on".
In any case....will watch the game tonight on-line with added interest.

[nescac1]

Best pre-season ever on this board!  Lots of interesting input.  After seeing rosters and hearing the predictions from posters here as well as NBN, here are the rookies to watch this weekend:

(1) Grant Robinson, Amherst -- already much discussed
(2) Griff Korkaner / Jack (or is it Sebastian?) Farrell / Max Bosco, Middlebury (hard to know which of these guys will make the biggest impact, only that at least one will be a key guy)
(3) Francis Uzorh, Trinity
(4) Brennan Morris / Will Brady / Luke Rogers, Tufts (given Tufts' injury situation, all could have a big role early)
(5) Marc Taylor, Williams (doubt he plays much this year but when he does it should be fun to watch)
(6) Zavier Rucker and KJ Matte, Bowdoin
(7) Austin Hutcherson, Wesleyan
(8) Tyler Washington, Hamilton
(9) Matt Hannah, Colby

[nescac1]

Williams down by two at the half to Salem State.  Salem is a solid team that took Tufts down to the wire in last year's NCAA tourney and already has a good win over UMass-Dartmouth.  Salem shot the lights out from 3 in the first half while the Ephs were ice cold, and if that continues it will be a real tight ballgame. 

For the Ephs, Scadlock, Heskett, and Karp look GOOD.   Crazy that we have two years with that group together to look forward to.  Those guys just attacked attacked attacked inside, all three are fearsome heading to the rim and tough to contain down low.  Greenman also played well.  The rest of the team however was very quiet.  I love that clearly, this team is going to be interior oriented because that is where their advantage is, a different look for the Ephs.  But I think Williams was almost TOO focused on getting the ball inside on nearly every possession early in the game.  Didn't give the guards / shooters a chance to get into the offense or get any sort of rhythm, and no one looked comfortable at all shooting from outside. 

In the second half, I'd like to see the Ephs move the ball in and out a bit more and they definitely need to get Cole Teal involved in the offense.  Still, overall, the strategy of going to Scadlock, who seems to have picked up right where he left off last season, Heskett, who is bigger, stronger and more aggressive and looks like he is primed for a big year, and Karp, who's footwork and moves inside are just clinical, makes a ton of sense. 

The Ephs were a bit sloppy with the ball getting stripped too many times on both ends.  They actually did a pretty good job for the most part contesting 3's, Salem was just hot, but they could stand to close out a bit harder given the first half success. 

[nescac1]

Great second half for the Ephs as they pull away to win by 12.  Kyle Scadlock played out of his mind 32 points, 12 boards, 4 steals, about six dunks including one ridiculous saving-the-ball-around-his-back on a steal followed by three steps and a jam.  He hit 16 free throws, each one of them well-earned -- he was getting hammered all game.  James Heskett was also stellar with 21 points and 6 boards, doing it inside and out.  He was pretty much the entirety of the Ephs' perimeter attack.  Mike Greenman also had an excellent game with 11 points and 5 assists and he really attacked the basket effectively.

Still, as one would expect from the first game, the Ephs have plenty to improve on -- they gave up a few too many second chance points; guys got beat on the dribble drive by the smaller, quicker Salem State players a few too many times; and the center trio struggled with Salem State's senior big guy, who had a fantastic game.  Also, the Ephs need to get Casey, Greenman and Teal going a bit more involved with good looks from the 3 point line -- only one triple from the three of them is not ideal.  The Ephs did seem to have around 3 treys barely rim out, I think those will start falling.  Despite that, though, they still managed 80 points against a solid, veteran team.  Nicely done Ephs!