MBB: NESCAC

[Old Guy]

Middlebury-Endicott this Sunday afternoon should be pretty interesting. We played one another twice last year here in VT and lost the first game, 93-89, after being up 12 at the half and 17 early in the second half (Endicott scored 57 points in the second half). Then we faced them again in the NCAA third round and won in a blowout, 89-60.

Last weekend, Endicott sophomore Keith Brown, a 6'2', 195 lb guard, scored 38 points in a 75-70 win over Regis, and then 45 points in a 10 point win against defending national champs Babson (including 10-15 from three!), an effort for which he was named the US Basketball Writers' Association (USBWA) Player of the Week. Holy smokes!

Against Middlebury last year, he didn't play in the first game (not apparently on the roster) and came off the bench to score 12 points in 17 minutes in the tourney game.

A quick check of the Endicott website indicates an impressive hs pedigree: three times first team all-state in NH, Gatorade Player of the Year, 12 points shy of 2000 for his career at Pelham HS.

Sunday at 2:00 — Panthers-Gulls in Beverly, MA. Jack Daly at the point for Midd on offense, then picking up Brown on defense.

This afternoon, I bumped into Daly and four teammates from the NY, NJ, Philly axis, returning to campus for a 5:00 pm practice. They traveled in Jack's ride, a ten-year old (I'm guessing) family van, the least flashy car on the Middlebury campus (nosing out Young Guy's 1999 Camry which belonged to his late Grandpa).

Appropriate.

[amh63]

Thanks Old Guy for alerting me to the Sunday game.   Been watching a few D1 Holiday Tourny games.  Saw a bit of a Michigan game, Duke game and a Harvard game.  Smiled a little when an announcer discussed an ex-Williams player, now a senior?, performance.  Stated.."been around here forever".
In the games , I warched, the play of young players..FYs...seemed to be the focus of the announcers.
Some pieces of trivia wrt the Amherst team.  Soph player Sellew is the second Gatorade Player of the year in recent years.  Conner Green was such a player in NH.
Soph player Groff's father was a former BB at Amherst.  It seems that the McCarthy brothers have parents who were multi-sport players at Amherst.  The latter info mentioned by an announcer. 

[FanOfNescac]

Thanks Old Guy for alerting me to the Sunday game.   Been watching a few D1 Holiday Tourny games.  Saw a bit of a Michigan game, Duke game and a Harvard game.  Smiled a little when an announcer discussed an ex-Williams player, now a senior?, performance.  Stated.."been around here forever".
In the games , I warched, the play of young players..FYs...seemed to be the focus of the announcers.
Some pieces of trivia wrt the Amherst team.  Soph player Sellew is the second Gatorade Player of the year in recent years.  Conner Green was such a player in NH.
Soph player Groff's father was a former BB at Amherst.  It seems that the McCarthy brothers have parents who were multi-sport players at Amherst.  The latter info mentioned by an announcer. 

``Ex-Williams player.'' Amh63 treating Duncan Robinson like Voldemort: ``He who must not be named.''

Robinson made the right decision, but it took guts. He was too good for NESCAC, but that didn't mean he would have a successful career in high D1. Really a remarkable story.

[pinseeking1]

Bates will play its first-ever game against a "Grinell Offense" team today, hosting the University of New England. As many of you already know, this style of offense features a full court press, double-teaming the ball to force turnovers, and a minimum of 50 3-point attempts per game. The theory is, "If you beat our press, you can have a 2-point basket, but we'll force turnovers and beat you with threes." These types of teams average over 100 points a game and make 5-man substitutions every 3 or 4 minutes. Should be interesting in the Den today...

[amh63]

FanOfNescac....in truth, I have a lifelong thing remembering names and often misspell them.  Do not know the origin of "Voldemort". 
Pinseeking1....thanks for the info.  For the life of me, do not understand WHY coaches resort to such a system.  Sorry, but the "G system" bores me and I avoid watching games where it is used. On the other hand, You used the term "Den". Never heard that term used before.  Most appropriate.

[FanOfNescac]

FanOfNescac....in truth, I have a lifelong thing remembering names and often misspell them.  Do not know the origin of "Voldemort". 
Pinseeking1....thanks for the info.  For the life of me, do not understand WHY coaches resort to such a system.  Sorry, but the "G system" bores me and I avoid watching games where it is used. On the other hand, You used the term "Den". Never heard that term used before.  Most appropriate.

Ahm63 Voldemort is the evil antagonist of the Harry Potter books. Your kids and grandkids can provide details and context.

[amh63]

FanOfNescac....Thanks!  My family members in all generations never read or seen any Potter related material...no interest. 

[FanOfNescac]

It's their loss, Amh63. And yours. Pick one up and give it a try. Remarkable work.

[Pat Coleman]

It's their loss, Amh63. And yours. Pick one up and give it a try. Remarkable work.

Agreed. No need to hold one's self above Harry Potter!

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin off to a strong start against Babson as the P'bears lead 41-27 going into the break.  The excellent play from all 3 guards  has really stood out.  No drop off regardless of which combination of Bors, Rucker and Ferraro is on the floor.  Also, Bowdoin fell in love with the 3 early on but at the 10 min mark started finding the open man underneath.

GoUBears!!

[P'bearfan]

Congrats to Bowdoin as they knock off #7 Babson, 80-71.

Bowdoin led this game from wire to wire and while Babson made a run in the second half to narrow the lead to single digits, Bowdoin remained in control the entire game.  Bowdoin finished with four players in double figures (Simonds, Bors, O'Neil and Reynolds).  O'Neil also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Thrilled for the players and the coaches as win like this over a quality opponent will help build their confidence.

GoUBears!!

[Vandy74]

It's their loss, Amh63. And yours. Pick one up and give it a try. Remarkable work.

Agreed. No need to hold one's self above Harry Potter!

Since when is expressing no interest in something the same as holding one's self above it?  The only reason I've seen any of the movies is because I was helping to raise a young niece and nephew fifteen years ago.  The books are veeeeery long.  I'm a veeeeery slow reader.  I hardly ever read works of fiction.  Emma Watson is hot though.  I'll give you that.

[Vandy74]

It was an impressive performance by the Panthers this afternoon in defeating host Endicott by a score of 78-67.  The home team cut a 20 point 2nd half deficit down to as few as 6 but could narrow the margin no closer.  With Folger limited to 15 minutes of playing time by overly attentive referees, he still scored 14 and was a rebound shy of a double-double.  With Eric McCord being unavailable, Nick Tarantino and Hilel Dahleh rose to the occasion.  Tarantino pulled down his 10th board to go with 17 points for a double-d.  Dahleh had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot along with 18 tallies.  Offensively, Jack Daly pulled down 9 and put up 19.  Majors completed the Middlebury scoring, for the most part, with 6 points to go with 8 boards.  Despite very little in the stats department, Panthers coming off the bench made their presence strongly felt throughout the game. 

For the Gulls, Joe Del Ricci kept them in the game with his 14 point effort on 6-8 shooting and Matt McDevitt was hot at times, but Down Town Keith Brown was held to only 15 points while shooting just 5-13.  As a team Endicott was only 34% effective, both from the field and behind the arc. 

Middlebury fans couldn't have asked for more.

[Old Guy]

Middlebury defeated Endicott by 11 this afternoon, 78-67, after being up by 15 at the half. Endicott played well in the second half, got to within 6. Daly had 19 points, 9 assists, 9 rebounds. Very balanced scoring: Folger (14, 9 boards), Tarantino (17, 10 rebounds), Dahleh (19). Folger was in foul trouble throughout and only played 15 minutes. The difference was on the glass as Middlebury had 58 rebounds (21 offensive) and the undersized Gulls only 30.

Very encouraging for Hilal Dahleh to break out (4-5 from three; 6-7 overall; 4 rebounds; 3 assists; 2 steals in 29 minutes). A lot of people are rooting for him, as he missed all of last season with a back injury, stayed very involved with the team: certainly appears to be 100%, moving very well.

Keith Brown for Endicott (38 and 45 points in his first two games; 20 threes) was suffocated by Daly and others, scoring 15 points (5-13; 3-7) in 31 minutes — with 5 turnovers.

The game was competitive throughout, but Jeff Brown found playing time for every player on the roster (McCord is injured, knee), meaningful time (more than three minutes each), not at so-called garbage time, as there was no garbage time in this one.

Panthers are now off until Tuesday, Dec 5, against Plattsburgh at home and then take on Skidmore there on Friday, Dec.8. We always have good games against those two teams. Skidmore is 3-0 with a 88-62 road win against Plattsburgh: their preseason All-American Edvinas Rupkus is off the a fast start (averaging 23+ ppt).

Wonder if Magicman will venture over the Champlain Bridge for the Cardinals-Panthers game.

[JEFFFAN]

Thanks Old Guy for alerting me to the Sunday game.   Been watching a few D1 Holiday Tourny games.  Saw a bit of a Michigan game, Duke game and a Harvard game.  Smiled a little when an announcer discussed an ex-Williams player, now a senior?, performance.  Stated.."been around here forever".
In the games , I warched, the play of young players..FYs...seemed to be the focus of the announcers.
Some pieces of trivia wrt the Amherst team.  Soph player Sellew is the second Gatorade Player of the year in recent years.  Conner Green was such a player in NH.
Soph player Groff's father was a former BB at Amherst.  It seems that the McCarthy brothers have parents who were multi-sport players at Amherst.  The latter info mentioned by an announcer. 

``Ex-Williams player.'' Amh63 treating Duncan Robinson like Voldemort: ``He who must not be named.''

Robinson made the right decision, but it took guts. He was too good for NESCAC, but that didn't mean he would have a successful career in high D1. Really a remarkable story.

Agree completely.  That kid absolutely deserved to play at a higher level, which he did successfully.  Kudos to him for taking the chance.