MBB: NESCAC

Conts Fan · February 26, 2018, 06:06:13 PM

Not a terrible draw for Williams...no chance of facing a current top 25 team until the Elite 8 at the earliest.

Cards Fan · February 26, 2018, 06:28:18 PM

I know that no one is to be taken for granted in tournament play, but nonetheless I am extremely happy with Wesleyan's first round game. Southern Vermont doesn't appear to be the team to take Wes out, but then again neither did Union last year. At a quick glance of their schedule, they are beating teams Wesleyan beat substantially by very thin margins. But, everyone is 0-0 in the playoffs.

A quick glance at the roster.. exactly like Wesleyan. Only 10 players listed, and 7 average double figures. 3 do not play. Not a deep team. Also, Wesleyan has the height advantage in this one. While Wesleyan has only one player on the roster under 6'4, Southern Vermont actually only has 2 players above it, listed as 6'5 and 6'6. Not to prejudge things here, but Nathan Krill, JR Bascom, and David Dixon will go to work come gametime.

Nescac1, to reply to an earlier point, it was very interesting to see the big men get up and run every time the other went in the game. Karpowicz on Dixon was a bucket every time, and it was great coaching by Joe Reilly to pull him when Karp went in the game. Alternatively, realizing what Reilly was doing was great coaching by App.

Cards Fan · February 26, 2018, 06:39:07 PM

Some more points..

With a win, Wesleyan plays either Swarthmore or New England college. Doing a little research, it appears New England college would be a dream matchup, as they are just 6-5 on the road with a poor SoS. If you can believe it, they actually have less height than Southern Vermont! Just one player tops 6'4, and multiple players sit under 6'.

If any Middlebury fans would like to help out some fellow NESCAC fans and give us the scouting report on Swarthmore, that would be appreciated. They appear to be a very solid team, as they have beaten multiple ranked teams both at home and on the road. This could be a tough matchup for Wes if both teams get here, as any game against a top 15 ranked opponent is.

Bucket · February 26, 2018, 07:42:11 PM

Quote from: Cards Fan on February 26, 2018, 06:39:07 PM
Some more points..

With a win, Wesleyan plays either Swarthmore or New England college. Doing a little research, it appears New England college would be a dream matchup, as they are just 6-5 on the road with a poor SoS. If you can believe it, they actually have less height than Southern Vermont! Just one player tops 6'4, and multiple players sit under 6'.

If any Middlebury fans would like to help out some fellow NESCAC fans and give us the scouting report on Swarthmore, that would be appreciated. They appear to be a very solid team, as they have beaten multiple ranked teams both at home and on the road. This could be a tough matchup for Wes if both teams get here, as any game against a top 15 ranked opponent is.

Swarthmore was very good the night we saw them in Pepin—handing Midd its only home loss of the year, and quite handedly at that.

They have an All-American caliber guard in Cam Wiley, who is lightening quick and can both take it to the rim and pull up and knock down mid-range shots, in equal measure. If he's not the best guard we've seen this year, he's certainly in the conversation.

They also have a couple of bigs—6'7" Zac Odel and 6'8" Robbie Walsh—who are a presence. Odel, in particular, gave us fits (19 and 14)

And then 6'6" Nate Schafer is very good on the defensive end. He did his best Jordan Sears impression with 5 blocks, really limiting good looks inside. I also got the sense that he was their third main scoring option.

A Wes-Swarthmore match-up would be worth the price of admission for any hoop fan.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 26, 2018, 08:31:14 PM

I'd be more worried that Southern Vermont's fast-paced style will tire Wesleyan out for Swarthmore the next night. Swarthmore is a tough matchup anyway.

JEFFFAN · February 26, 2018, 09:10:50 PM

Quote from: Bucket on February 26, 2018, 03:45:09 PM
Wow. Anyone else surprised that Amherst didn't even come close to getting to the table?

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d3/regional-rankings-0

They dropped to 10th in the NE, so that means that Keene was at the table at the end, and there was still another team—Salem State—between Keene and Amherst.

That makes me think that Amherst needed the Pool A. It appears they would have been left out even with a win over Wesleyan.

Amherst fans can be disappointed but certainly not surprised by not making the tournament. Too many early season losses as the team tried to find the right rotation with so many youngsters in the lineup. Loved the way they played in the second half of the season to get a regular season title tie, but gotta count them all. Any of us who would complain about the lack of foul call and the last second hail Mary need to remember Willy Workman vs Middlebury on the free throw line. Goes both ways and Amherst has won more than its share of close games over the years.

Incredible thanks to McCarthy and Riopel for terrific careers. True warriors. Their best work might have been this season as they figured out their roles while meshing with multiple freshmen.

jumpshot · February 26, 2018, 09:40:00 PM

No way amHerst was getting in——7 of 17 wins were from out-of-conference with 6 of the 7 consisting of scrimmages. Weak SOS has been a tactic for decades....

JEFFFAN · February 26, 2018, 10:23:02 PM

Quote from: jumpshot on February 26, 2018, 09:40:00 PM
No way amHerst was getting in——7 of 17 wins were from out-of-conference with 6 of the 7 consisting of scrimmages. Weak SOS has been a tactic for decades....

Which program or programs utilize that tactic?

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · February 26, 2018, 10:31:10 PM

Quote from: jumpshot on February 26, 2018, 09:40:00 PM
No way amHerst was getting in——7 of 17 wins were from out-of-conference with 6 of the 7 consisting of scrimmages. Weak SOS has been a tactic for decades....

Um... they didn't have a weak SOS. That isn't accurate, actually.

jumpshot · February 27, 2018, 08:16:06 AM

Dave,

Let me clarify my point: the former lord jeffs won 6 or over a third of their 17 wins ("scrimmages") against out-of-conference teams, none of which had a winning record for the season, and a combined record of only 59 wins and 96 losses, a 38% winning record, thereby losing 2 of every 3 games they played.

These facts simply show the impact on amHerst's record from this scheduling, and to what my loose use of the term SOS refers. Overall SOS is, as you well know, enhanced simply by being a member of NESCAC.

nescac1 · February 27, 2018, 09:30:50 AM

Hell of a week for the Williams entering hoops class of 2017. Mike Greenman named NESCAC player of the week after his highly improbable heroics, and Duncan Robinson named Big 10 Sixth Man of the Year. Congrats!

toad22 · February 27, 2018, 12:35:43 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on February 27, 2018, 09:30:50 AM
Hell of a week for the Williams entering hoops class of 2017. Mike Greenman named NESCAC player of the week after his highly improbable heroics, and Duncan Robinson named Big 10 Sixth Man of the Year. Congrats!

Wow, not that Duncan needed any further validation of his move to Michigan, but winning the 6th man award for the B10 is quite an honor. Winning the sportsmanship award doesn't surprise me at all. Very happy for him. Likewise, Mike Greenman deserves an accolade for his play this weekend. He worked very hard in rehab to get ready to play. With our two normal high scorers off a bit, the Ephs really needed an offensive boost, and Greenman gave it to them.

nescac1 · February 28, 2018, 12:34:59 PM

All league picks released: http://www.nescac.com/sports/mbkb/2017-18/honors/allconference

The coaches had Reynolds and Hoffmann, while I had Gendron and Krill, on the second team. Those last few spots were a pretty big toss-up, and those two guys were surely worthy, but I am surprised to see Krill edged out.

Congrats to all! For James Heskett, to go from a seventh man to POY in one year is a testament to his tremendous hard work and the massive growth of his game.

AO · February 28, 2018, 04:45:22 PM

I suspect Amherst might not have been given full credit for their higher SoS. The committee understands that the NESCAC SoS is inflated due to how few conference games the NESCAC plays. I ran the numbers for Middlebury over on the Pool C board.

The way the SoS works now, the NESCAC would be penalized by moving to a double round-robin, even though that would make most of your schedules tougher in reality. Until they come up with better criteria you're going to be left guessing as to how each committee will treat the NESCAC numbers.

Conts Fan · February 28, 2018, 04:51:50 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on February 28, 2018, 12:34:59 PM
All league picks released: http://www.nescac.com/sports/mbkb/2017-18/honors/allconference

The coaches had Reynolds and Hoffmann, while I had Gendron and Krill, on the second team. Those last few spots were a pretty big toss-up, and those two guys were surely worthy, but I am surprised to see Krill edged out.

Congrats to all! For James Heskett, to go from a seventh man to POY in one year is a testament to his tremendous hard work and the massive growth of his game.

Really shows how wide of a net NESCAC schools can cast for recruiting when only one player out of ten all-league selections comes from New England.