MBB: NESCAC

[MiddWatcher]

Amh63: Old Guy one of the All Time Greats. No matter which NESCAC " coast " he is on.

[lumbercat]

Yes Old Guy comes from a Bates family- His father played Football at Bates on their great teams in the late 1930's- believe Old Guy Sr. was on the Bates team that held 2nd ranked nationally Yale to a scoreless tie before 68,000 fans in the 30's in the Yale Bowl. One of the finest hours in Bates Football history.

His dad was one of the most influential people in the lives of countless Bates students and athletes.....including me--I'll never forget him.
He understood the role of athletics but made sure we maintained the balance between Football and academics. He was not directly involved in sports at Bates but ironically has arguably been among the most influential and supportive people in the history of Bates Athletics.

Forgot I'm on the basketball board....the Bobcats showed some flashes tonight against Babson but need to get back injured Coyne who will give them some badly needed shooting prowess and their other big man, 6'8" Paplani who will take some heat off Lynch. Coach Furbush will be able to give Lynch and Spellman a breather when they are back....both Bobcat leaders tired down the stretch and the Beavers were able to pull away at the end.

[jumpshot]

The EPHs next two games Fitchburg State and Wesleyan could prove difficult match-ups. Both are capable of up-tempo pace, quick guards who get to the rim off the dribble, feature all-hands on board rebounding, disruptive individual defending with quick hands and feet, with a few threes thrown into the mix, and athletic squads.

The EPHs will need to limit turnovers, stay out of foul trouble, defend well as a team, focus on rebounding, and shoot well. Simple enough, right?

Two road games that will take lots of energy and focus in order to be successful.

[Old Guy]

Amh63: Old Guy one of the All Time Greats. No matter which NESCAC " coast " he is on.

A Legend in his Own Mind, a sub on teams that won very few games: enormously grateful for the experience.

[Old Guy]

Yes Old Guy comes from a Bates family- His father played Football at Bates on their great teams in the late 1930's- believe Old Guy Sr. was on the Bates team that held 2nd ranked nationally Yale to a scoreless tie before 68,000 fans in the 30's in the Yale Bowl. One of the finest hours in Bates Football history.

His dad was one of the most influential people in the lives of countless Bates students and athletes.....including me--I'll never forget him.
He understood the role of athletics but made sure we maintained the balance between Football and academics. He was not directly involved in sports at Bates but ironically has arguably been among the most influential and supportive people in the history of Bates Athletics.

Forgot I'm on the basketball board....the Bobcats showed some flashes tonight against Babson but need to get back injured Coyne who will give them some badly needed shooting prowess and their other big man, 6'8" Paplani who will take some heat off Lynch. Coach Furbush will be able to give Lynch and Spellman a breather when they are back....both Bobcat leaders tired down the stretch and the Beavers were able to pull away at the end.

My dad's best friend in life was the football coach at Bates for many years and then the AD, Bob Hatch. The Dean of Admissions was best friends with the football coach, a relationship coaches would die for today — how come they didn't win more games!

[Old Guy]

In more important Lord Jeff hoops matters ...

https://nypost.com/2018/11/27/cult-classic-the-white-shadow-still-resonates-40-years-later/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow

Thanks for posting this - +k!  Count me among White Shadow devotees!

Wonderful article, comprehensive. Concur — thanks for posting, Jefffan. I too loved the show. I was playing at Midd when Howard was at Amherst. I believe we had a short but lively discussion about Howard on this board a few years ago, but I can't find those posts. Might have been off-line.

I looked up those Midd-Amherst games in the scorebooks from that era in the Library Archives — I'll do it again tomorrow and report (briefly! I promise). I remember Howard well. I guarded him, giving him 4-5 inches. He was a real player, a good player, not a great one a shooter despite his size. Would have been a very valuable player these days with the 3-point goal. Amherst did not have a great team — in fact, one of the two games we played against Ken Howard's Lord Jeff's teams, we (Midd) actually won. That's evidence of their mediocrity. Their best player was a big guy, not as tall as Howard, named Schwartz, I believe. He was tough.

What an outstanding acting career Ken Howard had! Amherst is duly proud. His NY/Jersey accent served him well in the White Shadow. (His Boston accent in Crossing Jordan, on the other hand, was painful!)

[P'bearfan]

Looking forward to tonight's Bowdoin - Colby match up.  Both teams have shown the ability to rack up points so it could be fun to watch.  It may also be the best gauge yet of how good the Polar Bears will be this year.

[P'bearfan]

Early season NESCAC ROY watch:

Tufts' Carson Cohen is the early leader ... 16.3/3/5.3 plus 1.3 spg vs. a pretty tough early schedule.  Currently leading NESCAC in mpg!

Alex Sobel is the number two early contender with strong numbers across the board in limited minutes: 10-7.5-.5, plus 2.5 bpg.  83 percent fg %!  If he starts to earn more time he could easily vault into the top spot. 

Other contenders: Tyler Aronson, Tufts (10/5/1.8), Noah Tyson, Colby (10.8/6.6/2.4), Andrew Snoddy, Bates (10.5/5.3/2.0 plus 1.8 spg) all seem very closely grouped.   Those five guys seem like they are making the most significant contributions of the frosh class to date. 

Guys to watch if they can ever earn significant minutes on very deep teams: Jovan Jones and Spencer Spivy, Williams (both of whom I believe would already be significant rotation players elsewhere), and Devonn Allen and Will Phelan, Amherst.

I would add Bowdoin's Taiga Kagitomi to this group.  Good size and mobility and he can score.  Bowdoin isn't super deep this year so hopefully he'll get on the floor enough to shine.

[nescac1]

Will keep on eye out for Kagitomi P'bear, thanks!

Jumpshot, I'd be pretty discouraged if tonight's game was challenging for Williams, even on the road.  Fitchburg did play Nichols close, probably their best result, but then again, lost by 15 to a UNE team that's gotten destroyed by the lower tier of NESCAC squads.  Wesleyan of course is a very different story.   The Cards bounced back last night with a very strong road win against a solid opponent, behind great shooting nights from the Cards' big three scorers (Hutcherson, Bonner, and Walker).  Wesleyan will probably need at least two and perhaps all three of those guys to remain hot vs. Williams, but all three are capable of getting it going on any given night and Williams has had trouble at times early this year sticking with very good distance shooters.  I'm surprised that even with Bascom, Jordan James, Dixon and big frosh DeLollo, Wesleyan has gotten so little interior production this season.  That is clearly an area the Cards will need to improve upon, although against Williams' fleet of big guys, they will most likely need to score from the outside to win. 

I gotta say, Amherst has been absolutely killing it in the early going this season.  Against weak opponents, yes, but still, the overall production and tremendous balance of the team is impressive.  Amherst has a lot of guys who seem much improved which is no surprise given that last year's team relied heavily on underclassmen, and also that Amherst had a foreign trip this summer to give returning guys a chance to grow further as players.  Amherst may not have an all-league guy on the roster (although Grant Robinson will be eventually, and possibly as early as this season), but there seems to be almost no drop-off between guys 1-10 and the team can play with a lot of different looks, multiple bigs, multiple points guards, etc. etc., which is challenging to prepare for.  Amherst's next two games vs. NEWMAC teams Emerson and Babson will be telling -- if they win both going away, Amherst is VERY much for real this season. 

Speaking of Amherst, here is a tough question: which trio of sophomore guards would you rather have for the next three years, Robinson/Day/McCarthy or Midd's group of Farrell/Kornaker/Bosco?  Seems like a toss-up, and both teams have to feel really good about their long-term future accordingly.  Amherst seems to have added two solid frosh guards to the mix this year as well, so the Mammoths look pretty set on the perimeter for the next few years. 

[amh63]

Nescac1....was following Wes' play last night as well as Amherst's.  Had some problems with the video in the Amherst game so my primary focus was the Cardinal game.  I believe the Wes team is getting their game in order...mixing and matching players...and will be a difficult opponent ahead.  Amherst is also mixing and matching players and seems to be mixing defensive schemes as well.  Day was again shooting the lights out and will be hard to keep him on the bench.  The younger McCarthy is still not up to speed.  Believe Nixon will use these early games to determine where McCarthy fits into the rotation.  Amherst's is blessed with speed and quick players....thus the evaluation of defensive schemes...against a conference full of fine outside shooters.  My opinion to date. ...The three ball offense is here to stay in this generation of young players. Player's time on the floor will also be determined by his defensive play on a Hixon team,imho.
Amherst's season appears promising .

[amh63]

Old Guy....do not know much about Ken Howard's varsity playing days.  Do know that the years before, many of the taller players and even some varsity players preferred to play in the Frat league. If you did not letter, a player could join the Frat league.  The DU Frat....Hixon's House...would at times scrimmage the Amherst varsity to tune up for NE fraternity play.  My Frat had the 6' 9" freshman center, the capt. of his Andover prep school team  and a varsity guard on the team.  Lost to the DU team in a title game...DU. was the Animal House in my years as it was always on one probation  or other .  Oh yes, the 6'10" fresh center in the '64 class was almost recruited for my frat's team.  He went to play for Chi Phi.  In short, the Amherst MBB team was not imposing in my years but may have been better in Ken's days.
I'm sure you are being modest again wrt your BB ability.

[amh63]

Yes, another post.  Stayed up to watch so mid west teams play...the no.4 vs the no. 5 presently  ranked teams.  Good crowd and tight game...went into OT.  The game seemed slower in pace, IMO, to Nescac games.  Maybe the teams' play was in part due to each other's high rankings.  See that another top 25 team team lost handily to an unranked team.  It's still early in the season. 
Need to watch those mid west powers more BUT the Nescac teams' higher pace style should be effective against present ranked out of region teams.

[nescac1]

amh63, I think generally (with of course some exceptions like some of the really good Augustanta and Whitewater teams) that the top NESCAC teams tend to be quicker and more athletic overall than the top WIAC / CCIW teams.  But that doesn't mean the NESCAC teams should necessarily be favored.  Many of the really good midwest teams compensate for lack of high-level athleticism with unbelievable discipline on both ends (some of the really good Stevens Point teams, while not looking overwhelming on the initial eye test, basically never made a mistake on defense and played ridiculously precise offense with very few turnovers), tremendous shooting, and physical toughness / general burliness. 

[Vandy74]

Yes, another post.  Stayed up to watch so mid west teams play...the no.4 vs the no. 5 presently  ranked teams.  Good crowd and tight game...went into OT.  The game seemed slower in pace, IMO, to Nescac games.  Maybe the teams' play was in part due to each other's high rankings.  See that another top 25 team team lost handily to an unranked team.  It's still early in the season. 
Need to watch those mid west powers more BUT the Nescac teams' higher pace style should be effective against present ranked out of region teams.

amh63

I watched that one too.   Augustana beat UW-Stevens Point 86-84 OT.  I don't think Augie led before the overtime period.  Nolan Ebel put his team up by two with less than two seconds remaining and stole the inbound pass to ice it.  Great game.  I've been watching quite of bit of CCIW ball over the last few seasons.  Wheaton's Aston Francis puts on a quite a show although Chicago humbled the Thunder tonight. I agree completely with Nescac1 assessment of WIAC/CCIW play.  They don't beat themselves.   

[Vandy74]

DU. was the Animal House in my years as it was always on one probation  or other .
 

I expect the Animal House reputation continued for a few more years.  My late brother Brian '78 was a DU and kept a live chicken as a pet his senior year.