MBB: NESCAC

[Colby Hoops]

NEhoops -- definitely agree that Colby should be a top 4 team in the league, and if all breaks right maybe top 1 or 2. Still, there's a little part of me that has to see it to believe it.

I agree with lumbercat that Stephon Baxter looks like a real player. Have been very impressed by him. I think he'll be poised to take over a huge scoring role next year when Spellman graduates. Bates is kind of a weird team right now, with a lot of smallish guards who can't all share the floor together. I'm surprised Coyne isn't getting more minutes, he's a dynamic shooter that really changes the game when he's in. But between Spellman, Greenhalgh, Coyne and Baxter you can only play so many smallish guards at once.

Discouraging loss for Bowdoin, I thought they'd maybe turned a corner with the competitive game against Babson. To lose this one at home in not very competitive fashion doesn't bode well. Outside of Reynolds, there just aren't a lot of guys comfortable creating offense.

SpringSt7 -- I think you might be a little low on Trinity in the ranges you mention below. Yes, they have 4 losses, but they have all been close games that could go either way against very good teams. (St. Joe's is maybe only decent). They were just a possession or two away from beating UMass Darmouth, Nichols and Springfield. Win a couple of those and they'd have a much different resume. I'd probably have them and Williams in the same tier after the top 5 teams.

[nescac1]

Right now the NEWMAC big three (Springfield, Babson, and WPI) are 5-0 against five different NESCAC squads.  It would probably be a very good thing for NESCAC if Williams, Amherst, and (likely) Tufts could inflict some damage on those squads over the next week ... given that the bottom of NEWMAC looks pretty weak, I think all three of those squads are going to lose very few games going forward, other than when they match up against each other.   I don't see a likely Pool C in the rest of New England right now, so surely NEWMAC's 2nd and 3rd place teams will be fighting with NESCAC's 2nd through 4th place squads for Pool C's way down the line. 

[NEhoops]

Agreed that the top six teams in the region when it's all said and done will most likely come from the NESCAC and NEWMAC. But as nescac1 mentioned, the NEWMAC already has a leg up in securing some strong non-conference wins.

The top team in the LEC could be in the mix and I think we should keep an eye on Brandeis (UAA). They currently sit at 5-2 and already have wins over Emerson (who could build a decent resume with some success in NEWMAC play) as well as RIC and UMass-Dartmouth, arguably the two best teams in the LEC. They will also play Tufts, (maybe) Babson, Bates and Bowdoin, to go along with an always strong league schedule.   

[80sCat]

NEhoops -- definitely agree that Colby should be a top 4 team in the league, and if all breaks right maybe top 1 or 2. Still, there's a little part of me that has to see it to believe it.

I agree with lumbercat that Stephon Baxter looks like a real player. Have been very impressed by him. I think he'll be poised to take over a huge scoring role next year when Spellman graduates. Bates is kind of a weird team right now, with a lot of smallish guards who can't all share the floor together. I'm surprised Coyne isn't getting more minutes, he's a dynamic shooter that really changes the game when he's in. But between Spellman, Greenhalgh, Coyne and Baxter you can only play so many smallish guards at once.

Discouraging loss for Bowdoin, I thought they'd maybe turned a corner with the competitive game against Babson. To lose this one at home in not very competitive fashion doesn't bode well. Outside of Reynolds, there just aren't a lot of guys comfortable creating offense.

SpringSt7 -- I think you might be a little low on Trinity in the ranges you mention below. Yes, they have 4 losses, but they have all been close games that could go either way against very good teams. (St. Joe's is maybe only decent). They were just a possession or two away from beating UMass Darmouth, Nichols and Springfield. Win a couple of those and they'd have a much different resume. I'd probably have them and Williams in the same tier after the top 5 teams.

Agree on Baxter.  Having watched Coyne's shot per minute ratio over the past 3+ years he's more of a sink or swim player.  I expect his minutes to drop relative to the other guards you've mentioned, especially to Baxter.  If Coyne gets hot ride him, if not get him out. 

Snoddy needs to give them some paint points.  The freshmen bigs are holding their own and making an impact defensively but are not reliable low post scorers.  Snoddy needs to bring this for Bates to maintain some consistency.

[nescac1]

Midd escapes going to OT on a pretty questionable call in my view.  An off-ball aggressive box out (nothing that looked unusual to me) as time expired called as a foul on NEC.  I imagine the NEC coach is not thrilled with that one. Sobel saves the day on both ends for Midd, massive down the stretch. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Midd escapes going to OT on a pretty questionable call in my view.  An off-ball aggressive box out (nothing that looked unusual to me) as time expired called as a foul on NEC.  I imagine the NEC coach is not thrilled with that one. Sobel saves the day on both ends for Midd, massive down the stretch.

Pat did some rewinding.  The foul happened before the buzzer and the whistle blew at the same time.  They're justified in doing what they did, although I don't think it was the right call.  You send that to OT, every time.  NEC was really impressive.  I knew they were good, but they looked much better than I thought.

[nescac1]

I didn't mean to suggest the foul occurred after the buzzer.  Rather, I agree with you that you swallow the whistle in that situation if it's a borderline (at best) foul 20 feet from the play, and send it to OT.

[SpringSt7]

NEC has beaten WPI and has now taken Nichols and Middlebury to the wire. Factor in that they play a unique style that is not easy to prepare for, this result does not belong with the Johnson St.'s or Wentworth's in the category of bad wins for the Panthers.

[nescac1]

NEC is indeed legit.  Makes Colby's performance vs them all the more impressive ...

[Old Guy]

I thought that he call at the end of the game marred a terrific, exciting, game, played with great intensity at a breakneck speed. Got a phone call, however, from a generally fair-minded insider who has watched the game film and said the call was justified, an obvious foul, a take-down of Sobel. Stupid foul. Most refs do swallow the whistle at that point, true enough, but it was not an unjustified call, if indeed one that is rarely made.

New England College is good! Calvin Cheek (19 pts on 8-14 shooting, 7 rebounds - he's 5'10", and 4 steals) is lightning quick; Izaiah Winston-Brooks can really score, at the hoop or from outside (24 points: 8-13 FG, 3-5 3PT, 5-5 FT). As a team, NEC is relentless. They picked up Midd full-court man-to-man the whole game, forced 20 Middlebury turnovers, constantly attacking. They'll have a lot of wins when it's all said and done. They're 4-4 now with a win in Worcester against 8-1 WPI, and a narrow 107-104 loss to 6-0 Nichols.

Middlebury played very well. NEC shot 47.1% for the game; Midd shot 50.8%. The premier etoile goes to Sobel, who had by far his best game as a Panther. Against Endicott, he only played 11 minutes (4 pts). Today, he had 24 points on 8-8 shooting (school record - highest FG% in a game), 8-10 from the line, 10 rebounds, in 25 minutes. He showed a very soft touch around the hoop, right and left hand. He made a big steal at midcourt with 11 seconds left.

Farrell (19 points) had some electric dashes to the hoop and Bosco (22) was very creative going to the basket with a variety of floaters and pull-up jumpers in the lane. Delorenzo had a couple of big threes in the first half to keep us in the game when it looked like NEC might run out to a big lead.

5:00 pm game in a snowstorm and we still had a nice crowd who were treated to a fabulous game. I never imagined Middlebury would become a basketball town.

[Old Guy]

Meant to ask, how did NEC lose to Colby by 37! Scary.

[MiddWatcher]

Meant to ask, how did NEC lose to Colby by 37! Scary.

Nice wrap, Old Guy ! As always. Easy answer .... Colby assisted on 20 of 36 makes.  A year ago, in a 97-68 Midd win in Henniker, the Panthers assisted on 20 of 34 makes. ( 59 % ).  Tonight, Midd assisted on 13 of 33 makes ( 39 % - second lowest in over 40 games )  A lot of bouncing of the ball, not much quality passing for hoops.  And little perimeter spacing.  Colby spaces ! - extremely well.  IMO, there was not a lot of " trust " in ball movement to expose the NEC defense. And the bounce can be stolen.
NEC " cats " the ball a lot; and very well with outstanding technique, IMO.  ( yes, there is technique in what some refer to as " playground " ball ).  A year ago, Leighton ( 3-3 ), DeLorenzo ( 1-1 ) and Folger ( 6 - 8 ) combined to go 10-12 on threes.  Tonight, Folger was only at half speed ( 1 for 6 ), DeLo ( 2 for 5 ) and Leighton - well, he's hurt.  And Kornaker did not play. ( injured ).  Cahill and Eastman were non-factors.  In short, it was a remarkable effort to overcome some serious injury-affectors; several great offensive efforts by Sobel, Bosco and Farrell - and an excellent defensive effort by DeLorenzo, who was 12 of 13 on critical defensive plays ..... including holding Winston-Brooks to 3 points in his time guarding him. ( he went for 21 vs. other Midd defenders ).  That's about what I saw. And, agreed, the call at the end brings up the age - old question of when does the clock influence a call by an official ?  It was a foul at any other time on the clock .... but did it really need to be called when Sobel had no chance to grab the ball and score ?  Don't know. Tough call.

[Colby Hoops]

Meant to ask, how did NEC lose to Colby by 37! Scary.

The NEC team that played Colby didn't look like the one against Midd. Colby blitzed them early with a barrage of threes and NEC didn't show much fight after that. Wouldn't put too much stock in the huge score discrepancies.

I thought a key part to last night's game was Midd's run at the end of the first half (11-0 I think), that was capped by a deep Max Bosco three. Changed the game in a big way for the Panthers.

[Canvas Hightops]

A note to anyone playing NEC.
Don't dribble the ball too much.  They WILL take it away from you.
And then they're gone.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

A note to anyone playing NEC.
Don't dribble the ball too much.  They WILL take it away from you.
And then they're gone.

Calvin Cheek is on pace to be the all time steals leader in D3hoops history, which is a record I thought pretty darn safe (it's like 511 or something insane like that).