MBB: NESCAC

JeffRookie2 · January 28, 2007, 05:31:28 PM

Quote from: CCsalive on January 26, 2007, 11:30:08 AM
The Camels host Tufts tonight and Bates tomorrow. For the record, the Camels played both teams tight last year on the road even leading Tufts by 5 at halftime. Conn has returned their core group and added potential ROY Shavar Bernier. That said, the backcourt of Washington, Karis, and Mosely which was serviceable last year, is not producing this year at all (Will Lyons moved from fwd to guard and is the Camels best backcourt threat shooting 47% from 3). Last year against these opponents Charles Stone posted back-to-back double doubles of 17pts and 11reb, 16pts and 11reb. This year, Stone has been up and down including 2 pts and 5 reb in a blow out loss to Bowdoin. He bounced back in CC's 3 pt loss to Colby with 11pts and 10 reb.
Conn did not play this week. After a weak of stewing and practice I expect Stone and the Camels to play well tonight and tomorrow against Tufts and Bates.

Did anyone else chuckle at this the first time they read it? I cant believe Conn beat Bates. I have no idea what the conference rankings should look like at this point. Is Bates still top 4?

I would say this is about right:

Amherst
Tufts (loses to Amherst and Bates, no BAD nescac loses yet)
Trinity (lost to Bowdoin)
Williams (look SO much better with a healthy Rose)
Bates (no idea what is going on in Lewiston)
Middlebury (no BAD loses either, only Williams, Amherst, Trinity. Maybe they belong ahead of Bates?)
Colby (wins over Conn, Wes and Bowdoin make them the most consistent of the bottom bunch)
Bowdoin (Nice win over Trinity, kept it close with Bates. Do have a loss to Wesleyan though)
Wesleyan (barely edged out Bowdoin and Conn. Took Bates to OT)
Conn (loses to Wesleyan, Colby and Bowdoin, but beat Bates)

Red1 · January 28, 2007, 05:33:22 PM

It was actually 69% that went in, but beyond that they were 61% from behind the arc. I mean c'mon what team can successfully defend a team that's shooting that hot regardless of fatigue level or the type of offense. Open or not 3's are low percentage shots and to be hitting 61% as a team is just rediculous. I submit that Conn would've beaten whoever was in the gym yesterday afternoon regardless of who it was (including Amherst) simply because they would've shot anybodies lights out with those kind of stats.

Cheers,
Red1

BooBallsCasRay · January 28, 2007, 09:10:42 PM

RED - I could have shot 69% if I was playing the School for the Blind too. Point is - people shoot 69% against you if you arent playing good defense. Peopple do not shot 69% against the Herst. Still top of the league in hockey and hoops.

holla atcha dunkarooski

whoarewebobcats · January 28, 2007, 09:29:51 PM

have to agree with boo, in part, red. Amherst wouldn't play bad enough defense to allow 69%, but obviously that kind of shooting does go beyond D and speaks to the whole team just being hot. Bates' entire backcourt is small and if they're not rotating well that gives way too many open (or less-contested) 3s than most teams would allow. Against some teams (Amherst, for one, and the Trinity game that I saw), even if Bates is rotating alright they still can't contest well enough. I think that sort of thing simply comes down to personnel; I'm not sure there's anything Reilly could do (the only major D shakeup you see teams do is implementing a zone, and most zones only allow for more open outside shots) to change it.

CCsalive · January 28, 2007, 10:37:31 PM

Jeffrookie- Thanks for the luv!

Jeff Young was indeed the X-factor for Conn on Saturday turning in his first strong performance of the season. He missed the first semester due to an unfortunate (some might say biased, unfair, anti-athlete) administrative decision last spring. His absence truly hampered CC's growth (3 wins last year and a conference tourney birth), but he arrived on Saturday (6 for 7, 4 for 5 from three, 16pts, in 24 minutes).

Jeffrookie- If you chuckled at my post last week, try this on for size...I believe CC can split this weekend at Amherst/Trinity and sweep the last weekend of the year vs. Midd and Williams in New London to earn a tourney birth.

CCsalive · January 28, 2007, 10:51:49 PM

Mike Hoyt of Mt St Mary College scored 59 points to upset SUNY-Farmingdale...that's a ton of pts

JeffRookie2 · January 29, 2007, 12:00:58 AM

Quote from: CCsalive on January 28, 2007, 10:37:31 PM
Jeffrookie- Thanks for the luv!

Jeff Young was indeed the X-factor for Conn on Saturday turning in his first strong performance of the season. He missed the first semester due to an unfortunate (some might say biased, unfair, anti-athlete) administrative decision last spring. His absence truly hampered CC's growth (3 wins last year and a conference tourney birth), but he arrived on Saturday (6 for 7, 4 for 5 from three, 16pts, in 24 minutes).

Jeffrookie- If you chuckled at my post last week, try this on for size...I believe CC can split this weekend at Amherst/Trinity and sweep the last weekend of the year vs. Midd and Williams in New London to earn a tourney birth.

My ranking of Conn in last place was just looking at common opponents and margins of victory, and I think my assessment was unbiased. ( I dont have any connection to anyone beyond Amherst). To me, it looks like Conn caught Bates on a bad weekend, after a tough OT game, in the second half of a road back-to-back. If the camels can split this weekend, that would be truly impressive. I'm looking forward to seeing them play. Stone had an off game against Amherst last year in the NESCAC tourny. I hope to see him on his A game.

nescac hoops · January 29, 2007, 11:40:32 AM

Quote from: hoopjunkie on January 28, 2007, 11:39:05 AM
I think Williams has to long of a way to go for Rose to be considered for anything , he has played well recently , we shall see after this week if he can maintain his good play .

chris rose's numbers so far in conference games....
(games)5-5 (minutes)33.0 (fg%) .421 (3pt. fg%) .432 (ft%) .941 (reb) 6.4 (assists/game) 2.0 (ppg) 19.8

yes, he needs to keep up these numbers, but they are pretty impressive. obviously, this didn't include the hamilton game this past week where he went for 22 pts. williams is currently 4th in the nescac standings and could legitimately stay there at the end of regular conference play if they are to beat bates or tufts this next weekend. considering some thought cohen should have been POY on a last place colby team, i think rose's numbers and williams relative success warrants him at least 2nd team honors....so far.

hoopjunkie · January 29, 2007, 11:53:24 AM

nescac hoops - good post on Rose . They are imressive numbers lately .
2nd team all - Nescac maybe . No question Rose is a very good player ,
but for forwards all Nescac I`m thinking - Stockwell , Weitzen , Wheeler,
Kelly(more of a center) , Martin . I guess Rose fits in with the group .
Brian Bauskacus of Amherst is considered a guard . He is a very good
shooter .
I just remembered Stone of Conn college is very strong as well .

nescac hoops · January 29, 2007, 12:10:05 PM

hoopjunkie,
i think it was formerbant who pointed this out earlier and was something that i hadn't realized, but all conference selections are not position based. in other words, the coaches do not vote for 2 guards, 2 forwards, and 1 center - they vote for their 5 (or maybe 10) best players, regardless of their positions. some years it's 4 forwards and one point guard or four guards and 1 forward, etc. in other words, rose will not be "penalized" b/c there are other very good players in the NESCAC that play his position. hopefully he can keep it up.

walzy31 · January 29, 2007, 01:20:10 PM

Chris Rose is balling. Worthy of 2nd team nod.
Olson for POTY.
Conn College with a big win but let's not get carried away...splitting the Amherst/Trinity weekend on the road?? Which half are you going to split with? Conn drops both games by double digits.

PREDICTION:

Amherst: 88
Rhode Island College: 67

Wheeler/Baskauskus too much for RIC.

whoarewebobcats · January 29, 2007, 01:53:14 PM

If CC even stays with Trin. or Amherst, then we should start considering them a pretty serious team, at least mid-level. But they won't--Trinity's wing defense is better than Bates' and they are strong all around, and Amherst will beat them by 20+ without breaking a sweat. I'm not taking anything away from CC's showing thus far, obviously the win over Bates is impressive and their other strong showings are admirable, but let's not get carried away. If they prove me wrong though, they're immediately a middle-of-the-pack NESCAC team to me.

MeOak21 · January 29, 2007, 02:02:54 PM

Quote from: walzy31 on January 29, 2007, 01:20:10 PM

PREDICTION:

Amherst: 88
Rhode Island College: 67

Wheeler/Baskauskus too much for RIC.

Just wondering- Have you seen RIC play?? I have yet to see Amherst play this year and I understand they are a great squad but their schedule has been a bit weak. The only team Amherst and RIC have both played is Tufts (and trust me, I'm not reading into it too greatly) but RIC handled Tufts 95-84 and Amherst snuck by in OT 96-92.
For the LEC's sake I hope RIC can do a little better than 88-67 and I believe they got a legitimate chance to give the Jeffs a game.

RIC has a good 3pt shooting team and they have a very athletic group capable of effectively defending a variety of positions. I think this matchup could make for a very interesting game.

Any thoughts on the KSC-Williams matchup??

My prediction:

KSC- 89
Williams- 70

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · January 29, 2007, 02:12:05 PM

21 points seems a little much to me. I think Amherst is enough to keep it at double digits, but if they are going to drop a game the rest of the way, this might be the one. (My logic being, they'll be ready for the season ending tilt at Trinity, but there might be some temptation to overlook this really talented RIC squad).

The Historian · January 29, 2007, 03:21:20 PM

Walzy, being an Amherst fan aside, I'm certainly not going to question your prediction.

As we've seen time and time again, comparing the outcomes from shared opponents has little, if any, predictive value...lately, at least.

Plus, RIC played Tufts over two months ago.

Can't wait for tomorrow's rankings.