MBB: NESCAC

[maineman]

No idea where to start discussing the Midd-Trinity game. Exhausting is the right word. A friend texted at the end of the game that he had "never seen a team win a game it tried so hard to lose." Midd was up by four in regulation with 20 seconds to go, when Dorion (he's really good, a frosh) scored on a drive and was fouled; Brennan for Midd was called for a foul in the rebounding action to give Trin a chance to tie, which they did, 57-57.

Trinity games are such slogs. They play very tough D, "tough" being the operative word. Midd shot 47 foul shots, missed seventeen of them. Both teams had poor shooting percentages, overall and from three, but everything was contested. Sobel had no fouls in the first half, five in the second, fouling out with 1:30 left, a bad call, on a beautiful blocked shot which he recovered himself. Yes, I am three miles away watching on TV, but Bucket was there, and he confirmed that it was a bad call and together clearly we are objective and non-partisan. Sobel missed a number of bunnies, especially in the first half, but was heroic in the paint, blocking seven shots and discouraging many others. Winning without him in the OTs was unexpected and satisfying indeed. Osher played 49 minutes and ended with 26 points; Edwards had 25 in 52 minutes; Brennan had 9 points and 11 rebounds in 44 minutes. Playing a fresh CC team, who has wins over Bowdoin, Colby, and Trinity will be a challenge today. Game is on, at this point (maybe CC came in yesterday).

It is okay to win ugly.  The key thing is to get the W which Midd needed to keep themselves in Pool C consideration.  You are right that it seemed like Midd kept finding ways not to win.  When it reached the 3rd OT I figured they would win because while Sobel wasn't around, so was the case for 4 players from Trinity.  I figured if Brennan, Bobbett and Osher were still around at the end of the OT, with 4 fouls on them, that Midd would prevail.  The Panthers have to shoot much better today, especially at the free throw line and cut down on turnovers if they hope to win it.  They have to be gassed after last night.

[Old Guy]

A friend texted at the end of the game that he had "never seen a team win a game it tried so hard to lose."

Just want to be clear that that friend wasn't me!

Being in the gym, I saw nothing but heart and guts from the Panthers. Are you kidding me? Tried so hard to lose? What a dumb thing to say . . .

Also, Dorian is a sophomore. And he's great.

I write with contrition. Didn't mean to suggest they "tried" to lose. The Panthers' resilience was enormous. They did seem to have the game in hand on occasion and weren't able to close it out. I am as impressed with this team and its consistent effort as any Middlebury team I've seen.

Now, on to the Camels!

[maineman]

The Panthers looked vulnerable at times today, especially when Conn had the points in the paint game going (42 pts) and Midd was struggling against their zone.  But blocks and layups by Sobel gave them some consistency and 3pt shooting by Osher and Stevens late resulted in a  comfortable lead.  Midd's shooting was much improved over the Trinity game including free throws which were over 80%.  Sobel got his 4th foul with about 6 minutes to go, but the Panthers increased their lead and played well with Zodda replacing him.  That's two games in a row that Midd has finished games strong without him.  Next Saturday's game at home against Wesleyan looms large.

[middhoops]

Osher (28) and Stevens (20) continue to provide scoring, even with dead legs.  With no real bench scoring, they are met every game with a defense expecting them to bomb away.  Today they prevailed.

Conn College has some very good young players getting experience in a year when many teams have 22 year old starters.  One more recruiting class like the last one and they're going to change the dynamic of the conference for the first time in a long while.  That's a good thing for everyone.

[nescac1]

D3 hoops powers-that-be, how much will it impact Williams' potential Pool C chances if they are unable to make up, as now seems more and more likely, the four non-league games they had to cancel due to (presumably but almost certainly) COVID?  If the Ephs end up with something like, say, an 18-4 record, will that be seen as worse than, say, a 20-5 record?  The Ephs when they play Wesleyan will come off a two-week layoff from games and who knows how much of one from practice, far from ideal, and then they have to somehow squeeze Conn and Trinity into the last week of the regular season.  Just that kind of year!

On another note, another crazy box score for Amherst today, with 13 guys playing at least five minutes (the box score is not currently up so I'm going off memory here) as they squeak out a win over a far less talented opponent.  What's also interesting is that with so many big men on the roster, Sears seems to, after going with a twin towers look just a few weeks ago, now be playing small in crunch time, with (until this week) little-used 6'5 Oranye at center ... and he's clearly been playing well!  Meanwhile Schretter, Scherer, Vance and Schlackman seem to be getting fewer and fewer collective minutes as Amherst plays smaller lineups.  Just a bizarre year at Amherst with 14 guys (counting currently-injured Reynolds) still in the rotation mix 2/3 of the way into the season and radically different looks often within the same game.  Scherer, who gave Williams and Midd a ton of issues inside, now barely seems to be playing at all.  Having beaten both Wesleyan and Williams, Amherst has shown it can hang with anyone on any given day, there is no shortage of talent on that team and having three fifth-year seniors starting on the perimeter is a big advantage.  But it just seems weird to me to be putting different combinations of guys into the game almost at random, seemingly. 

Midd's big three continues to really impress.  Could they be the first team since (I believe) Williams 2010 with three all-league guys?  The first since I-don't-even-know-when with a first team all league guy who is a frosh?  Both of those are certainly on the table now, especially as some stars around the league are struggling and/or missing games ... I

[Colby Hoops]

Going to be a wild two weeks to finish here. Lot to sort out at the bottom of the league as well. Colby has quietly strung together it's best three games of the season, easily beating Husson, Bowdoin and Bates -- all without Will King. The shooting has been much better, but I'm a little hesitant to trust that going forward.

Trinity has 6 league games to complete in the last two weeks, and is sitting at 1-3 in the conference. The game tomorrow against Colby is a big one, the loser is going to be in an uphill battle to make the Nescac tourney.

It's looking like Bowdoin and Bates are the most likely to miss the Nescac tournament, with one of Conn, Colby or Trinity joining them. Colby's loss to Conn hurts as they don't have the tiebreaker. Bates vs Conn on Friday is also an important one.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Missing those games won't hurt Williams much. The WP takes a little dip, but it should still be over .800. Neither team will be regionally ranked. As long as they win the games they have, it'll be fine.

[toad22]

Missing those games won't hurt Williams much. The WP takes a little dip, but it should still be over .800. Neither team will be regionally ranked. As long as they win the games they have, it'll be fine.

It will be interesting to see who is available when Williams has enough players cleared to play a game. Hopefully, very soon. Does anybody know how many players a team needs in NESCAC to start a game? The NBA says eight. I will be interesting if the Ephs field a team of eight, all centers and wings! That might be fun.

[SpringSt7]

The last time Williams fielded a lineup of all centers and wings, they went to the Elite Eight.

[quicksilver]

Hot off the NESCAC presses (or should we say website), all 11 NESCAC teams will make the play-offs this year, with first round and QF games to take place the weekend of Feb 18-20:

https://nescac.com/news/2022/1/31/nescac-news-nescac-announces-modified-basketball-and-ice-hockey-championships.aspx

[Colby Hoops]

Hot off the NESCAC presses (or should we say website), all 11 NESCAC teams will make the play-offs this year, with first round and QF games to take place the weekend of Feb 18-20:

https://nescac.com/news/2022/1/31/nescac-news-nescac-announces-modified-basketball-and-ice-hockey-championships.aspx

Interesting -- seems to indicate not all regular season games will be able to be rescheduled? If that's the case, then an expanded tournament makes sense.

And does the top team get a first round bye, or will 10 and 11 will do a play-in game?

[quicksilver]

Hot off the NESCAC presses (or should we say website), all 11 NESCAC teams will make the play-offs this year, with first round and QF games to take place the weekend of Feb 18-20:

https://nescac.com/news/2022/1/31/nescac-news-nescac-announces-modified-basketball-and-ice-hockey-championships.aspx

Interesting -- seems to indicate not all regular season games will be able to be rescheduled? If that's the case, then an expanded tournament makes sense.

And does the top team get a first round bye, or will 10 and 11 will do a play-in game?

Reading between the lines, it is almost as though those details have not been worked out yet. I know in the hockey context, there is a big range in number of games played to date by each team due to the many postponed games. SO there would be some unfairness in giving the team with the top percentage of wins the number one spot and a bye if that team has managed to miss out on playing other contending teams.

[Colby Hoops]

https://nescac.com/tournaments/?id=458

Updated format for the tournament at this link.

[Painter66]

One simple question: Are teams required to play games if they are at less than full strength? Or maybe don't see it in their best interest in terms of winning percentage? Several teams have tough games remaining and it important that the integrity of the process is maintained. Can we assume that this has been assured?

[nescac1]

I think most teams just want to play.  I'd be stunned if any team with enough fully healthy guys to safely play would ever skip games for strategic reasons.  Guys who are missing games are no doubt desperate to play again.

This is good news: https://athletics.middlebury.edu/news/2022/1/31/alpine-skiing-spectators-welcome-at-home-middlebury-sporting-events.aspx