MBB: NESCAC

[SpringSt7]

Really enjoying the Tufts features on here recently - to me they are the clear top team in the league right now as Trinity is still ironing out some new pieces. Linton has definitely gotten it rolling now that he is settled in. WPI is undefeated but has played close games against a lot of teams that are not as highly regarded and I would be surprised to see them go into Tufts and win that one.

[WPI89]

So I did not catch the game. Would love some color on WPI v Tufts. Very proud of the boys. A bit of a suprise start this year. Coach Bartley had an uncanny way of rebuilding. Love to hear thoughts on the game if any of you watched.

WPI at Trinity tourney Christmas week. If they both win opener they will play.

I am in CT and hope to be at both of those games.

[SpringSt7]

I don't know anything, per usual.

[Greek Tragedy]

https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2024-25/contrib/20241130xq2f9q


WPI 74
Tufts 61

[nescac1]

Solid win for the Ephs over Rhode Island College. Alex Lee, Hudson Hansen, Jackson Rein and Justin Belcher all had standout games.  Hansen had his usual strong two-way game with 15-8 along with 3 steals and 2 blocks. When the Ephs built their big lead in the first half, he seemed to be everywhere.  Lee had a couple of big threes to quiet RIC runs. Sammy Cooley also had a nice game with two physical and-one finishes.   

But the real story was the two frosh.  Jackson Rein had a huge game with 15 points, scoring from the outside and also on some really well-timed off-ball cuts, and was also tough on the glass and on D, including a monster block in transition.  He's a great fit for a team with, suddenly, a lot of ball-handling guards as he does his best work hunting off the ball.  Justin Belcher really made his presence felt in only 10 minutes of court time 11-1-1 plus 3 steals, he's good for a few highlight reel plays every game.  He is going to be among the NESCAC steal leaders whenever he starts to play more minutes. Along with Aidan Yates today, who added a three, the Ephs have a really impressive FY class.

There are going to be a lot of tough decisions for Coach App as the team is now getting healthier (Glatzer was back today and looked solid).  I. Dickens was out today and the team still went 10 deep.  With him, and later in the year, Porter and McGraw, that's 13 capable rotation players.  The team is still experimenting with different combinations and it will be interesting to see how it works out as ultimately at least three of those guys are going to have to wait until next year.  I'd say Lee, Hansen and Roughley are the only three absolute locks to play big minutes once the full roster is available.

Kourouma is a very physically imposing player for RIC.  He finished with 21-12 but the Ephs swarmed him and harassed him all game and made him work for it.  RIC just doesn't have enough guys around him to punish the double-teams, but I suspect he is one of the better centers in D3 right now.

Big week ahead for Williams vs. two undefeated teams, New Paltz and Wesleyan.

Great Sunday for NESCAC with seven easy wins.  Impressive to see Midd keep rolling even without Tristan Joseph - 23 boards for Brennan, that dude is a tank and I suspect would have been a monster on the gridiron.  Eight NESCAC teams currently 5-1 or better - not bad! The only blemish on the weekend for NESCAC was Tufts going down to WPI.  Tufts is going to be just fine but I think it's clear right now that Trinity is the team to beat in NESCAC as they are a deeper and more versatile team than Tufts. 

[jumbomumbo]

So I did not catch the game. Would love some color on WPI v Tufts. Very proud of the boys. A bit of a suprise start this year. Coach Bartley had an uncanny way of rebuilding. Love to hear thoughts on the game if any of you watched.

WPI at Trinity tourney Christmas week. If they both win opener they will play.

I am in CT and hope to be at both of those games.

I was at the game - WPI very well coached, defense is very active, and all guards play well off 2 feet which ultimately led to better shot selection from the Engineers versus the Jumbos. Hopefully we all get to witness a WPI / Trinity matchup at the Trin tournament. As for the Jumbos, they'll learn from this one and improve. WPI defense for first 13 mins of the game literally allowed only one or 2 clean looks from the Jumbos. WPI has to be the clear frontrunner to win the NEWMAC this year, real solid team at all positions.

Was also able to catch the Midd / Endicott game. Endicott shot hot to take a 39-37 lead into halftime, but Flaks and Cwalina were even hotter in the second half and won by 12. Another very well coached team. The bigs are strong and Midd has two "immovable objects" in Brennan and Witherington. Witherington is bigger and better than I remember in the past. On that note, Stevens is moving better than I remember and I suspect will have a great NESCAC season. The one thing that might limit the Panthers is they seem to be very top heavy in production. I think deeper teams like Trin and Tufts will be able to gameplan and win those games, but there shouldn't be anyone discounting Midd at this point in the season.

[Greek Tragedy]

WPI picked a (distant?) 3rd in the NEWMAC. Babson has 5 first place votes and Clark has 4. WPI didn't get a 1st place vote.

[nescac1]

WPI often seems to start strong - I remember how their physical, tough defense totally flummoxed Williams in the first semester last year, as well - and they've had some issues in the NEWMAC post-season.  Nevertheless, I think it's clear that based on results to date, they are the team to beat in NEWMAC right now, notwithstanding a pre-season poll that was based largely on last year's results.  They are 7-0 against a strong schedule that includes wins over Tufts, Amherst, St. Joe's of Maine (a top two GNAC team, most likely) and UMD (a top three Little East team, most likely).  Tim Reidy's massive leap was not something any of the pre-season prognosticators would have foreseen, nor likely the major impact from transfer Margetson.

Meanwhile Clark and Babson each have three losses, although Clark just got its star PG back which should make a big difference for them.  Babson's top three guys have been awesome but they need to get a lot more out of the rest of the roster.  I would never sleep on them though as they always seem to peak at the right time. 

Pre-season prognostications are useful but only to a point.  Look at Midd in the NESCAC - between a finally healthy Sam Stevens and apparent leaps from Kwalina and Witherington they definitely look better than would be expected based on last year's stats.  (There is no NESCAC pre-season poll, but I would have bet Midd would have been no better than sixth, maybe around 7-8, if there was one). 

Turning back to region one, this is the weakest non-NESCAC season I can recall for region one teams.  While NESCAC has six teams in the Massey top 40 and a crazy nine in the top 92, GNAC has St. Joe's (CT) at 49 and no one else in the top 100, the NAC's highest ranked team is 248, and MASCAC has no one above 167. The first regional rankings are a LONG way away but just based on early results, I would expect NESCAC to own the first five spots in the regional ranking, at least six spots in total, and potentially all seven, unless St. Joe's pulls off a major upset against Trinity. That's a lot of potentially regionally-ranked opponents for every NESCAC squad to play against.     

[booyakasha]

Turning back to region one, this is the weakest non-NESCAC season I can recall for region one teams.  While NESCAC has six teams in the Massey top 40 and a crazy nine in the top 92, GNAC has St. Joe's (CT) at 49 and no one else in the top 100, the NAC's highest ranked team is 248, and MASCAC has no one above 167. The first regional rankings are a LONG way away but just based on early results, I would expect NESCAC to own the first five spots in the regional ranking, at least six spots in total, and potentially all seven, unless St. Joe's pulls off a major upset against Trinity. That's a lot of potentially regionally-ranked opponents for every NESCAC squad to play against.   

Are you forgetting about Keene St? Are they not region 1?

[nescac1]

Keene is region 2.   Keene and WPI are, for now, the overwhelming front-runners in region 2, with Brandeis probably third.   WNEC, Clark, Babson, and Eastern CT are other teams to watch in region 2. 

[toad22]

The computer ratings sure do hate Williams so far. We do have a chance to improve if we can win the two games this week against two undefeated teams, SUNY New Paltz tomorrow and Wesleyan on Saturday. I think the Ephs are potentially a top team in the country, but we need more time to fully integrate our superb freshmen and recover our two best shooters from injury. I hope we can improve quickly enough to rise in rankings before it is too late.

I really like this team. There are three first years who can really play. Aiden Yates is a 6'4" forward who can really take over a game. He is an excellent three point shooter with an incredibly quick release and a high release point. Jackson Rein is a 6'7" forward with a fine touch, and excellent speed and rebounding. Third is Justin Belcher, a 5'10" guard with speed and quickness to burn. Williams hasn't had a player like this in many years. He is from the high school in Cleveland that produced our great player Kyle Scadlock.

On top of of this are a host of experienced upperclassmen led by Brandon Roughly, a true 6'8" warrior, Alex Lee, a 6'2" shooting guard who just keeps getting better, and Hudson Hansen, the player who has made the biggest strides in the offseason. He is a 6'8" forward capable of guarding anybody, with great low post moves and a much improved 3 point game.

We actually go about 11 deep with capable players now, with two more due back next month. The league is tough, so I can only hope we can get through the very difficult period from now till the second week of the January, (Williams starts NESCAC play with Wesleyan and Trinity on the road). If we can survive till then, I think we are going to be very tough to beat by anybody.

[booyakasha]

Keene is region 2.  Keene and WPI are, for now, the overwhelming front-runners in region 2, with Brandeis probably third.  WNEC, Clark, Babson, and Eastern CT are other teams to watch in region 2.

Got it, thanks. Do you happen to know where I can find a listing of conference by region?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Keene is region 2.  Keene and WPI are, for now, the overwhelming front-runners in region 2, with Brandeis probably third.  WNEC, Clark, Babson, and Eastern CT are other teams to watch in region 2.

Got it, thanks. Do you happen to know where I can find a listing of conference by region?

The "teams" dropdown on d3hoops.com lists teams by region, with their conferences, so you can see which is where.

Also, while they don't have it updated for this season yet, the info is the same: the pre-championship manual lists each region, with their various conferences and teams on the last ten pages: https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/basketball/d3/men/2023-24D3MBB_PreChampionshipManual.pdf

[nescac1]

One school to watch in what seems to be a very down year for non-NESCAC teams in Region 1 is Dean College, which is 8-0 (albeit against a truly terrible schedule).  Their entire starting five (and most of their roster) are transfers who are new to the program this year, in fact virtually the entire roster seems to have turned around since last year.  So perhaps they can come together over time and post a gaudy record in the GNAC -- their top two players, at least, seem pretty legit. Although I still think the two St. Joe's (CT and ME) are the heavy favorites in that league, despite each suffering two early losses to good opponents. 

Also, Dean has, oddly, maybe the biggest coaching staff I've ever seen in D3 - a head coach, an associate head coach, three assistants, and two volunteer assistants! 

[jumpshot]

EPHs handle New Paltz 74-59 on the road, despite 20 turnovers, in part by making 19 of 26 free throws versus only 6 made by New Paltz. Game resembled roller derby at times. Wesleyan comes to Chandler gym Saturday ....