MBB: NESCAC

Colby Hoops · March 02, 2011, 03:17:23 PM

Obviously a pretty unsurprising all-league announcement, and I felt it MacDougall was definitely deserving of the second team spot considering his team's success and his stats.

Walzy, I think if you have problems with Brown and Russell on the second team, then you would have to have a problem with Hanley on the first team considering Bowdoin's underachieving Nescac season, when they were literally 1 point away from missing the conference tournament. I just don't see how you could have two full teams of players from a ten team league and not include some of the best players on the worse teams. I do understand your position that it makes sense to reward players for winning, but I'm pretty sure switching Workman (a player who would presumably replace Russell or Brown on your ballot) and Brown, or Workman and Russell would not have made Wesleyan or Colby any better, and in both cases probably slightly worse.

nescac1 · March 02, 2011, 03:24:10 PM

Regarding Walzy's question, Wang and Whittington are close, and Williams would be in big trouble without either one of them. But overall, I have to give Whittington the slight nod this year ... (although in the second game vs. Amherst, Wang was better, so I can see why you might reach that conclusion having presumably watched that game Walzy).

Troy is just so dominant on both ends, and he is almost impossible to guard one-on-one ... 73 percent field goal percentage is incredible, and that is despite drawing consistent double and triple-teams. I think for any coach game-planning against Williams, Troy is concern number one, and Wang is 1A, and for that reason he is a worthy MVP. His total skill set has never really been seen before at NESCAC, and likely won't be seen again for quite some time. I just feel like the margin between Troy and the other bigs in the league is bigger, generally, than the margin between Wang and the other guards.

Oh, and speaking of awards, congrats to former Eph coach Dave Paulsen on winning Patriot League COY honors (strange that they give out conference awards prior to the conference tourney):

http://www.bucknellbison.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/022811aaa.html

magicman · March 02, 2011, 03:32:29 PM

Quote from: amh63 on March 02, 2011, 12:22:31 PM
With the entrance of Hamilton full time next season, here's hoping we will have Hamilton posters. Pat C., were there many BB posters for Hamilton in the Liberty League?

amh63,
I've been the poster on the Liberty League board that does most of the reporting for scores, standings, and items of note. I can tell you positively, that sadly, there has been no sign of a Hamilton poster for the past 3 years. I could understand that, if they had a poor team, but Hamilton is usually competative and makes the playoffs. I'll be surprised if there is any or much participation from the followers of their program.

walzy31 · March 02, 2011, 03:35:53 PM

Quote from: Colby Hoops on March 02, 2011, 03:17:23 PM
Obviously a pretty unsurprising all-league announcement, and I felt it MacDougall was definitely deserving of the second team spot considering his team's success and his stats.

Walzy, I think if you have problems with Brown and Russell on the second team, then you would have to have a problem with Hanley on the first team considering Bowdoin's underachieving Nescac season, when they were literally 1 point away from missing the conference tournament. I just don't see how you could have two full teams of players from a ten team league and not include some of the best players on the worse teams. I do understand your position that it makes sense to reward players for winning, but I'm pretty sure switching Workman (a player who would presumably replace Russell or Brown on your ballot) and Brown, or Workman and Russell would not have made Wesleyan or Colby any better, and in both cases probably slightly worse.

I have to agree. It's easier (even though they are defensively targeted, they touch the ball on every possession and take a lot of shots) to put up all-conference stats on poorer teams, but those two guys are good.
Russell was top 5 in the country in RPG and Sha can dribble past any D3 defender in the country without appearing to exert too much effort.

walzy31 · March 02, 2011, 03:45:31 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on March 02, 2011, 03:24:10 PM
Oh, and speaking of awards, congrats to former Eph coach Dave Paulsen on winning Patriot League COY honors.

That guy used to drink a lot of water.

The other basketball coach not named Hixon (or Nixon) to coach Amherst College within the last 65 years is Rick Wilson. Wilson was born in 1930, coached from 1964 til Hixon, and passed away in 2007. This seems similarly relevant to me.

Bucket · March 02, 2011, 05:04:37 PM

Quote from: Old Guy on March 02, 2011, 01:09:09 PM
Everybody seems to believe that Western CT will get by Salve. What little I hear about Western Ct concerns me. Midddlebury's most avid fan and former player, Clubbo, will be going to Thursday's game so I will have a complete report by gametime Saturday, though Clubbo is always the optimist, opposite of me, the worrier.

Someone posted that W.CT was "fast and tiny," and that's the kind of club that has given us some problems in the recent past: RIC licked us handily last year in the second round - they were "athletic" and played a great 40 minutes. The year before in the flukey loss (5 pts ahead with 30 secs to play - two 3 pt bombs did us in) against Bridgewater State again was to a fast & agile group. Wesleyan gave us fits for 30 minutes this year (Sha Brown!), and last year our other loss was to Colby Sawyer whose little point guard bedeviled us.

My biggest worry actually is the flu that is ravaging the campus. The baseball coach called off practice yesterday as he had ten players unable to practice. I suggested to the A.D. that he wrap the basketball players in cellophane and send them off to a remote sterile location, but the players insist on being college students and going to class, doing their homework, etc..

Life is so full of pitfalls and anxiety. I may have to go off to a remote location.

That Midd flu currently has both Bucket and Middlebury's Biggest Little Fan on the shelf, as well, though the younger of us seems to have rebounded more quickly, as he is currently running around the house in his Spider Man costume, slamming Nerf balls into the seats of chairs while yelling "Andrewwww Locke!"

From what I've heard of Western Conn, they are very similar to the teams that have bedeviled the Panthers in tourneys past--without the interior presence (Mike Akrinola) that RIC had. They seem to shoot a lot of threes, get a lot of steals, and like to play up-tempo. From what I've read, they were playing as well as anyone in the country in December, then somewhat fell apart during the past few months due to "internal conflicts."

It certainly sounds like an intriguing match-up, and I have the utmost confidence that Coach Brown and his staff will have Midd prepared for whatever the opponent (Western Conn or Salve) brings on Saturday. As painful as those past tourney losses have been, I do think they can benefit this year's team in making them comfortable with different styles of play come tourney time. Those are my thoughts, anyway. Someone has to balance out Old Guy's worrying here!

nescac1 · March 02, 2011, 05:41:50 PM

The Whittington dunk vs. Middlebury, discussed earlier on the board, can be seen (albeit the video is very small) at the 15:00 minute mark of this video (along with some other highlights):

http://willinet.org/content/williams-college-basketball-show-3211

amh63 · March 02, 2011, 06:20:06 PM

Wow! All this "traffic" on the board. Was looking forward to the conference selections. Didn't see them earlier. After chores and a nap due to a heavy lunch, the selections are out and much debate.
Some of the debate over choices.....especially players from weaker teams....could be put to rest if there was a "third team". Often in a tournament, the winning team gets more players selected and the loosing teams get fewer. Put the top players of the weaker teams on a honorary type "team" of teams MVP. Just a thought.
In my picking on my "favorite posters" I will state the following:
nescac 1's comment that Wang played better in the 2nd Amherst-Williams game. Obvious comment if one assumes that you are referring to Whittington. William's center was on the sidelines in the first game in "street clothes".
Walzy's comment on past Amherst's coaches is somehow related to the discussion wrt to Bucknell's coach winning something.. Did I miss a post Walzy? I am staring to worry about you. Working/keeping long hours?
In the throw in topic of Whittington versus Wang as the MVP of the team, I will suggest here the same question wrt Locke versus Sharry of Midd. This is relevant, IMO, in the two match ups between Mid. vs. Williams.

Old Guy · March 02, 2011, 07:48:41 PM

Walzy: Philosophical issue: what is a "remote location"? It can't be where one is, physically. I have a son living in Los Angeles - now there's a remote location. Middlebury is where my feet are planted; therefore, it is the hub of the universe, God's country. Two kinds of people - those who live in Vermont, and those who wish they did.

Mr. Ypsi · March 02, 2011, 08:28:34 PM

Quote from: Old Guy on March 02, 2011, 07:48:41 PM
Walzy: Philosophical issue: what is a "remote location"? It can't be where one is, physically. I have a son living in Los Angeles - now there's a remote location. Middlebury is where my feet are planted; therefore, it is the hub of the universe, God's country. Two kinds of people - those who live in Vermont, and those who wish they did.

Two kinds of people: those who say there are two kinds of people, and those who don't!

amh63 · March 02, 2011, 09:22:24 PM

Thanks magicman and Pat C.! Since the coach of Hamilton is a Wes. graduate, coming into the conference full time in BB may change things. If Amherst plays Hamilton in football at Clinton this Fall, I may chat with the coach again on BB and encourage him to check this board.
It appears that the coach at Skidmore came from the Naval Academy and likes to play hard defense. His name came up today in the Washington Post, in an story about the new asst. coach at the Academy that replaced him....Paulsen of Duke fame and of Syracuse fame. Skidmore in the game with Middlebury, earlier in the season, played defense against Midd. so as to allow Midd. 49 foul shot attempts (32-49 made). Guess it must have been a physical type defense? Any poster's input on that game....in aid to Amherst supporters?

maineman · March 02, 2011, 09:52:27 PM

Quote from: amh63 on March 02, 2011, 09:22:24 PM
It appears that the coach at Skidmore came from the Naval Academy and likes to play hard defense. His name came up today in the Washington Post, in an story about the new asst. coach at the Academy that replaced him....Paulsen of Duke fame and of Syracuse fame. Skidmore in the game with Middlebury, earlier in the season, played defense against Midd. so as to allow Midd. 32 foul shot attempts. Guess it must have been a physical type defense? Any poster's input on that game....in aid to Amherst supporters?

I saw the game and I don't beleve that Amherst will have much difficulty against Skidmore. Sorry, I can't be more specific. The only thing I thought about during the game was the marathon win Skidmore had previously versus Southern Vermont. (7 overtimes)

walzy31 · March 02, 2011, 11:25:58 PM

Quote from: Old Guy on March 02, 2011, 07:48:41 PM
Walzy: Philosophical issue: what is a "remote location"? It can't be where one is, physically. I have a son living in Los Angeles - now there's a remote location. Middlebury is where my feet are planted; therefore, it is the hub of the universe, God's country. Two kinds of people - those who live in Vermont, and those who wish they did.

Haha. Well since you think Middlebury is not remote and if you were to relocate somewhere that fits your definition of the term "remote," wouldn't you then physically be there?

If I am losing Amh63 then I am either writing genus level posts or am way too anxious about the weekend and posting too frequently. It's probably the latter.

frank uible · March 02, 2011, 11:56:57 PM

amh63: I believe it is Paulus (not Paulsen) of Duke and Syracuse fame. Paulsen is the coach at Bucknell (formerly at Williams).

Old Guy · March 03, 2011, 12:22:47 AM

AMH63: Bucket and I both posted on the Midd-Skidmore game on Jan.8.

From Bucket's post:
Now, the physical nature of the game. I'm all for physical play, but I'll go ahead and say that Skidmore's play was borderline dirty. Three Middlebury kids ended the game with black eyes, with Wholey's injury looking like the most serious of the three (he didn't return after getting hurt and his eye was swollen shut after the game). Adding to my thinking here was what my wife heard while walking past the Skidmore locker room a halftime: the Skidmore coach imploring his team to "hit 'em harder, knock 'em around, knock 'em down."

From mine:
Bucket got it about right. Ugly game.

The Thoroughbreds strategy was sound, if questionable: take it right at the big guys on offense, get 'em in foul trouble (Sharry had three in the first half; Locke two or three). On defense, whack 'em, take what the officials will allow. Make them beat us from the line (where the Panthers shoot 64% as a team). Skidmore committed 32 (whistled) fouls in the game; Panthers were in the double bonus with a lot of time left in the first half (6-7 minutes).

The physical play disrupted the Panthers who committed 17 turnovers. 44-44 with five minutes gone in the second half. Skidmore refused to go away.