MBB: NESCAC

[fpc85]

coaches do troll...i know several current and former nescac/uaa coaches who have gotten information. most ocahces will use anything to gain an advantage.

[lefrakenstein]

coaches do troll...i know several current and former nescac/uaa coaches who have gotten information. most ocahces will use anything to gain an advantage.

I have deleted that section of my post out of an abundance of caution.

[topoftheworld]

coaches do troll...i know several current and former nescac/uaa coaches who have gotten information. most ocahces will use anything to gain an advantage.

i highly doubt that any coach will rely on some random person on a message board to give them a scouting report on a player, especially one that had a 2 line limit. 

but maybe lefrakenstein intentionally gave everyone bad information just incase maker bates decides to use that as a scouting report instead of watching a game tape.....

[NY Hoopster]

ccalive;

Here's some free info; Choice is that good, and is one of the top five players in the league. He is now on his second consecutive NESCAC player of the week award. Its not just the scoring; he held Brian Ellis of Bates to 0 points last weekend, and usually holds the other teams' big men in check. He has an all-round game and can play the 3, 4, or 5.

Is Colby the number 4? Time will tell, but the wins in conference against Bates and Bowdoin were not flukes. The Colby guards penetrated  at will against both teams, and the opposing guards shot from the perimeter. Colby played tough defense in both games and made it tough to get off those perimeter shots.
In the paint, Russell and Choice were much quicker and mobile than the opposition, and they rebounded well. The last two games were won without Kyle Donovan, who was sick. His 15 -20 minutes per game greatly strengthen Colby's presence around the hoop. They will be even stronger when this freshman returns and gets his minutes.

And by the way, I find it hard to believe that anyone is putting information on this board that isn't obvious to the coaching staffs from their review of game films.

[eclinchy]

I think Colby is the clear #4. I think 1-Middlebury/2-Amherst/3-Williams/4-Colby is all fairly clear, actually... but that's just me. And after seeing him take Pierce one-on-one at Tufts last weekend, I'm loving Choice even more... yeah, you could definitely make that top-5 argument. He's amazingly athletic.

Speaking of Pierce, here are the top 10 scorers in Tufts history as of right this second:

Greg Davis (1982-86), 1,785
Chris McMahon (1991-95), 1,721
Chad Onofrio (1992-96), 1,611
Troy Cooper (1979-83), 1,589
John Heneghan (1951-55), 1,471
Dennis Mink (1972-75), 1,447
Jake Weitzen (2004-08), 1,440
Vern Riddick (1985-89), 1,398
Dan Flaherty (1997-2001), 1,319
Jon Pierce (2006-present), 1,295

Almost a year and a half to go...

[Old Guy]

Williams-Midd at Middlebury this Saturday: big game. Think the Ephs will be motivated after their 37 point loss in last year's NESCAC tourney game in this gym (36-5 Midd in the final 11 minutes)? Think the Panthers will be overconfident - after scoring their first win against Williams in 19 years in the regular season game? I doubt it.

I'll probably be watching the second half of this one in the hallway behind the stands, looking through the glass. That's where I spend the final minutes of close games - allows me to pace and prevents me from commenting on officiating transgressions.  Old Guys misbehaving at games is truly an ugly sight.

It seems to all be coming together for Williams - and Middlebury is coming off two wins in CT and a one-sided win vs SoVT. Smith is playing better, and Rudin is playing like a POY: I think he's as good from foul line to foul line as anyone I've seen here, and this year he's finishing and shooting well from the line, crucial at the end of the game when we want the ball in his hands. He's been terrific. The big kids (Locke, Davis, Sharry) and Ryan Wholey get better and better with game experience. Should be some great post play. It'll be fun to watch Edwards try to shut down Schultz/Snyder.

We're on vacation, between winter (January) term and spring semester, so the home court advantage will be neutralized somewhat.  Could be a barn-burner.

[Old Guy]

Eclinchy's listing of the Tufts top ten scorers leads me to one of my modest peeves: I think an asterisk should accompany players on such a list who played before the introduction of the three point shot (or vice versa). These guys with 1000+ points before the three really could score.

Middlebury's third leading scorer, Kevin Kelleher (1498 points) played before the three. He has a son on this year's team, but, unfortunately, he's out with a chronic back injury.

Alfred "Sonny" Dennis played in the mid-50s at Midd and scored 1213 points when 1) frosh were ineligible to play on the varsity, 2) there was no three, and 3) the team had an 18-20 game schedule.

Every college has these guys. Great players.

[nescac1]

Williams -- Midd should really be fun.  The teams look fairly even on paper.   The schools have by far the best groups of bigs in the NESCAC (and probably the region) with Geoghegan, Whittington, Timmins-Schiffman, Dodson more or less even with Smith, Sharry, Davis, Locke.  Ephs have an edge on the wings where Schultz/Snyder/Rubin should be able to (and have to) outscore Edwards/Wholey/Dudley by a fair margin.  Middlebury has a huge edge at point guard with Rudin and his senior back-up vs. the Ephs who get very little offense there.  Midd has a slight experience edge and of course the home-court which makes them a modest favorite. 

Three keys for the Ephs: (1) one of Snyder/Schultz or maybe even Rubin has to go off (probably whichever is not guarded by Edwards) from 3, (2) the three headed monster at point (I am assuming Wang will be back) has to harass Rudin all over the court and make him work hard for every point so that they aren't horribly outscored at the 1 spot (all three are solid defenders, but none are likely to score more than one FG), and (3) Geoghegan needs to be the best post player on the court, with at least 18-20 points and 8-10 boards. 

Ephs have a solid week to prepare and it's not a terribly long road trip, certainly a winable game for them.  They have yet to beat anyone this season with equal or greater talent, hopefully this will be the game to change that. 

[Old Guy]

I stand corrected: until last year, Middlebury hadn't defeated Williams at Williams since 1989, but did beat them at Middlebury in '96, a huge upset, as Williams had a terrific team (Nogelo) and season that year (24-3; NCAA quarterfinals).

Also, as we appreciate those 1000 point scorers who played before the three point shot, keep in mind there was no shot clock, and possessions could take a long time, games could be low scoring.

[lefrakenstein]

I think Colby is the clear #4. I think 1-Middlebury/2-Amherst/3-Williams/4-Colby is all fairly clear, actually... but that's just me. And after seeing him take Pierce one-on-one at Tufts last weekend, I'm loving Choice even more... yeah, you could definitely make that top-5 argument. He's amazingly athletic.

Speaking of Pierce, here are the top 10 scorers in Tufts history as of right this second:

Greg Davis (1982-86), 1,785
Chris McMahon (1991-95), 1,721
Chad Onofrio (1992-96), 1,611
Troy Cooper (1979-83), 1,589
John Heneghan (1951-55), 1,471
Dennis Mink (1972-75), 1,447
Jake Weitzen (2004-08), 1,440
Vern Riddick (1985-89), 1,398
Dan Flaherty (1997-2001), 1,319
Jon Pierce (2006-present), 1,295

Almost a year and a half to go...

Pierce is unquestionably a great scorer, but don't you think the fact that the team has gotten progressively worse each year he has played diminishes his legacy? The more the Jumbos depend on his scoring, the worse they are.

I thought Dan Martin was the best player I ever saw at Tufts, Pierce and the also-listed Weitzen included. The Jumbos were awesome his senior year and have never been the same since he left.

[formerbant10]

Also, as we appreciate those 1000 point scorers who played before the three point shot, keep in mind there was no shot clock, and possessions could take a long time, games could be low scoring.

Could take a long time, but often did not.  College hoops put the shot clock into use in 1986, there were plenty of high scores before and after that.

I've also heard the argument that because there was no 3 point line, defenses were not as extended and shooters enjoyed open 17 footers while the lane was packed. 

Either way, players who were great scorers compared to their peers in their respective eras should be appreciated.

[NY Hoopster]

Formerbant10;

What's your take on Colby vs Trinity? Key matchups to watch? Can you fill us in on what is going right for Trinity?

[walzy31]

Amherst 73
Bowdoin 52

Baskauskas with 19

The Bowdoin broadcast of the Amherst/Bowdoin game tonight is awesome. Well done guys! I particularly liked what the female commentator had to say.

Favorite parts of the 2nd half:
Zooming in on the 8 person Bowdoin band.
Zooming in on Mr. Baskauskas and the commentator saying, "There appears to be a very angry parent who continues to plea his case to the officials during this timeout break."
Marcus Bradley played great.
The sneakers and suits on all of the coaches.

[lefrakenstein]

Tough loss for Colby tonight against Trinity. Looks like they probably got caught looking ahead to Amherst. In any case, it definitely puts their top 4 status in question, but the Jeffs will still need to have another big game to top them. Seems like the defensive intensity for Amherst has been way up since the Wesleyan loss. Held Bowdoin to 32% from the field.

Wesleyan lost to tufts by 1 after leading at the half. Mendall has been on fire for them. As a team it seems like the Cards play to the level of their competition, losing to some bad teams but beating Amherst and giving Middlebury a run for their money.

[ephoops]

Tough loss for Colby tonight against Trinity. Looks like they probably got caught looking ahead to Amherst. In any case, it definitely puts their top 4 status in question, but the Jeffs will still need to have another big game to top them...

I agree that this was a bad loss for Colby at home.

The second day of the Maine trip is usually tough on the away team.  Let's see if Colby can pull things together and beat a good Amherst team.