MBB: NESCAC

NESCAC2 · March 06, 2009, 01:03:06 AM

and why on earth did my karma decrease? i have only stated facts.

frank uible · March 06, 2009, 01:31:42 AM

Some people prefer opinion over facts.

NESCAC2 · March 06, 2009, 01:56:20 AM

who is frank uble and why is he considered hall of fame? if uble is worthy of hall of fame status, please tell me CCsalive or Bucket are going to be voted in soon. lets go CCsalive! i see you!

frank uible · March 06, 2009, 06:07:42 AM

Like O.J., once one is in HoF, one's credentials can't be reappraised.

topoftheworld · March 06, 2009, 10:39:12 AM

i also think it is absurd that people are saying since he takes more shots it isn't as impressive that he scores more points if he is doing it at a higher percentage. if a guy shoots .497% from the field and his team shoots 43% doesn't it make sense he should shoot more? (those happen to be the correct numbers) if pierce shoots more than schultz or snyder, and at a better percentage, i find it hard to believe there is anyway to say pierce's offensive production isn't better than the williams duo. if he scores more ppg, and at a higher percentage..... i dont know

another point i want to make is there is a never ending argument to the good player on a bad team vs good player on a good team. on one hand you can say it is more impressive that a good player bad team puts up a lot of numbers because no one else is creating for said player, and the team is keying in defensively on him/her as well. pierce constantly saw double teams, and any time he had the ball the whole defense would be anticipating where to bring help from.
on the other hand, you can say since he is on such a bad team, he has more of a green light to shoot. not only that but i can understand the argument that maybe this player doesn't have to expend as much energy defensively because this player doesn't think his/her team will win, or doesn't dive on loose balls, crash the glass etc.

i just don't see the second part of this argument being valid to pierce. there were numerous contests that pierce won on his own like the 40 against babson or the 37 against plymouth st. he is not detracting from his team as far as us observers can tell.

the last part of this argument is that there is a mental toll it takes as a teammate when you don't get the ball on the offensive end. you bust your butt on defense and rebounding, etc. and don't get the touches/shots you think you deserve on the offensive end, this could contribute to guys not trying as hard in the other areas of the game. But WHO KNOWS? i dont think anyone can tell if that is the case except each individual player. maybe it gets certain players jacked up to see their teammates score at will, that is not up to the voters to speculate. all you can use are the stats of the teams and the players and pierce's are certainly top 5 worthy.

i personally think he is the best individual player in the league. does that mean i would pick him first to start my own nescac team, maybe not. i've played against many guys that played this past season in the nescac and i think rudin is phenomenal and the best choice for poy, but he has great complimentary players.

i think you have to look at the coaching staff for tufts to see what has been going wrong the past few years due to a huge fact not many have pointed out. tufts had no seniors this past year that were recruited to the team. it isn't because players quit either, they had 0 players recruited for the class of '09. gallant a 4 year player and only senior starter was a football recruit that played football his first 2 years at tufts. cassidy the only other senior on this years team was a football player that walked on this year. if you look back the past few years, tufts depth has always been an issue. the 06 season when tufts made it to the sweet 16 black and weitzen as sophmores were coming off the bench along with other nice role players. the year after they had no sophmores that were recruited which hurts your teams depth. now all of a sudden freshman are getting serious minutes off the bench. then in '08 you not only have no recruited juniors, but when okeefe missed a number of games brian lowry started 8 games. this season lowry started 0 games and only played in 14 total, not really someone you would want to have starting as a sophmore.

a weird stat for middlebury, they are best best offensive rebound team in the 'cac and the worst defensive....

ephoops · March 06, 2009, 12:09:52 PM

Quote from: topoftheworld on March 06, 2009, 10:39:12 AM

a weird stat for middlebury, they are best best offensive rebound team in the 'cac and the worst defensive....

I'd focus more on rebounding margin than the absolute number of rebounds by Midd and their opponents.

For the season, Midd is +3.9 in rebounding margin. Not all that impressive given the team's height...

Also, Midd only shoots .636 from the FT line as a team (although Rudin is at 77%) . In a close game, this could come back to haunt them...

Bucket · March 06, 2009, 12:57:36 PM

Quote from: ephoops on March 06, 2009, 12:09:52 PM
Quote from: topoftheworld on March 06, 2009, 10:39:12 AM

a weird stat for middlebury, they are best best offensive rebound team in the 'cac and the worst defensive....

Also, Midd only shoots .636 from the FT line as a team (although Rudin is at 77%) . In a close game, this could come back to haunt them...

Yep, the Panthers' Achilles Heel this year has been free-throw shooting. We were leaving a LOT of points on the line in the second half of the NESCAC championship game. Fortunately, it hasn't cost us yet. Let's hope things stay that way.

Agent_Zero · March 06, 2009, 02:04:11 PM

top, i agree with just about all of your argument. would just point out that tufts actually LOST pierce's 40 point game this year against babson.

NESCAC2 · March 06, 2009, 02:23:36 PM

question to all: is wang the best penetrator in the conference?

amh63 · March 06, 2009, 04:51:26 PM

It seems that the last several pages of comments was set off by the posting of the all conference teams, etc. The choices made were by the coaches. I think that this year's choices vice past years' selections should factor in the relative large percentage of new coaches in the conference. Several have not seen particular players in previous years, etc. Does "politics" and recruitment factors enter? Food for thought only and open to opinions!

formerbant10 · March 06, 2009, 05:59:58 PM

Normally I'd agree with that, but Furbush, Tabb and Reilly have all seen the players in previous years so I don't think that really applies with this group.

No matter who gets selected, there will always be people who don't agree with it.

Mr. Ypsi · March 06, 2009, 06:06:15 PM

Quote from: formerbant10 on March 06, 2009, 05:59:58 PM
Normally I'd agree with that, but Furbush, Tabb and Reilly have all seen the players in previous years so I don't think that really applies with this group.

No matter who gets selected, there will always be people who don't agree with it.

Since very few players are selected unanimously, I dare say even the coaches don't necessarily agree with all the picks!

Bucket · March 06, 2009, 07:14:26 PM

Just an FYI....

Midd's NCAA 2nd-Round game against Bridgewater State on Saturday is officially a sell-out.

Hope those planning to attend already have tickets!

Pepin will be rockin'!

D3Cast · March 06, 2009, 08:22:38 PM

Quote from: Bucket on March 06, 2009, 07:14:26 PMHope those planning to attend already have tickets!

And if you don't, geez, I really don't know what you could do.

-steve

lefrakenstein · March 06, 2009, 08:31:58 PM

Man, amherst is not playing well in the first half. Trail by three with 8 to the break.

Offense just looks really sluggish right now.