MBB: NESCAC

[Old Guy]

Who's your Defensive Player of the Year?
I guess I would go with Locke

Locke is playing very confidently assertively. He changes the game in the paint, wonderful timing. He's only playing 17 minutes a game, but that's likely to change some.

Locke, Sharry, Davis, and Wholey share three spots in the frontcourt. Locke may be coming off the bench. That's a nice dimension to have.

[nescac1]

Lots of guys putting up ridiculous numbers so far.  You can also add Whittington from Williams, hard to put a non-starter on all-conference, but perhaps we can say, sixth man award so far -- his stats in the early going are just off the charts, especially on a per-minute basis.  He's also be in the running for most improved.  And of course Maker deserves some COY love just for how improved the Ephs appear to be ...

Hard to argue much with the all-conference teams, although tough to leave Chris Wilson, Phillips, Pierce (not his fault he is triple-teamed) off, especially since all are seniors.  Very deep pool of talent in NESCAC this year ...

Of course, the numbers will come down to earth for many guys once the tougher part of the schedule begin ... we'll see how for-real the Ephs, especially some of the Ephs who have exploded onto the scene, are when they play at Randolph Macon and then host Amherst in a period of two weeks.  Midd's next three games are against credible teams, so if they stay undefeated, I'd say they are for real as well, but if they struggle a bit, then it may be a situation like Colby of beating up on inferior talent.  Amherst has been incredibly up and down (within games, in particular) which could be a sign of an explosive team finding its groove, or could be a product of lack of experienced ball-handlers outside of Meehan that will haunt them all year.  

Looks like a strong crop of rookies in NESCAC.  In addition to Sha Brown, there is the aforementioned Thompson and Nolan at Midd, Robertson at Williams, and the three Amherst rookies all making substantial contributions for contenders, and the rest of the great Wesleyan class putting up some big numbers, plus Distasio at Trinity has already won a player of the week award.  

[nescac1]

Middlebury will add another big shot blocker next year:

http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2009/11/11/sports/high_school/doc4afa40922f6c2228454927.txt

With only one senior and two frosh starters on the roster, they should be a force to be reckoned with next season. 

More on Roberts here:

http://www.suburbanonesports.com/content/prizerecruits-top-100-philly-bb-players

[division3]

i would say jake wolfin of middlebury is a solid freshman point guard. nothing flashy, but a good decision maker and good shooter with great shot selection. he doesn't seem particularly quick but is crafty, simple and smart at the point. could easily be a four year starter.not sure how much up side he has.

[Rick Vaughn]

Pumped to follow the Williams vs. R-MC game tomorrow night. I know there are live stats for the Elmira game tonight, but any chance of video for the championship? 

Also, wonder if MCLA and Williams shared a bus down to VA to save.  Would stink if they ended up playing each other 8+ hours from home.

[nescac1]

Have we done an all-decade discussion yet?  I don't think so, but could be wrong.  I actually think in NESCAC it's not too difficult.  I'm more interested in Walzy's all-decade crazy team.  We all know the long distance bomber from Wesleyan, at least, is a first-team lock (blanking on his name at the moment). 

Here's my all-decade team:

C: Ben Coffin
F: Tyler Rhoten and Leo Jones
G: Mike Crotty and Andrew Olson

Player of the decade: Olson
Coach of the decade: Hixon (no brainer there)

Only other contenders I could think of were Zieja, Harper, Bedford from Amherst, Schultz from Williams, Rudin from Midd, Johnson from Wesleyan, Tabb from Trinity, Ray from Bates, Petrie from Bowdoin, and Tatum from Conn.  And from that group, only Tatum really belongs with the top five, but he suffers from splitting time with the 90's ...

[nescac1]

Wild Thing, I believe that all games are video cast:

http://athletics.rmc.edu/landing/index

RMC should be interesting, assuming they play.  It will be a big challenge for an Eph team to travel, after holidays and a long break, on the road, against a top five team, especially when the Ephs haven't really played anyone that great this year (assuming they win today of course, which if they don't would be a major bummer).  I do note that RMC's second leading scorer / sixth man Carlson has left the program, so they might not be quite as deep as their stats to date indicate they are (two of their leading scorers are bench guys).  Their top player overall, Jordan Brown, is a 3 and I imagine will match-up against Schultz.  Brown is a defensive ace who can also score a bit, whereas Schultz is a top scorer who can also defend, so it will be a great head-to-head battle.  RMC also has a ton of size, with a productive 6'9 center backed up by a 6'8 center, so that will be the first challenge Big Joe and Troy have confronted all year -- they will need to bring their A games. 

[walzy31]

NESCAC1,
Blake Curry - AKA Chester Green
I never thought about an All-NESCAC All-Crazy All-Decade '00s Team...interesting and thank you for the idea.
Rhoten scored 2,000 pts all in this decade and should be added next to Tabb.

Looking back at old posts, I have decided I miss doing the All-NESCAC All-Crazy Team. It was certainly a good three-year run from 2006-2008. I think it's time to bring it back after a one-year West Coast hiatus. As all you NESCAC fans witness craziness out there, please post it up or send me a private message/email if you would prefer to stay annonymous. Thank you in advance.

Amherst / Stevenson line coming soon. I also will be providing lines for all NESCAC league games this season, not just Amherst games and the post-season.

[nescac1]

Blake Curry, right, he was incredible.  Great, I look forward to it! 

I have Rhoten on first team ...

Williams -- RMC line would be a good (and challenging) one ... I am guessing RMC by about five, although I hope the Ephs can pull an upset.  Of course Williams still has to take care of business tonight, first (there is zero chance RMC will lose to MCLA ...). 

[frank uible]

All-NESCAC All-Crazy All-Decade team? Youse guys ought to take up philately!

[walzy31]

All-NESCAC All-Crazy All-Decade team? Youse guys ought to take up philately!

You play your cards right Frank and you just might make the team.

Nescac1, good call on Rhoten. That was my oversight.

[walzy31]

Amherst -29.5 @ Stevenson (MD)
Over/Under: 154.0

[walzy31]

Blake Curry, right, he was incredible.  Great, I look forward to it!  

I have Rhoten on first team ...

Williams -- RMC line would be a good (and challenging) one ... I am guessing RMC by about five, although I hope the Ephs can pull an upset.  Of course Williams still has to take care of business tonight, first (there is zero chance RMC will lose to MCLA ...).  

Randolph Macon -6.5 Vs. Williams
Over/Under: 150.0

I have a bad feeling that Williams is going to go 22-2 this year in the regular season with one of their losses coming tonight...

[amh63]

Seems the Williams BB team did some sight-seeing in D.C. before playing Elmira.  I deduce that MCLA did not share the travel expenses.
Interesting that in the Elmira game, Shultz played a secondary role.  Hope it is not due to any injury, but rather a ploy to set-up the opponent tonight.
Thought about driving down to the game tonight...about a 90 mile trip..to see Williams play live before the Feb. game at Amherst.  The weather will be a little tricky tonight and thought better of it.
I also think Williams will have a 20 plus regular season...but would think that 20-4 will be more realistic.
Let the real season begin in 2010!

[TheHerst2and4]

Wesleyan got a commit recently in St. John's Shrewsbury forward Chad Labove
http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/recruits/player/1407/Chad-Labove.php