MBB: NESCAC

[TheHerst2and4]

First off my condolences for the loss of your father Old Guy

I am curious for the opinion of the Amherst posters in a situation like this year. Do you guys pull for Williams to go deep into the tourney?

Since no one else chimed in I figured I'd give you an answer.
Let me preface it with a little background.
I respect the heck out of the Williams program, the school, and the way they operate over there.
Some of my buddies went on to play at Williams and I have become friendly with some other players through the years.

That being said, I absolutely do not want Williams to win the national championship

[hoya73]

Old Guy--one of the effects of regularly reading this blog is the feeling that you know all of the regular contributors.  As only an occasional contributor, a recent Amherst b-ball parent and a fomer Midd football parent,  I bleed purple and white but still have great fondness for the Midd teams and have enjoyed their recent ascension and, more importantly, your embrace of it.  Your posts are fair and wise and obviously reflective of your station in life.

Very sorry to hear about your loss.  All of us kids--especially those of us who are fathers--have special memories of father-child experiences.  Many of us are sending you our thoughts and prayers

[amh63]

Does anyone know if the Midd game will be on the Web?

[nescac1]

All NESCAC team out:

http://www.nescac.com/sports/mbkb/2009-10/honors/allconference

Schultz, Maker, Edwards and Brown all won top honors, as expected.  Wang is, to no one's surprise, the first soph to make the first team since 2004.  Whittington, so far as I can recall, is the only bench player to ever make an all conference team.  Meehan and Hanley are the only guys who can really gripe, but Meehan just missed too many games due to injury, and Hanley has two more years to go, and Phillips was due.  A little surprised to see Ellis on the first team over Pierce, but he is a great player and Bates was fantastic down the stretch.

[Pat Coleman]

Does anyone know if the Midd game will be on the Web?

I believe so, and the RIC/Rutgers-Newark game preceding.

[scout]

Does anyone know if the Midd game will be on the Web?

I believe so, and the RIC/Rutgers-Newark game preceding.

The Middlebury website does suggest that the game will be streamed. However, game 'credits' must be purchased to watch the game online. I believe each game is $7.99 or so.

Apparently, the Middlebury campus radio station has audio-cast games this season, but I'm not sure if they will be doing so for this game. I'm planning on sending a few emails to sure things up because three other fan bases might be interested in seeing/hearing their respective teams play.

[Bucket]

[/quote]

The Middlebury website does suggest that the game will be streamed. However, game 'credits' must be purchased to watch the game online. I believe each game is $7.99 or so.

[/quote]

I've been told that all post-season games are being streamed free of charge.

Go Midd!

[senatorfrost]

  The award is for Player of the year. If the award were for MVP or 'Best' Player, then 'foul' could be called. However, Player of the year is clearly something else. See 2005 and 2001

[Pat Coleman]

Don't forget, final three-plus hours to enter the D3hoops.com bracket challenge.

You have extra time for the women's bracket, since the first game isn't until 4 p.m. ET on Friday.

http://www.d3hoops.com/pickem/

[magicman]

Magicman, can you give a breakdown on Plattsburgh?  Seems like they gave Midd a very good game earlier in the year.  And Williams has struggled with the two SUNYAC teams they've played, so I expect that will be a tough game.  

nescac1
Plattsburgh St. finished 13-5 in the SUNYAC conference and was tied with Oneonta St. for 1st place in the regular season. Plattsburgh was the top seed in the SUNYAC tournament by virtue of their 2-0 record vs Oneonta and once again these 2 teams squared off in the championship game of the tournament. Plattsburgh won that game, 67-60, coming back from a late 1st half deficit of 33-20. The Cardinals have put together a 10 game winning streak and are playing their best ball of the season as they head into the NCAA tourney.They won the conference championship 3 years in a row before missing the playoffs last season as the entire starting 5 graduated in 2008. Last year's team finished 8-16 and missed the playoffs but 13 of those 16 losses came in crunch time when the inexperienced young players found a way to lose the close ones. Blolstered by the return of 1st team All Conference 6'4" Jr. guard Chris Ruiz and 6'6" Jr. forward Errol Daniyan along with 6 returning lettermen the Cardinals returned to the top of the standings. Two key additions to the team came when jr college transfer 5'9" Jr.point guard Carl Munnerlyn, who was redshirted last year with a knee injury, returned and moved into the starting lineup midway through this year's schedule. Plattsburgh is 15-2 with Munnerlyn as a starter. Back in mid-January Munnerlyn was named to the D3Hoops team of the week when, in his 1st 2 games as a starter, he hit 8 straight 3 pointers over a 2 game span. Carl averages 11.6 ppg and is shooting 45.8 % from 3 pt land (44x96). Munerlyn was just named to the SUNYAC All Conference 3rd Team. The other newcomer and perhaps the biggest reason for Plattsburgh's quick turnaround is juco tranfer Steve Thomas. Thomas, a Jr. was named to the SUNYAC All Conference 2nd Team, (he got jobbed, in my opinion, clearly worthy of 1st team honors), was chosen as the MVP of the SUNYAC Championship Tournament and yesterday, was selected as the SUNYAC Player of the Week.Thomas is a 6'2" athletic guard with great leaping ability and is the 2nd leading rebounder on the team with 6.6 rpg. He is also the 2nd leading scorer on the team with an average 17.0 ppg. He can hurt you with the 3 ball or blow right by you . Last week against Oneonta in the championship game he scored 28 pts with 24 of them coming in the 2nd half. Plattsburgh's Coach Curle stated that the game plan in the second half of that game was the give and go. Give the ball to Thomas and everyone else get out of the way. he went to the hoop continuously and either scored and 1 or was fouled and went to the line  (12x17 ft) . If you try to stop Thomas then Chris Ruiz will take over the game. Ruiz was named to the SUNYAC All Conference 1st team for the 2nd year in a row He is just as capable of Thomas of taking it to the basket but if you bite on his move to the hoop he'll just step back and bury the 3. Ruiz leads the Cardinals with 17.2 ppg and in made 3 's with 60. He shoots 43% from the field, 40% from behind the arc, and is 3rd on the team with 5.6 rpg. Last but not the least of Plattsburgh's 4 double figure scorers is big man Daniyan. Errol was also named to the SUNYAC All Conference 1st Team. He averages 15.1 ppg and 8.3 rpg. He's smooth as silk and is the recipient of those drives to the hoop by Thomas and Ruiz if the defense moves off him to help out. He's the leading shotblocker on the team and is 2nd in steals. Farris Thomas a 6'5" Sr. forward is the defensive specialist on the team and usually guards the opponents best big man. Last week in the championship game he held SUNYAC Player of the Year Oneonta's 6'9" Brian Beckford (who was a D1 transfer from UNC-Wilmigton) to 10 pts and 6 rebounds. The day before against Cortland Beckford had 25 pts and 15 rebounds. Farris Thomas averages 4.8 ppg and 4.7 rpg. Of the bench players, Dan Tangney 6' 4" Jr. forward has a nice shooting touch hittig 19x46 3 pt attempts on the year, with averages of 4.0 ppg and 3.1 rpg. 5' 10" Soph. Ketema Brooks last year's starting point guard adds valuable minutes, leading the team in assists, while 6'10" R.J. Ponesse spells the big men and averages 3.7ppg and 2.4 rpg.

Plattsburgh runs an up tempo offense and doesn't waste time getting their shots off. They average 78 ppg and give up 73 ppg. They out rebound their opponents 38.4 to 32.7 but their style of play leaves them open to tunrovers as they average 15.2 per game vs 13.2 for their opponents. They generally play man to man defense but occassionally will throw a 2-3 zone at you. They usually at some point in a game will roll out their full court trapping  press, usually with a good result. That was what got them back into the game against Middlebury.

I think Plattsburgh will probably meet up with Williams in the sweet 16, most likely in Williamstown. Williams has a great team this year and I expect they will win that matchup on their home court. But I wouldn't count Plattsburgh out of it. As you mentioned, 2 SUNYAC teams have given the Ephs their closest games this year and Plattsburgh was clearly the best of the SUNYAC conference, so obviously I've got my fingers crossed.  



       

[nescac1]

Thanks for the great summary.  Sounds like Williams-Plattsburgh, if they meet up, would be a great, and very entertaining up-and-down, high scoring affair.  Thomas sounds like a big match-up problem for the Ephs, they haven't played many (if any) two guards like that this year.  I think to win, Williams will have to pound it inside and use their size advantage and depth inside to wear Plattsburgh down.  Ruiz vs. Schultz should be a fun match-up. 

[magicman]

Thanks for the great summary.  Sounds like Williams-Plattsburgh, if they meet up, would be a great, and very entertaining up-and-down, high scoring affair.  Thomas sounds like a big match-up problem for the Ephs, they haven't played many (if any) two guards like that this year.  I think to win, Williams will have to pound it inside and use their size advantage and depth inside to wear Plattsburgh down.  Ruiz vs. Schultz should be a fun match-up. 

nescac1,
Who would they put on Thomas? Rubin? I imagine Wang would guard Munnerlyn. Ruiz on Schultz, F. Thomas would guard big Joe, and Daniyan would be on Dodson. Whittington could be the difference maker. I see him causing problems when he comes into the game. I agree that it would probably be a high scoring affair. Plattsburgh loves to push the ball and obviously so does Williams. Ephs have great shooters though, probably as good or better than anyone in the field. That's what scares me, especially on their home court, and no one else will get the regional but them. I just hope the Cardinals don't get upset in their game tonight or tommorow so that we get to Williamstown. As for the Ephs, sometimes getting the bye hurts a team as evidenced by Middlebury last year, but I don't think that'll be a problem for Williams. At least there's no Bridgewater St. looking to bump off a 2nd straight NESCAC team. Maine-Farmington didn't have much success against NESCAC teams this year losing by a healthy margin to teams 3 through 6.

[CCfan11]

I heard from a fellow CC alum that 6 or 7 of the basketball players have recently quit the team.  Does anyone else have any more information on this?

[scout]

Middlebury has a three point lead at the half against Gordon, 32-29.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Middlebury has a three point lead at the half against Gordon, 32-29.

Gordon looked to be on their heals at the beginning with Middlebury up by as much as 13.  Midd will at least have to work for it.