MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Oh the wonders of technolgy!  It seems that the Hamilton vs. Wes. game will be on-line!  Not only stats.
Need to give Wes. a shout out here for joining the other members of the "little three". 
Still it doesn't explain why there was no webcast of the Tufts game!  In the Keene vs Midd. game the Keene site went down and the primary LEC broadcast network was excluded.  Today, the UAA game at Emory has only stats....not the posted video feed.
At present, the Wes.vs. Hamilton WBB game at 12 noon shows stats on D3 hoops.  I saw that the MBB game at 2 PM showing video and was surprised.  I hit the video button to see if was scheduled/possible.  I got the ongoing WBB game!  Something to look forward to instead of the SuperBowl.

[magicman]

Wesleyan defeats Hamilton 65-50. Cards up 30-20 at the break and maintained a comfortable advantage throughout the 2nd half.

[OchoLoko41]

Nice win by the Cardinals to give senior Jason Mendell a win on his final regular season game in Middletown.  Mendell played big on his senior day with a game high 17 points, alongside another big game from Mike Callaghan (15 and 8) although the stats across the board are light seeing as Wesleyan had the game well under control for most of the 2nd half.

Wesleyan now controls its own playoff fate, if they win out they're guaranteed the 3 spot

Amh63 to your point... im no history major but im pretty sure Wesleyan's been a member of the little 3 for well over a hundred years, although their recent play is certainly turning heads.

[Old Guy]

Had to laugh reading some of the posts, as you would think Bowdoin beat a great Williams team for the championship. . . . Game last night was really between two mid-tier teams as opposed to two of the top teams in the league! Maine-Man

Have to take some issue with "Maine Man," though I don't like to because I am a Maine-Man myself at heart. 

"Mid-tier" is different this year. There's no doubt that the league is stronger overall than last year and before that too. Tufts is better, so is Wesleyan. Bowdoin is better, so is Bates. Williams may not be what they were last year or the year before, but they are damn good, and not that far off. Whittington is gone, but Mayer is a suitable replacement; Wang is hors de combat, but still among the best guards in the league. Tell Colby he's a shadow of his former self (27 points). The top two teams in the league are Amherst and Middlebury (both 8-0 in the league) - and Williams lost by two to the Jeffs and one to the Panthers. Pretty even. "Mid-tier," is very close to "top tier" this year. I can gloat with others at the Williams' descent in the standings - they've been so good for so long - but I surely don't want to play them in the quarterfinals.

By the way, there is a point of view that Midd's national status is somehow tainted by the number of close NESCAC wins they have: This to me is an interesting argument: strikes me that close w's are preferable to l's, and more meaningful.

I don't have the same antipathy to Williams that some of my friends at Midd have. I had the misfortune in the years immediately after my graduation from Middlebury of having my two best friends be Ephs, including my h.s. basketball coaching mentor. I have great respect for their hoop excellence over time, forever really.

Bottom line: the league is better this year, top to bottom. It's a league, not the vaunted Little Three (Amherst and Williams), plus this recent interloper, Middlebury. Can Wesleyan beat Middlebury or Amherst? Yes, on a given night. Can Bowdoin beat Middlebury or Amherst? Absolutely. Can Williams beat whomever they play in the NESCAC tourney? Count on it.

It's a league! Finally. And that's great.

[amh63]

Ocholocko.....No history needed.  I am completely aware that Wes. has always been an equal partner of the "Little Three".  In fact their football field is the oldest one that is still being used in the country.  My shout out was on the matter of the free webcast of sporting events.  Today, the games were seen on-line and for Free! (did get a smile at seeing your SID ask for support to continue to broadcasts).  It was only last month that Williams webcast of sporting events became free.  Amherst started webcasting only about a year ago and it was somewhat limited.  This year, the webcast of events are broader and better with new equipment, etc.  If you recall, the Amherst game in Middletown had only stats.
I enjoyed seeing a bit of both the women and men games.  Wish Amherst's pictures were as clear.  Notice the other key word is FREE...a slight dig at Williams here...done with a smile.
Old Guy.....I too admit that Ephs can be fun to be with.  No friends though.

[amh63]

Up early after the Superbowl.  The teams have a number of NESCAC connections but that is a story for the football board.
On the lead story on the D3hoops front page...the top contributors pause and reflect on D3 BB before the first regional rankings.  They discuss surprise teams, possible POY, etc.  "OUR" conference player R. Sharry of Middlebury is a candidate at this time for POY. No surprise here.

[Maine-Man]

I respect "Old Guy's" comments and opinion.  This year on a given night any team in the NESCAC could feasibily beat another.  However, I stand by my earlier post.  There is a difference, albeit slight, among the teams in the league.  For the sake of a good debate, heading into this final weekend I would stack the teams as follows:  1st tier - Middlebury and Amherst, 2nd tier - Wesleyan and Tufts, 3rd tier - Williams, Bates, Bowdoin, 4th tier - All the rest.  Hopefully a few of my lower tier picks will prove me wrong :-)!

[Colby Hoops]

Love the "uncomplicated part unless Colby beats Conn on the 10th".  3 way tie for 8th with Colby over Trinity, Trinity over Hamilton and Hamilton over Colby..... Coin flip?  Royal rumble last team standing?  Point differential? Trinity because it will be easier for them to get to Middlebury for their thrashing? The possibilities are endless!

The three-way tie tiebreaker procedure:

3-way or more tie:
1. Best record among tying teams, against one another (head-to-head).
2. Most conference wins (in games that are part of the conference schedule and count toward league standings).
3. Comparison of results of conference games played against top 4 teams (including all teams at the 4th spot).
4. Comparison of results of conference games played against top 8 teams (including all teams at the 8th spot).
5. Comparison of results of conference games played against conference teams in rank order. Comparisons shall be
made one team at a time starting with the highest ranked team.
6. If the tie remains after comparing results against the highest ranked team, the results against the next team in rank
order shall be used. This process is continued until a winner is determined.
7. Coin flip (or similar random action involving all tied teams).

I think it's pretty much impossible to get to a coin flip.

Anyone gone through this to see who would actually be the 8 seed if Colby beats Conn, and everybody ends up at 2-8? Trinity, Hamilton and Colby all would have wins against Conn, and Colby over Trinity, Trinity over Hamilton, and Hamilton over Colby.

[amh63]

Colby Hoops.....it would hurt my head to try.  To hard.  Best to let this weekend play out and you will get your answer.  Let the NESCAC administrators earn their money.

[lumbercat]

I'm not a usual poster to this board but follow it regularly. I enjoy all the posts and information on the board.

I want to recognize a kid at Bates who seems to be flying under the radar of most NESCAC followers.

John Squires has really turned it on on for the Bobcats in NESCAC play. He's leading the conference in rebounding and averaging over 13 points a game. He has had a nice streak of double digit point and rebounds games recently. He is a force on the offensive glass at 6'8" and showed this with a buzzer beating tip in for the win against Trinity on Saturday .

Squires is among the very elite athletes in the NESCAC. He was all conference first team in Football as a split end this fall. He's followed that up with an outstanding Basketball year for Coach Jon Furbush's grinding Bobcats.
It takes special athlete to handle a demanding academic load and perform at such a high level in 2 different sports, especially in back to back seasons.

I'd like to gives Squires a tip of the hat and heres hoping some well deserved recognition will come his way when the all conference hoops squad is chosen.

One of the great things about the NESCAC is that it provides an athlete like Squires an opportunity to participate in more than one sport.

Furbush has built his Bates program on toughness in a style smilar to his predececessor Joe Reilly. The Bobcats are an entertaining and dangerous team who can position themselves very well in the Tournament with a win at Hamilton this Sunday.

[Old Guy]

I agree with Lumbercat and am glad to have a Bates poster. The Bobcats are an interesting team who could make some noise in the tourney. Mark Brust is one of the better guards in the league. Squires is worthy: just about a double-double - 12.3 points/game; 9.5 boards. He's third in the conference in rebounding. Can't shoot though.

I appreciate Bates' youthful coach, Jon Furbush, who remains composed during games, no matter how intense - unlike Colby's Strahorn who put of a vintage Whitmore-worthy show at Middlebury last Saturday, consistently berating the refs for three quarters of the game (while it was still a game), standing 2-3' on the court when the ball was in the other end. Don't know how he avoided a technical. 

[walzy31]

I'd like to gives Squires a tip of the hat and heres hoping some well deserved recognition will come his way when the all conference hoops squad is chosen.

He is definitely on the big board. Draft is this Sunday!

[Colby Hoops]

I agree with Lumbercat and am glad to have a Bates poster. The Bobcats are an interesting team who could make some noise in the tourney. Mark Brust is one of the better guards in the league. Squires is worthy: just about a double-double - 12.3 points/game; 9.5 boards. He's third in the conference in rebounding. Can't shoot though.

I appreciate Bates' youthful coach, Jon Furbush, who remains composed during games, no matter how intense - unlike Colby's Strahorn who put of a vintage Whitmore-worthy show at Middlebury last Saturday, consistently berating the refs for three quarters of the game (while it was still a game), standing 2-3' on the court when the ball was in the other end. Don't know how he avoided a technical.

Strahorn is clearly aware that Colby leads the NESCAC in All-Crazy coaching selections and wants to keep it that way

[OchoLoko41]

I agree with Lumbercat and am glad to have a Bates poster. The Bobcats are an interesting team who could make some noise in the tourney. Mark Brust is one of the better guards in the league. Squires is worthy: just about a double-double - 12.3 points/game; 9.5 boards. He's third in the conference in rebounding. Can't shoot though.

I appreciate Bates' youthful coach, Jon Furbush, who remains composed during games, no matter how intense - unlike Colby's Strahorn who put of a vintage Whitmore-worthy show at Middlebury last Saturday, consistently berating the refs for three quarters of the game (while it was still a game), standing 2-3' on the court when the ball was in the other end. Don't know how he avoided a technical.

In the category of All Crazy Coaching both Furbush and Strahorn, as talented as they are as coaches, dont hold a candle to Trinity's James Cosgrove.  While I have no knowledge of the man besides what I see on the court, that persona is a certified lunatic 

[pjunito]

Highlights from Albertus/Trinity game last night....

http://www.ctnow.com/videogallery/67927885/Sports/albertus-magnus-vs-trinity-highlights-02/07#pl-62894825