MBB: NESCAC

[ac08]

And let's remember, last year Midd--a clear number one seed--got shipped out to Rochester for the sectionals. And it was Midd who advanced to Salem. Hosting guarantees nothing.

Though I sure look forward to Friday night's games being in Pepin. 

I envy you! I remember Amherst being in a similar situation in '08 and being shipped off to Plattsburgh St. Most guys were over the disappointment pretty quickly...moving on is much more difficult as a fan.

Enjoy the atmosphere this weekend.

[jumpshot]

Amherst may have difficulty with a good Franklin & Marshall team this Friday night in Lancaster. I have seen F&M play this year ---Milligan is a good guard and Gyokchyan is an unorthodox skilled power forward unlike anyone in NESCAC. F&M has height, speed, quickness, and depth. Also Glenn Robinson makes in-game adjustments well. Should be a physical contest. F&M's soft spot is a weak schedule.

[Bucket]

Amherst may have difficulty with a good Franklin & Marshall team this Friday night in Lancaster. I have seen F&M play this year ---Milligan is a good guard and Gyokchyan is an unorthodox skilled power forward unlike anyone in NESCAC.

Amherst has faced Ryan Sharry--the best power forward in the nation--twice. And he's the epitome of skilled, as dangerous beyond the arc as he is on the blocks. Perhaps you are emphasizing the "unorthodox" nature of Gyokchyan (maybe he's ambidextrous!). Whatever the point, he's neither the most versatile nor best power forward Amherst has faced this year. I doubt he will present anything the Lord Jeffs can't handle.

[magicman]

Me too!...Magicman.   Who do you have in the front court?   I really do not understand fantasy-type play.  Not smart enough.

I have Hayk Gyokchyan from Franklin & Marshall left alive. I also had Peter Bunn from Hope and Chris Blees from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps but their teams have been eliminated. Gyokchyan put up 46 fantasy points last night and Bunn gave me 36. Still have 4 players alive and hope to ride my "NESCAC Three" of Toomey, Workman, and Kizell all the way to Salem. Obviously your chances of winning the Fantasy League increase if the players you selected continue to advance in the tournament. Much better to have a player who gives you 20 fantasy points a game for 4, 5 or 6 games, than a big scorer who puts up a huge number but only plays in 1 or 2 games. You can follow the Fantasy League on the NCAA Tournament Fantasy League board, which can be accessed from the Multi Regional Topics page.

[magicman]

Amherst will have to go to Franklin and Marshall for the sectional. That's a long trip. I was assuming they'd go to MIT.

It's interesting that Amherst is facing a very similar situation to Midd's in 2011. Panthers won the NESCAC and got a first round bye, but then had to travel for sectionals due to NCAA rules (500-mile rule was in play for one of the participants, St. Mary's). Panthers not only had a long trip (6 hrs to Rochester), but played the host on Friday.

A year later, Amherst wins the NESCAC, gets a first round bye, but then has to travel for sectionals due to NCAA rules (Amherst women get dibs on LaFrak for sectionals; men had rights for regionals). Lord Jeffs not only have a long trip (Lancaster), but play the host on Friday.

If it's any comfort to Lord Jeff faithful, we know how things turned out last year.

-------
Now, on to more important things.  So happy the Panthers are hosting sectionals this year. The last two nights Pepin was electric. Can't wait for next weekend.

Last Thursday on the SUNYAC board I predicted that Middlebury would be awarded the sectionals if they got to the Sweet 16. Yesterday on the LEC board I supported Bucket in his response to an Eastern Connecticut poster who felt that the winner of the Oswego State-Eastern Connecticut game would get to host the sectional. I said that all roads would lead to Middlebury. I was hoping that Oswego State would be there but last night's thriller in Oswego ended up on the wrong side for my rooting interests. Glad to see the Panthers get to experience NCAA fever though. We had a sectional here in Plattsburgh a few years ago and there's nothing quite like it. (Although it's a much better feeling if you win it.) I'm confident that the Panther's have the team and coach to do it. And if you remember I did predict a Final Four trip for Middlebury back on January 25th after I watched the Panthers play against Plattsburgh State. I hope that prediction proves to be as good as my sectional prediction was.  

[r.w. mcnickels]

They did that anyway with Cabrini being ranked higher then F&M in the regional rankings.I really think Cabrini got robbed.

Perhaps d3hoops has the best explanation. Maybe, in a toss-up, it came down to "rotation of sites":

Middlebury: There didn't seem to be a clear reason to choose Middlebury or Cabrini, but the NCAA definitely owes Middlebury after last year, and "rotation of sites" is one of the criteria.

I can certainly understand Cabrini's disappointment. But between the two teams, Cabrini and Middlebury, you cannot make an argument that one clearly deserved to host over the other. It was a toss-up. Maybe "rotation of sites" was the deciding factor. Maybe it was the fact that Cabrini's students would be on break and Midd's would not. Maybe MIT declined to apply for hosting, virtually guaranteeing a NE regional with Midd as host. We'll never know.

But to say that one team was robbed would require the team that was hosting to be considered undeserving, and I fervently believe that's not the case. It was essentially a coin flip, with happy and disappointing outcomes, but no one was robbed.

And let's remember, last year Midd--a clear number one seed--got shipped out to Rochester for the sectionals. And it was Midd who advanced to Salem. Hosting guarantees nothing.

Though I sure look forward to Friday night's games being in Pepin. 

Another possibility is that the Amherst women set off a domino effect that resulted in Midd hosting. Since the Amherst men couldn't host, and presumably MIT and Staten Island didn't apply, the "upper right" sectional had to be played at F&M. The NCAA likely didn't want two sectionals so close together in PA (Lancaster and Radnor), so even though Cabrini was a No. 1 seed, the Cavs got shipped to Vermont. I think there's a chance that if the Amherst men hosted, Cabrini would be hosting this weekend.

[LarryBasketball33]

They did that anyway with Cabrini being ranked higher then F&M in the regional rankings.I really think Cabrini got robbed.

Perhaps d3hoops has the best explanation. Maybe, in a toss-up, it came down to "rotation of sites":

Middlebury: There didn't seem to be a clear reason to choose Middlebury or Cabrini, but the NCAA definitely owes Middlebury after last year, and "rotation of sites" is one of the criteria.

I can certainly understand Cabrini's disappointment. But between the two teams, Cabrini and Middlebury, you cannot make an argument that one clearly deserved to host over the other. It was a toss-up. Maybe "rotation of sites" was the deciding factor. Maybe it was the fact that Cabrini's students would be on break and Midd's would not. Maybe MIT declined to apply for hosting, virtually guaranteeing a NE regional with Midd as host. We'll never know.

But to say that one team was robbed would require the team that was hosting to be considered undeserving, and I fervently believe that's not the case. It was essentially a coin flip, with happy and disappointing outcomes, but no one was robbed.

And let's remember, last year Midd--a clear number one seed--got shipped out to Rochester for the sectionals. And it was Midd who advanced to Salem. Hosting guarantees nothing.

Though I sure look forward to Friday night's games being in Pepin. 

Quick look at the other teams in Middlbury's section seem to show they are more guard oriented than big dominant.  With trio of Kizel, Thompson and Wolfin all experienced at getting the ball to bigs when they need to, this may bode well for the Midd guys up front. Sharry as always was dominant in a spot when he needed to be vs AM.  Lynch is very efficient almost always seems to take high % shots.  Roberts stuffs up the middle and is more deft around the basket than I thought he might be.  Wish he would lay off shots past 10-12 feet. Roberts is a pure energy guy who might have had Midd's toughest basket this season with a jaw dropping layup in traffic vs AM. Jensen just gets better and better every game.  Fun to watch his motor running.  The wild card in this and most games is Sinickson.  At times, he shows flashes which are physically amazing, with a mid range jumper that always looks like it's going in.  At other times he looks like what he is, a freshman with his best basketball in front of him, especially on the defensive end where he needs to have better footwork. Once he has that, he should be a shotblocking machine in the NESCAC.  If Midd drops their shots from the charity stripe, I think
they are in for a very special weekend.

[amh63]

Magicman...thanks for the response.  Since you picked the big man from F&M, maybe you can provide us Amherst poster some "scouting" info on him.  Never mind, ignorance is bliss.
Being from up in the north country of NY, you maybe interested in a men's hockey game at Amherst this weekend.  Amherst is hosting Plattsburgh in a NCAA game.  It seems that while all this talk about BB games, the Amherst and Midd. hockey teams were fighting for the conference championships last weekend.  The Amherst men won at Amherst and the Amherst women's team lost to Midd. in VT.
I know, this is a BB board....still the Amherst and Midd. battles go on elsewhere.
Since Staten Island is in the "Amherst" pod, I tried to look them up on the web.  Talk about low key athletic website....could not even find it.....I know I'm not too swift on the computer....still it leads me to believe that Staten Island may not have applied for the chance to host the sectionals.  Athletics doesn't seem to be a priority there, IMO.
On the other hand....Magicman....Middlebury will be hosting a women's hockey game this weekend against Plattsburgh...got there and see a MBB game too.  Go to Amherst and catch a WBB NCAA game.   So many choices!

[Reserved Seat]

Hayk is a 6'8" forward who played guard for most of his career.  He was a member of the Lebanon under17 and under19 teams.  He has a lot of moves under the basket and is constantly pivoting  left and right before he goes up with the shot. Hayk's shots come from all directions. One of his strengths is his passing skills. His biggest weakness is his inconsistency.

'unorthodox skilled power forward'--I've been watching F&M since '66.  During that time F&M has had numerous good power forwards(including several All-Americans), but Hayk's shot is definitely the most non-traditional of the rest.  He adjusts better to the defender than most power forwards who have several key moves.

[Bucket]

He has a lot of moves under the basket and is constantly pivoting  left and right before he goes up with the shot. Hayk's shots come from all directions. One of his strengths is his passing skills. His biggest weakness is his inconsistency.

Sounds a lot like Sharry! Except for the inconsistency part. Sharry finished 8th in the country in fg percentage at 63 percent.

[Reserved Seat]

Hayk has about 70% good games and 30% off nights.
Hopefully for F&M, Friday is a good game.
Salandra, the other forward, ended the season at about 65%.

[magicman]

Magicman...thanks for the response.  Since you picked the big man from F&M, maybe you can provide us Amherst poster some "scouting" info on him.  Never mind, ignorance is bliss.
Being from up in the north country of NY, you maybe interested in a men's hockey game at Amherst this weekend.  Amherst is hosting Plattsburgh in a NCAA game.  It seems that while all this talk about BB games, the Amherst and Midd. hockey teams were fighting for the conference championships last weekend.  The Amherst men won at Amherst and the Amherst women's team lost to Midd. in VT.
I know, this is a BB board....still the Amherst and Midd. battles go on elsewhere.
Since Staten Island is in the "Amherst" pod, I tried to look them up on the web.  Talk about low key athletic website....could not even find it.....I know I'm not too swift on the computer....still it leads me to believe that Staten Island may not have applied for the chance to host the sectionals.  Athletics doesn't seem to be a priority there, IMO.
On the other hand....Magicman....Middlebury will be hosting a women's hockey game this weekend against Plattsburgh...got there and see a MBB game too.  Go to Amherst and catch a WBB NCAA game.   So many choices!

amh63

Not sure why you couldn't find the Staten Island team website but here's a link to get there:

http://www.csidolphins.com/index.aspx?tab=basketball&path=mbball

Yes, big hockey weekend coming up for my hometown Plattsburgh State Hockey teams. Unfortunately both men's and women's teams have to travel. Plattsburgh men with a big win over the weekend as they beat Oswego to win the SUNYAC championship. Women not so lucky as they dropped a 2-1 decision to RIT on the road. Still happy they made the field. Our women were the only team to beat RIT this year as we had a win and a tie against them in our regular season meetings. I expect both teams will play hard but think the men will be up against it playing in Amherst while the women will have a tough road against a Middlebury team that beat them earlier 4-1. The women did manage a 4-4 tie against the Panthers in a 2nd game several weeks ago. Win or lose it was a good season for both teams as they were both fairly young. The women return a ton of talent next year as their top nine players will all be back.

[Pat Coleman]

You kknow what would be cool, would be if there were a website that linked to all Division III schools so you don't have to struggle to look them up.

[WPI89]

I guess Amh63 (one of the true gentlemen on the boards as you know Pat) must not be carrying his IPAD around with him on vacation! 

[amh63]

Pat....I guess you are directing us to your creation...D3hoops.  Thanks for the thought.  The last time I was any good with software/computers was when I did my thesis on an IBM 360 (yes punch cards and all) in Fortran language at MIT....so I will not be able to do the linking in today's software tools/languages.
Magicman....thanks again.  Seems that Staten Island beat RIC (a common opponent of Amherst) due to a great night by a "small in size" guard that had 40 points.  Will try to search for the site by my previous route...stubborn, I am.
WPI89....Your comment with respect to the Amherst's WBB chances over the weekend was proven correct....especially after Amherst won the first game by over 50 points.   I actually do not have an IPAD yet...waiting for the new one to come out.  Have been on vacation for over a decade....that is my problem with new technology as I revert to a fountain pen and hardcover books, etc.  I got lazy with computers and such as I tended to hire others to write software....still can read programs a little. My tech smart grown kids just laugh.