MBB: NESCAC

[walzy31]

You guys lost all your momentum with all the "video quality nonsense".  Better get back on track.

NEWMAC is understandably dead - looking for my kicks from you guys!

Walzy how bout at least ranking your confidence levels for the 5 games this weekend?

I would put it:

1)  Amherst Men
2)  Amherst Women
3)  Williams Men
4)  Midd Men
5)  Williams Women

My order is slightly different:

1) Amherst Men
2) Middlebury Men
3) Williams Men

[Vandy74]

Kind of quiet here regarding Panther rooters.  I think memories of Scranton keep us a bit on edge.  I'm not one for analyzing individual match ups.  Middlebury has the talent to play with anybody.  In the last 4-5 seasons, with the exception of the Amherst 3OT game they have basically only beaten themselves, either by having key players get into early foul trouble or because of horrendous free throw shooting.  Neither has been a factor in the last two games.

It will be interesting to watch Warech play.  1000 points in D2 play certainly can't be taken any way but seriously.  Long before Coach Brennan put UVM basketball on the map and Coach Brown did the same at Middlebury, The only Vermont college basketball program with serious street cred was St. Michael's.  I checked them out recently and saw that they are D2.  It would be fun to see an annual match up between them and the Panthers.  They probably wouldn't do it.  It would be better than the 6 instate schools we play now and beat by 30 points. 

It will also be fun to watch Eli Maravich.  I saw his uncle play back in 1970.  A very mediocre Vanderbilt team held him to 22 or 23.  Big disappointment.  Apparently ex-LSU coach Dale Brown once charted the Pistol's shots and determined that with today's 3 pointer he would have averaged 13 of them per game.  That's taking it to a whole different level.

Here's to a 3-0 NESCAC weekend!

[Gregory Sager]

It will be interesting to watch Warech play.  1000 points in D2 play certainly can't be taken any way but seriously.  Long before Coach Brennan put UVM basketball on the map and Coach Brown did the same at Middlebury, The only Vermont college basketball program with serious street cred was St. Michael's.  I checked them out recently and saw that they are D2.

St. Michael's has been D2 since the division was created forty years ago. In fact, the Purple Knights played in the inaugural D2 basketball tourney back in 1973-74.

[Vandy74]

It will be interesting to watch Warech play.  1000 points in D2 play certainly can't be taken any way but seriously.  Long before Coach Brennan put UVM basketball on the map and Coach Brown did the same at Middlebury, The only Vermont college basketball program with serious street cred was St. Michael's.  I checked them out recently and saw that they are D2.

St. Michael's has been D2 since the division was created forty years ago. In fact, the Purple Knights played in the inaugural D2 basketball tourney back in 1973-74.

Was that a Richard Tarrant team?  I think he went by "Richie" back then but I don't trust my memory for much of anything anymore.

[Gregory Sager]

No, Tarrant played for St. Michael's in the early '60s, when the Purple Knights were in the NCAA College Division.

[Panthernation]

It will be interesting to watch Warech play.  1000 points in D2 play certainly can't be taken any way but seriously.  Long before Coach Brennan put UVM basketball on the map and Coach Brown did the same at Middlebury, The only Vermont college basketball program with serious street cred was St. Michael's.  I checked them out recently and saw that they are D2.  It would be fun to see an annual match up between them and the Panthers.  They probably wouldn't do it.  It would be better than the 6 instate schools we play now and beat by 30 points. 

Vandy, Middlebury and St. Michaels did play this fall, three halves of unofficial but hard fought basketball. It would make a good yearly rivalry game.

[Vandy74]

No, Tarrant played for St. Michael's in the early '60s, when the Purple Knights were in the NCAA College Division.

Yeah, that would make more sense.  Thanks.  I have a good friend who was at St Mike's in the early 70's who used to talk about Tarrant but I expect he had simply been told of the school hoop legend he had just missed seeing himself.  I was in school in TN in the early 70's so it makes no sense for me to remember the name as well as I do if that's when he was playing ball.  It also makes me feel a bit better that I'm confused about something that was going on when I was 10 or 11 rather than when I was 20 or 21.  

[Vandy74]

It will be interesting to watch Warech play.  1000 points in D2 play certainly can't be taken any way but seriously.  Long before Coach Brennan put UVM basketball on the map and Coach Brown did the same at Middlebury, The only Vermont college basketball program with serious street cred was St. Michael's.  I checked them out recently and saw that they are D2.  It would be fun to see an annual match up between them and the Panthers.  They probably wouldn't do it.  It would be better than the 6 instate schools we play now and beat by 30 points. 

Vandy, Middlebury and St. Michaels did play this fall, three halves of unofficial but hard fought basketball. It would make a good yearly rivalry game.

Really?  I wish I'd seen it.  It would be great to renew the rivalry for real.  Middlebury, Norwich, St. Michael's and UVM used to battle it out among themselves every year.  I truly enjoy the high level of competition that has developed in all sports since the NESCAC was formed, but for those of us old enough to remember a different era something has been lost as well.   It's nice to see Amherst, Williams and Wesleyan keeping the spirit of the Little Three alive with the additional game they play against each other that doesn't count in the NESCAC standings.

[middhoops]

Vandy, back in our day, St. Mikes was a power.  Tarrant was their greatest ever and graduated in '65 but Dick Falkenbush was only a couple years behind him, I think, and he was a really great player.
In the early and mid 70s they had outstanding teams and were better than D1 UVM.
Sadly, they have fallen on hard times and are an also ran in their D2 league.  If you were their coach, I'm fairly sure you wouldn't play Middlebury.  (Holy Cross probably hasn't called Williams lately trying to hook up again, either.)

[Vandy74]

Vandy, back in our day, St. Mikes was a power.  Tarrant was their greatest ever and graduated in '65 but Dick Falkenbush was only a couple years behind him, I think, and he was a really great player.
In the early and mid 70s they had outstanding teams and were better than D1 UVM.
Sadly, they have fallen on hard times and are an also ran in their D2 league.  If you were their coach, I'm fairly sure you wouldn't play Middlebury.  (Holy Cross probably hasn't called Williams lately trying to hook up again, either.)

Falkenbush!  That's a name I should have come up with.  It's really getting time to clean out the cobwebs upstairs.  Thanks Middhoops.  Those were some great St Mike's squads. 

I remember Williams' win over Holy Cross quite well.  I was living just outside NYC at the time helping to raise my late brother's children.  He was Amherst '78.  His wife's two uncles were both Williams grads.  Actually Holy Cross had been very good the season before.  I doubt the Williams game has helped their recruiting efforts since then.   

[Panthernation]

Our Ithaca preview post will be up tomorrow midday. Sorry about the delay (mid-term week).

With all the talk about student broadcasters this week, and since Middlebury has a unique start time (4pm), we thought we would share the link to our broadcast for the game tomorrow: http://boombox.middlebury.edu:8000/WRMC192
We really enjoy broadcasting, and though we don't get paid, we put a good amount of effort into making the broadcast passable. We just do the radio, so if you want to listen while watching the video you can mute the webcast. Our coverage will start around 3:40.

Ithaca is good, by the way (probably a better than the 20-25% chance of winning listed above)... three 1,000 point scorers (Warech 1385, Oztemel 1244, Rossi 1137 (plus 950 assists)... and Mitchell has 867 in two seasons...), haven't lost a game fully healthy since January, last three games: road wins over Stevens, Springfield, and Rochester.

[amh63]

All these posts containing BB memories.  I have one also related to the conference...a bit.
Stan Zeija, the Director of Medicine at Amherst and the trainer that works with the men's team has twin sons that were great players. They played on a very small "private" school....Hadley Academy..just south down Rt.9.  The small school of less than 200....maybe just over 100...went to the state finals....in a "Hoosier" type season. One of the sons played at Amherst and the other went to St. Michaels.  These players were not the same built and played different styles, I believe.  In any case, they battle each other, I read, on the courts growing up...even during college days.  I seem to remember that Amherst may have scrimmaged St. Michaels once at the time.  The Amherst's Zeija was quite a player for Amherst.
Vandy74.....thanks for providing the class of your late brother.  There was quite a player at Amherst at the time....Jim Rehnquist'77...who was a team mate of Coach Hixon'75 even....still holds many Amherst scoring records.  He is the father of the Williams WBB player Grace.

[Bucket]

And Jim's brother-in-law is the vice president for academic affairs at Middlebury. Connections abound.

[ronk]

All these posts containing BB memories.  I have one also related to the conference...a bit.
Stan Zeija, the Director of Medicine at Amherst and the trainer that works with the men's team has twin sons that were great players. They played on a very small "private" school....Hadley Academy..just south down Rt.9.  The small school of less than 200....maybe just over 100...went to the state finals....in a "Hoosier" type season. One of the sons played at Amherst and the other went to St. Michaels.  These players were not the same built and played different styles, I believe.  In any case, they battle each other, I read, on the courts growing up...even during college days.  I seem to remember that Amherst may have scrimmaged St. Michaels once at the time.  The Amherst's Zeija was quite a player for Amherst.
Vandy74.....thanks for providing the class of your late brother.  There was quite a player at Amherst at the time....Jim Rhenquist'77...who was a team mate of Coach Hixon'75 even....still holds many Amherst scoring records.  He is the father of the Williams WBB player Grace.

I remember when Jim was playing good high school ball here in Northern Virginia.

[warriorcat]

His father was James Rhenquist. Supreme Court Chief Justice.