MBB: NESCAC

John Gleich · November 14, 2013, 09:04:46 AM

Quote from: toad22 on November 13, 2013, 09:09:13 PM
The height of a team doesn't seem to me to be very important. When the game was on the line, the best recent team at Williams (2010), featured a team with no one over 6'5". It is the quality of the players, and the team, that makes the difference.

Wasn't Troy Whittington over 6'5"? He sure played taller than that (at least in the few games I watched).

nescac1 · November 14, 2013, 09:34:51 AM

I think Troy was listed at either 6'5 or 6'6, depending on the year, if memory serves. But he most definitely was NOT any taller than 6'5, and even that may have been pushing it a tad. He had extremely long arms for his height, ridiculous jumping ability, and unusual strength and quickness for his size, all of which combined to make him nearly unstoppable (when healthy, unfortunately he suffered a spate of serious injuries which hampered him at times including, in particular, vs. Wooster in the national semifinal) during late in his junior and throughout his senior year.

amh63 · November 14, 2013, 10:32:09 AM

Ronk...eastern h.s.. The forward on that John Carroll team had the nick name "monk" who went on to play for ND...being around 6'5" tall...and later as a priest became the Pres. of Notre Dame. One of the guards was George Leftwitch who went on to play college ball in Philly. Spoke with him a few years ago when he was the coach at Sidwell Friends..before leaving to be the AD at St. John's , I believe.

middhoops · November 14, 2013, 10:52:13 AM

Not sure if actual height always matters with explosive big guys. Troy Whittington played 6-9+, regardless of actual measurement.
Typically D3 bigs play much smaller than their D1 counterparts. Many D3 centers play below the rim, but still play effectively. Michael Mayer is a great D3 player who rarely dunks.

Bucket · November 14, 2013, 11:19:08 AM

Quote from: amh63 on November 14, 2013, 10:32:09 AM
Ronk...eastern h.s.. The forward on that John Carroll team had the nick name "monk" who went on to play for ND...being around 6'5" tall...and later as a priest became the Pres. of Notre Dame. One of the guards was George Leftwitch who went on to play college ball in Philly. Spoke with him a few years ago when he was the coach at Sidwell Friends..before leaving to be the AD at St. John's , I believe.

George left Sidwell to be the AD at his alma mater, Carroll. I had the privilege of coaching with him at Sidwell for several years. A great man, George Leftwich.

Bucket · November 14, 2013, 11:21:16 AM

Tis (almost!) the Season:

http://steadyshegoes.com/2013/11/14/tis-almost-the-season/

grabtherim · November 14, 2013, 11:38:01 AM

Every Midd home game over the nice run the Panthers have been on for the past 4-5 years has been preceded by John high fiving the players during warmups. If memory serves, the players tried to get him up on the ladder to help cut down the net at Williams after the NESCAC Final in '11 but he was a bit afraid.

Quote from: Bucket on November 14, 2013, 11:21:16 AM
Tis (almost!) the Season:

http://steadyshegoes.com/2013/11/14/tis-almost-the-season/

Old Guy · November 14, 2013, 12:13:25 PM

I think Troy was listed at either 6'5 or 6'6 NESCAC1

No way. Whttington was at least 7'0". Eye witness, I saw him in person many times. Against Middlebury.

lefrakenstein · November 14, 2013, 01:11:59 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on November 13, 2013, 08:48:42 AM
The high praise for a first year player (George) by Hixon is unusual, and speaks volumes of his potential to be an early-impact guy in NESCAC. Despite the loss of Kaasila and Buckner, Amherst looks absolutely loaded at the five this year and in particular for years to come between Pollack, Sanderson, George, and Nabatoff. A luxury to have so many big guys with skills.

I'm really excited to get to see my second consecutive Amherst game live next Saturday after having not seen a single one for nearly 5 years. Amherst is definitely loaded at the 5 and obviously, the 1, but I'll be watching to see who will get he lion's share of the minutes at the 2/3/4 positions. Obviously Green/Killian/Kalema will take up quite a few, but you can't have all of them playing 40 minutes a game and there's not a lot of other obvious options to step in. Of the non-freshmen the only player who seems like he might be ready to get some meaningful minutes is Joe Mussachia. Of the freshmen, the season preview seems to suggest that only George will get a lot of playing time and it seems unlikely that Hixon would play him at the 4 next to Pollack given the coach's past history with multiple talented big men (see Kaasila/Holmes). It seems that either Mussachia stands to play a lot of minutes this year or one of the other freshmen needs to step up.

madzillagd · November 14, 2013, 01:28:50 PM

Based on your post it doesn't sound like you think Hixon will go with the 2 guard attack of Toomey/Kalema. With the lack of experience on the wing, I was thinking he might elect to start them both.

amh63 · November 14, 2013, 02:03:01 PM

Bucket...thanks for sharing

. And correcting my " fuzzy " memory wrt to the AD position. Like Old Guy, age will cloud my memory. Old Guy...you are wrong on Troy's "effective " height. Factoring his length and hops into the equation...I believe the result is closer to 6'11"... And there was his quick secondary leap to get the rebound after the block. The legend grows

LeFrak....expect a report here afterwards...since I don't think my sons will make the game

In any case...your thoughts on Joe M. agrees with mine. Actually, I believe Coach Hixon will try two bigs in the game at the same time..at 4 and 5. Working the newer bigs with the more experienced one. He has the depth. I also see rotation at the 3 and 2 positions depending on his needs during a game. Match ups with the opponent, rest for starters, offensive scoring or defensive stops. Kalema will be used with Toomey as well as a replacement for Toomey at times. Just as important, since Berry is hurt, is to give Berman playing time at PG.
Of course this all depends on how quickly the new players pick up the defensive schemes. As stated before, if you do not play defense well..especially under the new rules this year..you will not get playing time at Amherst.

lefrakenstein · November 14, 2013, 02:19:20 PM

Quote from: madzillagd on November 14, 2013, 01:28:50 PM
Based on your post it doesn't sound like you think Hixon will go with the 2 guard attack of Toomey/Kalema. With the lack of experience on the wing, I was thinking he might elect to start them both.

No, I do think he will. I am wondering who besides Kalema, Green and Killian will play at the wing.

old_hooper · November 14, 2013, 02:30:50 PM

Kalema and toomey will be on the floor together, they were last year a lot. Look for Kalema to have a big year. His stats as a Junior were stronger than Williamson as Junior. Different players but the impact this year could be to the team what Williamson was last year. Killian will also get more shots and will be very solid this year. The question is who will factor into the rotation and that is where I think if Berman is ready could be key player. A pass first PG that can contribute meaningful minutes with this group could be very valuable. Been following the Jeff's since 2000 and this might be the deepest they have been with bigs. This may cause Coach to think a little differently this year utilizing all the talent. You know Pollack will see major minutes and Sanderson should be able to contribute. When you have a player like George, how can you not use it. Then you also have Levine who has been groomed for two years. Green will be fun to watch this year. His decision making should be better and you know he will be one of the leading scorers on this team.

nescac1 · November 14, 2013, 02:42:31 PM

I agree that Amherst is loaded with promising young bigs, but other than Pollack none of them have done anything at all in game action yet. They clearly have the talent and in 1-2 years will likely be scary good on the interior. But no way that you can say that this Amherst team is deeper in terms of bigs than the national championship team, which was beyond loaded with experienced, proven big guys who they could play in waves: Hopkins, Jones, Goldsmith, Walters, O'Shea, Holsey. Is the current group more talented? Quite possibly. But when only one has experience in the rotation, hard to say they are deeper up front than that team, until they prove it on the court.

Mussachia was I recall a highly-regarded recruit. He seems like a good bet to be a strong contributor behind Green and Killian at the forward position now that he is an upperclassman. Amherst, Williams and Midd all look to be extremely deep this year, and all will have big battles for the final 2-3 rotation spots.

The only question with Green this year is whether he will average 15 ppg or closer 20 ppg. He and Toomey will likely combine to average around 40 in games that are contested ...

hoya73 · November 14, 2013, 03:13:47 PM

Not to pile on the George Leftwich tribute--he was also John Thompson's first assistant coach at Georgetown in 1972, when I knew him. He destroyed his knee after his freshman year at Villanova, after he led the freshman team in points, rebounds and assists (I believe). And that team had a 10 year pro, Wally (now Wali) Jones, on it. George could play.
And, by the way, the other big man on the Carroll team was a guy named Tom Hoover, who played in the ABA. Thompson, Hoover, Leftwich and Monk Molloy--not a bad squad.

Traveling to Brooklyn to see the LJs on Saturday. Agree on the rotation issue. Do they play small and go with Killian at 4, or do they use two bigs at the same time. The four spot is the interesting one, in terms of minutes, for me. Both Willy and Alan could eat minutes there last year.