MBB: NESCAC

[middhoops]

Nescac1, I don't have the statistical cred to give you any k.  But your assessment of scoring, lack of elite defensive teams and indeterminate rule change adjustments is absolutely on the mark.  I would have written the same thing if I could have done it as concisely as you did.
Vandy74 and I are still trying to sort out what we saw in four games here in Lancaster.  Officiating crews appear to have internally disparate views of what to call early this season.
Please keep the clear thinking analysis coming.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I totally agree about nescac1's anaysis, so I'll give the +k you're not yet able to.

[Old Guy]

Quick look around the league: another good night for big people. Swords only played 18 minutes (4 fouls) but had 18 points on 8-11 from the field and 2-3 from the line (9 rebounds, 4 offensive). Sabety fy from Tufts was on the all-tourney team, perfect 8-8 fg and 2-2 ft last night. Hudnut from Colby served notice that last year was only prelude - 27 (2 threes) and 12 in a losing cause. Middlebury's Matt Daley made the all-tourney team. David George fy at Amherst had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Mayer was Mayer. I realize the competition in some cases was not of the mid-season, league variety, but still. (Panther Nation - who'd I miss?)

More good tall people in the league than I can ever remember, no? And young ones, ready to make an impact early. Speaks well for the league. I have always been under the impression that tall kids in D3 were likely to be late bloomers, projects (Locke, Sharry to a degree). Not so this year certainly.

[jayhawk]

some under the radar notes. For Amherst, junior Joe Mussachia had a really nice first game , 11 points 8 rebonds. Joe is from a small high school but in his senior year received a lot of positive press and recruiting attention and was force..Had not played much previously.  Amherst forward, Tom Killian was more aggressive on the offensive side with 17 points as well as 11 rebounds. The graduation of Workman and Williamson has provided new opportunities for these two players.

For Tufts freshman point guard Tarik Smith has had two nice nights with multiple assists, late night with six. Tarik played at St Paul's and then Chesire Academy

[amh63]

Jayhawk , Old Guy, and Nescac 1,  pointed out almost all the things that I thought about in this YOUNG season...high scores/potent offenses and somewhat limited defensive efforts...based on the scores of opponents.
I went to the Brooklyn College website to get the box score stats...to check out the players times, etc.
First, Brooklyn College plays in the league with Staten Island, a school that's gone to the Sweet Sixteen just two years ago....played MIT at F&M.  Has size up front and at the guards and NY city BB skills.
Amherst started, Kalema, Killian , Pollack, Green and Toomey.  Pollack and Green played less than 20 minutes...due to fouls.  George and Joe Mussachia seemed to get most of their time on the floor.  Both scored well and rebounded well as others posted.  What struck me was that Kalema , Toomey and Killian each had 6 assists.  Six players had double figures in scoring with Toomey leading with 18 points.  Toomey based on the announcers was shadowed through out the game.  Amherst out rebounded Brooklyn and scored most of its points inside.  Both teams shot poorly from outside and were not stellar from the foul line!  Brooklyn had more steals than Amherst...8-6.
Other subs of note were SR Gach and FY Berman...one an outside shooting guard and the other a PG.
Will be more revealing next weekend in the Amherst tournament to see the player rotations and FY insertions...as well as coaches adjustments to the new rules. 
Though the young bigs' performances will be looked at with great interest, I will focus on the PG position.  I feel that the top tier teams need development of backup PGs.

[Old Guy]

Though the young bigs' performances will be looked at with great interest, I will focus on the PG position.AMH63

Feel that NESCAC has been a pg league for some time - special point guards at lots of different places - Wang, Olson, Rudin, Shasha, Zak Ray, and on and on - last year Toomey, Robertson, Wolfin/Thompson/Kizel, Hurley. This size in the league, though, . . . new.

Real dancing in the street tonight in Yaounde, Cameroon, my home for the year, as the Indomitable Lions, their national football team, just beat Tunisia 4-1 in a knockout game here in the capitol city - and will be headed for Brazil and the Coupe du Monde next July. There will be some serious drinking in Yaounde tonight. I watched the game at one of the modest bars in my neighborhood with some very happy people, speaking a French that I could barely understand (I think I may have agreed to marry some guy's sister).

Nice weekend for Young Guy and me: Midd gave notice that it is reloading, not rebuilding (Sinnickson - 4-5 from three! etc.) and the Lions qualified for the Really Big Dance. 

[Bucket]

The NESCAC bigs are getting well-deserved attention, but let's not overlook the guards who are living up to huge expectations. Because of their reputations, their pre-season accolades and the loss of key 2012-13 teammates, Aaron Toomey and Joey Kizel are going to be seeing everyone's best effort, night after night.

I know a question mark for the Panthers was who would be a reliable second scorer, and with Jensen out these first couple of games we were eagerly (anxiously?) waiting to see who could step up. Daley, Sinnickson, Merryman, and St. Amour all showed they could be that guy, and while our attention and excitement (for Panther fans, anyway) is well deserved, we shouldn't overlook what Joey is (quietly?) doing. Last night, a near triple-double of 24 pts, 9 assists, and 7 boards. 

[grabtherim]

I like the start for the Panthers against good competition.  The solid games from Kizel are no surprise, but the play of Daley, Sinickson, St. Amor and what looks like a maturing Merryman are very nice signs.  Looking forward to the return of Jensen and what Jake Brown brings to the table.

I believe the Panthers have to find someone other than Joey to get the ball up the floor under pressure in the big games to come.  Wolfin carried the load over four years occasinally being spelled by others including Kizel.  With Joey being keyed on more and more, the Panthers cant afford for him worn out bringing it up too much.  Who will do it?  I think we will get the answer before league games start in January. 

Word of caution for the Panthers.  In recent years, the game versus Green Mountain was little more than a scrimmage and a chance for the second tier players to see the floor.  A look at their roster shows a 6'10" freshman from OK, a 6'8" freshman from Spain, and 6'8" transfer from Carlsbad, CA.  How the heck did these guys find Poultney, VT? Nescac1 and I shoud meet for their barnburner versus S. VT on 11/21.  We can call it the Maple Syrup Bowl.       

The NESCAC bigs are getting well-deserved attention, but let's not overlook the guards who are living up to huge expectations. Because of their reputations, their pre-season accolades and the loss of key 2012-13 teammates, Aaron Toomey and Joey Kizel are going to be seeing everyone's best effort, night after night.

I know a question mark for the Panthers was who would be a reliable second scorer, and with Jensen out these first couple of games we were eagerly (anxiously?) waiting to see who could step up. Daley, Sinnickson, Merryman, and St. Amour all showed they could be that guy, and while our attention and excitement (for Panther fans, anyway) is well deserved, we shouldn't overlook what Joey is (quietly?) doing. Last night, a near triple-double of 24 pts, 9 assists, and 7 boards.

[Bucket]

I believe the Panthers have to find someone other than Joey to get the ball up the floor under pressure in the big games to come.  Wolfin carried the load over four years occasinally being spelled by others including Kizel.  With Joey being keyed on more and more, the Panthers cant afford for him worn out bringing it up too much.  Who will do it?  I think we will get the answer before league games start in January. 

I understand that Brown had established himself as that guy in practice before spraining his ankle earlier in the week. Though that's a lot of pressure on a freshman. Also I'm hoping that Pendergast can help out in this regard as the season progresses.

[amh63]

Glad there is still wit and humor on this board!
Worried about the partying of VT posters outside of VT   Thought you was looking for BB players Old Guy?
Grabtherim....your point about having someone else bring the ball up for Midd is right on the mark!  In the Brooklyn game, it seemed that Kalema was used to take the pressure/attention off of Toomey.  I saw that Williams FY guard was put in at times in games when Alvenia put the press on.  It should be noted that Tufts has a FY PG play well.  Bowdoin seemed to be a dangerous team with Swords being able to play big minutes and contributing greatly.  Without their PG, the other starters seemed to have stepped up....scoring wise.   Got to remember it is still only the start of the season.
Forgot, who is the Midd starter with the Prince Valiant haircut?
Speaking about hair.....Amherst website has updated mug shots of all the players.  Seems that almost all the Amherst starters have decided to leave their facial hair on for their pictures....even carried over to some FYs.  New trend?

[Bucket]

Forgot, who is the Midd starter with the Prince Valiant haircut?

Ha. That's Sinnickson.

[Vandy74]

We would like to thank the Middlebury parents for inviting us to their post game soiree.  James Jensen's parents went out of their way to make us feel welcome in what was a family oriented environment.  "These are the bloggers, Vandy74 and Middhoops...."
Such truly nice people.

Thanks again to the players and parents for making a couple of ol' hoops junkies feel like 'insiders'.

I finally have the opportunity to read over the posts I've missed the last two days and see little to add that someone else has not already expressed better than I would.   That includes the above but I must add my sincere thank you to Jim and Liz Jensen for their gracious invitation to join the post game parent/team festivities.  Ever since I was spotted wearing a NY Giants sweatshirt seated several rows behind them two seasons back running into the Jensens has been an added pleasure to attending the Panthers' home games.  Parents and players alike treated two old guys who came as fans more as friends and made us feel not just welcome but right at home.  As Middhoops said before me, Thank you again, and let's all enjoy another great season of Panther basketball.

[middhoops]

"Forgot, who is the Midd starter with the Prince Valiant haircut?"

Amh63, I sure hope that one doesn't stick.  You'd be remembered poorly by some very nice people.

[lefrakenstein]

Varun Ram, who played at Trinity two years ago, has walked on to the basketball team at the University of Maryland. Not too shabby.

http://www.umterps.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=716396&SPID=120728&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=29700&ATCLID=207325760&Q_SEASON=2013

[Vandy74]

"Forgot, who is the Midd starter with the Prince Valiant haircut?"

Amh63, I sure hope that one doesn't stick.  You'd be remembered poorly by some very nice people.

Hey Cuz,  Prince Valiant is why I buy the Sunday NY Daily News.   And if you want to go back 45 years or so that's a pretty fair description of Old Guy.   You had to be pretty darn valiant to play for those Panther squads.

BTW, OG, Franklin & Marshall featured 6-7 sophomore F Cedric Moune of Douala, Cameroon. 

Their women's team includes Emma Lisle, a 6-0 Sr F/C from Grafton VT out of Green Mountain Union.  In the two games the Lady Diplomats played in their own tournament she played 65 minutes with 22 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocked shots, 4 steals and 9 points.   One more product of Vermont high school basketball who can play some serious hoop at the next level.