MBB: NESCAC

[warriorcat]

Salve Regina   68
Conn College  34

This does not bode well for the Camels

[nescac1]

So much for Green Mountain ... glad to see Jake Brown playing for Midd, and with Jensen supposedly coming back as well, the team should be at full strength for the big St. Mary's showdown, which will be a good early barometer for just how high Midd's ceiling is ... so far, looks to be as high as last year, if not higher. 

[middhoops]

Jake Brown is special.  His motor runs a step faster than most top flight NESCAC guards.  He is a pure point guard.  Middlebury bigs and wings are going to love him.  He is also a shut down defender and will start accumulating what may become an impressive number of steals.
We got our first look at Bryan Jones tonight.  Like Jake Brown he is a speed burner.
Daley and Nidenberg keep looking more and more comfortable in the low block, offensively.

Heading into the Stevenson and St. Mary's games, Jeff Brown has many weapons to deploy for high scoring offense.  Defensively, all I can say is, welcome back James Jensen!! 

Dylan Sinnickson was not in the gym tonight.  Anyone know why?

[P'bearfan]

Bates came out of the half very strong and pushed St Joe's but ultimately fell short 82-77.  Bates is a much longer and more athletic team this year because of their freshman class.  The Delpeche twins played much of the second half and were in the game down the stretch accounting for 6 of their team's 7 total blocks.  Despite their added size and athleticism, Bates actually lost the rebouding battle (36-34).  A key difference in the game tonight was free throw shooting - Bates was only 10-19 (52.6%). 

I expect Bates will just get tougher as the season goes on and their freshman settle in and get a feel for playing with each other.

[Bucket]

From D3Hoops homepage:

"Cabrini, St. Mary's headline Hoopsville Classic"

Interesting.

[middhoops]

"From D3Hoops homepage:

"Cabrini, St. Mary's headline Hoopsville Classic"

Interesting."


Hey Dave, if you're reading.....that headline might indicate what a Mid-Atlantic D3 guy you are......

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Huh... did I write the article? Nope. But the Mid-Atlantic/Atlantic Region guy did... so that might explain some things.

Also, St. Mary's is #10 and Cabrini is #19 playing on the opening night... that is a headline game... ESPECIALLY for the Mid-Atlantic/Atlantic Region which that article was based as an Around the Region one (it wasn't an Around the Nation article). You will also see that the only other teams to grab sections of that article that are part of the Hoopsville Classic are Keystone, Salisbury and Stevenson... all Mid-Atlantic teams.

Sunday, #10 SMC plays #20 Middlebury... the other game of course that is headline grabbing, of course it also features a Mid-Atlantic team. But so is the game against Trinity (TX) and Ohio Wesleyan (ORV and NCAA tournament teams). Also, all of the other match-ups are solid games to watch.

I didn't write the article... but I do agree that St. Mary's vs. Cabrini is the headline game of the tournament since it features the two highest pre-season ranked teams and is one of two elite eight games of the weekend.

By the way, it doesn't mean there won't be articles written about Middlebury during the weekend...

[Vandy74]

Jake Brown is special.  His motor runs a step faster than most top flight NESCAC guards.  He is a pure point guard.  Middlebury bigs and wings are going to love him.  He is also a shut down defender and will start accumulating what may become an impressive number of steals.
We got our first look at Bryan Jones tonight.  Like Jake Brown he is a speed burner.
Daley and Nidenberg keep looking more and more comfortable in the low block, offensively.

Heading into the Stevenson and St. Mary's games, Jeff Brown has many weapons to deploy for high scoring offense.  Defensively, all I can say is, welcome back James Jensen!! 

Dylan Sinnickson was not in the gym tonight.  Anyone know why?

These games are always fun in that there is no real possibility of an upset and players fighting for more than marginal playing time as the season progresses get ample opportunity to state their case.  First time looks at Jake Brown and Bryan Jones.  Both impressed and Brown will be talked about on this board all season long.  I was also glad to see Chris Churchill see some game action.  He impressed me in the intra squad scrimmage, particularly during one 3-4 minute stretch.  If he can come off the bench and perform like that a few times this season he will have some real value.  Like Nate Bulluck, he's obviously spent some time in the weight room getting ready.  The team is loaded.  And Jensen returns Friday night.  I wish I could be there to see it.

GMC has some good players.  Several very capable shooters and Terry Jones would be a welcome addition to any NESCAC roster.  Thursday night they host Southern Vermont.  Both teams lost by 36 points to the Panthers last season.  The outcome of this game will be interesting.

Amh63....I've been reading Prince Valiant whenever I could find it since childhood.  I loved Hal Foster's artwork and the intelligently scripted story line.  I've always felt I was born in the wrong century.  Never felt at home in this one.  Interesting Amherst link with John Cullen Murphy Jr., class of '74.  My age.  Thanks for pointing that out.

[Panthernation]

Sunday, #10 SMC plays #20 Middlebury... the other game of course that is headline grabbing, of course it also features a Mid-Atlantic team. But so is the game against Trinity (TX) and Ohio Wesleyan (ORV and NCAA tournament teams). Also, all of the other match-ups are solid games to watch.

I didn't write the article... but I do agree that St. Mary's vs. Cabrini is the headline game of the tournament since it features the two highest pre-season ranked teams and is one of two elite eight games of the weekend.

Middlebury is the 18th-ranked team in the country.

[Vandy74]

Sunday, #10 SMC plays #20 Middlebury... the other game of course that is headline grabbing, of course it also features a Mid-Atlantic team. But so is the game against Trinity (TX) and Ohio Wesleyan (ORV and NCAA tournament teams). Also, all of the other match-ups are solid games to watch.

I didn't write the article... but I do agree that St. Mary's vs. Cabrini is the headline game of the tournament since it features the two highest pre-season ranked teams and is one of two elite eight games of the weekend.

Middlebury is the 18th-ranked team in the country.

Thanks for pointing that out PN.  It didn't make sense that Midd would have slipped down two notches based on the F&M tourney performance.  They were 18th preseason weren't they?  Is this the same poll?  Seems like they should have moved up some.  New rankings coming out soon perhaps.  Everything accomplished sans Jensen and Brown, as it were. 

BTW, great job with the Loons' 3rd place finish.  Never got around to giving you the big Congrats.  The Loons haven't flown that high since you two were in Kindergarten, if then.   Old Guy owes you a month of free utilities at the very least.  He's good for it.

[middhoops]

Vandy, I'll take So. Vermont against GMC and give you 22 points.

[Clutch]

Thinking Cabrini loses to St. Marys maybe plays close to Salisbury but comes up short and comes out with two losses, Middlebury on the other hand, will take it hard to St Marys and come up big, then we can start to see how good some of the teams really are.....with all due respect not so sure Cabrini is the same team unless Moss and Rafferty light it up this weekend.  Not deep nor too big it seems, although they have speed not so sure they will be as good as they were in the past barring break out games by Moss.  Have a feeling some teams will be exposed this weekend.
In light of this, I hope it is a great weekend for all hoops and student athletes participating and wish all safe travels and good luck.

[nescac1]

Cabrini is always tough to evaluate because they always have a few veteran players join the squad.  Looks like this year is no exception, with a senior D-II transfer in the starting line-up plus a big-time high school scorer (and former high school teammate of Walton-Moss) joning the team as well.  They are extremely small, even smaller than last year, which hurt them when they had to face a big team like Amherst, but I'm sure they will nonetheless be tough to beat once again.  And no one in D-3 can check Walton-Moss. 

[Bucket]

I didn't write the article... but I do agree that St. Mary's vs. Cabrini is the headline game of the tournament since it features the two highest pre-season ranked teams and is one of two elite eight games of the weekend.

Isn't Middlebury ranked higher than Cabrini? Not that it really matters—pre-season rankings are largely a crapshoot, borderline irrelevant, in my opinion, but if that is the criteria on which you are basing what is or isn't a headline game, then you either need to change your opinion of what is a headline game or change your criteria.

[Bucket]

Thinking Cabrini loses to St. Marys maybe plays close to Salisbury but comes up short and comes out with two losses, Middlebury on the other hand, will take it hard to St Marys and come up big, then we can start to see how good some of the teams really are.....with all due respect not so sure Cabrini is the same team unless Moss and Rafferty light it up this weekend.  Not deep nor too big it seems, although they have speed not so sure they will be as good as they were in the past barring break out games by Moss.  Have a feeling some teams will be exposed this weekend.
In light of this, I hope it is a great weekend for all hoops and student athletes participating and wish all safe travels and good luck.

I think it's certainly possible that Midd can do so, though I think the likelihood of this happening largely depends on how close to full-strength the Panthers are. Will Jensen be cleared to play? (We'll find out Thursday.) Was Sinnickson's absence last night a short-term situation or a longer term issue? Will Jake Brown be at full strength?

Can Midd win if all three questions have negative answers for the Panthers? Of course. There is a ton of depth and talent to this team. But against an elite team like St. Mary's and a solid Stevenson squad, Midd will want/need to be at as full strength as possible to leave Maryland with 2 wins.