MBB: NESCAC

[middhoops]

Pretty boring stuff, but you can check out St. Mary's in their opening game with a full video replay.
http://mac.ezstream.com/play/index.cfm?fuseaction=embstay&id=40265A2918

I can save you some time.  Brendan McFall shot the lights out.  St. Mary's won.
The Sailors don't appear to be particularly athletic.  They go very deep against a weaker opponent.  It's doubtful they'll hit 75% of their 3s again any time soon.  Their center took two shots.

It will be interesting to see how they approach Matt Daley defensively.

[grabtherim]

Bucket, I think depth is the key.  Last night we saw a glimpse of what Jake Brown brings to the table: quick and confident with the ball.  Assuming Pendergast progresses, Jensen shakes off the rust between now and NESCAC play in January and Sinnickson is back in the mix, this team is deep.  Nidenberg and Huff are also serving notice that they want and may well deserve increased minutes.  The key will be how all of these guys react and perform in the big games in January, February and beyond which are a far cry from Tuesday night versus Green Mountain in November.  The luxury Midd had over the past few seasons was guys who were thrown in those games early (Wolfin, Thompson and Kizel),  and reacted well to them.  Will St Amor, Brown and the emerging Sophs do the same?  The answer may well tell the tale of the Panthers season.  Regarding this weekend: While you want to win every game, a loss this time of year while you are finding out who you are as a squad is not the worst thing that could happen.     

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.

[nescac1]

Question of the day: how many points would Aaron Toomey score if given free reign in Grinnell's system.  Could he top 150?  Would 200 be in play? 

[middhoops]

nescac1, who would you nominate as the paid patsy for any NE team to pull the Grinnell stunt?

[jayhawk]

I have been impressed with how Jeff Brown of Middlebury has developed a series of big men into All-NESCAC players
Few of these players had significant high school reputations

[Clutch]

anybody heading down to Maryland?

[amh63]

Watched the Amherst WBB game last night primarily.  The score of the Middlebury game defused my interest; checked in on the Hamilton game when they were behind for awhile.  Actually went to the Tufts' game...impressed with the picture clarity but was turned off by the audio problem...like one was listening to sound under water...problem went away when announcement was made.  Since there was no game announcer, the annoying noise caused me to go elsewhere.  Amherst game was fine with the sound, but the video was not HD.  Getting spoiled with all these free webcasts...we have come a long way from just a few seasons past.  Now if they can only get new music at live games.

[Old Guy]

nescac1, who would you nominate as the paid patsy for any NE team to pull the Grinnell stunt? MiddHoops

We had a modified answer to this question in 2012. Midd played RPI in their gym in 1912 and won 123-111. RPI was playing their version of the "system." Ryan Sharry had 41 points on 19-23 shooting. I wasn't at the game so can't provide first-hand analysis, but I was told many of his hoops were "bunnies," uncontested lay-ups at the end of the break. We didn't complain too much because Ryan was such a good fellow, but those stats sure didn't hurt his bottom line statistically that year.

[Old Guy]

I have been impressed with how Jeff Brown of Middlebury has developed a series of big men into All-NESCAC players
Few of these players had significant high school reputations Jayhawk

Jeff Brown deserves all the credit in the world, but he does have some help: one of his volunteer assistants is Russ Reilly, who doesn't travel with the team, but works every practice and home games. He preceded Jeff as Midd hoop coach, for 20 years, and then served as A.D.. He coaches "the Bigs."

[nescac1]

middhoops, I nominate Grinnell -- poetic justice, and the way they play defense, I think any number of NESCAC guys could drop 100 on them if that was the only goal. 

[Old Guy]

We had a modified answer to this question in 2012. Midd played RPI in their gym in 1912 and won 123-111. Old Guy

Old Guy Syndrome strikes again. 2012. Proofread better, English teacher.

[WPI89]

Holy cow - I liked the story so much more before the correction.  Given your monicker - I thought you were at the original game!   

[Panthernation]

nescac1, who would you nominate as the paid patsy for any NE team to pull the Grinnell stunt? MiddHoops

We had a modified answer to this question in 2012. Midd played RPI in their gym in 1912 and won 123-111. RPI was playing their version of the "system." Ryan Sharry had 41 points on 19-23 shooting. I wasn't at the game so can't provide first-hand analysis, but I was told many of his hoops were "bunnies," uncontested lay-ups at the end of the break. We didn't complain too much because Ryan was such a good fellow, but those stats sure didn't hurt his bottom line statistically that year.

The big difference though is that RPI used the strategy as the underdog, believing that it game them the best shot to win. Grinnell is scheduling non-NCAA teams in order to set individual records. RPI believed its best chance to beat an overpowering opponent was to run their own version of the system, which led to a lot of Ryan Sharry points.

This is almost the Grinnell-Crossroads example in reverse. No one would have complained had Crossroads used a non-traditional approach to challenge Grinnell and Jack Taylor scored 100 points because of Crossroads' strategy. It's the intent that matters, not really how or why the points were scored, though of course a 41- or 109-point performance should be appropriately contextualized if it happens on open layups rather than by breaking down the defense through great individual play. And to that point, I don't think anyone made much of a commotion about Ryan's performance against RPI. Certainly more was written about other more impressive performances that included fewer points because of the defensive approach that Ryan faced.

[Mr. Ypsi]

middhoops, I nominate Grinnell -- poetic justice, and the way they play defense, I think any number of NESCAC guys could drop 100 on them if that was the only goal.

I don't know if any team has tried for individual records against Grinnell (most coaches have a better grasp of sportsmanship than Coach Arsenault apparently does), but I'm sure many schools have their record team total against them (and probably usually in a lopsided win).  The IWU team record is 132 (vs. 91) set against you-know-who in a 2001 playoff game (we have never scheduled them, and I doubt we ever would).

[middhoops]

Perhaps I'm too judgemental, but I wonder why the NCAA doesn't step in and challenge the sportsmanship issue regarding Grinnell men's basketball and these silly circus games.  The absence of an action is tacit approval.  No?