MBB: NESCAC

[jumpshot]

For amh63 and others who have difficulty coping with being upset at losses by favorite NESCAC teams in all sports ---

Simply remember that "the game" is for the current players, and while many of us played multiple sports in NESCAC schools in the past (and perhaps therefore can best understand and appreciate the life-long gifts to be treasured from participating), these amateur athletic events are not really intended to influence the self-acceptance of alumni (although, of course, everyone enjoys winning and some of us are natural lifelong "competitors.")

Therefore, negative comments about individual participants have no place here in my opinion---most players are working hard to gain a top-notch education, while participating to the best of their ability in competitive, small college athletics.

Not preaching, just saying ....

[Vandy74]

Vandy, I know you were just laying a dark morning trap for us, but I know you meant Emerson, not Skidmore, when referring to Coach O'Brien.

Covering my back as always, Cuz.  Do I pay you enough?

[amh63]

Redskins was out of the game at halftime.....weather getting icy.....turned to the Big Four Tourney at Tufts today for some "armchair scouting" of future Amherst opponents.....Babson and Brandeis....next week away...and Tufts. The advantage of technology makes it easy....yet for me it is hard to watch closely on-line when one's team is not playing.
Live games do keep my attention.  Wonder if any Amherst coaches are at the games today....or watching/taping the games.  With semester coming to an end, do not expect team players are watching the games.  Got to hit the books?
Missed the earlier Tufts vs Brandeis game but caught it on the video copy.  High scoring game with Tufts leading at the half but losing the game.  Both teams playing man to man and running up and down the floor...very up-tempo and more playground like, imo.  Little defense on both sides...players throwing up shots from everywhere.  Surprised that Tufts did not have more structure and tried to control the game flow. 
The title game between Babson and Salem State is another high scoring game....with the teams playing in a more structured offense and both teams playing man to man.  Both teams have good big players down low.  Babson has a FY player....local MA boy that has scored over 30 points in both games this weekend....6'4", 200 lbs...same size as Conner Green of Amherst.  Wonder who will guard him on the Amherst team.  Plays the 3 position for Babson, I believe.  Babson is a "What can you do for me today" team in that if you look at their record to date, you cannot easily determine what to expect.  In the Babson invitaion early in the season, they beat Skidmore handily...a team that posters have just praised.  Yet, they lost badly...by 12 points to Bowdoin in Maine.  Swords did not dominate in that game.
Brandeis, has a smaller team but a high scoring guard...over 19 points a game and over 8 rebounds per game...a 6'2' guard and a senior.  He will remember beating Amherst in LeFrak  last season.  Wonder who will guard him...on Tuesday.  Hope Killian is back.  Not easy games ahead for Amherst...a team that has to learn to win tough games on the road.
Jayhawk...enjoyed your reserved, but still optimistic post.
Amhstudent05...liked your post too and respect your opinion.  Charger fan or a Giant fan?
Really need to attack the stack of books, I bought.  Still have not figure out the reason for the Amherst trip to Miami to play Nova Southeastern.  Know that Coach Hixon sees it as a learning experience for his team.  Getting deeper in Hixon's doghouse

[P'bearfan]

Finally had a chance to look at the stats from the Bowdoin - Colby game and thought I'd share a few more thoughts:

-As others have pointed out, this was another great shooting game with the P'bears going 50% from the 3 pt line for the second consecutive game.  In this game they were lead by Sr Andrew Madlinger who was 6-9 from behind the arc.  Really nice to see the seniors having great games.

-Originally I thought that this game was proof that Bowdoin could win with Swords on the bench for much of the game.  While Swords did get into foul trouble early in the second half, this game really didn't provide that proof as Swords played 29 minutes overall.  He did sit for 8:18 seconds in the second half when he picked up his 4th foul.  And during that time Bowdoin scored 20 points and increased their lead to 19 - both positives indeed. 

For the last few games Swords has been going to the bench around the 13 or 14 minute mark in each half with the FY Fuller coming in and playing a total of 14 minutes/game.  In the Colby game Swords was only out for 3 minutes in the first half (Fuller subbed in for Pieri).  As well as Bowdoin is playing now they will almost certainly face a situation this season where foul trouble means that Swords needs to sit and his total minutes drop to ~20 or less.  That game will be a real challenge and hopefully they'll rise to meet it.

Btw, I was surprised that Swords didn't go to the bench when he picked up his 3rd foul 27 seconds into the 2nd half.  I wasn't able to see the game at that point so I may be missing some context.  In the end it all ended well so we'll go with it.

[P'bearfan]

From a NESCAC perspective, the most significant event of the first semester has been the emergence of Bowdoin as a major power. With Swords' emergence as a top big man, it looks like Bowdoin is a serious threat to win the league title. It has been a while since that has happened! If Hurley can make it back from injury this year, Bowdoin could be a national power. 

toad - appreciate the optimism and support but I think the P'bears still have a lot to prove.  No question they're playing well right now and I hope it continues.  In part I think they've been fortunate from a scheduling stand point.  Their schedule has pitted them against increasingly challenging opponents which has given them a chance to gel as a unit early on.  Of course the play of Swords and Mathias has been just terrrific and has filled what otherwise could have been big holes.

One big difference this year is that Bowdoin seems to be winnig the games they should win - e.g. last year the pushed Williams right to the edge and played Amherst tough after getting down early.  However that same team lost to St Joe's (Me) by 20.  Games like that just kinda left you scratching your head.

There have been a couple games this year (Bates and I think USM) where Bowdoin let the other team jump out to a quick lead and the offense just wasn't there.  They won't be able to do that if they want to make a push into the top tier of the NESCAC.

[toad22]

One thing to remember about Bowdoin is that they have started the season without their most important player, Hurley their PG. Normally, when you lose your PG, if he is really good, you collapse, remember Amherst when Meehan went down. The fact that Bowdoin is still good, tells me that Bowdoin has a chance to be very good.

[P'bearfan]

One last comment about the Bowdoin-Colby game - the webcast was very interesting.  Someone posted earlier that the lighting is well in a word - dark.  That was certainly the case.  Also for the first 5 - 7 minutes of the game the picture was completely out of focus.  It was so fuzzy that I couldn't even pick out Swords and Hudnut.  Then magically (and happily) it sharpened.

Last year a few posters commented that the home team announcers (often students) were let's say a little too enthusiastic and biased regarding their team.  Well the Colby announcer was the exact opposite.  He was completely matter of fact and displayed very little to no emotion.  In the first half he was constantly getting the Bowdoin players names mixed up.  At one point he had Hurley on the floor and since the picture was so fuzzy I couldn't tell that he was really referring to Grant White!

Finally, the announcer did something I have never, ever heard anyone else do - he audibly yawned several times during the second half.  You really wondered if the guy was going to nod off. I appreciate that this is a D3 college game and not the NBA finals but really?!

[lumbercat]

Welcome to Colby College coverge of Athletics-  neck 'n neck with Hamilton and Conn College for the worst in the Conference.

[NEhoops]

As the semester winds down its still hard to fathom how many teams have had to deal with injuries to key players. The health of these teams is going to be a huge factor in how the league ultimately plays out. I was hoping to provide some updated conference power rankings, but because of the injuries its too hard to really project that at this point. No real surprises and its clear to see that this is going to be a very exciting NESCAC season.

Safford is at another level (2nd in scoring/1st in assists), right now there isn't anyone else I'd want to have the ball with the game on the line.   
 

[Mr. Ypsi]

One last comment about the Bowdoin-Colby game - the webcast was very interesting.  Someone posted earlier that the lighting is well in a word - dark.  That was certainly the case.  Also for the first 5 - 7 minutes of the game the picture was completely out of focus.  It was so fuzzy that I couldn't even pick out Swords and Hudnut.  Then magically (and happily) it sharpened.

Last year a few posters commented that the home team announcers (often students) were let's say a little too enthusiastic and biased regarding their team.  Well the Colby announcer was the exact opposite.  He was completely matter of fact and displayed very little to no emotion.  In the first half he was constantly getting the Bowdoin players names mixed up.  At one point he had Hurley on the floor and since the picture was so fuzzy I couldn't tell that he was really referring to Grant White!

Finally, the announcer did something I have never, ever heard anyone else do - he audibly yawned several times during the second half.  You really wondered if the guy was going to nod off. I appreciate that this is a D3 college game and not the NBA finals but really?!

An announcer for Calvin College had a really embarrassing (but funny) happening Friday night: he got a call from his sister in Florida on his cell during the broadcast!   He fairly quickly told her he was in the middle of a broadcast and he would call her back!

Gregory Sager (who broadcasts for North Park) said when he started out veterans told him 'time and score, time and score'; he said he would now tell new broadcasters 'time and score, and don't forget to turn off your cellphone before you go live'!

[nescac1]

Very interesting first part of the season in NESCAC is nearly completed.  All of the major injuries before or during the season to anticipated pre-season all-NESCAC candidates like Palleschi, Ferris, Haladyna, Matarazzo, Mayer, Jensen, and Hurley has allowed other guys to shine, and the depth of talent in NESCAC revealed early this season has been impressive despite the collective injury woes.  Tufts has certainly suffered the worst luck and it's no surprise that the Jumbos have picked up four early losses -- you just can't lose your top three returning offensive threats for all or most of the season to date, and expect to survive that. 

Right now, a first-team all-NESCAC team would probably go something like Safford, Toomey, Kizell, Wohl (similar to Workman last year, does a bit of everything for Williams on both the offensive and defensive end), and Swords, which I don't think anyone would have anticipated.  Once Mayer is healthy, he will likely reestablish himself as a top player as well.  Second-team contenders would include Taylor Epley (best shooter in the conference right now, can get a shot off with an inch of space and has extended his range, but Robinson and Wohl are doing a bit more for the Ephs in other areas), Duncan Robinson (playing with tremendous poise and ability on both ends of the floor, and if anything is too unselfish offensively), Connor Green (kind of the opposite of Robinson in mindset, right now an elite scorer who has the entire offensive package, but for a high-usage perimeter guy, needs to do more to get teammates involved -- as reflected by low number of assists -- if he wants to be recognized as more than just a scorer), Rashid Epps (a beast inside for Wesleyan, relentless and physical), Matt Hart (overlooked a bit because he plays for Hamilton, but has continued to build on a stellar first-year, would be talked about as a future all-American if he played for Midd/Williams/Amherst), Mike Boornazian (as expected making a big leap forward as a soph, but overshadowed a bit by Safford's insanely hot start) and James Jensen (needs more games under his belt).  Right now, the early-season NESCAC MVP is probably NOT one of the four pre-season all-Americans, but instead either Safford or Swords (although Toomey could also make a case). 

Touching on one other comment from yesterday, while being overly harsh on individual players here is, I agree, not a good idea, I don't think that saying someone had a rough day or needs to improve on a particular aspect of his play is problematic.  I mean, I know it's not D-1, but top NESCAC players were virtually all high school superstars and hotly-pursued recruits who take basketball pretty seriously, and who are used to having their games dissected.  I think if you ask NESCAC players if they'd rather hear (a) no attention at all, (b) only empty platitudes, or (c) in-depth ESPN.com level analysis such as the Panther Nation guys provide, even if that occasionally includes criticism of on-court play, almost every single guy would choose (c), because it's a sign that the level of play in NESCAC is being taken seriously.  I didn't read any comments about individual players in recent days that struck me as out-of-bounds or inappropriate, certainly. 

[middhoops]

(from nescac1) "  I didn't read any comments about individual players in recent days that struck me as out-of-bounds or inappropriate, certainly. "

I searched for that too and came up dry. 

[Charles]

Very interesting first part of the season in NESCAC is nearly completed.  All of the major injuries before or during the season to anticipated pre-season all-NESCAC candidates like Palleschi, Ferris, Haladyna, Matarazzo, Mayer, Jensen, and Hurley has allowed other guys to shine, and the depth of talent in NESCAC revealed early this season has been impressive despite the collective injury woes.  Tufts has certainly suffered the worst luck and it's no surprise that the Jumbos have picked up four early losses -- you just can't lose your top three returning offensive threats for all or most of the season to date, and expect to survive that. 

Right now, a first-team all-NESCAC team would probably go something like Safford, Toomey, Kizell, Wohl (similar to Workman last year, does a bit of everything for Williams on both the offensive and defensive end), and Swords, which I don't think anyone would have anticipated.  Once Mayer is healthy, he will likely reestablish himself as a top player as well.  Second-team contenders would include Taylor Epley (best shooter in the conference right now, can get a shot off with an inch of space and has extended his range, but Robinson and Wohl are doing a bit more for the Ephs in other areas), Duncan Robinson (playing with tremendous poise and ability on both ends of the floor, and if anything is too unselfish offensively), Connor Green (kind of the opposite of Robinson in mindset, right now an elite scorer who has the entire offensive package, but for a high-usage perimeter guy, needs to do more to get teammates involved -- as reflected by low number of assists -- if he wants to be recognized as more than just a scorer), Rashid Epps (a beast inside for Wesleyan, relentless and physical), Matt Hart (overlooked a bit because he plays for Hamilton, but has continued to build on a stellar first-year, would be talked about as a future all-American if he played for Midd/Williams/Amherst), Mike Boornazian (as expected making a big leap forward as a soph, but overshadowed a bit by Safford's insanely hot start) and James Jensen (needs more games under his belt).  Right now, the early-season NESCAC MVP is probably NOT one of the four pre-season all-Americans, but instead either Safford or Swords (although Toomey could also make a case). 

Touching on one other comment from yesterday, while being overly harsh on individual players here is, I agree, not a good idea, I don't think that saying someone had a rough day or needs to improve on a particular aspect of his play is problematic.  I mean, I know it's not D-1, but top NESCAC players were virtually all high school superstars and hotly-pursued recruits who take basketball pretty seriously, and who are used to having their games dissected. I think if you ask NESCAC players if they'd rather hear (a) no attention at all, (b) only empty platitudes, or (c) in-depth ESPN.com level analysis such as the Panther Nation guys provide, even if that occasionally includes criticism of on-court play, almost every single guy would choose (c), because it's a sign that the level of play in NESCAC is being taken seriously.  I didn't read any comments about individual players in recent days that struck me as out-of-bounds or inappropriate, certainly.

Actually they don't. Not sure if you ever had a child play competitive high level sports, but they dislike adults critiqueing their games.

[nescac1]

I don't think college basketball players are really "children."  The distinction folks were making is that it is OK to analyze players' performance, at times critically, in D-1 (if it's not, we have an entire industry that needs to be eradicated), but not D-3.  I don't think most D-3 athletes would endorse that distinction.  I also know that back when Walzy (a D3 athlete himself) was putting together his annual "all-crazy" squads, which (playfully) mocked all manner of NESCAC players, at least several players were honored to be selected.  As long as criticism doesn't go overboard, or doesn't become personal (as opposed to commenting on play in particular game), I don't really see any issues.  And certainly I don't see any issues with anything that I read from the past day or so. 

[jayhawk]

thank you to recent comments by Toad22 and Nescac1