MBB: NESCAC

[Panthernation]

I didn't see either the punch, or the ball go in.  My webcast was very choppy at the end, and I thought the shot rimmed out -- and according to the boxscore, it was a miss.  He clearly got the shot off before the buzzer, so if it went in, I can't understand why it didn't count. 

I was surprised Williams did not foul there -- I think they were under the limit, so I would have fouled as soon as the ball went into the post and forced them to reset with a second left.

Obviously I saw it wrong.  I did say it was confusing......for an old guy anyway.  My mistake.

The baseline jumper, released before the buzzer, bounced around and rimmed out, and a Hampden-Sydney rebounder tapped it back in after the buzzer. That could be the source of the confusion.

[grabtherim]

Great win for the Ephs.  And grabtherim, I can call it both ways
And yeah, I don't apologize for saying those three straight TO calls on Robinson (not to mention the early non-calls that led to the Maker T) were very questionable. 

Oh the humanity.  Southern VT, the team you all but elected the next Pope after beating the Ephs, has sandwiched losses to a strong 3-5 Union squad and juggernaut Hood College while needing double OT to beat D3 powerhouse Penn State Harrisburg.  Just having some fun with you and truth be told no one respects Maker as a coach more than me.  That said, anyone who has ever coached or wants to should take "working the refs" lessons from him.  No one is better at it.  He is in their ear up and down his sideline, never showing them up.  He only gets a "T" when one of them finally gets sick of the never ending complaining. 

[middhoops]

Great win for the Ephs.  And grabtherim, I can call it both ways
And yeah, I don't apologize for saying those three straight TO calls on Robinson (not to mention the early non-calls that led to the Maker T) were very questionable. 

Oh the humanity.  Southern VT, the team you all but elected the next Pope after beating the Ephs, has sandwiched losses to a strong 3-5 Union squad and juggernaut Hood College while needing double OT to beat D3 powerhouse Penn State Harrisburg.  Just having some fun with you and truth be told no one respects Maker as a coach more than me.  That said, anyone who has ever coached or wants to should take "working the refs" lessons from him.  No one is better at it.  He is in their ear up and down his sideline, never showing them up.  He only gets a "T" when one of them finally gets sick of the never ending complaining.

The man may have a point.  The refs called a total of 9 fouls in 40 minutes against Williams.  Hell, Salve Regina had that in the first 11 minutes of the game.   Maker is a master at being in the refs' heads at all times.

[nescac1]

Apparently, your definition of "respect" is "he needs to cheat to win."  Considering he was t'd up just a few minutes into last night's game, I'd say the refs had him on a pretty short leash. But hey, it's all good.  As for Southern Vermont, they have already septupled last year's win total.  They are a pretty good team the year after they were quite possibly the worst team in Division 3.  Williams still should have won, but the point, which you seem unable to grasp since you bring this up every other post, was that they made an absolutely amazing turnaround in just one year under a new coach. Not that they are some sort of elite powerhouse. They are still a great story without winning every game on the schedule.  And by the way they have only one more loss than Amherst does. 

Middhoops, Williams gets called for very few fouls year after year because they don't foul very much.  It's a coaching choice. The Ephs almost never press, don't aggressively pound the offensive glass, and take few defensive risks.  The philosophy results in few offensive boards or turnovers forced but low number of fouls and low opposing fg percentage.  This is true game after game, year after year.  It's a product of a system rather than any sort of skewed reffing. But good to see grabtherim setting up a "the Ephs only win because Maker works the refs" argument well in advanced of the upcoming rivalry games .   

[madzillagd]

I was just typing this and see Nescac1 responded already but here goes anyway...

I think you are doing a disservice to the players when you say the lack of fouls by Williams is a result of the coach's actions and not the players executing the game plan.  It's a conscious decision to limit the number of fouls a game and Williams does that well.  They are averaging 15.2 fouls a game, only Bowdoin is better at this point 13.6 which makes total sense since they have a massive shot blocker in there to back people up. 

[grabtherim]

Apparently, your definition of "respect" is "he needs to cheat to win."  Considering he was t'd up just a few minutes into last night's game, I'd say the refs had him on a pretty short leash. But hey, it's all good.  As for Southern Vermont, they have already septupled last year's win total.  They are a pretty good team the year after they were quite possibly the worst team in Division 3.  Williams still should have won, but the point, which you seem unable to grasp since you bring this up every other post, was that they made an absolutely amazing turnaround in just one year under a new coach. Not that they are some sort of elite powerhouse. They are still a great story without winning every game on the schedule.  And by the way they have only one more loss than Amherst does.
Middhoops, Williams gets called for very few fouls year after year because they don't foul very much.  It's a coaching choice. The Ephs almost never press, don't aggressively pound the offensive glass, and take few defensive risks.  The philosophy results in few offensive boards or turnovers forced but low number of fouls and low opposing fg percentage.  This is true game after game, year after year.  It's a product of a system rather than any sort of skewed reffing. But good to see grabtherim setting up a "the Ephs only win because Maker works the refs" argument well in advanced of the upcoming rivalry games .

No one called Maker a cheater or even insinuated that.  Not sure why you would read that into his or my comment.  "Unable to grasp"?  Really?  Today you call them a "pretty good team", a month ago after a huge upset of your dear Ephs you were fawning all over them.  If you know anything about coaching you would realize that the working the refs comment is in fact a compliment.  Finally, you really should not be allowed in the deep end of the pool with this gem:
"good to see grabtherim setting up a "the Ephs only win because Maker works the refs" argument well in advanced of the upcoming rivalry games:)"   
Amazing this stretch crossed your mind when it never remotely occurred to me or probably to anyone else, and by the way, a smiley face?  Are you in junior high?  Williams should beat Midd this year and perhaps Amherst too for one really good reason, they are a talented well coached team.         

[nescac1]

grabtherim, when the greatest compliment you can offer Maker is that he earns unfair calls for his players because he works the refs in no way shows that you respect his coaching acumen, whatever you say.  That is just simply laughable.  He is (like Jeff Brown and Dave Hixon) a very good coach because he knows how to coach basketball. 

As for Southern Vermont, you seem obsessed with this topic, as you post on it repeatedly, so let me try to clear this up once and for all.  You seem to have imagined comments that I made.  I actually went back and found what I wrote about SVT at the time. I overrated them slightly, but ONLY slightly, based on that game.  I called them "legitimately good" twice.  I stand by that, and would not call that "fawning all over" the team.  They have several very physical, very athletic guys up front.  (One of whom, a 6'10 center from Australia, has not played the last three games, by the way -- but I guess it only factors into the evaluation of a team when it is Middlebury players who are out of action).  I noted that Williams did not give them the Ephs' best game.  I also stated that "they are not an elite team or anything, but I am confident they will win over 20 games given the schedule they play."  They may fall a win or two short of 20, but I think that the odds are pretty good that they at least come close, especially if the big guy returns.   Again, I said they were "NOT AN ELITE TEAM."  But I still do think that with 1-2 more recruiting classes of the same caliber (remember, virtually the entire roster is new this year), they could become one.  Maybe I made a leap saying they would have the biggest single season turnaround in D-3 history, but if it's a leap, it's certainly not much of one.  Has any ONE-win team ever won even 16 games the following season??

Right now they are 7-3 -- meaning, they have the same number of losses as Middlebury.  This year, they've beaten Williams and beaten RPI by 21 (more than Midd's margin vs. RPI).  Yes, they lost to Hood, a Hood team that only lost by three to Stevenson (remember them?) and has a very solid record.  The 20 point loss to Union is the only really bad loss they have suffered so far.  They have been a bit inconsistent but actually seeing them play, I think they have more talent than the Salve team that beat Midd and roughly as much as the Emerson team that beat Amherst.  They are just young and new to playing together.  But the point is that last year, they were 1-24 and 1-15 in a poor conference, getting repeatedly blown out by other D-3 bottom feeders.  All but one of their conference games are still ahead of them.  As a Midd fan, you should be glad you aren't playing them.  If you can lose convincingly to both Stevenson and Salve, you most certainly would not be an overwhelming favorite vs. them, even if I would certainly rate Midd as a more talented team overall. 

You seem like a cynical, angry guy.  SVT is a great story.  Yes, as an Eph fan, I will admit that I very much WANTED them to be good to make the loss seem less problematic for the Ephs, since SVT had been SO BAD in prior years.  Even so, I feel like I've basically been vindicated both by SVT's good (albeit not spectacular) play since that time -- play which at the very least represents a tremendous turnaround from a truly absymal 2013 season -- and Williams' subsequent ten game winning streak.  But just as much, as a BASKETBALL fan, I was really excited about a great story -- a new coach bringing talent and energy to a previously moribund program, a rabid group of fans cheering them on as underdogs on the road, upsetting a titan of D3 hoops that had previously dominated them.  The game, and the SVT turnaround, are one of the best stories in Division 3 this year.  I'm sorry that you can't even remotely appreciate that and instead are apparently actively rooting for SVT to fail just so you can (unsuccessfully) play gotcha two months after the fact on a D3 hoops message board.  But I look forward to your next post after any other SVT loss where you try to stick it to me yet again. 

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin has spent the last week in Puerto Rico - mainly practicing and sightseeing.  They squeezed in 1 scrimmage against a local team.  While this wasn't their most challenging week this type of trip can help a team by building chemistry.

Their biggest problem right now is that their flight was diverted to Miami.  Initial reports were that they may not get out until Tuesday - which is a problem since they're scheduled to play Bridgewater State on Tuesday. 

Here's hoping that they have a safe and speedy return to Brunswick.

[madzillagd]

Yep - the Ephs are having a bit of a time getting home too.  At least they can sleep in the airport and don't have to study   

[middhoops]

Point accepted, nescac1.  Traditionally, the Ephs don't pick up aggressive or dumb fouls. 
Having watch coach Maker for a few years though, you must admit he makes it tougher for the refs to use the whistle.  This is NOT cheating.  I was trying to compliment him on a successful strategy.

As for Southern Vermont; they may have a few losses but I'm pretty sure no one wants to play them this season.  I wonder how much of a target they are as the 'almost winless team who reloaded and beat Williams'?  If the Mountaineers keep the coach and players they have now, next year could be even better.

Keep and eye on Castleton, too.  They are scrappy as hell and already beat WPI.

[grabtherim]

grabtherim, when the greatest compliment you can offer Maker is that he earns unfair calls for his players because he works the refs in no way shows that you respect his coaching acumen, whatever you say.  That is just simply laughable.  He is (like Jeff Brown and Dave Hixon) a very good coach because he knows how to coach basketball. 

As for Southern Vermont, you seem obsessed with this topic, as you post on it repeatedly, so let me try to clear this up once and for all.  You seem to have imagined comments that I made.  I actually went back and found what I wrote about SVT at the time. I overrated them slightly, but ONLY slightly, based on that game.  I called them "legitimately good" twice.  I stand by that, and would not call that "fawning all over" the team.  They have several very physical, very athletic guys up front.  (One of whom, a 6'10 center from Australia, has not played the last three games, by the way -- but I guess it only factors into the evaluation of a team when it is Middlebury players who are out of action).  I noted that Williams did not give them the Ephs' best game.  I also stated that "they are not an elite team or anything, but I am confident they will win over 20 games given the schedule they play."  They may fall a win or two short of 20, but I think that the odds are pretty good that they at least come close, especially if the big guy returns.   Again, I said they were "NOT AN ELITE TEAM."  But I still do think that with 1-2 more recruiting classes of the same caliber (remember, virtually the entire roster is new this year), they could become one.  Maybe I made a leap saying they would have the biggest single season turnaround in D-3 history, but if it's a leap, it's certainly not much of one.  Has any ONE-win team ever won even 16 games the following season??

Right now they are 7-3 -- meaning, they have the same number of losses as Middlebury.  This year, they've beaten Williams and beaten RPI by 21 (more than Midd's margin vs. RPI).  Yes, they lost to Hood, a Hood team that only lost by three to Stevenson (remember them?) and has a very solid record.  The 20 point loss to Union is the only really bad loss they have suffered so far.  They have been a bit inconsistent but actually seeing them play, I think they have more talent than the Salve team that beat Midd and roughly as much as the Emerson team that beat Amherst.  They are just young and new to playing together.  But the point is that last year, they were 1-24 and 1-15 in a poor conference, getting repeatedly blown out by other D-3 bottom feeders.  All but one of their conference games are still ahead of them.  As a Midd fan, you should be glad you aren't playing them.  If you can lose convincingly to both Stevenson and Salve, you most certainly would not be an overwhelming favorite vs. them, even if I would certainly rate Midd as a more talented team overall. 

You seem like a cynical, angry guy.  SVT is a great story.  Yes, as an Eph fan, I will admit that I very much WANTED them to be good to make the loss seem less problematic for the Ephs, since SVT had been SO BAD in prior years.  Even so, I feel like I've basically been vindicated both by SVT's good (albeit not spectacular) play since that time -- play which at the very least represents a tremendous turnaround from a truly absymal 2013 season -- and Williams' subsequent ten game winning streak.  But just as much, as a BASKETBALL fan, I was really excited about a great story -- a new coach bringing talent and energy to a previously moribund program, a rabid group of fans cheering them on as underdogs on the road, upsetting a titan of D3 hoops that had previously dominated them.  The game, and the SVT turnaround, are one of the best stories in Division 3 this year.  I'm sorry that you can't even remotely appreciate that and instead are apparently actively rooting for SVT to fail just so you can (unsuccessfully) play gotcha two months after the fact on a D3 hoops message board.  But I look forward to your next post after any other SVT loss where you try to stick it to me yet again.

C'mon no smiley face?  I will add one at the end of the post so you can feel better.   Angry? Cynical?  No,  but I reallyenjoy getting a rise from you with anything which resembles less than a compliment of the Ephs. FYI, I happen to know Mike from this and other jobs. He is a hell of a coach who happens to work refs well. Just because I did not go into other details on what he does well does not make it "laughable" to appreciate that.  Stick to whining about "bad calls" and building up teams who dare to upset your beloved team. Youre good at both. 

[nescac1]

Middhoops, no worries, I wasn't directing my comments at you, as you (like the bulk of the Midd fans here) always keep it classy. 

Speaking of reffing, has anyone else noticed that the early season emphasis on calling any and all contact has abated?  I think the players have adjusted a bit, but also, the refs have most certainly been laying off the whistles, at least in most games, relative to the early season.  A very, very welcome sight. 

[P'bearfan]

Speaking of reffing, has anyone else noticed that the early season emphasis on calling any and all contact has abated?  I think the players have adjusted a bit, but also, the refs have most certainly been laying off the whistles, at least in most games, relative to the early season.  A very, very welcome sight. 

I'm not sure if it's the refs, the players or me just getting used to everything but the calls have made more sense to me in the last couple of games I've watched.  There seem to be fewer "ticky tack" calls. 

[pick and roll]

Grab the Rim - Mike Maker says hey and he'll see you at work tomorrow!

[jayhawk]

Changing topics Amherst may have recruited a very fine player in John McCarthy who will be a freshman next year
In an AAU summer tournament which was highlighted by a number of D-1, D-2 all stars, John McCarthy was all tournament (http://nehoopnews.com/news/basketbull-summer-championships-mvp-and-alltournament-team#.UsdSiaXDODU)

Another service rating MA hoops player called McCarthy one of the better shorting guards in MA and maybe New England  (http://massprepstars.com/news-events/saturdays-recap-from-the-super-16)- i

His high school does not get much press compared to other private schools

Always hard to predict how this will translate into college play
That said he played in a local summer league team and I saw him play thought there was a reasonable  chance that he could be starting 2 guard  on this year's Amherst team at shotting guard if he was a freshman. - In the summer league game i saw him play he was the point guard.