MBB: NESCAC

[AmherstStudent05]

Midd has had some real struggles on both offense and defense this season, it's not outrageous to assume their worst night is going to be very, very bad.

9 games in, Midd has also yet to play a game with its complete team, so I'm still reserving judgement. The guys who have missed time have looked really good in spots (Daley against Alvernia, Sinnickson against Baruch, Jensen against Skidmore). With this week bringing the possibility of everyone being back, I'm eager to see how things unfold.

I caught most of the Salve game (credit Salve for sure, but something clearly wasn't right with Midd -- not an excuse, just a pretty obvious observation) and it struck me that Midd still has seemingly yet to find a go-to rotation.  As with most things, this can be interpreted as a sign of strength (great depth), or of weakness (no clear identity).  I know that injuries have clearly complicated things, but it also seems that different Midd posters are high on different guys: Kizel (obviously), Jensen, Merryman, Daley, St. Amour, Roberts, Sinnickson, Brown, Bullock, Nidenburg, Huff (have I left anyone out?).  I was just curious to hear from our Midd regulars if they have a preferred starting 5/main rotation at this point in the season.  In other words, what is the "core" of this year's Panther team likely to look like? Or do you guys think that Coach Brown may have a legitimate 10-11 man rotation and simply ride the hot hand or the best matchup?

Thanks for the recruiting update, nescac1.  Got to hand it to Coach Maker.  It really seems as though he will hunt down recruits anywhere (if anything, he seems to have an aversion to New Englanders -- DR notwithstanding of course).  As I mentioned earlier, I fully expect Williams to bring in a large class this year to try to put an end to the chronic depth issues they seem to have had in recent years.

Finally, as for Amherst, I really hope the guys aren't making the same mistake I am guilty of making: namely, overlooking Eastern Connecticut in favor of the conference action that will finally get underway this weekend.  The Warriors are a really solid team and should pose a very stern test for my Jeffs.  Hopefully we can enter conference play on a winning streak.

[P'bearfan]

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2013-14/week5

New top 25 has been released:

Williams #5; Amherst #8; Bowdoin #24 

Middlebury dropped out of the rankings this week. 

Congrats to the P'bears!  Hope they can keep the momentum (and great play) going!

[Vandy74]

Midd has had some real struggles on both offense and defense this season, it's not outrageous to assume their worst night is going to be very, very bad.

9 games in, Midd has also yet to play a game with its complete team, so I'm still reserving judgement. The guys who have missed time have looked really good in spots (Daley against Alvernia, Sinnickson against Baruch, Jensen against Skidmore). With this week bringing the possibility of everyone being back, I'm eager to see how things unfold.

I caught most of the Salve game (credit Salve for sure, but something clearly wasn't right with Midd -- not an excuse, just a pretty obvious observation) and it struck me that Midd still has seemingly yet to find a go-to rotation.  As with most things, this can be interpreted as a sign of strength (great depth), or of weakness (no clear identity).  I know that injuries have clearly complicated things, but it also seems that different Midd posters are high on different guys: Kizel (obviously), Jensen, Merryman, Daley, St. Amour, Roberts, Sinnickson, Brown, Bullock, Nidenburg, Huff (have I left anyone out?).  I was just curious to hear from our Midd regulars if they have a preferred starting 5/main rotation at this point in the season.  In other words, what is the "core" of this year's Panther team likely to look like? Or do you guys think that Coach Brown may have a legitimate 10-11 man rotation and simply ride the hot hand or the best matchup?

.

AmhertStudent05....It's good to see I'm not the only night owl.  What should have been about a 5 1/2 hour bus trip to Salve turned into a 9 hour one.  The team was on the court half an hour after getting off the bus.  As you said, not an excuse, just an observation.  Kizel was 16-18 from the stripe and the team shot 77.5%.  Jensen had 11 boards and 4 steals.  Except for being 0-3 during one 30 second interval Merryman was 7-9 from the floor.  Like all of the Panthers' losses this season it was still a winnable game going into the final minute of play.   And your observation that a totally healthy Middlebury squad is eleven deep in players who have far too much talent already displayed this season not to warrant significant PT is also correct.  The problem Coach Brown still has is to determine how best to utilize it.  I attended a pre-season  team scrimmage that was designed to help resolve that but as a result of a series of players dealing with injuries and illness the Plattsburgh game tonight will be the first time the squad has been as healthy as it was that afternoon when only Jensen was unable to participate.  As Bucket and I have both mentioned Middlebury has been without two players from your list in every single game this season.

Assuming that Daley and/or Sinnickson do play tonight Plattsburgh is still a worrisome opponent.  They are also a team deep in players who see a lot of action.  They have 4 who average double digit points per game.  They made a good UW-Stout team look foolish in Daytona a week ago.  They play the Panthers tough every year but have not tasted victory since February of '08 when the then 14th ranked Cardinals came back from a 22 point deficit in the second half to win in Pepin.  I haven't checked the weather report for this afternoon and early evening but if it were to take an extra hour or so to make the trip from Plattsburgh to Middlebury it wouldn't bother me a bit.

[TheHerst2and4]

apologize if this has already been posted,
Tufts picked up a commitment from Ben Engvall

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/3374/Tufts-Scores-with-Engvall.php

[magicman]

Vandy74,

I made an offering to the Weather Gods early this morning, the Cardinals will have a smooth, uneventful trip to Pepin, count on it. They will arrive in plenty of time, plus the women will take the court first, so the men will have ample opportunity to stretch their legs.
The Boys from the Burgh will meet you at the Two Brothers.

[toad22]

My guess is that the top team in the NESCAC regular season will end with 1 loss, then a couple of teams at 2 losses. Nobody appears to be so overwhelming that they'll go undefeated. 

[Charles]

apologize if this has already been posted,
Tufts picked up a commitment from Ben Engvall

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/3374/Tufts-Scores-with-Engvall.php

his coach wrote the NERR article.

[nescac1]

AmherstStudent05, I would love for Maker to bring in a large class, but I am also not holding my breath -- my sense is that admissions is very limited in terms of the number of recruits that are allowed, so unless guys are otherwise totally admissible and the ability to play hoops is just a bonus (not easy to find!), I would be surprised to see any deviation from the typical 3-4 member classes Williams brings in most years.  Considering that Williams hasn't brought in a single interior-oriented recruit three years running, if Maker does bring anyone else in, fingers crossed that he can play center ... once Mayer is gone, it is scary to think what the likes of George, Swords, Hudnut and Sabety will be able to do to the Ephs inside.  On the plus side, Williams should be loaded on the perimeter going forward.

Tonight should be a fun one in NESCAC, lots of interesting match-ups, in addition to the Amherst and Midd games, Bates vs. Brandeis should be illuminating as well.   

[Panthernation]

Plattsburgh preview http://sites.middlebury.edu/panthernation/2014/01/07/plattsburgh-state/

[amh63]

Contrary to other sources....The Amherst MBB game with ECSU in LeFrak will have a webcast/live stats.  Game on at 7PM.  Note time.  WBB game at the same time at RIC.  At present, the weekend games are noted on the Amherst website as only live stats......webcast will be there....Problem is to obtain the student announcers during Interterm!
The link to the game is via the Amherst website....go to the athletic page.
Vandy74....have dug yourself out, I see   I believe that AmhStudent05 has two factors/traits for keeping such hours....he is young and I believe he works in the city that never sleeps

[lemonjello]

41-30 Amherst at the half in LeFrak.  I haven't seen the whole game (and am "multitasking"), but here's what I've seen so far.  ECSU has hung tough, grabbing offensive boards and making things happen in transition.  Salzillo (sp?) has been a major jump-shooting threat, and Garrow also made the most of some 2nd-chance opportunities.

Good news for the Jeffs is that Ben Pollack is back.  He didn't start, but made his presence felt defensively with a few blocks and had some hustle rebounds.  Amherst may have even played some 2-big lineups with both Pollack and George (I don't remember exactly).  The scoring load has been fairly balanced between Toomey (8), Killian (10), and Green (11).  George has been quiet offensively, but has been his usual disruptive presence in the paint, blocking several shots and altering several more.

The search for bench offense continues, so far the only production is a Connor Gach 3 and a jumper by Joe Mussachia.  Nabatoff also played a few minutes to give Pollack a break, though he didn't have much of an impact.  It'll be interesting to see if Hixon continues to use the bench if the game stays this close.  My guess is he doesn't want to tire out his studs with Hamilton and Williams coming up this weekend.

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin survives a 2nd half rally from a surprisingly tough Bridgewater State team to win 64-59.  A couple of things stood out:

1) Bridgewater State played tenacious defense - they effectively double teamed Swords and applied solid full court pressure.  As a result Bowdoin committed 10 turnovers - many forced.

2) Odd shooting night for Bowdoin.  They were only 44.2% from the field but almost as good from behind the arc (42.1%)

3) Swords was very quiet overall in the game - especially in the first half during which he only shot twice if I recall.  He came to life more in the second half and finished with 7 pts and 5 rebounds.

4) Overall Bowdoin looked like this was their first real game in 3 weeks.  Give all the credit in the world to BSU who played tough then entire game.  It wasn't the prettiest win but hopefully it scraped off the rust and the P'bears will find a higher gear for this weekend's games.

[AmherstStudent05]

Amherst defeats Eastern Connecticut 94-81.

I didn't catch the game, so I don't have too much to add.  Despite not having their best shooting days (a combined 3-14 from deep), Green and Toomey still managed to lead the way for Amherst -- 21 and 18 points respectively.  Kalema also seems to have had his best game of the season with 19 points.  Obviously, he is a critical "X factor" for us.

As LemonJello said, the biggest news of the night was the return of Ben Pollack. Ben had 12 points on 6-7 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds.  Most interestingly, as LemonJello astutely noted, Hixon had Pollack and George on the court at the same time for a few minutes.  Unfortunately, I couldn't see how the spacing worked, but if Hixon can get this bigger lineup to work in a fairly efficient fashion, it would obviously be a HUGE boost for us as it would provide some flexibility should anything happen to our starting backcourt.  Also nice to see Gach get some big minutes.

Anyway, now we can move on to all important conference play. I, for one, cannot wait.

[amh63]

Did watch the game on a spotty video and followed a bit on live stats.  The first half was close because of Garrow of ECSU hustle and shooting.  FY Lindo?....the one with the flattop... is a rebounding machine at 6'5"...great leaping ability but not much on the offensive side yet...based on the two games I have watched.  ECSU dominated the boards in the first half, especially on the offensive boards.  Yes, Green and Toomey were off on the 3's....Toomey got his first in the second half...so they went for the 2's.  It was Kalema and Killian who made the 3's.  Considering Pollack as the starting center, all five starters were in double figures.  George was slowed down a little by getting 4 fouls.  If you consider the #5 position...George and Pollack had a double double....16 points and 11 rebounds and 7 blocks. I'll take that any day. Best news....the low TOs for Amherst.
ECSU had many more rebounds and shot better from outside..50%.. but Amherst shot over 55% from the field....many from layups of the fast breaks.  Early on, Amherst was getting beat inside...but adjusted well, imo.  ESCU is a solid team and will challenge for the LEC title.

[madzillagd]

Bowdoin survives a 2nd half rally from a surprisingly tough Bridgewater State team to win 64-59.  A couple of things stood out:

1) Bridgewater State played tenacious defense - they effectively double teamed Swords and applied solid full court pressure.  As a result Bowdoin committed 10 turnovers - many forced.

2) Odd shooting night for Bowdoin.  They were only 44.2% from the field but almost as good from behind the arc (42.1%)

3) Swords was very quiet overall in the game - especially in the first half during which he only shot twice if I recall.  He came to life more in the second half and finished with 7 pts and 5 rebounds.

4) Overall Bowdoin looked like this was their first real game in 3 weeks.  Give all the credit in the world to BSU who played tough then entire game.  It wasn't the prettiest win but hopefully it scraped off the rust and the P'bears will find a higher gear for this weekend's games.

I was able to catch the whole game and I was a bit surprised by Swords' play after following his stats coming into the game.  I have to argue a bit about how effective the double-team was because he never attempted a single post move in the first half (double-teamed or not double-teamed) despite getting 15-20 touches.  They defense wasn't great, he was just so passive.  They dropped the ball to him, he never even attempted to make a move he just waited until he located the open man and kicked it out.  I think Bridgewater figured that out a bit and stopped double-teaming him on every possession which kept the shooters from getting open.

Once he finally got aggressive with about 6 mins to go in the game, he immediately had 2 dunk attempts (he made one, missed one) on rather simple drop steps.  The game opened up then because I think the light bulb finally went off that the 6'5 guys guarding him could not exactly guard him.  It will be interesting to see how aggressive/passive he is when he takes on some size in the NESCAC.  For them to knock off the better teams he really needs to force the issue I think.