MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Some comments wrt to the Tufts vs Midd game.  Yes DK was a beast...kept Midd in the game.  Palleschi may have played the best game of his brief career...inside and out...showed why he was the ROY...saw him live in LeFrak that year.  His outside game  to me is why I think he is harder to guard than the other twin tower.
Tank Smith was the other key player in the game.  Lost his starting position recently, he comes in and hits three...announcer stated he hardly never shoots three's...takes care of the ball better than his replacement no. 11...hits his foul shots and scores well.
Guess I better quit rooting for the Panthers...bad weekend for me.
The home court maybe the key to the race for the title this season....oops, Amherst meets Midd in Pepin in the last game of the regular season.

[toad22]

I wonder if the NESCAC will have any top 25 teams in this week's poll. I wonder when the last time that has happened?

[gordonmann]

Good question. I wonder if that's ever happened.

The NESCAC's weakest year in recent memory was 2009 when the conference had two teams make the NCAA tournament and both lost in the first round (Amherst to Gwynedd-Mercy and Middlebury to Bridgewater State). Middlebury stayed in the final poll of that season despite the loss.

In 2005, Amherst was the only NESCAC team to make the NCAA tournament. The Lord Jeffs had a bye in the first round, beat Springfield in the second and then lost to Rochester in the Sweet 16. They finished that season ranked 6th.

http://www.d3hoops.com/guidebook/2014-15/NESCAC.pdf

[Panthernation]

Colby's Luke Westman, who has always been a crazy-efficient shooter for a guard, has taken it up a level this year: he is shooting 73 percent on the year!  I'm not sure I've ever seen a NESCAC guard who scores over 10 ppg shoot over 60 percent from the field, let alone 70!  He's also attempting more shots this season, and averaging over 14 ppg.  He doesn't shoot threes (and I imagine he doesn't shoot many jumpers, period?) which I'm sure helps his average, but wow, that is an amazing stat for a point guard.  His stat line across the board -- 14 ppg, 4 rpg, 4 apg, 1.5 spg, .5 bpg, is really impressive.  Colby rebounded from a very poor stretch of play, four losses in six games including two really bad losses, to post a very impressive weak: beating top-25 Husson and then sweeping the Wesleyan/Conn road weekend.  Like almost every team in NESCAC, they are really hard to figure out, but certainly, they have two of the better players in the league, plus one x-factor guy in Willson.  When Willson is playing well, they are tough to beat. 

Duncan Robinson shot 75% on 2-point field goals in NESCAC play last year, same as Westman. Westman just takes far fewer threes. Which is to say that both were pretty crazy-efficient, and, as you acknowledge, that the context of three-point attempts is important: Robinson was better, in part, because he shot more threes, which lowered his field goal %. 

[grabtherim]

Good question. I wonder if that's ever happened.

The NESCAC's weakest year in recent memory was 2009 when the conference had two teams make the NCAA tournament and both lost in the first round (Amherst to Gwynedd-Mercy and Middlebury to Bridgewater State). Middlebury stayed in the final poll of that season despite the loss.

In 2005, Amherst was the only NESCAC team to make the NCAA tournament. The Lord Jeffs had a bye in the first round, beat Springfield in the second and then lost to Rochester in the Sweet 16. They finished that season ranked 6th.

http://www.d3hoops.com/guidebook/2014-15/NESCAC.pdf

Long way to go, it may well be one team to the Dance this year unless two squads really step up big time over the next month or so with one of them winning the conference tournament.  Not just for Midd, but for everyone, it may be the year to win enough to finish in the top 8 and then hope to catch lightning in a bottle in wide open tournament games. 

[NEhoops]

I think the following four teams will be getting votes, tough to tell if any of them will get enough to be in the Top 25:

Amherst - If anyone is in the Top 25 I think it will be the Lord Jeffs (not that I agree with this, but just projecting on behalf of the voters and they are currently the only NESCAC team in). Beat #21 ECSU on the road, won at Hamilton and lost to a very good Williams team on the road. Hosting Tufts and Bates this weekend, both talented and riding high. 

Bates - I think the Bobcats have the most impressive resume from the NESCAC at this point in the season. The argument could be made that they are a Top 5 team in the region, but still probably a few votes shy of the Top 25. Two quality wins this past week at home against Brandeis and Middlebury. Traveling to Trinity and Amherst this weekend, with a chance to make a statement.

Trinity - Don't look now, but the Bantams have won 10 in a row. Three good road wins against Manhattanville, Williams and Hamilton. Haven't seen them play this year, but clearly are getting the job done. Like Amherst, they host Tufts and Bates this weekend

Williams - I think we all realize that a 1-1 weekend vs. Trinity and Amherst can be viewed as a positive, home or away. Daunting road trip to ME (vs. Bow and Col) for the Ephs could shake things up. Both their games should be entertaining.     

[polbear73]

I think the following four teams will be getting votes, tough to tell if any of them will get enough to be in the Top 25:

Amherst - If anyone is in the Top 25 I think it will be the Lord Jeffs (not that I agree with this, but just projecting on behalf of the voters and they are currently the only NESCAC team in). Beat #21 ECSU on the road, won at Hamilton and lost to a very good Williams team on the road. Hosting Tufts and Bates this weekend, both talented and riding high. 

Bates - I think the Bobcats have the most impressive resume from the NESCAC at this point in the season. The argument could be made that they are a Top 5 team in the region, but still probably a few votes shy of the Top 25. Two quality wins this past week at home against Brandeis and Middlebury. Traveling to Trinity and Amherst this weekend, with a chance to make a statement.

Trinity - Don't look now, but the Bantams have won 10 in a row. Three good road wins against Manhattanville, Williams and Hamilton. Haven't seen them play this year, but clearly are getting the job done. Like Amherst, they host Tufts and Bates this weekend

Williams - I think we all realize that a 1-1 weekend vs. Trinity and Amherst can be viewed as a positive, home or away. Daunting road trip to ME (vs. Bow and Col) for the Ephs could shake things up. Both their games should be entertaining.     

Good analysis and really highlights that there are no easy NESCAC road trips this year. Everyone is fraught with peril.

[grabtherim]

I think the following four teams will be getting votes, tough to tell if any of them will get enough to be in the Top 25:

Amherst - If anyone is in the Top 25 I think it will be the Lord Jeffs (not that I agree with this, but just projecting on behalf of the voters and they are currently the only NESCAC team in). Beat #21 ECSU on the road, won at Hamilton and lost to a very good Williams team on the road. Hosting Tufts and Bates this weekend, both talented and riding high. 

Bates - I think the Bobcats have the most impressive resume from the NESCAC at this point in the season. The argument could be made that they are a Top 5 team in the region, but still probably a few votes shy of the Top 25. Two quality wins this past week at home against Brandeis and Middlebury. Traveling to Trinity and Amherst this weekend, with a chance to make a statement.

Trinity - Don't look now, but the Bantams have won 10 in a row. Three good road wins against Manhattanville, Williams and Hamilton. Haven't seen them play this year, but clearly are getting the job done. Like Amherst, they host Tufts and Bates this weekend

Williams - I think we all realize that a 1-1 weekend vs. Trinity and Amherst can be viewed as a positive, home or away. Daunting road trip to ME (vs. Bow and Col) for the Ephs could shake things up. Both their games should be entertaining.     

Good analysis and really highlights that there are no easy NESCAC road trips this year. Everyone is fraught with peril.

Agreed.  Not sure how many real upsets there are in the league now. That said, Conn has been the exception to that for years, but you would think that has to change sooner or later.

[MENESCACFAN]

Highlights from Bates v Midd Friday for anyone interested;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jymBl1IzJM

[nescac1]

Wow, that Marcus Delpeche and-one dunk has to be the early favorite for NESCAC dunk of the year.  He was FAR from the hoop when he left his feet, and then just posterized the defender.  Very high degree-of-difficulty ... impressive! 

[Bucket]

Wow, that Marcus Delpeche and-one dunk has to be the early favorite for NESCAC dunk of the year.  He was FAR from the hoop when he left his feet, and then just posterized the defender.  Very high degree-of-difficulty ... impressive!

Looked like a charge to me. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I think the new definition of a charge is key there... if the offensive player is starting to go up (earlier in the drive than in previous years) and the defender hasn't put himself in position, it is going to be a block. While it is hard to gauge, I think the defender is still moving when the offensive player makes his move to the basket. Probably good call by the ref there.

[Bucket]

I think the new definition of a charge is key there... if the offensive player is starting to go up (earlier in the drive than in previous years) and the defender hasn't put himself in position, it is going to be a block. While it is hard to gauge, I think the defender is still moving when the offensive player makes his move to the basket. Probably good call by the ref there.

Agreed. Probably is a block. But I wish it had been called a charge.

[Old Guy]

I think the new definition of a charge is key there... if the offensive player is starting to go up (earlier in the drive than in previous years) and the defender hasn't put himself in position, it is going to be a block. While it is hard to gauge, I think the defender is still moving when the offensive player makes his move to the basket. Probably good call by the ref there.

Agreed. Probably is a block. But I wish it had been called a charge.

Matt St. Amour, who was run over on the play, asked for an explanation of the call during the ensuing foul shot - and my interpretation of the conversation (which had the ref explaining with hand gestures and Matt nodding in affirmation) was that Matt was in position but got there after Delpeche went up. Pretty close. Might have been a charge in our gym. Strikes me that the Delpeches will only get better. The difference between Delpeches 2013-14 and the Delpeches 2014-15 constitute the main difference between the Bobcats last year and this (hardly astute analysis).

[GoWesYoungMan]

Nice highlights from Bates. Haven't seen the Bobcats yet but am impressed by their record with the exception of the trip to Atlanta. Regarding the Delpeche-St. Amour play, the call is mostly swayed by your perspective. If your a Bates fan- it's a block. For Midd fans it's an obvious charge. As an impartial but old school observer I'd call it a charge....further evidence the game has passed me by. Anyway two good NESCAC kids going hard and two thumbs up from me.