MBB: NESCAC

[polbear73]

Overall, I think  the broadcasts have been very good from the NESCAC sights I have watched including Amherst.  We are light years ahead quality wise from what we used to have only a few years ago.   

I agree that the NSN broadcasts are generally of very good quality.  I have no problems with the quality of the Bowdoin broadcasts.  However, the Amherst feed for yesterday's game was very choppy - same equipment on my end.  Maybe it was a one time thing.

Also I found the student announcers to be pretty good - definitely better informed about the visiting team than others I've heard.  They did take some long tangents at points but overall pretty good.

Agreed. Insightful comments about Hurley and Pieri in particular.

[pinseeking1]

If NESCAC ever DID go to a split-league double-round robin, there would be a pretty obvious way to go while maintaining key rivalries and a reasonable competitive balance -- a North-South split with Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Conn, Wesleyan, Tufts in one division, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Hamilton in the other.  The obvious problem there, of course, is that one division has six and one has five.  So I don't see how it could be workable unless NESCAC added another team, say, like Union or Skidmore! 

Personally, I think 20 NESCAC games is WAY too many.  That leaves only FOUR out-of-conference games per year.  Especially from the Eph perspective, since we already play Amherst and Wesleyan twice each.  I'd love to see a second Midd game each year.  But I could do without return engagements with the other teams; much rather see the Ephs test their mettle against a wide variety of regional opponents with different styles of play, like WPI, Springfield, SVT, etc.

I can already see where the details of any such alignment would become a huge topic of discussion, especially for the two teams on the extremities geographically, Colby and Hamilton. A North-South split would result in two divisions, but maybe they should be named the "Easy Travel" and "Crazy Travel" divisions. In the Crazy Travel Division, all of the Maine schools would have 6-8 hour trips to Midd each year, plus even longer trips to Hamilton. Meanwhile, Midd would have these long trips in each direction each year.

In the Easy Travel Division, the longest trip would be an annual trip to and from Williams and Conn College. Then, every other year, these schools would have Maine trips or Hamilton trips.

It seems to me that some kind of East-West split would make much more sense.

One other point: Currently, the teams are playing 10 league games and about 14 non-league games. Do the schools really want to have a schedule dominated by non-league games?

Personally, I don't have a big problem with a 20 league game schedule, since we are in a league after all. At a minimum, the 2 division alignment makes sense, where the schools play home and home against their own division each year and continue with the once-a-year schedule with the others. At least this would increase the league games to 14 or 15 games, depending on whether the team is in the 5 team division or the 6 team division.

[amh63]

It is interesting to me how viewers accept technology and forget the recent past.  Remember when I complained about the "fees" to watch webcasts of varying quality.  Still due....and take the option of not watching.  Saw a bit of the Trinity webcast and did not like the camera view.....like the webcast of Wesleyan with several camera views..floor shots.. and some replay capacity.  My daughter is hosting a Superbowl party...three TVs...though one is for the kids to watch DVDs.
Oh well....I'm quite the follower of last resort when it comes to today's viewing options.
Saw several Div1 games last night and it seems to me that even the top tier teams.....ranked teams...are having issues with the loss of key players...maybe it has always been and this season the announcers are just talking more on that particular issue.  Also forgetting at times the fact that these are young men in school with the same pressures I had trying to graduate, etc.  More talent and more expectations, I guess.
Anyway, watching the Tar Heels of NC battle the Cardinals in Kentucky reminded me of the recent Williams vs Amherst battles.  The Cardinals had loss by a point to the Tar Heels in the Dean Dome...a Tar Heel last second shot?  Last night, the Cardinals came back from a big deficit and the game went into OT.  The final score was a 10 point win for the Cardinals.  Reminders of the CAC games ahead to be played....to get tournament seedings..to get a first round home site game....if one makes the tournament.

[middhoops]

The old saying in Vermont about going to Maine has been, "You can't get there from here."  And yes, I have the accent to say it correctly.
Too bad there aren't more teams closer to the coast to make an East/West alignment work.  I agree with nescac1 that another Midd/Williams game each year would build a better rivalry.  Adding another team, preferably snatched from the NEWMAC or UAA would be nice, for travel reason, too.
OG's idea of the split round robin sounds like a winner. 

And to the question of when he played for Middlebury, think Johnson administration.  Vandy74 and I braved cold snowy nights to see OG's teams play.  Typically they would have one guy who was 6-3 for a big guy and then a whole team of 6-1 fowards and 5-10 guards.  Old Guy was a shooting forward.  Wins were few and far between but as I remember, almost ALL the games were fairly close.  They were in most of those home games with a couple minutes to go.  And, they played bigger schools, including plenty who had scholarship players, including in state schools UVM and St. Michael's, home and away.

[NEhoops]

AMH - Two good wins for the Lord Jeffs at home scoring 80+ in both, not easy to do against Bow. Col not known for their defense and were undermanned without Hudnut, don't think it would have changed the result even if he played. Good to see Green get going. Tough non league game at RIC this week and on the road for their last three NESCAC games, big one at Mid to end the regular season.

BAT - Two wins on the weekend put the Bobcats in sole possession of second place. Don't expect to score much when playing in Lewiston, especially in the second half. In addition to the defense/ rebounding of the Delpeche twins and Saffords ability to make shots they're a tough out at home. They'll host Wil/Ham then make the short trip to Bow/Col.

BOW - Good effort for the Polar Bears this past weekend. The loss of Pieri will be difficult to overcome and their lack of depth reallys shows on Saturday games. They'll be at home for the last three NESCAC games, but all three will be very competitive.

COL - If Hudnut is out for an extended period of time I don't see the Mules wining another league game. Nothing against Colby, buts he's that important to his teams success. Let's hope for the best. Like Bow they are at home and somewhat control their own destiny.

CON - The Camels will look to play spoiler as the season winds down. They can score against anyone in the league in stretches.

HAM - Have not seen them play yet this year, like most teams in the league they are much better at home. Heading to MID today and the Panthers will be looking to make a statement.

MID - The Panthers have been up and down of late and today's game could provide some insight on what direction they're trending. Very tough schedule to end the year - vs Keene, at Bow/Col, vs Tri/Amh.

TRI - Credit to the Bantams as they keep grinding out wins, getting stops and making timely stops. Three games left and all on the road, they'll have to play solid the rest of the way to keep the top spot.

TUF - Interesting weekend for the Jumbos and they could still finish in the top four even without Sabety. His presence on the defensive end is equally as important as him putting the ball in the basket. Hopefully he returns sooner than later. I think the key is getting consistent play from Smith.  Same home and away to end the year as the Bobcats.

WES - Big road win yesterday for the Cardinals. Very balanced attacked with the ability to stretch the floor. They can beat anyone on any given night. They'll be in the mix going into the final weekend.

WIL - I'd like to see the splits on the Ephs FG% in their losses compared to their wins. When they don't shot well they struggle to win, more so than most teams because they don't do other things very well (rebound/defend/etc). Up to Maine then hosting Con/Wes, I'm still not sure how good this team is.

[amh63]

Midhoops...Dating a time period by referring to a U.S. President is much to elusive/clever!
You boys. In the Green Mts. must have better things to do on snowy nights?  In these days of guards over 6'4" and front court players easily approaching 7'...in height and/or length, there is still so much room for the players the size you described.  Remember when the frat team league I played in had players bigger than the Amherst varsity team....about the time when Old Guy was in his glory days.  Amherst would play Holy Cross and any teams they could schedule.  Do not remember any Ivy teams in Basketball but do remember N.E. State schools and Ivy schools in other sports.  It was the days of freshmen teams and before organizations like the NCAA and even the Nescac.  Do not remember how many games were in a season during the Johnson era.  Do know that the HBC at Amherst could never count on the players he had on hand when the season started...Kennedy era....not the Coolidge era!

[jayhawk]

Attended Amherst Bowdoin game
Connor Green put on one of the most amazing  shooting displayed I have witnessed in person in the NESCAC with his 3 pt shooting  (7 of 13 from downtown) were so  deep - easily NBA 3 pt range or deeper -- it would have been difficult for any opposing team to battle throughout that -- Bowdoin keep fighting
with Friday's shooting display Connor Green I suspect should be NESCAC Player of the week
Pieces starting to slow fall into place for Amherst
Johnny McCarthy;s stats Saturday night 15pts/8rbs/7asts/3stls  and Friday night 16pts/11rbs/6blks-- building a case for NESCAC Newcomee/rookie of the year
Most importantly for both putting the nightmare of Trinity game behind them
Reid Berman and Jayde Dawson seem to possess complementary strengths
Reid Berman with 8 assists last night and 13 assists against Colby
Jayde showed good patience in the second half of Bowdoin- extremely quick and tough defender and super fast
Made some big time plays on offense in second half and while not the set up man Reid is did set up offense in the second half well
Still room for improvement but night and day from beginning of year hopefully they can continue to keep growing

[P'bearfan]

Just looked at the stats from the Bowdoin - Amherst game and the P'bears fell short in 3 of the 4 key areas I outlined (though this might be a great example of correlation not equaling causation):

-Connor Green:  12-18 (67%) from the floor including 7-12 (58%) from behind the arc.

-Rebounding:  Bowdoin kept it fairly even on the boards - trailing only 36-39.  That's about where they needed to be.

-Reid Berman: 8 assists.  Well that's better than the 13 he had in the prior game but we needed to cut that number by about half

-Bowdoin only shot 13% from behind the arc.  That's just not enough offensive punch especially if we get behind.


Amherst really limited Bowdoin's (and especially Hausman's) ability to drive the lane in the second half.  Did anyone notice a particular shift in their approach or was this a matter of the players just "clamping down"?

[warriorcat]

I enjoyed reading the memories of Midd and Amherst past by AMH63, middhoops, and OG.  My recollections go back to the late 60's through the mid 70's. These years were the pre NESCASC as a league  and pre Division 3 days. Schools were either University Division or College Division.  I recall that there was significant interplay between the two divisions. My brother played for Springfield College (1968-72) and they played BC, Holy Cross, Dartmouth, UMass (beat them in Julius Erving's Jr year)  as well as Amherst and Williams.  During my time at Midd 1972-76 while NESCAC had just been established, it was not a league with standings and post season awards or even champions but the schools shared a similar philosophy with no NCAA post season play.  My work -study job was the sports info guy for the basketball team and all of my friends were the players.  They had home and home games with UVM and single games with Plattsburgh, MIT, St. Michael's and AIC  (2 powerhouses in those days), St' Lawrence, and a number of NESCAC schools.  The memorable Midd players of those days were Dave Pentkowski (a Vermont HS legend), Kevin Cummings, Ben Davidson, Zenon Smotryz (whose son plays for Maryland), and Dave Nelson.   Ben D. at 6'8 and Zenon at 6'9"  were the only players above 6'5" in those days. A different time in so many ways. Not better, not worse.

[jumpshot]

Regarding consistent quality of NESCAC webcasts ----

Just fine: Tufts, Williams Middlebury, Wesleyan, Bates

Not as good and need improvement, particularly as to picture: amHerst, Hamilton, Trinity, Bowdoin, Connecticut College, Colby (often live stats only)

Computing from my end is of particularly high quality; often schools' and NSN problems can be caused by not being current on releases, especially with leading browsers, such as Safari.

[nescac1]

Just tuned in to last minute of Hamilton-Midd:  tremendous running three by Joseph Lin with 3 seconds left to tie the game, really difficult shot, headed to OT.  I know Midd has been burned twice by this strategy in the past, but I still always vote for fouling the guy in that situation.  Plus, Midd had a foul to give, so don't you HAVE to foul there prior to the shot??

[pjunito]

nescac1; with a foul to give. You always use it. It allows you as a coach to re-set your defense and protect the 3 point arc. Sounds like a great game; the conference is wide open this year. It should make for a very fun February.

[magicman]

I told middhoops that the Panthers would win by 7 points 72-65. That 3 point shot Hamilton made at the buzzer cut into my margin. Still an 82-77 win was close to my prediction. I forgot to tell him it would be overtime because the Panthers wouldn't foul with seconds left in regulation and would let Joseph Lin hit a game tying 3 pointer, instead of sending him to the line.  

[nescac1]

Middlebury fouled Ajay Santos out and it's pretty clear Hamilton had no one else who could deal with the Panthers' size and strength on the interior ... Hamilton was out-rebounded 59-26, including 26-5 on the offensive glass, which has to be some sort of record for a NESCAC vs. NESCAC game.  Sinnickson and Daley combined for 37 boards, crazy!  Incredible the game was even that close, Hamilton was nailing the deep ball which as always is the great equalizer. 

[Bucket]

Just tuned in to last minute of Hamilton-Midd:  tremendous running three by Joseph Lin with 3 seconds left to tie the game, really difficult shot, headed to OT.  I know Midd has been burned twice by this strategy in the past, but I still always vote for fouling the guy in that situation.  Plus, Midd had a foul to give, so don't you HAVE to foul there prior to the shot??

Brown was instructed to foul. As Lin went up the court, Brown reached--but maybe not as aggressively as he could have. Maybe afraid of an intentional call? Worried Lin would see it coming and heave a shot on contact? Dunno. No whistle. Lin blows past  the reach and hits the difficult shot.

Before the start of overtime, the official came over to coach Brown and explained that he was ready to make the call, but he wanted to see contact and he felt there wasn't any. Coach Brown didn't argue.

Can't fault Jake much, though. He absolutely hounded Lin all game, forcing the all-conference candidate into what had to have been his worst offensive performance of the season, game-tying shot notwithstanding.