MBB: NESCAC

[ronk]

It would work out if Williams @Bates/Colby and Home vs. Trin/Wes, but that would cause the weekends in which Trin and Wes traveled to Williams also have a home game (Trin and Wes) in the same weekend (Trin and Wes are not travel partners). Always going to be something strange when you have 11 teams

If the objective is a balanced conference schedule(5 H, 5 A), then it can be done under the criteria of 2 pairs of travel partners @ home, 2 pairs away, and travel partner @ home, 11th team on the road - travel partner on the road, 11th team @ home.

[nescac1]

I honestly don't think 6-4 is a big deal so long as it balances out the following year.  There are always going to be some inequities ... for example someone each year gets the Friday/Sunday schedule which seems to be undesirable, and also some teams have a more favorable traveling partner than others (Amherst/Trinity, for example, has often presented a physically brutal back-to-back games for opposing teams).  I wouldn't contort things in knot just to avoid a slight H-A imbalance which is then corrected the following season. 

Back to hoops, here is an initial rough take at first-year players to watch based on what has been reported to date (I'm sure there are some guys who I simply haven't heard about). 

Top five:

Joe Schneider, Amherst (MASSIVE upside but may not play much as a frosh due to depth of talent at center ahead of him and relatively limited hoops experience, still, on talent alone has to be included and he could be a monster as a upperclassman)
Zach Baines, Middlebury (another big upside guy)
Steven Daley, Colby (should give the Colby bench a badly needed infusion of energy and athleticism)
Bobby Casey, Williams (almost surely 1-2 Williams guys will end up here, hard to say which ones, I like Casey for his shooting and Scadlock for his all-around game)
Kyle Scadlock, Williams

Second five:

Connor Merinder, Trinity
Marcos Soto, Williams (at least one of the three frosh big men is bound to play substantial minutes, he sounds like the most likely bet)
Salim Green, Wesleyan (not much room in the Wesleyan backcourt right now so may have to wait a year, but can score)
Hilal Dahlel, Middlebury
Nick Lynch, Bates (we know his brother could play, and he looks slightly more athletic)

Also intriguing / other names to watch:

Kelly Hogan, Wesleyan (may beat out last year's frosh for frontcourt minutes off the bench)
Vic Sinopoli, Amherst (another guy unlikely to get minutes at a deep position, unless Dawson or Berman gets banged up)
Ethan Feldman, Tufts (Tufts' top recruit ended up getting in off the waitlist and will be a bench-warmer at Harvard, big blow for the Jumbos, but Feldman should provide some perimeter scoring off the bench)
O'Neil/Simonds/Bohrs, Bowdoin (someone from this group at Bowdoin will play big minutes, maybe more than one, just not sure who)
James Heskett, Williams (another shooter with size for the Ephs)

[P'bearfan]

O'Neil/Simonds/Bohrs, Bowdoin (someone from this group at Bowdoin will play big minutes, maybe more than one, just not sure who)

Simonds is a lefty shooter and I expect he'll get serious minutes early in the season.  Agree with you that there are several new Bowdoin players who may see meaningful minutes throughout the year.  Just who and how many minutes will depend on a number of factors.  I expect that Bowdoin will have a very different offensive scheme this year so it's hard to know at this point which of the returning players will fit into it well (other than the obvious suspect - i.e. Hausman).  Hopefully, the Polar Bears can avoid the injury bug that decimated the team last year otherwise many of the new faces may be forced into action earlier than planned.

What I can't comment on is how Simonds and Bowdoin's other FY's compare to the rest of the NESCAC FY players.  It will be interesting to see who lives up to their pre-season billing.

[JEFFFAN]

Does Williams lose that much that their frosh will take such prominent roles?

Don't remember .... does anybody - maybe NBN? - do a full assessment of hoops so that we can learn who is coming back to which teams?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I honestly don't think 6-4 is a big deal so long as it balances out the following year.  There are always going to be some inequities ... for example someone each year gets the Friday/Sunday schedule which seems to be undesirable, and also some teams have a more favorable traveling partner than others (Amherst/Trinity, for example, has often presented a physically brutal back-to-back games for opposing teams).  I wouldn't contort things in knot just to avoid a slight H-A imbalance which is then corrected the following season. 

It is a big deal on the men's side when you consider the multiplier used for SOS. 1.25 for road games; 0.75 for home games. And since the NESCAC doesn't play a full double-round-robin to even those out... having more road or home games is a difference maker.

[Old Guy]

Here we go again! Here at Midd, we are lying in the weeds, very hopeful, but not about to prognosticate (we remember our "Road to Salem" boast a few years back). What is certain is the challenge of the schedule - specifically, the prospect of just eight home games of 24 total. Our first eight games this season are on the road - 45 hours in a bus in 15 days at the most demanding time of the season academically.

The Panthers will be road warriors, especially early. We have two tournaments the first two weekends in Buffalo (11/20-21) and Rochester (11/28-29). Pretty good teams - we start with Baldwin-Wallace (18-9 last year) in Buffalo and if we win we get St. Lawrence (13-12) or host Medaille (19-8, NCAA bid). Then the Panthers travel mid-week to New Paltz (6-19), eight hours round trip.

In Rochester, we open with Oswego State (19-9, NCAA bid), then get either Johnson State (3-22) or host Rochester (10-15).
The next week (Dec. 1-3-5), Midd goes to RPI (8-17), Johnson State, Skidmore (20-8, with an NCAA Tourney win over Wesleyan), before playing two home games against Castleton (14-13) and Plattsburgh State (19-8).

That's a tough road, 5-5 before Christmas would hardly be unlikely, 6-4 pretty good, giving hope. When home court advantages are factored in 4-6, 3-7 is possible. But . . . the Panthers will certainly be tested before the first NESCAC games in Connecticut (Wes & CC) on Jan. 8-9.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

"The off-season is over. The basketball season has arrived, but it can't start without Hoopsville hitting the air! Tune in tonight as Dave talks to the two preseason number one teams, touches base with a major coaching change, checks in with the men's basketball National Committee chair, and previews the Northeast Region.

Show starts at 7PM ET! www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/nov12

Guests include:
- Grey Giovanine, head coach for #1 Augustana men
- Jeff Hans, head coach for #1 Thomas More women
- Brian Van Haaften, men's basketball committee chair and head coach for Buena Vista
- Trevor Woodruff, head coach for Scranton women
- Matt Noonan, Northeast Regional Reporter"

You can also catch up on the Hoopsville New Rules Special we did and published yesterday. We chatted with:
- Bill Raleigh, Southwestern Assistant Athletic Director and former men's basketball coach along with being on the men's rules committee
- Brad Duckworth, Alverno Athletic Director and women's head coach along with being the current chair of the women's rules committee
- Tim Fitzpatrick, Coast Guard Athletic Director

You can watch or listen to that show here: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/rules-special

AND BIG NEWS... Hoopsville has added Sunday shows to this year's November and December schedule. That means the show will air Thursdays and Sundays from the beginning of the season until the end. Each show will air at 7pm ET (unless noted) with a few shows in November and December being canceled due to holidays or other responsibilities (i.e. Gagliari Trophy and Stagg Bowl Week).

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
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[nescac1]

Jefffan, yes, the Ephs will most certainly need to rely on frosh.  The Ephs lose over 2/3 of their scoring from last year's team, losing their top three scorers and rebounders in the process.  Williams only has two seniors on the roster who have ever played meaningful minutes, and neither has been a full-time rotation guy.  This the greenest Eph team that I can recall and Williams will need some big contributions from newcomers to make any sort of waves in the league.  There is certainly talent there, but it will take time to gel ... and it might even take a full season to gel.  Basically the polar opposite of Amherst, which brings essentially the entire roster back. 

Nothing But Nescac usually does a VERY comprehensive hoops preview.  Not sure if that is in the cards for this year or not, however. 

[pinseeking1]

It would work out if Williams @Bates/Colby and Home vs. Trin/Wes, but that would cause the weekends in which Trin and Wes traveled to Williams also have a home game (Trin and Wes) in the same weekend (Trin and Wes are not travel partners). Always going to be something strange when you have 11 teams

If the objective is a balanced conference schedule(5 H, 5 A), then it can be done under the criteria of 2 pairs of travel partners @ home, 2 pairs away, and travel partner @ home, 11th team on the road - travel partner on the road, 11th team @ home.

That would be problematic to the 11th team as they would never get to play both teams of a travel partner group on a single weekend as they would play one at home and one on the road. They would never get to play both teams of a travel partner group on the same weekend.

Might be a good time for NESCAC to spend the $300 to get an optimized schedule from UWSP... (not a bad price)

[amh63]

JeffFan.....hard task to do wrt assessing the impact of new players on team chemistry and play...unless there are obvious "holes" of talent and positions to fill.  A Bowdoin fan infer that there will be a "style" of play change due to the lost of Swords and a floor general.
I would "guess" that Nescac1's post of possible impact of new players was leaning to Williams because of the need to replace/ fill players/needs in the front court.  Their Coach saw the needs of the team and brought in a great bunch of talented tall players...on paper so to speak.  Because of the voids I see on the Williams team, I expect the freshmen will get a lot of minutes on the floor.
In contrast, Amherst brings back almost everyone from last season.  Levine, a front court player graduated.  Only Greene returns as a SR.  The other two seniors....Pollock and Barry have been lost to injuries...see roster.  Both were non contributors in games last season on the floor due to injuries.
Amherst brings in four talented players.....again "on paper".  Nescac1 rightly points out that two Amherst players may not get many minutes on the floor early in the season...to many upperclass players fighting for minutes.
To make this year a most interesting and hard season to forcast is to recall what happen in the second half of last season.  Wesleyan won the title and the AQ to the post season.....a team that Amherst crushed twice during the regular season.  Trinity won the top seed for the conference Tourny.
Tufts with its twin towers folded due in part to injuries.  Amherst lost to Williams in Billsville and had a Greene led miracle win in LeFrak.  Amherst, IMO, with all its talent struggle to settle/ find a PG and was inconsistent in its play as a result.
The league return a number of  teams with strong proven front court players and talented shooters/scorers.  There is a need to watch the early season play of CAC teams to even guess how the conference season will unfold.
Old Guy....one "good" point with respect to all the early road games for your Panthers and the heavy lean of away game schedule.....higher SOS....according to "d-mac" .

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Well... road games do carry a 1.25 multiplier on road games... though some of those games like Oswego are on neutral courts which is doesn't have a multiplier.

[P'bearfan]

Here we go again! Here at Midd, we are lying in the weeds, very hopeful, but not about to prognosticate (we remember our "Road to Salem" boast a few years back).

Yeah but that video series was really well done.  The students who put it together did a great job - especially the song that played in the opening credits.  Kinda miss it.

[P'bearfan]

....What is certain is the challenge of the schedule - specifically, the prospect of just eight home games of 24 total. Our first eight games this season are on the road - 45 hours in a bus in 15 days at the most demanding time of the season academically......

...But . . . the Panthers will certainly be tested before the first NESCAC games in Connecticut (Wes & CC) on Jan. 8-9.

Bowdoin's schedule keeps them local / regional.  During the early part  of the season  the P'bears won't travel beyond Boston or Presque Isle, ME (4hrs to the northeast).  There's a trade off here:  Bowdoin won't be as battled hardened as Midd prior to the start of NESCAC action, but the impact on academics is much lower. 

As a parent I'm very comfortable with that trade-off.

[Bucket]

Here we go again! Here at Midd, we are lying in the weeds, very hopeful, but not about to prognosticate (we remember our "Road to Salem" boast a few years back).

Yeah but that video series was really well done.  The students who put it together did a great job - especially the song that played in the opening credits.  Kinda miss it.

The music in the RtS series was written and performed by Innocent Tswamuno, a Midd student who graduated last spring. 

More of his music can be found here: http://www.middbeat.org/2014/05/15/new-music-from-innocent-tswamuno/

[JEFFFAN]

Who are the most highly touted freshmen in the NESCAC, however defined ?