MBB: NESCAC

[middhoops]

On an otherwise slow NESCAC basketball day, Midd alum and Vermont grad student Dylan Sinnickson had a double double against NAIA team Fisher today.  Back to back to back treys and a couple of free throws, Sinnickson showed more hustle than anyone on the floor.
Whether or not this performance will earn him more quality minutes is somewhere between unknown and dubious.  Vermont fans are excited to know that there is someone on the bench who may step up if more injuries strike this UVM squad.  They are playing with only 9 of a possible 13 scholarships due to incoming transfers and last minute defections.
Vermont plays in the America East Conference.  Teams play each other very tough.  Games result in lots of fouls.
A slow start for Sinnickson could change dramatically with another injury or foul plagued in-conference contests in January.
Clearly, he helped his own cause today.

[jumpshot]

Duncan Robinson playing well in all aspects with 9 points on 3 of 5 three-pointers, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block in the first half in 16 minutes. Michigan has become more unselfish, sharing the ball with excellent passing, etc. versus an overmatched Youngstown State. Fun to Duncan play ...l

[JustAFan]

The NERR site has news of several ED admits, including Philips Exeter 6-5 swingman Jack Alberding to Wesleyan, where he will compete against Exeter teammates Tommy Mobley (Amherst) and Perry DeLorenzo(Middlebury).

In addition, 6 ft guard Joe Bell out of Bishop Brady HS in Concord, NH will become a Trinity Bantam next year. Both Alberding and Bell played for former Williams guard Mike Crotty's Middlesex Magic AAU program. Crotty had high praise for Bell: " I have coached a lot of players that have gone to the NESCAC, and played in the league myself, and I can say with conviction that I truly believe Joe Bell has a chance to be a NESCAC great."

[jumpshot]

Bates loses tonight to a Southern Vermont team consisting of multiple players from the Washington, D.C., area that turned aside amh63's 
recruiting offers to become ljs. Watch out Middlebury who plays SV soon .... DC has been a hotbed of basketball players for decades whose skills are honed year-round on the outdoor playgrounds ranging from Chevy Chase playground, to Jelleff Boys Club, to Friendship Heights, to next to old D.C. Stadium, etc. Half court pickup games are played "straight up" in which players don't have to take the ball back beyond the foul or three point line, thus allowed to go straight back up and score with a defensive rebound. Weeds out players who are "soft."

[30 for 30]

Mart Hart earns scholarship at #20 ranked George Washington University.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=RRlmgv9L7Zs

[booyakasha]

Half court pickup games are played "straight up" in which players don't have to take the ball back beyond the foul or three point line, thus allowed to go straight back up and score with a defensive rebound. Weeds out players who are "soft."

Ha that is funny you mention that. When I was in HS on family vaca down in DC, I played some pick up and they played that way. I thought it was just a wacky group; didn't realize that it was a thing down there.

[booyakasha]

Mart Hart earns scholarship at #20 ranked George Washington University.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=RRlmgv9L7Zs

And this is awesome, congratulations to Mr. Hart.

[jumpshot]

booyakasha,

Nothing can touch "the city game" ---I promise you having played at Rucker in NYC, all those spots mentioned in D.C. and more such as Fort Stevens Park, Venice Beach near LA, in outdoors in Detroit & Chicago, and countless other playgrounds.

For more if you're interested check out Heaven is a Playground ....

[jumpshot]

Or better yet, another book In Your Face Basketball Book for locations and details of the best playgrounds around the country ....

[nescac1]

Congrats to Matt Hart!  I always love these players-earning-a-scholarship video.  The best thing about college athletics.  (As opposed to the worst thing, which is the new Clemson football facility, read about it, it's pure insanity).  I continue to be amazed about just how well the NESCAC transfers have played, and how quickly they have adapted to the higher level of play.  While not may NESCAC guys could earn any sort of PT for Michigan, it's obvious to me now that every year, there are at least a few, and probably upwards of half a dozen, NESCAC players who could really help many D1 programs. 

[Old Guy]

"Fighting for the last playoff spots: Midd, Bates, Hamilton, Conn College.  None of these teams look to be terrible, " NESCAC1

What to make of Middlebury at 5-5 at the Break, headed into the meat of the schedule in January. They are "not terrible," according to NESCAC1. That's a pretty modest assessment.

Two of the five wins were against woeful Johnson State (0-6), but the other three were legit, especially the Plattsburgh win.  The early losses were to good teams further along in their preparation, and the losses to St. Lawrence (two points) and Skidmore (five points) were games that could have been won. Lest we forget, eight of the ten games were on the road.

The best thing about the Midd's challenging pre-Christmas schedule was that Coach Brown got a good look at what he has: first years Zack Baines (15 mins/g), Hilal Dahleh (14 mins), and Eric McCord (10 mins) have all shown that they can contribute now, as well as being the core of a productive future, along with sophs Jack Daly, Nick Tarantino, and Adisa Majors.

But Midd is not really young or inexperienced.  Juniors Jake Brown and Matt St. Amour provide a strong backcourt, along with Bryan Jones, also a junior. Up front, it can be argued that Middlebury will go as far as very talented 6'8" senior Matt Daley takes them. Connor Huff, has to be guarded – he has a solid 12-15' jumper.

The hope is that the decisive Plattsburgh win in the last game before break (71-49) represented something of a breakthrough, a coming together, an indication of things to come, though indeed the Cardinals were somewhat undermanned.

Brown, at the point, is relentless on defense and consistently attacks on offense. St. Amour has really only scratched the surface of his potential – he's averaging 18 ppg, shooting 38% from three, as it is.  If Daley plays with passion (and improves his foul shooting – 32%, ouch), Middlebury will be a tough out in NESCAC, and better than "not terrible."

I didn't get to see either of the home games in person, so I haven't really seen the team play (medical issues – double knee replacement). I tried to watch on-line some of the away games but the video was poor, very frustrating.  I was so glad to be able to watch the Midd telecast of the Castleton and Plattsburgh games. I hope to get to the SoVT game on Jan. 4, before the Panthers go to CT and it's "Game On" in NESCAC. 

Sorry for the long post. I've been away. Won't happen again

[nescac1]

I think Midd has a fair amount of talent Old Guy. But I don't think my assessment was unfair.  Midd  has one quality win so far.  Two wins over Johnson State are basically meaningless. New Paltz is 1-7.  Castleton State is 4-6 vs generally poor competition.  All of the five losses came at the hands of solid opponents, but none are top 25 teams and Skidmore was missing its star player.  Basically Midd, so far, generally loses to good teams and beats bad teams.  So I think not terrible is fair. They certainly have room to improve but then again that applies to nearly the entire league, which outside of Amherst hasn't exactly been playing at an elite level.  But can you really say at this point in the season that Midd's resume is clearly better than any team in the league? 

[P'bearfan]

I didn't get to see either of the home games in person, so I haven't really seen the team play (medical issues – double knee replacement).

Hope everything went well and you are up and about soon.

[pinseeking1]

I have to say that the "not terrible" description by Nescac1 is pretty accurate for the Bates Bobcats at the break. Their last two games were losses that could have just as easily been wins, but they couldn't close the deal. Overall, they've had a huge rebounding advantage against their opponents, which was expected with the two returning big Delpeche men. (The only game where it was close was against Colby, when rebounds were even.)

So far, the Bobcats' sore spot has been shooting inconsistency, especially from long range. In 5 of the 8 games, the Bobcats have shot 28% or less from three point range (or 33% overall), which generally will cost you. As a comparison, Amherst is shooting 40% on three pointers and they are taking more attempts. The difference can be worth 5 to 10 points per game, which is hard to overcome, even with a big rebounding edge. It seems that success has become much more dependent on hitting a lot of threes...

In any case, other than Amherst, who seems loaded this year, the rest will be fighting it out and the league schedule looks to be very competitive and Nescac1 seems to have it about right.

[amh63]

Old Guy...hope to see you when Midd invades LeFrak!  Expect the usual battle.  When posts are well written and informative they are welcomed whatever the "length".
Did look for you and your family via the big screen at the Plattsburgh game.  Agreed that Midd may have one of the top backcourt tandems around in Brown and St. Amour.