MBB: NESCAC

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

What a season of Division III basketball and it isn't quite over with yet! The men might have crowned their championship, but the women have one more game to go.

On this episode of Hoopsville, Dave McHugh looks back at the two championship weekends with help from Ryan Scott, Gordon Mann, and Adam Turer. We look at the championship for St. Thomas and the near perfect miss by Benedictine. We also take a look at the two semifinal games in women's basketball and the upcoming championship between St. Thomas and Tufts to be played in Indianapolis.

Dave also talks to Page Moir, head coach for Roanoke, who suddenly announced on Tuesday he is stepping down from the position and looking for something new to challenge him.

You can watch the show in its entirety or listen to the podcast above.

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Page Moir, Roanoke men's coach
- Keith Bunkenburg, No. 2 Benedictine men's coach
- Steve Fritz, St. Thomas athletics director and former men's coach
- John Tauer, No 1. St. Thomas men's coach
- Ryan Scott, D3hoops.com Mid-Atlantic reporter
- Gordon Mann and Adam Turer, women's semifinals report
- Jeff Hans, No. 1 Thomas More women's coach
- Carla Berube, No. 7 Tufts women's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
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iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

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[Mr. Ypsi]

The hamster will also likely have a couple of transfers ....

That would be great!  Have anyone in particular in mind?

I'm pretty sure Steph Curry used up his eligibility, but LeBron and many others did not - can Amherst outbid the NBA without getting in trouble with the NCAA?!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The hamster will also likely have a couple of transfers ....

That would be great!  Have anyone in particular in mind?

I'm pretty sure Steph Curry used up his eligibility, but LeBron and many others did not - can Amherst outbid the NBA without getting in trouble with the NCAA?!

Steph left after his junior year.  I mean, once the NCAA allows teams in the Big Conferences to pay players these guys might consider going back to school post-NBA.  A 40 year old LeBron could probably help Duke out a little bit, right?

[amh63]

Good grief, Charlie Brown.....the season is over! .  Some "silly" posts...I know the fantasy palors in NYC have been closed by higher authorities.
My only comment here on transfers from wherever...is that there is student part of the student-athlete application.  This applies to ALL Nescac schools. 
There is a clever poster on another board that calls the Nescac as ...." Where you pay to play"!
Still....I find it is hard to wind down after a roller coaster ride following Nescac BB this season.  Been watching Div 1 games....crazy.  My granddaughter is winning the family pool presently.  I even find myself rooting for Yale.  The WSJ reported a 10 year old girl won her father's office pool last year...780 bucks...by picking names she liked.  Maybe there is something to mascot names   I'm have been supporting teams with variations of "purple" or blue vice warmer tones/ colors.    Sorry Bucket....do like the 'Hoos chances though.

[nescac1]

Looking to next year, folks seem to be forgetting about Babson, who I think will start the year ranked in the top three nationally and will edge Amherst out for the top-ranked team in New England.  Babson could well have beaten the Jeffs with a healthy roster, and unlike Amherst they bring everyone back -- and like Amherst, they are incredibly experienced, having gone to a Final Four and Sweet 16 in back-to-back years.  Flannery will be a first team all-American, and he is backed by a big, veteran supporting cast.  Babson will be very tough to beat next year.  Amherst should be right behind them, and after that, it's more of a mystery.

Midd will be highly regarded, although losing Daley, who was huge late in the season, will hurt a bit.  Still, overall Middlebury should be much-improved and build on the great late-season run.  Tufts I think will fall off -- Palleschi is awesome but Spadaford and Haladyna (who was awesome late in the season) are big losses without obvious replacements, and the injury to Vinny Pace is brutal -- can't imagine he will be close to full strength until very very late in the season, if ever.  Trinity loses a lot but has a lot of young talent on the roster and a strong incoming class.  Williams is going to be much better, but whether they are ready to be a contender next year, or are more a team that is two years away, will depend on how fast the rising sophomore class develops.  No one else in NESCAC after that group looks likely to be an NCAA-caliber team.

I'm less certain about the rest of New England.  WPI will as usual post a gaudy regular-season record without being quite talented enough to go for in the tourney.  Not sure what Keene, Southern Vermont, and Johnson & Wales lose vs. bring back, or If AMC will bring in some stud JCs to return them to prominence. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

SVC and JWU lose just about everyone.  Albertus will be pretty good.  They're not losing much.

They're undersized, which is a problem at the top of NE, but Endicott played really well in the NCAAs and they bring back almost everyone.

[amh63]

Nescac 1....interesting post as always.  Agree that Babson is a very good team with fine returning players.  You maybe correct that they could be the top team ranked in NE and maybe the whole country in the post season.   However, with the players on hand, including a first team All American, they lost to what..four Nescac teams.  They lost twice to Amherst...once on their home court and the other one on a neutral court.  Believe the other Nescac team loses had a sound Flannery playing the entire game.  Hope Williams gets  the chance to schedule Babson soon...maybe this upcoming season.  Williams HC has been trying to upgrade the schedule. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The difference was, Flannery and the rest of the Babson squad was still getting used to each other. He lost a few key pieces from the final four team and this year there was a lot of figuring things out. Notice in the second half of the season they got on a role and sure they lost to Amherst on a neutral floor, but Flannery wasn't even close to healthy for that game. Not sure that is a good one to point to in favor of Amherst because there isn't a single person I have talked to or heard from that says Amherst would have won that game with Flannery at 100%.

Next year Babson has a full team coming back who now have that experience, while Amherst will have to adjust to some new guys in new roles. Not a lot, but Babson will be a few steps ahead in that process.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The difference was, Flannery and the rest of the Babson squad was still getting used to each other. He lost a few key pieces from the final four team and this year there was a lot of figuring things out. Notice in the second half of the season they got on a role and sure they lost to Amherst on a neutral floor, but Flannery wasn't even close to healthy for that game. Not sure that is a good one to point to in favor of Amherst because there isn't a single person I have talked to or heard from that says Amherst would have won that game with Flannery at 100%.

Next year Babson has a full team coming back who now have that experience, while Amherst will have to adjust to some new guys in new roles. Not a lot, but Babson will be a few steps ahead in that process.

It should be interesting to note, in the post-game press conference Hixon specifically mentioned that he had a few freshmen coming in who would be in the mix right away.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember him being the kind of coach who typically counts on freshmen right away.  That either speaks to the quality of his recruiting class or the weaknesses of the returning squad, but either way, it should mean a team that's not taking much of a step back next year.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Didn't say they would take a step back.. indicated I think Babson starts in a stronger position. Hixon has talked about freshmen, but they have to get acclimated with the team and their roles. Similar to my comment about new guys in new roles. Babson doesn't necessarily have to deal with that and thus my thinking Babson will be in a strong position.

[jumpshot]

amH63:

I'll bite in the interest of truth .... The Ephs have had a higher strength of schedule annually for the past two decades than the hamster and many other schools. Another manufactured, fictional "painting" as only those in the Washington, D.C. area can utter....Spare us ....

[AmherstStudent05]

amH63:

I'll bite in the interest of truth .... The Ephs have had a higher strength of schedule annually for the past two decades than the hamster and many other schools. Another manufactured, fictional "painting" as only those in the Washington, D.C. area can utter....Spare us ....

Unsurprisingly, I find this claim to be just about ........ IMPOSSIBLE to believe.  Do you have any data to back this claim up.  I went on Massey and found that this year Amherst's had the 50th ranked SoS and Williams was 127.  Now, I want to say up front that (i) I don't necessarily treat Massey as Gospel, and (ii) I don't believe this to be an apples to apples comparison -- I suspect that Amherst is getting the benefit of its postseason schedule in this ranking, whereas what I really want is a comparison of their respective regular season schedules.

Still, I find it hard to believe that Williams consistently plays a harder schedule than Amherst.  We consistently play teams that are typically pretty strong -- Babson, E Conn, RIC (not strong this year), Brandeis (not strong the past couple of years) -- teams that Williams doesn't play.  I am not saying Williams plays a cupcake schedule, but, again, I highly doubt it is consistently stronger than ours the past few years.

Would be grateful for any better data to prove me wrong (or, better yet, right!).   

[JEFFFAN]

I agree with NESCAC1 on the Babson team.  That was a terrific team this year and my understanding is that everyone comes back.  And I am clearly one of the 100% who thought that Amherst doesn't win that game if Flannery stays healthy.   Frankly, both Amherst and Babson bring a ton of minutes back with the sole loss for both teams being Conor Green's minutes.   In a neutral stadium in January 2017, Babson would be a three-point favorite!

And I have no clue on strength of schedules either but would be interested in seeing the data on the same.

[30 for 30]

Just watched GW beat Florida in NIT quarterfinals. Matt Hart contributed a two and a trey and two rebounds. Next game Tuesday in Semi Finals at Madison Square Garden. Very cool experience for him.

[amh63]

Read 'd-Mac' post wrt to his line of reasoning for supporting Babson.  Walked away from posting a response.  Joined my wife for an important event. Came back, read his post again.  It really needs a response!
First, the point is made that Babson was in a sort  of "rebuilding" period early in the season...adjusting to new players, etc..  The teams that they lost to during that period must have been all set.  Come on, All teams have to adjust to new mixes of players, etc. The teams that beat Babson did NOT have a 1st team all American to build around.
Second, the discount of the lost to Amherst at Tufts was due to the fact Flannery was not at 100 Percent and to support it you have a list of people that can say that Amherst would have lost if the star was 100 percent.  Really?  So when the game started, was Flannery at 95, 90, 80, lower?
Was he at least 90 percent when he fouled and injured himself in the first half?  Do remember he missed a number of shots before warming up later in the half.  How much was he from 100 percent when he came back in...50 percent?  It is always nice to talk with persons that can support your opinion.  In truth, I believe the Head Coach of Babson would not make that guarantee. 
Finally, the health of key players at critical points of the season are part of the game of BB.  Tufts, Colby, Middlebury, etc. all had injuries during the season.  Changes have to be made in lineups for many reasons, all the time...iat all levels of BB.
In contrast to your post, I point to your enjoyable interview with the HC of Tufts who lost the services of Pace.  He stated that he may decide to run with J&W.   I do not have to remind you what happened in that game.  The higher seeded team got blown out.  Anyone of your crowd predicted that outcome?
Enough said.