MBB: NESCAC

[Old Guy]

This is the kind of Middlebury game I like best. Sat with a couple of Bates friends (including Young Young Girl, a first year at Bates). I did feel sympathetic to Bowdoin fans, players, and parents: this was senior day and Bowdoin's two seniors were honored before the game. I enjoyed meeting P'Bearfan: his boy is a good player.

An exciting weekend next week (Trinity & Amherst coming in). I enjoy watching this team at Midd as much as any in the last decade: they really come at you, play hard.

[JEFFFAN]

Great weekend of hoops and the excitement isn't stopping anytime soon.

I think the POY is a three man race - Ed/Jayde/Matt. Everyone state your case.

Seems like tomorrow's game won't provide any clarity to the conference tournament seeding. The four spot is like gold at this point.

McCarthy?  Take a look at his rebounding recently. He is also the best defensive player on the team.

[Bucket]

Great weekend of hoops and the excitement isn't stopping anytime soon.

I think the POY is a three man race - Ed/Jayde/Matt. Everyone state your case.

Seems like tomorrow's game won't provide any clarity to the conference tournament seeding. The four spot is like gold at this point.

McCarthy?  Take a look at his rebounding recently. He is also the best defensive player on the team.

Agreed. I think it's a three-man race between St. Amour, Ogundeko, and McCarthy.

Dawson can score, and can do so in bunches, but he also gets a lot of (deserved) criticism for the amount of shots he takes while playing the point. When the Lord Jeffs were struggling, a lot of that was on Dawson. Conversely, McCarthy has been the engine of their resurgence—because of his complete game.

This might be my homer sentiment, but I think Matt may have a slight edge on the other two in the POY race. Of course, that could change in a weekend. Big games in Pepin loom.

[Canvas Hightops]

Agree wholeheartedly with Bucket.  Dawson has been both brilliant and frustrating while McCarthy has been the guy to save the day at both ends of the floor for Amherst. 
And yes, Bucket, there is a lot of basketball left to play. 
Huge game in Vermont come Friday.

If the season ended today I guess St. Amour would likely win.  A week from now, all bets are off.  McCarthy and Ogundeko's teams both play against St. Amour's team.  What could be better?

Looks like Williams got over a hurdle with Wesleyan.  Conn College today, then big games at Tufts and Bates.  The Ephs can help themselves a lot going into the tourney.

[jayhawk]

I have seen alot of Dawson while he has been spectacular at times and extremely talented (see loss to Con College where he only play about 17 minutes because he had foul trouble and fouled out before overtime). I do not know enough about St. Amour and the Middlebury team to comment fairly. Obviously Matt is talented. Middlebury has talented players and a fine coach. All of this said Ed Ogudenko uniqueness lies in the fact that he is both a remarkable rebounder and worked to become a significant scorer. He is truly the heart and soul of Trinity team. While there is talent on the Trinity team they are younger and less talented in years past. . It will be interesting to see what happens.

[warriorcat]

With so much to play for in the final week I agree that we have to wait until all of the games are played to see which of these fantastic players ends up as the POY.

I believe that this question is asked every year but does the post season voting occur before the tournament?

[amh63]

Was going to point out JMac's contributions in the Tufts win, especially in the rebounds.  Others have done so and added his name to the POY list.  I agreed that any naming of conference honors is premature.  The choices are also greatly influenced by the placement of the teams post tourney, etc.
It is somewhat puzzling to me that selection of post season honors are skewed towards offensive items vice defensive ones.  Is there a defensive player of the year?  Too often the POY is the top point producers. 
Having said my peace...I would pick Midd's candidate.  He plays hard on both sides of the game.  I also prefer a senior player.  Yes, JMac is my Amherst candidate for his all around game.  Yes he is a rebounding beast.  Top rebounder in the Tufts game and in the Bates game. 
Overlooked is that JMac has joined the 1000 point club...reached it in the Bates game.  Jayde will hit that mark this season too.

[NEhoops]

The post season voting is completed before the NESCAC semifinal/final weekend. I agree that the POY is usually tied to a senior that has led his team to a strong conference finish. Give the coaches more credit though, they realize that a player doesn't have to be a top scorer in the league to be the top player - see Coffin, Olson, Whittington. The two Amherst players could likely "split votes", but they'll both continue to have a huge impact on the teams success moving forward. 

Old Guy, the recent MID teams are more Showtime Lakers, compared to the Bad Boy Pistons of the past. Both groups of MID players/teams were very good (and very successful). Its all about what style of play is preferred - I know you appreciate every minute of it.

Amh63, there is a DPOY award. A hard to award to predict without seeing a team play (live) multiple times. For this in particular, the stats don't tell the whole story. Who's the best DPOY candidate for each team?

[jumpshot]

Ephs lead Conn College 52-30 at the half as a result of good defense, 67% shooting, including 9 of 16 from distance, 18 points in the paint, ten players scoring, and, only 5 turnovers with 4 of them coming in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the half as Coach App called a timeout as the turnovers started.

Let's see what the second half brings ....

[jumpshot]

Ephs continue playing freely, confidently, and with passion and fun in defeating Conn College 100-63. Pace and energy much improved from earlier during the season.

Let's hope the Ephs keep it going this way ....

[nescac1]

For the second time in the last few weeks, an incredible performance by the Ephs at home -- 100 points pretty much tells the story.  The Ephs moved the ball beautifully, avoided the careless turnovers that have been a problem in many league games, and most of all, drained the triples that haven't been falling of late (even in the games they've won).  Of course, it didn't hurt to go from Wesleyan's tough, physical, relentless defense to Conn, a smaller, slower team that is not nearly as tough to score on. 

The MVP was Mike Greenman, who played the best two-way game of his season.  His return to form and insertion into the starting lineup has really helped the Ephs turn things around after their rough patch in January.  Tonight, 16-7-7, no turnovers, scored both inside and out, masterful control of the offense, and also played very good defense, holding Tyler Rowe in check.  Tonight Greenman looked like one of the best PGs in NESCAC and he will need to continue to play at this high level for the Ephs as the competition will be tougher than tonight from here on out.  Dan Aronowitz had a huge game on senior day, 21-6 plus 2 steals (one of which led to a thunderous gam) and 1 block.  A great punctuation on a stellar career and HOPEFULLY not his last game in Chandler!  Cole Teal, who has uncharacteristically struggled from deep of late, was on fire, hitting 5-6, several from NBA range.  Badly-needed for Teal to get on track as he is the Ephs' premier long-distance weapon.  Frosh Karpowicz had another impressive effort, 8 points on 4-6 including two throw-downs.  Really, the entire roster played fantastic ball tonight as each guy in the rotation made big contributions.

Lee Messier showed off his beautiful stroke for the Camels.  David Labossier had some pretty athletic finishes.  It was a rough, rough day for the rest of the Camels, who look like they will miss the NESCAC post-season.  The Camels have some talent and some shooters, but man, I don't know how they beat Amherst with that type of defense.  Obviously not their A-game tonight. 

Agree with jumpshot -- I hope they keep this going.  It's going to be a war for spots 4-8 in the NESCAC tourney and the Ephs could finish anywhere in that range (or even 9, if Bowdoin wins two and the Ephs lose two).  Tough tough road weekend at Bates/Tufts coming up. 

[nescac1]

One more interesting Eph note: Williams has given up between 60 and 72 points in its last five games, against pretty solid competition.  The Ephs' offense is still very up-and-down, but the defensive effort has been consistently solid since the Hamilton fiasco. 

Looking now at the NESCAC standings, Conn and Bowdoin both need a sweep this weekend and a lot of help to make the field.  Colby is out.  Hamilton, Wesleyan, Williams, Bates, each with four wins, each need one win to lock up a spot but where they land is totally up in the air.  Tufts, Amherst and Midd look very likely to be the top three, with Trinity looming as a threat -- but the Bants end with that tough road Hamilton/Midd weekend (as does Amherst). 

NESCAC should end up with at least 3 and as many as 5 teams in the NCAA tourney.  Midd is almost surely in.  Tufts (assuming they beat Pine Manor, which seems safe) is likely in too.  Amherst, Wesleyan, Williams, Hamilton are all well positioned with another two wins and probably close to locks with another 3; I think at least two from that group will likely make it, perhaps as many as three if everything breaks right.  The rest of the league likely need a NESCAC tourney win to make it in.  That Hamilton/Midd vs. Amherst/Trinity slate of games next weekend should be really, really fun. 

[AllStar]

I've been experimenting with new stuff on these boards recently, and I've decided to put something here.  Here are the standings with only a couple of games left.  I did my best with the tiebreakers.  Hopefully this is helpful!  You can click to make it larger and use the scroll bar the move right and left.

[P'bearfan]

This is the kind of Middlebury game I like best. Sat with a couple of Bates friends (including Young Young Girl, a first year at Bates). I did feel sympathetic to Bowdoin fans, players, and parents: this was senior day and Bowdoin's two seniors were honored before the game. I enjoyed meeting P'Bearfan: his boy is a good player.

An exciting weekend next week (Trinity & Amherst coming in). I enjoy watching this team at Midd as much as any in the last decade: they really come at you, play hard.

Old Guy - I very much enjoyed meeting you and Young Young Girl.  And thanks for the kind words regarding my son. 

Midd played liked a terrific game and in IMHO they will be very tough to beat through the NESCAC tournament. 

[grabtherim]

For me, the last few weeks show why this has been the best season of NESCAC hoops in the last ten years.  Ups, downs, at least 4-5 teams who would be no surprise to get the automatic bid, and perhaps 3 or 4 getting in?  This coming weekend is going to be a roller coaster ride, and it will only get better after that.  No more predictions from me.  Time for Walzy to come out of hibernation. I just want to watch.  Awesome.