MBB: NESCAC

nescac1 · February 06, 2017, 09:48:05 AM

Great stuff AllStar, plus one!

Agree with GTS that NESCAC is just impossible to figure this year. I can't believe the Conn team that Williams rolled over yesterday was able to beat an Amherst team that Williams still can't figure out how to score against. Or that the Hamilton team that crushed Williams got even more badly crushed by Midd. Other than Colby's struggles, which were predictable with such a young team, the entire season has been a roller-coaster ride. It's a league without one really great team but with eight very good teams and two more than are also quite talented and can play with anyone on any given night.

Do the first New England rankings come out this week or next? They should be NESCAC-dominated. Babson is a lock for 1, Middlebury for 2, as of now. I'd go with Amherst, Tufts, Williams, Wesleyan, Trinity, Endicott, Eastern Conn, MIT in that order for the rest, with Bates in the picture as well. That could of course change dramatically over the next week with Wesleyan playing Amherst, the Amherst/Midd/Trinity/Hamiltion weekend, and Williams facing Tufts/Bates on the road.

It's been a pretty weak year for New England outside of NESCAC and Babson. NEWMAC seems to be a one-horse league (MIT has a strong W-L record but their second-best win is, I don't even know, maybe Springfield?). LEC is kind of like a worse version of NESCAC -- very competitive and balanced, with three solid teams at the top, but no one team who is likely to be Pool C-worthy. The rest of New England are clearly all one-bid leagues. If Babson wins NEWMAC, I'd expect that all of the New England Pool C bids go to NESCAC, which is why I'm confident the league will produce at least 3 Pool C teams.

One more note: a nice recruiting pick-up for Midd. Frosh guards will certainly have an opportunity to play early for the Panthers, with the two stars and two senior back-ups graduating and with the hole from Baines' departure.

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/suffields-kornaker-makes-pick

Bucket · February 06, 2017, 11:17:48 AM

Quote from: nescac1 on February 06, 2017, 09:48:05 AM
Great stuff AllStar, plus one!

Agree with GTS that NESCAC is just impossible to figure this year. I can't believe the Conn team that Williams rolled over yesterday was able to beat an Amherst team that Williams still can't figure out how to score against. Or that the Hamilton team that crushed Williams got even more badly crushed by Midd. Other than Colby's struggles, which were predictable with such a young team, the entire season has been a roller-coaster ride. It's a league without one really great team but with eight very good teams and two more than are also quite talented and can play with anyone on any given night.

Do the first New England rankings come out this week or next? They should be NESCAC-dominated. Babson is a lock for 1, Middlebury for 2, as of now. I'd go with Amherst, Tufts, Williams, Wesleyan, Trinity, Endicott, Eastern Conn, MIT in that order for the rest, with Bates in the picture as well. That could of course change dramatically over the next week with Wesleyan playing Amherst, the Amherst/Midd/Trinity/Hamiltion weekend, and Williams facing Tufts/Bates on the road.

It's been a pretty weak year for New England outside of NESCAC and Babson. NEWMAC seems to be a one-horse league (MIT has a strong W-L record but their second-best win is, I don't even know, maybe Springfield?). LEC is kind of like a worse version of NESCAC -- very competitive and balanced, with three solid teams at the top, but no one team who is likely to be Pool C-worthy. The rest of New England are clearly all one-bid leagues. If Babson wins NEWMAC, I'd expect that all of the New England Pool C bids go to NESCAC, which is why I'm confident the league will produce at least 3 Pool C teams.

One more note: a nice recruiting pick-up for Midd. Frosh guards will certainly have an opportunity to play early for the Panthers, with the two stars and two senior back-ups graduating and with the hole from Baines' departure.

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/suffields-kornaker-makes-pick

To follow up on recruiting, saw this on Twitter yesterday:

Middlebury Class of 2021 (all guards):

Griffin Kornaker, Suffield Academy (MA)
Jack Farrell, Verona High School (NJ)
Max Bosco, Scarsdale High School (NY)
Will Ingram, St. Marks (TX)

---

The name Will Ingram seemed familiar to me, and then I remembered he was the Texas guard featured in Bill Rhoden's excellent New York Times piece about DIII hoops, a story that also featured Midd assistant Kyle Dudley.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/sports/ncaabasketball/division-iii-basketball-recruits-academics.html

amh63 · February 06, 2017, 12:40:41 PM

Several odds and ends comments after a late night watching a football game. No favorite but did like the winning team in that it has the most Nescac...little three connections

.
NEHoops...thanks for the answer wrt my DPOY question. Think the fact that no takers to your question may prove why I asked the question....like who won last year?
Amherst does have a game at home against Wesleyan on Tues....Little Three tussle. A senior night game? Never saw the Sat game due to video issues.
If the number of wins impact regional rankings as Nescac1 post seem to imply, than a rescheduling of the RIC game maybe necessary. Considering the record of RIC this season, a win does not help in the SOS and a lost will be bad...imo. Two Amherst road wins this weekend will do wonders.

Will be hard...but possible.

NEhoops · February 06, 2017, 01:20:18 PM

Amh63, I have listed the last five DPOY winners. Swords won it back to back. If the coaches choose St. Amour as POY, maybe they'll vote for Ogundeko for DPOY again as somewhat of a consolation. This is an interesting award every year because each coach/team can have someone different that gives them fits on the defensive end.

Ed Ogundeko
John Swords
John Swords
Nolan Thompson
Willy Workman

I agree in regard to the RIC game. If Amherst takes care of business in their next three games that one won't mean much.

I can't remember a more important last weekend of NESCAC play, plus WES/AMH. Each game has huge NCAA tournament implications on the line. 2-0 or 0-2 could be the difference between an at large bid or staying home.

nescac1 · February 06, 2017, 03:57:11 PM

Regarding player of the year, I do think it's a two-man race between St. Amour and Ogundeko; right now, it's pretty much a toss-up as both are playing great. McCarthy is a lock for an all-NESCAC team, as are, I'd say, Aronowitz, Dawson, and Marcus Delpeche -- depending on how things shake out over the next week, five of those six guys will probably comprise the first-team all NESCAC team, with one of them sliding to the second team. DPOY is likely a three-way race between Ogundeko, Malcolm Delpeche, and McCarthy. Jack Daly and Kyle Scadlock are also worthy of notice in this area.

Other contenders for the second team: Jake Brown, Jack Daly, Jack Simonds, Tarik Smith, Harry Rafferty, Patrick Stewart, Malcolm Delpeche, and Peter Hoffmann. It will be tough to cut several of those guys, all of whom have had strong years. Coaches may want to reward seniors on strong teams so Smith and Rafferty may squeeze in to represent Tufts/Wesleyan respectively despite lacking eye-popping stats. Jake Brown's recent run of especially strong play probably has moved him ahead of Daly as the second Midd representative, although both can still make a case. Of the 14 guys I've listed, 10 are seniors ... no question that this is a big year for NESCAC to shine and that the talent level will be down from this level next season.

If the voting happened right now, I think it would go St. Amour, Ogundeko, McCarthy, Delpeche, Aronowitz on the first team, Brown, Simonds, T. Smith, Rafferty, and Dawson on the second, with perhaps Malcolm Delpeche squeezing out Rafferty.

Gilmour has already locked up ROY, no question.

If Midd finishes with the best record in the league Jeff Brown has to be COY -- really impressive job by him to not only keep the ship afloat but for the team to actually improve after losing Dahlel for the year and Baines to transfer.

amh63 · February 06, 2017, 10:22:07 PM

Must correct an "error"....Senior Day was last Sat. at the Tufts game. Explains the unique starting lineup. Instagram shows HC Hixon with his EIGHT seniors. Transfers Dawson and Conklin joined a large recruiting class...many were seen at Atlanta, Ga. in 2013 in the stands in the National Title game.
D3hoops has this week rankings. Amherst moves back in the Top Ten at 9th. Midd moves up and Tufts drops down. Wesleyan out of the Top 25. Williams picks up a couple points. Info only..no point intended.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 07, 2017, 08:14:15 AM

Quote from: Bucket on February 06, 2017, 11:17:48 AM
Quote from: nescac1 on February 06, 2017, 09:48:05 AM
Great stuff AllStar, plus one!

Agree with GTS that NESCAC is just impossible to figure this year. I can't believe the Conn team that Williams rolled over yesterday was able to beat an Amherst team that Williams still can't figure out how to score against. Or that the Hamilton team that crushed Williams got even more badly crushed by Midd. Other than Colby's struggles, which were predictable with such a young team, the entire season has been a roller-coaster ride. It's a league without one really great team but with eight very good teams and two more than are also quite talented and can play with anyone on any given night.

Do the first New England rankings come out this week or next? They should be NESCAC-dominated. Babson is a lock for 1, Middlebury for 2, as of now. I'd go with Amherst, Tufts, Williams, Wesleyan, Trinity, Endicott, Eastern Conn, MIT in that order for the rest, with Bates in the picture as well. That could of course change dramatically over the next week with Wesleyan playing Amherst, the Amherst/Midd/Trinity/Hamiltion weekend, and Williams facing Tufts/Bates on the road.

It's been a pretty weak year for New England outside of NESCAC and Babson. NEWMAC seems to be a one-horse league (MIT has a strong W-L record but their second-best win is, I don't even know, maybe Springfield?). LEC is kind of like a worse version of NESCAC -- very competitive and balanced, with three solid teams at the top, but no one team who is likely to be Pool C-worthy. The rest of New England are clearly all one-bid leagues. If Babson wins NEWMAC, I'd expect that all of the New England Pool C bids go to NESCAC, which is why I'm confident the league will produce at least 3 Pool C teams.

One more note: a nice recruiting pick-up for Midd. Frosh guards will certainly have an opportunity to play early for the Panthers, with the two stars and two senior back-ups graduating and with the hole from Baines' departure.

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/suffields-kornaker-makes-pick

To follow up on recruiting, saw this on Twitter yesterday:

Middlebury Class of 2021 (all guards):

Griffin Kornaker, Suffield Academy (MA)
Jack Farrell, Verona High School (NJ)
Max Bosco, Scarsdale High School (NY)
Will Ingram, St. Marks (TX)

---

The name Will Ingram seemed familiar to me, and then I remembered he was the Texas guard featured in Bill Rhoden's excellent New York Times piece about DIII hoops, a story that also featured Midd assistant Kyle Dudley.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/sports/ncaabasketball/division-iii-basketball-recruits-academics.html

I believe Griffin Kornaker is son of the St. John Fisher Head Coach, Rob Kornaker.

Bucket · February 07, 2017, 09:54:59 AM

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on February 07, 2017, 08:14:15 AM
Quote from: Bucket on February 06, 2017, 11:17:48 AM
Quote from: nescac1 on February 06, 2017, 09:48:05 AM
Great stuff AllStar, plus one!

Agree with GTS that NESCAC is just impossible to figure this year. I can't believe the Conn team that Williams rolled over yesterday was able to beat an Amherst team that Williams still can't figure out how to score against. Or that the Hamilton team that crushed Williams got even more badly crushed by Midd. Other than Colby's struggles, which were predictable with such a young team, the entire season has been a roller-coaster ride. It's a league without one really great team but with eight very good teams and two more than are also quite talented and can play with anyone on any given night.

Do the first New England rankings come out this week or next? They should be NESCAC-dominated. Babson is a lock for 1, Middlebury for 2, as of now. I'd go with Amherst, Tufts, Williams, Wesleyan, Trinity, Endicott, Eastern Conn, MIT in that order for the rest, with Bates in the picture as well. That could of course change dramatically over the next week with Wesleyan playing Amherst, the Amherst/Midd/Trinity/Hamiltion weekend, and Williams facing Tufts/Bates on the road.

It's been a pretty weak year for New England outside of NESCAC and Babson. NEWMAC seems to be a one-horse league (MIT has a strong W-L record but their second-best win is, I don't even know, maybe Springfield?). LEC is kind of like a worse version of NESCAC -- very competitive and balanced, with three solid teams at the top, but no one team who is likely to be Pool C-worthy. The rest of New England are clearly all one-bid leagues. If Babson wins NEWMAC, I'd expect that all of the New England Pool C bids go to NESCAC, which is why I'm confident the league will produce at least 3 Pool C teams.

One more note: a nice recruiting pick-up for Midd. Frosh guards will certainly have an opportunity to play early for the Panthers, with the two stars and two senior back-ups graduating and with the hole from Baines' departure.

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/suffields-kornaker-makes-pick

To follow up on recruiting, saw this on Twitter yesterday:

Middlebury Class of 2021 (all guards):

Griffin Kornaker, Suffield Academy (MA)
Jack Farrell, Verona High School (NJ)
Max Bosco, Scarsdale High School (NY)
Will Ingram, St. Marks (TX)

---

The name Will Ingram seemed familiar to me, and then I remembered he was the Texas guard featured in Bill Rhoden's excellent New York Times piece about DIII hoops, a story that also featured Midd assistant Kyle Dudley.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/sports/ncaabasketball/division-iii-basketball-recruits-academics.html

I believe Griffin Kornaker is son of the St. John Fisher Head Coach, Rob Kornaker.

Interesting! And would make sense; I do understand he is from Rochester.

Canvas Hightops · February 07, 2017, 02:46:15 PM

Wesleyan and Amherst tonight. (Little 3 game, I think)
Amherst appears ascendant recently.
This game could futrher measure that.
Wesleyan could really use a quality road win to claim a spot in the NCAA tourney.

Middlebury fans will likely help ratings for the online broadcast.

amh63 · February 07, 2017, 02:57:41 PM

Canvas Hightops....agree to all your points
Assume you wear Converse Hightops

Canvas Hightops · February 07, 2017, 04:26:38 PM

amh63, I think my first pair were Chuck Taylors. Had the Converse for sure.
I know they were well under ten bucks.

amh63 · February 07, 2017, 05:19:06 PM

Canvas Hightops....do not remember my first sport related shoe brand. Name brands do not come up then and had limited money.. Remember Adidas...three strips...track shoes. Ran track, played tennis and failed in basketball in HS.....no time and talent....HS team was City Public champs.
Anyway, today have two low cut Converse...white canvas and black leather no shoe strings slip-ons.
Recently there was a story item that an iconic Jordon low cut collectible pair of shoe would bring over 5 grands in US dollars

Old Guy · February 07, 2017, 06:58:12 PM

Quote from: Canvas Hightops on February 07, 2017, 04:26:38 PM
amh63, I think my first pair were Chuck Taylors. Had the Converse for sure.
I know they were well under ten bucks.

When I was a kid, there was only one brand of basketball sneaker: Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars. And if you lived in Celtic territory as I did, they were black high-tops.

My claim to fame: I once caddied for Jungle Jim Luscutoff. Hit the ball a mile.

warriorcat · February 07, 2017, 08:40:07 PM

Is there any way to get the camera man to move the camera to cover both ends of the court? The Amherst/Wesleyan game is going to OT and we have not seen the last five or six trips on the visitors end. Great picture of the Amherst bench..

Old Guy · February 07, 2017, 08:41:12 PM

Anyone beside me watching the Amherst-Wes game, going nuts over the NSN telecast? Camera person having a snooze in the last minute of regulation, not showing at all the Wesleyan end of the floor. Wrong score at the bottom of the screen for most of the half. Can't describe Bonner's tying hoop at the buzzer - I was watching the empty end of the floor. Shheeesh.