MBB: NESCAC

lumbercat · November 17, 2017, 07:59:54 PM

Bates looks like an interesting team but the lack of height presents significant challenges. They have 6'10 and 6'8 FYs but they both need work.

I can just see Furbush and his right hand man Tommy Verdell in Alumni working closely and tirelessly with those young guys after practices like they did with the Delpeche twins. Walk by Alumni Gym during the week after practice when its dark and you'll hear the ball bouncing and the loud coaching banter and shouts of encouragement.

If they paid those guys by the hour they would double their salaries.

If a Bates basketball team suffers a loss it's seldom due to a lack of hard work. Furbush works those guys hard and this year they are ratcheting it up further with the lack of size in the frontcourt. The tone of the Garnet attack this year will be up tempo and grind, grind, grind.

On the brighter side things look good in the backcourt. The hoop guys on this board with savvy and knowledge who I respect like Old Guy and the Middlebury contingent always stress that guard play is a key in the Nescac which bodes well for this team. Some real talent in the Garnet back court but I would nominate Jeff Spellman as a guy who will emerge to the elite level of the league.

It will be a challenge but Furbush and Tommy V know how to coach underdogs. Bobcat faithful hoping for the best and at the end of the day there is great pride in Lewiston in the this Bobcat program. The quality and integrity of this program remains firmly intact which makes it a great place for a top student athlete who wants to play in a great NESCAC venue at Alumni Gym.

nescac1 · November 17, 2017, 09:38:08 PM

Impressive 7-0 day one for NESCAC with all but one win by double-digits. The competition should be a bit tougher tomorrow.

Dayton and Garrett didn't play for the Jumbos. Tufts sounds very banged up.

stlawus · November 17, 2017, 09:48:04 PM

I thought Bowdoin was going to blow my alma mater out tonight but SLU managed to hang around the 2nd half and only lose by 6. Bowdoin is HUGE. You pretty much never see a team that big in the Liberty League and they looked pretty impressive. SLU had an all freshman backcourt who I thought held their own but Bowdoin made their free throws down the stretch.

middhoops · November 17, 2017, 10:03:36 PM

Middlebury opened at home against Fitchburg St.
Jack Daly moved the ball around like a wizard. Everyone got easy scores.
Panther Faithful were thrilled with the play of the first year players.
Jack Farrell started and Max Bosco was 2nd man off the bench. Both were stellar.
Griffin Kornaker is still in a boot with an ankle injury.

Holding serious comments until Midd plays a close game but feeling far more optimistic than I thought I could be a matter of hours ago.

Congratulations to all the NESCAC teams. A clean sweep tonight.

Old Guy · November 17, 2017, 10:41:21 PM

Exciting start for the Panthers. The first 10 minutes of tonight's game against Fitchburg State was beautiful basketball played at a breakneck speed. Very one-sided game overall, though (62-27 at the half).

Jack Daly had a triple double, rare certainly in our history: 10 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists, playing the point. Nobody here can remember a triple double; I think the best candidates are Andre Locke '11 (points, rebounds, blocks) and Tim Edwards '10, a long, versatile guard. Daly will have a great year. Tough as nails, loves to push the ball, great vision.

Frosh Jack Farrell started in the backcourt with Daly and Hillal Dahleh at the 3 spot (he certainly looks 100% physically) — and the other frosh guard Max Bosco was the second player off the bench and hit a three within five seconds of entering the game. The third frosh guard, Griffen Koraker, who everybody also likes has been hurt, and was in street clothes tonight with a boot on his ankle, yet I was told he was close to ready. Farrell and Bosco are fearless — gym rat stereotypes.

Middlebury is very deep at every position. Folger started at 4 with Tarrentino at the 5. Majors came in at 15 minute mark, McCord, who been injured, played in spurts but had 15 points in 14 minutes. Folger, playing a lot of 3 as well as 4, had 17 points in 17 minutes (3 threes). Sophomore Joey Leighton had had 14 points (3 threes). Midd was 12-23 from three, and had 27 assists.

(Sorry for he duplication with Middhoops — I was writing this when he posted his.)

Don't want to go too far after such a one-sided opener, but it's hard not to think this year's team can be good as last year's, even with those major losses in the backcourt. The St. Amours were at the game tonight with half of Swanton, VT. Matt is playing in Ireland while getting an M.A. and is averaging 51 points a game in a not-very-competitive league, but he's having a great time and has become quite involved with young people in Limerick (that was his great interest and commitment, along with basketball, at Middlebury).

We're off! Happy new year everyone!

polbear73 · November 18, 2017, 05:42:27 AM

Quote from: stlawus on November 17, 2017, 09:48:04 PM
I thought Bowdoin was going to blow my alma mater out tonight but SLU managed to hang around the 2nd half and only lose by 6. Bowdoin is HUGE. You pretty much never see a team that big in the Liberty League and they looked pretty impressive. SLU had an all freshman backcourt who I thought held their own but Bowdoin made their free throws down the stretch.

Good game summary and hats off to St. Lawrence for hanging tough in a game where Bowdoin never trailed. Zavier Rucker started and played 30 minutes, showing a lot of grit in his collegiate debut and fellow rookie Sam Grad gave Bowdoin a tough 6'7" presence underneath. Jack Simonds looks poised for a big year and it looks like he'll get scoring help from David Reynolds, Liam Farley, and Jack Bors. Hugh O'Neal continues to produce tough rebounds. Will be interesting to see how much Tim Ahn will be missed, but the play at the point was strong last night. I doubt that NESCAC can sleep on Bowdoin this year.

nescac1 · November 18, 2017, 08:55:05 AM

Two interesting match-ups today in Nescac action. First Bates vs Trinity ... I can't think of another time where two Nescac schools have opened the season vs each other. Second, Tufts vs Wash U in a top-ten matchup. That's going to be a huge challenge for an injury-depleted Tufts squad ...

amh63 · November 18, 2017, 10:48:30 AM

Amherst won easily after a slow start...trailed 3-2....before a run to lead 29-7 and had leads of 30plus.
What was surprising was the double digit scorers were all FY and Soph with Lots of outside shooting. Another surprise was that J'Mac...who had 9 rebounds ..was outscored by his younger brother!
First game jitters...19 TOs by Amherst. Good sign, 22 assists. Announcer pointed out the fine ball movement/distribution. The opponent did not have the height, but Amherst rebounded strong and well. Amherst meets WNE tonight, a winner over MCLA.
15 players got time on the floor for Amherst with lots of combo of players.

P'bearfan · November 18, 2017, 11:10:19 AM

Good start for the Polar Bears last night! Could only watch the first half due to internet connection issues but a few thoughts below:

-Qualitatively Bowdoin was played much better than in their first game of the last 2 seasons. This is a sign that their young roster has matured quite a bit.

-Nice offensive balance. Not surprisingly, Simonds led all scorers with 24 points; Bors, Farley and Reynolds each racked up double digit totals. This is exactly what Bowdoin needs.

-Good ball movement. The Polar Bears were moving the ball around well looking for the man with the best shot.

-Part of the reason for the good ball movement was that Bowdoin had trouble getting good looks inside against SLU's 2-3 or 2-1-2 zone. That's concerning b/c as stlawus noted, Bowdoin had a size advantage (though I wouldn't call them huge by NESCAC standards)

-Nice play from the FY's years. Zavier Rucker started at guard and seemed poised. Sam Grad also played well. There was a stretch late in the first half when Bowdoin had both of these FY's on the floor at the same time - with nice results.

-O'Neil and Grad briefly shared the floor and formed a nice front court combination. Both have good size and athleticism. Should be fun to watch them play together as the season progresses.

-Shout out to Drew Gagnon who, if my memory is right, racked up his first collegiate points last night! Gagnon is ridiculously athletic (legit 40" vertical) and a great kid. Hope he works his way into the regular rotation.

GoUBears!!

JustAFan · November 18, 2017, 01:02:29 PM

I was able to catch a bit of both the Tufts and Williams games last night. Good games by both teams against solid opponents. Tufts did a great job pushing the pace against Webster, running at every opportunity, and Coach Sheldon rotated 11 guys to keep fresh legs on the floor to help his running game. Pace looked like the Pace of old despite a bad night shooting, sophomore Eric Savage had a huge game (27 points, 5-6 on 3's) and the 5 Tufts freshman all played good minutes and looked promising. Tufts has installed an old school fast break offense that emphasizes long passes rather than dribbling to beat the other team down the floor, and it was extremely effective last night.

Nescac1 did a great job summarizing the Williams game, as usual. The outside shooting last night definitely was subpar for the Ephs (both number of shots and shots made). But I was thrilled to see Coach App adjust some of his offense sets last night to isolate Karpowicz down low in the blocks and better yet, the Williams guards did a nice job of getting him the ball down low and letting him go to work against a good Salem State center. If this kid was on any other NESCAC team he'd be playing 35 minutes a game and averaging over 20 points--his offensive game and motor around the rim are that good. James Heskett looked a lot more assertive last night on the offensive end and if that continues he could take another big step up in his game this year. Finally, Mike Greenman continues to be perhaps the most unsung and/or underrated point guard in the league.

FanOfNescac · November 18, 2017, 05:40:55 PM

Did not see Amherst's win over WNEC. But what a strange box score. NESCAC POY candidate and stone-cold killer Johnny McCarthy shot 0-for-11 (including 0-7 from three), and 1-4 on free throws. How does that happen with such a good player? Presumptive starting point guard Victor Sinopoli played 2 minutes, so maybe not so much. Grant Robinson had an impressive 11 boards and 4 assists, but also took a bagel from three (0-6). Riopel with a solid 14 and 9 and Sellew with 17 and 9. Mammoths off to a good start. That McCarthy line, tho.

nescac1 · November 18, 2017, 07:19:38 PM

Nice win for Williams. Player of the game for the Ephs was Karpowicz (right on, JustAFan) despite playing only 15 minutes -- 15 points (including several nasty throw-downs), 7 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. He looked dominant, and just has an unreal combination of size, athleticism, footwork, moves and touch. When the competition gets tougher he just HAS to be playing at least 20 mpg. App should be able to find two five minute stretches for him per half. He reminds me of Troy Whittington (not saying he is there as a player!) in that he expends a TON of energy to get his points, so to ask him to play a huge minutes load, at this point in his career, may not be possible. Bobby Casey (15-5-2, 3 treys, 2 steals overall) had a great second half for Williams, he was big tonight, and Kyle Scadlock looked great once again (16-10-4). Those three guys were the prime time players tonight, but they also get plenty of help, as well.

The Ephs' defense is going to be very, very tough as the year progresses. They are still working out a few kinks but their ridiculous length everywhere creates so many blocks, deflections and altered shots, intimidating. Quicker guys will be able to get in the lane certainly vs. this team, still too many guys beating their man off the dribble, but the second level there to greet them will make their life difficult as there is not a ton of space to shoot. The Eph offense is still figuring out exactly what it is, but clearly getting the rock inside to Karp and Scadlock is going to be an effective strategy vs. nearly everybody. Once the shots FINALLY started falling in the second half, including three triples in row from Teal (after missing his first five), you got a taste of the inside-outside dilemma the Ephs should eventually pose for teams.

Very nice start to the season with two good wins vs. solid opponents!

nescac1 · November 18, 2017, 07:27:06 PM

I watched a good bit of Amherst. A few observations:

-- Mobley was the key guy for them in the stretches I saw. He truly has inside-the-gym range. I expect he will be a marked man on the perimeter when he enters the game going forward.

-- Riopel looks really good, clearly their best overall offensive player. As for McCarthy, I just think he is trying to take on too much of the load right now. He's great because he does a little bit of everything REALLY well, but being a one-on-one ball-dominant scorer is not really his game, in my view. Better working more off the ball and such.

-- Bachmann has some very good post moves, smooth inside player. He is a lot more polished than Schneider, who is of course much bigger.

-- Grant Robinson is going to be really good -- quick, athletic and dynamic. But he still has a lot to learn, as you would expect from a frosh. He will be better in February than November, certainly.

-- Timmy McCarthy looks a lot like his brother in terms of his style of play, I think he was injured a lot in high school but he looks like he will be a very good player for Amherst (whether he ends up as good as his brother, that is a lot to ask!)

-- Sellew looks much-improved. Nice inside-out game.

-- Amherst's defense has a long way to go, unsurprising for a young team. They seemed to give up loads of very open shots to a mediocre-at-best team. I'm sure with so much depth, length, and good athletes, they will get a lot better on that end.

Cards Fan · November 18, 2017, 07:44:18 PM

Wesleyan's frosh looked like seniors today. Austin Hutcherson appears to be a 6'6 version of Salim Green. Jordan James looks great down low. It was a low quality team on the other side, but seeing the future of the team step up like they did was fantastic.

Old Guy · November 18, 2017, 09:58:26 PM

I'll try to sneak this in before Middhoops posts. Midd won their opening tourney defeating Wentworth 72-58 in the championship game. Daly was the MVP with his triple double last night, and 25 points today (and 6 rebounds and 6 assists).

Much better game today: Wentworth coach Arlen Galloway apprenticed at Middlebury as an assistant (2009-2011) and he had the right game plan after watching the Panthers last night — get back on defense and take as much time off the clock offensively as possible. After the first ten minutes or so, it was a 6-12 point differential throughout. They hung around, played hard. Senior Jason Ganley, 6'5" is a tough player (19 points), goes to the hoop, good mid-range jumpshot. 6'7" soph Stephen Azums doesn't start, but had a double-double both days (19/12 today). It was fun to see a Kizel back in our gym: Joey's younger brother Ben is a senior starter for Wentworth: he's a sharpshooter, hitting 3 threes. The final score was the largest differential of the game.

Midd didn't shoot as well today (30-60 FGM-A; 5-17 3PTM-A), but were defended much better. After Daly, Folger was solid as expected, even saddled with three fouls early in the second half: 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks. Adisa Majors was 7-9 from the floor. Played his usual robust game underneath. Frosh Farrell & Bosco in the backcourt again looked like they belonged and played a lot (33 and 20 minutes respectively; 6 points each). Bosco had a four point play in both games.

Games Tuesday (Johnson State, away) and Sunday (Endicott, home) who whipped us last year in this early game.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

MBB: NESCAC

FanOfNescac