MBB: NESCAC

[AllStar]

Final conference tournament results

[P'bearfan]

Great view of Krill's game-winner.  I'd say about 26-28 feet out:

https://twitter.com/wes_athletics/status/967558206242414592

Sounds like a nice pick up for the Polar Bears!  Thanks for the update.

[nescac1]

D3HforLyfe makes a VERY good point about Williams' smart strategy regarding controlling the pace.  On the rare occasions the Ephs struggle on defense, it's typically because they are giving up transition buckets or second-chance points off restarts.  When totally set, Williams half-court defense has been mostly impenetrable over the second half of the season.  By avoiding turnovers or bad shot attempts early in the shot clock, Williams never let the Wesleyan guards get a head of steam in the open court.  The Ephs took almost no ill-advised shots, just about all of the highest degree of difficulty attempts came very late in the shot clock after they had at least made Wesleyan work for 30 seconds on defense.   Even though the shots weren't really falling most of the game, they were the right shots to attempt: a very disciplined performance on both ends by the Ephs, credit to the coaching staff for that. 

One other note on last night's game, and this is a deep dive for the true junkies only: it was entertaining to watch the two coaches' chess match with swapping in and out big men.  I believe the thinking went something like this: App typically wants Karp in on offense but Kempton in for defense, when that sort of switch is possible.  Dixon had no prayer of guarding Karp (every time the Ephs got that match-up Karp went right to the rim) so Reilly tried to get Bascom on Karp on the defensive end.  Bascom could potentially score on Karp, but was very unlikely to score in the post on the much bigger Kempton, so when Kempton came in on D, Dixon was the better option on offense since he could space the floor and pull Kempton out of the paint, neutralizing his best asset.  And Kempton is not an offensive threat so Wesleyan could live with Dixon on defense.  Basically, Williams wanted Karp vs. Dixon on offense and Kempton vs. Bascom on D, while Wesleyan wanted Bascom to be playing opposite Karp, but Dixon opposite Kempton, hence the crazy merry-go-round of big men we kept seeing in the second half. 

***

Post NESCAC tourney, I think all-league will end up (and should end up) like so:

COY: App, POY: Heskett, ROY: Hutcherson, DPOY: Sears
Heskett, Daly, Gilmour, Pace, Casey 1st team
Riopel, McCarthy, Krill, Bonner, Gendron 2nd team

O'Brien, Hoffmann, Grassey, Folger, Reynolds, Simonds, Spellman, Labossier also in the running for the last few second-team slots. 

Heskett vs. Daly is a total toss-up, and I think both are worthy and both should be all-Americans when all is said and done.  The reason I went with Heskett (besides just being biased) is that Daly and his team had a tough finish to the season, while Heskett led his to a NESCAC title and had some really huge games down the stretch to carry the Ephs.  It is hard to compare stats because Daly is so superior in assists and rebouding and Heskett so superior in all of the shooting / scoring categories.  Heskett, in his last ten games of the season, which included a brutally difficult set of games (Wesleyan, Trinity x2, Hamilton x2, and Amherst), put up 22.3 ppg, on extremely efficient shooting.  And while he might not be quite at the Daly level, he is an excellent defender as well, one of the best on the team.   

[jumpshot]

nescac1,

Your most recent post is 100% accurate in all respects regarding strategy, deep dive, and all-league. Well-done.

[nescac1]

Thanks Jumpshot!

Bracket posted. 

http://static.psbin.com/i/4/ihp89r82nqvay2/mbb-bracket-2018.pdf

NESCAC teams split into two quarters.  Amherst is out of the tourney for the first time since 2010, I believe.  Springfield made it meaning Amherst (along with Hobart) is probably the last team out. 

Williams is pretty clearly hosting all the way through.  Wesleyan might actually be hosting until Salem as well. 

Lots of interesting match-ups for NESCAC schools should they survive to round 2: Williams vs. Ramapo, an experienced team which started the season in the top.  Midd could face Eastern Conn at Eastern Conn in Round 2.  It's a long shot, of course, but Midd and Williams could have an Elite 8 rematch, this time with Williams hosting.  Wesleyan could face Swarthmore in round 2, that would be a fun one but certainly helps to be at home.  Hamilton could have to play at York in Round 2. 

[Bucket]

Wow. Anyone else surprised that Amherst didn't even come close to getting to the table?

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d3/regional-rankings-0

They dropped to 10th in the NE, so that means that Keene was at the table at the end, and there was still another team—Salem State—between Keene and Amherst.

That makes me think that Amherst needed the Pool A. It appears they would have been left out even with a win over Wesleyan.

[middhoops]

Yup, Bucket.
The committee that decides who gets in sticks closely to win %, strength of schedule, quality wins and ..... oops, I was going to say head to head match ups.  But that wouldn't apply to Amherst and Springfield, would it?
Nvrmnd.

[Bucket]

Yup, Bucket.
The committee that decides who gets in sticks closely to win %, strength of schedule, quality wins and ..... oops, I was going to say head to head match ups.  But that wouldn't apply to Amherst and Springfield, would it?
Nvrmnd.

Correct. I'm not surprised that Springfield eeked them out. I *am* surprised that they fell below Keene and Salem State in the regional ranking.

[nescac1]

I am surprised Amherst was below Keene and Salem, certainly.  I don't think anyone would prefer to play Amherst, the way it is playing right now, over Keene, Salem, or even probably Springfield (although Jake Ross alone makes Springfield very scary).  But even had they been a few slots higher, it appears they would have missed the tourney.  I imagine their low non-league SOS was what hurt them ...

[7express]

Thanks Jumpshot!

Bracket posted. 

http://static.psbin.com/i/4/ihp89r82nqvay2/mbb-bracket-2018.pdf

NESCAC teams split into two quarters.  Amherst is out of the tourney for the first time since 2010, I believe.  Springfield made it meaning Amherst (along with Hobart) is probably the last team out. 

Williams is pretty clearly hosting all the way through.  Wesleyan might actually be hosting until Salem as well. 

Lots of interesting match-ups for NESCAC schools should they survive to round 2: Williams vs. Ramapo, an experienced team which started the season in the top.  Midd could face Eastern Conn at Eastern Conn in Round 2.  It's a long shot, of course, but Midd and Williams could have an Elite 8 rematch, this time with Williams hosting.  Wesleyan could face Swarthmore in round 2, that would be a fun one but certainly helps to be at home.  Hamilton could have to play at York in Round 2.

I wouldn't be so sure.  Newport to Williams is 577 miles, which is 77 miles over the NCAA cut off limit (NCAA pays for a flight over 500 miles; they'll only pay for bussing under 500.  If a school wants to fly it pays out of pocket).  I posted this on the LEC board, but IF all 4 hosts advance out of that half (and that's a pretty big if mind you), Hopkins is the only one of the 4 that's within 500 miles of the other.  Not sure how many teams the NCAA has to fly, but generally they try to keep it to around 5 or 6 in a tournament......which includes getting teams to Salem.  Or at least I think the travel plan includes Salem.  I know the NCAA likes to keep it around 5 for the first & second rounds, but not quite sure if they include the final 4 in there.

[Bucket]

Thanks Jumpshot!

Bracket posted. 

http://static.psbin.com/i/4/ihp89r82nqvay2/mbb-bracket-2018.pdf


Williams is pretty clearly hosting all the way through. 

With the NCAA, you can never be too sure. Would they fly Christopher Newport up to Williams if all the first pod hosts win? Or would all teams converge, via bus, @ Johns Hopkins? Emory & Henry would also be a flight, if they come out of that bracket instead of Christopher Newport.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Thanks Jumpshot!

Bracket posted. 

http://static.psbin.com/i/4/ihp89r82nqvay2/mbb-bracket-2018.pdf


Williams is pretty clearly hosting all the way through. 

With the NCAA, you can never be too sure. Would they fly Christopher Newport up to Williams if all the first pod hosts win? Or would all teams converge, via bus, @ Johns Hopkins? Emory & Henry would also be a flight, if they come out of that bracket instead of Christopher Newport.

They are not going to unnecessarily fly someone.  If that goes to seed, Hopkins will host.

[nescac1]

Ahh, I see.  I was just looking at the overall seeing in the bracket, didn't focus on the travel issue.  In an all events, Williams has to take care of business this weekend before even worrying about that stuff, and anything can happen in the NCAA tourney.  Ramapo seems like a potentially very tough second-round match-up.  They start five seniors and were, if I recall, a top 5-6 pre-season team in a few different polls.  They haven't quite played to that level in terms of the W-L record, and Bonacum's stats are a bit down from previous years (perhaps he had an injury?) but that potential match-up seems pretty even. 

I'm happy to see Johns Hopkins' success, as they are one of two teams coached by former Dave Paulsen assistants (along with Nebraska Wesleyan).   I'll be rooting for those teams, as well as the other three NESCAC squads!  And most of all - besides the Ephs - pulling for Yeshiva, a great story and my Dad is an alum!  They hung with Williams earlier in the year and while a very young team are definitely for real. 

[Pat Coleman]

I look at those regional rankings as the NCAA regional committee saying there was no way they were giving four at-large bids to the NESCAC.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

It's happened before where there's just been a wins total that was too low.  It looks like 17 was it this year.  There are teams out there with a 15-10 record and astronomical SOS numbers because they played lots of good teams.  At some point you need to cut it off and Amherst was on the wrong side of the line this year.