MBB: NESCAC

[nescacfaninbos]

Had one eye on the Hamilton-Ithaca game last night (the other was on the football game). Ithaca did not look very impressive but Hamilton is such a solid squad. As impressive as Gilmour must have been offensively the night before (dropped 30 or so) he was equally impressive on defense last night. Just a complete player. They have all of these pieces as Andrew Grill looked impressive on defense, on the boards and was 2-2 from the field before getting into some foul trouble. Ithaca was small so that allowed Hamilton to play small ball most of the night. All of the other seniors were solid. The young guys who impressed were sophomore Spencer Kendall and frost Nick Osarenren. Kendall had 16 points and scored in a variety of ways. Osarenren has 9 board in limited time and while listed at 6'4", he looks like a linebacker,  very athletic, threw down a dunk in traffic in transition. The coach played 12 guys in the first half.  It will be interesting to see if this team can keep up this level of offensive efficiency during conference play. May need to step up the defense a little as I saw they gave up over 100 to Ursinus the night before.

[nescac1]

Hamilton looks like a legit national contender.  The starting five is likely right there with the likes of Augustana, Oshkosh, Williams and Nebraska Wesleyan, but the bench has been the question mark.  Seems like Osarenren, Kendall, Lutz, and Denloye, none of whom played big roles last year, are developing into a quality second unit, with lots of room to grow.   Hamilton's schedule has been very weak, but the way they've been scoring is certainly eye-opening.  The next two games vs Keene and Wesleyan should be illuminating.

Big games for Midd and Williams today against Swarthmore and Montclair.  Montclair has good size and an ace perimeter scorer, and is leading a strong conference.  Tough game after the long break, Williams needs to bring its A game.  Midd definitely needs to play better than it did to end the semester to win at Swarthmore in what is effectively a top-25 elimination game.  Huge game for the Panthers. 

What is up in Lewiston?  The good news for Bates - they appear to be fully healthy, finally.  The bad news - two more losses, to fall to 2-9.  Has there been a worse first semester in recent Nescac history?   Compare this to last year, when the Bobcats finished 12-12 after a 7-4 start to the season.  On paper, Bates should be much improved, after losing basically nothing to graduation from a pretty young team and adding some badly needed size up front.  Clearly, something is just not working right now, staring with abysmal shooting ... a troubling sign is that nine different guys have already started games, so clearly they are trying to find the right combo of guys.  Yes, injuries have played a role, they especially missed Cohen, but the team is healthy now and still appears to be struggling. 

Tufts continues to score a lot while playing some insanely porous D.  The bottom of Nescac continues to struggle.   We will see more over the next few days if the top four continue to look good. 

[polbear73]

A nice road win for Bowdoin, playing without Zavier Rucker, at Brandeis. Jack Simonds had 27 and Hugh O'Neil 16 points for the Polar Bears while David Reynolds was shut out of the scoring column. O'Neil also had 14 rebounds.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Got to see Middlebury in person today at Swarthmore.  Very clearly some strengths and limitations, but oh boy is the future bright.  That sophomore backcourt will be a headache for the next three seasons.  Farrell is really something special.  The last shot of the game he dribbled into a triple team and I'm sitting next to Gordon Mann saying "he needs to pass here," and, of course, he didn't.  That's a lack of experience, but it's a pass he'll probably make 9 out of the next 10 times he has the opportunity.

They're not on the level of Williams and Hamilton, but it's a strong, young team that's only going to get better.

[nescacfaninbos]

Watched the Midd game today, great game... very impressed by Middlebury's young backcourt, did not realize Farrell was only a sophomore, he was unconscious in the second half... Midd's bigs were impressive on offense when they got the ball to them but struggled to contain Swarthmore's O'Dell who was huge for them... they should compete well in the conference this year but will be even more impressive next year..

[jumpshot]

Here are the combined winning percentages of the opponents through today's games of the following NESCAC teams:

lord jeffs: only 31%, including one school without a winning record for the past 12 years; are we playing games or just having scrimmages again this year? 8 and 1 overall;

Hamilton: 42% with only 3 of 11 opponents having a winning record this year; 11 and 0 overall;

Midd: 54%, including one school with a record of 0 and 12 thus far and 8 of 11 opponents with winning seasons; 8 and 3 overall; improved competition from recent years (I know, requires long travel from Vermont to find more worthy opponents);

Williams: 53%, including about half the opponents having winning seasons to date. 10 and 0 overall. Another challenge tomorrow in Moravian after the long break;

[ContinentalDomer]

Minor edit - 4 of 11 Ham opponents currently have winning records. 2-3 others will before it's over.  In any event, such stats are likely a bit dicey for prognostication purposes at this stage of the season.

Here are the combined winning percentages of the opponents through today's games of the following NESCAC teams:

lord jeffs: only 31%, including one school without a winning record for the past 12 years; are we playing games or just having scrimmages again this year? 8 and 1 overall;

Hamilton: 42% with only 3 of 11 opponents having a winning record this year; 11 and 0 overall;

Midd: 54%, including one school with a record of 0 and 12 thus far and 8 of 11 opponents with winning seasons; 8 and 3 overall; improved competition from recent years (I know, requires long travel from Vermont to find more worthy opponents);

Williams: 53%, including about half the opponents having winning seasons to date. 10 and 0 overall. Another challenge tomorrow in Moravian after the long break;

[Old Guy]

Midd: 54%, including one school with a record of 0 and 12 thus far and 8 of 11 opponents with winning seasons; 8 and 3 overall; improved competition from recent years (I know, requires long travel from Vermont to find more worthy opponents);

Vermont is no farther away than it's ever been. It's more about the desire to compete. Nearby schools have dropped Midd (Norwich, Castleton, Colby-Sawyer, the Albany area and upstate NY schools — Union, RPI, St. Lawrence, etc) citing conference obligations, but one suspects if Middlebury were less worthy, it would be easier to schedule some of these opponents. Have to appreciate Keene State, Skidmore, Plattsburgh for not bailing.

Terrific game against Swarthmore. Down six at the half, Midd came back to take apparent control of the game, up nine with 4-5 minutes left. Two turnovers in the last minute proved fatal. Farrell, as cited, was terrific in the second half. SUNY Canton tomorrow and then the CT schools come to VT this weekend. Here we go! 

[nescac1]

Great win for Williams vs a tough Montclair squad. Montclair was very quick and athletic and hurt Williams on the boards with relentless effort.  Similar to the Stockton team that beat Williams in the NCAA although lacking the big time interior star.   Ephs were a bit flat-footed at times after the layoff and fouled too often in situations where fouls were not really needed, but Montclair bailed Williams out with some poor foul shooting. When the Ephs didn't foul they did a great job contesting basically every attempt, and totally shut down Montclair's star shooter.  Kyle Scadlock was everywhere on defense, with two steals, three blocks and nine boards.  He also pushed the pace on offense effectively in transition.

On offense Williams missed some shots it will make when more in rhythm.  Bobby Casey thrilled his huge personal cheering section with 17-7-6, tough not to press and try to do too much in those situations.   Heskett picked up where he left off in the second half of the Springfield game showcasing his entire arsenal inside and out, finishing with 28 points, 6 boards and only one turnover.  When in his groove he really can't be stopped. The downside for the Ephs was only three points on 1-9 shooting from guys other than the big four.  Williams has plenty of talent around the big four and will need more balanced contributions vs other top tier teams. 

Starting with today vs a 9-3 Moravian team that will be fresh after blowing out VWU on the strength of 17-26 shooting from 3 (wow).  The quick turnaround for Willians on the road after big minutes from the starters is a concern, so the bench really needs to make some plays today vs a deep, pressing team.

[jumpshot]

nescac1: your read on yesterday's and today's Williams games spot on, as usual.

ContinentalDomer: the records of opponents more significant to me regarding lj's longstanding approach to annual weak non-conference schedule than as any sort of predictor of success. Everyone entitled to do what they want. As a former player, my preference would be to graduate knowing I and my teammates competed against the best available, rather than settling for perhaps half of the games played over four years "givens", simply to pad record.

[Bucket]

The last shot of the game he dribbled into a triple team and I'm sitting next to Gordon Mann saying "he needs to pass here," and, of course, he didn't.  That's a lack of experience, but it's a pass he'll probably make 9 out of the next 10 times he has the opportunity.

Knowing Jack, he's going to be very upset with himself when he sees the film on that one; Sobel was all by himself on the far block. But, as you said, he'll learn from it and will make that play in the future. Anyway, can't knock the kid. He was spectacular, as you noted, and Midd wouldn't have been in the game without him.

I, too, am extremely bullish on the backcourt and the future for all of the reasons you wrote. But the future can wait—the conference opener nears!

[ContinentalDomer]

Five: (1) not sure that your terms "pad" and "settling" are supported by facts, as there are plenty of early season tomato cans on the schedules of each NESCAC team, (2) Hamilton's recent ascension in the ranks and performance in conference and elsewhere speaks for itself, (3) I'm sure the Hamilton players and coaches feel the same way about playing against good teams, (4) given academics, scheduling early season weeknight treks to/from central NY results in fewer opportunities for games that are more readily available to teams in MA, CT, etc. (5) early season records of weekend/tourney opponents are hard to gauge, particularly as evidence of motive in scheduling and likely not until more games are played - for example, among Hamilton's opponents to date, Ithaca managed to knock off #13 Rochester a few weeks ago, Johnson & Wales (beat Babson, which has beaten 4 NESCAC teams) is a perennial tourney team and brought back last year's NCAA tourney talent pool, and Ursinus returned a skilled squad that barely missed the NCAAs last year - good tests, it would appear. Keene St. is next - definitely a strong opponent, as I'm sure you (and Middlebury fans) agree.  Thankfully, of course, the games that matter most are less than a week away.  It will be much more fun to watch those and see what 2019 brings.  Good luck, and Happy New Year.

nescac1: your read on yesterday's and today's Williams games spot on, as usual.

ContinentalDomer: the records of opponents more significant to me regarding lj's longstanding approach to annual weak non-conference schedule than as any sort of predictor of success. Everyone entitled to do what they want. As a former player, my preference would be to graduate knowing I and my teammates competed against the best available, rather than settling for perhaps half of the games played over four years "givens", simply to pad record.

[jumpshot]

A tired Williams team earns a 9-point win over Moravian after leading by 26 at the 6:40 mark and 20 with three minutes to play.

On the day the Ephs miss 15 free throws, commit 18 turnovers (resulting in 22 points for Moravian), give up 18 offensive rebounds, and are whistled for 22 fouls.

Moravian presses the entire game, commits 27 fouls, including 17 in the second half.

It's a challenge to compete in back-to-back away games after a long layoff, especially where the "straight-up city game" is played...

A good learning weekend from which the EPHS will benefit with adjustments and and the experience ....

[toad22]

My only real concern for Williams is that they have not finished any one of the last three games well. The Springfield game was nearly in doubt at the end, and Montclair and Moravian were games that they should have won going away, instead of giving back big chunks of lead. Generally though, the Ephs are playing well. Now the most fun part of the season starts!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The big surprise to me was the (lack of) ball-handling.  Scadlock's a good player, but he can't be a secondary ball-handler the second week of March.  That's going to be trouble against a good pressing team with quick hands.  It's not something they can't overcome, but it was a glaring weakness to me watching that game.  In a half-court set-up, though, I don't know anyone who could beat'em.