MBB: NESCAC

[middhoops]

Good point about the 3 ball.
Midd's upset at Williams last week saw the Panthers hit 9 of 23 treys, while the Ephs connected on 2 of 20.
I often wonder if the three point shot has assumed too much focus in winning games in modern basketball. 

[toad22]

Good point about the 3 ball.
Midd's upset at Williams last week saw the Panthers hit 9 of 23 treys, while the Ephs connected on 2 of 20.
I often wonder if the three point shot has assumed too much focus in winning games in modern basketball.

I thought that the poor three point shooting by Williams was a function of their offense not being run very well. The result was poor shooting - two and three point shots. Notice the poor assist total (6). Midd was playing the game to win. Williams seemed to be playing the game not to lose.

[toad22]

I probably should not comment on this, but Trinity's Coach Cosgrove's behavior seems to be getting worse again. It was deplorable 10 years ago, but at some point he seemed improved. He was still more intense than I thought was good for himself or his team, but I saw real improvement. Based on last night's performance, he seems to be as bad as I have ever seen him. He was seething throughout the game, to the degree that his young assistant had to do much of the coaching during the game. He seemed to spit in anger or frustration at his players during time outs. He screamed at the refs about nearly every call. He did get one technical foul, but could have gotten many more if the refs didn't cut him a lot of slack. Worse, some of his players adopted a similar attitude. One upperclassman came out of the game and let loose a string of profanity that could be heard high in the stands. When Williams was dribbling out the game with only a few seconds left, a Trinity guard came over to Ryan Moon, our first year reserve guard, and fouled him hard with .2 seconds on the clock! Then this player mouthed off to the refs so much that they assessed a technical! So, Williams went to the foul line for four shots with .2 seconds left in a game where Williams was already ahead by 34! This behavior is not good for the players, the coach, the school, or the NESCAC.

[Colby Hoops]

Great road win for Colby, finishing off a monster 2-0 weekend with win over Hamilton. Will make the 7 hour trek back to Waterville a lot more palatable!

Hamilton jumped out to a 10-2 lead, but Colby responded with an 8-0 run, took the lead shortly after that and controlled play for the rest of the game. Hamilton cut the lead to two at half, but a strong start to the second half gave Colby a 7-point lead that they mostly maintained in the second half. Kena Gilmour got going at times, finishing with 24 and 9, but Colby always had an answer. Sam Jefferson was great, pouring in 29 and 8 on 6-10 from deep. Noah Tyson had 19-9-4 and a couple of really big threes late in the second half. And Wallace Tucker finished with 12-5-6 including some clutch plays at the end of the game -- rebounding his shot after a Gilmour block to score with 1:30 to go and then a driving 3 point play to close out the game a couple possessions later. Sean Gilmore and Ty Williams also chipped in nicely of the bench.

Colby's defense this weekend was so much better than it's been at any other point this year. A lot of fouls, but they worked so much harder to keep people in front of them. They're not going to be an elite defensive team, but just making the other team work for points gives them a chance. Secondly, I couldn't be more impressed with how Colby has rebounded and played post defense given their size this year. I was sure that they would face big problems in those areas in league play. Despite some tough losses, those two areas haven't been the biggest problem. And they don't even double post-ups that often. It's a credit to Jefferson, Tyson, Gilmore and all of the guards for fighting hard down low. Tyson in particular has been a monster on the glass all season, even when his shot hasn't been falling.

After a rough week, Colby has bounced right back with their best week of the season. With Tufts toppling Wesleyan there's a lot still to be decided in league play, but the Mules have put themselves firmly back in the mix. The next couple of weekends are going to be interesting!

[JEFFFAN]

How about those Colby Mules!    What a weekend on the road 

[middhoops]

Midd has to travel to Colby while they are red hot.
Kudos to a team that just finds ways to win.  Gotta love the NESCAC being interesting in the middle of the season.
I'd love to say something positive like, "Go Mules". but with our Panthers headed up there next weekend: I'll simply wish good luck to Noah Tyson.  He is Vermont's best high school baller from last year, and having a stellar frosh season at Colby.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Midd has to travel to Colby while they are red hot.
Kudos to a team that just finds ways to win.  Gotta love the NESCAC being interesting in the middle of the season.
I'd love to say something positive like, "Go Mules". but with our Panthers headed up there next weekend: I'll simply wish good luck to Noah Tyson.  He is Vermont's best high school baller from last year, and having a stellar frosh season at Colby.

So how did Midd lose him to Colby?!

[Colby Hoops]

Midd has to travel to Colby while they are red hot.
Kudos to a team that just finds ways to win.  Gotta love the NESCAC being interesting in the middle of the season.
I'd love to say something positive like, "Go Mules". but with our Panthers headed up there next weekend: I'll simply wish good luck to Noah Tyson.  He is Vermont's best high school baller from last year, and having a stellar frosh season at Colby.

So how did Midd lose him to Colby?!

I have no insight on that, but Mules fans are sure happy to have him! He leads the team in minutes, rebounds, assists and assists/TO as a freshman. He has really long arms and plays much bigger than his height, which is really important for such a small Colby team. And he rarely tries to do too much -- certainly doesn't play like a freshman.

He doesn't often get the chance to attack off the dribble or use pick and rolls, so will be interesting to see how his game develops in that area in coming years.

[Ubuntu]

Coach Cosgrove can be a little overboard, but I have not seen him cross the line.  He was animated today but not out of line with what had to be a disappointing performance.  I watched after previous post said he's getting to be a little to aggressive.

Colby's great weekend might have put a fork in Bates over the weekend.  Bates play has been admirable but probably going to be left out in the cold

I think it's panic button time in Brunswick.  literally no production from any guards besides Rucker and giving up 86 points in a must win game against Amherst (or at least a must compete game) are bad signs.

Question for everybody/anybody  Will the NESCAC get 3,  4 or 5 in the NCAA's this year.

[toad22]

Coach Cosgrove can be a little overboard, but I have not seen him cross the line.  He was animated today but not out of line with what had to be a disappointing performance.  I watched after previous post said he's getting to be a little to aggressive.

I'm glad to hear that that Coach Cosgrove acted normally at Middlebury. I like him. He is a good coach.

[nescac1]

I think Nescac gets at least four in (three Pool Cs) and has a good shot at five so long as Midd, Amherst and Wesleyan each win at least three more games (which is probable but not certain).  Actually Amherst probably needs at least four given the weak SOS (which will improve quite a bit after that brutal four game stretch to end the season, but still).  Hamilton and Williams are likely locks barring a complete collapse.  Colby has an outside shot but would need a few more upset wins in upcoming weeks (at least two out of three vs Midd, Williams, Wesleyan).   MIT, Gordon and Nichols (at least one of whom and possibly two of whom are likely to get Pool A bids) seem like the only non-Nescac teams from New England to be Pool C worthy, which helps. 

Man, speaking of Colby, looking at this past weekend crazy they lost to Trinity.  If they just miss out on the dance that one is gonna burn

[NEhoops]

-   Regardless of Cosgrove's sideline antics, Trinity isn't even competitive at this point. Any insight as to why they struggled this past weekend?
-   Bowdoin has definitely underachieved this year, they didn't perform much better than Trinity on Friday/Saturday. Earlier this year, some people (myself included) thought they could challenge
        for a top four finish, but now they're on the outside looking in.
-   On the flip side, the recent play of Tufts, Colby and Bates has been inspiring. Keep in mind that Bates has the tiebreaker over Tufts and Colby, but still a long way to go.
-   Seems as though Williams, Wesleyan and Hamilton are in good spots, although the Cardinals had somewhat of an uninspiring weekend. Middlebury and Amherst are on the bubble and the last
        weekend for both of them could decide a lot. Colby is still a long shot. 

[Colby Hoops]

Man, speaking of Colby, looking at this past weekend crazy they lost to Trinity.  If they just miss out on the dance that one is gonna burn

Against both Trinity and Bowdoin, Colby led with under a minute to go. Things look a lot different if they can hold on to those. Against Trinity, Colby went from having a free throw to take the lead with 4 seconds to go to losing at the buzzer. Oh well, not complaining about that after this past weekend!

[nescac1]

Trinity has struggled offensively the past few years and it did not help that their expected go-to guy, Jeremy Arthur, didn't return to the team this season (attrition had been a big issue at Trinity, which brings in a lot of good talent but also loses a lot of guys before graduation).  Usually the Bants, who are quick, athletic, deep and aggressive, at least fight like heck on defense.  It appeared like that was the case for much of this year, as Trinity has held some good offenses in check, but that usual level of intensity and focus seemed not to be there this past weekend (certainly against Willians when they fouled like crazy, and I'm guessing against Midd based on the box score).  Not sure if something deeper is going on ...

[jumpshot]

This year Trinity scores "by appointment only", and the coach has become a negative in the eyes of the players, administration, parents, etc.

His behavior this year in Williamstown was clearly out of bounds, as was the deliberate hard fouling without reason by his players ....

Stay tuned ....