MBB: NESCAC

[Mr. Ypsi]

Thanks for all the great insight to the tourney.   I am not sure what is meant by Pool C?

Pool C is the designation for the "pool" of teams remaining eligible for at-large bids.

Pool A is for automatic qualifiers. There are 42 of those.
Pool B is for teams and conferences that do not have access to an automatic bid (ACAA is the lone conference). That accounts for one bid this year.
Pool C is all the remaining programs that still haven't gained access who are then evaluated and selected to round out the 64-team field.

ACAA and the AEC do not have automatic bids this year, which is why there are enough teams for there to be the one Pool B bid.

And just to clarify, all non-chosen Pool B teams are then eligible for Pool C.  Pool B is a restricted 'at-large';  Pool C is the true 'at large'.

[nescac1]

Quick Duncan Robinson update.  Nice article on his progress: https://www.ridiculousupside.com/2019/1/24/18196614/heat-two-way-player-duncan-robinson-sioux-falls-skyforce-duncan-robinson-miami-gleague-nba

And in the two games since that article, he has averaged 25.5-7.5-3 while hitting 11-24 from 3 and 5-7 from 2.  His future seems to be growing brighter by the week. 

And Colby Hoops, wow that is a positively brutal stretch of four games in eight days for the Mammoths (three on the road, two always-intense rivalry games, and all vs. the other best teams in the league).  Will be interesting to see how they hold up.  It does help that they play a lot of different guys in the rotation, depth will really be needed for a stretch like that.

[jayhawk]

Amherst Hamilton game rescheduled to February 12th

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

We talked about ROobinson, NESCAC, Williams, and fun stuff with Williams alum and Sports Illustrated Senior Writer Tim Layton on Thursday's 6th Annual Hoopsville Marathon.

[P'bearfan]

Good luck to the Polar Bears as they host Middlebury and Williams this weekend!

[nescac1]

Cool get re: Layden, Dave. 

If folks look on the Pool C board, fantastic50, who seems very knowledgeable, has current projections.  Williams, Wesleyan, Hamilton are all in excellent shape (as of now) for bids, and Amherst and Midd are both in very strong positions.  Colby is higher than I would have expected, teetering right on the fence.  Of course, a TON could change over the next few week thanks to a crazily backloaded schedule for all of those squads: Amherst playing FOUR of the other NESCAC tourney contenders, Williams, Hamilton, Colby and Midd three each, and Wesleyan two.  Any of those six teams could virtually lock up bids with a huge run of success, or fall out of the Pool C picture with a big losing streak. For example, if Amherst wins 3-4 of its last four games, it is almost surely in.  If it loses 3-4, it would very likely be out without an automatic bid from the NESCAC tourney.  Colby has a huge opportunity to solidify its position this weekend if it can pull off the home sweep, but also could fall out of Pool Ccontention entirely.   

Most likely, it will continue to be a bit of morass with teams beating up on one another, each picking up some good wins and good losses with 2-3 NESCAC teams holding their breath on the fence on selection Monday.  Should be interesting!  Still, considering all the NESCAC contenders will be improving their SOS ratings by quite a bit in the coming weeks, and at least several will add some wins over regionally-ranked opponents, in my view we are VERY unlikely to ultimately see fewer than four NESCAC teams in the NCAA tourney this year, if fantastic50's ranking system is accurate.  We will have a much clearer picture after this weekend's games, certainly. 

[Colby Hoops]

Thanks for sharing that nescac1. With H2H losses to Bowdoin, Bates and Trinity, Colby is still kind of teetering on the brink of the NESCAC tourney! They're probably only favored in 1 of their final 4 games, and just beating Conn doesn't guarantee a spot in the league tourney. If they keep up their great play from last weekend the NCAA tourney is in play, and if they fall back to the poor play of a few weeks prior they might be out of the conference tourney. A lot to be decided!

Unfortunately, won't be able to watch the Colby-Williams game tonight, but will try to check in on live stats when possible.

[nescac1]

Nice article (from a Springfield College student) about Kyle Scadlock's activism:

https://scstudentmedia.com/core-every-time-we-speak-up-were-heading-towards-change/

[P'bearfan]

It's 8 degrees in Brunswick this evening and unfortunately, Bowdoin's 3 point shooting was just as cold as the Polar Bears fell to Middlebury 63-51.  The Polar Bears only shot 15% (3-20) from behind the arc and that really was the difference in the game. 

Hopefully Bowdoin can find their shooting stroke for tomorrow match up with the Ephs.

[nescac1]

Great win for Williams on the road despite Heskett sitting this one out in street clothes.  The expected battle of styles materialized with Williams pounding the ball into the post on nearly every possession and Colby pushing the pace and attacking relentlessly looking for open looks in transition or off the dribble.

Scadlock was awesome for the Ephs, finishing with 26-10-3, physically dominant vs. this team.  Bobby Casey was his usual dependable self, 20-5-7, and critically only one turnover despite facing relentless pressure.  He's unflappable (and Wallace Tucker, who had a great game off the dribble, jawed at him continuously it seemed like and I imagine the refs too as he drew a T).  But the key to the Ephs's victory was their patience in getting the ball into the post, where Colby as expected simply could not guard the Ephs' bigs ... Karp, Kempton and Soto finished with 34 points on a combined 15-19 from the field, with nearly ever made shot coming within three feet of the rim. 

Colby is a scary team because they never quit, push the ball continuously, and can really shoot the lights out when they get it going.  Jefferson in particular is scary once he gets into rhythm, can't give that guy an inch.  Tucker's quickness posed a problem for the Ephs as small, quick guards tend to do.  And Gilmore had a really stellar all around game, making a lot of very difficult contested shots in the paint.  17-5-2-2-2 is an impressive line and accurately reflects his impact on the game.  But the Ephs did just enough on D to force Colby into a number of tough, contested jumpers and Colby couldn't quite make enough shots with a hand in their face to overcome the Ephs' massive advantage in the paint -- though they did sure make it scary for a time! 

[Old Guy]

It's 8 degrees in Brunswick this evening and unfortunately, Bowdoin's 3 point shooting was just as cold as the Polar Bears fell to Middlebury 63-51.  The Polar Bears only shot 15% (3-20) from behind the arc and that really was the difference in the game. 

Hopefully Bowdoin can find their shooting stroke for tomorrow match up with the Ephs.

I'm in Maine for these two games, Bowdoin & Colby. Both teams shot poorly tonight in Brunswick. Midd matched Bowdoin's 3-20 from three with its own 6-27. Bowdoin shot 35.7% overall, Midd 33.8%. The Panthers played good defense — and their quickness in the backcourt, and overall aggressiveness, was decisive. Simonds is so talented, you'd think he might just take over games, but he doesn't. Midd got a big first-half lead and held off the Polar Bears in the second.

I think we'll have to play better tomorrow in Waterville to come back with a sweep. I hope the Ephs softened Colby up a bit. Middlebury always plays hard, of that we are certain. Could be high scoring — the two teams in NESCAC that take the most threes per game (and most shots overall) and constantly push the ball. An exciting match-up.

Having seen both Trinity (a 35 point loss to Midd last Sunday) and Wesleyan (a three point win over Midd earlier in the month) in our gym, I find the outcome of tonight's Trinity-Wesleyan game incomprehensible. Wes seemed the vastly more talented and committed team. Wild.

[nescac1]

Agree with Old Guy.  Trinity just looked lost last weekend.  There have been plenty of strange results in Nescac this year, but Wesleyan losing to Tufts and Trinity after winning the preceding 12 out of 13, including beating Midd, Hamilton, Plattsburgh, and Amherst, is the hardest to square, especially for a team without injuries.  Are some of the young guys hitting a wall?  Perhaps D3Hforlife will chime in!

Colby-Midd should be really fun.  The shot clock may not often get below 10 in that one.  Midd seems to be rolling right now.  And may havd been a bit overlooked because their record (still good) could easily be better - four losses by a total of 12 points, while the wins have rarely been close.  Playing more like a three-loss team than a five-loss team. 

[Ubuntu]

Watched Colby Williams.  Not a Williams fan but I find them so interesting.  They don't go for Offensive Rebounds they just sprint back on D and make the other team run 1/2 court offense.  They sort of just strangle the other team.  Colby had it to 7 late with the ball.  But just seemed every basket was difficult.  Even with Casey shooting it poorly they still beat up Colby. 30 defensive Reb for Williams only 6 off Rebounds.

The biggest game for the mules may be the Williams Bowdoin game.  If Bowdoin wins Colby may be in trouble for getting in.  I think (not going on a giant limb here) Williams wins easy.  Bowdoin has 2 excellent players but has too many non-shooters on the floor at a time to score against Williams. 

Colby might have been laying low last night thinking this is the game they need v Midd.

[nescac1]

Congrats to Bobby Casey, the Ephs' new leader (supplanting Chris Rose) in career three-pointers!   For a program with a legacy of elite marksmen like Hunt, Nogelo, Frew, Klemm, Rooke-Ley, Crotty, Rose, Teal, Abba, Kain, Shalvoy, Schultz, Rubin, Wang and Folan, that is quite the honor.   He's also broken into the top 15 all-time Eph scorers, and rising ...

As for Colby, it sure looked like they wanted that game badly to me last night ... really brought it.  Just couldn't deal with the size imbalance inside.  Which will pose another challenge today.

[amh63]

For the record.....Tufts found playing in LeFrak difficult as Amherst won by 30.  Amherst seemed ready for Senior Day today...Bates arrives today.  The offense was spread around as the seniors...all seniors are front court players...played well.  Groff did leave the game with an injury....hope he will be ready today.  Groff's father and sister are alums and excelled in sports at Amherst.  Family from Pittsburgh area....and there is a water resource named Groff in the Pioneer valley.