MBB: NESCAC

[NEhoops]

https://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/archive - click the Download Archive link for the Excel file with all of the data.

The 17-18 season had seven NESCAC teams ranked at one point during the season. Very impressive 

[jayhawk]

A second Amherst recruit, Mohammed Alausa who is doing a postgrad year at New Hampton School
Powerful 6'4" guard/forward

[JEFFFAN]

A second Amherst recruit, Mohammed Alausa who is doing a postgrad year at New Hampton School
Powerful 6'4" guard/forward

Sorry if I missed it Jayhawk ... who is the first one?

[jayhawk]

Bobby Sommers ST Marks

[middhoops]

Colby's success last year and so far this year is perhaps a sign of change in D3 basketball.
Midd's game against NEC was a serious wake up call.  Uber quick smaller athletes who can shoot, steal the ball and run may be where the game is going.
Whitman's recent teams have wowed us with their speed. 
Colby starting 5 guards and crushing every opponent isn't an aberration.  It's a trend.
Watching the Colby trend vs. the Williams traditional model will be fascinating.

Happy Holidays NESCAC fans.

[granddaddyhoops]

Middlebury heading into the well deserved break at 10-0, beat an outmatched Morrisville St, watched a little today at Pepin boy are they deep and spread the wealth.

[JEFFFAN]

Bobby Sommers ST Marks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=OlS7RLqmWDI&feature=emb_logo

[maineman]

Middlebury heading into the well deserved break at 10-0, beat an outmatched Morrisville St, watched a little today at Pepin boy are they deep and spread the wealth.

Does anyone know if there is a timeline for Griffin Kornaker's return?  Hopefully it will be the first of the year.

[granddaddyhoops]

Griff K is expected back for the Jan 3rd game vs Colby Sawyer

[MiddWatcher]

Overheard same thing yesterday. Great for Midd to get him back! He attacks on offense and his D is much improved. Backups Ingram and DeLorenzo held #00 to a very quiet 9 points, 0 assists yesterday. He had scored half of their 58 points on Saturday !  Their defense really helps and both are shooting about 50%.  They will just need to keep making Midd's bench strong. Cahill and Eastman both had good days on Monday, too.

[SpringSt7]

A few first semester thoughts on the Ephs:

-Getting right to the point, being 4-3 is not ideal. An OT loss on the road to Oneonta St in which Spivy and Karpowicz immediately picked up two fouls and the offense never really got going, and a loss on the last play to Springfield in which Jovan Jones had a clean look from 3 for the win are the different from 4-3 to 6-1, but the record is what it is, and while all 3 losses could potentially be to tournament teams, it's never too early to talk resume and they're certainly behind the 8 ball before league play has started.

-With all of that being said, this still has all of the makings of a good team. For a young team that is still making a lot of mistakes and has a lot of room to improve on the defensive end, they are still holding opposing offenses to 62.1 points per game (19th in the country) and 38.9% from the field (29th). It is the offense that is the problem, and while the eye test tells me there is more to it than just this, it is the shooting that is really letting them down. Their 26.3% 3 point shooting percentage is 401st in the country...out of 416. Spencer Spivy, who many (including myself) thought had a chance to be their #2 scorer and a 13+ ppg guy, is taking more than 7 threes a game and making 20.2% of them. They still need the game experience of running and executing the offense, and they have many more issues on that end behind shooting, but life would be a lot easier if a couple more threes could fall.

-Despite the 4-3 start, the next 4 games are as follows: Endicott (7-3) on a neutral site, @ Salem St. (1-9), @ Union (4-1), vs. Fitchburg St. (6-5). All 4 of those games are winnable, but 3 of them are certainly losable, although you think a team of this caliber should be able to take care of business. Winning those 4 games would be huge for a young team like this to get into NESCAC play with a head of steam and some confidence.

-As a few posters have noted, with a team this inexperienced but this talented, they might have some unbelievable wins and some inexplicable losses. But if they can keep those losses to a minimum, they should enter the NESCAC tournament with a chance to make it back to the NCAA tournament.

[nyhoopstalk]

Having watched mostly every competitive NESCAC team against a quality opponent, my thoughts are Middlebury and Hamilton are a notch above every other conference team. I am impressed with Hamilton's road/neutral wins against TCNJ and Drew; who both look to be at the top of their respective conferences. Middlebury's non-conference was much to be desired but their win on the road at Stevens may look better down the line. I would not count out Williams or Amherst yet but the eye test thus far gives me pause about their NCAA hopes.

[Colby Hoops]

A few first semester thoughts on the Ephs:

-Getting right to the point, being 4-3 is not ideal. An OT loss on the road to Oneonta St in which Spivy and Karpowicz immediately picked up two fouls and the offense never really got going, and a loss on the last play to Springfield in which Jovan Jones had a clean look from 3 for the win are the different from 4-3 to 6-1, but the record is what it is, and while all 3 losses could potentially be to tournament teams, it's never too early to talk resume and they're certainly behind the 8 ball before league play has started.

-With all of that being said, this still has all of the makings of a good team. For a young team that is still making a lot of mistakes and has a lot of room to improve on the defensive end, they are still holding opposing offenses to 62.1 points per game (19th in the country) and 38.9% from the field (29th). It is the offense that is the problem, and while the eye test tells me there is more to it than just this, it is the shooting that is really letting them down. Their 26.3% 3 point shooting percentage is 401st in the country...out of 416. Spencer Spivy, who many (including myself) thought had a chance to be their #2 scorer and a 13+ ppg guy, is taking more than 7 threes a game and making 20.2% of them. They still need the game experience of running and executing the offense, and they have many more issues on that end behind shooting, but life would be a lot easier if a couple more threes could fall.

-Despite the 4-3 start, the next 4 games are as follows: Endicott (7-3) on a neutral site, @ Salem St. (1-9), @ Union (4-1), vs. Fitchburg St. (6-5). All 4 of those games are winnable, but 3 of them are certainly losable, although you think a team of this caliber should be able to take care of business. Winning those 4 games would be huge for a young team like this to get into NESCAC play with a head of steam and some confidence.

-As a few posters have noted, with a team this inexperienced but this talented, they might have some unbelievable wins and some inexplicable losses. But if they can keep those losses to a minimum, they should enter the NESCAC tournament with a chance to make it back to the NCAA tournament.

The shooting has to improve. Basically nobody on the team is shooting it well to this point. Some if it is luck and will definitely turn around. Some of it is players taking on roles that they never have before. Karp is going from 4th option to top option (with more defensive attention and inexperienced players trying to get him the ball), Spivy and Jones are going from barely playing to being asked to create shots and initiate offense. The freshman are still adjusting to the college game, and having to do so in big roles.

There's a lot of talent, but that's a huge adjustment early in the season. The good news is that players will get more comfortable as the season goes along and shots start to drop. The bad news, is that every other good team in the Nescac is filled with experienced players who have done this before. Even a team like Hamilton, which also relies on a lot of young players, is asking so much less of those players because the offense can run through Gilmour. The Ephs will certainly be an interesting team to monitor.

[SpringSt7]

Colby picks up a commitment from David Basich, a 6'0 PG from Green Farms Academy in CT. High school teammate of Williams freshman Cole Prowitt-Smith.

[SpringSt7]

A few first semester thoughts on the Ephs:

-Getting right to the point, being 4-3 is not ideal. An OT loss on the road to Oneonta St in which Spivy and Karpowicz immediately picked up two fouls and the offense never really got going, and a loss on the last play to Springfield in which Jovan Jones had a clean look from 3 for the win are the different from 4-3 to 6-1, but the record is what it is, and while all 3 losses could potentially be to tournament teams, it's never too early to talk resume and they're certainly behind the 8 ball before league play has started.

-With all of that being said, this still has all of the makings of a good team. For a young team that is still making a lot of mistakes and has a lot of room to improve on the defensive end, they are still holding opposing offenses to 62.1 points per game (19th in the country) and 38.9% from the field (29th). It is the offense that is the problem, and while the eye test tells me there is more to it than just this, it is the shooting that is really letting them down. Their 26.3% 3 point shooting percentage is 401st in the country...out of 416. Spencer Spivy, who many (including myself) thought had a chance to be their #2 scorer and a 13+ ppg guy, is taking more than 7 threes a game and making 20.2% of them. They still need the game experience of running and executing the offense, and they have many more issues on that end behind shooting, but life would be a lot easier if a couple more threes could fall.

-Despite the 4-3 start, the next 4 games are as follows: Endicott (7-3) on a neutral site, @ Salem St. (1-9), @ Union (4-1), vs. Fitchburg St. (6-5). All 4 of those games are winnable, but 3 of them are certainly losable, although you think a team of this caliber should be able to take care of business. Winning those 4 games would be huge for a young team like this to get into NESCAC play with a head of steam and some confidence.

-As a few posters have noted, with a team this inexperienced but this talented, they might have some unbelievable wins and some inexplicable losses. But if they can keep those losses to a minimum, they should enter the NESCAC tournament with a chance to make it back to the NCAA tournament.

The shooting has to improve. Basically nobody on the team is shooting it well to this point. Some if it is luck and will definitely turn around. Some of it is players taking on roles that they never have before. Karp is going from 4th option to top option (with more defensive attention and inexperienced players trying to get him the ball), Spivy and Jones are going from barely playing to being asked to create shots and initiate offense. The freshman are still adjusting to the college game, and having to do so in big roles.

There's a lot of talent, but that's a huge adjustment early in the season. The good news is that players will get more comfortable as the season goes along and shots start to drop. The bad news, is that every other good team in the Nescac is filled with experienced players who have done this before. Even a team like Hamilton, which also relies on a lot of young players, is asking so much less of those players because the offense can run through Gilmour. The Ephs will certainly be an interesting team to monitor.

Agreed on all fronts. The team has much more capable shooters than the numbers suggest, they are just yet to settle into their roles and are probably overthinking a lot of things. One of the hardest things to do as a college basketball player, or when you take the step up to another level in any sport really, is finding the balance between playing hard and crisp, and rushing. Once they do that, and they better do it soon, I think those numbers will go up.

Hopefully the Springfield game, and not the Albertus Magnus game, is more reflective of Karp's ability to be the 1st option.