MBB: NESCAC

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

From last night's Salisbury School (coached by former Panther Kyle Dudley) game recap:

Talk about deserving a break, it's hard to imagine a more deserving bunch than these Knights. With a 90-79 win over the Williams College junior varsity on Monday evening in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Salisbury completed a four-day stretch in which they played and won three games, two of them on the road. The team's eighth straight win boosts their season-slate to a glistening 10-1. And they will get that break with a rare Wednesday off and five days before their next game, Saturday against the Green Door of Deerfield.

Williams-commit Brandon Roughley made himself right at home in the gym he'll be calling "home" for the next four years. The Knights' scoring leader was in peak form, contributing a game- and season-high 30 points.

...

Roughley seems like a nice pickup for the Ephs, 6'8 with good perimeter skills.  He has one D1 offer from Umass-Lowell.  He's also a local product (from Dalton, MA), and will be the first Berkshires player on the team in quite some time (I believe actually since 2007!).  Hopefully helps to draw additional local interest in the team.

I've heard that Salisbury School is a really, really good institution. Beautiful location is what I've been told as well. I'm impressed some of the DIIIs are recruiting there. The only knock I've learned about Salisbury is they don't encourage the DIIIs for athletics as much as some alums would like them to; too focused on DIs.

Funny, I heard they were faaaaaar too lax with admissions standards, but maybe that was just in the '90s.

[jumpshot]

EPHS and St. Joe's tied at 35 at the end of the first half in which St. Joe's has made 13 of 16 foul shots mostly on drives to the rim (EPHS 1 of 3), and St. Joe's 0 for 5 from distance.

Perhaps a bit of zone defense might be helpful ....

[Cards Fan]

Wesleyan loses on a buzzer beater fade-away 3 from the corner.

[middhoops]

Tough out of conference Tuesday in the NESCAC.  Conn loses to Fisher.  Tufts loses at home to Suffolk.  Williams loses at St. Joe's and Wesleyan goes down at Johnson & Wales on a dramatic buzzer beater.
Midd prevailed over Albertus Magnus, preventing a shutout for the league.

[Colby Hoops]

I don't know if the numbers back this up, but it certainly feels like the non-conference results have been pretty poor for the Nescac as a whole when compared to past seasons. Another tough night as Tufts and Wesleyan lose to teams they should probably beat. Williams lost a hard fought game against St Joes, but it seems like we've said that a lot for them. Midd is the only team that's played some good opponents and consistently won.

The league is going to be a battle because I think there may be fewer Pool C bids than is typical for the Nescac.

[nescac1]

I definitely think NESCAC is down overall this season.  I have a feeling that it is going to be at most a three bid, and maybe a two bid, league when all is said and done. 

At this point, other than Middlebury, Tufts and Colby, every team is in danger of falling mostly out of the Pool C picture with another loss or two (Bowdoin, Conn, Bates, Williams, Wesleyan and Trinity I'd say are all already out, and Amherst and Hamilton will be hurt by very weak non-league schedules). 

I thought Williams played pretty well tonight.  About as well as the Ephs played this weekend, in my view.  But I also thought St. Joe's was the most talented team we've played all year.  As I feared, Jaecee Martin (with whom St. Joe's is undefeated) absolutely destroyed us with his quickness, 21-3-7 with 4 steals.  He was a one man press in the backcourt and harassed all the Eph ball-handlers, in particular, Cole Prowitt-Smith ... Jaecee definitely seemed to get into his head a bit and he had a rough second half.  I'd say it's either him or the Albertus Magnus point guard from 2014 if I'm picking the fastest player I've ever seen in D3.  His backcourt mate Delshawn Jackson is an assassin on offense.  And they have a bunch of hyper-athletic wings who created a lot of havoc on both ends.  Taelon Martin was once a very high level D1 prospect and you can see why, the talent just drips off him, even if it hasn't all come together yet.  HE just LOOKS like a player the way he moves on the floor..  And of course they are very well coached and play really hard.  If they had a legit big guy, a huge hole on the team, they'd be a national title contender.  As is, I think they can go very far in the NCAA tourney.

Karp had a huge first half for the Ephs, but St. Joe's adjusted its D and really limited him in the second with swarming help.  Overall still a very strong game with 18-11 plus 3 blocks.  Alex Stoddard also continues to look really impressive, 17-2-1 plus 2 blocks.  He is going to be a star on the wing for the Ephs down the line.  Spivy shot the ball well from 3 but didn't have much luck off the dribble vs. St. Joe's much quicker athletes.  Taelon Martin had a block from behind on Spivy that you just never see in D3.  Jovan Jones also had a strong overall game for the Ephs, he was the one guy who could match up athletically.  He has been playing very well of late. 

For the THIRD straight game, Williams was really hurt by turnovers against aggressive guard play during a key second half stretch.  I think the experience will serve them well because Hamilton, Amherst, and St. Joe's collectively feature some of the quickest defensive guards around.  But the Ephs have to work on staying composed because those turnovers off ball pressure leading to easy buckets in transition are killers.  I think a bit more passing and a bit less dribbling might help ease the pressure on the Eph guards as well. 

[Old Guy]

From last night's Salisbury School (coached by former Panther Kyle Dudley) game recap:

Talk about deserving a break, it's hard to imagine a more deserving bunch than these Knights. With a 90-79 win over the Williams College junior varsity on Monday evening in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Salisbury completed a four-day stretch in which they played and won three games, two of them on the road. The team's eighth straight win boosts their season-slate to a glistening 10-1. And they will get that break with a rare Wednesday off and five days before their next game, Saturday against the Green Door of Deerfield.

Williams-commit Brandon Roughley made himself right at home in the gym he'll be calling "home" for the next four years. The Knights' scoring leader was in peak form, contributing a game- and season-high 30 points.

...

Roughley seems like a nice pickup for the Ephs, 6'8 with good perimeter skills.  He has one D1 offer from Umass-Lowell.  He's also a local product (from Dalton, MA), and will be the first Berkshires player on the team in quite some time (I believe actually since 2007!).  Hopefully helps to draw additional local interest in the team.

I've heard that Salisbury School is a really, really good institution. Beautiful location is what I've been told as well. I'm impressed some of the DIIIs are recruiting there. The only knock I've learned about Salisbury is they don't encourage the DIIIs for athletics as much as some alums would like them to; too focused on DIs.

Funny, I heard they were faaaaaar too lax with admissions standards, but maybe that was just in the '90s.

Young Guy I (there are two Young Guys — both went to Midd) taught for two years at Salisbury (coached soccer). I visited quite often and had good talks with him. He was impressed with the quality of the education. Sports were emphasized — the teams are good, the kids are smart. That was their ticket. He believed that the athletes that attended Salisbury aspired to NESCAC type or Ivy League schools. There are prep schools now all over New England that are enrolling spectacularly talented athletes, many of whom are going to powerhouse D1 programs. Some of these school are pretty much open enrollment; others are among the the most prestigious secondary schools in the country (i.e. Exeter — Duncan Robinson). I don't think Salisbury is an athletics first, academics secondary place — but athletics are important.

[Old Guy]

I don't know if the numbers back this up, but it certainly feels like the non-conference results have been pretty poor for the Nescac as a whole when compared to past seasons. Another tough night as Tufts and Wesleyan lose to teams they should probably beat. Williams lost a hard fought game against St Joes, but it seems like we've said that a lot for them. Midd is the only team that's played some good opponents and consistently won.

The league is going to be a battle because I think there may be fewer Pool C bids than is typical for the Nescac.

Middlebury played a good team tonight (Albertus Magnus) and played very well, and had to. Midd played with poise and discipline against a very fast tough team. Stitches out, Folger played well (12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks); Bosco scored every which way (23 points) — he's very creative and totally impassive: his 9-9 from the line was crucial); Tommy Eastman is glue (15 points, 5 boards); Cahill played well (12 points; good D on some tough inside players ). With Sobel out, Cahill is important.

Colby comes in Friday night. That could be some game: 15-1 vs 13-0. I hope we see both team's best game (and Midd prevails).

[MiddWatcher]

It's a long drive from southern CT to Middlebury, VT - especially to play a 5 pm contest in a half empty gym. It showed today for Albertus Magnus. The old expression " never got off the bus " was highly appropriate in this 'watcher's opinion. Not all in attendance agreed with me .... but I was somewhat pleased to read " d3hoopjunkie" in the GNAC page. ( IF I actually knew how to cut 'n paste from another one of these sections, I would have put it in here ! )  Read it if you are interested. I thought his/her thoughts were right on. Basically, they did not bring much emotion or energy to the game defensively, at all, and did not run any offense with any merit whatsoever. They had 4 assists as a team and 2 fast break points.  Really ??  I do think they have a terrific coach, and I have watched many of their games where they really play with emotion and zeal and a great deal of energy. They COULD give a lot of teams a big run for their money. But tonight was not the night. Very good efforts from Bosco,Cahill and Eastman again, as noted. Farrell never really got going, but all else contributed mightily and Ingram gave them a good effort off the bench. Folger changed a lot of shots. DeLorenzo's odd home/away shooting split in evidence ( 27% at home, 57 % on the road ). Kind of amazing for a kid who has been shooting in that gym since he was 5 years old.  The Mule train will arrive on Friday night and it should be really fun.

[NEhoops]

Thoughts on the upcoming games Friday night -

Wesleyan at Trinity: At 0-2 WES will be playing with a sense of desperation and coming off two buzzer beating losses (see links below), they need to be thinking about a weekend sweep. A split last weekend in Maine for TRI can be considered a positive result. Only one game for them this weekend, they’ll be up for it.

Bowdoin at Williams: Both teams at 1-1, WIL definitely wants this tiebreaker and needs to protect their home court. It will come down to whoever plays more consistent on both ends. BOW can always keep things competitive, but the hosts will have the advantage in this one.     

Hamilton at Tufts: This will be a shootout and a fun one to watch. It could go either way and the tiebreaker implications could loom large.      

Colby at Middlebury: Two teams that are very good in transition, but this one will come down to who can score in the half court when things get tight. I give the edge to MID – they’re home and have the personnel/IQ to limit the opening looks on the perimeter for COL.

Amherst at Bates: Tough road trip for AMH and BAT is riding high. This will come down to who executes the best for 40 minutes. I like the road team in this one, but the hosts won’t go quietly.

https://twitter.com/JWUathleticsPVD/status/1217276368947503105

https://twitter.com/BatesSports/status/1216780327315599360

[Colby Hoops]

Thoughts on the upcoming games Friday night -

Wesleyan at Trinity: At 0-2 WES will be playing with a sense of desperation and coming off two buzzer beating losses (see links below), they need to be thinking about a weekend sweep. A split last weekend in Maine for TRI can be considered a positive result. Only one game for them this weekend, they'll be up for it.

Bowdoin at Williams: Both teams at 1-1, WIL definitely wants this tiebreaker and needs to protect their home court. It will come down to whoever plays more consistent on both ends. BOW can always keep things competitive, but the hosts will have the advantage in this one.     

Hamilton at Tufts: This will be a shootout and a fun one to watch. It could go either way and the tiebreaker implications could loom large.      

Colby at Middlebury: Two teams that are very good in transition, but this one will come down to who can score in the half court when things get tight. I give the edge to MID – they're home and have the personnel/IQ to limit the opening looks on the perimeter for COL.

Amherst at Bates: Tough road trip for AMH and BAT is riding high. This will come down to who executes the best for 40 minutes. I like the road team in this one, but the hosts won't go quietly.

https://twitter.com/JWUathleticsPVD/status/1217276368947503105

https://twitter.com/BatesSports/status/1216780327315599360

I'd be surprised if Williams/Bowdoin is competitive -- Bowdoin is really struggling.

Can't wait for Midd-Colby, this is the Mules first real test and boy is a test. On the road against one of the best teams in the country. Hard to overstate the importance of this one for Colby -- a win is massive for Pool C chances at the end of the season.

Last year, Farrell and McCord killed Colby, and the Mules had one of their worst shooting games of the season. Midd doesn't have the post-up threats to dominate down low without Sobel, so I think keeping Farrell out of the paint will be imperative (particularly in transition). If Farrell gets going, I'd expect Ty Williams to see a lot of minutes guarding him.

One area that's changed for the Mules this year, and is a big part of their success, is they adjust well to teams that really pressure shooters on the perimeter. Last year, it seemed like they'd end up just shooting from deeper and deeper. This year, they've been very effective cutting back door and opening up opportunities that way. Midd has the personnel to pressure out effectively, so it will be important for the Mules to continue this trend.

For Midd, I think the challenge in facing Colby is that you can prepare all you want for the Mules style of play, it's different once you're on the floor. They take (and often make) shots with no hesitation from places that you just don't see the other 24ish games of the season. It's just an unnatural feeling defensively.

It's easy to over analyze these big games, but if Colby shoots it well they are hard to beat. If they don't shoot it well, they're in trouble. Top-notch analysis, I know.

[ContinentalDomer]

Last night, Tyler Aronson did not play for Tufts.  The Jumbos remaining talent was certainly enough to beat JWU in Medford.  However, Aronson is one of the biggest keys to Tufts' success.  I think he's a premier player in the NESCAC, but one who still seems to fly under the radar.

I don't know if the numbers back this up, but it certainly feels like the non-conference results have been pretty poor for the Nescac as a whole when compared to past seasons. Another tough night as Tufts and Wesleyan lose to teams they should probably beat. Williams lost a hard fought game against St Joes, but it seems like we've said that a lot for them. Midd is the only team that's played some good opponents and consistently won.

The league is going to be a battle because I think there may be fewer Pool C bids than is typical for the Nescac.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

From last night's Salisbury School (coached by former Panther Kyle Dudley) game recap:

Talk about deserving a break, it's hard to imagine a more deserving bunch than these Knights. With a 90-79 win over the Williams College junior varsity on Monday evening in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Salisbury completed a four-day stretch in which they played and won three games, two of them on the road. The team's eighth straight win boosts their season-slate to a glistening 10-1. And they will get that break with a rare Wednesday off and five days before their next game, Saturday against the Green Door of Deerfield.

Williams-commit Brandon Roughley made himself right at home in the gym he'll be calling "home" for the next four years. The Knights' scoring leader was in peak form, contributing a game- and season-high 30 points.

...

Roughley seems like a nice pickup for the Ephs, 6'8 with good perimeter skills.  He has one D1 offer from Umass-Lowell.  He's also a local product (from Dalton, MA), and will be the first Berkshires player on the team in quite some time (I believe actually since 2007!).  Hopefully helps to draw additional local interest in the team.

I've heard that Salisbury School is a really, really good institution. Beautiful location is what I've been told as well. I'm impressed some of the DIIIs are recruiting there. The only knock I've learned about Salisbury is they don't encourage the DIIIs for athletics as much as some alums would like them to; too focused on DIs.

Funny, I heard they were faaaaaar too lax with admissions standards, but maybe that was just in the '90s.

Young Guy I (there are two Young Guys — both went to Midd) taught for two years at Salisbury (coached soccer). I visited quite often and had good talks with him. He was impressed with the quality of the education. Sports were emphasized — the teams are good, the kids are smart. That was their ticket. He believed that the athletes that attended Salisbury aspired to NESCAC type or Ivy League schools. There are prep schools now all over New England that are enrolling spectacularly talented athletes, many of whom are going to powerhouse D1 programs. Some of these school are pretty much open enrollment; others are among the the most prestigious secondary schools in the country (i.e. Exeter — Duncan Robinson). I don't think Salisbury is an athletics first, academics secondary place — but athletics are important.

A lot has changed since I attended the school ... but athletics has always been part of the life. A student must participate in an "activity" every trimester - they cant just go and sit in their dorms. Now, the school also has plenty of non-athletics to participate in (for example drama, which I had to do when a diagnosis - in hindsight, an inaccurate one - on my knees sidelined my junior year of basketball), but there were four teams of soccer, three teams (at least) of baseball), etc. If someone wanted to participate, they figured out how someone could do it.

Lacrosse and ice hockey have always been the kings on that campus from my day, but football came back to life when my brother was on campus and now all sports are considered top-notch. They even produce D1 talent out of their basketball program.

But all the sports have taken on a new dimension there in the last 15-20 years. Facilities have been updated and they certainly look more for athletes than they have in the past. However, you are right that the educational side is still the most important bedrock of that school. There are plenty of students on the campus who are never going to play college athletics and are some of the smartest minds in the world. I always appreciated that looking back, even if I didn't get to know some of those students as well.

My point has been this: when you look at the list of colleges that seniors are attending, they school points them towards high-end D1s for many of their athletes and if they don't get that or don't think they would be able to go D1 it feels to me like they don't stress options like DIII where they absolutely could play. I went from JV/Varsity soccer to a DIII institution (with a gap year!). My teammates could easily have played at any more successful DIII in many sports. I just don't get the sense - especially reading rosters as much as I do in many, many sports in DIII - that the school thinks like this.

I am working on a few angles, but hope to raise this soon enough to the school. Unfortunately, I don't think my name carries much weight there as some others do.

Salisbury's lacrosse and hockey programs are both as good as it gets in both the NE prep ranks but also nationally. But as far as I know, the basketball program, which competes in NEPSAC Class A, the third highest division in the NEPSAC, has never been known as a D1 basketball factory.

Doesn't have to be a factory. They have produced some good DI talent, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of DIII talent there as well.

[DIII_Enthusiast]

Good afternoon all-I have been a been a fan of NESCAC hoops and have been following along this board for a few years now. However, today I am officially deciding to throw my hat in the ring to offer some hot takes, league analysis, banter whenever the Cards are playing and continue to enjoy hearing perspectives from long time fans of what I find to be one of the more fascinating leagues around the country. As you might have already guessed, I am a Cardinals fan through and through, but I will do my best not to let that bias my perspective (although I do still think the Cards have a shot at the NESCAC title come playoff time-but we can dive into that later).

My first post will be dedicated for who's stock went up and who's went down after the first NESCAC weekend along with a rocky first half of this week.

Colby: Up. The Mules are operating at full force so far this season, starting off 2-0 in the league and undefeated early on. While the Conn win didn't tell us much, the Trinity win put on displayed the Mules toughness translates into the league. The 4-headed monster of Jefferson, Dorion, Hanna and Tyson will give some NESCAC teams fits this year.

Middlebury: Up. While the Panthers dropped their first loss of the season game one of NESCAC play to Amherst, they followed it up with a strong second-half comeback against Hamilton and a gritty win against Albertus Magnus. Once again, Jeff Brown has put together a solid team, led by another do-it-all guard in Jack Farrell. After adjusting to the loss of Sobel, seems like the Panthers are going to continue along an upward trend.

Williams: Down. For the first time in as long as I can remember I think Williams might actually be on a down year. 7 loses already (and 6 out of conference) makes me wonder if the Ephs will be playing late into February. For me their offense, normally run to perfection, doesn't look as crisp and turnovers are costing them.

Matt Karpowicz: Up. If there is one reason not to count the Ephs out just yet it is because of the stellar and consistent play of their senior big. Averaging 16 and 9, and with the NESCAC bigs seeming to be on a down year, look for him to keep Williams in the fight this season.

CT Basketball: Down. With two teams at 0-2 and Trinity at 1-1, the teams from CT each looked shaky during the first weekend of NESCAC play. While there's still a lot of basketball to be played, 1-5 in not a great start. To turn this corner, it seems like a push from Trinity or Wes is most likely.

Bates Offense: Up. Bates offense is a combination of old-school fundamentals, new school run & gun and man is it fun to watch. While I am not sure where they land in the NESCAC rankings, a fundamentally sound offense and deep bench will keep them in a lot of games.

Amherst Depth: Down. Don't get me wrong, this team is good. There top 6 (including Garrett Day off the bench) can run with most teams in the country. However, after that it really drops off. When so much of NESCAC play is about consistency and depth, their lack of the ladder makes me question how they will do dealing with back to back hard fought games deep into the season.

This NESCAC season: UP UP UP. While some said the NESCAC is down skill-wise this year (and I would agree) this is shaping up to be one of the more interesting seasons for one reason: the league is wide open. While Colby/Middlebury seem to be the frontrunners, Midd is 1-1 after weekend 1 and Colby still has a gauntlet of top NESCAC teams to go through the rest of the season. I see 5/6 teams with a tangible path to winning the playoffs along with the above two.

As usual, I am excited to see what weekend #2 tells us.

[Pat Coleman]

That's a lot to read, but welcome!