MBB: NESCAC

[SpringSt7]

I think this Wesleyan team has the pieces to be as good as the best team in the league. I'm probably the biggest Sam Peek fan in the league, I just think his game translates to this level and he could lead the league in scoring if things fall his way.

The biggest concern for Wesleyan is obviously Antone Walker and Gabe Ravetz. Those dudes get their shots UP. Ravetz I think has serious breakout potential as a poor man's Matt St. Amour but Walker seems pretty set in his way as a low efficiency and turnover prone guard who will sporadically get hot. The more shots they can get for Peek and James (who showed an underrated ability to score in the post when they went to him) the higher I think their ceiling is. But there is no doubt they have major pieces.

[nescac1]

Unsurprisingly, only one NESCAC player on the pre-season all-American list, Luke Rogers makes first team:

https://www.d3hoops.com/awards/all-americans/men/preseason-2022

Also unsurprisingly, only one other New England guy on the five all-American teams (honorable mention Jaecee Martin from St. Joseph's).  Certainly, some young, unknown talent will emerge over the course of this weird season for sure, but in terms of returning veterans, there is really no one else in New England who seems worthy.  Maybe Grant Robinson if he is back to the old Grant Robinson physically, which seems likely after a year off, but no one outside Amherst knows for certain ...

[D3.Lifer]

Very surprising. A lot of Midwest presence on the All-American teams. Rightfully so they have a track record of high level talent. I think theres two players everyone will be talking about in the next few weeks ... Noah Tyson and Sam Peek. Tyson averaged 19 & 11 in the NESCAC tournament when the Mules were basically without Sam Jefferson and Alex Dorion. He's finished top 10 in rebounding every year of his career. I know Colby hasn't been getting much respect but I think that changes soon and Tyson will be a big reason why. Peek is an absolute monster and finished the 19-20 season strong. He is a sure fire 1st team guy and depending on Wesleyans success could be in for some national recognition. Really enjoy watching him play. Do it all guard that doesn't seem to have a weakness

[Old Guy]

Midd roster also posted and they are in the exact opposite situation.  Not one senior and (obviously) no fifth-year players.  Sobel is as reported back, which is huge, for them but he is one of only two guys returning (Moore) who have seen a single meaningful minute on the floor.  They have a nice group of frosh who will surely be major contributors right away but, frosh are frosh.  Seems like there will be some growing pains for Midd this year but Jeff Brown usually finds a way and with this entire group back next season, plus a few big-guy recruits coming in, the future seems brighter than the present ...

Checking in: nice to be back. Local hoops makes winter in VT more tolerable. Can't wait to get back in the gym and watch some hoop. Middlebury is in a rebuild, for sure. I haven't been in the gym for 20 months so have no personal observations to make. I did talk briefly to someone in the know and asked, "will we be any good?" and he said, "we could be pretty good, . . . but not this year." Maybe we'll sneak up on some people. Expectations.

I don't pay much attention to news about recruits before they arrive (though I do read the posts — thanks NESCAC1, and others). I'm going to the games, no matter what. I wait till they get here. Like in teaching, you teach the kids in your class. I root for the players with "Middlebury" on their shirts, always have. Don't get me wrong: I exult when Midd wins and despair when they lose. I prefer the exultation, but I love the Panther players and appreciate their efforts either way, enjoy getting to know their families. I have had a ball the last decade and a half (Midd has made the NCAA tourney 11 of the last 13 years) and hope we can get back to that level.

It's hard not to feel especially sad for the lost season of 2021 for the Middlebury seniors. Middlebury's top six players (playing time) were in the class of 2021. I think it was safe to say the team would have been one of the best in D3 (especially with the big guy coming back). I think this article from the local paper was presented here before, but it makes the point: https://www.addisonindependent.com/2021/04/29/karl-lindholm-mens-basketball-grieving-a-lost-season/

I wish I had had a chance to watch Tommy Eastman play another season for the Panthers. He was in the top rank of talents I have seen at Midd over many years. He's at Brandeis this year attending graduate school (he was a Physics major at Middlebury). I'll be watching some of their streamed games, likewise those of CWRU (my graduate school!) where Griffin Kornaker is also playing as a grad student.

Carry on, friends. Here we go!

[amh63]

Nice to "hear" from you, Old Guy! 

[lumbercat]

Great to see Old Guy back at it. Looking forward to the season ahead.

Some followers of this board may be aware that OG has evolved into a great free lance writer up in cheese country.
I've enjoyed his work immensely on his vintage NESCAC memories and perspectives which provide a great account of the Bates-Middlebury connection and his personal observations along the way. I look forward to seeing more of his work.

Bates has interesting team this year with some potentially formidable talent. I won't speculate at this point but look forward to the season ahead.

[Greek Tragedy]

Great to see Old Guy back at it. Looking forward to the season ahead.

Some followers of this board may be aware that OG has evolved into a great free lance writer up in cheese country.
I've enjoyed his work immensely on his vintage NESCAC memories and perspectives which provide a great account of the Bates-Middlebury connection and his personal observations along the way. I look forward to seeing more of his work.

Bates has interesting team this year with some potentially formidable talent. I won't speculate at this point but look forward to the season ahead.

Growing up and living in Wisconsin, I imagine you don't mean the Badger State. Yeah, I know, ignorant Midwesterner. LOL

[nescac1]

Williams men's basketball roster up:  https://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/mens-basketball/roster?path=mbball

Nearly everyone on the roster took a year off (all but five guys are a year older than their listed class, and for four guys who did a PG year, two years older).  This team is not especially experienced on the court, but will be playing mostly guys who would normally be juniors and seniors (or grad students), so it should be interesting to see how it all comes together.  Four guys are listed as having gained an inch since last they played, I'm a bit skeptical of that, but in all events, this team is - as usual for App - going to have a size advantage at almost every spot against most teams it plays.  This is not the skinny team of years past, and a lot of guys have added a lot of muscle, it seems, since last they played ...

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Williams men's basketball roster up:  https://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/mens-basketball/roster?path=mbball

Nearly everyone on the roster took a year off (all but five guys are a year older than their listed class, and for four guys who did a PG year, two years older).  This team is not especially experienced on the court, but will be playing mostly guys who would normally be juniors and seniors (or grad students), so it should be interesting to see how it all comes together.  Four guys are listed as having gained an inch since last they played, I'm a bit skeptical of that, but in all events, this team is - as usual for App - going to have a size advantage at almost every spot against most teams it plays.  This is not the skinny team of years past, and a lot of guys have added a lot of muscle, it seems, since last they played ...

The question will be if those big guys added any speed or mobility. The last we saw Williams they had more of a distinction between guards and bigs than you typically see these days.  I'll definitely be looking at the style of play when they hit the floor.

[nescac1]

It's a fair question Ryan.  But even the best Williams teams generally aren't all that speedy ... it's been a loooong time (James Wang, really) since the Ephs have had a lightning-quick guy on the floor, and the system can succeed at high levels with size, skill, and high-level shooting without elite quickness (although that would certainly be nice!).  App's teams nearly always defend at a very high level despite lacking elite foot speed, and the size advantage as well as being well-coaching and having high hoops-IQ guys really helps in that regard.  I do note that the Ephs' expected starting center, Nate Karren, lost 25 pounds from the last season he played, so I imagine that will help in terms of mobility up front.  Getting Marc Taylor back fully healthy from injury means there is another very mobile big guy in the rotation, too.  Plus there are some new big bodies up front who look very promising as players and can play an inside-outside sort of game.

To me, the biggest problem with the 2020 team is that the three-point shooting was abysmal (under 31 percent), especially for an Eph team.  If this year's team is even over 35 percent, ideally a few ticks above that, that would make a huge difference in the amount of space the offense creates for back cut and just improve the overall efficiency of the system.   

Also, just being able to PLAY quicker (even if each individual guy doesn't move faster) should make a big difference.  Last year's team relied very heavily on new players, including four first-years in the rotation and two sophomore starters who only played spot minutes as first years.  All those guys are back and should just be more comfortable with where to be on the floor as veteran players, both offensively and defensively, as so much of Williams' success offensively depends on timing and movement and understanding where your teammates are going to be. 

[Colby Hoops]

Williams is such an interesting team. They could be really deep, but they also have basically nobody who has proven they can score/shoot efficiently despite obvious talent. How minutes are distributed will be interesting too with Prowitt-Smith, Jones, Spivy, Taylor, Stoddard, Arnold, Karren, Moon, Myers, Roughley and Porter, that's 11 guys who I think all expect good minutes.

I think this is an interesting year for App as well. As Nescac1 notes, they've been a very solid defensive team, but their offense has underperformed it's talent the past couple of years in my opinion. Even the Casey, Heskett, Scadlock team wasn't quite as good offensively as it could have been. As he points out, some of that is just guys who are supposed to be good shooters not making shots, but I think part of it is the system. They play very slow and often end up using a lot of the shot clock, which leads to inefficient offense. Would love to see them push the pace more this year. Jovan Jones and CPS should both thrive in a little bit more open style.

[nescac1]

All good points by Colby Hoops!  I think Moon (when he's on the floor) is a guy who has proved he can really push the pace.  Cole and Jovan have the ability to succeed in more of an open court style, since both are great athletes who have shown a good amount of playmaking ability at their best, but as seasoned vets, both need to cut down on turnovers for the team to succeed in that style.  App has a lot of flexibility with this team, so he could for example play a Moon/Prowitt-Smith/Stoddard/Jones quartet, plus a big, that would be able to play, I think effectively, at a very fast pace, and also be absolute demons on defense. 

Last year, the Ephs' best player by far was a guy who was a traditional low-post back-to-the-rim center, who needed time with the ball to get his offense.  Just by virtue of personnel changes, I do think the Ephs will play a bit more of an open style, less oriented on long half-court possessions. 

[lumbercat]

Great to see Old Guy back at it. Looking forward to the season ahead.

Some followers of this board may be aware that OG has evolved into a great free lance writer up in cheese country.
I've enjoyed his work immensely on his vintage NESCAC memories and perspectives which provide a great account of the Bates-Middlebury connection and his personal observations along the way. I look forward to seeing more of his work.

Bates has interesting team this year with some potentially formidable talent. I won't speculate at this point but look forward to the season ahead.

Growing up and living in Wisconsin, I imagine you don't mean the Badger State. Yeah, I know, ignorant Midwesterner. LOL

Not ignorant at all GT- I'm a little provincial on that one. Vermont has been the regional cheese state to some of us growing up in southern New England but I share a chuckle with you on it.

[nescac1]

Lumbercat, the single NESCAC player I'm most curious to see is Omar Sarr.  Physically, other NESCAC centers often really could not deal with him as a first-year, but he was also very raw as a player.  He made big leaps even over the course of the season so his upside seems very high.  With 18 months of (potentially) working on his game, plus another 30 (!) pounds on his frame, he could be the sort of interior presence we just never see around D3 ... but again, that all depends on how far he's come since his first year on campus.  Off the NESCAC players who still have an extra year of eligibility to use, he's definitely the first guy who I could see getting snagged by a D1 program as a grad transfer ... assuming he has used the time away to really improve his skill set. 

[nescac1]

Two more NESCAC commitments:

Mike Newell, 6'5 PF, St. Sebastian's, Middlebury
RJ Casey, 5'10 PG, Franklin Road Academy (TN), Conn College

Midd now has three guys who play the 4/5 already locked down for the class of 2026, addressing a pretty gaping roster hole around Alex Sobel, who will be a senior next year.