MBB: NESCAC

[jumpshot]

Excellent, gritty win for the Ephs tonight as described by NESCAC1. Oneonta had three starters play all 45 minutes, and a fourth play 41 minutes, got a bit worn down by overtime. Ephs team play carried the day, having extra time for practice this year in NESCAC helped produced better quality play than can be the case in an opening game, particularly against an opponent who had already had three games. Oneonta has several well-skilled players who apply offensive pressure and can also shoot threes. Like the depth, level of effort, and unselfishness of the Ephs. A number of Ephs made big plays. There could be significant upside for this group.

[nescac1]

Luke Rogers played only one minute in the second half, so clearly something is up.  That could be very bad for Tufts especially with some potentially tough road games coming up.  You really don't want to start out 2-2 or even 1-3 if you have big aspirations and Tufts weirdly decided to play its first four on the road vs very tough competition. 

UMD looks like it is one of the best in New England to start the year, along with WPI, Brandeis, St. Joe's, maybe Amherst.  Hard to put Tufts up there right now after losing the opener handily and with their star apparently hurting. 

[SpringSt7]

It's very early but it looks like Sam Stevens is already the clear ROY favorite. Really impressive game for a freshman and it certainly seems like Jeff Brown is going to play him plenty.

Other under the radar players who have impressed so far:

-Stephon Baxter, Bates, 28 PPG through 2 games---forgot about this dude due to nescac1's overwhelming Omar Sarr fandom but he had a great freshman year and can flat out score it. Not a lot of guards in this league that are dynamic like him off the dribble

-Nick Osarenren, Hamilton--Career high 19 points in season opener to go along with 6 rebounds, 5-7 from 3. Feels like he's been apart of this program forever, super athletic and long wing, if he keeps shooting well he's someone to keep an eye on.

-Elliott Tirbaso/Eric Anderson, Hamilton---17 points each, 8-13 combined from 3 in season opener. Did anyone else just completely forget about these two? I grouped them together because they have a similar game and are in the same class but it's all of a sudden their 3rd year as a college basketball players and both of these guys can go. I'm not going to overreact to one game but I shouldn't have been as low on Hamilton as I was in the preseason.

-Nate Karren, Williams--Put up a very impressive 11-12-6 in his first start against Oneonta St. Forced a couple of shots around the rim (5-13) but looked way slimmer and was moving way better. He isn't the same athlete but he appears to have all of the same passing ability that Matt Karpowicz possessed and has the shooters around him to do something with it---made some really nice passes to Spivy and Prowitt-Smith on their textbook Princeton actions.

[nescac1]

I forgot about Baxter too!  He looked great as a frosh.  Sarr on the other hand is off to a very slow start, as is everyone on Bates not named Baxter.  The rest of the team is under 40 ppg vs below-average competition.  Brutal.  Here is Baxter's game winner.  Tremendous shot but I think the illegal screen there is too blatant to ignore:

https://twitter.com/batessports/status/1460970799758729217?s=21

I'm not sure Stevens is the clear ROY favorite just yet.  He's been great but so has Jack Lawson.  Could Colby get three straight?  I assume Lawson will be joining the starting lineup and getting more minutes soon ....

[maineman]

Nice game at Middlebury tonight, though a loss for the Panthers against Keene State (3-0), 86-77. Sobel was heroic: 21 points (9-16, 3-3), 15 rebounds, 6 blocks. He is very deft at both ends, blocking shots without fouling, scoring at the hoop with either hand. Nothing is easy as he attracts a lot of attention. Keene State is quick and strong and applied an aggressive full court man-to-man pressure the whole game (18 Panther turnovers). Midd was compromised in the backcourt as our most experienced guard Nash Goldman went out at the 8 minute mark (2-2 from 3 at that point) with what may be a serious wrist injury, x-rays tonight.

Keene led 31-28 at the half, and expanded it to double digits right away in the second. It looked a blowout coming, but the Panthers hung in there, 6-8 points down and then made a late run to close within two, 72-70. Keene hit their foul shots in the last minutes. Midd played three frosh (Jaden Bobbett, Sam Stevens, David Brennan), one soph (Noah Oscher), one junior (Sobel) in crunch time. The Panthers have heart; they played hard. I was encouraged.

Stevens (6'5") is a versatile player — handles the ball well, has a good shot, and can go to the basket: 17 points in 36 minutes (8-9 from the line); Bobbett is an athletic 6'2" and had 4 points in 22 minutes, played a good floor game, was poised; Brennan (6'6, 205) had 8 points (3-6, 2-2) and 8 boards, plays hard, defends well, a rugged presence. Oscher had 17 points and 6 assists, but 7 TOs, as he was required to bring the ball up under continuous pressure.

Midd had a big rebounding edge (36-22) and shot 50% from the floor, 50% from three (7-14) and were 16-19 from the line, but the turnover differential was too big (18-4).

It was great to be back in the gym after so long!

Ball security cost them the game.  Too many empty trips down the floor with Keene stripping away the ball or the Panthers committing violations or fouls to lose the possession.  If they can clean that up, they will be okay.

[P'bearfan]

Last evening Bowdoin defeated the University of Southern Maine, 79-70.  A couple of impressions:

-Coach Lloyd has brought a new offensive style that was fun to watch.  I get the sense that he is tailoring the offense around the players he has and I look forward to seeing it develop.

-Bowdoin has several players who can shoot and they aren't shy.  That will make them dangerous on any given night.

-The Polar Bears were streaky and they let USM back into the game several times.  Perhaps that's b/c they're a young team but that tendency could come back to bite them against stronger opponents.

-USM pressed early in the game and the Polar Bears were trying to break it with out a man in the middle.  That made me hold my breath so hopefully they'll adopt a more traditional side-middle-side approach to breaking the press going forward.

-Boy it was fun to listen to Don Shields and Jim Toomey again!  Great broadcast.

[amh63]

Finally caught a Amherst game online.  With a new coaching staff and a "deep" squad, it was an interesting game.  A lot of player combinations and with two all conference guards, Amherst will make a run for the conference title.  Two MD FY players...a big front court player and a small quick guard were noticeable contributors. 

[nescac1]

I saw a good chuck of the Amherst game and was impressed.  It's still going to be tough to judge Amherst until the Babson and Wesleyan games because I seriously doubt any of their first ten opponents give them any sort of game.  Colby-Sawyer looked absolutely Lilliputian relative to Amherst's frontcourt, for example, it wasn't even fair.  But Amherst is clearly very talented and looks like it will be an NCAA team. 

- Amherst is really pressuring the ball and pushing the pace, loads of easy points in transition.  They are going to be very tough to deal with in an up-and-down game and I think to succeed against them teams will need to be methodical and take care of the ball and force Amherst into a half-court sort of game.  They do take some big risks on defense so it will be interesting to watch them play against skilled and savvy guards.

- Grant Robinson looks like his old self, the speed and explosion is back, he seemed like the best player which is a good sign for Amherst.  Amherst's guards are nearly all very quick and aggressive on the perimeter and will give opposing guards fits.  Allen, Robinson, Phelan, and Reynolds look like stellar defenders to me (Reynolds takes a few too many risks but the talent is clearly there), and Day is fine.  Reynolds looks like he will be a very able replacement for Robinson and Day when they graduate, especially if his outside shot gets going (he's clearly not afraid to put it up!). 

- McCarthy did not play.  Obviously Amherst has to hope he's not banged up early as injuries have always been an issue for him.  He and Day are the two ace shooters in the rotation. 

- Mohammad Alausa looks really tough on the wing ... very strong and athletic and a good finisher. 

- The bigs, hard to say, it was such a mismatch that it wasn't really clear just how good those guys are.  Scherer, Schretter, and Schlakman are an announcer's nightmare, certainly.  Scherer is just an absolutely massive human being and looks better than I expected, still a bit awkward but definitely a lot of upside there.  None of those three looked particularly fleet of foot or showed a lot of perimeter skill, Schlakman probably the most skilled of the three.  Vance seem like an X-factor for Amherst, he obviously has talent, the most mobile of the Amherst bigs, but doesn't look all that comfortable yet, which you would expect for a first-year big man.  Amherst needs Vance and Scherer to make big strides over the course of the season if they hope to be a national contender. 

The Amherst lineup that I think could be scariest is a small ball look of Robinson, Day, McCarthy, Alausa, and any of the bigs.  That would have a lot of spacing and shooting. 

[Colby Hoops]

I saw a good chuck of the Amherst game and was impressed.  It's still going to be tough to judge Amherst until the Babson and Wesleyan games because I seriously doubt any of their first ten opponents give them any sort of game.  Colby-Sawyer looked absolutely Lilliputian relative to Amherst's frontcourt, for example, it wasn't even fair.  But Amherst is clearly very talented and looks like it will be an NCAA team. 

- Amherst is really pressuring the ball and pushing the pace, loads of easy points in transition.  They are going to be very tough to deal with in an up-and-down game and I think to succeed against them teams will need to be methodical and take care of the ball and force Amherst into a half-court sort of game.  They do take some big risks on defense so it will be interesting to watch them play against skilled and savvy guards.

- Grant Robinson looks like his old self, the speed and explosion is back, he seemed like the best player which is a good sign for Amherst.  Amherst's guards are nearly all very quick and aggressive on the perimeter and will give opposing guards fits.  Allen, Robinson, Phelan, and Reynolds look like stellar defenders to me (Reynolds takes a few too many risks but the talent is clearly there), and Day is fine.  Reynolds looks like he will be a very able replacement for Robinson and Day when they graduate, especially if his outside shot gets going (he's clearly not afraid to put it up!). 

- McCarthy did not play.  Obviously Amherst has to hope he's not banged up early as injuries have always been an issue for him.  He and Day are the two ace shooters in the rotation. 

- Mohammad Alausa looks really tough on the wing ... very strong and athletic and a good finisher. 

- The bigs, hard to say, it was such a mismatch that it wasn't really clear just how good those guys are.  Scherer, Schretter, and Schlakman are an announcer's nightmare, certainly.  Scherer is just an absolutely massive human being and looks better than I expected, still a bit awkward but definitely a lot of upside there.  None of those three looked particularly fleet of foot or showed a lot of perimeter skill, Schlakman probably the most skilled of the three.  Vance seem like an X-factor for Amherst, he obviously has talent, the most mobile of the Amherst bigs, but doesn't look all that comfortable yet, which you would expect for a first-year big man.  Amherst needs Vance and Scherer to make big strides over the course of the season if they hope to be a national contender. 

The Amherst lineup that I think could be scariest is a small ball look of Robinson, Day, McCarthy, Alausa, and any of the bigs.  That would have a lot of spacing and shooting.

Only watched a couple of minutes but Alausa looked very impressive. He's extremely strong, athletic and has a lot more skill and touch than you'd expect for someone with his physical talents at the D3 level.

[Colby Hoops]

No Luke Rogers, but Tufts falls to Suffolk in a game that the Jumbos basically never led. Very rough start and have to hope Rogers is back soon. Schedule doesn't get easier as they play St. Joes on Saturday.

The extremely early overview after week 1:

Amherst: Weak schedule, but they look like the best team in the league.
Tufts: Nightmare first week, two decisive losses and an injury to their All-American
Wesleyan: Dominant start, they look the part of a top of the league contender.
Williams: Important first win. They look long and talented, upside is definitely there.
Colby: Lack of shooting compared to last year really showing up, can they find a new way to boost the offense?
Trinity: Solid start, Otoo looks like player.
Hamilton: Blew out a bad team, but still some talent on this roster, could be a middle of the pack team.
Bates: Very slow start. Baxter looks great, the rest of the team less so.
Middlebury: Sobel is back and dominating. They are feisty, but inexperienced.
Bowdoin: While they won't be good, they will at least be young and fun.
Conn: Looks like another rough year.

[nescac1]

Agree 100 percent with both of Colby Hoops' last two takes! 

The players new to the league who seem most worth watching based on very early results as well as incoming hype:

Amherst: Alausa, Reynolds, Vance
Bates: ? (I guess their two frosh starters)
Bowdoin: McGowan, Simonds
Colby: Lawson
Conn: Flynn, Hartell, Schainfield
Hamilton: Morgan
Midd: Stevens
Trinity: Otoo, Dorion
Tufts: Dieterle
Wesleyan: N. Johnson (and Bryant when healthy)
Williams: Roughley, Porter

One from that group will be ROY, and many will end up all-league players.  In some cases, all-Americans.

[amh63]

Nescac1.....nice comments wrt to team and FY players.  However, there maybe some confusion wrt to Vance and another 6'7" player.  Vance, from Florida, has no time on the floor.  However, there is a FY player from a HS just down/up? the road from Williams that has time on the floor and points on the stats sheets.  I am high on a 6'10" FY from Gonzaga that rebounded, blocked shots, etc. who is just up the street from me.  HC is very high on him.

[SpringSt7]

Ryker Vance has started both of Amherst's games so far this season.

[amh63]

SpringSt7...thanks for the correction..  My bad .  Amherst does have a "bunch" of 6'7" players that will contribute...including Hemkle from the Williams' Purple Mt. area.

[jumpshot]

anHurst ahead of MCLA by 23 with over six minutes left in first half in their latest scrimmage. Ex-LJ's likely the clear favorite in NESCAC and an NCAA Tournament team with a repaired Robinson, size, depth, multiple three-point shooters, speed, etc. Not a lot for the new coach to do.