MBB: NESCAC

[Painter66]

It is great to recruit super teams every year, and it is true that it can lead to NCAA success. It is also not easy to manage when you are 12 deep in players who expect to play 20 plus minutes a game. I think both Williams and Amherst face this challenge. It is very hard for 18 to 20 year old guys to look over to the bench every time they miss a shot or hear the buzzer sound. I watched a Midd team last night that there were no replacements coming beat a very talented Amherst team. I played in the 60s and know your role mattered then and it still does. I hate it when I see everyone played 22-25 minutes in a close game.  That is not the normal order of successful teams. Yet, we have coaches that feel compelled to coach a team that way. Just don't think it works.

[Old Guy]

Amherst-Williams — you never know what will happen when they play (cliche, I know). Williams gets another shot at'em for higher stakes.

Not a pretty game at Middlebury, day game after a night game perhaps. Osarenren played in this one for the Continentals, but was 0-4 shooting and fouled out in 18 minutes. Both Midd and Hamilton shot poorly: Hamilton 37% overall 5-20 from 3, 5-7 from the line; MIdd 33% overall; 5-12 from 3; 22-32 from the line, but hit their foul shots at the end, thanks to Stevens and Osher.

Hamilton couldn't handle Sobel: 28 points, 21 rebounds, 2 blocks (though I had him with 3!)! He's not pretty going to the hoop, but he's effective! Shot 18 foul shots today (made 12). The Conts really focused on Stevens (and why not?), played him very tight, never had an open look but hit big three rainbow 3s from deep in the corner (4-7 from 3), 17 well-earned points in all. Perhaps that focus gave Sobel a bit more room to maneuver. The Conts full court press in the second half gave the Panthers some trouble — likely to see more of that.

Such an unexpected season, 12-2 for Middlebury. I will not generalize from this small sample. Next weekend Colby-Bowdoin, kills me not to go to Maine, my old stomping grounds. Hope this young team can play well in other NESCAC gyms. There's no precedent, even close, for this crazy season. Midd-kids are seasoned, that's for sure. It is all COVID-unique. I'm just glad the lads are getting a chance to compete! Carry on, Mates!

[amh63]

Reading about the Amherst TEAM win brought a smile.  I wondered if any Amherst fans...student athletes in the area were in the stands.  Several comments.  In a Amherst-Williams game, packed stands will help raise the level of play....seems the Williams' fans helped the Amherst players more, especially the younger Amherst players with silly signs...like the FY forward from Gonzaga and Senior G. Robinson....both players from the MD-DC area.  Senior Day was again off his game from outside.  However, he took an EPH defender away from the point of attack.  Day looked better than in the Midd game.  Grant Robinson at the PG position is critical to the Amherst offensive game.  One example...Grant R. has the ball and calls a front court player back to throw the ball in to him so he can bring it up and start the offensive flow.  Leadership.

[JEFFFAN]

It is great to recruit super teams every year, and it is true that it can lead to NCAA success. It is also not easy to manage when you are 12 deep in players who expect to play 20 plus minutes a game. I think both Williams and Amherst face this challenge. It is very hard for 18 to 20 year old guys to look over to the bench every time they miss a shot or hear the buzzer sound. I watched a Midd team last night that there were no replacements coming beat a very talented Amherst team. I played in the 60s and know your role mattered then and it still does. I hate it when I see everyone played 22-25 minutes in a close game.  That is not the normal order of successful teams. Yet, we have coaches that feel compelled to coach a team that way. Just don't think it works.

Man oh man I do not see that at all with this Amherst team or frankly any Amherst team I have watched.   Hixon would go eight or nine deep, but never more than that and he would always shorten the bench as the season went on.   I can almost guarantee that is the same with Williams.  I think it is very easy on this board - all boards for that matter - to overrate recruits and then do the same when they are freshmen.   Reality sets in the middle or end of January when that highly touted deep bench stops seeing the court!

Very happy as an Amherst fan that the season is still alive.  Robinson has ben a warrior for this program - same with Day - so it is nice to see Robinson have such a strong game.   Sadly, there were many folks who opined early on that the younger McCarthy was better than his big brother ... tall shoes to fill indeed.   But injuries have largely robbed the young man of his collegiate hoops career.   

[Old Guy]

Wesleyan defeats Bates today in Lewiston (Baxter had 29). This from my Bates friend:

Sad watching Bates vs Wesleyan today. Empty Alumni Gym. Not a single fan in attendance.

Bates missing 4 of its best players and Wesleyan missing its top scorers

Have to feel bad for a very promising team. Hope this craziness ends soon.

[D3 Basketball912]

Some recruiting updates. Really impressive class from Marlon Sears. Also, Berkshire is turning into a destination for NESCAC's as they sent six kids to NESCAC's in the past two years with three to Amherst alone. Really impressive stuff.

Amherst:

Christopher Hammond, 6'6 W, Campbell Hall (CA)
Drew Martin, 6'7 W, Rivers School
Giovanni Tam, 6'10 C, Cushing Academy, #38 in MA
Charlie Randall, 7'0 F Berkshire School, #20 in MA, #56 in New England

Bowdoin:

Alex Halpern, 6'0 G, NMH
Jaden Hill, 5'7 PG, Belmont Hill
Nolan Bessire, 6-9, PF, Montgomery HS, CA
Kevin Reeves, 6-7, PF, Columbia Academy, OH

Colby:

Miles Drake, 6'1 G, Darien HS
Max Poulton, 6'4 G, Rivers School, #37 in MA

Hamilton:

Yashiya Crespin, 6'5 PG, Grace Christian (Raleigh NC)
Garret Keyhani, 6'8 F, Juniperro Serra (CA)

Middlebury:

Edward Witherington, 6'6 F, Fairhope H.S. (AL)
Jackson McKersie, 6'8 F, Dexter Southfield (MA)
Mark Newell, 6'5 F, St. Sebastian
Tristan Joseph, 6'2 G, Brunswick School
Evan Flaks, 5'9 PG, Taft School

Trinity:

Trevor McDonald, 6'5 G, Canterbury School
Drew Herer, 6'3 G, Beaver Country Day
Henry Vetter, 6'3 G, Canterbury School

Tufts:

Josh Bernstein, 6'10 C, Berkshire School
James Morakis, 6'3 G, Salisbury School, #40 in CT
Scott Gyimesi, 6'5 F, Rumson Fair-Haven (NJ)

Wesleyan:

Alex Justh, 6'3 G, Berkshire School

Williams:

Ben McGraw, 6'3 G, Bolles (FL)
Alex Lee, 6'2 G, Clear Lake (TX)

[JEFFFAN]

Considering that two of the best three players in Amherst history - Toomey and Olsen -were guards, and the third was a 6'4" small forward (Rehnquist), I would rather see the Jeffs get a few kick butt point guards and shooting guards.   How many 6'10" or 7' great D3 players have we ever seen?  Not many.  D3 hoops is the same as the pros in one respect only - it is now a shooter's game.    Certainly hope that they work out but good big men end up in the Ivies or better, not in D3.

[nescac1]

Interesting question posed by JeffFan.  Who are the best NESCAC players we've seen who are 6'10 plus?

Here are the guys I can think of who were at least notable starters at that size:

John Swords
Michael Kempton
Joe Schneider
Andrew Locke
Kevin Hopkins
Will Scherer

I assume there must be others, but that's who comes immediately to mind ...  Swords and Locke were probably the most impactful, both all league players, and Hopkins was very good, but it took all of them a few years to really grow into very helpful players.  Schneider, the most hyped, certainly a solid player by his senior year, but didn't really live up to very high ranking as a recruit.  Amherst sure gets a lot of really big dudes! 

Will Scherer is a legit 6'10 and he certainly looks like a keeper for Amherst, as well, though of course still too early to project what he will end up as. 

Now, that being said, if you can get a talented 6'11 front court player who is a borderline scholarship level player, that's a great get as a NESCAC team -- everyone would take him!  And occasionally guys that size do end up dominating in D3 (Guilford had two on one team!).  But yeah, there is no guarantee those guys end up killing it in D3.  In all events, it's going to be tough for anyone to match up with Amherst's size the next three years with two of Scherer, Schretter, Vance, Maguire, Randall, Schlackman, and Tam on the floor together at all times ... those are some VERY big dudes and Amherst really needs only 2-3 of them to be really good, since it's not like three of them can play together.  Some of those guys may not be pleased though never having any chance to ever be a rotation player. 

[SpringSt7]

It does seem like the 6'6-6'9 range is the sweet spot for NESCAC bigs. Rogers, Karpowicz, Palleschi, Mayer, etc., really all of the top tier NESCAC bigs are guys with a D1 skill set in the paint and just a lack of the required size/athleticism to bang at that level. Any taller than that and it seems like you are getting guys that don't have much of a skill set and are mostly at this level for their size alone.

[Old Guy]

It does seem like the 6'6-6'9 range is the sweet spot for NESCAC bigs. Rogers, Karpowicz, Palleschi, Mayer, etc., really all of the top tier NESCAC bigs are guys with a D1 skill set in the paint and just a lack of the required size/athleticism to bang at that level. Any taller than that and it seems like you are getting guys that don't have much of a skill set and are mostly at this level for their size alone.

I know you weren't trying to be comprehensive, but any list of 6'6"-6'9" stalwarts has to include 6'8" Ryan Sharry '12 of Middlebury, the best all-round player I've seen at Middlebury in the last half-century, maybe the best ever. Sharry played at both ends of the floor; he had an inside and outside game offensively (senior year: 19 ppg/10.5 rpg/2 blks/44%from 3, 21-44). At the the senior all-star game at the national D3 tourney in VA in 2012, he had 20 points and 18 rebounds in 20 minutes! and had productive 5 years or so playing in Europe after graduation.

Among the 6'10-7:00" fellows, Andrew Locke '11 at 6'10 may have been the most agile. A gifted shot blocker, he had great impact on the conduct and outcome of games. He averaged 4 blocks a game (3.94) in this last three years, among the nation's leaders, despite the reluctance of teams to go into the paint and challenge him. In Locke's final two years, and Sharry's soph and junior years, Midd was 53-6.

I don't know how good they might have been on a D1 team: they both were late bloomers. Big guys mature physically more slowly. Also both came straight to college from high school (Sharry-Boston; Locke-Seattle) and neither was the best player on his hs team. Neither was a started in their first year in college (Locke - just 8 minutes a game; Sharry 18). The tendency today to go to a prep school, often as a fifth secondary school year, may make such hidden gems less likely.

Congratulations to Middlebury's 6'8" stalwart, Alex Sobel for this third Player of the Week honor!

[nescac1]

Sharry could have easily played for an Ivy or Patriot League team.  Maybe even as high as a mid-major as a stretch 4 with how the game is played now.  If I was drafting Nescac guys from the past 30 years (besides ones who actually transferred) to play D1, he'd be in contention for second pick after Nogelo. 

[jumpshot]

lord jeffs cancel today's scrimmage against Lesley whose 2-10 record includes 9 straight losses. Hamilton continues to host games trailing Ithaca badly by 23 this afternoon with 11 minutes to go. Trinity takes on Mitchell tonight for second time this season in advance of going up against Wesleyan this weekend.

Covid cases spiking at NESCAC schools concurrent with return of students to campus .... erratic season proceeds for the moment.

[toad22]

lord jeffs cancel today's scrimmage against Lesley whose 2-10 record includes 9 straight losses. Hamilton continues to host games trailing Ithaca badly by 23 this afternoon with 11 minutes to go. Trinity takes on Mitchell tonight for second time this season in advance of going up against Wesleyan this weekend.

Covid cases spiking at NESCAC schools concurrent with return of students to campus .... erratic season proceeds for the moment.

For Williams, at least, losing the three games over the holiday break, meant that they had to start the league season with no normal warmup games. I think it showed rather harshly over last weekend. Very little practice and no games for a month did not make for a smooth transition to league play. A solid week of practice should produce better performances moving forward.

[Colby Hoops]

Looks like midweek is on the table for rescheduled games -- Bowdoin's schedule shows they are playing Trinity on Tuesday as a make up game.

[P'bearfan]

Interesting question posed by JeffFan.  Who are the best NESCAC players we've seen who are 6'10 plus?

Here are the guys I can think of who were at least notable starters at that size:

John Swords
Michael Kempton
Joe Schneider
Andrew Locke
Kevin Hopkins
Will Scherer

I assume there must be others, but that's who comes immediately to mind ...  Swords and Locke were probably the most impactful, both all league players, and Hopkins was very good, but it took all of them a few years to really grow into very helpful players.  Schneider, the most hyped, certainly a solid player by his senior year, but didn't really live up to very high ranking as a recruit.  Amherst sure gets a lot of really big dudes! 

Will Scherer is a legit 6'10 and he certainly looks like a keeper for Amherst, as well, though of course still too early to project what he will end up as. 

Now, that being said, if you can get a talented 6'11 front court player who is a borderline scholarship level player, that's a great get as a NESCAC team -- everyone would take him!  And occasionally guys that size do end up dominating in D3 (Guilford had two on one team!).  But yeah, there is no guarantee those guys end up killing it in D3.  In all events, it's going to be tough for anyone to match up with Amherst's size the next three years with two of Scherer, Schretter, Vance, Maguire, Randall, Schlackman, and Tam on the floor together at all times ... those are some VERY big dudes and Amherst really needs only 2-3 of them to be really good, since it's not like three of them can play together.  Some of those guys may not be pleased though never having any chance to ever be a rotation player.

Interesting list.  The only player I can comment on is John Swords.  One of the things that is underappreciated is how much he developed in his first couple of years.  By his Junior year he was almost averaging a double-double and he simply forced teams to change their offensive strategy.  He was also a good passer.  But he wasn't having anywhere near that impact in his first 2 years.  Nice guy off the court as well.