MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Yes, it was against a bad D3 team, but good to see Alex Sobel starting in Sacred Heart's first game of the season -- he will clearly be a key player for them.  And although he did not score, Dylan Thoerner cracked the rotation in Cal Irvine's first game last night, playing 12 minutes.  Great to see, once again, that NESCAC players can be significant contributors at the D1 level (as plenty have before - Duncan Robinson, Matt Hart, Hunter Sabety, Varum Ram, and Austin Hutcherson, although he was compromised by injury). 

Reminder, here is the full list of former NESCAC hoopers playing elsewhere this year.  It's a nice mix of former NESCAC role players who will likely play a much bigger role on their current teams (Oranye, Wirkala, Hoch), the two D1 transfers, and a slew of transfers who will likely be stars or at least major contributors on top-tier D3 teams. 

Alex Sobel - Sacred Heart
Dylan Thoerner - UC Irvine
Will King - Claremont Mudd Scripps
Steph Baxter - Babson
Preston Maccoux - Case Western
Bo Oranye - Hartford
Cooper Wirkala - Thomas
Ethan McEachern - Rochester (transferred from Trinity before last year, but was injured all season)
Gilbert Otoo - Brandeis
Joe Hoch - Springfield

[SpringSt7]

Three teams I'm most interested in seeing in action this weekend:

Tufts - we know they have talent, we just don't know who is gonna step up and be the go to guys. Linton played a ton of guys in the rotation last year, will it be shortened this year? My money is on Scott Gyemesi and James Morakis carrying a bigger load but it will be all hands on deck contributing up and down the rotation.

Trinity - big year for the Bantams, haven't been overly relevant to the big picture conversation in a couple of years but they have an all league guy in Ben Callahan-Gold and the reigning ROY in Henry Vetter. What kind of heavy lifting can they do, and who else steps up? They have had a lot of defections in the last few years but have also added some intriguing young guys including my pick for ROY in 6'6 F Tristan Davis.

Amherst - we know it hasn't been good the last few years but they undeniably have talent, it's just about getting it to all come together. Sears HAS to figure out a more consistent rotation from game to game, does he have one ready to go or close to ready to go? They can only tinker for so long and it's already come back to bite them the last few years. They could really use a good start to the non conference as well for their own confidence levels. But what form that takes is really anyone's guess.

[Greek Tragedy]

Amherst tied it with 5 seconds left, so they are going into OT now.

[SpringSt7]

Unbelievable

[middhoops]

Just wow.
Anna Maria scores 20 consecutive points to close out the second half.  Seriously.
Amherst loses in OT. 
So many questions.  Too many.

[JEFFFAN]

Ah ... the ghosts of Dave Hixon.   Where are you, Dave?   Can you come back?

25 turnovers.   17% from three point range.   23 straight opponent points after building a 22 point lead.   To a crappy team.    That is some SERIOUS coaching there!!!

[ThumannsOwn]

Where are you, Aaron Toomey?

[Old Guy]

Excited to see Bowdoin open up this season against Husson and Emmanuel this coming weekend. Excited to see how the team looks and how McGowan looks with the new guys. I am expecting a huge season from James (Jimmy, Legend, MJ, Shai, Tmac) McGowan this season and this weekend should be the start of something amazing!

I was checking out the NESCAC Scoreboard, saw that Bowdoin-Husson were still playing, 69-69 going into the 2nd OT. Behind a junior transfer, Riles Neff (Menlo College CA), who had 35 points and was terrific in the 2nd OT (6-6 from the line, 3 or 4 FGS, going hard to the hoop, right and left), Husson won 87-81. McGowan had a tough night, 1-14 from the floor, 9 points, 5 fouls). He has lotsa games left.

[Old Guy]

Really excited about the Panthers home opener tomorrow against St. Joseph's CT. They were 29-2 last year, Sweet 16. Pretty formidable. True, Jim Calhoun doesn't coach them anymore, but Glen Miller does, and his resume is deep indeed!

I don't spend a lot of time in pre-season investigations and discussions. My friends who do, like frosh Kuba Cwalina, 6'6" shooter. We haven't had many players from Archbishop Malloy. He fills a need. We might be hard to guard.

Midd has 12 home games this year (8 last year), 11 away (three at neutral sites). For an old player during the dark days of Midd hoop, for me, the interest and support of the Middlebury community is really gratifying. And fun!

Basically, last year's team returns, minus one — a big one, no question. The cupboard is hardly bare. Last year the offense ran through Sobel, a big man who could pass out of the double team. Seems likely the team will be uptempo this year with some pretty talented sophs (in addition to McKersie, Witherington, and Flaks) getting their chance. Sam Stevens is healthy; Osher can score! One of the reasons Sobel was so terrific last year was because he had a capable back-up in Jackson McKersie who had crucial minutes as a frosh, a big body with quick feet.

The Panthers will be pretty good! Snowed yesterday in VT. Hoops start tomorrow. Winter's solace. Let's tip it off, boys!

[lumbercat]

Excited to see Bowdoin open up this season against Husson and Emmanuel this coming weekend. Excited to see how the team looks and how McGowan looks with the new guys. I am expecting a huge season from James (Jimmy, Legend, MJ, Shai, Tmac) McGowan this season and this weekend should be the start of something amazing!

Time to back off on the hype campaign.....Jimmy, Legend went 2 for 21 shooting tonight against a team Bowdoin should own. Not sure if you're his father or brother but maybe back off on the hype and let the kid find his game. Then kid doesn't need the cheerleader routine.

[Homer]

Last night at LaFrak was the worst coaching job i have ever seen.

[D3Parent1]

It is great to have these posts to read again. I miss this board during the off season.  NEACAC1's knowledge.  Old Guys poetic posts.  Lumbercat at and Springstreets sometimes edgy commentary, and all the other regulars.    Of all the D3 boards across all the sports I follow this is far and away the best.  From a longtime lurker thank you. 

[ThumannsOwn]

Last night at LaFrak was the worst coaching job i have ever seen.

Continue to show up at LeFrak, Homer, and I trust you will see worse.

[nescac1]

I can certainly see why Amherst fans are flummoxed.  It seemed like Anna Maria, which is an utterly tiny team (6'4 at most and mostly well under in its top seven guys), had no answer for Amherst's talented collection of big guys.  Amherst's four bigs combined for 43 points on only 23 FGAs.   Anna Maria seemed pretty helpless against talented inside finishers who had 6-9 inches on their defender (like on Vance's game-tying FG).  And yet here were in order Amherst's offensive outcomes in the last 9.5 minutes of the game (when Amherst scored three total points):

TO
Missed 3
TO
FTA
Missed 3
Missed jumper
Missed 3
TO
TO
TO
TO
Missed layup
Missed front end
TO
Missed 3
TO
Missed 3
Missed 3
Layup

Eight turnovers, six missed threes, only a few shot attempts in the paint. Randle hurt an ankle and left the game which didn't help and I'm not sure why Tam didn't play (maybe also hurt) but Vance and Scherer (who I don't understand why he doesn't play more) could still do whatever they wanted close to the rim. 

The other odd issue was rotating between three point guards and it wasn't clear in what order they were being played.  Reynolds, last year's starter, played four minutes as the third PG in half one but then played the last three minutes down the stretch and the entire OT.  I can't tell if he's in the dog house or the only guy Sears trusts to run the show.  That certainly didn't work as they got 7 points and 3 assists vs 4 TOs in 48 mins from the position (they played together for a few minutes hence being over 45).  In Anna Maria's first game pg Dante Kikuba (who is really good) torched them for 40 points and 9 assists. 

On the plus side it's the first game with plenty of time to figure things out.  Nescac teams often struggle a bit in the first weekend before getting into rhythm especially since they often start practicing a bit later.  But Amherst did have a foreign trip this year and has a very veteran team at this point (only one FY, part of the PG rotation, in the mix) so should come into the season less rusty than others.

The only silver lining is Ryker Vance who is a really talented two-way player who seems to keep improving.  He's a big mismatch at the 4 for most teams. 

[nescac31hoops]

Excited to see Bowdoin open up this season against Husson and Emmanuel this coming weekend. Excited to see how the team looks and how McGowan looks with the new guys. I am expecting a huge season from James (Jimmy, Legend, MJ, Shai, Tmac) McGowan this season and this weekend should be the start of something amazing!

Time to back off on the hype campaign.....Jimmy, Legend went 2 for 21 shooting tonight against a team Bowdoin should own. Not sure if you're his father or brother but maybe back off on the hype and let the kid find his game. Then kid doesn't need the cheerleader routine.

I didn't know college kids weren't allowed to have bad games. I still see McGowan having an all american year. Everyone has an off night, its about how you bounce back. I bet you have had more off nights than these kids have. Let him grow. The hype train lives on. Be nice to these kids man.