MBB: NESCAC

[toad22]

I think it is fair to say that Williams really needs their two starting wings back. In addition, Nate Karren needs to work his way back into shape and rhythm. He hardly practiced before last Saturday due to an injury. If the Ephs can survive the next three weeks relatively unscathed, they will get some great reinforcements. The silver lining of this situation is that some of the lesser known guys are playing and gaining a lot of experience. Ben McGraw might not be cracking the rotation except for the injuries. Now he has a 5-5 three point shooting game under his belt. Three of those makes under real pressure. Senior Brandon Arnold may not have been in the game to make that thunderous block in OT if Nate Karren was all the way back to full game shape. These experiences will help the team later in the season. For now, they need to survive with hard fought wins. Go Ephs!

[Old Guy]

Midd now 0-4, losing to host Wittenberg 76-73 in a well-played back & forth game. Midd led at the half 35-34. Many lead changes (for some reason there's no box score or recap). Wittenberg's pretty good (3-2); guard Grey Killens is really good. The Tigers hit their shots in the last 90 seconds and the Panthers didn't. I watched every minute of this game, and not a minute of last night's butt-kicking 83-58 loss to Redlands (a good thing!). The announcers at tonight's game were agog at Redland's play ("a juggernaut," "played like their hair was on fire"). Redlands won their game today against #25 preseason Wisc-Oshkosh by 20, 82-62. So three of Midd's four losses are by a total of 12 points. Three of the next four at home.

I'm disappointed but hardly discouraged. It's going to take a while for this team to mesh. Jeff Brown is determining what combinations work. Tonight, Sam Stevens came off the bench. Played very well and confidently (21 pts, 7-13). Hit a couple threes, went hard to the hoop, hit that fadeaway in the paint (he's 6'5, can get it off). Wanted the ball. Osher, 0-9 last night, bounced back with 15 tonight (5-10). Flaks moved the ball well, had ten points. Tristen Joseph is a player (12 pts). It will be fun to watch him develop. Kuba Cwalina hit 3 threes last night, had a nice bucket tonight.

Midd shot better from the line (18-24), had a slight rebounding edge (34-28), only had 7 TOs. Home this Sunday with Endicott (2-2, lost to Wesleyan tonight by just two, 73-71), next Tuesday away at New Engand College, then the weekend UCC-NESCAC series at home: we play Rochester and Chicago. Hamilton, Bowdoin, and Carnegie-Mellon also here. Fun!

[stlawus]

Will reciprocate the post in the LL thread and provide my thoughts on Williams. Putting talent aside, clearly a veteran team with lots of chemistry. Aside from maybe Oswego, I doubt SLU plays a team with such crisp ball movement as the Ephs showed yesterday. Even with the couple injuries, the talent of depth is a major strength as Arnold off the bench to the play the 5 is a huge boost. Definitely the play of the game blocking one of the Macaulay twins in overtime on a layup that swung all momentum.   He would start for pretty much every Liberty League team and likely be a first teamer. SLU can be on and off against a team that plays good half court defense, and yesterday was definitely the latter as Williams denied every penetration attempt. Syroka was clearly frustrated and ended up forcing some bad shots which was all due to the Ephs defense.

Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to someone that makes clutch shot after clutch shot, which was what McGraw did. Most were not gimmes, so kudos to him. I hope this matchup keeps getting scheduled for the next few years, two excellent games the past 2 seasons.

[P'bearfan]

Tough loss for Bowdoin yesterday as they fell to UM-Farmington, 56-65.

Watched the second half and I was impressed with the offense - lots of good ball and player movement that created open looks.  Bowdoin played mostly man defense and the players were on their assignments.

The box score highlights the improvement areas:  the Polar Bears only shot 36.7% overall and just 20% from behind the arc.  Hopefully they find a consistent shooting stroke soon.  The other area that stands out is turnovers where Bowdoin committed 20.

If Bowdoin tightens up those two elements, they'll be alright this season.

GoUBears!

[Maine Hoops]

Bowdoin has lost to UMF and Maine Maritime.

Yet pounded Bates.

Bates now 0-4 and Bowdoin 1-4.

May be Colby's year again in the CBB

[quicksilver]

Bowdoin's McGowan has been out with an injury for the past couple of games. He was at the MMA game on the bench but in street clothes. He was hobbling a bit so likely a leg injury of some sort. . Aside from McGowan's absence, the Bowdoin shooting was atrocious in the MMA game.

[nescac1]

Regarding Bowdoin, I also note that Natrel Allen starting the first game (and was productive) and hasn't played since, so I assume he is injured as well. 

Early season update on the NESCAC transfers.  The two I'm surprised by are Maccoux and King (largely) coming off the bench so far and playing limited minutes with very limited production.  Not sure if there is a health issue, or they are having trouble adapting to new systems, but those guys have the talent to be plus starters on ANY D3 team.  Steph Baxter on the other hand has made a massive impact for Babson, playing like an all-American vs. very strong early season competition.  He put up 40 vs. a very strong Wash U. team. 

Alex Sobel - Sacred Heart - putting up a solid 9 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks in 20 mpg as Sacred Heart's starting center

Dylan Thoerner - UC Irvine - averaging 5 points and 1 board in 14 mpg.  All of his points so far are from three point shots. 

Will King - Claremont Mudd Scripps - a very slow start with 2/5/3 in 17 mpg off the bench

Steph Baxter - Babson - 22/4/4 on 50/48/89 splits

Preston Maccoux - Case Western - very rough start, started two games and then two of the bench, only 1 ppg on 1-11 overall shooting

Bo Oranye - Hartford - putting up a solid 7-8 on 53 percent shooting plus 1 bpg as Hartford's starting center

Cooper Wirkala - Thomas - taking advantage of bigger role and leading team in scoring, putting up a 12-4-1 with 1 bpg

Ethan McEachern - Rochester - yet to see the floor after missing last year due to injury

Gilbert Otoo - Brandeis - playing a limited role (13 mpg so far) and scoring 4 ppg

Joe Hoch - Springfield - starting at guard and putting up 8/4/1 plus 1 spg for Springfield

It's VERY early, but early-season Massey rankings have Trinity at 5, Tufts 19, Wesleyan 26, Williams 33, and then everyone else in NESCAC well behind (with Bowdoin and Bates predictably having awful Massey ratings so far).  These numbers will change a ton over the coming weeks, but those four teams do seem like the early-season leaders in NESCAC with Conn, Colby and Hamilton as teams with potential to jump into the mix. 

[Pat Coleman]

Midd now 0-4, losing to host Wittenberg 76-73 in a well-played back & forth game. Midd led at the half 35-34. Many lead changes (for some reason there's no box score or recap). Wittenberg's pretty good (3-2); guard Grey Killens is really good. The Tigers hit their shots in the last 90 seconds and the Panthers didn't. I watched every minute of this game, and not a minute of last night's butt-kicking 83-58 loss to Redlands (a good thing!). The announcers at tonight's game were agog at Redland's play ("a juggernaut," "played like their hair was on fire"). Redlands won their game today against #25 preseason Wisc-Oshkosh by 20, 82-62. So three of Midd's four losses are by a total of 12 points. Three of the next four at home.

I'm disappointed but hardly discouraged. It's going to take a while for this team to mesh. Jeff Brown is determining what combinations work. Tonight, Sam Stevens came off the bench. Played very well and confidently (21 pts, 7-13). Hit a couple threes, went hard to the hoop, hit that fadeaway in the paint (he's 6'5, can get it off). Wanted the ball. Osher, 0-9 last night, bounced back with 15 tonight (5-10). Flaks moved the ball well, had ten points. Tristen Joseph is a player (12 pts). It will be fun to watch him develop. Kuba Cwalina hit 3 threes last night, had a nice bucket tonight.

Midd shot better from the line (18-24), had a slight rebounding edge (34-28), only had 7 TOs. Home this Sunday with Endicott (2-2, lost to Wesleyan tonight by just two, 73-71), next Tuesday away at New Engand College, then the weekend UCC-NESCAC series at home: we play Rochester and Chicago. Hamilton, Bowdoin, and Carnegie-Mellon also here. Fun!

There is one now. It may be that Middlebury's limited staff was focused on producing content around the field hockey team winning the national title.

[quicksilver]

Regarding Bowdoin, I also note that Natrel Allen starting the first game (and was productive) and hasn't played since, so I assume he is injured as well. 
.. . . . . .

Yes -- Natrel looked to be a superb addition in that first game. He was a little out of control at the beginning of the game but settled down to score critical points. He is very fast and can slash and drive to the basket, which he did to help tie up the game but injured himself toward the end of regulation in the Husson game and has not played since . . .It looked like a sprained ankle from a distance . .I hope that both he and James McGowan are back soon!! 

[Old Guy]

Midd now 0-4, losing to host Wittenberg 76-73 in a well-played back & forth game. Midd led at the half 35-34. Many lead changes (for some reason there's no box score or recap). Wittenberg's pretty good (3-2); guard Grey Killens is really good. The Tigers hit their shots in the last 90 seconds and the Panthers didn't. I watched every minute of this game, and not a minute of last night's butt-kicking 83-58 loss to Redlands (a good thing!). The announcers at tonight's game were agog at Redland's play ("a juggernaut," "played like their hair was on fire"). Redlands won their game today against #25 preseason Wisc-Oshkosh by 20, 82-62. So three of Midd's four losses are by a total of 12 points. Three of the next four at home.

I'm disappointed but hardly discouraged. It's going to take a while for this team to mesh. Jeff Brown is determining what combinations work. Tonight, Sam Stevens came off the bench. Played very well and confidently (21 pts, 7-13). Hit a couple threes, went hard to the hoop, hit that fadeaway in the paint (he's 6'5, can get it off). Wanted the ball. Osher, 0-9 last night, bounced back with 15 tonight (5-10). Flaks moved the ball well, had ten points. Tristen Joseph is a player (12 pts). It will be fun to watch him develop. Kuba Cwalina hit 3 threes last night, had a nice bucket tonight.

Midd shot better from the line (18-24), had a slight rebounding edge (34-28), only had 7 TOs. Home this Sunday with Endicott (2-2, lost to Wesleyan tonight by just two, 73-71), next Tuesday away at New Engand College, then the weekend UCC-NESCAC series at home: we play Rochester and Chicago. Hamilton, Bowdoin, and Carnegie-Mellon also here. Fun!

There is one now. It may be that Middlebury's limited staff was focused on producing content around the field hockey team winning the national title.

Six in a row too!

[SpringSt7]

Williams takes another Battle of the Berkshires in their traditional Tuesday before Thanksgiving slog over MCLA, 56-41. Hard to put a ton of stock into this game year in and year out when the players have their bags packed and are fired up to get away for a couple days, but it was nice to see Cole Prowitt-Smith find a little mojo, he was really the only one in any offensive rhythm scoring 13 points on 6-10 shooting.

The Ephs grade out at incomplete for this first stanza of the season, despite the 5-1 record with the lone loss to what appears to be a very good WPI team. Not to beat a dead horse but they need Declan Porter and Hudson Hansen back and hopefully they will bring the offense with them. At some point Williams will simply have to score more points than they have done to this point. The defense is consistently elite and will continue to be, but the offense has to find its footing sooner rather than later in order for them to achieve their goals. Here's hoping to a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and to getting the full cast back in what I'm told should be reasonably short order. They will be needed.

[nescac1]

Up and down first semester for NESCAC overall, but I will say a big bright spot has been the sophomore class.  Of course a lot of guys take a leap from first years to sophomores, but there have been a lot of especially impressive performers in that group and many teams have actually been led by sophomores this year ... I expect that with so many younger contributors, a lot of these teams will continue to make big improvements over the course of the year, and the league's future is bright:

Amherst: Amherst seems to be playing much better since its game one collapse and has been led by Chris Hammond, who is averaging 18-5 on a crazy 48/51/100 line while adding one block per game.  Also keep an eye out for Charlie Randle, who was having a big first game when he suffered an ankle injury but could have a break-out year when he returns to the lineup.  Those two, plus huge juniors Vance and Scherer, are going to be tough to deal with physically for most teams over the next few years. 

Bates: it's been a rough start to the year for Bates but they did get off the schneid with a surprising win last night over a good Southern Maine team. They are led in scoring by two sophomores, Brady Coyne and Peter Psyhogeos, and Elliot Cravitz led them to last night's win. 

Bowdoin: big man Kevin Reeves has been one of the few bright spots for a banged up Bowdoin team so far, making a big leap and averaging 11 and 10 as the starting 5.

Colby: Max Poulton picked up where he left off last year, and is now averaging 17-6 as the center of Colby's offense and one of the top scorers in the league.  Colby so far is one of the few NESCAC teams that is also relying heavily on FYs. 

Conn: one of the more veteran-heavy teams in NESCAC, but Elias Espinosa has looked great as a two-way wing, averaging 13-5-3 plus a crazy 2.5 spg and 1 bpg.  RJ Casey is also starting for Conn. 

Hamilton: Garret Keyhani is Hamilton's lone soph to play, but fortunately he has made a big leap for a team that lost a ton to graduation, averaging 14-8 plus 2 bpg on 39/43/88 splits. 

Middlebury: a big part of Midd's tough start is that for whatever reason their soph bigs haven't made a significant impact yet despite showing some very good signs as FYs.  Speedy Tristan Joseph's minutes and production have, however, shot up over the course of the early season and it looks like he's headed for a big year, but to turn things around Midd will also need a leap from the McKersie/Witherington/Newell group inside.  I imagine that group will start playing and producing more soon. 

Tufts: Tufts' hot start has been led by its stellar sophomore class, especially Scotty Gyimesi, who so far is putting up all-American numbers - 17-14-3, 2 spg, 1 bpg, 64 percent from the field.  Sheesh!  (Oddly he's only taken two free throws, making both, weird for a guy who has been dominating the paint).  As widely expected, Morakis and Bernstein have also both made big leaps as starters for Tufts, third and fourth on the team in scoring, respectively. 

Trinity: Henry Vetter is another guy who has built on a great first year, looking like an all-conference player: he's up to 15-5-2 on 45/39/100 splits.  Jarrel Okorougo is a defensive ace starting on the wing. 

Wesleyan: Wesleyan's sophs played very little on a veteran-heavy team last year, but this year are contributing a lot to Wesleyan's hot start.  Fritz Hauser and Jackson Cormier both average 8-4 as frontcourt starters, and have combined to average 3 spg, and crafty Sam Pohlman is Wesleyan's top guard off the bench. 

Williams: as veterans have struggled with injuries or simply to make shots, Alex Lee has been the team's best player, taking a huge leap and averaging 15-5-2.  Ben McGraw leads the team in three point shooting and saved an otherwise anemic offense against St. Lawrence.  Sammy Cooley has also had some good moments on defense and going hard to the rim.  And Hudson Hansen has yet to play due to injury but should be a big contributor once back. 

[nescac1]

I saw that Stevens only played a few minutes in the first half of yesterday's Midd victory, hopefully whatever happened is not too serious, I'm sure the Midd folks will chime in soon now that these boards are restored . 

Solid day yesterday for NESCAC overall, other than Bates which as predicted looks like the worst team in the league and maybe by a fair margin. But solid wins for the rest of the league who was in action. 

Quick shot at an early-season power ranking:

1. Trinity: 6-0, all wins coming in convincing fashion, including a big win over St. Joe's.  Callahan-Gold and Vetter are a great one-two punch and Dana Smith, finally healthy, has been huge as a grad student.

2. Tufts: 5-0, like Trinity has been beating teams in convincing fashion, but lacks a signature win.  That would change tomorrow with a road win against undefeated WPI as the brutal stretch of its schedule begins.  Gyimesi continues to be an absolute force this season and they seem to be two-deep at every position now that Gettings is back from injury. 

3. Wlliams: 5-1, has looked great defensively, very rocky offensively other than Alex Lee, but as the frontcourt gets healthier and a few of the shooters break out of slumps the team should score more efficiently.  Big game against Wesleyan next Tuesday, both teams will really want that one.   

4. Wesleyan: 4-1, stumbled on the road against a solid Farmingdale State team that seems to give Wesleyan trouble (two straight losses and only won by 5 the prior year, when Wes was loaded).  Their top three guys have been very productive but unclear who will step up and provide depth. 

5. Conn College: 4-1, has beat up on the bad teams but got beaten up on by Keene. Has a chance for a statement win against a top-ten caliber NYU team next Tuesday.  Another team that has been dealing with injuries so hopefully they get fully healthy. Their zone can give some teams big issues but others manage to feast. 

6. Colby: 4-2, despite losing a lot of talent they look solid once again, although the schedule has been weak.  Big stretch coming up to end the semester with games against Emory, Brandeis, Bowdoin and Bates.  Poulton looks poised for a big year.  Biggest variance team this year since they can go off from three in any given game but some games the shots just won't fall. 

7. Amherst: 3-1, after a rough opening game seem to have figured some things out and do have the talent to move up this list.  Chris Hammond having a break-out year and, gasp, Sears started playing a normal rotation and it's been paying dividends.  Getting Randle back from injury would add another weapon to an already-stacked front court.  PG appears to be a question mark. 

8. Hamilton: 2-2, lost so much depth from last year's team and right now seem a bit top-heavy.  If their two FY wings develop over the course of the season they could still be dangerous. 

9. Middlebury: 1-4, they've played a tough early schedule but at some point you have to win 'em.  But I expect they will finish higher than ninth on this list.  They received career games from Osher, Brennan and Joseph to edge out Endicott which may serve as a catalyst for all three going forward; those guys need to be consistent scorers for them.  Hopefully Stevens, clearly their best player, is not out long - fortunately for Midd his injury does seem to coincide with the softest part of the schedule ahead. 

10. Bowdoin: 2-4 against a bad early schedule is not great for a team that received a fair amount of hype here.  At least they beat Bates. Big man Kevin Reeves has been a bright spot.  I expect bigger production from McGowan as he works his way back from injury. 

11. Bates: 1-5, showed some signs of life with a surprising win against a good Southern Maine team, but otherwise, has been getting blown out by everyone.  Could not have been fun getting dominated by Steph Baxter and co. from Babson ...

[Old Guy]

Sam Stevens went down about halfway through the first half with an ankle injury, was helped off the floor, watched the rest of the game from the bench with his ankle wrapped in ice, and left after the game on crutches. We all hope it's not too serious as he was hampered last season with a shoulder injury and was off to a very good start this year. He's a good player and we need him. He hit the opening hoop, a three pointer, in this game, and looked free and easy. We'll see. Midd plays Chicago and Rochester this weekend in that UAA/NESCAC series and that will be challenging. 

Endicott's pretty good (I seem to be saying that a lot about Midd's opponents this year). This game was a barnburner, 90-86, with Midd scoring 56 points in the second half to Endicott's 50. (the Gulls have a 6'7 frosh center, Elijah Kenny, from Nashville, who is a good player, had 25 points, including a 3-pointer, 6-7 from the line, and 15 rebounds. As NESCAC1 pointed out, it took career games from Osher (32 points) and Brennan (23 and 21) to get the win. Brennan is such a workhorse. He should find his way into some end-of-season acknowledgement. He gets every loose ball, it seems, and contested rebound. Inspiring to watch. Osher had a spell in the second half when he couldn't miss, six or seven buckets in a row (12-22, 5-7, 3-3). Tristan Joseph played 30 minutes, had 15 points (6-10, 3-5), and looks increasingly comfortable on the floor. Kuba Cwalina played seven minutes, hit a couple of shots, including a three pointer. He has a great stroke.

Jeff Brown continues to use the whole bench, figuring out which combinations are particularly effective. Important win, if only for confidence reasons. Good win. Nice home crowd, despite students being on vacation. Very entertaining game. It would be nice to pick up a win or two against these big shot schools coming to the hinterlands this weekend.

[Bucket]

Sam Stevens went down about halfway through the first half with an ankle injury, was helped off the floor, watched the rest of the game from the bench with his ankle wrapped in ice, and left after the game on crutches. We all hope it's not too serious as he was hampered last season with a shoulder injury and was off to a very good start this year. He's a good player and we need him. He hit the opening hoop, a three pointer, in this game, and looked free and easy. We'll see. Midd plays Chicago and Rochester this weekend in that UCC/NESCAC series and that will be challenging. 

Endicott's pretty good (I seem to be saying that a lot about Midd's opponents this year). This game was a barnburner, 90-86, with Midd scoring 56 points in the second half to Endicott's 50. (the Gulls have a 6'7 frosh center, Elijah Kenny, from Nashville, who is a good player, had 25 points, including a 3-pointer, 6-7 from the line, and 15 rebounds. As NESCAC1 pointed out, it took career games from Osher (32 points) and Brennan (25 and 15) to get the win. Brennan is such a workhorse. He should find his way into some end-of-season acknowledgement. He gets every loose ball, it seems, and contested rebound. Inspiring to watch. Osher had a spell in the second half when he couldn't miss, six or seven buckets in a row (12-22, 5-7, 3-3). Tristan Joseph played 30 minutes, had 15 points (6-10, 3-5), and looks increasingly comfortable on the floor. Kuba Cwalina played seven minutes, hit a couple of shots, including a three pointer. He has a great stroke.

Jeff Brown continues to use the whole bench, figuring out which combinations are particularly effective. Important win, if only for confidence reasons. Good win. Nice home crowd, despite students being on vacation. Very entertaining game. It would be nice to pick up a win or two against these big shot schools coming to the hinterlands this weekend.

Old Guy: You undersold Brennan's output by a lot! He had 21 rebounds, not 15.