MBB: NESCAC

[feces monkey]

2005-06 NESCAC Men's Basketball All-Conference

First Team   
G     John Bedford Amherst Sr. Ridgewood, N.J.
C Drew Cohen Colby Jr. Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
C Dan Martin Tufts Sr. Sandwich, Mass.
F Kyle Petrie Bowdoin Sr. Iowa City, Iowa
F Tyler Rhoten Trinity Sr. Ridgewood, N.J.
     
Second Team   
G Andrew Olson Amherst So. San Diego, Calif.
G Zak Ray Bates Jr. Bangor, Maine
F Chris Rose Williams So. Middletown, N.Y.
F Rob Stockwell Bates Jr. Temple, N.H.
F Dan Wheeler Amherst Jr. Bloomington, Minn.
     
Player of the Year   
F Tyler Rhoten Trinity Sr. Ridgewood, N.J.
     
Defensive Player of the Year     
C Drew Cohen Colby Jr. Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
     
Rookie of the Year   
G Ben Rudin Middlebury Fr. Scarsdale, N.Y.
     
Coach of the Year   
Joe Reilly Bates

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Jeff Rookie got 9 out of 10, good show.  Ironically, the one guy he missed was Olson.

[CCsalive]

Walzy-hysterical.
Formerbant-thanks for backing me up, I like your thoughts on Amherst.
Spengler-Amherst has avoided pressure all year. Well, its on Egon...anything less than Final Four is a let-down.

Zarrette Rogers transferred from Conn to Hamilton. Tobin Anderson had recruited him to Clarkson. He battled a knee injury his soph year at Conn, he's a 6th or 7th man at Hamilton after being Conn's best player for two years...that isn't a reflection on Conn or Hamilton, but rather rehabbing the knee, gel-ing at Hamilton, and, of course, Conn got much better this year w/out him. That said, I've seen a lot of Ham-tech games over the years and Amherst is going to gulp a little bit in lay-up lines. The Continentals have two wings in Jones and Ngobene(imagine Coulibaly plus 20 lbs, post-up game, and playing experience) who will make you shudder.

[CCsalive]

-I never saw Petrie play...he must be damn good.
-Wheeler is a force...desered second team...needs to post up more.

Trinity doesn't make the tourney and only gets one All-Conference player...that and losing to Eastern CT make for a disappointing year considering all the talent.

Everyone loves Joe Reilly, and Bates and Tufts were neck and neck all year, but how does he beat out the Tufts coach? Ray and Stockwell were known entities entering the season. Tufts was a huge question mark.

[walzy31]

The All NESCAC awards were fair.  Bedford, D. Martin, Petrie, Rhoten, Cohen all deserving of first team and Ray, Stockwell, Wheeler, Olson and Rose all deserving of second team. Would have loved to see Bedford's name next to POY either alone or as Co-POY but asi es la vida. Cohen and Rudin make obvious sense as well, winning their respective awards. My snubs (in order) are: Clarke, Weitzen, P. Martin, Stone, and of course Blake Curry.

But who would you replace any of the listed second teamers for one of those five?
Weitzen doesn't start, Stone is inconsistant and got suspended for league games, Pat Martin didn't come into his own until the last third of the season, and Blake is crazy...Clarke is the biggest leave...but I think he is the 11th best player in the league.

CCsalive,

Tufts coach?? How about Hixon who won the regular season and post season titles out right? 25-2? Trinity also finished with a better record than Tufts AND Bates. I don't understand Reilly getting it. You can't play the 'suprise season' card because the same four teams had strong years last year and all made it to the NESCAC semis last year and this year.

[elduderino]

Walzy,

Why does it matter if you start?  Starting a game means little compared to whether you are in the game when it matters most.  Tufts has played a number of close games and Weitzen has been a key part to their success down the stretch.  I'll take Weitzen over many of those second teamers.  Dan Martin is not the only reason for Tufts explosive offense.

Not sure Coach Reilly deserved the Coach of the year award.  Hixon and Sheldon should have been a toss up. 

Definately not sure about Petrie as first team.  Solid player who can get his own shot off on a team with limited offensive prowess.  I think he got a senior's going away gift.  Enjoy Petrie.  Overall though the selections were pretty good.  I liked Bedford for POY.  He's the best all around player.

[nescac1]

I think the first and second teams are dead-on.  The coaches always, if in doubt, give a little bump to seniors, but honestly, I think Petrie is a great all around talent who deserved it, and Martin was the one guy on Tufts who could not be stopped all year, and they made the dance.  Weitzen had some great games, but he was inconsistent, whereas Martin was always a major contributor.  Plus Weitzen gets downgraded for "anonymously" trumpeting his skillz on this site.  I'm sure that Weitzen and Clarke will both make the top ten next year (although it will be tough to crack first team with Cohen a lock, Ray, Stockwell, Wheeler all deserving and, moreover, getting the senior bump, and Olsen and Rose as the next most talented guys in the league, and the engines that drive their respective teams). 

I have to agree that Bedford AT LEAST deserved co-player of the year.  Rhoten was a great, great scorer but he could be defensed with double-teams, and he never carried his team to great heights, despite some talented teammates.  The fact that one of Trinity's stars decided to take a year off, purportedly because he did not want to play with Rhoten, makes we question whether he was as good an overall teammate as Bedford.  Bedford did exactly what was needed to win for the last three years, whether than meant blending in or taking over.  His stats would have been monstrous if Amherst had played more close games.  He's given Williams more headaches than just about anyone in the league during the last four years, that is for sure (although Petrie has also killed Williams at times).

I'd say Sheldon for coach of the year for the reasons I wrote before, look where Tufts was two years ago, and look where they are today.  I don't think they are much more talented than Bates, maybe marginally, and Bates collapsed at the end of the year, while Tufts kicked it into another gear -- isn't that what it's all about?  As for Hixon, he's won so many of those, it's time for a fresh face. 

[littlejeff08]

i agree with nescac1...rhoten had his best years as a junior and senior and he couldn't even get his team past the nescac semi's...bedford is statistically equal, had he been able to play rhoten type minutes...and bedford also stepped up his game and led his team to another nescac chaimpionship...how he wasnt AT LEAST co-player of the year is beyond me...what a disservice to a great player

[formerbant10]

Let me shed a little light on the Rhoten/Bedford situation again.

We've already had the minutes per game arguments and all that jazz.  Both players are great for the programs they are in.  Amherst has had better overall years than Trinity has during the past 4 years, but Rhoten has had a much more successful personal career.  Rhoten is close to 700 points ahead of Bedford and has played in less games every year.  As for being great all around players, I don't think either of them are the most complete players.  Drew Cohen is the best all around player in the league and the numbers prove me right.  Neither Rhoten or Bedford mean as much to their teams on the defensive side of the ball as Cohen does.  Don't give me the BS that Rhoten doesn't play defense, because there aren't many guys in the conference who do. 

Littlejeff,

You say Bedford stepped up and led his team to another NESCAC title, but I'd say that in the semifinals (which the Amherst players will tell you was the tougher game) last year the win should've been credited to Andrew Olson.  He played well beyond his years and outplayed his opponents.  Don't think I'm saying Bedford didn't have a hand in it, but Olson impressed me the most last year.  And how is getting 1st team All NESCAC two years in a row a disservice.  Only 5 guys out of 100+ get that honor.  John Bedford has received that honor twice.  I think it's an amazing accomplishment and he should be extremely proud of it.  You should be rejoicing as well.

Nescac1,

One of your points stated that Rhoten could be defensed by double teams.  How does that make him a bad player.  I'd venture to say that Rhoten was the only player this year that saw a triangle and two defense with both guys playing him man to man (Ursinus used this tactic).  No one in the NESCAC has ever had to worry about that on a daily basis.  And for the record Robert Taylor III did not leave Trinity for this past year because of Tyler.  RTIII had his own reasons for leaving, but the rumor that he left because of Rhoten is absurd.  I don't care what anyone heard from anyone on the Hartford campus, I lived with both of them, I think I might know better than most.

After seeing Bates and Tufts play, it definitely was not an easy choice to pick Coach Reilly.  But he deserves it, any of the coaches will tell you that.  Bates has 3 players and Reilly guided them to a 20 win season and broke the school record for wins again (he seems to do this every year).  I agree that Sheldon and Tufts had a great year as well, but if you have seen both teams play and think the skill levels are equal you're a fool.  I think Sheldon (and his nice pants) will be content with continuing his season as opposed to winning the COY award.


I like 2 Westchester kids getting awards.  I hope there's more in the future (Cohen certainly) for them.

Walzy,

Clarke did have a great year, but Trinity really turned it on when Pat Martin came into his own in the 2nd semester.  The two might have cancelled each other out for votes. 

Congrats to Kyle Petrie for his 3rd All NESCAC selection.
Congrats to Amherst for taking down 3 of the 10 spots in such a talented conference.  All very deserving players in my opinion.

[fpc85]

I have watched Rhoten and Bedford for the last 3 years. I think based on pure numbers Rhoten has had a better year. I think it is extremely tough to speculate who who do what if they Rhoten played for Amherst or Bedford for Trinity. You never know the dynamics of such change. SO the only thing you can go on are concrete numbers....Rhoten wins...by a narrow margin.

I think the better question to ask is would Rhoten give up all of his individual honrs to be in the position that bedford is in at the moment. I don't know the guy so I can't say...but I do know that Bedford would not change places.


BTW, If you had to chose between Lebron James or Dwayne Wade who would you choose. I would choose Wade because he has played better in big games.

[BBKing]

 CCSalive what do you think about Adolphe's situation at Amherst? It seems like this year was a waist for him, I am sure if he had some regret about going to Amherst. I had a chance to see him play in the limited PT that Hixon gave him. Contrary of what I have read before, he has a lot of potential and he could easily be a major scorer on another team. Unless, he starts next year after the departure of Bedford and Casanocha, I dont see why he would stay there.

[littlejeff08]

formerbant, i was talking about this year...and looking at the semis, it seems as if rhoten faltered when his team needed him...and bedford didnt (in semis and finals)......as far as numbers, you're right that it is impossible to say what each player would do on a different team, so i think you have to treat both player's fantastic stats equally....therefore, i would then look at how they performed in big games...and bedford wins...trinity was in position to host the tournament in the regular season, and had an oppurtunity to make the nescac finals...but rhoten didnt play as well in those big situations...thats why i think HE should be happy with his first team selections, and bedford should be POY

[nescac1]

formerbant, sorry for perpetuating the apparently unsubstantiated rumor re: Taylor.  I had actually thought it was you who informed the site about that purported rift, obviously my memory was way off on that.  Thanks for the clarification. 

[formerbant10]

No worries, I believe my words were that Taylor took off for personal reasons, not personnel reasons.

Littlejeff,

I see your point about Rhoten faltering in the semis, but I don't think Bedford was the difference on Sunday.  I know his numbers were decent but when the game was on the line, he wasn't the one making the big shots.  That was Casnocha and Wheeler on Sunday.  And I can't put both players stats on an even level when Rhoten has scored 700 points more than Bedford in their careers.  Obviously Bedford gets the nod on team success, but the award is not for a team.  And yes Trinity was in position to host and make the NESCAC finals, but they ran into a very tough Tufts team in both games and lost in OT.  As I remember Tufts gave Amherst a pretty good game last weekend as well.  So I think all 3 teams were pretty much on the same level last weekend.

But it's interesting that you say Trinity was in position and faltered.  One could argue that Amherst was the overwhelming favorite the whole year, then faltered against Trinity at home and were lucky that Tufts beat Trinity in the final weekend.  It all depends on what colors you wear.

And maybe Rhoten didn't have his best game in the semis, does that make him any less of a player?  Over his 4 years, when Rhoten had a bad game (very very rare) Trinity suffered.  Bedford on the other hand was not really needed till his junior year and even then Schiell was still the big dog on the team. 

The 2 play different positions on the floor, for different teams and are expected to do different things for their teams to win.  Bedford had 2 other All NESCAC players playing with him to share the burden.  In Rhoten's 3 years on the 1st team, there was one year when he had a teammate join him with an All NESCAC selection (last year's disappointment).  The POY went to the right player.  There's no doubt in my mind, and apparently no doubt in the coaches' minds either.

[auerbach]

did not mean to hurt feelings. didn't keep the program and not a regular at the games. apologize to all