MBB: NESCAC

ephoops · October 26, 2006, 09:36:31 PM

Any news on the Williams freshmen?

Baller10 · October 27, 2006, 01:25:41 PM

Eph,
it doesnt matter who they got this year. if you saw the mutants they had coming off their bench last year in garbage time, you would know that their team is in shambles. literally mutants.

formerbant10 · October 27, 2006, 04:18:59 PM

Trinity also has Pat Hasiuk at the point after a year out from injury.

Just adds to the depth of the PG.

How come the young Wheeler didn't get a nickname? And is the J. Shuttlesworth Jesus or Jake.....just want to clear things up. Jake did have a mean post game on the young Jesus.

walzy31 · October 27, 2006, 10:24:03 PM

Haha. Lala and the two blondes are at our school (visiting...they clearly are not enrolled) and will remain here as long as Amherst keeps winning NESCAC titles.

Maq Diesel · October 28, 2006, 12:13:06 AM

I am a Gordon College fan, I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about this years version of Middlebury basketball. We are hosting a tip-off tourney and I have seen Mt. Ida and MIT before but know nothing about Middleburry and I am guessing it will be Gordon and them in the finals. Also for you Bates fans out there the Gordon v Bates game late in the season should be one heck of a game and I cannot wait for that one. Ray and Kaufman is going to be a great battle all night long. Well anyway I will check back here about Middlebury info or you can post-up on the CCC board.

Red1 · October 30, 2006, 02:45:12 AM

Maq,

I have no idea what Middlebury may have added or changed for this year, but their starting point guard, Ben Rudin, is only a sophmore, and was definitely their playmaker last year, and I don't see that changing much this year. What I can describe, however, is how they played last year.

Ben Rudin is very fast, and very quick. Their general offensive goal was for him to use that speed to get penetration and draw defenders. If the defenders didn't help he'd drive in for the layup, but if they did move to the helpside then he'd just dump it to the open player for the wide open shot. The problem was that if you could stop Rudin from getting penetration you could pretty much shut down their offense. A solid zone defense could handle this. Bates was able to do it playing man up because senior Shawn Cahill, the bobcat defensive specialist, was quick enough to stop Rudin on his own. I would guess that most teams, however, would choose the zone.

As for beating their defense: Go after them inside with strong post play, high percentage shots, and go after the offensive rebounds. The panthers were strong on the perimeter last year, but very beatible in the paint. This is something they've likely worked on fixing during the off season, but this is what worked last year.

Cheers,
Red1

Old Guy · October 30, 2006, 04:20:25 PM

Middlebury will be competitive, as last year, especially at home. They were 12-12 overall, 1-8 in NESCAC with a one point loss to ConnCollege (in a game they had won) and a two point loss at Bowdoin. They played Amherst (eight point loss), Trinity (11), and Hamilton (8) pretty well, at home. They have a comparatively good non-conference schedule, competing against a number of appropriate upstate NY teams: St. Lawrence, Hamilton, Union, RPI, Plattsburgh, Skidmore).

They were young last year, and return all but one starter. They shouldn't be taken too lightly. They could be pretty good.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · October 30, 2006, 05:18:46 PM

I'm not too sure Gordon has to be worried about Middlebury when they have Bates on the schedule in February. Gordon didn't lose much production and brought in some major midwest talent, including a 6'8" guy they stole from Wittenberg. They'll be the sneaky non-major conference team in the region this year.

thunder32 · November 01, 2006, 03:39:41 PM

The preseason top 25 are up and Amherst made it to number 3 and tufts number 12 with both williams and Bates receiving votes. That is a pretty good represention by NESCAC schools. Especiall Tufts Im glad to see what we accomplished last year is pooring over to this year and good luck to all NESCAC schools I think today is the first day of tryouts for them. I may be mistaken but Good luck to all.

walzy31 · November 01, 2006, 11:58:13 PM

It's midnight madness here right now.
Not sure if this goes on in all gyms in the conference on the first day of tryouts, but in LeFrak, Olson ran the break and he threw an alley-oop by bouncing it no look through his legs to Hopkins who was trailing the play. Hopkins collected the ball and did a reverse dunk with ease. But today was only the first day...

CCsalive · November 03, 2006, 02:15:40 PM

Was it an alley-oop...meaning he bounced it hard enough off the floor that K-Hop caught it while he was already in the air?

Do you guys at Amherst no what an alley-oop is?

How did my boy Coulibaly look?

nescac1 · November 03, 2006, 07:08:23 PM

Thanks, dman, I hope you're right ... hopefully a few of the frosh and sophomore can break out for the Ephs. Nescac should be much more balanced this year and there will be fewer easy victories for anyone than there has been in recent years I predict. Ephs are probably still a year away from contending unless they have a true superstar in the frosh class or unless a few players make a Rose-like leap next year.

Amherst fans are as cocky as ever, I see. Clearly the Jeffs have the most talent in the league, but you might want to wait at least until the season starts before you starting talking all kinds of smack. It's only been two years that Amherst has been on top so enjoy it while it lasts. Tufts and Bates are right there with Amherst this year I'd say. And Williams won't be down for much longer I imagine -- and when that day comes, the players and fans will remember the half court stomp and other Amherst antics.

So, who are the candidates for breakout players in the league, guys like Kino Clarke or Chris Rose who jumped from a supporting role into a key player? I'd say Coulibaly, Hopkins (if he gets pt) and McLaughlin on Amherst, Snyder and Weisbrot (if healthy) on Williams, Jackson on Bowdoin, Rowe and Martin on Trinity, Lyons on Conn College, Shone and Halloran on Bates would all be prime candidates.

Anyone hearing any buzz on any of the rookies? Any of the huge group of Williams frosh? Kaminer on Wesleyan? The guard on Middlebury who was getting some Bedford comparisons? Carcieri or Wheeler on Amherst? The Conn guards? Anyone else of note? Any transfers at all this year?

slickyquick · November 04, 2006, 03:58:40 PM

Williams frosh are very very solid. Their incoming point, from the DC area, doesn't make mistakes and can knock down the open jumper. They have a shooter from VA that is automatic and is a solid 6'4". A couple of bigs who beasts inside, don't remember their names but one is from Wisconsin and the other is from Maine. The one from Wisc. will contribute right away, Paulsen might need to pull the reins a little because he might work too hard. The only thing is will they be able to handle all the things the NESCAC throws at them. We will wait and see...

thunder32 · November 06, 2006, 11:39:23 AM

Any news on the first week of pratices from around league?

formerbant10 · November 06, 2006, 12:40:29 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on November 03, 2006, 07:08:23 PM
It's only been two years that Amherst has been on top so enjoy it while it lasts. Tufts and Bates are right there with Amherst this year I'd say. And Williams won't be down for much longer I imagine -- and when that day comes, the players and fans will remember the half court stomp and other Amherst antics.

Nescac1....if you look at the past 6 years or so I'd say that Amherst has been on top of the league more consistently than any other school. Williams had their 2 great runs, but Amherst, on average, has gone deeper in the tourney than probably any other school in D3 in recent history.

While it's most likely true that Williams won't be down much longer, they are not quite operating at the level Amherst is.