MBB: NESCAC

[thunder32]

alright this is starting to get Ridiculous.  I think I just spent an hour catching up and reading posts.  So now that the first semester is over anyone want to give their first semester all league honors.

[thunder32]

By the way Tufts beat Plymouth State last night.  Brian Kumf has really started to become a force for Tufts in the last couple of games with 19 and 6 against PSC and 17 and 11 last game.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

That was another strong win for Tufts.  They are going to have a very nice QOWI number going into the full conference schedule.  If they hold their own in the NESCAC, they will be sitting pretty come selection day.

They've only got three, maybe four teams outside the conference who will finish below .500 on their schedule.  It's looking very positive for them.


By the way, Clark, Wheaton and UMASS-Boston are the three (Lasell is the maybe, but I think they'll pull it out... gotta love the NAC).

[Friar T]

Thunder, I think there could be several first semester all-league candidates, but it's hard to split the differences in some cases due to minutes played. Some people like to break it down into a points per 40 minutes played type deal, but I think that's unrealistic too. If I did that for Amherst the results would be ridiculous b/c just two players are averaging more then 20 minutes a game and 11 guys are getting 10+ minutes of burn.

Automatics:
Andrew Olson - 10 points and a NESCAC-best 7 assists in just 26 minutes per game... WOW (scary to think what he'll do with 35 minutes...)
Rob Stockwell - leading the league in scoring and rebounding, enough said
Drew Cohen - averaging 16 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks

Studs:
Charles Stone - 2nd in scoring, 3rd in rebounding
Russ Martin - among the best in scoring, rebounding and FG%
Tim McLaughlin - one of the Jeffs' most consistant, one of NESCAC's top defenders
Jake Weitzen - Call him Pillsbury, call him Bowser, call him good...

Should get love:
Andrew Hippert - top scorer for the PB's who are a solid squad
Chris Shalvoy - Williams top gunner till Rose blooms
Nick Farrell - a 37% shooter last year, up almost 10 points from that right now... could get love if he keeps putting it in the hole
Nick Pelletier - average  +4 pts and FG% up +10% from last year
Aaron Smith - even if he falls off a little he's ok (72% from the field right now...)
Brian Wholey - second leading scorer and rebounder for the Bobcats

Solid 6th Men

John Pierce - impressive numbers so far, great option for the 'Bos off the bench
Fletcher Walters & Brian Baskauskas - both coming off the bench to average almost 10 pts and 4 boards. Both shooting 55%+ from the field and 42%+ from 3.
Patrick Hasiuk & Robert Taylor - both in double figures off the bench, both stupid athletic

Will Emerge
Zak Ray - Numbers aren't quite where they should be yet, but face it, he's good... 3 steals a game are enough for me
Dan Wheeler - same flavor as Ray, numbers don't display his importance to the team, will be a primary scoring option for the Jeffs
Chris Rose - Better than his 33% FG and 26% 3's are now, he'll heat up

Interested to hear others' opinions...

[walzy31]

That's pretty right on Friar. I'm impressed.

I am glad it seems all of us are going to move away from the past and focus on the present and future.

A side note about Amherst College scrimmaging UMass:
Per the NESCAC rules, any scrimmage counts against the total number of games a team is allowed to play in a season. Thus if Amherst scrimmage UMass, Amherst would only be able to schedule 23 games instead of 24. That is big turnoff when # of wins, win percentage, and win index count (directly or indirectly) towards NCAA bids and seedings.

[ajsnc13]

As for people who need to get love, throw Kevin Bradley in the mix. He is the best player on Bowdoin and a pretty good player...13 ppg, 4.5 assists, 50% from 3...2 steals...

Kino Clarke should get some love..16 ppg last yr..12.5 this year..he finds a way to get it done

As for people who will emerge, Patrick Martin from Trinity

[Marty Peretz]

Who cares about Crotty? He's a virgin. though his uncle is the man--legendary ticket scalper at Fenway--THE LAST GUY you'd ever associate with that virgin of a she-man.

[geronimo]

even though there were FAR more williams fans there.

Thank God someone has finally recognized the incestuous nature of the truly strange inhabitants of Williamstown.

[geronimo]

Crotty's sister ran after my firend and proceeded to "jump" her in the elevator, classy move.  I pulled her off my friend and tried to break it up at which point Crotty's sister pulled my hair in a true cat fight moment....the rest escalated from there.

That is by far the hottest post I've ever seen.  Who woulda thunk a sausage fest/Star Trek convention like this could actually exhibit a redeeming quality?

[nescac hoops]

marty,
i'm sure you got a lot of girls not being to make your high school basketball team. every girl loves a superfan like yourself. crotty is a she-man b/c he wears a ring, one that is very big and says "national championship".  please go back to the UAA forum.

back to BASKETBALL...

friar i think you are on the mark but i'd like to add that i think Ogrodnik, trinity's coach, is first semester's coach of the year. i don't think that a lot of people thought trinity would be 7-1 at this point with the loss of roten. yes, they had a loss to springfield but that is sort of a rival game and not a terrible loss considering springfield is a decent team this year and traditionally a very good team. i think he has done a great job remolding the team after they so much of their stuff ran through roten. as for rookie of the year, i can't really say. i hoped that williams new big man would take this honor but he really hasn't done a lot after the opening weekend.

also, does kino clarke deserve some mention? i haven't seen trinity play at all this year and would say that martin is there go-to-man but clarke is a player that could come on strong in the second semester after having a pretty good start.

[Friar T]

Two guys have made cries for Kino, but I have to say that I've never been overly impressed with him. Don't get me wrong, he's very fast and athletic, and a pretty good shooter, but I don't see what else he really adds to the equation. He's leading his team in 0 categories and shooting just 61% from the FT line. I feel like Taylor and Pat Martin (and maybe even Hasiuk) would be missed more if removed from this team. All just an outsiders' opinion, but that's just what a I think. I'd love to hear FormerBant's thoughts on the subject.

As for Coach of the semester... I really disagree with your opinion on Trinity. Yes, they are having to recover from the loss of Rhoten, yes they have played 6 of 8 games on the road, but really who of those 8 teams were they supposed to lose to? The fact that they lost at Springfield (whether this is really a rivalry or not) takes their coaching out of contention for honors. Springfield is a 3-6 team with losses to four other NESCAC teams, including  your bottom-dwelling Ephs. Amherst beat the Pride by 40!

I'd be more apt to honor either of the undefeated coaches (Hixon or Reilly) or even Sheldon, who's taken on probably the toughest schedule yet and come out with a pretty solid 7-2 mark.

[blacklordjeff]

Shout out to the Historian and Friar for the love, staying Holy aint easy when your name is all over these posts

Nescac Hoops,Since "my boy" Tim's name was in that post so much had to reply, and to the rest of the posters if I'm beating a dead horse I apologize.  I definitely didn't want to make excuses for injuries, they happen and its part of the game for both sides, those Williams teams were great, and I've matured enough to be able to say that.  I'd actually love to have some reunion games against those guys, and I think it'd make money... but anyway I definitely wasn't "the man" on my team, we weren't constructed that way.  And while I may not have been able to completely shut down Big Coff, I may have been able to get him into foul trouble or wear him out a bit, or grabbed a rebound for my undersized squad.  Shoulda, coulda, woulda, and for the record I said "ONE" of the best players I've ever played against, not the best, that'd be a disservice to all those times I tried not to get dunked on by NBAers in Summer League.

But back to the present, when did DIII rosters start to look like DI Rosters.  I mean seriously, the Amherst team now has the height of a decent mid major, as do some of the other NESCAC teams.  I think that trend in DI ball towards more parity, GEORGE MASON in the FINAL FOUR, is flowing down to DIII, how long before your best DIII teams can compete with the best DI teams on a regular basis?  any thoughts?

Finally
WAR  and good luck those taking finals (like me back in grad school)
WAR Married life
WAR prayer for those that hate (its in the book)

[thunder32]

Blacklordjeff,

That is an interesting statement about the top D3 teams against the top D1 teams.  But I think that as long as D1 teams can give scholarships and D3 teams cant than you are never going to see a top teir D3 team compete with a top teir D1 team.  But that is just my opinion.  Im not talking about a Holy Cross or George Mason, there are teams that can compete with those teams, Im talking about the Dukes and the UNC of D1 basketball.

[nescac hoops]

blacklordjeff,
sorry if my post sounded if i was hating on you. i tried by best not to sound as if i was. you were a great player and did as good a job on coffin as I ever saw. however, and i think you will agree, paulsen would have been more concerned if a williams trainer said "ben coffin can't play" then hixon may have been if he was told "jones can't play" - that is by no means disrespectful it's just that williams relied on him heavily to succeed. no disrespect. yes, i'm sure you would have grabbed another board or drawn another foul but my whole point was that if coffin's foot wasn't broken (and no matter how much senator wants to play doctor, a broken foot is still a broken foot) he may have been able to grab another rebound, draw another foul, etc. too. my point was all to show that comparing injury lists is a stupid way to attribute outcomes.
as for the D1 vs. D3, i agree with thunder that D3 will always be at least a step behind D1 teams that can offer scholarships. however, i truly believe that the top 1-3 teams in the nescac can compete in the ivy league - those two leagues are becoming quite even.
friar, i'm unsure of the colby coach's name - is it Reilly who you've mentioned? if so, he was my second choice. in all fairness, who has amherst beat BESIDES brandeis and to quote you, "who of those 8 teams were they supposed to lose to"? i think of any teams, trinity had to re-adjust the most this year with the loss of the man who they for so long revolved around. given that nescac teams must start two weeks late, all nescac team are "behind" the rest and  this hurt nobody more than trinity who had to "re-group" in more ways than most teams. to win on the road early in the season is also hard to do. again, i think he is first semester's coach of the year, which may play out much differently by the end of the season. but what he has does done in this short of time is impressive, especially to some that thought trinity would have a hard time with rhoten's departure.
as for losing springfield, don't play the number/win/loss game. just b/c you beat springfield by 40, doesn't mean you'll beat trinity by 40. last year williams beat trinity who beat amherst. that doesn't exactly mean williams was on any day better than amherst last year...let's be real.

[thunder32]

Nescac Hoops

You are right on the money in mentioning the Ivy league and I would also add the patriot league to that but it is when you get up the ACC or the Big East that D3 teams will never be able to compete with those teams.  Reilly is the coach of Bates and I think so far he is the most deserving.