MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

As scintillating as it is to nitpick grammer in press releases, with the season three days away, it's prediction season.   Anyone have any more info on top newcomers  / potential break-out players?  Any interesting story lines from pre-season practice?  Any significant injuries? 

As for standings, I will go with (1) Amherst (obvious) (2) Williams (again, fairly obvious, although much will depend on how much the young bigs improved in the offseason) (3) Trinity (very talented, big, and experienced front court, but questions at guard) (4) Middlebury / Tufts (Midd continues to improve but a year away from contention, Tufts poised for a bounce back year but could finish anywhere from second through seventh), (6) Bowdoin (as usual, will beat the bad teams, and lose to most of the good teams, with one surprise thrown in), (7) Conn College (Stone and Bernier give them two all-conference contenders, but no depth), (8) Bates (rebuilding year but seem to have brought in a second straight solid recruiting class), (9) Colby (will miss Cohen and Farrell, but enough shooters to surprise a team or two, could easily finish as high as sixth)), (10) Wesleyan (gonna be a loooong year).

All conference: Andrew O., Hopkins, Rose, Shalvoy, R. Martin, Second team: Weitzen, Pierce, Baskauskas, Stone, R. Taylor, Honorable mention / just missing: A. Hippert, A. Smith, Rudin, Choice, B. Schultz.

NCAA teams: Amherst, Williams, and Trinity
Player of year: is there even any question?
ROY: who knows.  Maybe S. Mason from Tufts or one of the forwards from Bates (Gallant?  Ellis?).  Amherst, Trinity, Williams won't give enough PT to any of their new guys to contend for honors here.   

[JustAFan]

Williams roster is up at http://williams.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2007-08/roster

Four frosh on the team, one point guard, two forwards and a skinny 6-8 forward.  One of the forwards might have an opportunity to contribute since he has some size--6-5 225 pd Jon Carroll from Ohio, who was also the starting tight end on the Ephs football team. He's probably not in any sort of basketball shape yet, but based on his high school reports he can shoot the 3 as well as bang inside and might lend some depth up front towards the end of the year.

[nescac1]

Thanks JustAFan. I am pretty sure Moorstein is incorrectly listed, I believe he played JV last year so he would be a sophomore.  I imagine both Carroll and Whittington will eventually contribute, but I would be surprised if they got much time this year (if either does, it means they are extremely talented).  Weisbrot and Meyer both return, and they were the first two big guys off the bench last year, and Timmins and Cates also return with a year of experience (Timmins in particular was a pretty hyped recruit, if he has bulked up I would thing he'd be next in line for frontcourt minutes).  Doesn't leave a lot of minutes at the 4/5 (especially when the starters, Rose and Geoghegan, are unlikely to see all that much time on the bench to begin with).   It's a nice problem to have, as for the first time since 2003, the Ephs finally have quality big-guy depth to the point where some talented guys will be stuck on the bench. 

[walzy31]

As scintillating as it is to nitpick grammer in press releases, with the season three days away, it's prediction season.   Anyone have any more info on top newcomers  / potential break-out players?  Any interesting story lines from pre-season practice?  Any significant injuries? 

As for standings, I will go with (1) Amherst (obvious) (2) Williams (again, fairly obvious, although much will depend on how much the young bigs improved in the offseason) (3) Trinity (very talented, big, and experienced front court, but questions at guard) (4) Middlebury / Tufts (Midd continues to improve but a year away from contention, Tufts poised for a bounce back year but could finish anywhere from second through seventh), (6) Bowdoin (as usual, will beat the bad teams, and lose to most of the good teams, with one surprise thrown in), (7) Conn College (Stone and Bernier give them two all-conference contenders, but no depth), (8) Bates (rebuilding year but seem to have brought in a second straight solid recruiting class), (9) Colby (will miss Cohen and Farrell, but enough shooters to surprise a team or two, could easily finish as high as sixth)), (10) Wesleyan (gonna be a loooong year).

All conference: Andrew O., Hopkins, Rose, Shalvoy, R. Martin, Second team: Weitzen, Pierce, Baskauskas, Stone, R. Taylor, Honorable mention / just missing: A. Hippert, A. Smith, Rudin, Choice, B. Schultz.

NCAA teams: Amherst, Williams, and Trinity
Player of year: is there even any question?
ROY: who knows.  Maybe S. Mason from Tufts or one of the forwards from Bates (Gallant?  Ellis?).  Amherst, Trinity, Williams won't give enough PT to any of their new guys to contend for honors here.   

Agree. Nice post Nescac1.

I'd add that if Tufts manages to finish ahead of Williams, then i might flip-flop one of the Tufts 2nd teamers with one of the Chris'.
Also, C. Stone and Ryan O'Keefe on the bubble of the honorable mention list.

[formerbant10]

Good call on the NABC award formerbant, at least someone knew what they were talking about. How things in the Roc?

I was just hoping I was right.  The ROC is good, not snowing yet.  Gonna have to get a few more garbage plates in me to keep warm when winter shows up.

I'll refrain from choosing a pre-season all 'CAC team.  But I wouldn't be surprised to see A. Westbrooks as the defensive player of the year....real in your face presence and can guard 1-4 and some NESCAC 5s.

[toad22]

I watched the Williams varsity play the an alumni team on Saturday morning before the big football game with Amherst. I have some impressions, but it is hard to tell much from a scrimmage so early in the season. The starting 5 are really solid. All of the starters, Goehegan, Rose, Snyder, Schultz, and Shalvoy looked like they have improved over the summer. Snyder looked like a new and improved version both shooting and going to the basket since he had his right wrist operated on. Schultz and Shalvoy were excellent. Geohegan and Rose had their hands full with Ben Coffin and Drew DeMuth, but played really well. Matt Weisbrot is much improved with a full year of injury-free practice under his belt. The surprise of the day was the play of 6'8" Harlan Dodson. He is skinny and he is a freshman, but this kid can really shoot. There seems to be no end to his range. He seems to dribble and pass the ball well. Troy Whittingham didn't play too many minutes, but it is hard not to notice that he is very strong and he can jump out of the gym. The other freshman, John Carroll was catching passes on Saturday, but I understand he is already practicing with the team. I saw him play at Dave Paulsen's Prospects Camp this summer and was very impressed. In general, I expect to see a 10-12 man rotation at least until the league season. This team can really shoot. I don't yet know if they can rebound and play defense. The varsity beat the alums in a very hard fought battle. Everything I saw on Saturday makes me believe that this team can be very good if they keep improving like last year's team did.

[senatorfrost]

 I don't view Amherst as obvious this year for a couple of reasons. I think their depth is both misleading and questionable. I view Coulibaly as a #4. I know he can play #3 but I think he'd be much more effective as a four, especially on offense. Goldsmith started by the end of his Soph season but I'm pretty sure he was the #5. He shot well enough to be a #4.
   However, both have been out for almost a year (and a year in Goldsmith's case) so I have to wonder how they're going to do. Sometimes a year off, especially with an injury is not a good thing, to put it mildly. The thing is Goldsmith was on his way to eventually being an all conference player until the injury. (in my opinion)
     He could rebound and had a pretty good touch from 3. However, now we'll have to wait and see. While Walters can shoot like a  #3 when he's on, I can't see him anywhere else but as a #4 or maybe a #5. Hopkins and Jones CAN'T be #3's So while there appears to be nice depth at the #4 and #5 If everyone is healthy and at full strength, (IF!!!) then they are a bit overloaded there.
     The questions are, has Goldsmith gotten back his form and his touch? Will he be as good as he would have been if he hadn't gotten injured? Will Coulibaly finally live up to his promise? I know he started last year but check out the Brandeis game and the Trinity game. Those were 2 of the 3 biggest (and only) challenges the team faced when he was with them. Take a look.
     Now if Coulibally puts it together as they say, well then Amherst just may be obvious. Anything can happen but I wouldn't bet that promise will be fully fulfilled.
   Olson is Olson and maybe Meehan can give him a couple minutes per game?
   I think Baskauskas will be the #3. Great player to watch, does everything right, a very high basketball IQ. Certain #3's give him BIG problems, but he strikes me as the kind of player who works on things. I'm going to assume Wheeler is the answer at the #2 but after that, I see little depth at the #2 and #3.
   However you look at Amherst you have to remember that Williams came TO AMHERST and beat Trinity and Amherst. If they had only won one I might have put it down to luck but 2 wins in a circumstance like that, to me means a VERY!!!! good team. They get everybody back and Amherst loses a first team NESCAC and the NCAA Tourney MVP. (In my opinion) It took a long time but Tim McGlocklin finally answered the question, 'Who's your go to guy and who's your defensive stopper?' (hint the answer is one word and begins with M)
   Ephs had a very young team so losing AT Brockport, the team that took Wooster to OT was hardly a bad thing, especially since no one had ever been in a tourney before. I was VERY impressed. The NESCAC game is at Williams so knowing that and looking realistically at the Amherst team makes me think that Amherst is FAR from obvious.
   Leaving Tufts out of the mix I like Middlebury over Trinity. mostly because the NESCAC game is at Middlebury (assuming Pat Martin is gone which I am pretty sure he is). Amherst has to play at Middlebury also.
   Another question is can Steve Wheeler defend even remotely as good as McLaughlin?? It's kind of too bad but defense is 1/2 the game.
  I feel I should mention Salerno also. He played real good defense and he had enough feel for the game to be a pg. One of the best attitudes I ever saw. Had  offensive weaknesses but played hard and stuck it out for three years until finally called upon. Seemed to have leadership abilities also. I could go on but I'll simply say=Closest thing I've seen to a role model in past ten years.

To make things easy I hereby give permission to all  magazines, newspapers, Tv stations and whoever else wants to use anything I write on D3 hoops at absolutely no charge. In addition no one has to acknowledge anything. They can claim it's theirs. I'm a very generous individual.

[nescac1]

Thanks for the insight, Toad, sounds encouraging.  From what you saw, did anyone else in the sophomore class (Rubin, Cates, Timmins, Moorstein, Hardy) appear ready to step into a bigger role this season?  Interesting regarding Dodson, sounds as if he is a Fletcher Walters type ... very tall guy with perimeter game.   Carroll is quite the athlete, he looks as if he will be a first-team all NESCAC tight end sooner rather than later (speaking of which, what ever happened to Fugett, the Amherst Div-I transfer tight end?  Did he get any pt at all in football?  Wasn't he supposed to play hoops as well?). 

Senator, you certainly are more familiar with the Jeffs than I, but I seem to recall you being overly pessimistic in the past as well, including heading into last season.  When you start with the best player in the country at the point who makes everyone around him better, and a dominating offensive presence (which I expect Hopkins will be based on his upwards trajectory, not many 6'10 guys in D-III with moves, shooting touch, hit free throws, and can finish reverse alley oops on the fast break) at the "5", that alone is enough to make the Jeffs scary.  Add in all that talent and depth at the "4" you mention, and Baskauskus, who along with Schultz has to be one of the two best "3s" in NESCAC, that is a pretty nasty first four.  If the Jeff's biggest problem is finding someone to play the two competently out of Steven Wheeler, who by all accounts is more athletic and at least as good a shooter as his all-conference brother, Coulibaly, a very motivated senior division I transfer who is one of the best athletes in the conference, the very hyped frosh Meehan, and Bradley, who has shot over 60 percent from 3 so far in his career, forgive me if I think you are overestimating the scope of the "problem" faced by the Jeffs.  The Jeff's don't have the same type of defensive speed as last year, but their size, experience, and strength will be a problem: the Jeffs will put 6'10, 6'7, 6'6, 6'5 guys on the floor all at the same time, all of whom should be fairly strong after four years in the program.  Not easy to find open looks against that sort of length, tends to swallow up the floor fast.  I doubt defense will be a problem for the Jeffs except for perhaps a team like RIC or Brockport with a plethora of very fast guards .... and even in those cases, the Jeffs will benefit from the size mismatch on the other end of the court.  Brandeis is the only team on the Jeff's schedule that has both very fast guards and enough size to hang with the Jeff's big guys.  Williams of course can provide problems because of their style of play ... with four dead-eye shooters on the court at once, if three of those guys are hot, very hard to guard no matter how good your defense.  And with the emergence of  Geoghegan and Weisbrot expected to have a bigger impact, you at least have to be honest in terms of interior defense.  I do believe the Williams -- Amherst games will be wars this year. 

[toad22]

NESCAC1- None of the other sophs had stand out games. Rubin was slightly hurt and didn't play, I don't think Moorstein saw any action. Cates and Timmons-Schiffman played some, but didn't stand out. William Hardy also played a little, but I think they are taking it slow with him. His ankle injury last year really set him back.

[whoarewebobcats]

Bates roster is up: 

http://www.bates.edu/x169992.xml

They did, as predicted, add a ton of size (6'7 sophomore transfer, and 6'10, and 6'6, 6'5, 6'4, 6'4 frosh).  Many of those guys should get immediate P.T. with all the Bobcats lose up front.   I also noticed Place is back, a junior who took last season off.   Bates should have a solid backcourt despite the loss of Ray between the three seniors, Wilson, and Place, the question will be how fast the young big guys can contribute.

I was intrigued by the size, but really just the transfer (Wirth I think was the name) because the Foster kid had been mentioned on the recruiting board and as far as I could see he hardly played in high school, so I can't imagine he'll do much in college. (Plus, let's face it, a 6'10" kid with talent, if he were going to play in the NESCAC, would play for only Amherst or Williams. There's basically no way around it.)

Anyone know anything about Wirth? Anyone see Salve last year? Stats looked good (6/6/2 blocks, I think), and I'd think he's probably an upgrade over Sam Taylor, at least.

I was pretty discouraged reading some of Coach Reilly's quotes in The Bates Student's preview of the season (http://media.www.batesstudent.com/media/storage/paper1116/news/2007/11/13/Sports/Mens-Basketball.Looks.To.Improve.Despite.Graduating.Defensive.Mvp.Ray.And.AllNes-3097471.shtml), which is admittedly pretty scant and low on detail. I know Reilly historically doesn't say much (having interviewed him a bunch of times) and it's kind of standard coach-speak not to go into great detail about new guys, but it's distressing to see the goals of the year as "being the best-conditioned team in NESCAC." Oh how the semi-mighty have fallen.

I'm still pretty depressed about the thought of watching Bates without Zak Ray, who might be my favorite player to watch at any level of any sport (Sarah Barton, when she's on, is right up there too). I'll be at the games at Babson this weekend and will be sure to post my thoughts and completely amateur scouting report, particularly on the new guys. I think we're playing St. Lawrence in the first game, and based on last year they look to be good, so it could be trouble for us.

My expectations for the season:
1) Chris Wilson will really break out and lead the team. I can see him getting at least an honorable mention on an all-NESCAC team.
2) We see a little more of the Jimmy O'Keefe that had Mass. HS people comparing him to Bill Walton, and less of the one that was less effective than Matt Chudomel (note: I love Chud Diesel, but O'Keefe was extremely hyped going into the year).
3) Wholey is even more exposed as being severely overrated. Now that he's the no. 1 option on offense, I think he's in some trouble. Gerrity had a lot of trouble his senior year when defenses focused on him, and Wholey isn't half the player Gerrity was.
4) A record hovering around .500. It'd be nice to see a few conference wins, and I'd like to see us play one of the top teams strong, if only as a learning experience.

[JeffRookie2]

Senator, I would disagree with you about a couple of the positions you assigned to various players. Firstly, I would say that Coulibaly will play the 2 this year, and I think he is pretty comfotable around the perimeter. Goldsmith has always apparently wanted to play the 3, but I think you're right that he will back at the four this season. I think Baskauskas is a pretty natural '3'. The biggest question surrounding this team, in my opinion, is whether or not they can replace the perimeter defense that McLaughlin and Salerno brought to the table. That's no easy task, but hopefully Adolphe and whoever else plays the 2 will be up for the challenge.

[Friar T]

People around here must have some warped definitions of numbers vs. positions on the floor. Anyone that would call Dolphe the Legend a 4 is either absolutely insane or considers the 4 a guard/wing spot. Coulibaly has almost zero interest in playing inside. He is a slashing wing player who can hit the three. The same statement goes for Walters. This is a kid who played the point in high school and had a serious late growth spurt. While, he'll post up more than Coulibaly, he's got a great handle and prefers the perimeter.

All this being said, Hopkins, Jones and Goldsmith will eat up most of the interior minutes for the Jeffs with Holsey and Bennett possible picking some up as well. With everything considered about Amherst freshman, keep your eyes on Bennett for a possible ROY candidate. Sources close to Amherst and Division III recruiting said he's the best post recruit Hixon's ever had. This is a VERY bold statement considering some who have come before him (Fitzsimmons, Schiel, Tim Jones, Hopkins, etc.).

nescac1's rankings are pretty solid. Can't find any true flaws there. Westbrooks is a defensive demon. Has very solid defensive footwork, an attitude and firey irish temper to boot. However, he'll need some serious steal numbers to compete with the blocks from Hopkins and the likes.

[walzy31]

Senator, I would disagree with you about a couple of the positions you assigned to various players. Firstly, I would say that Coulibaly will play the 2 this year, and I think he is pretty comfotable around the perimeter. Goldsmith has always apparently wanted to play the 3, but I think you're right that he will back at the four this season. I think Baskauskas is a pretty natural '3'. The biggest question surrounding this team, in my opinion, is whether or not they can replace the perimeter defense that McLaughlin and Salerno brought to the table. That's no easy task, but hopefully Adolphe and whoever else plays the 2 will be up for the challenge.

Fletcher can replace one of them. His arms are looong and he is extremely athletic. He won't get in passing lanes as much as Salerno or McLaughlin, but he will make the shots more difficult (4inches taller) and block shots. My words of advice to him would be to try and stay out of foul trouble and dominate the 23.8 MPG I am predicting him to play.
If "blocked 3pters" were a stat, he would lead the conference.

[frank uible]

walzy: I think your predicion should be 23.82743 MPG!

[NESCACAlumn]

Walzy31, I disagree with on Walters. I felt there were two reasons that kept him off the floor in the games I have seen him. One was his recklessness with the ball on the offensive end (left his feet a lot to pass and would throw up off balanced awkward shots) the other is his lack of defensive awareness (lost cutters while watching the ball and beat on the backdoor) I could be wrong, I've only seen him a couple of times.


Interesting on the Bates squad. A squad that typically founds itself upon its guard
play on the perimeter with shooters will have a lot more height.

Looking forward to seeing how the teams do in the opening weekend

Frank how do you get that many stars...



What do I know...I'm only a NESCAC Alumn