MBB: NESCAC

[Pat Coleman]

What don't you like about RIC, if I may ask?

[toad22]

I like RIC a lot. They could be very good this year, likely making a return trip to the NCAAs, perhaps going quite deep. Also, I don't see Williams moving up to #10. They haven't yet played very well. I am quite sure that they will get things together and be very good. They haven't yet shown that high quality play. I think they are a to 20 team, probably not top 10.

[Marty Peretz]

Walzy I think Emmanuel will cover, albeit not by much.

Wash.U. is not too high in the poll, at least not yet. Four of the five teams they've played have been ranked or received votes in the first two polls. Losing by 6 to Augustana team mere days after Wallis goes down with an injury is proof that we can still hang with just about anyone in our region. The Calvin loss, by 5, was at their place less than 24 hours after we played a very physical Ohio Northern team. Calvin entered the game having beaten a no-nam eopponent by roughly 40 in their opener. They acknowledged that that they had been preparing for the Wash.U. game all throughout the off-season; Wash.U. had an evening to prepare for the contest. I'm not making excuses. I'm simply saying that we've played the toughest schedule in the country thus far and managed double digit wins over Platteville and ONU, two very solid clubs. If the teams ranked beneath us had played comparable schedules (indeed, I'm a bit confused as to why Calvin, with just one loss and a win over WU, is still at 15th in the poll) I could understand them being ranked ahead of us. This early in the year, though, recent history and strength of schedule are really all that matter and we've proven ourselves successful in both areas.

Now excuse me while I take off my red and green tinted glasses...

[formerbant10]

Bants up 32-9 over WestConn with 7:32 left in the first half.  Audio at Trin's website.  Taylor and Martin out to a quick start.

[met_fan]

7 NorthEast/NewEngland schools in the top 25

Am I missing something or are there only five northeast region schools in the top 25? (Amherst, Brandeis, Williams, Keene St., RIC - adding the east schools would bring it to eight)

[Pat Coleman]

Walzy I think Emmanuel will cover, albeit not by much.

Wash.U. is not too high in the poll, at least not yet. Four of the five teams they've played have been ranked or received votes in the first two polls. Losing by 6 to Augustana team mere days after Wallis goes down with an injury is proof that we can still hang with just about anyone in our region. The Calvin loss, by 5, was at their place less than 24 hours after we played a very physical Ohio Northern team. Calvin entered the game having beaten a no-nam eopponent by roughly 40 in their opener. They acknowledged that that they had been preparing for the Wash.U. game all throughout the off-season; Wash.U. had an evening to prepare for the contest. I'm not making excuses. I'm simply saying that we've played the toughest schedule in the country thus far and managed double digit wins over Platteville and ONU, two very solid clubs. If the teams ranked beneath us had played comparable schedules (indeed, I'm a bit confused as to why Calvin, with just one loss and a win over WU, is still at 15th in the poll) I could understand them being ranked ahead of us. This early in the year, though, recent history and strength of schedule are really all that matter and we've proven ourselves successful in both areas.

Now excuse me while I take off my red and green tinted glasses...

I think voters expected them to beat Aquinas. We'll know more about what that game means as Aquinas plays more, too.

[feces monkey]

Losing by 6 to Augustana team mere days after Wallis goes down with an injury is proof that we can still hang with just about anyone in our region. The Calvin loss, by 5, was at their place less than 24 hours after we played a very physical Ohio Northern team. Calvin entered the game having beaten a no-nam eopponent by roughly 40 in their opener. They acknowledged that that they had been preparing for the Wash.U. game all throughout the off-season; Wash.U. had an evening to prepare for the contest.

Wait for it...

I'm not making excuses.

Classic.

[formerbant10]

Bants up 72-42.....no excuses there

[Marty Peretz]

I'm not making excuses for their actual losses. I'm saying that even with two losses, they should be ranked pretty highly because the quality of loss (yes I believe in such a thing) should be factored into the equation. Amherst barely beating Emmanuel, for instance (and I recognize that this won't happen) should hurt them much more than if they lost to Wash.U. and Stevens Point by six or less, especially if one game was on the road and another without Olson. So, let me reiterate that I wasn't making excuses for WU's losses; I was "making excuses" for the reason we are ranked 8th in the nation despite having two losses.

[walzy31]

What don't you like about RIC, if I may ask?

I saw RIC play three times last year, and although I know this season is not last year, D3 NE clubs aren't getting Durants or Beasleys in as freshmen.
I think RIC is good and a top 6 team in the region. Right now the six highest ranked NE schools are:
Amherst (1)
Brandeis (7)
Williams (10)
Keene St (19)
RIC (24)
Trinity (26)

I am NE bias basketball supporter, but I don't think those six teams are better than all but 20 of the other teams in the country. RIC & KSC would be exposed in touger conferences.

And the important part is that you guys got the right school at the top ; )
I could care less about where the other 400 schools are. Nice poll!

I'm not making excuses for their actual losses.

Speaking of losses...
Emmanuel didn't cover the 35.5 spread (Amherst won 99-49). You owe me a beer at Tully's.
B. Jones with 22.

[nescac hoops]

I am NE bias basketball supporter, but I don't think those six teams are better than all but 20 of the other teams in the country. RIC & KSC would be exposed in touger conferences.

I have never seen RIC play. I didn't even know they existed until last year. But they did beat Brandeis in the NCAA tourny last year, which is a quality win against the second best team in the UAA. I remember somebody on this board mentioning that RIC had some big body D1 transfers coming in this year. I have been around D3 sports enough to know that D1 transfers are often overrated and there is a reason why they are transferring...no D1 guy leaves a scholarship that is averaging 10+ pts. a game to go to D3. That being said, supposedly the transfers were some real big men that are often hard to come by in the D3 level and can pose troubles for a number of D3 teams. If Deluca is not playing in the Brandeis/Amherst game, RIC is definitely the Jeff's biggest non-conference threat. That all being said, I notice they lost for the first time tonight but I think I would still rather go up against a Deluca-less Brandeis than RIC.

Williams had another ugly/bad win tonight....

[NESCACAlumn]

What don't you like about RIC, if I may ask?

I saw RIC play three times last year, and although I know this season is not last year, D3 NE clubs aren't getting Durants or Beasleys in as freshmen.

Walzy, I did see RIC play this year, and it was a one point win against now undefeated division 1 Holy Cross in an exhibition. Their team seems to be consisted of an almost completely new squad. It almost seems like addition by subtraction here, they don't have kinsey and the other guards all competing for the open look at the basket to fire up a trey ball. They play tough scrappy defense and play well as a team on the offensive side of the ball. They're big man this year is also better than both their big men last season. So I do not attempt to know where they should be ranked, however you can't base your claim off last year's squad nor can you ignore their success thus far this season.

but what do I know.....

[Rick Vaughn]

On Williams ugly ugly win(vs Framingham St. this time).  I have not seen them play this year, but winning ugly once and a while against average competition is fine.  Three games in a row from the 10th ranked team in the country -- Unacceptable.  They did go for 44 in the second half, but a 16 point 1st half?  For such an experienced team they need to play with some consistency.  Not much help from the bench either with only five points.

The good sign is they can only play better after that first half.  Also Geoghegan is really coming into his own.  His battles against Russ Martin and Hopkins should be good ones this year.  The Ephs have to more easy ones before the break then they start to play some better comp.

Anyone who saw this game, are they playing down to their competition? Will this team be able to turn it on against better teams?

Sincerely,
Worried Williams Fan

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hey guys, what's Bates look like this year?  They only beat Endicott by 1 point tonight and I'm trying to figure out if EC has it together.

[nescac1]

Hoops Fan, don't get too excited, Bates is pretty bad this year, in serious rebuilding mode with a very inexperienced squad; probably two years away from contention.  In good news for Bates, Brian Ellis is the clear early favorite for NESCAC ROY. 

I don't get what is ailing Williams, I figured they would pick up from the end of last season with the exact same line-up back, but they are not nearly as sharp / proficient in running the offense, and really struggling with shooting just the way they were at the start of last year.  The difference is, this year they have an inside presence with Geoghegan, Dodson, Weisbrot, and Meyer that allows them to dominate inside against smaller teams, so they have squeezed out wins against the sub-par teams who they should be killing.  Snyder is shooting very well and Schultz is playing OK, but otherwise I expect a lot more from the Ephs.  Shalvoy has been OK but not dominating the way he was in last year's NESCAC tourney.  The young perimeter bench guys like Hardy, Dodson, Golia and a finally healthy Rubin need to get a little more time so that one or two can establish themselves as reliable scoring options off the bench (eventually Paulsen will have to tighten the rotation and figure out which 2 of that group he can rely upon at the 2/3, hard to come in and hit shots when you only get 5 minutes of PT).  Most importantly, I am wondering what is wrong with Chris Rose.  For a guy who was all league as a Sophomore, he seems to have regressed, particularly his 3 point shooting which is inexplicable given his talent.  Last year it was injury, this year I can only assume it is just a slump.   If he snaps out of it and hits over 40 percent of his 3's and averages in the 15-20 range the rest of the way, Ephs should be OK, if not, they won't continue winning once they play the likes of Keene and (gulp) Amherst in early January (but at least he won't ever play Framingham again, 1-17 from 3 in in his last two games against that squad) ... the one encouraging thing is the Ephs are very, very balanced with all five starters scoring at a double-digit pace, if Rose and Shalvoy can step it up just a little to emerge as go-to guys as expected, the Ephs will be tough to guard.   But they need the stars to play like stars ...

AS for the rest of NESCAC, Midd continues to have the look of a contender, Trinity seems to be very tough especially on defense (very impressive win against a good team last night) although if the shots aren't falling for one of their big three, they may have trouble scoring against league competition, Amherst is once again the overwhelming favorite after blowing out everyone in their path, and Colby may be better than expected with plenty of shooters that, if on, can scare anyone (although no inside presence will come back to bite them eventually).    Based on early season results as well as expectations on paper, you'd have to say Amherst is the favorite, with Williams, Midd, Trinity about even in the mix behind them, followed by Conn, Tufts (a narrow home loss to Brandeis, but without Brandeis's best player, is not all that impressive), Colby, Bowdoin, Bates and Wesleyan, in that order.