MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Thanks Pat!   And FPC, we get along great in real life ... I have lots of friends who went to Amherst, and my cousin actually goes there now.  Considering no two schools in the country are more similar (in my view) it's unsurprising that the alums would get along well ... that being said, hope we kick your butts next week! 

[frank uible]

Pomona and Claremont McKenna?

[formerbant10]

... nationally, the picture looks the same, outside of Rochester, which with Chmielowick's return looks very balanced and experienced, no one has been able to step up and consistently deliver the goods this eyar. 

U of R is pretty solid, but definitely beatable.  A few mental mistakes by Brandeis cost them the game yesterday.

[fpc85]

Thanks Pat!   And FPC, we get along great in real life ... I have lots of friends who went to Amherst, and my cousin actually goes there now.  Considering no two schools in the country are more similar (in my view) it's unsurprising that the alums would get along well ... that being said, hope we kick your butts next week! 

n1 thats good to know and i hope you will still share those s.b pics after the jeffs beat the ephs on saturday.

[fpc85]

... nationally, the picture looks the same, outside of Rochester, which with Chmielowick's return looks very balanced and experienced, no one has been able to step up and consistently deliver the goods this eyar. 

U of R is pretty solid, but definitely beatable.  A few mental mistakes by Brandeis cost them the game yesterday.

fb10, did you see the game? if so,  would very interested in your comments about the yellowjackets.

[nescac hoops]

nescac1,

I also agree that victories from obama, the giants, and the ephs would be quite the trifecta! I was also supposed to go the super bowl game but Eli said I was bad luck so I'm staying home

GO G-MEN!

[La Verdad]

Beautiful to see this love between the Amherst and Williams posters.  Even noticed it at the most recent match-up between the ephs and jeffs.  The fans were more concerned with lifting up their teams than taunting the other fans or players.  I think I heard a safety school chant once.  Either there is a lot of mutual respect, or the students have all their creativity.

[formerbant10]

... nationally, the picture looks the same, outside of Rochester, which with Chmielowick's return looks very balanced and experienced, no one has been able to step up and consistently deliver the goods this eyar. 

U of R is pretty solid, but definitely beatable.  A few mental mistakes by Brandeis cost them the game yesterday.

fb10, did you see the game? if so,  would very interested in your comments about the yellowjackets.

U of R's bigs are very intimidating to most people.  Very strong and very athletic.  Onyiriuka is a D1 athlete with decent post moves, but not a great touch.  Uche is very strong and they work very well together.  I like their other big that comes off the bench as well.  None of them can shoot free throws.  Dominiak is a great shooter.  Been a couple games where he hasn't missed a shot.  Their other wings are good shooters as well.  Point guards are ok.  Juron played very well yesterday, Kaplan is average at best.  They play hard, mix up defenses and play to their strengths.  Very well coached and very disciplined also.


In yesterday's game Brandeis lost 2 points by having their toe on the line and gave away 8 points fouling 3 point shooters.  That right there could've won the game. 

End of the game was very weird.  U of R has the ball up 2 and seem to throw the ball away (In bounds under Brandeis' hoop thrown into the frontcourt to nobody) but 'deis point guard tries to let the ball roll all the way out of bounds, but U of R's frosh chased it down and knocked the ball of 'deis' leg.  Gave U of R the ball under their own hoop with about 5 seconds to play.  Tough way to go down on the road.

[fpc85]

... nationally, the picture looks the same, outside of Rochester, which with Chmielowick's return looks very balanced and experienced, no one has been able to step up and consistently deliver the goods this eyar. 

U of R is pretty solid, but definitely beatable.  A few mental mistakes by Brandeis cost them the game yesterday.

fb10, did you see the game? if so,  would very interested in your comments about the yellowjackets.

U of R's bigs are very intimidating to most people.  Very strong and very athletic.  Onyiriuka is a D1 athlete with decent post moves, but not a great touch.  Uche is very strong and they work very well together.  I like their other big that comes off the bench as well.  None of them can shoot free throws.  Dominiak is a great shooter.  Been a couple games where he hasn't missed a shot.  Their other wings are good shooters as well.  Point guards are ok.  Juron played very well yesterday, Kaplan is average at best.  They play hard, mix up defenses and play to their strengths.  Very well coached and very disciplined also.


In yesterday's game Brandeis lost 2 points by having their toe on the line and gave away 8 points fouling 3 point shooters.  That right there could've won the game. 

End of the game was very weird.  U of R has the ball up 2 and seem to throw the ball away (In bounds under Brandeis' hoop thrown into the frontcourt to nobody) but 'deis point guard tries to let the ball roll all the way out of bounds, but U of R's frosh chased it down and knocked the ball of 'deis' leg.  Gave U of R the ball under their own hoop with about 5 seconds to play.  Tough way to go down on the road.

physically, onyiriuka is the type of big you don't see in D3. I am not sure if any team in the nescac matches up well with them. who would want to face them in the ncaa's

[Pat Coleman]

Point guards are ok.  Juron played very well yesterday, Kaplan is average at best. 

I think this is where U of R is most vulnerable.

[Jacketfan2011]

What do you look for in a point guard?  In the UR system the PG finds the bigs and open shooters and shoots when open.  If you take yesterday as an example, Juron, who is nearly all the way back from strained knee ligaments, had 10 points 9 assists and one turnover and combined he and Kaplan were 4/6 with 10 assists and 3 TO's.  Brandeis has strong guards, if I have read these boards correctly. Kaplan as of last week was the #1 a/to guy in DIII according to the NCCA weekely ratings.  I will admit that watching them against the press bothered me early in the year, but I have come to believe that they are a reflection of the coach and that pretty much everything they do is methodical and unhurried.

[mrmike88]

I want no piece of Onriyuka ever again, after he destroyed us in the '05 tournament.

This Midd/Williams trip is going to tell us a lot about the Jeffs.  Keep in mind that last year, Middlebury came very close to pulling off the upset at LeFrak on Friday night before the Williams game.  I was very impressed with Rudin in that game - I thought the Jeffs struggled to contain him.  I would think Olson will have to be on him more this year than he was last year, so I wonder how he'll do.  I wouldn't be surpirsed if Olson is worn out after this weekend, with the two PGs he'll have to defend...

[ephoops]

Chris Rose needs to sit down with Pat Lucey, senior quarterback of the Ephs football team, to get is advice on how he recovered from a nightmare performance at Bowdoin.  As Eph fans recall, Lucey threw 6 (!!) interceptions at Bowdoin to start the football season, resulting in a shocking upset by Bowdoin.  Lucey was the senior co-capt of the Eph football team who came back and saved his season and the football team's season  by leading the Ephs to a 6-2 record while winning the Zabilski award as the best offensive player in D II-III.

Rose, as we all know, had a horrible game at Bowdoin shooting 0-11 in the Ephs loss -- probably not as big an upset as the football game, but an upset nonetheless.  Rose needs to recover from this season opening performance in NESCAC play and demonstrate true senior leadership if the Ephs are going to contend in the NESCAC as well as the NCAA tournament.   

Lucey showed tremendous personal fortitude in recovering from his nightmare performance at Bowdoin.  Let's hope that Rose can do the same.  I'm sure Lucey would be more than happy to share his thoughts with Rose on how he put the Bowdoin game behind him and ultimately quarterbacked the Ephs to a successful season, including a win over AmHerst at home.

[Pat Coleman]

while winning the Zabilski award as the best offensive player in D II-III.

Is this a New England award? Haven't heard of it before.

[nescac1]

Yes Pat, it is a New England award, a few Ephs have won it, I believe Joe Reardon and Sean Keenan also won the award.

Interesting comparison, Eph Hoops.  The only problem: Lucey only had a bad day for one reason, and that was he was suffering from a bad case of platar fascitis (which affected his performance and prevented him from practicing, pretty crucial for a QB especially heading into the first game of the season).  When healthy, he clearly was the best player in NESCAC, for two years running ... no way the Ephs lose to Bowdoin with a healthy Lucey.   So all he had to do was just start feeling like his normal self ... Rose, unless someone has other information, is totally healthy, and unfortunately the 0-11 wasn't a huge aberration his season ... his shot has been pretty much off except for two games when he absolutely lit it up.  I think all he can do is take his shots when open in the offense, do more faking and driving, and not force the offense so much but let it come to him ... in past years, he had to carry the team, but now the first option should be Geoghegan/Weisbrot on the inside, the second option Shalvoy from the perimeter, with Rose / Schultz as options 3/4.