MBB: NESCAC

ac08 · December 04, 2008, 02:47:45 PM

Quote from: ac08 on December 04, 2008, 01:47:04 PM
That's a great piece. Tough times pass. Tough people last. Pierce gets my *Salute*

Quote from: frank uible on December 04, 2008, 02:22:03 PM
Sooner or later tough people croke, just like everyone else.

I've never experienced a mood change quite that fast.

I meant "last" in the situational way. But, yes, this is true.

fpc85 · December 04, 2008, 09:22:35 PM

What a great article. Make me appreciate the resiliency of the human spirit. AC08, frank works hard at being different.

replayhoops · December 04, 2008, 10:44:18 PM

Quote from: Red1 on November 23, 2008, 01:18:15 AM
Met_fan,

Good freshman is right. Hamilton picked up Patrick Sullivan, up a 6-7 forward out of Delbarton private school in New Jersey. He can shoot 3's well, blocks a lot of shots, rebounds like crazy, plays phenominal defense on the permieter, and in the midcourt in transition. Hell I've started referring to him as mini-hansbrough. One lacking thing though: He loves to dunk, and he can't do it. Went 0-3 on dunks in 2 games and committed 2 charges in the process. (Apparently he forgot he's not actually Tyler Hansbrough and is not capable of dunking straight over the top of people.) On the plus side he was smart enough not to try a 4th time and resorted to normal layups (and those he didn't miss).

Less known (or looked at) is a guard they picked up named Russ Rosenband. I don't know where he's from, but I can tell you where he's headed: Starter, and perhaps all conference. He was 7-13 from behind the arc over 2 games, money from the foul line, scored 17 points in both games, and did it all coming off the bench. He also did it with lots of hands in his face. The composure he showed knocking down shots with defenders right in his face was outstanding. But this is where Hamilton's depth is scary. Their starting point guard is out with an ankle injury (hasn't played yet), so this team is only gonna get stronger, and this money shooter will keep coming in unnoticed off the bench.

This guy's weakness: defense. His feet aren't quick enough to defend guards and he resorts to a lot of handchecking and reaching in. While the officials let 'em play style (which I'll admit was consistent both ways, albeit annoying) worked well for him today, he'll struggle mightily on D when a tight calling crew is officiating.

I don't know how good this team really is, but I hope their phenominal so that this won't be a bad loss for Bates. We'll find out in early January when the contintals head to the midwest to take on the No.1 Bears from Washington Universtiy (Mo.) (great win over Augstana in OT btw), followed by Illinois Wesleyan. The only other Nescac game to watch for with Hamilton is later in the season when they take on Williams. I'm wondering about how weak the Nescac maybe or how strong Liberty League may have gotten given Bates' loss to Hamilton, and hearing about Amherst's scare at the hands of Skidmore.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Cheers,
Red1

Hi, Red 1 - Saw your comments on Russ Rosenband. I watched him play in high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, and he can flat out light it up from way outside. Absolutely phenomenal shooter with ultra-quick release and terrific form. Had some huge games against some real good competition. Agree might have some trouble against quick guards, but he has great instincts for the ball, along with quick hands. I see that he's leading Hamilton in steals in early going even though he's playing less than 20 minutes/game. Definitely a player to watch for the next four years.

Old Guy · December 05, 2008, 12:19:46 AM

Locke had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks in 24 minutes for Middlebury against Johnson St, (a one-sided game against a much weaker team). He's asserting himself more, playing more confidently. At 6'10", he's a factor.

Union away on Saturday for the Panthers, the weekend between the end of classes and finals.

eclinchy · December 05, 2008, 12:32:45 AM

Pierce with 37 and 10. Plymouth State keeps it close but Tufts wins, 71-65.

Defense was stellar inside. Selby had 5 blocks and Pierce 3.

lefrakenstein · December 05, 2008, 01:02:04 PM

Looks like the NESCAC is struggling a little bit out-of-conference. It is surprising to see a Middlebury team figured to be one of the conference's best struggle, even without the services of Smith. Also, I'm really surprised that Tufts wasn't closer to beating a Brandeis team that lost to some Little East and GNAC teams, and Trinity has been awful. Seems like the LEC, GNAC and NEWMAC have all taken steps forward while the NESCAC has fallen back a little with the graduation of the class of '08.

Amherst frosh trio of Barrise, Waller and Holmes seem really good, and hopefully some of the older players like Wong and Bradley can contribute to the Baskauskas/Wheeler core as well.

eclinchy · December 05, 2008, 01:58:06 PM

Quote from: lefrakenstein on December 05, 2008, 01:02:04 PMLooks like the NESCAC is struggling a little bit out-of-conference. It is surprising to see a Middlebury team figured to be one of the conference's best struggle, even without the services of Smith.

Um, what?

Not surprising at all. Midd needs Smith to be a top team, period. As good as Locke is, he just doesn't bring it on offense like Smith does. Their FG percentages are Smith 63.6 and Locke 51.2 -- a huge gap, and 51.2 is pretty awful for a 6-foot-10 guy in the NESCAC.

When they have Smith in the post getting buckets, that not only puts points on the board but it opens up more looks outside for Dudley/Edwards/Ashton Coghlan/whoever else. When they don't, they're a much weaker team. Hence Midd is 4-0 with Smith and 2-2 without him. Not rocket science.

nescac1 · December 05, 2008, 02:19:26 PM

NESCAC is definitely struggling (as predicted, given an amazing class of 2008 and a class of 2009 with relatively few stars): I don't recall a collective out-of-conference record as mediocre in any recent season. Lots of frosh making an impact already, and lots of new coaches, so some teams may just need a little time to gell / adjust. Also a few early season injuries have really hurt some teams, in particular Smith and Geoghegan.

This is interesting: Wesleyan apparently nabbed a very high-level recruit from Mass according to this site:

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/prospects/

Beresford ranks higher on that site, I believe, than any NESCAC recruit from New England last year ... looks like Reilly is off to a good start. I imagine he'll bring in a ton of talent next year, with the promise of plenty of immediate playing time, and a chance to turn the program around.

ephoops · December 05, 2008, 03:08:24 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on December 05, 2008, 02:19:26 PM
NESCAC is definitely struggling (as predicted, given an amazing class of 2008 and a class of 2009 with relatively few stars): I don't recall a collective out-of-conference record as mediocre in any recent season. Lots of frosh making an impact already, and lots of new coaches, so some teams may just need a little time to gell / adjust. Also a few early season injuries have really hurt some teams, in particular Smith and Geoghegan.

This is interesting: Wesleyan apparently nabbed a very high-level recruit from Mass according to this site:

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/prospects/

Beresford ranks higher on that site, I believe, than any NESCAC recruit from New England last year ... looks like Reilly is off to a good start. I imagine he'll bring in a ton of talent next year, with the promise of plenty of immediate playing time, and a chance to turn the program around.

NESCAC1:

Thanks for the update on Wes recruiting. It's good for the Little Three and NESCAC for Wes to have a competitive basketball program. Hiring Reilly was a great move by the Wes athletiic director. It's just a matter of time until Reilly rebuilds the program. Also, I assume Beresford applied early and will await word from the Wes Admissions dept.

Any reports out of Williamstown regarding recruits by Maker?

It will be very interesting to see how he and the asst coaches do on the recruiting trail this year. While he has experience recruiting high-band academic athletes during his tenure at Dartmouth, his more recent experience in D-1 implies that he was recruiting a much different athlete/student than the student/athletes for Williams.

Given the reduction in athletic tips across the board for all sports, the coaches at Williams have put a lot more emphasis on early decision recruits. I assume we'll see the results of his initial recruiting efforts in the next couple of weeks when early decision letters are sent out to applicants.

topoftheworld · December 05, 2008, 03:15:49 PM

everyone's been talking about the class of 2008, and i have to admit they were a great bunch. so i was thinking an all 08 team if i were to actually have people playing positions.

my starting 5 would look like this

c - c. stone
pf - b. jones
sf - f. walters
sg - b. wholey
pg - a. olson

backups

c - j. fleigel
pf - j. weitzen
sf - r. okeefe? (can't think of many true sf)
sg - hasuik
pg - shalvoy

guys that need to be mentioned - c. rose (unexplainable tough senior year), r. martin, m. gaudet, rt3, n. pellitier (very underrated and talented player, just stuck on a bad team)

i probably left out deserving players, but that is an extremely nice list of graduated seniors. many had played since they were underclassmen and put up great college career numbers. multiple playing as pros.

topoftheworld · December 05, 2008, 03:26:07 PM

also, interesting in reviewing the numbers stone and weitzen were the only 2 players that finished in the top 15 in the nescac in points rebounds and assists. stone with extremely impressive numbers, 8th in ppg, 6th in rpg, and 2nd in apg. these numbers were taking from in conference play only since i figured that is the most equal way to take stats.

eclinchy · December 05, 2008, 03:34:29 PM

People you're leaving off: Hippert (!!), Hopkins, Sargeantson, Goldsmith, Black, Young, Mosley, Halloran, Weisbrot, Harris, Walsh. Yeah... a ridiculously deep class.

Listing O'Keefe as a SF is fine... that's basically where he started as a senior, after Kumf graduated and Gallant moved into the starting five. And he was a great defensive stopper against opposing 3s (*cough*Rose*cough*).

Agreed that Pelletier was an underrated player on a bad team.

How many pros in that class? Seven (Stone, Fliegel, all five Amherst guys)? Anyone else?

topoftheworld · December 05, 2008, 03:41:14 PM

absolutely hippert, huge oversight. i actually had him on the first team and forgot about wholey, and forgot to put him back in. i would say a lot of the other guys you stated were nice players, but not the same type of impact players i had.

lefrakenstein · December 05, 2008, 05:20:09 PM

Quote from: eclinchy on December 05, 2008, 01:58:06 PM
Quote from: lefrakenstein on December 05, 2008, 01:02:04 PMLooks like the NESCAC is struggling a little bit out-of-conference. It is surprising to see a Middlebury team figured to be one of the conference's best struggle, even without the services of Smith.

Um, what?

Not surprising at all. Midd needs Smith to be a top team, period. As good as Locke is, he just doesn't bring it on offense like Smith does. Their FG percentages are Smith 63.6 and Locke 51.2 -- a huge gap, and 51.2 is pretty awful for a 6-foot-10 guy in the NESCAC.

When they have Smith in the post getting buckets, that not only puts points on the board but it opens up more looks outside for Dudley/Edwards/Ashton Coghlan/whoever else. When they don't, they're a much weaker team. Hence Midd is 4-0 with Smith and 2-2 without him. Not rocket science.

Yes, but I never considered Midd to be a team that owed its success largely to any one player. In fact, if you had asked me a couple of weeks ago who I thought Midd's most important player was, I would have said Rudin.

Old Guy · December 05, 2008, 10:28:51 PM

Smith (Middlebury) is a consistent, relentless player in the paint. The problem for Middlebury so far has been replacing the points and presence on the perimeter of Harris. Smith is a mature talent; Locke is developing and has an exciting "upside."

Union (3-2) at Union on Saturday. One of the best things about Midd's emergence in the past couple years has been the team's ability to win tough, close games on the road. That speaks to character and leadership as well as talent.

Union's Madej scored 35 last night: 9-12 from three.