WBB: NESCAC

[BigMac]

D III News also puts out 24 selections for preseason All-American players and they also only have Stedman from Amhurst as a pick.

The selections are close but there are different players:
Northeast :
Stedman - Amhurst
Wurdeman - Babson
Wehner - MCLA

EAST:
Fiore - Utica
Cohen-Cortland
Parks-Vassar

Atlantic
Lucas-Wm. Paterson
McRae-UMW
Pickell-NYU-Poly

Mid-atlantic
Chili-Muhlenberg
Woerner-Catholic
Marks-Misericordia

South
Prewitt-Centre
Duncan-Greensboro
Singleton-Concordia

Great Lakes
Verkaik-Calvin
Wiedt-Mt. Union
Ernst-Kenyon

Central
Simpson-Chcago
Karsten-Wheaton
Gregorich-Wis. River falls

West
Williams-Lewis & Clark
Geske-Gust. Adolphus
Barbetti-Cort-Redlands

With Taylor Simpson - Player of the Year

With 29 players as Honorable Mention

I will go with this list as my daughter is selected under Atlantic on this list and not on D-3 Hoops list

[MVP]

gordanmann,

You put together a great 2012 pre-season All Americans list.  Good luck to all the NESCAC WBB teams and fans.

[gordonmann]

MVP:

Thanks. I certainly would expect anyone to favor the list that includes their child on it.

[amh63]

Saw Caroline S. of Amherst last Saturday at Homecoming (Amherst website has a nice writeup on her based on the D3hoops selection).  Found out that Amherst has indeed hired an assistant WBB coach (not announced to date); has three new players, two FY and a transfer.  Saw the head coach at the football game and he confirmed that an assistant had been hired.  Details, I guess will be in a few weeks.  Before the Nov. 1 start of official practices.

[kate]

Good morning amh63!  Nov. 1 is this Tuesday!  That'll be two weeks before the Aggies of Del Val play their first game of the season with St. Mary's of Maryland.  CAN NOT WAIT, but that being said, good luck to Amherst this season - someday, i would hope to feel that euphoria felt by all the Amherst fans last March when you took it all. 

[amh63]

Thanks  Kate for the wakeup call.  Returned from a 5-day trip to NE...Homecoming football, watching other sports and the MBB's Captain's practice, etc.  Time and the day of the month, etc. are still not registering yet.....age and being retired for too many years, I guess.
Like you, I'm looking forward to the upcoming BB season.  However, Amherst is having great seasons in all the Fall sports with three nationally ranked teams and three undefeated teams to date.  My thoughts are somewhat scattered now.  Enough excuses with respect to my limitations.  Hope your teams have a great season...also.

[amh63]

The D3hoops pre-season school rankings are out.  Amherst is no.1 but just 3 points ahead of Chicago.  Babson is no. 6, I believe.  The  other conference teams in the top 25 are Bowdoin and Colby.  The UAA is well represented with Rochester and Wash. U. joining Chicago.
The list should generate early season debate......the only real reason for it, IMO.

[7express]

I really think when it's all said and done, Babson will be the top rated East team at the end of the season, and quite possibly could be undefeted again.  Don't get me wrong Amherst is a great team, but they have a couple challenging games this year; @ Eastern Connecticut, 2 games vs. Williams, and the road games this year in Maine at Bowdoin & Colby, along with a road game @ Tufts.  Babson has a tough start to the seasom: Brandeis, Tufts (@ Williams), @ Williams, Wisconsin-Stout (@ Southern Maine) a potential game @ Southern Maine, and @ WPI all before New Year's, but the schedule really opens up for Babson after New Year's (only 2 tough games both at home; WPI and Colby).

Also, in a non NESCAC, I think William Paterson is incredibily overrated and way overhigh at #4.  Saw them once last year (against Mount St. Mary) and wasn't very impressed by them.  Mount St. Mary impressed me more last year then Paterson did.  I would've swapped then & Chicago in the rankings, because Chicago is a team that's underrated at #7.  Also, would have placed RIC higher then in the mid receiving votes category, that'll be a damn good team this year anchored by a PG that transfered from Franklin Pierce that was on back to back final 4 teams.  They have a pretty easy schedule for the most part (plus the LEC will suck this year since Western lost their whole team, and Eastern lost their whole starting 5), and I wouldn't be surprised to see them around #10 or #15 by the time the NCAA tournament starts if not higher.

[Pat Coleman]

Chicago is 2. Wash U is 7 and yeah, it's definitely possible they could be higher when it's all said and done but with what they lost, this is a pretty good starting point.

[amh63]

Since conference teams' formal practices just started this week and the previews are behind other conferences accordingly, a topic that may prove interesting to discuss, and more so, as it applies to conf. teams and players. 
Here goes......I understand that there are rule changes in WBB this year.  The only one I am sure of is the time to bring the ball across the mid court has been shorten.....to 10 seconds or something else?  Will it effect the play of some teams when full court pressure or any pressure is applied in the backcourt?  Do the teams have ball handlers in general and point guards in particular that can handle such pressure?

[Mr. Ypsi]

I haven't really followed the off-season chatter, nor have I checked on graduation losses, but I figure you folks can clue me in without me having to do the work!

Is Amherst the prohibitive favorite entering the season?  Who else should I be paying attention to?

[farmboy]

Williams won't give Amherst any trouble.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

Amh63 - I just read an blurb that said there is one definite change this year for the women, and one that they will be experimenting with in the preseason.  The experimental is the 10 seconds that you refer to.  Personally, I don't believe a 10 second rule should be an issue.  It is less a case of teams needing slick ball-handlers than it is they need good passers and coaching.  In my opinion the easiest and fastest way to break a press is by passing the ball.

The second rule change, and the one that I think will be very interesting to see how it plays out, is that they are moving the women's three point line back a foot to be the same as the men's line.  The 3-pointer will now be from 20' 9".  That change may have a much bigger impact than the 10 seconds.

[amh63]

Thanks NH...Fan for the particulars.  With a common 3-point line on the floor, there should be less confusion for us in the stands.  Does the player that you follow on the team have any feedback with the 3-point line change?  In general, the ladies of Amherst are capable of taking the shot anywhere.....strength wise.  Yet in the intensity of play and late in the game when condition also matters, the new line may affect the shooter.   More reason to develope  an inside game and play great defense.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.  I will check with Jasmine to see what her thoughts are, but knowing her I don't see it bothering her one way or another.  Interestingly, after i posted my last post I looked a little further on the NCAA website, and their rationale for making the change was threefold.  First, as you said, one line eliminates confusion.  Second they determined that the majority of threes taken were behind the men's arc anyway, and lastly (and surprisingly) the fg% was higher from behind the men's line than the women's.