WBB: NESCAC

[nescac hoops]

WOW  this is one quiet board when the Polar Bears are not doing well

Well, with all the new teams atop the NESCAC (Tufts ranked 20th and Amherst on the brink of the top 25 with "receiving votes), perhaps their fans have not heard of this site.

[Balder Eagle]

WOW  this is one quiet board when the Polar Bears are not doing well

It does seem slow, perhaps Monkey is missed?

[Red1]

Well, I was considering not coming back this year, but it's just too much fun to pass up.

A few tidbits of info to wet some whistles:

Bates' Yarnofsky hasn't played in a while.  Someone mentioned some injuries for Bates in the first half of the USM game (I was only able to make the 2nd half), but I'm hard of hearing and in a gym with lots of noise I missed exactly who got injured and how badly.

Someone asked if Union was good.  A couple of things about that.  I grew up in upstate, NY and have watched a lot of Liberty league basketball (formerly UCAA).  The top teams are definitely St. Lawrence, Williams Smith, and Hamilton, but Liberty League teams in general have a knack for playing up to (and down to) their opponents.  At best I'd give Union 4th, but the 3 teams ahead of them are pretty good.  Is it possible that the Liberty League is actually good this year?

Team to beat in New England: quite possibly Amherst.  I know this seems strange, but you've gotta know about their new coach.  This guy brought Hamilton College from one of the worst teams in the country to the Liberty League champion and a sweet-sixteen exit from the NCAA tourney by only a few points to a very strong Scranton team.  Oh, and he did this in just one (1) year.  This guy assisted at D1 for a while, took a job at Drew, then took a 1 year interim job at Hamilton without having coached a single game at Drew.  He was a shoe-in for the full-time coach position, but chose Amherst instead, and Amherst wasn't terrible last year, so he's starting at a higher level then he did with Hamilton.  This coach alone makes Amherst scary, and they already look pretty good so far this year.  This is a team that cannot be overlooked.  To do so is to be surprised and embarrased by them.

Early prediction for Nescac based on the little evidence we have so far:

1.  Tufts
2.  Amherst
3.  Bates
4.  Bowdoin
5.  Williams
6.  Wesleyan
7.  Middlebury
8.  Trinity
9.  Conn Coll.
10. Colby

The NESCAC is pretty wide open this year.  Bowdoin is beatable, and the usual lower teams are getting some early wins and looking better than in the past.  I really think that Tufts has to be the favorite to win NESCAC at this point, but Amherst could surprise them easily, and obviously the rest of the top 5 can't be ruled out.  The top 2 aren't far enough ahead to be beyond upset like Bowdoin used to be.

Cheers,
Red1

p.s.  the camping place in Maine is called Acadia National Park.  Arcadia University is in Pennsylvania (just north of philly)   

[bbald eagle]

Arcadia University is in Pennsylvania (just north of philly)   

Used to be Beaver, right?

[nescac1]

Nice article on a future Eph point guard:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/16/it_starts_at_the_point/


She was Boston Globe all scholastic as a junior, which is impressive.  As I've said before, Williams will have some ups and downs (such as the Brandeis game, for the latter category) this season with such an inexperienced team (3/4 top scorers are frosh), but they are building a bright future.   If Amherst is going to break its loooong losing streak against the Ephs, this year may represent the best chance (and the first time in a long time that Amherst will be favored vs. the Ephs). 

[feces monkey]

Just a few tidbits on the unstoppable force that is the Lady Jeffs:

- They've played one (1) team with a winning record in the first nine games
- The cumulative record of their opponents so far is 26-49 (Bowdoin's is 35-28 for reference)

I think we can figure out Gromacki's methodology to instantly become "competitive," even if it's among the Bright Lights in the cut-throat Liberty League. Amherst is better (they couldn't get much worse), but let's take a deep breath. A win over St. Norbert would go along way to convincing me they are a contender.

WOW  this is one quiet board when the Polar Bears are not doing well

It's these types of intellectual gems we've come to expect from the Big Brains in the UAA.

[sumfun]

Don't forget that before Gromacki turned around Hamilton in one year, and went to Temple, he took St. Lawrence to the D3 Championship game.  I was told much of this schedule was set before he took over, but will be fun to see how they do against St. Norbert and better teams.  All hearsay now, January will be fun to watch!!!!

[Red1]

I don't really know much about Amherst (I'm a Bates fan), but I admit they have just about the weakest schedule possible for a NESCAC school (hey can you think of an easier way to put up enough wins to have a shot at an at large bid for the NCAAs?).  But I do know a little bit about Gromacki.  This guy has brought success everywhere he's gone.

I realize the Liberty League is very weak.  Hell, I grew up watching the Liberty League (it was called the UCAA back then), and when I went to Lewiston and started watching Bates the difference was night and day.  NESCAC is far superior.  However, I also know that Scranton is one hell of a good team, and playing them within 6 points at their place is no small task for anyone.  Liberty League asside, the formly terrible Continentals showed that they could hang with some of the best DIII has to offer.  To do that with a team in just 1 year deserves some respect.

Is Amherst the best team in the country?  No.  Are they going to play tough against every one of their very few actually good opponents, and stand a chance of winning the league?  Yes.  Gromacki has had too much success everywhere to take him lightly.

[saratoga]

Red: I have to agree with you on the Gromacki situation. As a Scranton alum, I was somewhat concerned last year when I saw he had been hired at Drew Univ. which is in our conference. The reason for my concern was because Drew has been a perennial last place team with top tier talent. He had already brought St.Lawrence to the Final Four, spent 2 years at Temple & had four starters returning at Drew that were very, very good...individually. When he left after about 4 weeks on the job during the summer for Hamilton... I thought we'd never hear from him again. Wrong! Who did Scranton face in a winners bracket game last season in the first round of the NCAA's...you guessed it...an unbelievably improved Hamilton team. Scranton won...their individual talent level was far superior to Hamilton, but, the adjustments he made at halftime & throughout the second half brought his kids back & they came within 4 points of knocking off the Lady Royals at home...which, until this year happened about as often as Leap Year. What he'll accomplish at Amherst or how long he'll even stay is up for debate...what I do know is the guy can get it done from a coaching perspective...and for that reason alone, some rather comfortable NESCAC teams may soon feel otherwise.

[feces monkey]

The good news for Amherst: They have a coach with a great track record.

The bad news for Amherst: Judging by this same track record, his first batch of resumes went out last week.

[Pat Coleman]

Think he's a Boston native so there are probably only a couple of jobs that better fit the geography.

[feces monkey]

Hmm. So the move from SLU to Ham Tech to Drew (for a bit) to Amherst is part of a master plan to get closer to Boston? Wasn't there openings at Simmons, Regis, Wellesley and Pine Manor during that time?

I'm sure there's a pot o' gold at the end of some rainbow for this guy, but I don't think it's Boston and I don't think it's DIII.

Considering the frequency and lateral nature of the positions he's taken I would normally think there are some buried red flags with this guy, but I'll defer to Suzanne Coffee and her decision-making ability.

[nescac hoops]

Hmm. So the move from SLU to Ham Tech to Drew (for a bit) to Amherst is part of a master plan to get closer to Boston? Wasn't there openings at Simmons, Regis, Wellesley and Pine Manor during that time?

I'm sure there's a pot o' gold at the end of some rainbow for this guy, but I don't think it's Boston and I don't think it's DIII.

Considering the frequency and lateral nature of the positions he's taken I would normally think there are some buried red flags with this guy, but I'll defer to Suzanne Coffee and her decision-making ability.

Gromacki is actually from the western mass so amherst is actually close to his hometown. I read the story on the Amherst website about his hiring. I don't know how much this will play a part in his "stay" at Amherst but time will tell. I agree with Feces, nobody can question his abilities as a coach but I think these abilities will someday bring him to a D1 job.

[Pat Coleman]

Hmm. So the move from SLU to Ham Tech to Drew (for a bit) to Amherst is part of a master plan to get closer to Boston? Wasn't there openings at Simmons, Regis, Wellesley and Pine Manor during that time?

Eastern or Western Mass doesn't make Simmons, Regis or Pine Manor attractive jobs. Kathy Hagerstrom hasn't left Wellesley, to the best of my knowledge.

[feces monkey]

Eastern or Western Mass doesn't make Simmons, Regis or Pine Manor attractive jobs.

Or the moon, for that matter. However, who would believe a small, all-women's Catholic college in the Fens like Emmanuel could be a national player in women's hoops? If Gromacki is chasing geography (which seems rather odd), there are numerous schools holding potential. Or maybe you just have to be a loveable lunatic like Yosinoff to pull it off.

And, yes, I know Emmanuel is co-ed now.