WBB: NESCAC

[feces monkey]

i hear you.
but in recent years, their stars are not from maine, other than pouravelis.

I'm sure I'm overlooking someone, but with the exception of Flaherty, I think all of Bowdoin's "stars" have come from Maine. Can't remember where Schultz is from.

Recruits are nice, but one thing I've learned in this conference is until they're dribbling up and down the court in the opening tournament they aren't worth much. It'll be nice to have Shipbuilder on the squad, if she makes it.

[pureshooter]

 schultz is from maine.
i was thinking more recent, loonin, flaherty, cummings and russell are out of state.
but maine produces many good ones, and you don't need to go d-1 to get a great experience.

i know two of maine's best are in the ivy league, one at stanford.
the trend with many kids now is to enroll in a good academic school , play ball, without the d-1 school owning you for twelve months ( see my post from 11/06/07, tufts transfer from william and mary).

  i don't know what style amherst plays, and they nipped tufts at the buzzer.
tufts is solid,well coached, with some skilled players.
the way to beat them is with speed and an uptempo pace for 40 minutes. their point guard is quick, can shoot the 3, but that's it. they run things thru the 2 big posts.
it will be interesting to see how they do against bowdoin and bates.

[speedy]

Here's a story on another Bowdoin recruit by the name of Calli Coffee from Connecticut - She is an all-state player and apparently quite the 3-point shooter:

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=6e52e0fa-7bcd-48a7-a28b-2f8e90679a91

[walzy31]

GP Gromacki is the man

[Balder Eagle]

Kate, my apologies for impugning the MAC. I'd like to say we'd meet up again, but I'm afraid the NESCAC doesn't have the juice this year. You'll have to deal with the Eagles -- Bald or Balder -- along the way. They're good people, as far as simple Southern folk go.

I won't predict anything, but I guess I'll throw my money behind those wacky kids from Brunswick. The Polar Bears could be a great Cinderella story.

Monkey, thanks for the hype   
Looks like Bowdoin just may  "be a great Cinderella story"
   Trust all is well with you.

[tothehole]

GP Gromacki is the man

So what happened in Williamstown Mr GP Man Gromacki?

[nescac33]

Well, for the first time since the NESCAC tournament was instituted....there is no clear favorite as to who is going to win it, which basically means that the dominant Polar Bears, for the first time since 2000 are not the clear favorite, even though I do expect them to take the league for the 8th consecutive time....they have the returing First Team all NESCAC in Jill Anelauskes, as well as an imerging dominant post in Caitlyn Hynes (last week's NESCAC player of the week)...they had a little hiccup today against Wesleyan...however what was Pemper thinking by not playing Anelauskes the last 10 mins of the game, or Katie Bergeron...Bowdoin's rookie sharpshooter...not playing either...they clearly still had a shot to make a run, but who knows what that coach was thinkin...good win for the cardinals however...Fourney was a star out there as the cardinals, who are now 3-0 and in control of their own destiny for the top seed in the league...as for Bowdoin they are now 3-1 and might be a little shaken from their first NESCAC home loss in a long time, but I do expect Anelauskes and the bears to bounce back strong and make a run to win NESCACs

[sumfun]

tothehole - Did anyone expect the barely tested Jeff's to go undefeated?  He's certainly proved himself as a coach, and teams do learn from losses.  The Nescac will be a tight race this year with most any team able to knock off any other.  Williams played a hard-nosed physical game.  They deserved their comeback and victory.  Pat Manning did a great job of using her players...a few with 4 fouls.

[tothehole]

Sumfun I agree.
Coaches coach but only players play.
And what Amherst saw was a team determined and well coached.
Amherst has players but so does the rest of the NESCAC from top to bottom.
I look forward to the next weeks to see some of the hardest fought games in the last 5 years.
Congrats to Pat, Erika, Shevie, and to the patient seniors Dom Nikki and Whit and the rest of the team.
If you want to hear whats in store for next years crop of recruits check out this link.
http://www.williams.edu/athletics/flash/?folder=Women'sBasketball
Happy Cheering ya'll

[nescac hoops]

Amherst is most likely the worst undefeated team out there. Williams starts two freshman and looked very young. I only saw the second half but I think Williams may even beat the Jeffs when they get them at home.

With the exception of the point guard (Pollock?), Amherst has not impressed me. I was SHOCKED they beat both Bates and Tufts, but given that Bates has not proved to be quite as strong as many had thought (probably Meg Coffin included when she chose to come back) and that the Jeffs won against Tufts on a buzzer beater that GP "the man" Gromacki himself called "lucky" perhaps their "strong wins" (Tufts, Bates, and Williams in the little 3 game) are not all that impressive. Being realistic, I think that Williams has the opportunity to be a real "spoiler" for many teams this year but I still think they are a season away from being a real contender. I think Bowdoin and Tufts have the best shot at winning the conference -- they have the best mix of talent and superior coaching, though Bates has this too and I don't know why they aren't performing better.

[savahoops]

bates isn't going to be as strong because their guards may be slow and not able to stop penetration...witness first year hart from tufts torching them for 17pts and 5 assists.

[nescac hoops]

bates isn't going to be as strong because their guards may be slow and not able to stop penetration...witness first year hart from tufts torching them for 17pts and 5 assists.

If I were Bates, I would worry about the 46 points they were able to put up against Tufts. You can stop all the dribble penetration in the world, but if you can only muster 15 points in the first half, you wont beat many teams....just the ones on Amherst's non-conference schedule

[sumfun]

Just keep taking Amherst for granted.  I'm sure they won't mind, particularly the seniors Reiff and Roach, along with Pollack...or NESCAC rookie of the year Swensen, and by all means discount Leyman since she comes off the bench.  Let's give all these teams their due....good athletes, competitive games, and the conference is wide open as to who can win it or the tournament.  Whoever has the hot hand on any given day will find themselves on top.  Look at Trinity last weekend... two losses by a total of two points, they could be a great spoiler.

Buckle your seatbelts...we're in for SUMFUN

[savahoops]

Speed works both ways, if you got it, you can penetrate. And if you can pressure the ball on the defensive end because of your speed, the other team can't penetrate. Thus 46 points cuz you can't get anything going inside.

[nescac hoops]

Well Savahoops,

I do not really want to argue about this, especially b/c I haven't seen Bates play in quite some time but their point guard dished out 9 assists and Meg Coffin (their center) had 15 pts. in the Tufts game. Beckwith also got to the line 11 times. On the the other hand, Bates 1-13 from 3pt land. At least as far as this game is concerned, I don't think they had a hard time getting penetration and getting inside points. While I would say that Barton is not that quick and her defense leaves something to be desired, she does manage (often times with muscle) to get to the hoop and dish. And while I was not at this game obviously, I would still argue that the 15 pts. scored in the first half is more alarming than defending the penetration....not to mention the fact that Bates lost the rebounding match 51-34 which is perpahs the real telling statistic from that game.