MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[thebear]

Tufts has a lot of size, Luke Rogers 6-8 230# is the NESCAC Player of the year. 

He averages 16 pts & 12 rebs with 70 blocks in 29 games.
They have three 6-6 to 6-7's that come off the bench to spell him and add size in the front court.

Rogers is comparable in size and rebounding range to Austin Grunder, although his game is almost totally in the paint.

Grunder gave the Eagles stiff competition in the last weekend of the regular season, Rogers may be better than Grunder, and may be too much of a load for the smaller Eagles in the paint.

Eric Savage is a 6-3 wing, who is averaging 16 pts and 7 rebounds, and hit a 35 foot trey to send the NESCAC championship game into OT.

Question mark for Tufts will be the status of 6-6 Brennan Morris who started the entire season and did not play during the first NCAA weekend.

Tufts is +7 on the season in rebounding stats. Brockport is +3.9

Tufts has made 248 treys on the season at 36.7%.  They have only given up 188 at a 30.7 3 FG%.
'port has only made 175 treys on the season at 32.7%, and has given up 186 at a 30.0% 3FG%

Classic battle of size and 3 point shooting, against a quick, uber athletic team playing at home in front of 2,000 rabid fans

[magicman]

It should help Brockport preparing for Tufts will be like preparing for Middlebury in many ways. On the other hand I don't think Tufts has played many if any teams with Brockports athleticism. Middlebury did beat Tufts by double digits this year at Middlebury. Brockport has been destroying teams on the boards and should continue on Sat. Tufts will launch a lot of 3 balls but I love Brockports chances. I have Brockport opening at a 4.5 PT favorite. Congrats Brockport on what has already been a great ride. Love watching this team!!

Brockport is listed as a 3 point favorite. I think they win by a few more than that.

[thebear]

On the other hand I don't think Tufts has played many if any teams with Brockports athleticism.

Point to note:  Tufts defeated Jim Calhoun's St. Joseph's Ct team (one of their three losses) on 11/23 by a score of 89-71, by all accounts, St. Joseph's of Ct. is similar to Brockport; an extremely athletic team. Rogers only played 21 minutes for Tufts in that game due to foul trouble, but had 15 points and 9 rebounds.

Tufts strength of schedule is an average Massey of 117, Brockport's strength of schedule is an average Massey of 196.

Brockport's Justin Summers appeared to have a strong game against Middlebury and he will be a matchup problem for Tufts if he continues to play that well.   

Perhaps it was playing in front of his hometown crowd, but Kornaker from Middlebury gave Brockport fits the entire game. Tufts has several players of Kornaker's quality.

Should be a great game to watch.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

What an opening weekend of the NCAA tournaments? Upsets a plenty. Gyms closed to fans. Incredible finishes. And so much more. Sunday night on Hoopsville we tried to cover it all.

The show started with extensive information on decisions surrounding COVID-19. We discussed decisions by Johns Hopkins and Amherst to close their doors to fans for the first weekend's games. We also had reactions and statements on the choice to return to Amherst this coming weekend for the Sectionals in women's basketball and the college's decision to, once again, ban fans from attending.

We also talked about the incredible stories coming out of the tournament of how teams are moving on and how seasons came to a sudden and emotional finish. 

Guests Schedule (order subject to change):
- Pat Coleman, Editor-in-Chief, D3hoops.com
- Todd Raridon, No. 11 North Central (Ill.) men's coach
- Jackson Meshanic (sophomore) & Stefan Thompson (coach), Hobart men's team (Frank Rossi interviews)
- Greg Dunne, No. 18 Brockport men's coach
- Andy Rang, No. 23 Trine women's coach
- Pat Manning, Williams women's coach
- Bob Quillman & Ryan Scott

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can watch Sunday's show On Demand in the following ways:
- Main page: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville
- Show page: http://bit.ly/2PWk7A7 (or www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2019-20/mar8)
- Facebook Live Simulcast: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
- YouTube Simulcast: www.youtube.com/d3hoopsville
- Team1 Sports: www.team1sports.com/Hoopsville/
- Team1 Sports app (Android TV, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku) - you will either find it under the "live" section or search for the Hoopsville channel

If you enjoy the show via the podcasts, the show is already available, so choose your favorite avenue to listen and/or subscribe via the the following four avenues (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville


 
   
We also have the podcast now on Tune-In and others coming. We will update them once we have better abilities to do so.

All men's coaches appear in the NABC Coach's Corner. And all guests are featured on the BlueFrame Technology Hoopsville Hotline.

If you have questions about Division III basketball, feel free to send them and we will answer them on a the show. Email them to hoopsville@d3sports.com or use any of the social media options.

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[magicman]

On the other hand I don't think Tufts has played many if any teams with Brockports athleticism.

Point to note:  Tufts defeated Jim Calhoun's St. Joseph's Ct team (one of their three losses) on 11/23 by a score of 89-71, by all accounts, St. Joseph's of Ct. is similar to Brockport; an extremely athletic team. Rogers only played 21 minutes for Tufts in that game due to foul trouble, but had 15 points and 9 rebounds.

Tufts strength of schedule is an average Massey of 117, Brockport's strength of schedule is an average Massey of 196.

Brockport's Justin Summers appeared to have a strong game against Middlebury and he will be a matchup problem for Tufts if he continues to play that well.   

Perhaps it was playing in front of his hometown crowd, but Kornaker from Middlebury gave Brockport fits the entire game. Tufts has several players of Kornaker's quality.

Should be a great game to watch.

On the other side of that coin is the Tufts loss to New England College. The Pilgrims are coached by Plattsburgh native, Charlie Mason and the tiny school (792 students) made it to the NCAA tournamnet, this year, for only the 2nd time in school history.

NEC plays defense similar to Brockport and they harassed Tufts ino 23 turnovers. They beat the Jumbos 59-56 and Tufts had all their guys, as Morris was in that game. Big man Rogers had a ton of rebounds (16) but only scored 8 points. Even with Rogers cleaning the boards NEC was only outrebounded 38-36. They didn't beat Tufts with the threeball either as they were just 2-13 from deep. They made lot of layups and jumpers and got to the line. Had a ton of steals (16) and forced the Jumbos into 23 turnovers. I'm hoping Brockport will do something similar.

Tufts also lost to Middlebury by double digits when the Panthers were missing 2 of their big men, Cahill and Sobel.

In that game Tufts played against St Joseph's, Jaecee Martin, 14.9 ppg, 7.5 assists per game and 4.5 rpg was missing from St. Joe's. He's a former Division I player (Sacred Heart) who joined the team in mid December and missed their first 7 games. He's the 2nd best player (and maybe the best player) on their team. He was the Defensive Player of the Year in their conference and also First Team All Conference. He would lead the nation in assists per game but was just short of the required number of games to qualify. He had at least 12 assists in a game on 6 different occasions this year. Tufts might not have won that game if he was running the offense for St Joe's that night. 

I like Brockport in this game and the fact that Justin Summers had his best game since returning from his injury is a bonus.   

[Pat Coleman]

That guy is credited with 8.9 assists per game at home, 5.8 on the road.

[SpringSt7]

A couple of thoughts on Tufts, from a primarily NESCAC poster:

-The Jumbos are routinely one of the most difficult teams in the NESCAC to evaluate. They just never quite seem to play up to their talent level. This year's team returned everybody from last year's senior-less rotation. They are built for modern basketball---4 shooters, most of whom are capable of putting the ball on the deck and creating off of the dribble, spacing the floor for a monster in the middle. They won the NESCAC regular season, the NESCAC tournament, and are the last NESCAC team remaining, the first team to do so since 2013.

-And yet, they have yet to really put a scare into anyone yet. The non-conference schedule has been noted, their only really, truly good win is their win over Colby (at home on the second night of a back to back after playing 10th place Bowdoin), when Colby was 18-0 and Sam Jefferson was healthy. They beat Amherst at home when Amherst was missing its two all-league guys, and lost @ Middlebury and Williams to close out the NESCAC schedule.

-Despite Rogers' credentials and monster stat-line, Eric Savage is the guy that makes them go. He could have easily been the NESCAC POY---an award which tends to go to the best player on the best team, especially with Sam Jefferson injured, but it went to Rogers instead, and Savage ended up on the 2nd team (getting 2 1st-teamers is almost unheard of). He is their only senior, their engine, a bit of a do it all guard (17-7-4), and while the 3 point shooting (34%) doesn't pop off the page, those numbers are more of a result of his always being responsible for taking the end of the possession shots, and maybe a couple other shots off of the dribble that wouldn't be considered great shots for a lot of other players.

-While Rogers is a terrific player, he has a unique style to him where you almost don't necessarily need to game plan for him. They don't really just space out and throw it into him in the post and let him make a move. Rather, he is as good as it gets of sealing for position, catching the ball as close to the hoop as possible, and scoring. It won't make a lot of sense to double team him because he is either going to shoot right as he gets the ball in the restricted area, or not get the ball, although he isn't a great passer. He is not an elite athlete (not a stiff by any means either) but he is always in terrific position. Very rarely will he outjump someone for an offensive rebound, but 5 times a game he'll have someone absolutely pinned on a box out for an easy putback. They don't run a lot of plays for him, and as I mentioned, the game is really managed by their gluttony of playmaking guards---sophomores Carson Cohen and Tyler Aronson are the other guards to keep an eye on when the ball is in their hands, although they are a step down from Savage.

-Tufts' biggest issue besides their inconsistency, which can kind of be written off at this point---shouldn't be too hard to get up for a Sweet 16 game, is their frontcourt depth. Rogers has shown to be foul prone at times, although it has been much improved this year (3.5 fouls per game in 19.4 minutes last year). His backup, junior Max Oppenheim, is listed at 6'8 250 but is not exactly the physical presence those numbers would suggest. He has taken 2 shots in the last 3 games. When he is in, the Tufts guards are asked to do a lot more, and that is when they have shown prone to turning it over (13.9 a game). If Rogers can't play 25+ minutes they are in trouble.

-Brennan Morris' health is a big X-Factor in this one. He is their purest shooter as the word has come to mean in modern basketball and has the numbers to back it up---45% on 6 attempts a game. He was wearing sunglasses at the games over the weekend, so the best guess for his injury would be a concussion, but that is really just conjecture. The rest of the Tufts rotation is certainly capable of shooting---one of their strengths is that they don't really feature any minus shooters---but it is still a different dynamic when your one true catch-and-shoot guy is out there versus when he isn't. Freshman wings McLaren (38.5%) and Thoerner (35.4%) would be classified as "only when open" type of guys, and Aronson and Cohen prefer to go off of the dribble. Their chances to win this game are much improved if he plays.

-I don't know a lot about Brockport but I got to see their SUNYAC championship win and most of the 2nd round game against Middlebury. I think they are stronger, more athletic, and deeper. Tufts was lucky to escape after coming from 20 down against Western Conn in the first round, and seems due to run out of magic.

[magicman]

SpringSt7,

Thanks for the report on Tufts. Plus K.

[scooterman]

Yes, thanks for the report Spring. I think everyone will agree when you get to this point of the season everyone left has some real strong points and are peaking at the right time. Bport has 19 in a row with some really nice wins! They has been tested at the end of the regular season with two OT victories over strong SUNYAC squads on the road. They are deep with their bench producing whatever needed when called upon to do so. To me their real strengths are the cohesiveness, athleticism, and most of all the DEFENSIVE intensity!!!! I hope they bring it all Saturday because it will be the deciding factor!!! Good Luck, Eagles

[magicman]

The Brockport-Tufts NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Game Saturday Will Be Played with a Restricted Attendance Policy according to a release from Brockport earlier this evening.

Families of the players, media members and official team party members will be allowed into the game. No public ticket sales. Too bad for all the Brockport and Tufts fans but it was easy to see this coming. Especially when so many schools are shutting down.

With the NBA suspended, it's just a matter of time before Major League Baseball, the NHL and other professional sports are shut down as well. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The Brockport-Tufts NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Game Saturday Will Be Played with a Restricted Attendance Policy according to a release from Brockport earlier this evening.

Families of the players, media members and official team party members will be allowed into the game. No public ticket sales. Too bad for all the Brockport and Tufts fans but it was easy to see this coming. Especially when so many schools are shutting down.

With the NBA suspended, it's just a matter of time before Major League Baseball, the NHL and other professional sports are shut down as well.

I don't know about the last part. The NBA has done it because they had a player who mocked the virus two days ago while then wiping his face and hands on all the microphones and recorders in front of him on the table ... before then testing positive. So they have to test their players and be sure things are okay. I bet they are playing somewhat soon.

The NHL, MLB, and others have already taken steps to restrict access to teams and such. They may raise those a bit more. Maybe play some games without crowds for awhile ... until things calm down. I bet they have players tested and maybe often ... with strict instructions that anyone ill is to stay home.

There just needs to be some smart decisions made ... not ones made in panic mode.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

And with that, the 2019-20 seasons have come to a sudden end.

What a week it has been in college basketball. Exactly a week ago, as we hit the air, the first signs that COVID-19 was going to impact the NCAA Tournaments was seen. Since then, it has been a whirlwind.  

Tonight on Hoopsville, we try and make sense of one of the stranger finishes in history for NCAA events. What started with isolated closings of gyms for games ends a week later in all games being called off through the rest of the academic year.

We will chat with those who were preparing for games on Friday and hear their reactions to the seasons coming to a close so quickly.

Guests Schedule (order subject to change):
- Michelle Ferenze, No. 10 Whitman women's coach
- John Krikorian, Christopher Newport men's coach
- Cheri Harrer, No. 9 Baldwin Wallace women's coach

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can watch Thursday's show LIVE starting at 7:00 p.m. ET in the following ways:
- Main page: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville
- Show page: http://bit.ly/3b1XeU3 (or www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2019-20/mar12)
- Facebook Live Simulcast: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
- YouTube Simulcast: www.youtube.com/d3hoopsville
- Team1 Sports: www.team1sports.com/Hoopsville/
- Team1 Sports app (Android TV, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku) - you will either find it under the "live" section or search for the Hoopsville channel
Monday's show primarily covers the Atlantic, Central, South, and Northeast Regions. All men's coaches appear in the NABC Coach's Corner. And all guests are featured on the BlueFrame Technology Hoopsville Hotline

All men's coaches appear in the NABC Coach's Corner. And all guests are featured on the BlueFrame Technology Hoopsville Hotline.

If you have questions about Division III basketball, feel free to send them and we will answer them on a the show. Email them to hoopsville@d3sports.com or use any of the social media options to the right.

Please also consider helping us out. We are accepting donations to the show - which many of you have asked about. The goal is to raise $7,500. We are approximately at $4,600 at the time of this posting.

To donate, click our PayPal link here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BSRFLPUJQ9MKL&source=url

And thank you for your contributions.

If you enjoy the show via the podcasts, choose your favorite avenue to listen and/or subscribe via the the following four avenues (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville


 
   
We also have the podcast now on Tune-In and others coming. We will update them once we have better abilities to do so.

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
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[magicman]

The Brockport-Tufts NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Game Saturday Will Be Played with a Restricted Attendance Policy according to a release from Brockport earlier this evening.

Families of the players, media members and official team party members will be allowed into the game. No public ticket sales. Too bad for all the Brockport and Tufts fans but it was easy to see this coming. Especially when so many schools are shutting down.

With the NBA suspended, it's just a matter of time before Major League Baseball, the NHL and other professional sports are shut down as well.

I don't know about the last part. The NBA has done it because they had a player who mocked the virus two days ago while then wiping his face and hands on all the microphones and recorders in front of him on the table ... before then testing positive. So they have to test their players and be sure things are okay. I bet they are playing somewhat soon.

The NHL, MLB, and others have already taken steps to restrict access to teams and such. They may raise those a bit more. Maybe play some games without crowds for awhile ... until things calm down. I bet they have players tested and maybe often ... with strict instructions that anyone ill is to stay home.

There just needs to be some smart decisions made ... not ones made in panic mode.

The NBA suspended. MLB suspended. NHL suspened. MLS suspended. Pro Tennis Tour suspended.  The NCAA Basketball Men's and Women's Tournament canceled. 38 Conference Tournaments in Division I Hoops (19 Men's and 19 Women's) canceled. All remaining NCAA Winter and Spring Championships canceled. Major DI Conferences canceling or suspending conference championships. There are others to add to this list but I think when I posted that quote on the board yesterday I didn't think "a matter of time" would be less than 24 hours.

[bports]

I feel horrible for the kids. This Brockport team really had a good chance of making the final 4. I was so looking forward to sat night. Oh well sunyac champs- sunyac tourney champs- 19 wins in a row to finish the season!! What a great season! Congrats Brockport

[magicman]

Sad to see the DIII season (and all of the other sporting events) end so suddenly but it's obviously the right thing to do. I'm convinced that Brockport would have made a great run to get to the Final Four.

Feel bad for all the players and Coach Dunn as this was their year. Congratulations to them for one of the best seasons in school history.