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Messages - nescac1

#1
It remains to be seen if Fischetti is finally 100 percent, but when healthy I'd easily take him over any back in the league.  And the Ephs have now developed excellent depth at TB, led by Jon Oris.  Trinity and Tufts backs great, but they also benefited from dramatically better passing attacks so they had a lot more space to operate. 
#2
Is Boel returning for Bowdoin?  I'd have him third if so.
#3
Region 1 men's basketball / Re: MBB: NESCAC
March 25, 2024, 08:34:51 PM
Seems like this will be a good read - by a former Amherst hooper:

https://www.amazon.com/Pipeline-Pros-Ben-Kaplan/dp/1637274335
#5
Agreed that Hubbard clearly is leaving open the possibility of returning.  Four of HSC's top six guys are seniors with remaining eligibility (Elliot, Hardy, Brazil and Hubbard), so they have a pretty huge range in term of where they start next season. I assume that Brazil is returning for a fifth year, as HSC recently listed him as class of 25 in a press release. 
#6
Region 1 men's basketball / Re: MBB: NESCAC
March 23, 2024, 05:13:22 PM
Thanks Bucket, my bad! 

Impressive for Murray ... and that's four D1 grad transfers now for NESCAC in the last three years.
#8
Region 1 men's basketball / Re: MBB: NESCAC
March 19, 2024, 11:30:07 AM
I agree that playing faster will be to Williams' benefit next year.  The Ephs' return four out of six primary starters (if you count Glatzer who started the first semester before getting injured) and they should be quick (particular for an Eph team) at every position.  I'd say the presumptive starting unit is Roughley at C (moving up from the 4, where he had a size advantage, but at the 5 he'd have an athleticism advantage over many opposing centers), Hansen at the 4 (a quicker but less skilled player than Roughley who will benefit from playing at pace), and then a perimeter unit with three quick two-way players in Dinkins, Glatzer (if healthy) and Lee.  That group lacks much outside shooting at all, but should be able to run the floor and get to the rim effectively and also play a more aggressive style of perimeter defense than we typically see from the Ephs.  Several of the likely top players off the bench, including Sammy Cooley and Matt Devine, would also I think thrive in a more up-tempo style. Incoming FY point guard Justin Belcher looks like another quick player who can push the pace off the bench. And with the top two centers graduating without an obviously traditional 5 to replace them, Williams probably has no choice but to play smaller in any event.   

The wildcards are Declan Porter who was a two year starter and could challenge for a starting spot if fully healthy next fall, and Ben McGraw, who suffered a season-ending injury mid-year.  With them more prominently featured Williams could look more like a typical Ephs team, with much better shooting and size but far less quickness.

One thing we've seen in D3 in recent years is that, all things being equal, speed and athleticism seem to win over size and skill for teams that are fairly equally matched in the aggregate deep in the tournament. If you look at teams who have had massive success over the past few years like Trine, RMC, Whitewater, Christopher Newport, Trinity (CT), Guilford, HSC among others, these tend to be teams with great athletes at all five positions that may not always play a beautiful brand of offense, and may not have a traditional post scoring threat, but always seem to be able to disrupt what their opponents want to do on offense with quick, tough defenders at every spot.  Swarthmore is the biggest counter-example of a team that has made consistent, deep tourney runs without elite athleticism thanks to skill, shooting, and movement, but it really does seem like in most cases, without speed you are are in big trouble when faced with an opponent who can pressure the ball at every spot. 

Of the top 50 teams in team 3 point shooting percentage, only Platteville made the elite 8 and CMC made the sweet 16.  The stat that seems to most correlate (not perfectly of course, you still have to score!) with team success is opposing FG percentage defense -- Trinity, CNU, Hampden Sydney, Williams, Calvin, Tufts, Guilford, RMC, Hope and Keene were all in the top 20 nationally there.  It's almost like whoever first said that defense wins championships knew what they were talking about! 

#9
My first shot at this, but I'm sure it will change based upon transfers:"

1. CNU
2. RMC
3. Hampden-Sydney
4. Tufts
5. Trinity (CT)
6. Williams
7. John Carroll
8. Wash U
9. Nebraska Wesleyan
10. Clark
11. Platteville
12. Stevens Point
13. Pomona
14. Calvin
15. Wesleyan
16. Carthage
17. Virginia Wesleyan
18. Cal Lutheran
19. Trinity (TX)
20. Trine
#10
Subject to tweaking as transfer news rolls in:

Pomona
Redlands
Wesleyan
Hamilton
Amherst
Hamline
St John's (MN)
Stevens Point
River Falls
Illinois Wesleyan
Carthage
Brandeis
Emory
Clark
St. Lawrence
Cortland State
Johns Hopkins
Roanoke
Mt Union
UChicago 
#11
Region 1 men's basketball / Re: MBB: NESCAC
March 18, 2024, 12:14:04 PM
Updated of incoming NESCAC recruits.  I imagine there will be a lot of names added over the next month or so:

Amherst:

Jacob Blank, 6'4 G, Yavneh Academy (TX)
Max Klitschko, 7'1 C, Taft School

Bates:

Sean O'Leary, 6'4 W, Franklin H.S. (MA) (#93 New England, #36 MA)
Keenan Sparks, 6'1 G, Phillips Academy

Bowdoin:

Liam McBride, 6'3 G, Deerfield
Chris Simons, 6'8 C, Falmouth

Colby:

Mitch Humphrey, 6'6 W, St. Viator (IL)
Dan Civello, 6'10 C, BC High
Nate Kwiecinski, 6'7 F, Cushing Academy (#94 New England)

Conn College:

Bo Moody, 6'2 G, Malden Catholic
Garrett Clar, 6'2 G, Victor (NY)

Hamilton:

Max Murash, 6'9 C, Cannon School (NC)
Omar Kulenovic, 6'8 F, Berkshire School

Middlebury:

Max Alberts, 6'4 W, Berkshire School
Henry Morrison, 6'9 C, Flintridge Prep (CA)
Sawyer Ramey, 5'10 G, Deerfield

Trinity:

Marley Stewart, 6'3 G Perkiomen (PA)

Tufts:

Isaac Friedman, 6'5 G, Millbrook School
Lukas Schmid, 6'2 G, Blair Academy (NJ)

Wesleyan:

Oscar Edelman, 6'8 F/C, New Hampton (#71 New England, #5 N.H.)
Zach Wolinski, 5'11 PG, North Andover

Williams:

Justin Belcher, 6'0 G, University School (OH)
Aidan Yates, 6'5 G, Charlottesville H.S. (VA)
Jackson Rein, 6'7 W, Ravenscroft School (NC)
Matthew Nachamkin, 6'7 F, Haldane School (NY)
#12
Region 2 men's basketball / Re: MBB: Little East
March 18, 2024, 10:40:53 AM
Keene State may be almost unrecognizable from the dominant team of the last two years.  Keene could potentially lose its top five scorers, in addition to apparently being forced to hire a new coach. Jeff Hunter is out of eligibility, Brito is in the transfer portal and I suspect will snag a D1 offer, Tahmeen Dupree and Mike Caruthers both left the team mid-season, and Siow, Jean-Baptiste, and Linton are all seniors -- even if they could take a COVID year (I believe at least Siow and Jean-Baptiste can), would they want to on a team that is a shell of what it was?  If Siow and Jean-Baptiste choose to return, they could still potentially form a top-tier LEC squad along with Odiase and Aronson. 

Western Conn also loses two of its top three players as they were graduate students this year.  But they have done pretty well in the transfer portal over the past two years ...
#13
Multi-Regional Topics / Re: 2024 NCAA Tournament
March 17, 2024, 08:03:18 AM
It's always going to come down to $$$ in terms of who the host site is, but it would be nice for other teams to have a chance to bring that type of virtual home game atmosphere by rotating it among regions of the country every few years - if there are arenas that are willing. But that will never happen ...
#14
Round 1:

Jeremy Moronta - Husson
Ryan Blondo - New Paltz
Ryan Broeckel - Wisconsin Lutheran
Nick Hurowitz - Farmingdale State
Mac Annus - Roger Williams
Steph Baxter - Babson
Josh Angle - CMS
Zubair Lee - Eastern

Round 2:

Ja'Zere Noel, Rowan
Jeff Hunter, Keene State
TJ Schnurr, Coe
Anthony Mazzeo, Case Western
Jalen Overway, Calvin
Scott Gyimesi, Tufts
Spencer Freeman, NYU
Donyae Baylor-Carroll, Penn State Harrisburg

Round 3:

Nate Karren, Williams
Cortez Garland, Trine
Octavio Britto, Keene
Peter Lash, NWU

Round 4:

Jahn Hines, CNU
Logan Pearson, UWP
Henry Vetter, Trinity
Tyler Dearman, Guilford

Round 5:

Julius Burch, Guilford
Davidson Hubbard, HSC

Round 6:

Adam Brazil, HSC
Fred Garland, Trine
#15
Region 1 men's basketball / Re: MBB: NESCAC
March 15, 2024, 02:05:16 PM
In addition to the eye test absolutely supporting the five man shift approach, Trinity went from 16-9 and a Nescac QF loss to 30-2 and the Final Four with mostly the same roster in one offseason. The team was older and a bit healthier this year, but that's a remarkable one-year leap for a team that was flat mediocre last season.  I really do think that Cosgrove eked everything possible out of the personnel on hand, which won with intense and unrelenting effort, athleticism and poise 1-10, plus just a few true go-to scorers on offense who went cold at the wrong time.