MBB: NEWMAC

Started by nehoops4life, March 03, 2005, 10:39:13 AM

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interestedfan

Good Day To All,

   I tried to get back to watching college ball last year, but the move back to the area and the job did not leave me much time to do more than follow the teams in the papers.

   Can anyone help me out here by telling me the outlook for Clark & WPI, they will the two teams i should be able to see the most.  I know WPI graduated Coleman, Marois and Borque.  What are they bringing in for freshmen and will any of them have any impact?  What guys on the roster last year will step up?

Clark graduated 3 as well, same qustions for them, new guys and last years reservses - who wil step up this season ?

From reading the posts here, It would seem like MIT would be an early favorite to supplant WPI on top of the conference.  Im guessing CGA, will have a hard time replacing 6 seniors and repeating their late season success.

Hey, I know its a long way off, and its football season, but I just had to put something out here.  With all this wonderful weather, i managed to get my wife's "master list of things husband must do" completed.  Oh honey, may I go out and play a round of golf?  (Any recommendations for a good public course in the Worcester area?)



Hugenerd

If anyone is interested, here is a recent article from Slam Magazine where they interview MIT Associate Head Coach Oliver Eslinger:

http://slamonline.com/online/2008/08/athletic-intelligence/

Hugenerd

Another article that some may find interesting.  New England Recruting Report ranked top recruiting steals of this years class, MIT made the list (as did Brandeis):

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/444/The-Biggest-Steals-of-2008-Part-I.php

T990

Dr. Oliver Eslinger, a Clark grad and MIT assistant, has taken the Head Coaching position at Cal Tech.

Here's a copy/paste of the article on www.d3hoops.com :

MIT assistant gets shot at Caltech

After a search with more than 120 applicants, Caltech got its man in MIT's associate head coach, Oliver Eslinger who has spent that past six years as the top assistant men's basketball coach at MIT. He takes over at a school that has more Nobel Prize winners than men's basketball victories: the Beavers were 1-24 last season, 1-24 the year before and 0-25 the previous year.

Caltech has not won a SCIAC game in men's basketball since 1985, a span of 273 games. MIT, which has similar academic constraints, has gone 87-73 (.544) since Eslinger joined the staff in 2002. He replaces Roy Dow, who went 4-144 in six years at Caltech.

"Oliver is an ideal fit for Caltech as his MIT background really allows him to hit the ground running here at Caltech," said athletic director Wendell Jack.

Nearly every season under Eslinger, MIT has ranked nationally in the top 10 in field goal percentage defense, scoring defense, rebounding margin or free throw percentage. He coached the 2006 team when it traveled to Taiwan and won the Kainan Invitational International Tournament Championship.

Prior to MIT, Eslinger previously served as head coach at Boston University Academy and as an assistant coach at Bethlehem Central High School in Delmar, N.Y.

Eslinger played at Clark, where he was a starting guard and majored in psychology. Eslinger holds a doctorate in counseling psychology-sport psychology and masters degree in counseling from Boston University.

old_hooper

If he wins two games in a season he will be a hero.  Wish him well because it is a tough job at Cal Tech.

Hugenerd

I think Coach Eslinger will have a great shot at succeeding at CalTech.  He definitely has the proper experience for the job, being at MIT for the past 6 years.  Given that MIT has better talent, I still think the same game plan employed by Coach Anderson and Coach Eslinger at MIT could work at CalTech.  That is emphasizing defense.  Not everyone can be a skilled offensive player, but defense, rebounding, and hustle is something you can build your team on even if you have only a couple of scoring options.  As it says on the front page "Nearly every season under Eslinger, MIT has ranked nationally in the top 10 in field goal percentage defense, scoring defense, [and] rebounding margin." Controlling the tempo of the game (slow), running set pieces every time you dont get something in transition, rebounding, and defense: thats how MIT was successful even when they had less talented teams and thats what I think Caltech's best chance is also.  If you cant get your team to buy into defense, you will at least give yourself a chance in most games.

Good luck in Pasadena, at least you wont have to worry about the snow this winter.

Hugenerd

Eslinger also gets a mention on ESPN TrueHoop for some work he did on his blog:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop?tag=phoenix%20suns

Hugenerd

Jimmy Bartolotta (MIT) and Craig Johnson (CGA) were named honorable mention All-Americans by The Sporting News.

Hugenerd

Former MIT assistant and now CalTech head coach, Oliver Eslinger, in a new interview:
http://interviewbasketball.com/2008/10/09/oliver-eslinger/

In related news, MIT has hired former Carnegie Mellon assistant, and Irish SuperLeague standout, Kevin Byrne to replace Eslinger.

massd3fan

MIT's initial roster is up....but no Ted Eby!  Any ideas why?  Hugenerd...any insight on this?

http://mitathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/mit-m-baskbl-mtt.html

Hugenerd

Quote from: massd3fan on October 22, 2008, 08:38:03 PM
MIT's initial roster is up....but no Ted Eby!  Any ideas why?  Hugenerd...any insight on this?

http://mitathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/mit-m-baskbl-mtt.html


Yeah, I didnt want to bring it up but I believe that he isnt playing.  He was on the roster, along with the other recruits, until October 15 (first day of practice) at which time he did not show up.  I dont know Ted Eby and I havent talked to the coaches about him, other than hearing that he isnt playing, so I dont know the reason for his absence.  I think I heard he is doing crew.

Since he was listed as a top 150 player in the northeast coming out of high school and he went to MIT (he was listed as a top 10 "steal" by the northeast recruiting report), it makes you think that he may not have intended on playing basketball at all and was a bit dishonest with the coaching staff recruiting him.  I feel bad for the Coach Anderson, his staff, and players who were counting on him to be there this season, but I know they wont dwell on it. 

I still think MIT will be solid this season and compete for the NEWMAC title. The still have, arguably, the best player in the region and 4 of there 5 starters are seniors. Alot will depend on who will step into that last starting spot at the 2 or 3 and what kind of play they get out of their freshman.  Of their returning non-injured players (see below), other than the 4 seniors, only 1 has played significant minutes and that is backup PG Patrick Sissman. Their weakness will again be depth, as they are also without injured sophomore Dan McCue who played an increasing role as a freshman last year.  They are going to need someone to step up as a backup big also.

massd3fan

Hugenerd,

   Thank you for the info.  What insight do you have on other teams in this conference.  Can WPI reload after graduating their front line?  Can Coast Guard replace all the seniors  that they lost?  Can Babson step up and challenge?

I had heard Clark had grabbed a couple of good recruits in the 6'5"-6'6" range, WPI has a big group of frosh coming in and Babson had at least 3 quality recruits ready to go.  Im not sure what CGA has coming in this year.  Does Wheaton have anyone big to besides Leo to compliment Coppola?

   Right now, on paper it would look as though MIT would be a favorite, but Not having Eby changes the dynamic there, no doubt.   I think people were looking at 6'10, 6'8" & 6,8" along with Bartolotta and figuring the confernce was theirs for the taking.  It maybe just a bit more difficult now without an Eby to handle the middle.

Hugenerd

Quote from: massd3fan on October 23, 2008, 07:53:04 AM
Hugenerd,

   Thank you for the info.  What insight do you have on other teams in this conference.  Can WPI reload after graduating their front line?  Can Coast Guard replace all the seniors  that they lost?  Can Babson step up and challenge?

I had heard Clark had grabbed a couple of good recruits in the 6'5"-6'6" range, WPI has a big group of frosh coming in and Babson had at least 3 quality recruits ready to go.  Im not sure what CGA has coming in this year.  Does Wheaton have anyone big to besides Leo to compliment Coppola?

   Right now, on paper it would look as though MIT would be a favorite, but Not having Eby changes the dynamic there, no doubt.   I think people were looking at 6'10, 6'8" & 6,8" along with Bartolotta and figuring the confernce was theirs for the taking.  It maybe just a bit more difficult now without an Eby to handle the middle.

I am not as familiar with the other teams in the NEWMAC as I used to be.  I know WPI lost a few of their top players but they always seem to have depth. Coast Guard also lost some of their top players but has Johnson back.  Wheaton has some top returning players.  Looks pretty up for grabs at this point.

massd3fan

Hugenerd,

Thanks for your input!  I have to say, you win the best login id name contest!

Anyone out there who shed some more light on the state of the teams in the NEWMAC?   

massd3fan

A couple more rosters are up :

Springfield:

http://www.spfldcol.edu/homepage/athletics.nsf/Mens-Basketball-Roster

looks like 7 freshmen on the roster for Coach Brock.


Babson:

http://babsonathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/2008-09/roster

8 Freshmen !


Wheaton:

http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/athletics/basketballm/roster.html
(Looks Like returning players only at this point)

any other news or "rumors" out there ?