MBB: NESCAC

Started by cameltime, April 27, 2005, 02:38:16 PM

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nescac1

Interesting Ryan.   While hard to judge without knowing the level of competition,  Duranovic looks poised to make ab early impact with his size / skill combo. One of a handful of frosh to watch in Nescac this year. 

middhoops

Good info, Ryan.
Probably a good, somewhat longer, story in that.

P'bearfan

Former Bowdoin standout, Lucas Hausman, has been invited to join Maccabi Haifa in their US tour vs NBA teams including the Miami Heat.   So, in theory, we could see two NESCAC players facing off against each other in a professional game in the US.  Don't know if that it will happen but, hey, this is pretty cool to just think about.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)

Quote from: P'bearfan on October 06, 2018, 07:44:18 PM
Former Bowdoin standout, Lucas Hausman, has been invited to join Maccabi Haifa in their US tour vs NBA teams including the Miami Heat.   So, in theory, we could see two NESCAC players facing off against each other in a professional game in the US.  Don't know if that it will happen but, hey, this is pretty cool to just think about.

Isn't Willy Workman still playing for Haifa?  You should probably mention that NESCAC connection, too, right?  Wikipedia has him listed as team captain.
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toad22

I have watched a number of the Williams players play pickup over the last month. Pickup games are a far cry from real, in season basketball, but it is pretty clear to me that the three stud seniors (Casey, Heskett, and Scadlock) will be the players to lead the Ephs. The team will go as far as they take them. Scadlock appears to my untrained eye to be fully recovered from his ACL injury. There are a bunch of good supporting players as well. I like the three new players (Moon, Jones and Spivy) very much, but am unsure how much they will see the court this season. I am ready for the action to begin!

Hamilton looks to be a top team again this year, as well as Wesleyan, Tufts, and probably Amherst and Middlebury. I may be unfairly overlooking Bowdoin. I've now mentioned way more than half the league, so maybe it is safe to say that the NESCAC should be very competitive!

nescac1

Other than being a bit less rosy on Tufts (lose a ton of talent, no seniors, only two juniors who contributed much), I generally agree on Toad's breakdown.  And I do think NESCAC will be tougher and more balanced top-to-bottom this year.  If for once Conn does not experience major attrition, the Camels should be a lot better this year - very big and tough up front with Labossieri, Draffan and an incoming seven-footer, although guard play still looks very iffy.  Colby has everyone back from a very young team that dealt with some tough injury luck.  Should be much better so long as Dean Weiner, probably the most under appreciated two-way player in the league, stays healthy.   Bates also looks much better with everyone back and some badly-needed muscle coming in, and Trinity will be tougher as well. The battle for spots 4-8 in the league should be a real tustle.  And I think there is a very good chance 10/11 teams end up better than .500 overall. 

middhoops

Two Williams guys being really polite.
Toad and nescac1 must know that their alma mater has a serious shot at the D3 crown this season.
The Ephs are totally stacked.  Huge and deep with athletic newcomers.  Heskett and Scadlock are arguably the two best bigs in the conference.  Any conference, maybe.
Karp is unguardable.  And he doesn't start.
Feinberg and Jovan Jones as role players.
Bobby Kelley is a pure assassin against Midd.

Wesleyan has a chance to give the Ephs a tough game or two.
The rest of the league will be a story to follow. 

How many make the NCAA tourney?

It's been too long.  Let the games begin, already.


nescac1

#25373
One month to the start of the season (roughly)!  Fairly quiet hear.  I'll toss out, who do folks see as the top players to watch in the conference?

I'd say:

Tier 1: James Heskett and Kena Gilmour - likely all-Americans if healthy, nationally elite players
Tier 2: Kyle Scadlock, Bobby Casey, Austin Hutcherson, Peter Hoffmann, Matt Folger - top contenders for first-team all league, on the radar as all-Americans
Tier 3: Jordan Bonner, Kevin O'Brien, David Reynolds, Jack Simonds, Jack Farrell, Jeff Spellman, David Labossier, Eric Savage, Michael Grassey, Dean Weiner - all likely to be in the all-league conversaion at some point (of these guys, I see Simonds, Spellman, and Farrell as the most likely to have really big years). 

Possible break-through players (guys with major upside / talent who have a chance to take a big leap forward) - Fru Che, Tim McCarthy, Grant Robinson, Dan Draffan, Matt Karpowicz, Zavier Rucker, Sam Grad, Jordan James, Donald Jorden, Griff Kornaker

I have four Ephs, four Cardinals, four Conts, and perhaps surprisingly, four Bowdoin guys on the list above.  I think Bowdoin could be a surprise team this year if Simonds can play to his talent consistently and last year's very high-upside frosh class takes a big step forward. 

Top frosh to watch: Jovan Jones, Tyler Aronson, Luka Duranovic, Will Phelan, Spencer Spivy, Ryan Omslaer, Kehine Aruwajoye, Sam Peek


jayhawk

another good frosh Center Alex Sobel Middlebury

Pat Coleman

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nescac1

A bit surprised to see Wesleyan receive so little love (fifth among NESCAC teams) after a strong season last year (NESCAC finalist, second round of NCAA tourney).  The Cards lose a few key guys up front, but do return top-flight perimeter talent in O'Brien, Bonner and Hutcherson, and Jordan James and Antone Walker have potential to become much bigger contributors. 

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Quote from: nescac1 on October 11, 2018, 03:11:39 PM
A bit surprised to see Wesleyan receive so little love (fifth among NESCAC teams) after a strong season last year (NESCAC finalist, second round of NCAA tourney).  The Cards lose a few key guys up front, but do return top-flight perimeter talent in O'Brien, Bonner and Hutcherson, and Jordan James and Antone Walker have potential to become much bigger contributors.

That last part ... "have potential to become much bigger contributors" is where I was with Wesleyan. Have to see it come true first before I think more voters will buy in that Wesleyan will remain in the conversation. Especially in a year where SO many teams bring back SO much of their squads from the year before.
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nescac1

I think it's fair to keep Wesleyan out of the top 25 for that reason.  But interesting that they received fewer votes than Amherst, which loses by far its top two players and did not make the NCAA tourney at all.  Not to say that Amherst doesn't have good talent -- they do.  But like Wesleyan, they need some young guys to show a ton of improvement.  Midd is a trickier team to gauge, but I think Wesleyan and Middlebury had essentially even years overall, and to me, Midd lost a bit to more to graduation than Wesleyan did.  And Midd was a bit healthier than Wesleyan last year, to boot. Really, after Williams and Hamilton, NESCAC could take awhile to sort itself out this year, and I wouldn't be suprised to see any of those teams - or even Bowdoin - emerge as third best.  But I give Wesleyan the best shot going into the season just because of their battle-tested core. 

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Quote from: nescac1 on October 11, 2018, 04:02:03 PM
I think it's fair to keep Wesleyan out of the top 25 for that reason.  But interesting that they received fewer votes than Amherst, which loses by far its top two players and did not make the NCAA tourney at all.  Not to say that Amherst doesn't have good talent -- they do.  But like Wesleyan, they need some young guys to show a ton of improvement.  Midd is a trickier team to gauge, but I think Wesleyan and Middlebury had essentially even years overall, and to me, Midd lost a bit to more to graduation than Wesleyan did.  And Midd was a bit healthier than Wesleyan last year, to boot. Really, after Williams and Hamilton, NESCAC could take awhile to sort itself out this year, and I wouldn't be suprised to see any of those teams - or even Bowdoin - emerge as third best.  But I give Wesleyan the best shot going into the season just because of their battle-tested core.

Admittedly Amherst got more votes than I thought they would have gotten. Not sure the reasons.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.