MBB: NEWMAC

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

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WPI89

Thanks Babo. Love the intra-NEWMAC love.

Watched first half tonight and believe me, Bartley is not a happy coach tonight. Except when he looks at that record.

After something like a 25-4 start, they were very sloppy and stopped creating offense from their defense. Road win is a road win.

3rd or 4th time for Coach to start 7-0, I will have to go check, but my guess is the other times they went to the tourney.




BaboNation

Go figure.

After suffering an embarrassing defeat at home to Brandeis (a good team nonetheless) Babo goes on the road without Jaworski and takes it to Amherst (one of the toughest places to win).

Babson got a lot of contributions from their depth but it starts with their best 2-way player Oftring.  It must be in the genes because his grandfather won an NCAA Championship at The Cross with some guy named Cousy.  I figured Oftring might have to play all 40 with Jaworski missing.  Sure enough, up 42-37, with the ball, Oftring went to the bench and didn't return until Amherst took over in a min-run with 3 Babson frosh on the floor.  Once Oftring returned and paired with Bradanese (early candidate for NEWMAC ROY) they sealed off the paint and the glass.
If you saw Bradanese in the MA state tourney he is one fearless, bad (in a good way) hombre.

As great a coach as Hixon is I wonder if he even considered pressing the Babson guards full-court when they went 8+ minutes without scoring in the first half.  Babson can be pressed to create careless turnovers (Johnson & Wales did it for 40 minutes, full-court).  Finally down double digits in the closing minutes they started to pressure with some positive results, but it was too late.

I was glad to see coach Brennan going with FY Welch down the stretch.  He's better than Ulrickson. 

Robinson is a legitimate stud for Amherst, but they seem to lack a pure ball handling distributor that I come to expect from top-tier NESCAC teams.  Some of their 2nd-half TOs were unforced and atrocious.  Just passing to space without regard to floor spacing, distance, or defenders.

Babson has played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in New England to date and is 4-0 against the NESCAC.  And yet, the road may actually get TOUGHER.  10-4 might win the NEWMAC this year.


Greek Tragedy

Nice to see Jake Ross back in the boxscore.
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TGHIJGSTO!!!

BaboNation

I noticed Jurko missing from last night's MIT box score.  Another injury?  Anybody know?

Forsythe still hasn't returned, and while MIT has other weapons, losing Jurko for an extended period would be a huge blow.

Though Jomard gets more press, for me, Jurko is the engine behind the Engineers, and he showed it last year during their late season/deep playoff run without Jomard.

WPI89

Haven't been on the site this week - but MUCH better effort against Salem State.  They were in control throughout.

Much higher upside to this team than I had imagined.  When they shoot the 3 well - I think they can play with ANYBODY.

When they don't - they are competing and winning games with their typical Bartley tenacious D.

One more good test this weekend to take that 0 in L column into the break.

It is a home game, but both Husson and WPI have played the same amount of games in Harrington since a full week before Thanksgiving!

BaboNation

#3680
Well, now Springfield is officially in a lot of trouble.  Beyond the obvious W-L numbers there are other stats that speak to a larger problem.
They are getting outrebounded by 3+/game, whereas they had an advantage of 2+ last year.
They are getting outscored by 6+/game, versus an advantage of 6+ last year (a 12 point swing).
They are shooting worse than their opponents by 5 pct, versus an advantage of nearly 4 pct last year (a 9 pct point swing).

Stats can be misleading, but here's what I see.  The loss of McNulty and Eckles to graduation has not been offset through the growth of underclassmen and FY players.  Sandifer is still not ready for a starting role on a tournament team.  Durkin is too one-dimensional.

Last night the Pride played without Witter, but I doubt it would have made much of a difference in the outcome.  There isn't sufficient depth to the roster.

All of this places even greater pressure on Jake Ross to do more and more.  Last night it really showed, notwithstanding that Fru Che put up a pretty fine imitation of Michael Cooper stifling Larry Bird.

True enough,  the Pride didn't exactly tear up their non-conference schedule last year before finding their gear.  They will have to either win the NEWMAC or pretty nearly run the table from here on out to feel comfortable with tournament aspirations.  That won't be easy.  The schedule shows a tough holiday tournament (at home) before starting the NEWMAC season against several improved squads.

WPI89

Great win again today. Time to start giving the Engineers from Worcester a little extra Love Dave and Pat!

BaboNation

Babson gets a split in the holiday tournament in DC. 

Jaworski returned after a lengthy absence, but came off the bench in both games, looking unremarkable (and probably still working through something).
In the first game against N.C. Wesleyan Babson was still within 5 and had the ball with 4 minutes left, but an unforced turnover led to a late run that put the game away.  Brandon Johnson had a solid game.
N.C. Wesleyan looks every bit a tournament team.  AJ Frye is listed at 6'5" 260 and he is a force down low where he was spotted 50 pounds or so and could not be kept off the offensive glass.  They have a strong all-around team with plenty of size, quickness, and depth.  It's the first time all season I've seen Oftring overmatched, so hats off to Frye, Bullock, and Layton.  Babson showed lots of rust but they lost to a better team.

In the consolation game (the tape of which should be destroyed) Babson hung on in a turnover-plagued contest over Catholic.  Johnson again was POTG for the Beavers.  Catholic is having an uncharacteristic down year and it shows on the court.

So now we are on to the NEWMAC regular season.  While MIT appears to be the cream of the crop a LOT of teams have improved over last year.  Everyone except MIT will likely need to win the NEWMAC postseason tourney in order to feel comfortable about making the big dance.

WPI, Babson, Springfield, Wheaton, and Coast Guard are all capable of winning 9 games in the 14 game home/away format.  Only Emerson and Clark seem unlikely to be any threat.

If Forsythe returns for MIT everyone is playing for 2nd IMO.

Regular Season Prediction

MIT 12-2
WPI 10-4
Wheaton 8-6
Babson 8-6
Springfield 8-6
Coast Guard 6-8
Emerson 3-11
Clark 1-13

BaboNation

#3683
Big road win for Babson 67-64 @ Springfield.

Ross sat out about 13.5 minutes of the first half with 2 early fouls, but they still managed a tie at the half.  Durkin played as well as I've seen him this year to keep The Pride in the game.
Ross + Post totaled 3 points in the half.  I wonder if that's ever happened before.
This game felt like it was going down to the wire all along, but Springfield opened up a 54-44 lead with under 9 minutes to play.  Coolahan, starting now while Jaworski gets back to form, kept Babson close with timely 3-point shots.  Oftring had a strong game too at both ends.
Tie game with a minute to play Babson forced the ball out of Ross' hand, but Witter couldn't hit the open 3.   A Babson turnover in transition with about 15 seconds to play led to a lead pass to Ross who drove into pressure and couldn't finish at the rim.  Johnson took the rebound and Coolahan calmly drained a corner 3 with 1 second left.
(Coolahan finished with 21, demolishing his previous career best of 9).

BaboNation

The highs and lows of sports.

The highs can be exhilarating and the lows cruel.

I took in the second half of the MIT - Coast Guard game @ CG.

MIT pulled away to a 15 point lead behind consecutive 3-pt bombs from AJ Jurko with 3 minutes to play and then Jurko went down on a blocking foul at the other end.

There was a pileup under the basket and as they unstacked you could see Jurko writhing and players from both teams immediately call for trainers.  Over the next 15 minutes of stoppage various medical people came racing to that end and the video focused away from the basket and audio was turned off.
It was apparent (without speculating out of hand) that something really bad had occurred.  Players from both teams had their hands on their heads.  I could see someone running to that end with a stabilizing cast or the like.  Then the gurney and EMTs wheeled him out on camera.
When the audio returned the play-by-play man said Jurko had gotten up under his own power but was placed in a neck brace with no apparent signs of paralysis to his limbs.  I hope that's the case.  Nevertheless (speculating here) something gruesome must have happened for the players to walk away so quickly and appear so distraught.
The game was called to a conclusion with 2:50 to play and both teams huddled/consoled separately.

Basketball of course is a distant second to this young man's well being.  We can all hope things turn out as well for Jurko as they did for Jomard last year when he too was taken away on a gurney and returned to action several weeks later.

Allow me (on a basketball board) to address the secondary implication if Jurko is unable to return this, his senior year, from injury.  I've posted before that I consider Jurko the engine behind MIT.  Without him, and without any sign of Forsythe returning, a deep postseason run is beyond a reasonable expectation. 

I wish AJ nothing but the best.

seamusoflannigan1934

WOW! Huge week for Emerson as they pick up big time wins over coast guard AND Clarke. They look primed to run through the NEWMAC and are starting to look like a real tournament team. Gray continues to be outstanding and also nice to see O'Connor and Waterhouse contributing as well. As strong as MIT has looked, due to unfortunate luck with injuries I think Emerson is my pick for the NEWMAC regular season title. 2-0 after the first week with no signs of slowing down, a bit early to predict 14-0 but I don't think it's out of the question for this team. The sky is the limit

Pat Coleman

Welcome! Not sure I've ever seen someone go 14 months between registering and making their first post!
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WPI89

Welcome Seamus - aggressive/excited first post.  But anybody posting on NEWMAC is more than welcome.

Time for WPI to start its next streak tomorrow night.  9 wins.  4 losses.  9 more wins coming starting tomorrow.

Mr Oflannigan - because of your enthusiasm, I am ending WPI's next win streak at 9 - at Emerson, 2/9.  :)

BaboNation

#3688
I took in the 2nd half of the Springfield-Clark game at CU (no idea why they had an 11:30 tip and the stands had a lot of K-12 kids - maybe I'm not up on my holidays).

Clark, down 10 at the half, hung around long enough to start feeling it and then won going away.  This was no fluke.  Springfield's offensive stat line will look decent in the box score, and Ross, Post, and especially Witter got their points, but they got killed on the glass. 
Here's the game in a nutshell - Springfield went over 17 minutes of the second half without a defensive rebound.  When Clark wasn't making a layup or a 3 they were getting their own rebound.
Clark's sophomore  PG Gayman had a really nice game, displaying long range beyond the arc, quickness to the hoop, and wonderful court smarts in dishing 7 assists.
In the new era of 3-pt emphasis you can't allow a hungry team to stay within striking range and get a rhythm if you are only occasionally going to play defense.

BaboNation

MIT down 46-38 @ Emerson at halftime.

The usual suspects filling it up for Emerson, both 20 ppg scorers, Gray and O'Connor.

Taking NOTHING away from Emerson, MIT is now playing without Forsythe (since early in the season), Korb (since winter break), and Jurko (injured last game and likely out for an extended period).  Without question that's 3 of their 5 best players, and in Korb and Jurko an immense amount of senior leadership.  If this is the new normal MIT may fall from an otherwise gaudy NEWMAC record to something more like 8-6.