MBB: NESCAC

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

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Old Guy

Sorry, one more Midd observation: for purists, perhaps the best thing about watching the Panthers play is watching them play man-to-man defense. Really a skillful dance — double the man over the top, recover on the roll to the hoop, switch underneath, race to the shooter in the corner. Really nice — smart, tough, fast.

nescac1

Counting Hamilton's pending win, Nescac now 20-2 on the season. Not too shabby for a league full of rebuilding teams. 

The competition does get tougher on the 21st as Nescac squads face three of the best teams in the region that night (Eastern Conn, MIT, Nichols).  I'd say based on early returns those are three of the top 7-8 in New England.

Bucket

Quote from: nescac1 on November 19, 2017, 05:14:50 PM
Counting Hamilton's pending win, Nescac now 20-2 on the season. Not too shabby for a league full of rebuilding teams. 

The competition does get tougher on the 21st as Nescac squads face three of the best teams in the region that night (Eastern Conn, MIT, Nichols).  I'd say based on early returns those are three of the top 7-8 in New England.

And then a week from today, Midd travels to an Endicott squad that just topped Babson.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)

Quote from: Bucket on November 19, 2017, 07:29:20 PM
Quote from: nescac1 on November 19, 2017, 05:14:50 PM
Counting Hamilton's pending win, Nescac now 20-2 on the season. Not too shabby for a league full of rebuilding teams. 

The competition does get tougher on the 21st as Nescac squads face three of the best teams in the region that night (Eastern Conn, MIT, Nichols).  I'd say based on early returns those are three of the top 7-8 in New England.

And then a week from today, Midd travels to an Endicott squad that just topped Babson.

Biggest surprise of the year for me, right now.  That EC squad is almost entirely new.  Mostly freshmen with a few sophomores and a junior mixed in.  I wish I'd been able to watch the game to figure out if it was a fluke or they're just really good.
Lead Columnist for D3hoops.com
@ryanalanscott just about anywhere

P'bearfan

http://nothingbutnescac.com/

NbN's season preview of Bowdoin is now up....a nice read.

pinseeking1

The post-Delpeche era for Bates got off to a rocky start this weekend with a blowout loss to Trinity and a squeaker OT win against a weak MIne Maritime Academy team (picked to finish last in their conference).

The "new" Bobcats feature a 4-guard offense with a smallish (6'7") center, and the guards setting up on the perimeter. Against Trinity, the team would run a few high screens to get an open shot from the outside, with no one in to rebound. With the team experiencing a cold shooting night, it was basically one-and-done for the offense. The Bobcats fell behind early and the game got more out of reach with each passing minute. As noted earlier, Bates was out rebounded by 56-27.

Against MMA, the team shot a little better, but Bates controlled the boards, 51-40, again with only one big on the floor for most of the game. As with anything new, it may take a while for the Bobcats to find the right mix of outside shooting, driving to the basket, and working it inside to be effective. The guards are all competing for minutes and one will need to stand out as a floor leader and distributor of the ball for the offense to get moving.

middhoops

Did anyone else watch the Babson/Endicott game?
Don't let the score fool you, Babson is still very, very good.  But they lost, 90-80.
Endicott went into Babson's gym and shot the lights out from 3.
Keith Brown, a soph guard, put up 45 points and must have had at least 10 treys.
A bit of poking around showed he'd scored 38 the day before in the same manner.
Middlebury fans may rightly feel that no one can do that against Jack Daly. 
However, Brown is 6-2 and 195.  Same size as Daly.  With a near opposite game.
Turns out that the Gulls were hiding plenty of talent on the bench last year while starting 5 seniors.  Babson will tell you so.
The CCC had two teams (Endicott and Nichols) make it to the Sweet 16 last March.  It appears that is possible again.
Middlebury has the size, speed and experience to go to Beverley and scratch out a win next Sunday, but it ain't going to be easy.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)

Quote from: middhoops on November 20, 2017, 07:53:05 AM
Did anyone else watch the Babson/Endicott game?
Don't let the score fool you, Babson is still very, very good.  But they lost, 90-80.
Endicott went into Babson's gym and shot the lights out from 3.
Keith Brown, a soph guard, put up 45 points and must have had at least 10 treys.
A bit of poking around showed he'd scored 38 the day before in the same manner.
Middlebury fans may rightly feel that no one can do that against Jack Daly. 
However, Brown is 6-2 and 195.  Same size as Daly.  With a near opposite game.
Turns out that the Gulls were hiding plenty of talent on the bench last year while starting 5 seniors.  Babson will tell you so.
The CCC had two teams (Endicott and Nichols) make it to the Sweet 16 last March.  It appears that is possible again.
Middlebury has the size, speed and experience to go to Beverley and scratch out a win next Sunday, but it ain't going to be easy.

I was driving back from Marietta, so I missed watching it, but from what I understand it was a combination of EC shooting the lights out and Babson not really being consistent yet with all the new additions.  One thing everyone seems certain about is that Keith Brown is for real.  Apparently he can't do anything but score 35 points.  Good locker room fodder for Middlebury - we're counting on the Panthers to make Brown prove what he can do.
Lead Columnist for D3hoops.com
@ryanalanscott just about anywhere

nescac1

Looking at Keith Brown, he was a highly-touted recruit, two-time player of the year in New Hampshire who averaged nearly 30 ppg as a senior in high school.  As a frosh, he did have to come off the bench behind a talented, veteran backcourt duo, but after missing the first month of the season, in his limited time put up very impressive stats ... 9.1 ppg in only 17 mpg, on 42/42/79 splits.   Still, based on early returns looks like he may have made a big leap.  Endicott seems to have rebuilt in a hurry around Brown and frosh Matt McDevitt, a big man who was Maine player of the year last year. 

Endicott and Nichols both look like top-10 N.E. regional teams out of the CCC based on VERY early returns this year.  I'd also put Williams, Midd, Tufts, Eastern Conn, Babson, and MIT in that category.  That's eight slots ... for the last two (as well as for sleepers to move higher), I'd say Springfield, Keene State, Amherst, Wesleyan, Trinity, Bowdoin, Albertus Magnus, Roger Williams and Salem State are the contenders / regional teams to keep an eye on.  Since there are lots of games among that group over the next few weeks, a clearer picture should start to emerge ...

Three darn strong contenders for the first NESCAC POW honors (but Savage has to be the guy considering the competition):

Jack Daly -- 17.5-10.5-9 on 52/50/80
Kyle Scadlock -- 24-11-2.5 plus 2 spg on 54/33/85
Eric Savage -- 24-14-6.5 on 55/53/75

Speaking of Scadlock, and the earlier topic of injuries, he is the engine that makes Williams go on both ends this year.  It is imperative that he stay healthy, he looks like he's primed for a massive year ... the reality is, if any team in the NESCAC loses one its top two guys for an extended period, it makes a big difference, but especially for the favorites, as all have 1-2 indispensible players it seems. 

amh63

Middhoops...scouting ahead I see :).
Was busy watching WBB...D1 and D3.  Amherst women and UConn women.  Amazing to me how getting the correct PG will impact a strong team.  UConn lost a great one and has a potential future great PG.  Maryland who had its young star PG transfer has a bare cupboard and will struggle until it recruits one.  Amherst WBB has two fine PGs.
For those that want to see how Amherst MBB is progressing...there is a game tonight at 7PM.  One thing for sure, the young "new" team can rebound and shoot from outside.  Defense is a work in progress as different combos are evaluated.

JEFFFAN


We have not gone through a beginning of the season at Amherst with less certainty about who is playing what role for at least a dozen years if not more.   Looking through the box score, it is clear that Hixon is playing a lot of folks for decent minutes in order to see what they have.  He was quoted as saying that he is very happy with the talent level but not sure who will emerge.  I think this uncertainty - even with talent - leads to a middle of the pack season with lots of youngsters playing very prominent roles.  A transition season.


middhoops

Quote from: JEFFFAN on November 20, 2017, 11:23:29 AM

We have not gone through a beginning of the season at Amherst with less certainty about who is playing what role for at least a dozen years if not more.   Looking through the box score, it is clear that Hixon is playing a lot of folks for decent minutes in order to see what they have.  He was quoted as saying that he is very happy with the talent level but not sure who will emerge.  I think this uncertainty - even with talent - leads to a middle of the pack season with lots of youngsters playing very prominent roles.  A transition season.
Lots of people watching this situation.
Everyone expects Hixon to have top level recruits in every class.  Eventually the cream rises to the surface.  The Amherst roster is full of players everyone else wanted, so chances are ..... yeah, they're going to get good.

Personally, I'm hoping it happens after the 2nd Saturday in February.  And in a far distant bracket from Middlebury.

toad22

It seems like the opening weekend for Williams almost never produces great basketball. Often in the past, they have been pretty bad, or at best, good enough to win against weak competition. Though this year's edition was, again, not stellar, they were solid, against better than average teams. Salem State, in particular, was a good team, likely to win their league and play in the NCAA tournament. Stevens, to a lesser extent, was also a nice team. Williams is now so deep with talented and experienced players, that they can roll over these types of teams without giving fans many heart attacks. Hopefully, the team will continue to get better and better. Nobody wins championships in November. All you can do now is build a foundation for great play later.

amh63

#24298
For those who want to watch tonight's Amherst's game at Westfield State...go to the Westfield State Athletic website to connect to the video broadcast.  D3hoops and the Amherst website presently shows no video or stats coverage.  Game starts at 7Pm.
Just watched the Bowdoin vs Westfield video coverage on Westfield's site!  Bowdoin's win for the Tourny Title.  Got a scouting report...personal one...of both Westfield and Bowdoin.  Westfield starts a much smaller team than Bowdoin....in a game that was close until the last 4-5 minutes.  It will be interesting to see how Amherst, with  an even bigger starting team does against a quick fine shooting Westfield team.  Hope J'Mac gets his offensive "groove" back.
Saw the Amherst players...MBB players...go to their dressing room last night near the end of the WBB game....around 7 30pm.  Late night shoot around, etc?  Amherst's foul shooting needs some work, IMO.  School closed for Thanksgiving presently.
Oh yes...Former player J. Dawson is an assistant coach...not listed...for the Amherst WBB team!   Interesting!  Womem's Team excels in ball movement to the open player.

FanOfNescac

Quote from: middhoops on November 20, 2017, 01:16:22 PM
Quote from: JEFFFAN on November 20, 2017, 11:23:29 AM

We have not gone through a beginning of the season at Amherst with less certainty about who is playing what role for at least a dozen years if not more.   Looking through the box score, it is clear that Hixon is playing a lot of folks for decent minutes in order to see what they have.  He was quoted as saying that he is very happy with the talent level but not sure who will emerge.  I think this uncertainty - even with talent - leads to a middle of the pack season with lots of youngsters playing very prominent roles.  A transition season.
Lots of people watching this situation.
Everyone expects Hixon to have top level recruits in every class.  Eventually the cream rises to the surface.  The Amherst roster is full of players everyone else wanted, so chances are ..... yeah, they're going to get good.

Personally, I'm hoping it happens after the 2nd Saturday in February.  And in a far distant bracket from Middlebury.

Hixon has earned the presumption that he will deliver a good team in March. But everybody knows that last year's Amherst team was loaded with talent (Dawson, George, McCarthy, others) and never coalesced. No guarantees.