MBB: NESCAC

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

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 5 Guests are viewing this topic.

ziggy

The-person-known-on-these-boards as KnightSlappy and I launched a D3 basketball youtube show last month (link in the sig) and one of the topics we discussed for this time leading up to the new season is a D3 basketball bucket list. We have been trying to solicit feedback for that via the YT channel and twitter but wanted to put out the call here as well as we know not everyone is connected on those platforms.

We got started with a few items of our own and some feedback from others already but are looking for as much input to consider as possible. If you have a game, venue, event, etc. you think is essential bucket list material for any D3 basketball fan please send me a private message this week and we will be sure to add it to the list. Thanks!

Middfan

Quote from: Painter66 on September 01, 2022, 01:39:31 PM
The Middlebury schedule is posted and it is very tough. 23 games, 7 home games, with only 4 of 10 NESCAC games at home. At Williams for 2nd consecutive year. They should be good but this is really difficult.

Adding to Middlebury's tough start is a reported scheduled scrimmage against the University of Vermont on November 2nd.  This must be at the very beginning of official team practices.  As board readers know, UVM is the defending America East champion and frequent NCAA tournament participant. 

P'bearfan

Quote from: ziggy on September 26, 2022, 02:30:17 PM
The-person-known-on-these-boards as KnightSlappy and I launched a D3 basketball youtube show last month (link in the sig) and one of the topics we discussed for this time leading up to the new season is a D3 basketball bucket list. We have been trying to solicit feedback for that via the YT channel and twitter but wanted to put out the call here as well as we know not everyone is connected on those platforms.

We got started with a few items of our own and some feedback from others already but are looking for as much input to consider as possible. If you have a game, venue, event, etc. you think is essential bucket list material for any D3 basketball fan please send me a private message this week and we will be sure to add it to the list. Thanks!

Suspect you will get lots of answers here, but mine would be a Bowdoin v Bates game played at Alumni Gym.  Bowdoin and Bates are in-state rivals and Bates' Alumni Gym is the Cameron Indoor Stadium of D3 basketball.  The feel is old school, the students are raucous and sit almost on top of the action.  Good times (especially when John Swords is your center).

nescac1

Hah my first suggestion was Bates v. either Colby or Bowdoin at Alumni Gym. 

Others: a Williams-Amherst game, ideally in the post-season (I am biased, but I'm partial to Chandler just because it's much bigger and can accommodate a bigger crowd for the biggest Williams-Amherst games, and also you can stop by and check out Lasell, one of the coolest historic D3 gyms anywhere, even if now not used for varsity game action); a game at Cousens (Tufts) just because it's the best gym, aesthetically; Pepin (great program, nice gym, great crowd); and Springfield (birthplace of basketball, weird, quirky gym, can pair with a visit to basketball hall of fame).  Those are the only New England ones that came to mind for me, although I imagine there are some other cool gyms worth visiting outside of NESCAC that I've never seen ...

nescac1

Only a few weeks until practice ... taking a shot at a pre-season all-league team (the first team is super easy, at least):

First team:
Alex Sobel (POY) - Midd
Nicky Johnson - Wesleyan
Sam Stevens - Midd
Dylan Thoerner - Tufts
Nate Karren - Williams

All five of those guys should if healthy be no worse than all-regional players and all could be all-Americans if things break right.   

Second team:
Stephon Baxter (he was considering transferring but I believe he is back) - Bates
Will King - Colby
Noah Tyson - Colby
Ben Callahan-Gold - Trinity
and a cheat ... one other Eph starter (Spivy, Prowitt-Smith, Porter, Roughley, honestly could pick any of the four, any could have a big year)

Other guys to watch:  Jahmir Primer (Bates), Jarron Flynn (Conn), Eric Anderson (Hamilton) and Noah Osher (Midd). 

Feels weird to have not even one Amherst guy on the "guy to watch" list but Amherst has no one returning who averaged even 7 ppg in league play, and it's hard to say who from their huge rotation is going to step up for them.  My best guess would be Ryker Vance or Canin Reynolds, maybe Will Scherer, but all those guys are at least a year away from the all-league convo. 

JEFFFAN


And the Biddy Martin experiment continues to produce crap results ... not one Amherst player in the conversation, which I agree with.  Two sports with great history - football and basketball - are now in the tank?

nescac1

Jefffan I agree football looks pretty bleak for Amherst.  Hoops, however, I would not give up on yet.  I think the upperclass talent is very limited - it's quite possible not one junior or senior starts next year.  But while the jury is obviously still out, it seems like Sears landed two strong recruiting classes.  I think Amherst hoops may well have a bright future.  Just depends on how fast those classes grow into their roles ...

SpringSt7

I'll give my thoughts on teams in the near future but just thought I'd add a reminder on how hard it is to be a 2x 1st-team all-league guy, especially going back to back. In recent memory, Kena Gilmour was an impressive 3x 1st team all leaguer and lLuke Rogers and Bobby Casey went back to back as well their last two years. I often think of how Grant Robinson, Jack Farrell, and Austin Hutcherson were all 1st team guards as sophomores in the same year and never returned to those spots again. Obviously a combination of factors at play for those three--injuries, transfers, and COVID---but it seems incredibly unlikely to me that Karren, Sobel, and Thoerner are all repeat selections.

Additionally, it is very hard to have 2 guys from the same team on the first team, although Williams and Middlebury certainly have the horses to do so this year. The only guys I can think of in recent memory were Aaron Toomey and Willy Workman in 2013, Joey Kizel and Nolan Thompson, also 2013, James Heskett and Bobby Casey in 2018, and Dylan Thoerner and Luke Rogers last season, which quite frankly, was wrong. Seems increasingly hard to do now too that the days of Amherst, Williams, and Middlebury all winning 8+ league games a year are in the past.

nescac1

Now that everyone has released schedules, thought I'd post some non-league games (excluded intra-NESCAC non-league games) to watch.

Amherst: another incredibly weak schedule for Amherst outside of the Little Three games, lots of likely blow-outs, only at Babson on Nov. 23 looks remotely interesting.  Blah, do better. 

Bates: at Babson Dec 1; v. Emory Dec 3; v. Brandeis Dec 4; v. Marietta Dec 29; v. Gettysburg Dec 30 (maybe the most fun non-league schedule, with games vs. out-of-region powers Marietta and Emory plus a Gettysburg team that could be good)

Bowdoin: at Swarthmore Nov 12; v. Babson Nov 27; at Rochester Dec 3; v. CMU Dec 4 (too bad Bowdoin is still way down talent-wise because I love the coaching match-up v. Swarthmore)

Colby: Brandeis Dec 3; Emory Dec. 4 (other than the NESCAC-UAA challenge games, a pretty meh schedule)

Conn: at UMD Nov 11; Eastern Conn Nov. 27; at Emory Dec 29

Hamilton: WPI Dec 3; Utica Dec 8; at Ithaca Jan 2 (the only NESCAC team that plays likely top-10 team WPI, alas, wish it was a top-tier NESCAC team)

Middlebury: v. Nichols Nov 19; at Endicott Nov 27; v. CMU Dec 3; at Rochester Dec 4; at Skidmore Dec 10; Stevens Dec. 11; v. New Paltz Dec. 29; (potentially) at Eastern Conn Dec. 30; at Keene Jan 16 (just a brutal non-league schedule with very few gimmees and lots of tough road/neutral games.  Midd v. Nichols, who looks LOADED this year, will be maybe the most fun non-league game just from a style match-up, and Rochester, Keene, and Eastern Conn are very tough road games)

Tufts: at Emerson, Nov 12; at Babson Nov 19; St. Joe's Nov 29; UMD Dec 3; at Harvard Dec 4 (those first eight games on the schedule are TOUGH, if Tufts comes out over .500, watch out.  St. Joe's is another team that brings all but one guy back, they are loaded.  Starting the season on the road at Emerson, which has is all-American center back, is a tough ask.  And of course, the Harvard game will be really fun albeit likely not terribly competitive). 

Trinity: Nichols Nov. 12, Eastern Conn Nov. 22 (absolute cream-puff schedule for the most part, only two really notable non-league games and both are at home.  Starting with Nichols is tough, but Trinity should have a very good record heading into league play). 

Wesleyan: at Swarthmore Nov 13, v. Rowan Nov 19, v. UMD Dec 23 (Wesleyan faces two very tough early tests with Swarthmore and Rowan, so we will know very early on how they've adjusted after losing two big-time players to graduation)

Williams: at St. Lawrence Nov. 27; RPI Nov. 29; Vassar Jan 2; New Paltz Feb. 7 (RPI brings back all but one guy who played in the tough Sweet 16 loss to WPI, so that one should be fun, and Vassar has everyone back from an NCAA team and could be good)

stlawus

#29514
Quote from: nescac1 on October 11, 2022, 03:49:54 PM
Now that everyone has released schedules, thought I'd post some non-league games (excluded intra-NESCAC non-league games) to watch.

Amherst: another incredibly weak schedule for Amherst outside of the Little Three games, lots of likely blow-outs, only at Babson on Nov. 23 looks remotely interesting.  Blah, do better. 

Bates: at Babson Dec 1; v. Emory Dec 3; v. Brandeis Dec 4; v. Marietta Dec 29; v. Gettysburg Dec 30 (maybe the most fun non-league schedule, with games vs. out-of-region powers Marietta and Emory plus a Gettysburg team that could be good)

Bowdoin: at Swarthmore Nov 12; v. Babson Nov 27; at Rochester Dec 3; v. CMU Dec 4 (too bad Bowdoin is still way down talent-wise because I love the coaching match-up v. Swarthmore)

Colby: Brandeis Dec 3; Emory Dec. 4 (other than the NESCAC-UAA challenge games, a pretty meh schedule)

Conn: at UMD Nov 11; Eastern Conn Nov. 27; at Emory Dec 29

Hamilton: WPI Dec 3; Utica Dec 8; at Ithaca Jan 2 (the only NESCAC team that plays likely top-10 team WPI, alas, wish it was a top-tier NESCAC team)

Middlebury: v. Nichols Nov 19; at Endicott Nov 27; v. CMU Dec 3; at Rochester Dec 4; at Skidmore Dec 10; Stevens Dec. 11; v. New Paltz Dec. 29; (potentially) at Eastern Conn Dec. 30; at Keene Jan 16 (just a brutal non-league schedule with very few gimmees and lots of tough road/neutral games.  Midd v. Nichols, who looks LOADED this year, will be maybe the most fun non-league game just from a style match-up, and Rochester, Keene, and Eastern Conn are very tough road games)

Tufts: at Emerson, Nov 12; at Babson Nov 19; St. Joe's Nov 29; UMD Dec 3; at Harvard Dec 4 (those first eight games on the schedule are TOUGH, if Tufts comes out over .500, watch out.  St. Joe's is another team that brings all but one guy back, they are loaded.  Starting the season on the road at Emerson, which has is all-American center back, is a tough ask.  And of course, the Harvard game will be really fun albeit likely not terribly competitive). 

Trinity: Nichols Nov. 12, Eastern Conn Nov. 22 (absolute cream-puff schedule for the most part, only two really notable non-league games and both are at home.  Starting with Nichols is tough, but Trinity should have a very good record heading into league play). 

Wesleyan: at Swarthmore Nov 13, v. Rowan Nov 19, v. UMD Dec 23 (Wesleyan faces two very tough early tests with Swarthmore and Rowan, so we will know very early on how they've adjusted after losing two big-time players to graduation)

Williams: at St. Lawrence Nov. 27; RPI Nov. 29; Vassar Jan 2; New Paltz Feb. 7 (RPI brings back all but one guy who played in the tough Sweet 16 loss to WPI, so that one should be fun, and Vassar has everyone back from an NCAA team and could be good)

I expect Williams to win all 3 games against Liberty League opponents, but all 3 match ups should be quality games and will benefit the Liberty League due to how insanely talented Williams is.  Between all 3 LL teams there is a combined 3 starters lost to graduation from last year.   I'm very happy SLU is playing Williams simply from a SOS metric.  SLU used to play Middlebury somewhat frequently and have played NESCAC teams here and there when not playing Middlebury but have not played a NESCAC opponent since 2017. 


nescac1

Looks like all three of Amherst's recruits to date can really shoot the three ball ... of course, that won't impact THIS season, when the big question for the Mammoths is, who will score on the perimeter with any sort of volume and efficiency?  A lot of opportunities for young guards and wings to step up. 

Amherst will have three guards (whatever they may be listed at) who are 5'8 or under on next year's team, and I imagine we will see two of them playing together a fair amount over the next few years.  Will really test that "size of the fight in the dog" maxim!  Of course, if you average them out with a pair of 6'10-and-over big guys, you get four average-sized hoopers:). 

JEFFFAN

Quote from: jayhawk on October 13, 2022, 03:57:10 PM
nobles point guard commits to Amherst
https://twitter.com/MarcGarraud1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Love the step-back and the great form ... but 5'8" going up against guys 4-5 inches taller???

Bucket

Sad news from Middlebury: Butch Varno passed away last night.

warriorcat

I remember Butch from my time at Midd in the mid 70's with the soccer and basketball programs.  Butch was a beacon of light to the basketball team in those days when they played in  front of "crowds" of less than 50 people for most games.  Hockey was king in the winter season but Butch was at every hoop game and the players loved having him behind them.