[quote author=SpringSt7 link=msg=2148496 date=
The man of the match was sophomore wing Jackson Rein who paced the team with 19 points and 8 rebounds. I know a lot of people are high on his classmate Aidan Yates but I personally think Rein just oozes potential. He was 5-9 from 3 and I think he has future shooting performances like that in his future but his game is so solid, he can get to the rim, he has a little bit of a post game, just very Williams wing prototype that they have not had for a few
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There are a number of people close to the Williams program who think Yates and Rein will form an historically significant tandem over the course of their careers.

A couple of comments on Williams. First, D3BBALL had it right that the the Ephs need to avoid injuries. Last year, and the year before as well, the season was severely impacted by injury. If they can avoid so many bad injuries, they should be very good, and very deep. Alex Lee and Hudson Hansen will be the senior leaders. Both had good junior seasons, and look to be improved, based on scrimmages I have observed. Other seniors who will be very helpful, are Sammy Cooley and Isiaha Dickens. There is also a chance that Onyera Chibuogwu, a junior year walk-on will see significant time. Most everybody calls him O, and he has come out this year with fire in his eyes. He is a very tough, explosive guard, who love to play against tough opponents.

Look for both juniors, neither of whom have played many minutes in their careers, to make strong bids for playing time. Tyler Van Gorp is a 6'10" center, who came to Williams with only a couple of years of basketball under his belt. He has improved each year, and now I believe that he could be a strong back up. Matt Devine has been hurt for nearly all of his first two seasons. He seems to be healthy now, and playing great in scrimmages. He is a 6'4" G/F with outstanding athleticism. He shoots the 3 well, and seems to me to be the best 1-1 and 3-3 player on the team. The only question is whether he can play 5-5 as well. To be determined.

There are three sophomores that played a lot last year. Aiden Yates started from the beginning of the league season onward. As a starter, he averaged in double figures, while shooting 41% from 3 and 46% from 2. I see him as a future All League player. Jackson Rein is a 6'7" wing, who had a good FY season, but with many ups and downs, as befits most freshmen. Rein has come back to school very much improved. He is a lot stronger, perhaps a bit taller, with a much improved shot, both from the midrange and from 3. Rein should be a very significant player this year. Justin Belcher, a very quick guard, should play a lot. He shoots and scores well, and loves to play aggressive defense - in his first year, sometimes a bit overly aggressive. The last sophomore that seems to have a good chance to play this year is Matthew Nachamkin, a 6'7" wing with a great shooting touch and fine overall basketball skills. He has looked great in scrimmages.

I'm not going to single out First Year players. As a group, these five are very talented and I expect great things for all of them. There is not a single one that I doubt will be on the court during their careers, perhaps several this year. There are no "program players" in this group.

 I hope, and expect, that Williams will be severely underrated to start this season.

I am worried that all the pundits on this board have gone away. I rely on you guys to spill info and opinions about non-Williams teams in the league. I only know one team - Williams. What about you guys who follow other teams? I will start off by saying that the key to Williams will be good health. They have had very bad health going back several years. If the Ephs can stay healthy, I am confident they will be near the top of the league.

Interesting that even Cosgrove tightened his rotation as the tournament went on. I know that is standard stuff across the basketball world, but it was pretty dramatic even at Trinity. Against NYU, only 7 guys played 10 minutes. I guess some aspects of basketball are near universal.

Defense, defense, defense. Once again, Trinity wins with defense. Congratulations to Trinity and my younger brother, a good player for the Bantams in the '70s. Question: is that a reason for me to want Trinity to win or want them to lose? Ah, Family dynamics.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on March 21, 2025, 04:31:37 PMIt will be interesting if Zay Freeney plays tomorrow. If you didn't hear or see it apparently he hit a Wash U player in the groin and it was pretty obvious and intentional. He was called for a flagrant 2 after a review and was ejected from the game. I don't know the rules, but I'm curious if the NCAA could suspend him for the championship game as well. Also, if the coach feels it was intentional maybe he could suspend Freeney himself.

I watched that play and I certainly did not think it was intentional. The call was that the refs weren't certain that it was unintentional so it was an automatic ejection. It really wasn't that egregious. It was a foul though. I would have called it a common foul.

D1 is a bad place to be a coach. It is no fun anymore and you will likely get fired no matter what you do. D3 is the place to be!

Quote from: SpringSt7 on March 14, 2025, 09:16:53 PMHard to believe but Jamie Cosgrove is now the NESCAC active leader in Elite 8 appearances with 3. App with 2 and Reilly a few minutes away from joining the list.

Trinity is playing the best basketball of anyone left in the tournament in my opinion

Agreed, Trinity looks great. All the games should be fun tomorrow. Williams' old friend Aaron Kelly at Catholic had a great win today. They might be very tired though.

D3 Datacast says it would be a small upset if a NESCAC team doesn't win the national championship. Wow.

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on March 09, 2025, 12:25:26 PMSame thing happened in the CCIW title game - player traveled celebrating the win before the horn.  No call.

Although I thought perhaps the clock started a little slow at Tufts.  I was surprised he had enough time to even get to the rim.  It's funny that they'll review how much time was left on the clock, but rarely to they review whether the clock started on time to begin with.  Seems like both are important when we're talking tenths, right?

Williams lost the national championship game to UW-Whitewater in 2014 when, with 4.3 seconds to go, Williams went ahead by 1 on a tip in by Mike Mayer of a Duncan Robinson miss, and Whitewater took the in inbounds pass straight down the court, through all 5 Williams players, and laid it in, all in about 3.5 seconds. Nobody wants to foul the guy, so it is very hard to stop him. Great play by the Redlands guard.

Nothing excuses taunting of fans or parents by Redlands players. That should not happen, ever. Without making excuses for Redlands, I have personal knowledge of the verbal behavior of the group of Jumbo fans in question when Williams played Tufts. They are the most graphic, profane fans currently in the league. The visiting team hears them clearly from across the court. I do wish Tufts would police that a bit. It is in very poor taste. I actually like Tufts (even you Jumbo!), but this is an aspect of Jumboland that could use improvement.

Fan behavior in the NESCAC has varied over the years. Once, maybe 7-8 years ago at Wesleyan, the football team sat behind the Williams bench and got so profane and disgusting that complaints were made that made all the way to the top and the Wesleyan president had to apologize to the Williams president. In the 1990s, it was commonplace for profane drunk students to be kicked out of games all over the league.

What a crazy game in Medford. Redlands is so hard to play. They keep coming at you. Given the way most of the game played, it is hard to believe Tufts lost - but they did. I can't believe I'm writing this, but I am sorry Tufts lost. They are a very good team.

I don't think any D3 team can get comfortable with Redlands. They make you anxious no matter weather you easily break their press a few times in a row or not. They adjust to how you play and then stop that and make you play another way. This Redlands team is also very sloppy, and that is where Tufts has a big advantage. I do think Tufts is likely to win, but not without considerable basketball indigestion!

Watching Redlands, coached by Denny Bridgeland, playing St joes. Williams has played bridgeland teams twice, winning one and losing one. They are relentless. If you turn the ball over too much, you are in trouble.

Btw, I am quite confident that Hank Morgan was the runaway choice for POY.