Quote from: SpringSt7 on Yesterday at 04:03:24 PMI believe that is what they call a statement win for the defending champs

Yes and if Okorougo shoots from the outside they way he did today not sure anyone can beat them.

Trinity sneaked out a win last night. Had a 10 point lead with about five minutes to go but almost lost it at the end. Trinity did not look good in the last five minutes, mental mistakes and bad shot selection. St Joe's much better than I thought. Very physical, athletic and they made 3 point shots down the stretch. Outplayed Trinity in most aspects of game except for turnovers as they had over 20 turnovers, which ultimately cost them the game. St Joe's got multiple Trinity starters in foul trouble as well and killed Trinity on the boards.
Will be interesting to see how Trinity plays against Babson on Saturday

Quote from: nescac1 on December 04, 2025, 10:25:38 AMWow Quicksilver, that is a lot of injuries, and helps explain why Bowdoin looked so anemic around its stars.  It seems like Bowdoin could have a loaded sophomore class, if they can ever get them all healthy together.  Bleecker has had especially tough luck and clearly is someone who can really help them if he gets healthy again.

Back to Dawkins, he's averaging 15-4-4 plus 2 spg on 62 percent shooting since he entered the staring lineup, not bad for a first semester FY, and he certainly satisfies the eye test.  I have not seen the alley-oop highlight from last night, but here is an equally impressive dunk from earlier this season:

https://x.com/BrewsterHoops/status/1989545824754290700?s=20

Dawkins provides a good chance of Bowdoin getting back-to-back ROTY winners - if he can improve his three point and foul shooting he should have a floor of an all-league player with potential to be more than that down the line.

Meanwhile several folks here (including me!) picked Bates as a dark horse this year and they certainly are playing up to that billing.  They are 7-0 and I expect will be 9-0 heading into a huge holiday tournament against Emory and Maryville.  Pouye continues to be a big presence in the paint and does a bit of everything, and still has plenty of unrealized upside.  Coyne and Cravitz give them two dangerous shooters, and FY Robinson looks like he will be a high-level penetrator off the dribble.  Psyhogeos has had a quiet start to the season but he gives them another crafty offensive creator. They could really use one or two bigger wings up front to take pressure of Pouye, that's a hole on the roster, but otherwise look solid. 

Does anyone know what happened to Natrel Allen at Bowdoin. 2 years ago as a freshmen he started off very well, then got hurt. Was on the roster lasted year but didn't play. Would have been a junior this year. His size I think would have really helped them, which is what the need.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on December 01, 2025, 04:56:07 PMSo basically no one has played a good schedule. LOL

Wesleyan has, Tufts looks like the next best. But yes not a lot of teams that anyone would consider ncaa teams. Trinity always seems to play a weak pre January 1st schedule although last year and this year they have tried to improve the schedule but hasn't worked out.

Post Thanksgiving NESCAC rankings

1) Trinity 5-0 - While they have played a weak schedule, with only 1 good team in Yeshiva, they have pretty much destroyed everyone by halftime. They have by far the best depth in the league and I don't think anyone competes with their top 7. Berry and McDonald would start for anyone, and Berry would be a lock for all league on any other team. The team locks everyone down defensively. David Ayles looks like the perfect replacement for Will Dorion. 3 additional sophomores have all played meaning full minutes. Not sure that any freshman get a chance to play with all the talent in from of them.
2) Wesleyan 3-2 - Maybe a not so great loss to Farmingdale, but it was on the road. They have played 2 top 25 teams, beating one and losing to the other in o/t and both on the road or neutral sites. Seems like a different person is stepping up every game, they have some depth and looks like they are shooting the ball well and very well coached.
3) Colby - They are 6-0 and Max Poulton has not been a huge factor. Their schedule has not been great, but they did beat Endicott, although at home. Civello has been playing great and is averaging 18 points, 9 rebounds and shooting over 50% from 3, taking 5 threes a game. Team seems to be playing defense at a much higher level than in the past. They seem to be playing a lot of players, when the settle into a consistent rotation, this team could do some damage at the top of the league.
4) Tufts - They are 5-2, have 1 dominating win and could easily be 1-7. Every game, but 1, has been a fight for them. Maybe this helps them in the long run. Gyimesi has been very solid, Medley shooting it ok, but defense has been an issue and their outside shooting has been inconsistent. Just seems like the team is out of synch, and recent lineup changes. Couple of easy games coming up, then they play Clark and WPI. Will be interesting to see where they stand before NESCAC play.
5) Bates - 6-0, not a great schedule, but they seem to be taking care of business. Coyne shooting the ball well and  Pouye is averaging a double double, shooting it over 62% and playing like a player of the year candidate. Bowdoin and Emory coming up in the next 5 games, will tell us more. This team is going to make NESCAC playoffs and could make a run at a NCAA spot.
6) Williams, 5-1, not a great schedule. This team I had trouble slotting 3-10, I think they could end up at any of those spots. Will be interesting to see what happens this Saturday against Wesleyan. Lee out is a big loss, does anyone know if serious or for how long. Agree with a number here, that Rein looks great so far, has size, skill, smarts, scores and rebounds. Easily their best player and maybe a 1st team all league player as well. I am still not sold on their defense or rebounding. 12 turnovers per game against the teams they are playing is not great. But they have some young players with talent so it may take another 5-10 games before it all comes together and then maybe top 4 in league.
7) Conn - 4-1, with their loss at Eastern Connecticut, some would say bad loss, but Eastern can shoot the 3 and they did shoot it well against Conn in that game. Looks like the transfer players are more than solid and Espinosa is the 4th leading scorer on the team and not shooting it great, when he comes around they should be better. Hate their zone defense but it does cause issues and they are well coached.
8-10 not in any particular order.
8) Amherst - 5-1, not a great schedule, but with the exception of their loss to Springfield on the road, they have pretty much handled everyone easily. Hammond and Geraud leading the way. They lack size and that may be their downfall. But they are playing with passion, which is how they finished last year.
9) Middlebury - 4-1, not a great schedule. To compare, Middlebury beat Union by 1 at home, Trinity beat Union by 40+ at Union. Just so many holes for them along with a new coach. Looks like McKersie is finally healthy. But still too early to know. I like Ducree, chance for Freshman of year. Can Murray and Cwalina keep up with they way they are scoring.
10) Bowdoin - 5-1, another team not playing a great schedule. The best team they have played is Brandeis and they lost, but it was very competitive. Cuevas picking up where he left off last year, but not sold on the rest of this team.
11) Hamilton 2-4, not a surprise, they lost a ton and so far it has really showed. They will need a couple of players to step up and they could be looking at 0-10 in the NESCAC.

Hamilton most likely not going to make Playoffs, 5 teams fighting for 3 spots. Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Conn, Bowdoin. Trinity, Wesleyan, Tufts, Bates and Colby IMO are locks.

All League - So far I think there are 5 locks for the first team, Gyimesi, Pouye, Vetter, Lazarre and Okorougo. Yes 3 Trinity for top team, easier to do now with 7 players, but not sure who knocks any of these 3 off.

The balance of 9 players, just too early, but there are at least 20+ players that could take these 9 spots.

POY, looks like it will come down to Vetter and Pouye. Toss up right now. If Bates could get to the top 4 in the league, my vote would be for Pouye. The talent level difference on both teams would give Pouye the nod.

Quote from: stlawus on November 24, 2025, 10:17:52 PMIs the top 25 about who are the best teams at the end of the season or who are the best teams right now?  Otherwise what is even the point of doing a poll if results aren't going to matter.
[/quote
Great point. Tufts has plenty of time to get back into the top 25, but 2 losses and a 3rd that could easily have happened at home against Yeshiva that got thumped by Trinity at Yeshica and Trinity was missing their starting center. Yeshiva has played a tough schedule but lost them all.
Teams like Mary Washington and Illinois Wesleyan moved up a lot which they should have and teams with bad losses barely move down if not at all.

Yeshiva has had to of played the toughest schedule in the country. Randolph Macon, Mary Washington, Trinity and Tufts all ranked along with Chapman.
They had Tufts beat at Tufts but completely fell apart today. 20 point lead with less than 10 minutes to go. Lost in ot. Good comeback for Tufts

Quote from: nescac1 on November 17, 2025, 10:15:13 AMSome early-season NESCAC observations, part one.  Overall, not a super-impressive first weekend for the league, with five teams already picking up losses, and several others struggling to put away weak opponents. 

Two teams that seem to be benefiting the most from newcomers are Conn College and Amherst.  Conn beat a usually-decent Emerson team despite a very quiet night from Espinosa thanks to big games from two scholarship-level transfers, James Lafrance and Greg Cantwell, and FY Cole Craffey.  A third transfer, PJ Johnson, also played off the bench.  Seems like a huge talent infusion for Conn, which plays an easy first-semester schedule and could rack up a lot of wins while all the new guys figure out how to play together. They may be a team to watch if those newcomers keep lighting it up.  I saw a few minutes of Amherst and they too seem to be benefitting from newcomers as well as a very different style of play, a ton of dribble-drive and kick on offense.  With Chin, Garraud and solid transfer Adnan, Amherst starts three players who can make plays off the dribble and pressure the ball on defense, FY Woodberry is a shooter, and FY Margolin looks like a solid glue guy off the bench.  Amherst has very little inside on offense or in terms of rim protection, especially with the FY center seemingly out with an injury for now and Randall not playing for at least the first semester, but may not be tested too much by an extremely weak first-semester schedule.  I think both Amherst and especially Conn project a bit higher than I figured based on projections from last year's returnees. 

Conn and Amherst both are, for now, playing smaller, quicker lineups, so it will be interesting to see how they hold up against bigger frontcourts, but really, other than Tufts, there aren't a lot of NESCAC squads who figure to be powerful inside in any event this year.  Nearly the entire conference is playing fairly small. Speaking of very small, Middlebury started a 5'9, 5'10, 6'4, 6'5, 6'6 group in its first game - that's like an average high school team!  I assume yet another NESCAC team that's going to try to play fast with guards who look to push the pace. 

I haven't been able to see much of Williams but SpringSt7 and Toad's takes seem like good ones.  Right now the backcourt is hurt by injuries with Cooley yet to play and Lee out for game two, if Lee is out for a significant period of time, it's obviously a huge loss for Williams.  I think the frontcourt is a strength with Rein looking great, and Hansen and Yates will both get it going I have no doubt, and I agree that Sommers just looks like he belongs already and adds a different element on both ends with his length, and hopefully will get more playing time as the season moves long, a ton of upside there.  That groups offers a ton of length, shooting, and skill up front. 

On the other hand, with the veterans who are out (also senior Ben McGraw remains injured as well), it feels like a trial-and-error hodgepodge at guard, which isn't ideal but there is at least time to figure out more definitive roles over the next few weeks.  With Lee out, Belcher and Devine are the two most dynamic athletes/creators/scorers back there and seemed to have good moments against Alfred, and I do think the upside of the team involves them both playing well in larger roles, but clearly App is trusting other guys who are may be steadier hands right now.  Chibuogwu is a great story and clearly has earned his spot in the rotation with hard-nosed play on both ends (especially defensively), but he's not going to be a big scorer or anything on the perimeter.  Cooley when he returns will add a steady, physical two-way presence with a bit more experience and will certainly play big minutes in the perimeter rotation. Williams clearly has great depth but need to figure out who will pair with Lee in crucial moments, and if Lee is out for an extended period, then Williams desperately needs someone to take a big step up from role player to primary creator at guard.

NESCAC, did Zene play for Conn, was a good pickup for them last year before he got hurt.

Quote from: SpringSt7 on November 16, 2025, 08:42:02 PMSo looking at Tufts schedule they started the season by playing:

Friday 11/14 @ Babson
Sunday 11/16 @ Endicott
Tuesday 11/18 vs. Suffolk
Thursday 11/20 vs. Emerson
Sunday 11/23 vs. Yeshiva
Tuesday 11/25 @ MIT

Ignoring the fact that they play some pretty good teams because that isn't my gripe - why are they playing every other day for two weeks? They don't get to practice back to back days over this entire unless they choose not to take an off day (against NCAA rules, not the end of the world if they break it but pointing it out) or just don't practice the day before a game which also seems strange. But I don't know how you are supposed to improve early in the season with very limited practice time if you schedule games like that

Great points. Need time to practice to fix your weaknesses. Playing pretty much every other day for 10 days and the team having to have at least 1-2 days off in the same timeframe is hard on the team. Not easy as a whole to fix their issues during this time.

Endicott played very well. Tufts guards played better today but Gyimesi not a factor. I think 2 points and in foul trouble entire game and fouled out.
More impressed with Endicott than Babson. They have some size/bulk and play tough. Not a knock on Babson but Endicott looks like a more complete team. Great start for both of them.
Tufts has some easier games coming up to right the ship

Jumbo's worst nightmare. Tufts still a top 15 team but can't give up 80+ plus points to a team with very little inside game.
Babson shot lights out until last 5 minutes of game and tufts starting guards and small forward couldn't have shot it worse.
Same issues, guard, wings shoot terribly (3-23) and couldn't guard.
Gyimesi played great. Should have pounded more down low with Bernstein as well.

Quote from: jumbomumbo on November 13, 2025, 12:12:22 PMWith the first game a day away, Mumbo   Is going to go on the record here. The Tufts University Jumbos are going to go 24-0 in regular season this year. They're going to win the NESCAC, and they're going to be national champions.

Sincerely,
Jumbomumbo

Did you wake up from your dream yet, lol!

Quote from: ImTold on November 06, 2025, 08:39:43 AMI'm Told Tristan Joseph's absence is health related

Hope it is not serious and whatever it is, he can recover and have a great senior year, whether he plays basketball or not.

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on October 30, 2025, 01:47:38 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on October 30, 2025, 01:36:52 PMOn another NESCAC note, I noticed that Tristan Joseph isn't playing for Middlebury this year.  Certainly a tough loss for them in a transition year with a new coach.  Based on the rosters released so far, no other major surprises in terms of players not returning. 

He's majoring in neuroscience.  Might not have been enough time this year!

Thats a huge loss for them. 16 points per game last year.

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on October 27, 2025, 12:15:21 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on October 27, 2025, 11:55:30 AM

Quote from: maineman on October 27, 2025, 11:22:03 AMDo NESCAC practices start Nov 1?

They start Oct. 15 now, to my understanding.

I was told Oct 22nd by a NESCAC coach a couple weeks ago.

Correct they started on the 22nd, a week later i believe than most teams in D3, due to the NESCAC rule of the priority of academics.