MBB: NEWMAC

[WPI89]

I thought it way to juicy for them to pass up - yes!  Did the committee see it as a "reward" for WPI regular season and beating Babson twice, to  move them away from Trinity? 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I thought it way to juicy for them to pass up - yes!  Did the committee see it as a "reward" for WPI regular season and beating Babson twice, to  move them away from Trinity? 

If you want to know my honest opinion, I think they had a bracket in place Friday morning and tweaked it a little based on conference tournament results rather than going back to start over once the weekend finished.  I say this mostly because the bracket we got looks a lot like the mock bracket I made Friday morning.  The teams are placed where they should've been placed most of the week and not necessarily where they should've been placed after the events of the weekend.

[D3BALL13]

I believe Babson is in trouble. SJC Me is a bad match up for them. They have to defenders and athleticism to take both of Babsons guards out of the game. Also, All-American Remijo Wani seems unstoppable at this point in the season, and with a supporting cast like his, I believe it will be too much for Babson to handle. Im excited for this match up!

[D3BBALL]

I thought it way to juicy for them to pass up - yes!  Did the committee see it as a "reward" for WPI regular season and beating Babson twice, to  move them away from Trinity? 

If you want to know my honest opinion, I think they had a bracket in place Friday morning and tweaked it a little based on conference tournament results rather than going back to start over once the weekend finished.  I say this mostly because the bracket we got looks a lot like the mock bracket I made Friday morning.  The teams are placed where they should've been placed most of the week and not necessarily where they should've been placed after the events of the weekend.

So, we have you to blame,     .

But seriously it just looks like they had it done and didn't want to put the effort into changing anything. Just like the person thought Wesleyan and Tufts couldn't meet until final 4, if they meet it will be in the sweet 16! Doesn't matter that they are playing to go to Ft Wayne, same conference shouldn't be meeting this early (sweet 16) especially top 10 rated teams. Again, it just shows NCAA doesn't care to do the right thing for D3 sports. It has been that way for a long time.

[D3BBALL]

I believe Babson is in trouble. SJC Me is a bad match up for them. They have to defenders and athleticism to take both of Babsons guards out of the game. Also, All-American Remijo Wani seems unstoppable at this point in the season, and with a supporting cast like his, I believe it will be too much for Babson to handle. Im excited for this match up!

I think you are correct, will come down to how those 2 guards handle the pressure. If they handle it, they can stay and have a shot to beat St Joes at the end.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Both of those teams play with incredible confidence, which should make for a great game.  Whichever team can back up that confidence the most will win (obviously).

[BaboNation]

It would be foolish for Babson to take St. Joseph's for granted, but I hardly expect that to happen.  St. Joseph's is a formidable opponent, with a high-octane offense.

But the Babson guards have played against strong perimeter defenses in and out of conference.  I don't expect them to wilt.  And it's more than just  Ferdinando and Mulvey.  Logan Murphy stepped in when Begin got injured and is a deadly spot shooter and a better all-around player imo.  Ryan Frauenheim has also provided steady play at point guard and is a tenacious defender.

I expect Babson will play a fair amount of 4-guard sets with  Ferdinando, Mulvey, and Murphy playing 37+ minutes each, and Frauenheim and Fiore providing spot minutes.

Keys for Babson:

O'Toole and Lauder need to avoid foul trouble.  The interior defense gets shaky when they are out.  I'm less concerned about forward matchups than I am with dribble penetration.  Babson is 17-0  when they outrebound their opponents.

Keep turnovers to 10 or less.  I have confidence in their set defense, but they can't give away transitions that lead to easy baskets.

Hit the open 3's.  Babson is 16-1 when making at least 10.  Again, Mulvey, Ferdinando, Murphy, Frauenheim, Fiore are all capable of lighting it up.  Mulvey and Ferdinando are probably going to wind up #2 and #3 for most 3's for a single season in Babson history.  They're also 2nd and 8th in the entire country.

[D3BALL13]

It would be foolish for Babson to take St. Joseph's for granted, but I hardly expect that to happen.  St. Joseph's is a formidable opponent, with a high-octane offense.

But the Babson guards have played against strong perimeter defenses in and out of conference.  I don't expect them to wilt.  And it's more than just  Ferdinando and Mulvey.  Logan Murphy stepped in when Begin got injured and is a deadly spot shooter and a better all-around player imo.  Ryan Frauenheim has also provided steady play at point guard and is a tenacious defender.

I expect Babson will play a fair amount of 4-guard sets with  Ferdinando, Mulvey, and Murphy playing 37+ minutes each, and Frauenheim and Fiore providing spot minutes.

Keys for Babson:

O'Toole and Lauder need to avoid foul trouble.  The interior defense gets shaky when they are out.  I'm less concerned about forward matchups than I am with dribble penetration.  Babson is 17-0  when they outrebound their opponents.

Keep turnovers to 10 or less.  I have confidence in their set defense, but they can't give away transitions that lead to easy baskets.

Hit the open 3's.  Babson is 16-1 when making at least 10.  Again, Mulvey, Ferdinando, Murphy, Frauenheim, Fiore are all capable of lighting it up.  Mulvey and Ferdinando are probably going to wind up #2 and #3 for most 3's for a single season in Babson history.  They're also 2nd and 8th in the entire country.

This is a tough game because you know in the back of both SJC ME and Babson's mind is that they have a chance to knock off the #1 overall seed the next day, which is exciting but each team has to focus on winning Friday first, of course.

Babson is a very good team and program, however those guards have not seen the athleticism and length that SJC will bring on Friday. SJC ME has struggled against bigger and more physical teams which I don't see Babson as either of those. They have two of the best players on the floor at all times regardless of who they play in Remijo Wani and Wani Donato, which I also think will be the case on Saturday against Trinity when/if they get through Babson. Then you throw in one of the best shooters in the country in John Paul Frazier (over 40% for his career) and a freshman phenom Davis Mann who had to carry this team with the injuries early in the season. The supporting cast doesn't stop there as Tong Maiwen could be this teams most dangerous player on any given night, knocking down 3s and blocking shots left and right. After making the tournament a year ago and not playing their best against a good Redlands team, I believe they come in more prepared and control Babson throughout the game.

It will be tough, no doubt, but if you have seen this SJC team recently then you would understand. Not to mention, they are on a 17 game win steak with some of those wins coming against Bates, Colby, Albertus Magnus, and USJ twice. Lets get this tourney started!