MBB: NESCAC

[formerbant10]

The NESCAC did get 2 out of the 7 at larges 2 years ago....I doubt anyone thought that would happen either.  Should be interesting to see how many in region losses tournament teams will have this year.  I think it'll still be tough to get in with 4 or more losses.

NESCAC1, I can't argue that the rest of the Northeast is down either, but I guess I just didn't expect Trinity to lose to Eastern and Curry if they are supposed to be at the top of the NESCAC...makes me worry about this week for the Bants w/ Lasell, Springfield and the vaunted Hunter Hawks who spoiled Trinity's season a little bit 2 years ago in Manhattan.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

That was an amazing rarity to get 2 of seven and only happened because Williams, Amherst and Trinity were all in the top 15 all year.  Amherst and Williams were going no matter what and Trinity got the benefit of the doubt because they were in a conference with such great teams at the top.  Their stats and record didn't deserve it, but I can't argue with the call.

This season, Amherst is getting big pub and maybe Williams can get back to prominence, but there will not be three undeniable teams, which allows for a fourth to sneak in.  Even the CCIW isn't that good and they are really good this year.

[toad22]

I have watched all of Williams' games, and I think they are better than I had feared they would be, but should not rated better than 5th-7th in the NESCAC going in. The good news is that they can score points in bunches this year, something they almost never did last year. They have 4 very good 3 point shooters. Newton can score a lot of points as well, but he is still not all the way back from his injury. He needs a few more games to smooth things out. Our defense isn't very good, so we've got to score a lot to win. Rose is a star in the making, and Shalvoy has been light years ahead of last year. Nelson is a pleasant surprise this year. Our depth is not obvious at this point, though it is clear that Snyder (freshman) is a player, and will get better as the season moves along. The seniors Kuntz and Gibbon (along with Newton) need to be consistently good for the Ephs to outperform expectations. I expect there will be a number of bumps in the road because of the lack of depth, and the overall youth of the team. It appears to me that the NESCAC is a little better than last year form top to bottom, with the exception of Wesleyan. Based only on the game with Williams they are way down. That game was the worst exebition of basketball I have ever seen out of a Wesleyan team. Maybe it was a fluke, but if not, they are in for a long season.

[dman]

hoops fan,

  i can see nescac possibly getting four teams in the expanded ncaa tournament this year.  before the ncaa reduced the field, nescac had four teams in the field in both the '95 and '97 seasons and three teams in '94 and '98.  so there is precedent, but it will depend on alot of factors that are much too early to determine...

 

[senatorfrost]

Jeff Rookie-I was not trying to rate academics-I am not even sure what academics means or if it should be capitalized. I was merely pointing out which schools were best at giving Basketball Results!
Now that I think about it the four schools I listed, I believe have the four most successful athletic programs in terms of win/lose. I think Middlebury Williams and Amherst all do well in the Sears thing and Bowdoin does also if I remember right.

  (At this point I have to add that Williams always wins the Sears and therefore save some Williams Fan the trouble of having to inform us) Anyway is it a coincidence that the four most successful programs have the four best web sites for their followers/fans? I don't think so. The Four of them undertook a task and they seem to be doing a better job than the others and I think that in some way that attitude carries on to the playing fields.

[speedy]

Some NESCAC schools are too academically oriented to have good websites.  . .  Their sites are a little more prompt but they are still woeful compared to Amherst Williams, and Middlebury. Bowdoin is almost at that level most of the time but the best is clearly MIDDLEBURY.
  . .

The Amherst website looks good but it is not in the category of Bowdoin, Middlebury, and Williams in terms of promptness in posting scores . .

[formerbant10]

Hoopsfan....I'm gonna have to disagree w/ you saying that Amherst and Williams were going and Trinity maybe should not have.  Trinity beat Amherst at Amherst...something Williams didn't do and had a great regional record that year as well.  I don't see how they didn't deserve it.  Even last year Trinity had a better SOS than some of the teams that got in....but I don't think they were even close to deserving a bid last year after the collapse at Tufts and Bates.  But to say they didn't have the record or stats to get in in the 03-04 season is a little off.  22-5 record overall, 8-1 in the conference....how does that not get them in?

[JeffRookie2]

I suppose I was refering more to the ease of navigation than the promptness in posting scores. Williams has an atrocious website in terms of navigation/appearance. I don't know which school typically have the box scores posted the fastest, but Amherst's website does have a scrolling feature with many live score updates. Anyway, I don't really know what we are arguing about now.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I specifically said I didn't think the pick, taking Trinity was wrong, because Amherst and Williams were so good.  I think Trinity was better than other options from other regions, but if the dumb NCAA is going to pick teams based on a bunch of numbers they should stick to their plan.  Trinity's numbers were lesser because the conference was so good that year.  I think Trinity was a better team and they proved their mettle, but the NCAA went against their own criteria in choosing them.  That's all I was trying to say.

[ChesterGreen]

Trinity did play a relatively soft out of conference schedule that year and got beat pretty handedly by Wesleyan at Wesleyan.  But they were in the national spot light early on the season because of there few out of conference loses.  Their record that year was a bit deceiving however they did pull of that defeat of a strong Amherst squad that ultimately got them in the tournament. 

[formerbant10]

Chester, Trinity lost by 3 to Wesleyan that year, I wouldn't say that is handedly. 
And I'm trying to figure out how Trinity played a soft schedule when they faced a top 25 Desales team in their opening weekend, and beat them.  And then played another top 25 team in West. Conn. and beat them.  Trinity won their first 14 games and were 19-1 going into the Wesleyan game.  What "few out of conference loses" are you speaking of??? There was only one in the regular season, Hunter in the finale.  The only other losses were to Williams @ Williams, Amherst @ Williams, Wesleyan @ Wesleyan and Brockport St. in the 2nd round of the NCAA's.  Not sure what you're talking about Chester.

Hoops Fan, the NCAA went by the numbers and Trinity was well qualified for the tourney.  I remember hearing many people complain about how the NESCAC doesn't play a home and home conference schedule and all of that talk...but Trinity had a very high SOSI and got in because of that. 

[ChesterGreen]

If I remember correctly Trinity, Amherst, and Williams were all in the top 10 pretty much the whole year that year.  Seeing Amherst and Williams play you got the sense that they were both top 10 teams in the country and I just didn't feel that way with seeing Trinity.  No matter the record I always got the sense in watching Trinity of vulnerability and that even if the opponent wasn't playing their best basketball they still could be beaten.  That year Wesleyan came within a last second three of beating Williams but that was in large part due to one of the best two man shooting displays I've ever witnessed in the Nescac by Johnson and Mills.  In other words you really had to be at your very best to stay with either Williams or Amherst that year.   Now I said, "they 'Trinity' were in the national spot light early on the season because of there few out of conference loses" in other words they did not lose many games out of conference I don't know how better I can put it for it not to be misinterpreted.  Now I actually think Trinity was in fact deserving of their tournament selection due in large part to their Amherst win as I previously stated, Amherst and Williams were the two top teams in the region so by beating them then losing to them in the tournament it put them over the hump in getting in more so then their record.  I'm sure there have been comparable records as Trinity's that have been left out of the NCAA Tourney. 

[ChesterGreen]

Although I believe Trinity was out of the Wesleyan game for about 3/4 of the game a 3 point lose is a 3 point lose so I did speak too soon at saying they were beaten handedly.  No worries there formerbant I simply was going on memory and not hard evidence. 

[Red1]

Bates 88-Bowdoin 62.  A little splash of the present to wet your whistles.  Bates was hot on both ends of the court tonight.  Petrie got into foul trouble early on, and sat out most of the first half.  Bates took advantage and really padded their lead during that time, increasing it from 10 to 22 points.  With Petrie in the two teams played pretty evenly after Bates opened up that lead near the end of the first half.  

Bates showed their depth tonight.  Bowdoin has a very fast team and I can see how their style of play can wear on a team, but Bates has a deep enough team to keep putting in fresh legs and not getting worn out early.  Bowdoin also took a lot of low percentage shots (3s and fadaways) early on which kept their offense down.  Credit the Bates defense with denying the Polar Bears an inside game.   Missing a couple of undefended layups didn't help very much either.  

Bates was hot from behind the arc tonight on the offensive side.  Every time there was a hint of a Bowdoin rally Bates was able to squelch it with a 3pter.  Bates was also solid in the paint drawing some good fouls underneath and playing strong in the post to get the high percentage shots.

If Bates continues to play at the level they played tonight then they just might have the potential to finish 1 or 2 in Nescac (1 if they can pull off a huge upset over Amherst, not very likely, but possible if they play the way they did tonight.)

Cheers,
Red1  

[walzy31]

Amherst 78   WNEC 57

Amherst cruised again getting their entire roster of 26 into the game tonight. O'Shea and Bedford co-mvps. Adolphe, nicest near dunk. Tim Mac, hot from the floor but picked up four.

MIKE-SA-LER-NO