MBB: NESCAC

[SpringSt7]

I believe that is what they call a statement win for the defending champs

[SpringSt7]

Wesleyan 27 Williams 26 at half. A familiar rock fight between these two but Jackson Rein has 12 while Pohlman and Wolinski have combined for 24. Otherwise the usual grit and grind Williams Wesleyan game. The Ephs are just so limited at guard and even more limited down low today with no Hudson Hansen, but if they execute and run their stuff they seem to be able to get Rein in position to be productive and get open shots for the others.

Will take a great 20 minutes but would be a massive win for Williams if they can steal this one

[D3BBALL]

I 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.

[SpringSt7]

Wesleyan pulls away and beats Williams 65-54. Too many long dry spells on offense not helped by missed lay ups and poor FT shooting (4-11!) did the Ephs in tonight, and then with the offensive struggles came an increase in Wesleyan offensive rebounding and hustle plays that made the difference.

We are quickly beating a dead horse but for Williams, someone in the backcourt needs to step up if they want to accomplish anything of note. Matt Devine had a nice game off of the bench, 13 points on 5-9 shooting in 16 minutes. With 13 days until the next game, natural to wonder if he will be prepped by the staff to step up into a bigger role. But he is also not a lead ball handler by nature and they just don't have any sort of creation off of the dribble to force the defense to rotate. O, Cooley, Belcher, someone has to find a way to get into the paint more consistently and make something happen.

[nescac1]

The usual ugly, low-scoring, defensive-oriented Williams-Wesleyan game.  The Ephs today were missing Hudson Hansen and without Hansen and Lee there just isn't enough offense, especially with another brutal free-throw shooting day (the second time FTAs really hurt in a loss this year) and also missing a few point-blank layups. 

For Williams, Jackson Rein was dominant on both ends in the first half but had to expend a ton of energy keeping the Ephs in the game, and Wesleyan did a good job clamping down on him in the second half as he got very few clean touches. Aidan Yates looked good especially when he went to the basket, but he had an uncharateristically rough day at the line.  Matt Devine continues to play great off the bench and I think is earning more and more playing time, they really need his offense out there.  Finally, EJ Sommers looked very sharp considering he's a FY in his first Little 3 game and he has been out with an injury for several weeks.  He's surprisingly smooth off the dribble for a big guy and will be a major factor on both ends as the season moves along. Most of the rest of the team had a pretty rough day and the Eph guards struggled against Wesleyan's tough backcourt. Once the Ephs finally have Hansen, Sommers, and Rein altogether, I think no one will be able to match up with that trio up front.  And the Ephs need them to be a dominant trio because the backcourt will be a bit of an adventure most nights. 

Wesleyan is FAR from last year's Final Four team but as always they play with a lot of grit and toughness especially on defense.  Their seniors were great today, especially Sam Pohlmann, who has really emerged as the team leader in his first season as a full-time starter.  After a rough first half Hauser had a big second half, and Cormier always does more than his stats reflect.  The Wesleyan bench had a very rough day offensively but it didn't matter in the end given the Ephs' struggles to get the ball in the hoop. 

[ItsATuftSituation]

Had a chance to get to the Lasell-Tufts game yesterday.

It's been pretty cool to see the maturation of a guy like Jon Medley this season, who's playing as well as anyone is in the league right now. The guy has always been a tough defender and a gritty competitor, but he has worked on his game and is shooting the ball better and attacking more off the bounce. Always a good passer, that has continued to be a big part of his game.

Kudos to this coaching staff as well, which I think has had to do more management than maybe previous years but seem to have figured out the best 9-10 rotation for this personnel. With Reilly out, it's been cool to see Sidney Wooten step up as well.

Four more games until NESCAC play, but some tough non-conference games against WPI, Clark and even Saint Vincent is solid. We'll see soon.

[maineman]

Bowdoin represented well in the UAA-NESCAC challenge at Bowdoin, splitting with Carnegie Mellon and U Roch.  Their loss to CM was in OT.  Meanwhile, Midd had a tough weekend, surrendering a 10 point halftime lead to Roch to lose by 2 and dropping the game against CM by double digits.  The loss to Roch can be attributed to sub par foul shooting.

[ItsATuftSituation]

As of December 9...here are the national Massey Ratings.

Trin - 2
Wes - 26
Tufts - 28
Bates - 36
Conn - 47
Colby - 59
Williams - 66
Amherst  - 75
Bowdoin - 102
Midd - 109
Hamilton - 211

So, what's the most shocking thing about this? That the NESCAC five teams in the Top 50 or that Hamilton is over a 100 spots behind the 10th place team?

All UAA teams in are in the Top 100, as Case is 95. If you were comparing the top five for each conference, it would be:

Trin - 2
Wes - 26
Tufts - 28
Bates - 36
Conn - 47

WashU - 4
Emory - 9
NYU - 10
Chicago - 13
CMU - 37

Based on Massey Ratings, NESCAC is currently the 3rd rated league behind UAA and WIAC. Seems about right.

[nescac1]

2030 recruiting update:

Amherst:
Hunter Stoll, 6'7 F, Choate (CT #44)
Dempsey Gonya, 6'4 G, St. Ann's (NY)
Grant Moses, 6'2 G, Meadows School (NV)

Bates:
Alexander Gordon, 6'0 G, Brewster Academy (N.H. #19)
Tyler Wells, 6'2 G, Branson (CA)

Bowdoin:
Zach Baum, 6'8 C, Noble and Greenough
Corey Baylor, Jr, 6'0 PG, Phelps (PA)
Josh Belcher, 6'0 G, Phillips Exeter

Colby:
Riley Clarke, 6'6 F, Brooks School (MA #29)
Max Vogel, 6'4 W, New Trier (IL)
Ty Lander, 6'8 C, St. Ignatius (CA)
Mekhi Simmons, 6'1 PG, St Paul's (NH #11)
Nolan Ames, 6'2 G, Camden Hills (ME #2)

Connecticut College:
Sam Clachko, 5'11 G, Staples (CT #33)
Finn Brennan, 6'4 W, Holderness (N.H. #27)

Hamilton:
Cyrus Hutchinson, 6'6 W, Brewster Academy (N.H. #25)
Colin Lamb, 6'5 G, Laney (NC)

Middlebury:
Pharoahe Dixon, 6'3 G, Northern Highlands (NJ)
Foster Kettering, 6'6 W, Summit H.S. (OR)
Cyrus Matia, 6'7 F, Albany Academy (NY)

Trinity:
Rowan Introzzi, 6'5 G, Greenwich CDS (CT #24)
John Spinoso, 6'5 W, Cheshire Academy (CT #29)
Justin Brown, 6'4 G, Cheshire Academy
Alexander Echevarria, 5'10 G, St. Mark's (MA #39)

Tufts:
Liam Simpson, 6'7 W, Deerfield (MA #32)
Jake Agolli, 6'10 F/C, Pace Academy (GA)

Wesleyan:
Packy Doherty, 6'2 G, Scranton Prep (PA)
Nolan Weathers, 6'1 PG, Riverdale Country School (NY)
Treyvon Miller, 6'7 F, St. Paul's (NH #22)
Kyle Dillon, 6'1 G, Chaminade (NY)

Williams:
Joseph Terreri, 6'7 F, Hill School (PA)
Gavin Dodge, 6'5 G, Acalanes H.S. (CA)
Elijah Webb, 6'9 F, Deerfield (MA #40)
Alec Roumph, 6'4 G, Perkiomen (PA)

[quicksilver]

Here's another one for Bowdoin:
Josh Belcher, 6'0 G, Exeter (NH) (PG)

[NEhoops]

What is the difference between the Massey Ratings and Datacast Rankings? I thought the Datacast Rankings were a primary tool for at large selections. Datacast Rankings (https://d3datacast.com/conference-ratings/nescac/) as of today for the NESCAC are listed below:

Trinity - 1 (2)
Bates - 10 (41)
Colby - 24 (60)
Wesleyan - 25 (17)
CT College - 33 (49)
Tufts - 35 (27)
Bowdoin - 55 (89)
Amherst - 57 (75)
Williams - 62 (66)   
Middlebury - 74 (108) 
Hamilton - 363 (228)

Current Massey Rating is listed in parentheses. Large discrepancy between the two rankings for Colby and Bates. Colby will likely be 9-1 when they head to Bates on 1/4. Bates could come in with a similar win total pending their two games before the break and their tournament at Emory.

[Greek Tragedy]

https://d3datacast.com/npi/

You kind of beat me to the punch. Curious if Bates and/or Colby can sustain their high NPI ranking to actually steal Pool C bids or is this smoke and mirrors and teams like Tufts and Wesleyan will eventually prevail to join Trinity in March.

[Stickthe3]

Here's another commit for Colby:
Mekhi Simmons, 6'1" PG, St Paul's (NH)

[nescac1]

Williams comes out of its holiday tournament with two wins in very different fashion.  Yesterday the team was scorching hot from outside, which is pretty rare for this bunch, and just dominated its opponent in every facet.  Today was a game of big runs, the Ephs got into a huge hole as star Jackson Rein picked up two early fouls and Carleton got off to a 13-0 lead, then Williams seemed to take total control of the game, eventually going up by 12 in the second half, before going ICE cold from outside at the same time Carleton finally figured out the Eph defense a bit and briefly seized the lead late.  Williams was 7-31 from 3 overall and most of those shots were pretty clean looks.  Carleton shot the ball far better than the Ephs but what saved Williams was forcing 15 turnovers (against only 6 by Williams) leading to a lot of points in transition. Carleton to its credit had some really tough makes and did make a very aggressive Eph D pay with some timely cuts.   

The Eph frontcourt continued to dominate opponents as the starting trio of Yates, Hansen and Rein all had a very strong weekend overall, and Isiaha Dickens continues to play his role well off the bench (he's really improved each year as an Eph and excels as a high-post distributor).  But the difference-maker today was FY center EJ Sommers, with 13 points and 5 boards in only 18 minutes. He is a matchup nightmare for pretty much anyone at 6'9 with the ability to put the ball on the floor, score off second-chances in the paint, and shoot the 3.  He also has a really nice touch in the midrange.  Over the course of the weekend, he had a crazy stat live over only 24 total minutes: 21 points, 11 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals, on 8-9 from two and 1-3 from three.  He definitely looks like he has the potential to next in a LONG line of great Eph big men.

The guard situation continues to be a bit of an adventure for Williams.  With both game-one starters out with injuries, Williams tried a lot of different combos this weekend.  Sammy Cooley looks like he's fully back from his injury and had his best game of the year today, hitting some important shots and steadying the ship playing the point late in the game.  Matt Devine continues to provide an offensive spark off the bench as he is very smooth going to the rim, he had several beautiful finishes over the weekend.  Young guards Shepherd, Belcher and Marshall all do an effective job pressuring the ball but all are still figuring it out on offense.  I imagine their minutes will continue to fluctuate as a trio depending on match-ups and how they are playing at any given times. 

[nescac1]

Tufts seems to have some significant injury issues.  In addition to Kennelly out for the year, Medley missed today's game and Reilly has missed the last four. Adding in Morakis's shooting struggles, that's a lot of perimeter firepower lost (for now).  The schedule has been favorable but gets a lot tougher soon. 

On another note, I see Amherst is playing four games in five days on its California trip later this month. The competition isn't overwhelming but isn't terrible either. Then they have a long travel day with only two days to prep for a big rivalry game at noon on a Sunday.  Seems kinda crazy - I don't think I've ever seen that!