MBB: NESCAC

[D3BBALL]

Great win for Tufts. Very weird second half for Trinity, offense was just really stagnant and predictable. Lazarre was awesome in the first half and really bad in the second half. Ayles got benched. Cosgrove took Okorougo out with 5 minutes left and went home with 3 timeouts.

Ironically my biggest takeaway from the game is how much better I think Tufts will be once Bernstein and Gyemesi graduate. Gyemesi is great against good matchups but he was brutal tonight for most of the game and they kept going back to that well with no luck. Their small lineup got them back in the game. Nieves, Medley, Watt, Reilly, Nywamya will be awesome next year

Gyimesi was solid on defense and rebounding.
Agree 100% on Trinity, they have no offense except dribble too much and and then go one on one. And when that doesn't work take bad shots.
Cosgrove leaving timeouts was just bad coaching. Okorougo was in trouble could have taken time out reset, instead they take a bad shot.
Both teams played hard, ironically tufts coach as bad as he was yesterday, out coached cos, bench Bernstein and went small and screened screened and screened until they got a good shot

[D3BBALL]

Some thoughts in no particular order:

1. Bowdoin was out-rebounded by 25 today at Amherst. It's tough to win when that happens.
2. Congrats to Tufts for getting over the hump with Trinity, and Conn for their biggest win in years by taking down Wesleyan. No more undefeated teams in conference play.
3. Is Trinity's not so challenging pre-NESCAC schedule catching up to them? It's a different deal being the defending national champs. Also, I think they are missing Dorion and Marcharchuk more than most would have believed.

It is shaping up to be a fun final two weeks leading into the tournament.

Agree on Dorion Macarchuk, they miss both. Macarchuk very good passer, didn't panic and could shoot it from outside. 2nd unit killed them today especially in 2nd half.

[jumbomumbo]

I don't know what happened Friday. I don't care. Hats off to Wes for that. Tufts beat Trinity. Tufts beat Trinity. First time since 2022. The nescac is wide open. Let's GO

[el_jefe_90]

Congrats to the Jumbos and their fans on that crucial win over Trinity. I'm sure it feels great to get that off their backs. Buckle up for a crazy last two weeks.

[lumbercat]

What a terrible weekend trip for Hamilton. Up by 7 seven with less than a minute to play and somehow they lost by one at Bowdoin on Friday.
On Saturday they lose by one at Colby. Looks like they missed a 10-12 footer at the buzzer.
Hate to see that for any team.

[Bucket]

What a terrible weekend trip for Hamilton. Up by 7 seven with less than a minute to play and somehow they lost by one at Bowdoin on Friday.
On Saturday they lose by one at Colby. Looks like they missed a 10-12 footer at the buzzer.
Hate to see that for any team.

Pretty sure Hamilton was at home for both games, which might make the losses sting just a little bit more?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

What a terrible weekend trip for Hamilton. Up by 7 seven with less than a minute to play and somehow they lost by one at Bowdoin on Friday.
On Saturday they lose by one at Colby. Looks like they missed a 10-12 footer at the buzzer.
Hate to see that for any team.

Pretty sure Hamilton was at home for both games, which might make the losses sting just a little bit more?

Yeah.  They had both of those and just let them slip away.

[lumbercat]

What a terrible weekend trip for Hamilton. Up by 7 seven with less than a minute to play and somehow they lost by one at Bowdoin on Friday.
On Saturday they lose by one at Colby. Looks like they missed a 10-12 footer at the buzzer.
Hate to see that for any team.

Pretty sure Hamilton was at home for both games, which might make the losses sting just a little bit more?

Yeah.  They had both of those and just let them slip away.

Geez I guess I jumped to the assumption that they were on the road based on the outcomes. That's even worse.

[NEhoops]

Two interesting games for this Friday:

Tufts at Amherst - Amherst has looked great at home and are on a four-game winning streak. A win in this spot would likely put them into the Top 30 of the NPI rankings. Tufts has a lot to play for - fighting for the top spot in the league and positioning themselves for a strong NCAA tournament position.

Conn at Hamilton: The home court (lengthy road trip) advantage for Hamilton is real. As mentioned, they just lost by one possession at home to Col and Bow, who both beat Conn during their trip to Maine earlier this year.  I would still put Conn as the favorite in somewhat of a must win - regarding an at large bid - they are at Amh and at Bat to end the year. 

[SpringSt7]

By the way - regarding coach of the year, I think my pick is Linton. To bench Morakis because he came back out of shape and then just not lose a step? Really really impressive stuff

[D3BBALL]

What a terrible weekend trip for Hamilton. Up by 7 seven with less than a minute to play and somehow they lost by one at Bowdoin on Friday.
On Saturday they lose by one at Colby. Looks like they missed a 10-12 footer at the buzzer.
Hate to see that for any team.

Pretty sure Hamilton was at home for both games, which might make the losses sting just a little bit more?

Yeah.  They had both of those and just let them slip away.

Geez I guess I jumped to the assumption that they were on the road based on the outcomes. That's even worse.

I know they lost both games but they are keeping most games close. They play hard and don't quit, they just don't have the scorers.

[ItsATuftSituation]

Watched both Tufts games this week, and was super impressed with Wesleyan. They work hard defensively, Edelman and Hauser are effective big men that get their roles and Pohlman is very crafty. They're just a rock solid basketball team. Also likes the energy their 2nd unit brought, though Watson could cool it with some his extra curriculars. Despite that, he's quick and effective and certainly brings a spark.

Trinity is still really good, and their starting 5 is the best in the league. It just is. But they aren't getting much from their bench beyond Barry. Stats are skewed Saturday because it was senior day at Tufts, but let's just take the typical backups for Tufts and it something like 30-12 in bench points. Nieves and Nyamwaya were huge in that game.

I still like this Jumbo team and their ability to match any style, with their larger lineup with Bernstein or going smaller and more athletic. I'm also not done with Morakis, I still think he has a legacy game coming at some point, but I'm a romantic and want the lasting memory of him to be the games that he took over and was so fun to watch.

Last thing, Jon Medley probably won't get all conference but he would on my ballot and his intangibles are what makes winning teams.

[D3BBALL]

By the way - regarding coach of the year, I think my pick is Linton. To bench Morakis because he came back out of shape and then just not lose a step? Really really impressive stuff

Here is my issue, Linton has either the most talented team in the league or the 2nd most talented team in the league. So they are right where they should be. Reducing both Morakis and or Bernstein minutes, they way both have played against very good teams, should have been done.

Reilly lost his best 2 players, has now beaten both Tufts and trinity in close games and out coached both Linton and Cosgrove in those games. And he has a player that was a backup last year, who if he is not, should be in consideration for player of the year.

Amherst coach, I don't think anyone thought they would be were they are at. They played both Wesleyan and Trinity tough on the road. And look at what he had to replace in terms of minutes played last year. They have very little height but are playing very well. And from what is out there, he was/is on the hot seat.

Bates, I am not sure many thought this team would be where they are. And to win 3 league games without Pouye or Pouye not playing great in one of those games, is pretty good.

[D3BBALL]

Watched both Tufts games this week, and was super impressed with Wesleyan. They work hard defensively, Edelman and Hauser are effective big men that get their roles and Pohlman is very crafty. They're just a rock solid basketball team. Also likes the energy their 2nd unit brought, though Watson could cool it with some his extra curriculars. Despite that, he's quick and effective and certainly brings a spark.

Trinity is still really good, and their starting 5 is the best in the league. It just is. But they aren't getting much from their bench beyond Barry. Stats are skewed Saturday because it was senior day at Tufts, but let's just take the typical backups for Tufts and it something like 30-12 in bench points. Nieves and Nyamwaya were huge in that game.

I still like this Jumbo team and their ability to match any style, with their larger lineup with Bernstein or going smaller and more athletic. I'm also not done with Morakis, I still think he has a legacy game coming at some point, but I'm a romantic and want the lasting memory of him to be the games that he took over and was so fun to watch.

Last thing, Jon Medley probably won't get all conference but he would on my ballot and his intangibles are what makes winning teams.

Agree 100% on Wesleyan, they play hard and they have the best coach in the league. They usually don't lose games due to coaching.

Trinity's bench actually played well in their first shift against tufts, and this was against a number of Tufts starters, after that they got very little scoring the rest of the way and defense and to's not good. Berry is shooting 37% from the field and 38% from 3 point in league play, but is 1-6 from 3 in their last 3 league games, 2 losses and 0-4 in those 2 games. Not good enough and shot selection has been very questionable. The 2nd unit had 2 assists, 4 turnovers and did not play well at all as a group the rest of the way against Tufts. In the last 3 league games they have not played well as a group. The player Jordan has been relegated to the bench, might be time to give him a shot on that 2nd team. He is very athletic, can make open shots, might just give them a boost. As stated above in other posts, the second unit really misses Macarchuk. The 3 new players on that 2nd team are finding out what it is like to play meaningful games against way more talented teams, then there non conference schedule. Cosgrove, might just have to go 7 maybe 8 deep the rest of the way at least in league play. And maybe play a bigger lineup which could give them several miss-matches height wise. The lost the rebounding battle pretty bad against both Wesleyan and Tufts. His substitutions in the 2nd half against Wesleyan and Tufts really hurt the team and as stated above in other posts, his not using timeouts against tufts was really bad. You lead for 37 minutes of the game and you still have 3 timeouts left, ouch, just like Linton's decisions against Wesleyan in the last 2 minutes. Any close game I take Reilly over any other coach in the league. He just doesn't panic.

Agree on Medley, he and Reilly were the MVP's for Tufts against Trinity. Both made big shots in the 2nd half and a number of shots being well guarded by either Lazarre, Okorougo or Mcdonald.  I had Bernstein and Watt in the running for 2nd team, I would put Medley over both of them. Tufts beating Trinity has to give them so much more confidence and might just take some away from Trinity.

[NEhoops]

I agree with the coaching praise for Reilly. If I need to win one game (whatever the talent level is), I'm taking him.

I thought they let the game at Conn slip away - not necessarily related to coaching - but it was somewhat of a letdown after their huge win at Tufts.