MBB: NESCAC

[jumbomumbo]

Trinity 77 Hood 72
Tufts 68 Wes 63
Mary Wash 80 WisLC 75
UChicago 67 GA 56
Emory 78 Yeshiva 61
Endicott 63 IWU 60
WashU 67 St Thomas (TX) 60
RM 71 CNU 58

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Emory 78 Yeshiva 61

I will take the over on this.  No chance this ends under 139 total points.

[jumbomumbo]

Emory 78 Yeshiva 61

I will take the over on this.  No chance this ends under 139 total points.

You sure? Yeshiva might score 45

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Emory 78 Yeshiva 61

I will take the over on this.  No chance this ends under 139 total points.

You sure? Yeshiva might score 45

If Yeshiva scores 45, Emory will be over 90.

[el_jefe_90]

Scott Gyimesi of Tufts is one of the Jostens Trophy finalists.

The only winners from the NESCAC are Mike Nogelo (Williams, 1998), Michael Shantz (Hamilton, 1999), Blake Schultz (Williams, 2010) and Kena Gilmour (Hamilton, 2020).

[Patrick Coleman]

Fan vote for the Jostens is live:
https://d3hoops.com/jostens

[nescac1]

Did I miss reporting on here - apologies if so but I don't recall - that Hank Morgan is now playing on the G League Maine Celtics?  And in his last game, he went off for 22 points on 8-9 shooting (6-7 from 3)?  Second on the team only to John Tonje, who has played in the NBA. 

These shots are like barely touching the net even, damn: https://x.com/MaineCeltics/status/2031822665099722796?s=20

If Hank gets a cup off coffee in the NBA next year while Cuevas is lighting up D1 defenders, I'm gonna feel that much better about my POTY advocacy for those two dudes.  Turns out shooting is a valuable commodity in basketball! 

[stlawus]

Did I miss reporting on here - apologies if so but I don't recall - that Hank Morgan is now playing on the G League Maine Celtics?  And in his last game, he went off for 22 points on 8-9 shooting (6-7 from 3)?  Second on the team only to John Tonje, who has played in the NBA. 

These shots are like barely touching the net even, damn: https://x.com/MaineCeltics/status/2031822665099722796?s=20

If Hank gets a cup off coffee in the NBA next year while Cuevas is lighting up D1 defenders, I'm gonna feel that much better about my POTY advocacy for those two dudes.  Turns out shooting is a valuable commodity in basketball! 

Golden rules of making the NBA: shoot and be able to guard your position. If you can do that it doesn't matter where you come from.

[nescac1]

Agree, stlawus.  Morgan looks like an NBA-level shooter to me, especially with that quick release; helps that he has improved as a shooter every year and clearly works like crazy at it.  The question for him before he can ever hope of a chance at a real NBA look will definitely be guarding.  At a slender 6'5 he would have to play against guards who are much quicker, stronger, and more dynamic athletes than him, which will take a LOT of work (ain't much D played in the G league, for sure).  Duncan Robinson in time figured out how to be a decent enough defender to become an NBA starter, but he also has a few inches on Morgan which helps, as well as a preternatural hoops IQ which helps to compensate for some of his athletic (relatively speaking, these are the best athletes in the world we are talking about) deficiencies.   

[jumbomumbo]

Did I miss reporting on here - apologies if so but I don't recall - that Hank Morgan is now playing on the G League Maine Celtics?  And in his last game, he went off for 22 points on 8-9 shooting (6-7 from 3)?  Second on the team only to John Tonje, who has played in the NBA. 

These shots are like barely touching the net even, damn: https://x.com/MaineCeltics/status/2031822665099722796?s=20

If Hank gets a cup off coffee in the NBA next year while Cuevas is lighting up D1 defenders, I'm gonna feel that much better about my POTY advocacy for those two dudes.  Turns out shooting is a valuable commodity in basketball! 

Yeah, saw that video! What a performance and I'm surprised it slid under the radar on these boards. Would be pretty sweet to get a second nescac player to the NBA.

[NYHoopsGuru]

Wanted to shoutout Amherst, Trinity, Tufts and Wesleyan for their first round wins and the latter three for their second round wins. It was a tough weekend for all but glad to see 3 teams advance to the Sweet 16. Hoping Gyimesi can play but Bernstein has been unbelievable as of late!
I'm really looking forward to that Hood/Trinity matchup. Hood is a great offensive squad that usually wins their rebounding matchups. Yarbrough certainly looks like the real deal! Sometimes these matchups end in runaways but I'm thinking this one will be competitive. Trinity I believe will win as long as Okorougo is healthy enough to go.

As a Liberty League fan, I can give some color on Trinity's matchup against Hood. Hood has probably one of the most explosive offenses in the country, 4th in d3datacast offensive efficiency. Everything runs through Yarbrough...but don't let that fool you. Any of their starters is capable of going for 20+ points. Their offense is really fascinating and their coach draws up amazing ATO's. Not sure what Trinity does defensively, but Hood does a great job of attacking switches off the ball. Defensively, they don't really care if you score. And like mentioned, they tend to win their rebounding matchups by crashing like madmen.

Trinity can and should win. However, they cannot get caught up playing Hood's game. Nobody plays run & gun better than them (the reason why they've made it so far despite being terrible defensively). Trinity has to slow the game down and play at their own pace, while also keeping their preferred matchups on defense. If Trinity holds Hood to under 75 points, it should result in a win. Vassar was able to maintain control in the first half by doing so. A 10-0 run in the first minute of the second half blew the game open. So like I said, Trinity is winning this game by defending, not by scoring.

Aside from that, I would love to see another Trinity/Wesleyan matchup. Regardless of who wins that one, it would be a cool Final Four story potentially against NESCAC alum Shane Regan to head to the national championship.

[jumbomumbo]

Wanted to shoutout Amherst, Trinity, Tufts and Wesleyan for their first round wins and the latter three for their second round wins. It was a tough weekend for all but glad to see 3 teams advance to the Sweet 16. Hoping Gyimesi can play but Bernstein has been unbelievable as of late!
I'm really looking forward to that Hood/Trinity matchup. Hood is a great offensive squad that usually wins their rebounding matchups. Yarbrough certainly looks like the real deal! Sometimes these matchups end in runaways but I'm thinking this one will be competitive. Trinity I believe will win as long as Okorougo is healthy enough to go.

As a Liberty League fan, I can give some color on Trinity's matchup against Hood. Hood has probably one of the most explosive offenses in the country, 4th in d3datacast offensive efficiency. Everything runs through Yarbrough...but don't let that fool you. Any of their starters is capable of going for 20+ points. Their offense is really fascinating and their coach draws up amazing ATO's. Not sure what Trinity does defensively, but Hood does a great job of attacking switches off the ball. Defensively, they don't really care if you score. And like mentioned, they tend to win their rebounding matchups by crashing like madmen.

Trinity can and should win. However, they cannot get caught up playing Hood's game. Nobody plays run & gun better than them (the reason why they've made it so far despite being terrible defensively). Trinity has to slow the game down and play at their own pace, while also keeping their preferred matchups on defense. If Trinity holds Hood to under 75 points, it should result in a win. Vassar was able to maintain control in the first half by doing so. A 10-0 run in the first minute of the second half blew the game open. So like I said, Trinity is winning this game by defending, not by scoring.

Aside from that, I would love to see another Trinity/Wesleyan matchup. Regardless of who wins that one, it would be a cool Final Four story potentially against NESCAC alum Shane Regan to head to the national championship.

Sounds like this game has 2025 Tufts-Redlands potential! Appreciate the insight.

[D3BBALL]

Wanted to shoutout Amherst, Trinity, Tufts and Wesleyan for their first round wins and the latter three for their second round wins. It was a tough weekend for all but glad to see 3 teams advance to the Sweet 16. Hoping Gyimesi can play but Bernstein has been unbelievable as of late!
I'm really looking forward to that Hood/Trinity matchup. Hood is a great offensive squad that usually wins their rebounding matchups. Yarbrough certainly looks like the real deal! Sometimes these matchups end in runaways but I'm thinking this one will be competitive. Trinity I believe will win as long as Okorougo is healthy enough to go.

As a Liberty League fan, I can give some color on Trinity's matchup against Hood. Hood has probably one of the most explosive offenses in the country, 4th in d3datacast offensive efficiency. Everything runs through Yarbrough...but don't let that fool you. Any of their starters is capable of going for 20+ points. Their offense is really fascinating and their coach draws up amazing ATO's. Not sure what Trinity does defensively, but Hood does a great job of attacking switches off the ball. Defensively, they don't really care if you score. And like mentioned, they tend to win their rebounding matchups by crashing like madmen.

Trinity can and should win. However, they cannot get caught up playing Hood's game. Nobody plays run & gun better than them (the reason why they've made it so far despite being terrible defensively). Trinity has to slow the game down and play at their own pace, while also keeping their preferred matchups on defense. If Trinity holds Hood to under 75 points, it should result in a win. Vassar was able to maintain control in the first half by doing so. A 10-0 run in the first minute of the second half blew the game open. So like I said, Trinity is winning this game by defending, not by scoring.

Aside from that, I would love to see another Trinity/Wesleyan matchup. Regardless of who wins that one, it would be a cool Final Four story potentially against NESCAC alum Shane Regan to head to the national championship.

Will be interesting if Trinity tries to run. Have court sets are not what Trinity does best unless Okorougo is lighting it up. They are best when they get the ball up the court with some pace, maybe not at the same pace as Hood, but I think they still need to do that.

Yarborough will be tough to defend. But is the key to the game for Hood, how well both Cox and Huseby play's on both ends?

[D3BBALL]

Trinity 77 Hood 72
Tufts 68 Wes 63
Mary Wash 80 WisLC 75
UChicago 67 GA 56
Emory 78 Yeshiva 61
Endicott 63 IWU 60
WashU 67 St Thomas (TX) 60
RM 71 CNU 58

My Picks
Trinity 81 Hood 68
Tufts 64 Wes 68
Mary Wash 70 WisLC 61
UChicago 72 GA 65
Emory 88 Yeshiva 68
Endicott 61 IWU 73
WashU 73 St Thomas (TX) 66
RM 84 CNU 67

[nescac1]

For once we are in agreement D3bball, can't take issue with any of those spreads. This has been just about the most chalk year ever from start to finish.  Trinity, RMC, Emory, Chicago and Mary Washington looked like the best teams before the season began, and nothing has changed. If there is a dark horse I'll say WashU, which has the talent, it's just very young talent.

I feel like Trinity knows it's been playing with fire lately and is due for 40 minutes of its best ball.