Ryan Jann ’16 emerged as one of the best shooting guards in the NESCAC (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)
Record: 13-12 (4-6), lost to #1 Trinity 66-63 in NESCAC Quarterfinals
Colby entered the season hoping to jump up into the higher echelon of the NESCAC because they returned everybody from their 2013-2014 team. Yet, even before the season started, the Mules lost their starting power forward Patrick Stewart ’16 for the season due to a back injury. Despite that, the Mules started the NESCAC season 3-0 before losing two consecutive close games. Then center Chris Hudnut ’16, who was having a NESCAC POY-type season, suffered a knee injury before the Amherst game that ended his campaign. Without their projected starting frontcourt, the Mules went 1-4 in the final weeks of the conference season, but they got into the NESCAC tournament by virtue of a big victory over Middlebury. They almost overcame their big size disadvantage at #1 Trinity and had a chance to win the game in the final seconds. Though injuries ended up cutting short Colby’s season, the Mules saw their starting backcourt of Ryan Jann ’16 and Luke Westman ’16 progress a good deal. Those two combined are the best duo of guards returning next year except for maybe Jack Mackey ’16 and BJ Davis ’16 of Wesleyan.
Season High Point: Victory over Hamilton 75-70 on January 16
The Colby student section came out in force during parts of the season. (Courtesy of CentralMaine.com)
After beating the Continentals, Colby was in sole possession at 3-0 of first place in the NESCAC for about twenty hours before they fell to Williams the next day. The Mules played a favorable schedule early, but any three game winning streak in the NESCAC this season was an accomplishment. The hot start to the conference season saw Hudnut score over 20 points in every game while Westman shot an absurd 88 percent from the floor and averaged 15.3 PPG. The winning streak also caught the attention of the Colby student body who began to be more of a presence at home games. Unfortunately for Colby, the fall from this point was swift as the Mules finished the season 3-7 over their next 10 games.
Team MVP: Point Guard Luke Westman ’16
Westman wins MVP because he was the most consistent player for the Mules, but he was never the most dominant player for them. Hudnut would have won this award easily if he had stayed healthy all year, and Jann was the team’s most important player after Hudnut went down. Westman was the steady hand that kept Colby moving in the right direction. The biggest difference for Westman from a year ago is that he scored nearly four more PPG while somehow increasing his already ridiculous field goal percentage. He finished the season with 13.1 PPG on 73.2 percent shooting which would have been the best percentage in the country if he had made 0.2 more field goals per game in order to qualify for the NCAA statistics. At this point, it looks like Westman will never develop an outside shot, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a valuable player for Colby.
Player to Watch for 2015-16: Power Forward Patrick Stewart ’16
Though he missed all of this season, reports are that Stewart will be back next season ready to make an impact. Sam Willson ’16 stepped up and played very well in replacing Stewart, but the Mules still missed the presence of their second leading rebounder and best three point shooter from last season. Stewart shot 43.3 percent from three a season ago while making nearly two three-pointers a game. Having Willson, Stewart and Hudnut all healthy will be a boon for Head Coach Damien Strahorn. He will be able to fashion some three-way rotation to keep each of them fresh during games. Since the Mules will lose perimeter contributors Connor O’Neil ’15 and Shane Rogers ’15, Colby might even go big and play all three for short stretches. Stewart is just one part of an incredibly deep class of current juniors who will be hungry to end their Colby careers on a high note next season.
The disappointment was evident for Adam Philpott ’15 and Co. after the loss on Saturday, but Bates still resides on the Pool C bubble for the NCAA Tournament. (Courtesy of Daryn Slover for Bates College)
It was a wild quarterfinals Saturday in the NESCAC, and we laid out our initial reactions in this video Saturday night, but we’ve now had a bit of time to digest all the action and think about how those results will impact Championship Weekend. We had two games go as expected with #1 Trinity and #2 Bowdoin sealing victories, and two underdogs win on the road in hostile environments.
Stock Up
The NbN Team
I got so caught up in the excitement of Saturday’s games that I almost didn’t realize that as a team we went 4-0 in our predictions, and Adam’s snipe of the Wesleyan upset was really impressive. He almost pinned the score, too. Obviously, no one wants to read about us, they want to read about the players. But I thought we deserved a quick little pat on the back, so excuse our self-indulgence.
Amherst Center David George ’17
Back to business now. George was an animal on Saturday. I don’t know if the big man reads the blog, but maybe he got a little riffed that I called out his offensive game in my Amherst-Tufts preview. Well, touché, my friend. George went 6-13 from the field and 7-8 from the stripe for 19 points in addition to 10 rebounds and two rejections. He was able to stay out of foul trouble, as well, which shouldn’t go overlooked given the Twin Towers with which he was forced to match up (though Hunter Sabety ’17 was far below 100 percent). As I said in the game preview, a productive George arguably makes Amherst the favorite for the NESCAC Championship. He will need to play well against Bowdoin’s seven-footer, John Swords ’15, and if the Lord Jeffs get through that game he will have another tall order if he goes against the strong Trinity frontcourt. If Wesleyan were to pull off another upset and meet Amherst in the championship George will still be an x-factor because the Cardinals’ strength is the backcourt, meaning George would have the opportunity to dominate.
Class of 2016 Player of the Year Candidates: Lucas Hausman ’16 and Connor Green ’16
Adam wrote earlier this year about the talented junior class in the NESCAC this year when Green topped 1,000 points in his career, and the class of 2016 has not slowed down, especially not these two. I think writer Peter Lindholm described it best via Twitter:
@CACSportsBlog Hausman stole Wohl's game, his POY trophy, and reports say he's about to steal his girl
Hausman has now claimed a commanding lead in the scoring race, and will almost definitely end up with the crown unless he goes ice cold this weekend. His point totals since January 24 at Colby: 24, 30, 19, 32, 21, 44, 16, 17 and 37. And he’s not a phenomenal outside shooter. He gets most of his buckets by getting into the lane, drawing contact and finishing contested shots. When he gets to the line he is nearly automatic (88.0 percent on the year). And he’s been Bowdoin’s only consistent scorer all season.
Green’s advantage is his size and ability to rebound. Johnny McCarthy ’18 and Dan Wohl ’15 are the only perimeter players with more rebounds than Green. Green also stretches the floor a little better as he’s knocking down over 40 percent of his trey balls.
Both of these guys are phenomenal players capable of taking over games, and I expect fireworks when they go at it on Saturday.
Wesleyan Forward Joe Edmonds ’16
Head Coach Joe Reilly has settled on a starting five that rarely leaves the floor. All fives of Reilly’s starters against Bates played at least 29 minutes, and for Edmonds, who has started 14 of 25 games this year, that was his third consecutive game starting and playing over 30 minutes. His two highest-scoring games have come over that stretch as well. The Cardinals essentially run out three point guards in Harry Rafferty ’17, BJ Davis ’16 and Jack Mackey ’16, so there are a lot of drive and kick opportunities, and Edmonds, as the best three point shooter on the roster, really has the ability to make an impact for the Cardinals. He did just that in the win over Bates, leading the Cards with 22 points and going 5-6 from deep.
Stock Down
Offense of the Trinity Frontcourt
Trinity was looking unbeatable recently, coupling a suddenly explosive offense with its usual lockdown D, but the Bantams put up a mediocre 66 points against a Colby team whose tallest impact player, besides Sam Willson ’16, is its point guard, Luke Westman ’16. The combination of Alex Conaway ’15, George Papadeas ’15, Shay Ajayi ’16 and Ed Ogundeko ’17 isn’t exactly known for its collective offensive skill set, and the big guys didn’t play badly on Saturday (combined 11-22 from the field), but each and every one of them had size and strength advantages over their defenders and didn’t dominate like they should have. Down the stretch Ogundeko made a big impact with 11 points in the second half, but he was the only one to make a difference. The defense is fine, and will still give the Bantams a chance to win it all, but they will need some low-post scoring to win two games next weekend.
Amherst Guard Jeff Racy ’17
Since exploding for 30 points on 10-14 three-point shooting at Conn. College on February 6, Racy is 9-27 (33.3 percent) from deep. For a 41.3 percent three-point shooter on the season, that is not so great. I had Racy as my x-factor in the Lord Jeffs’ matchup with Tufts. As it turned out they didn’t need much from Racy as the game was over before it even started, but going forward, Green and Racy are the only guys that scare opposing defenses when they rise up from beyond the arch, so Amherst needs Racy to get hot once again.
Wesleyan Point Guard Triumvirate
Mackey and the Cards pulled off the big upset against the Bobcats, despite poor shooting from the Wesleyan guards. (Courtesy of Daryn Slover for Bates College)
Mackey made it into our Stock Up section last week, and he had another fine game on Saturday against Bates (18 points, 7-18 FG, 4-12 3PT FG, 6 rebounds), but his running mates, Davis and Rafferty, were anemic on the offensive end. They’re both really quality shooters so to see them go so cold was a surprise. I have a lot of concerns for Wesleyan this weekend. They’re undersized on the perimeter, they rely on the three-point shot, they have little depth, and they don’t have a clear go-to guy that they can hand the ball to at the end of a game. Of course that’s not always necessary. I’m sure that any of the trio would be comfortable with the ball in his hands in the final seconds. But Coach Joe Reilly is leaning so heavily on this group that I doubt that they can sustain a high level of play for the 80 minutes that will be necessary to take home the crown this weekend. Furthermore, their games are too similar. Davis brings a bit more quickness and driving ability to the floor than the others, Rafferty is a lefty and a really smooth shooter with range and Mackey likes to shoot off the dribble, but when it comes down to it they are all point guards who want to score the basketball. The unconventional lineup can cause problems against some opponents, but when it doesn’t work out you can have stat lines like the combined 11-36 (30.6 percent) from the field that Mackey, Davis and Rafferty put together on Saturday.
In a normal NESCAC basketball season, the one seed versus the eight seed would be a guaranteed blowout for the top team, and I would have written this preview in fifteen minutes with Twitter open on three different Apple devices to see if the Celtics had traded for Goran Dragic. But 2014-2015 has been anything but normal for NESCAC basketball, and therefore even this weekend’s Trinity versus Colby matchup has upset potential.
Last time they played – 88-79 Trinity:
Jaquann Starks ’16 (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)
Much like Trinity’s final performance against Middlebury, the game was uncharacteristically high scoring for a team that had struggled to score early in the season. After a back and forth start, the Bantams used a 19-5 run, highlighted by 11 points from Jaquann Starks ’16, to take an 11-point lead into the half. The lead reached a height of 23 points in the second half at 66-43, and, while Colby did claw their way back down to single digits, the game was simply not close. Starks ended the game with 25 points and five assists, while Shay Ajayi ’16 and Ed Ogundeko ’17 added 12 points and five rebounds and 13 and five, respectively. For Colby, Ryan Jann ’16 led all scorers with 27 points, while Luke Westman ’16 finished with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Trinity X-factor: Offense/Intensity
The regular season meeting against Colby, while it was certainly an impressive win for the Bantams, also brings up some issues that further manifested themselves against Middlebury, and could be a problem in the tournament. After seemingly putting the game out of reach against both Colby and Middlebury, the vaunted Trinity defense took a snooze, allowing huge second half point totals and letting the opponent back into the game. The same sort of streakiness can be seen in their offensive performance. In their early season struggles, Trinity struggled mightily offensively, often scoring under 60 points and relying on stifling defense to get by. They have recently been putting up high point totals, but sometimes turning off the jets for periods of time. Starks’ game is symbolic of these sometimes-lackadaisical tendencies. He has a penchant for disappearing for long stretches and then reappearing in a blaze of glory, like a comet, or the McRib. However, if he doesn’t return, like he didn’t in the second half against Middlebury, then Trinity’s offense can become stagnant, especially against a team with solid interior defense. Trinity may be able to get by in this game with streakiness, but at later levels of the tournament they’ll have to get more consistent, and Colby will certainly be on the watch for lazy streaks to attack on Saturday.
Colby X-factor: Ryan Jann
Ryan Jann ’16 has become one of the NESCAC’s most explosive scorers with multiple big games in the absence of Chris Hudnut ’16. (Courtesy of Dean Denis Photography/Colby Athletics)
Jann was having a solid junior season before the injury to Colby’s POY candidate Chris Hudnut ’16, but since Hudnut went down, Jann has raised his game. In addition to the 27 he poured in against Trinity, Jann had 26 in the Mules’ big win over Middlebury, and 26 against Tufts as well. The Mules’ offense has changed since Hudnut’s injury, with a lot more room for perimeter players like Jann to drive and cut through the line, which has also provided Jann with chances for open jumpers when other players drive and kick. For Colby to have any hope in this game, Jann will need to continue this strong play and then some.
Three Questions
1. Will Trinity sleep on Colby?
Trinity could almost not be faulted for looking past the eight seed to either Tufts (their only league loss) or Amherst (the most talented team in the league on paper.) However, given the volatile nature of this iteration of NESCAC, any team can beat any other team on a given day, and it is vital for both teams that they keep that in mind.
2. Can Colby get interior stops?
While Colby and Middlebury both solved Trinity’s defense in the second halves of their respective matchups with Trinity, they were stuck trading baskets for a while, as neither team could keep Trinity’s forwards out of the paint. If Colby can handle the three-headed forward creature of Ajayi, Ogundeko and George Papadeas ’15, then they will be much more equipped to take advantage of Trinity’s streakiness on the perimeter.
3. Are Trinity’s high scores legit?
Trinity’s offense in league play has been putting up huge numbers, with 88 against Colby and 90 against Middlebury, as two examples. However, my cousin’s Catholic elementary school team could put up 80 against Middlebury these days, and Colby without Hudnut is certainly lacking in some toughness. It remains to be seen whether Trinity has really changed into an offensive juggernaut.
What to Expect:
Also imperative in Colby’s upset hopes is Westman, he of the absurd 74.2 percent shooting percentage. The point man got some love on Twitter earlier this month.
(Currently, Westman is still just shy of qualifying for the NCAA lead in field goal percentage. Players must average five made field goals per game played.)
Westman has had a fantastic season, and he and Jann coupled with Hudnut would be a formidable big three. But without the man in the middle, Westman will need to continue playing well, and even go beyond his solid 13.3 points per game average, to lessen the load on Jann’s shoulders. Expect solid performances from both of them, but ultimately not transcendent enough to pull the upset.
Graham Safford ’15 might be holding flowers, but he still has his eyes on the prize. (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)
Usually in our weekend preview we tell you three players who we think are going to have a significant impact on the weekend. Given how big of a weekend this one is, three is simply not going to be enough. The criteria for this is not simply the best players on each team. The most important players are the ones who will have the biggest impact on how we look back on the weekend.
10. Small Forward Peter Kazickas ’15 (Hamilton)
The emergence of Joseph Lin ’15 has overshadowed the improvement of Kazickas, another senior who has stepped up in his final season. Last season Kazickas was a secondary option for Hamilton and only made 0.4 threes per game. This season he is shooting an unfathomably hot 59.1 percent from three in conference while making four times as many threes as last year. Yes, Hamilton is officially eliminated from the tournament, but as Williams learned earlier, traveling to Clinton is not an easy task. The Continentals could play spoiler to Wesleyan, if Kazickas shoots like he has been recently.
9. David George ’17 (Amherst)
If George watched the Middlebury-Bowdoin game, he was salivating at all the dunks John Swords ’15 had against the Panther frontline. He could have a great game Sunday if Amherst makes a concerted effort to get him the ball. George has been a very good player this year for the Jeffs, but he has not been close to the dominant force he looked like for parts of the NCAA tournament. He is shooting 52.8 percent from the field which honestly is not a great percentage for a big man. A big game going into the NESCAC tournament will put fear in Amherst’s opponents.
8. Shooting Guard Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 (Williams)
Any doubt about who the best pure shooter in the NESCAC is was put to rest by Rooke-Ley Friday night against Bates. He went 6-8 from three, many of them with a hand in his face. To shoot for the season 46.7 percent from three given the difficulty of most of those shots is impressive. Finding him in transition is an absolute must. Rooke-Ley might not create very many opportunities for others, but he cashes in on the ones he has. At 4-4, Williams could be primed for a 2-0 weekend against Wesleyan and Conn College. If they got to 6-4, it would be the first time all season they have been more than a game away from .500 in conference.
7. Guard BJ Davis ’16 (Wesleyan)
Staying in front of Davis is a nightmare, and he gives Wesleyan more dynamism in their offense now that the Cardinals are running more offense through him. The Cardinals might need to win both of their games this weekend, and Davis is the one player who can truly be a difference maker for them. His shooting percentages are not great recently as he is drawing opponents’ top defenders. In conference games Davis is Wesleyan’s leading scorer and passer with 13.6 PPG and 4.0 APG. It is possible that on Saturday Williams puts Dan Wohl ’15 on Davis. If that is the case, Davis will probably try to use his quickness to get in the lane and forgo shooting from outside.
6. Point Guard Jake Brown ’17 (Middlebury)
Nobody thought that Middlebury would be here, needing at least one victory in the final weekend against Trinity or Amherst to even think about making the tournament. Brown could be important in very different ways. Friday against Trinity, Brown will defend Jaquann Starks ’16. Starks has been in double-digits the last five games, but Brown will be a real challenge for him. If Brown shuts down Starks, the Bantams offense could grind to a halt for long periods. Then, on Sunday Brown might take advantage of his athleticism against Reid Berman ’17 to get into the lane and cause Amherst headaches. Last Sunday Brown was limping at periods with what looked like an ankle injury, and if he is less than 100 percent, Middlebury will be in even bigger trouble than they are already.
5. Center John Swords ’15 (Bowdoin)
A fired up Swords is the best type of Swords, and that is the version we saw on Sunday against Middlebury. It probably helped that he only had one game that weekend and did not have to worry about his knees. Though his offensive production against Middlebury was great, it will be his defense and rebounding that Bowdoin really relies on this weekend. Because Tom Palleschi ’16 did not play last year, Swords and him have not matched up for significant minutes yet. The two will likely spend the beginning of the game feeling each other out with Palleschi probably relying on his jump shot initially.
4. Power Forward Sam Willson ’16 (Colby)
Willson is basically the entire Colby frontcourt right now. We aren’t sure because Colby does not publish the height of their players on their website, but based off of this photo, after Willson, Luke Westman ’16 was the second tallest player who played for Colby against Middlebury. Willson wasn’t even supposed to start this year, but a preseason injury to Patrick Stewart ’16 and more recent injury to Chris Hudnut ’16 leaves Willson as the only big man left. Offensively his role is the same as he is still really a stretch four who is good in pick and roll situations. On defense is where he will really make or break the Mules’ weekend. He could have a tough time going against Tom Palleschi ’16 and Marcus Delepeche ’17. He will need to use his strength and rely on help from his teammates to keep Colby afloat down low.
3. Center Tom Palleschi ’16 (Tufts)
In the first half against Williams, Palleschi looked unstoppable draining midrange jumpers, hook shots, and layups down low on his way to 22 points. Then suddenly in the second half he went cold and didn’t score in the final 17:20 of the game. That was a big reason why Williams came back to win and plunge Tufts back into the thick of things. Without Hunter Sabety ’17, Palleschi is the only inside threat for Tufts. He has to exploit Colby who is still playing without Chris Hudnut ’16. If Tufts stumbles Friday then Palleschi will have to deal with Swords. His ability to hit shots from outside might give Swords problems, but he has to make them first.
2. Power Forward Dylan Sinnickson ’15
His Player of the Year candidacy is over after last weekend, and Sinnickson just has not looked like the same explosive inside-out threat that we saw earlier this year. In his past four conference games, Hamilton was the only one where he scored more than 13 points or grabbed more than nine rebounds. He needs to be the man for Middlebury for at least one game this weekend. Something like a 20 and 15 performance. He most certainly has to outplay Connor Green ’16 when those two meet on Sunday. Maybe returning to Pepin will help Sinnickson to get back to the player who looked almost unstoppable for stretches earlier in the season.
1. Point Guard Graham Safford ’15 (Bates)
We have been saying all season that Safford is the single most important player to any team. There is a reason why he is averaging an insane 36.9 MPG. But how much of a toll is it taking on him? The last two Friday NESCAC games Safford has averaged 26.0 PPG, but on Saturday that average dips all the way down to 9.5 PPG. Both of those games have still been wins, but they were against Hamilton and Conn College, the two worst teams in the NESCAC. Bates might struggle Saturday against Colby. So maybe Safford knows that Friday is the game that Bates needs to win. After all, he was in the Bowdoin gym Sunday afternoon watching Middlebury and Bowdoin play.
This weekend is all about preparing for the playoffs. Trinity has the top seed under wraps, but otherwise no team has clinched a home playoff game. There is a scenario in which six teams, Bates, Amherst, Bowdoin, Tufts, Colby and Williams, could all finish 6-4. In that case, Amherst, Bowdoin and Williams would host playoff games. However, if Amherst loses on Sunday to Middlebury they could end up going on the road next weekend if Tufts and Williams both win out; Bowdoin will probably lose a top-four seed if they lose to Tufts; and Williams needs to sweep to have any chance of hosting next weekend.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the ladder, the Panthers likely need one win to carry them through to the tournament, but they play two of the league’s best in Trinity and Amherst. They hold the tie-breaker over Wesleyan, but the Cardinals also get a soft matchup in Hamilton before they play Williams. If Wesleyan wins both games, they will almost certainly be playing playoff basketball. What’s more, Williams, who as I just mentioned has a chance to host, could miss the playoff altogether if Middlebury pulls off two upsets, Wesleyan sweeps, Colby wins at least one and the Ephs collapse and lose to both Conn. and Wesleyan.
Suffice to say it will be a chaotic weekend. We are breaking up the weekend preview somewhat so check back in later today for our look at the most important players for this weekend. Here are the best games to watch over the next few days. With the added flair of a prediction for each.
1. Trinity at Middlebury, Friday 7 PM
The Bantams are unlikely to rest on their laurels since the top seed is still unfamiliar to them, while the Panthers are fighting for their playoff lives. Trinity should be able to slow Middlebury down on the break, but Jake Brown ’17 and Co. will try to push the tempo nonetheless. Though Middlebury has been criticized for their defense recently, these are still the two top defenses by field goal percentage allowed, so it will be physical and could get ugly. These teams are also 1-2 in rebounding margin, but a large part of the Panthers’ success on the boards comes from Dylan Sinnickson ’15 out-jumping his matchups. Unfortunately for him, the Trinity forwards who will likely guard Sinnickson, Alex Conaway ’15 and Shay Ajayi ’16, are great at boxing out and will make rebounding difficult.
I think we see a lot of points but not necessarily great shooting numbers. These teams are going to be running up and down the floor a lot, so the benches could be a factor, which I actually think plays to Middlebury’s advantage, but it’s not enough for me to side with the Panthers.
Prediction: Trinity 79, Middlebury 75
2. Wesleyan at Hamilton, Friday 7 PM
I don’t think Wesleyan can handle the Ephs on Saturday, so if they want to make the tournament then they have to beat Hamilton. I hope Joseph Lin ’15 (assuming Lin returns from an injury sustained at Bates) and BJ Davis ’16 go at each other all game because they are both great penetrators who distribute well. Neither is too shabby at shooting the long ball, either. I think in some sense those two offset one another. So I think this comes down to inside play, and Wesleyan clearly has the edge. Hamilton does not rebound well, even with seven-footer Zander Wear ’18 getting more minutes lately, while Wesleyan has a few forwards who can bang on the boards. The Cardinals’ front court holds the advantage on both ends of the floor, and they just need this game more. If there is going to be a game where Hamilton can play at another level and win a big game it will be at the seniors’ last home game on Saturday against Conn.
Prediction: Wesleyan 73, Hamilton 64
3. CBB Battles: Bates at Bowdoin, Friday 7 PM and Bates at Colby, Saturday, 3 PM
The CBB is always full of drama. Technically, Bates won it back in December when the three matched up in non-conference play, but for a second suppose these game count towards the CBB as well. Colby has gone 1-2, dropping its first matchup with Bates and splitting with Bowdoin, Bates is 2-0 having beaten each team once already and Bowdoin is 1-2. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they all ended up tied.
Bates should still be favored in their matchup with the Polar Bears, though the return of Neil Fuller ’17 really strengthens their bench. Fuller is likely still shaking off some rust, but he was a 24.5 MPG starter for Coach Tim Gilbride before he went down with injury so he is a boost for a team that had been running out a pretty short rotation. We’ll have to wait and see if John Swords ’15 and Matt Palecki ’16 can handle the Delpeche duo. Last time these two teams met, Malcolm and Marcus combined for 21 points and 17 rebounds, but what’s even more impressive is that Swords had just five points and three boards.
Matt Palecki ’16 will have his work cut out for him tonight. Not many players can out-jump the Delpeche brothers like Palecki did here. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
Prediction: Bates 62, Bowdoin 58
As for the Saturday tilt between Bates and Colby, Ryan Jann ’16 has been a man possessed recently. He’s taking a lot more shots in the absence of Chris Hudnut ’16, but somewhat surprisingly for someone who suddenly has to take on a lot more responsibility, they are mostly going in. In four games without Hudnut, Jann is 26-56 (46.4%) from the field and 12-21 (57.1%) from deep and his confidence just seems to be growing. I don’t think Jann alone is enough for me to pick Colby in this one, but he sure is fun to watch.
Zuri Pavlin ’17 was unstoppable on the boards this weekend, grabbing 29 rebounds. (Courtesy of Conn. College Athletics/Anika Goodhue Photography)
With Bowdoin thrashing my very own Panthers last weekend, my only chance to earn any bragging rights this winter over Adam is if I can thoroughly annihilate him in fantasy basketball. I had been cultivating a nice lead in the points, assists and rate categories, but as of last week blocks, steals and three pointers made seemed to be slipping out of reasonable grasp. With that in mind, and the loss to injury of two of my skilled big men, Hunter Sabety ’17 and Chris Hudnut ’16, I was forced to make some roster decisions. I would have loved to add sharpshooter Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15, but Adam had waiver priority and beat me to the punch, but I was satisfied to add Connor Green ’16 and Matt Daley ’16. I didn’t end up playing Daley this weekend, but I’m hoping for a big week from him in the final weekend coming up. Adam was forced to sit his best rebounds/blocks contributor, John Swords ’15, who had only one game, which gave me some hope that I could close the gap in those categories. Here’s how our lineups shook out:
Lord of the ‘CAC (Adam)
Lin and Tonic (Joe)
Position
Player
Player
Guard
G. Safford
J. Starks
Guard
D. Wohl
L. Westman
Guard
H. Rooke-Ley
C. Green
Forward
A. Santos
E. Ogundeko
Forward
D. Sinnickson
D. George
Forward
Mar. Delpeche
H. Merryman
Forward
S. Ajayi
Z. Pavlin
Bench
J. Brown
J. Lin
Bench
J. McCarthy
M. Daley
Bench
J. Swords
L. Hausman
I rolled out a lineup with a little bit less scoring potential than usual. Of course, Lucas Hausman ’16 only had one game, but I also kept Joseph Lin ’15 on the bench who is among the league’s best at scoring. However, I felt good about the matchups I had. Two of my guards this week are very good rebounders, and I was hoping for a big week from beyond the arch from Jaquann Starks ’15, Green and Hunter Merryman ’15. Zuri Pavlin ’17 stepped up huge for me with 21 rebounds against Trinity. My strategy worked on the boards, but it was a cold week for my squad from deep, aside from Green who netted 10 of my 15 three pointers:
Category
Lord of the ‘CAC
Lin and Tonic
Points
235
178
Assists
26
18
Rebounds
100
116
Steals
7
13
Blocks
6
9
FT%
87.7% (64/73)
66.1% (37-56)
FG%
46.2% (73/158)
42.3% (63-149)
3PT Made
27
15
While I took over the advantage this week, the percentage gaps shrunk considerably, which makes me nervous. It will be tough to hang onto the slim margins I’ve created, but it’s always better to be ahead in a tight race than behind. Here are the composite standings:
Malcolm Delpeche ’17 flushed this one home as the Bobcats slipped by Hamilton 73-71 on Saturday, Feb. 7.
The Maine triumvirate of Colby, Bates and Bowdoin combined on the weekend to go 4-0 at home. Behind hot shooting from Ryan Jann ’16 who finished with 26 points, the Mules beat Middlebury for their first win without Chris Hudnut ’16. Then on Sunday Bowdoin blitzed their way to an easy win over the Panthers to drop Middlebury to 3-5 in the NESCAC.
Meanwhile, Bates’ vaunted home-court advantage once again took center stage as the Bobcats pulled out close wins over Williams and Hamilton. The wins bring the Bobcats’ home record to 12-0 and 6-0 in NESCAC play. While you have probably heard all about how Alumni Gym rattles opponents, Colby and Bowdoin also boast great home records. Colby is 7-2 overall and 2-2 in the NESCAC at home, and this season has seen a resurgence in student attendance in Waterville. Bowdoin does not have as many students at their games (though I am one of the proud few), but the Polar Bears are 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the NESCAC when they play in Brunswick.
Of the three losses between them, two of them came at the hands of one of the other with Colby beating Bowdoin in Brunswick in December and the Polar Bears returning the favor in Waterville a few weeks ago. So the only team that has managed to come from out of state and beat a Maine school is Williams which beat Colby on January 17.
Stock Up
Center John Swords ’15 (Bowdoin)
As the only returning player from the All-NESCAC First Team, expectations were high for Swords coming into the season, but he has fallen short of them on the offensive end. Sunday was the Swords that Bowdoin fans were hoping for. The seven footer scored 20 points on 10-13 shooting, and at least five of his baskets came on dunks. Swords attacked from the very beginning of the game, forcing Chris Churchill ’15 to pick up two early fouls. He was not afraid to put the ball on the floor and go to the hoop, something that he has been hesitant to do for long stretches this season. He also took it personal when he got called for an offensive charge drawn by Matt Daley ’16 and attacked Daley the next time he got the ball down low. It was only one game, but if Swords continues to play like he did on Sunday, Bowdoin will be difficult for teams to handle.
Shooting Guard Rick Naylor ’16 (Trinity)
Sometimes it is hard to pick out specific players on Trinity who are difference makers beyond Jaquann Starks ’16. That isn’t meant to insult the ability of anyone on the Bantam roster, but they are so balanced that picking out individuals is difficult. Naylor is certainly a role player averaging 5.8 PPG for the season, but he has come up big in recent weeks. First against Bowdoin he carried Trinity down the stretch on offense, and on Friday he helped Trinity outlast a determined Wesleyan squad. He went 5-6 from three on his way to a team high 17 points. On offense, Naylor is pretty much a straight shooter with 63 percent of his made shots coming from deep. In conference play he is shooting 54.5 percent from three, the second highest percentage in the league. On the other end, Naylor fits perfectly into the hard-nosed style Trinity plays. Despite averaging only 20.6 MPG, he has fouled out of four games so far this season, the fourth most in the NESCAC this season.
Guard Connor Green ’16 (Amherst)
Not that Green’s stock was necessarily low, but it has sky rocketed recently as the Lord Jeffs have started to look more like the perennial title contenders that we are used to seeing. Over the last four games, Green has scored at least 24 points three times and thrice snagged double digit rebounds. Last week we handicapped the Player of the Year race and Green came in with the fourth best odds to win the award. If we ranked these players again today Green would probably have the second best odds and the gap between Green and favorite Dan Wohl ’15 would be much smaller than it was then. Amherst is playing much better of late, blowing out some of the NESCAC’s bottom feeders and a couple tough Maine teams. It took awhile for Coach Dave Hixon to work out the rotation, but he seems to have found a serviceable point man in Reid Berman ’17 and a reliable bench scorer in Jeff Racy ’17. The Lord Jeffs are dangerous right now and Green is only elevating his game as the season goes on.
Stock Down
Hamilton’s Luck
Honestly, I feel terrible for the Continentals. They have played better than their 1-7 record would indicate. On Saturday Hamilton almost pulled off the upset at Bates. A layup from Joe Pucci ’18 put Hamilton up 71-66 with 1:36 to go, but Bates scored the final seven points to storm back for the win. For the Continentals, it was merely the latest close loss. Six of their seven losses in conference have been by single digits. It is a shame, too, because they play a fun, uptempo brand of basketball with an eclectic crew. Peter Kazickas ’15 is lights out shooting the ball, and he also rocks the best ‘mun’ (man bun. It is a hairstyle I swear) in the NESCAC. Ajani Santos ’16 has a nice post game, and Joseph Lin ’15 is one of the most clever players I have seen. Because of tie-breakers, Hamilton is already eliminated from the NESCAC tournament. We knew Hamilton would miss the transferred Matt Hart, but this group exceeded expectations even if the final records don’t show it.
Clarity
Remember when I said that this weekend was going to go a long way in figuring out the NESCAC picture? Yeah, well I lied about that. Going into next weekend, the number of scenarios that can end up happening are endless. Trinity will host a quarter-final game, Bates will host for sure as long as they win one of their games this weekend, and Amherst will host for sure if they win against Middlebury. If those three host, then the winner of Tufts-Bowdoin will host the fourth game. Unless Colby or Williams goes 2-0 on the weekend and Tufts beats Bowdoin, then the Ephs or Mules would host because they both own the tiebreaker over Tufts. If Colby, Williams and Tufts are all 6-4 then Williams would host because they went 2-0 against those teams, but if Bates loses both games then there could be a four-way tie…OK we give up. Personally I am rooting for the scenario where Bates and Amherst go winless for the weekend, Tufts beats Bowdoin, and Williams and Colby go 2-0. That would mean that all six of those teams would finish at 6-4.
Middlebury Defense
There were some questions about the quality of Middlebury’s competition at the beginning of the year, but nevertheless their domination was impressive enough for us to rank them at the top of our initial power rankings, and a big part of that decision was the Panthers’ commitment to defense. Coach Jeff Brown challenged his guys to be the best defense in the country this season, and for a good chunk of the year the Panthers were ranked in the top five nationally in field goal percentage defense. In Middlebury’s first 13 games, during which stretch they started 13-0, they allowed 70 points only twice and both were easy victories. In the subsequent 11 games, opponents have scored 70 points seven times and Middlebury has gone 7-5. This weekend Colby and Bowdoin combined to shoot 47.3 percent from the field against the Panthers. Even Jake Brown ’17, possibly the best perimeter defender in the NESCAC, struggled against the athletic Lucas Hausman ’16 on Sunday. If Middlebury is going to right the ship (and even make the NESCAC tournament), they will need to get back to playing good defense.
Malcolm Delpeche ’17 dunks against Wesleyan last weekend. (Photo courtesy of Phyllis Jensen and Bates Athletics)
The penultimate weekend of the NESCAC schedule should clear up the logjam in the middle of the conference. Only a game and half separates teams 2-9 right now, meaning that Colby, currently not even making the NESCAC tournament, would very likely be the #2 seed if they won their final three conference games. Now, that isn’t likely to happen, but it just goes to show that the standings are a mess right now. This might be the weekend when teams sort themselves out and some wannabe contenders reveal themselves as pretenders.
With the NESCAC tournament right around the corner, teams are jostling to get one of the top four spots in order to host a first round game. Any team that goes 2-0 this weekend has a good chance of accomplishing just that.
Three Players to Watch
1. Shooting Guard Mike Boornazian ’16 (Bates): Boornazian might be the most underrated player in the NESCAC. He is capable of guarding every position besides center because of his exceptional length. This weekend will be a treat with Boornazian tasked with slowing down Player of the Year favorite Dan Wohl ’15. The two are physically very similar: 6’5″ guards who are fluid enough to handle the ball. Boornazian is also no slouch on the offensive end. He only shoots 39.8 percent from the field to average 14.8 PPG, but he is crucial for taking pressure off of Graham Safford ’15. He can act as a secondary ball-handler when needed also. On Tuesday Safford sat out in order to rest, and Boornazian had one of his best games of the season finishing with 26 points. He might be overlooked at the end of the year for league awards, but Boornazian is critical for the Bobcats.
2. Power Forward Drew Madsen ’17 (Tufts): Per the Tufts student newspaper, Hunter Sabety ’17 sustained what appeared to be a serious knee injury that will keep him out for the rest of the year. If that is the case, then it is time to get familiar with Madsen, the talented 6’7″ backup to Sabety. He was already a part of the rotation before the injury, and now he will see his minutes climb even more. He has not put up tremendous per minute stats in his limited time so do not expect him to simply replace Sabety. However, he is a big body with enough skill to make plays. Given the ability of Tom Palleschi ’17 to make jumpers, Madsen should consider only ever leaving the paint when he needs to avoid a three second call. The rest of the time he should be battling position for any offensive rebound. Sabety, for all of his offensive prowess, was not a fantastic defender, so Madsen could offset his lack of offensive skill that way.
3. Shooting Guard Ryan Jann ’16 (Colby): The Mules started NESCAC play 3-0, and for a brief span they were at the top of the NESCAC standings. Since then they have lost their last four NESCAC games and found out Chris Hudnut ’16 is out with a knee injury for the rest of the year. Luke Westman ’16 is a great player, but his lack of a jump shot means he is not capable of being a go-to scorer. So now the sharpshooter Jann is the number one option for Colby. He exploded for 27 against Trinity, and he looked comfortable finding space to get his shot off. He has also gotten better as a distributor this year, but it is his scoring that will be most needed. The Mules need one more win to get into the NESCAC tournament, and Jann will have to shoot them there.
This is the NbN grudge match between myself and Joe. Last season saw Middlebury pull out a close victory because Coach Tim Gilbride called a timeout when he didn’t have one after Bowdoin tied the game with under five seconds remaining. The two rosters look very different than they did a year ago with Dylan Sinnickson ’15, Hunter Merryman ’15 and John Swords ’15 the only starters returning. How Middlebury defends Lucas Hausman ’16 could decide the game. The Panthers love to push the pace, but Hausman is exceptional in transition, even though as a team Bowdoin does not like to go fast because of their short rotation. Jake Brown ’17 usually takes on opponents’ point guards, but he might guard Hausman for stretches because of his quickness. Though Matt St. Amour ’17 is a good team defender who draws a lot of charges, he is still not as quick as he was before his ACL injury.
Given how Connor Green ’16 went off last weekend against the Polar Bears, Dylan Sinnickson ’15 could be primed for a big day. After struggling somewhat by his lofty standards in conference play, Sinnickson has averaged 25.0 PPG and 15.5 RPG in his last two games. He and Brown should look to attack John Swords ’15 at the basket because of the depleted Bowdoin backcourt, but an underrated improvement from Swords has been his ability to stay out of foul trouble in nearly every game, only fouling out once all season. The loser of this game will all but certainly be forced to go on the road in the first round of the NESCAC tournament.
2. Friday 7:00 PM: Williams (12-7, 3-3) at Bates (15-4, 4-2)
The Bobcats are a perfect 10-0 at home this season, and their fans are sure to come out for the final home games of the season this weekend. Beating them in Alumni Gymnasium, especially in what could be the seniors’ final home games, is going to be a tall task. Even though Williams is only 3-3, they just smacked Middlebury in their only game last weekend. Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 looks 100 percent again after missing time due to a hand injury.
We all know Williams is going to play with Dan Aronowitz ’17 as an undersized power forward and Ryan Kilcullen ’15 at center, so the question becomes whether Bates coach Jon Furbush is capable of playing two big men for most of the game. He will want to keep both Marcus and Malcolm Delpeche ’17 on the floor for most of the game in order to control the boards and get easy baskets. However, Aronowitz will look to attack using his combination of shooting and slashing against a bigger defender. Bates can also easily go small with Adam Philpott ’15 acting as power forward. The chess match between the two youngest coaches in the NESCAC, Furbush and Kevin App, will be fun. App has played a tight rotation all season, but he could mix things up and play Darrias Sime ’16 or Edward Flynn ’16 for longer minutes.
Ultimately, a great deal of Williams’ games come down to how they shoot the ball. Because they shoot so many threes, when a lot of them go in they are hard to beat. Bates will try to make up for that by destroying the Ephs on the glass and sticking to shooters as closely as possible. This is going to be the most fun game to watch because of the possibility for offensive fireworks and a first rate atmosphere.
In the same year that the University of Virginia is in the Top Five behind a suffocating defense, the Bantams are on top of the NESCAC in much the same way. By the way, Jaquann Starks ’16 has been absolutely en fuego from beyond the arc recently. In NESCAC play he is shooting the third best percentage from deep, 56.2 percent, while making the third most threes per game, 2.6. In fact, he is shooting a higher percentage from three than he is from the field. Though Trinity wants him to continue to get into the lane, they would prefer he simply continue to nail shots from downtown. Though we have harped on how Trinity’s balance means different guys step up every game, Starks is the one guy they need to perform. In the three Bantam loses in 2015, Starks has averaged an anemic 3.0 PPG, well below his 13.4 PPG season average.
Wesleyan needs to not back down from the physical presence of Trinity. An underrated part of the Bantams defense is how uncomfortable they make things on the perimeter for teams, so it helps that Wesleyan can rely on BJ Davis ’16, Jack Mackey ’16 or Harry Rafferty ’17 to handle the ball. Davis in particular is adept at getting into the lane, and even if he isn’t finishing amongst the big men, it could stretch the Trinity defense enough to get Mackey open looks. Both teams will be fine with a slow plodding pace. That should keep the game in the 50s, meaning that this game might come down to offensive execution in the final five minutes. There the edge goes to Trinity, who, even though they don’t play great offense overall, manage to find ways to grind out points at the end of the game. When these two met last year, Trinity led by about five points for most of the second half, and Wesleyan was never able to get over the hump.
The game is in Middletown, but the Bantams are hoping a road win helps them secure home court for the NESCAC tournament. Trinity’s home court advantage is not significant, but the Bantams would still love the #1 seed to have the opportunity to host the NESCAC semi-finals and final if they get past their first round opponent. If they beat the Cardinals, they will be able to taste it.
There are just two conference weekends left, and while athletes, coaches and fans are focused on the battle for seeding in the NESCAC tournament, individual performances over the final two weeks will play a major role in determining to whom the end-of-year awards are given.
Conference play is weighted heavily when looking at these awards because that is when the voting members, aka NESCAC coaches, get a first hand look at the candidates. Therefore it is necessary to look at matchups over the next few games in order to split hairs between all the great players in this league.
The race will be tight, and is still wide open, especially with preseason favorite Chris Hudnut ’16 succumbing to a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 24. In the five conference games that Hudnut was able to play, he averaged 21.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, numbers that would put him second and third respectively in conference games. Other players with high expectations, such as Hunter Sabety ’17 and Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 have shown flashes of brilliance when on the court, but injuries will ultimately stop them from getting enough minutes to be true contenders. With Hudnut going down, the picture became a lot less clear. Below we handicap the Player of the Year race as it stands today.
C John Swords ’15
Odds: 50:1
As the guy who ought to be the hands-down Defensive Player of the Year, he should be in the discussion for overall Player of the Year as well. He probably won’t do enough on the offensive end to be seriously considered for the award, but his defensive impact is unquantifiable. Beyond the 17 blocks (1st) and 65 rebounds (2nd) that he has in seven conference games, he is undeniably the best rim protector in the NESCAC, and the main reason why opponents jack up more treys against the Polar Bears than anyone else.
PG Joseph Lin ’15
Odds: 30:1
Lin’s transformation has been a hot topic this season. The senior is the third-leading scorer in NESCAC games and the league’s top assist man by a wide margin. On a winning team his odds would be much better. While the POY award isn’t necessarily the best player on the best team, it often seems that way. Aaron Toomey’s ’14 Jeffs won the NESCAC tournament in both years that he was given the award, Ryan Sharry ’12 and the runner-up Panthers finished 26-4 that season. Troy Whittington ’10 and Williams went 29-3 in 2010-11. You get the idea. With no clear cut dominant team in the NESCAC this season the award could go to a player on a middle of the pack team, but not one who isn’t in the NESCAC playoffs.
SG Lucas Hausman ’16
Odds: 25:1
Another Bowdoin guy, and another that has elevated his game to a new level this season. Hausman has been an animal in conference play, averaging 23.7 points per game. He’s somewhat one dimensional; he loves to cut to the hoop, especially in transition, and force off-balance shots in traffic. But hey, it works for him. He is shooting 44.9 percent from the field in conference games and he is arguably the league’s best free throw shooter, which is good because he gets to the stripe more than anyone. As unfair as it is, his class might hurt Hausman somewhat in this chase. If it comes down to him and a senior who seem like a toss-up, the award will probably land in the elder’s hands. But a strong tournament run could quickly and significantly improve Hausman’s odds.
G/F Connor Green ’16
Odds: 18:1
After a fantastic sophomore campaign in which Green became the Lord Jeffs’ second option to Toomey, Green had a bit of a slow start to 2014-15. Through his first two games of January (10 total), Green was averaging 13.2 PPG. In the subsequent 10 games? 18.0 points per game. And in the last five, since the changing of the guard occurred at the point, Green has topped 30 points twice, including 33 against Bowdoin on Jan. 31, a record for the junior against D-III opponents (Green dropped 42 against D-II Nova Southeastern in a 105-101 loss last season). With more strong games against Conn. College and Wesleyan this weekend, followed by a big game against Middlebury next weekend, Green could leap frog those with better odds and steal this award. That last game in particular will be huge, as Green will probably have to deal with the size, speed and strength of Dylan Sinnickson ’15. A win in that head-to-head matchup, much like the one earned by our POY favorite, will go a long way towards winning over the votes of the NESCAC coaches.
PG Graham Safford ’15
Odds: 9:1
Safford fits the POY mold; senior leader, battle-tested, big moments on his resume, leading scorer, fills up the stat sheet and almost never leaves the court. Like Toomey in the last two years, Safford is the type of court general without whom his team would fall apart. Let’s compare the stat lines of Toomey from ’13-’14 and Safford from this year:
The glaring difference doesn’t appear until you start looking at the percentages. Toomey was a more prolific scorer and he did it in a more efficient way, but Safford is comparable to Toomey across the board in other categories. The most important thing in favor of Safford’s campaign is that Bates rides or dies with the point guard’s play. If he can take them to the NESCAC Championship game he might convince the coaches that he is worthy of the award.
F Dylan Sinnickson ’15
Odds: 5:1
What a great story this kid is. As a freshman on Middlebury’s best team ever he played just over 10 minutes per game, averaged 5.7 PPG and shot just two, that’s right, two, three-pointers. Then he had to sit out his entire sophomore campaign because of a broken arm. Last year he returned and was a revelation, running the pick and roll to perfection with Joey Kizel ’14 and spreading the floor, dropping 43 percent of his attempts from long range, including a couple of game winners. He’s past the injury that took away his sophomore season, he’s returned with a vengeance from the personal break that he took from the game last season, and he’s completely reinvented his game. He’s possibly the most athletic guy in the NESCAC in any sport. He runs like the wind. On the baseball diamond he’s known for beating out routine grounders to shortstop. He jumps through the roof. And when he grows that hair out people often refer to him around campus as “That kid that looks like Jesus”.
The numbers bear out the praise. Sinnickson has racked up 18.7 PPG (4th in NESCAC), 11.1 RPG (1st), and does so with good percentages, 48.0 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from deep. On the other end of the floor, he often draws the opponent’s trickiest matchups. Hamilton’s Ajani Santos ’16 and Conn’s Zuri Pavlin ’17 can tell you just how much of a menace Sinnickson can be. The only reason he isn’t tops on this list is because in his toughest head-to-head matchup of the season Sinnickson was bested by our POY favorite.
G/F Dan Wohl ’15
Odds: 3:1
Against Middlebury last Friday night, Wohl went 5-10 from the field and 7-7 from the stripe for 18 points while also shutting down Sinnickson, who went 3-11 from the field for seven points. Wohl has been consistently great, but he has truly been incredible since a December 6 matchup with Springfield. Amidst all the change of the offseason, there seemed to be a transition period for this Williams team at the beginning of the season, and while they are still working out some of the kinks, Wohl seems to have gotten very comfortable. In the span of 28 seconds near the end of that Springfield game, Wohl completed an and-1 and flushed another lay up to put the Ephs up nine and score what would end up as the winning basket. He added a steal and two more free throws in the final two minutes to seal the victory, finishing with 20 points and seven boards. Since that game, Wohl has averaged 22.1 PPG.
Wohl is the second-leading scorer in conference games while also snagging 8.5 RPG in those games, and is among the league’s best defenders, swiping 1.3 SPG while playing lock-down defense. Williams still has to play Bates, Tufts, Conn and Wesleyan before the season is out. All of those teams except Conn are in the top half of the NESCAC in scoring defense, meaning that it will be a challenge for Wohl to keep up his scoring production down the stretch. But if he can score 18 on Middlebury, Wohl should be up for the challenge.
While watching Jake Brown ’17 frustrate Joseph Lin ’15 this Sunday, to the tune of a 4-14 performance from the field for Lin, I got to thinking, Who is the best point guard in the NESCAC right now?
There are a lot of variables when you consider a question like this. These kinds of debates are had all the time on ESPN and in the media and have been throughout history. For example, Tiger vs. Phil, Roddick vs. Federer, Manning vs. Brady, LeBron vs. Durant, etc. The list goes on. But the answer is always determined by the parameters of the question. Are we talking about one game, or one season? Are we talking about the regular season or the playoffs? Scoring, or all-around solid play? The rest of this year, or the rest of the players’ careers?
Sports is a win-now culture, and with that in mind, I’ve decided to compile a rankings of the five best point guards in the NESCAC in terms of who I would want to lead my team from this point to the end of the NESCAC tournament. Their roles on their current teams are not entirely relevant. What holds more weight is each player’s skill set and leadership abilities. Without further ado, here it is.
5. Jaquann Starks ’16 (Trinity)
Jaquann Starks ’16 (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)
The point guard of the best team in the NESCAC squeaks in at number five, but like I said, these rankings are meant to remove each player’s abilities from their current situation. Starks is a score-first point guard, which in part is why he is not higher on this list, as I tend to favor distributors who can get other players involved. However, he is very good at scoring the rock and, more importantly for me, very efficient. I despise volume shooters, and Starks is far from that, shooting over 40 percent not only from the field, but also from deep. What’s more, you know he’s committed on the defensive end because you don’t step on the court for the Bantams if you aren’t going to play defense. He’s not very tall (5’9″), but he’s strong and I like that in a player. Finally, he put up 21 in the NESCAC quarterfinal victory over Bowdoin last year, so I know he’s ready for the limelight.
All of the rankings are very close, but especially the gap between Safford, Starks and some of the just-missed point guards. I want to knock Safford for his inefficiency, and the fact that he might not be the best guard on his own team (the numbers compared to Mike Boornazian ’16 are eerily similar) gave me pause, but in the end the most important thing down the stretch and in the playoffs is leadership, and Safford appears to have that in spades. I watched first hand last year as Safford put the dagger into the Panthers with a game-winning three-pointer, and amidst rumors of injuries and even sitting out one game, Safford refuses to leave the floor, averaging a ridiculous 36.6 minutes per game. He is the heartbeat of the Bobcats, and I would gladly let him run my team any day of the week. Not to mention he contributes all over the floor with impressive numbers in not only points, but also assists, rebounds and steals.
Davis has flown a little bit under the radar this year, but he has been a huge part of the Cardinals’ best season in, well, maybe ever, the 20-6 2011-12 season aside. Davis bears less of the ball handling burden than other players on this list, as Jack Mackey ’16 and Harry Rafferty ’17 have the ability to start the offense as well, but what I like about Davis is that he takes care of the basketball. Davis boats the best assist-to-turnover ratio of all qualified players. I also like that Davis has elevated his game in conference play, putting up 13.5 PPG and shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from deep. On another note, Davis might be the most athletic guard in the league. He doesn’t have great size (6’0″, 160 lbs), but he makes up for that with quickness and absurd ups. He’s a fun player to watch.
The poor shooting night against Middlebury aside, Lin has been great for the majority of the conference season. Going into 2014-15, Lin was an after thought on this Hamilton roster. We assumed that the scoring burden was going to fall on the front court for the Continentals, and understandably so given that Lin had been a bench player for three years and only scored 5.6 PPG last season. Boy were we wrong. Lin is scoring 14.5 PPG overall and a ridiculous 19.0 PPG in conference. He’s pretty good from behind the arc and maintains a good field goal percentage. Most importantly, he leads the NESCAC in assists per game with 7.0, which means that he either scores or assists on something like 65 percent of Hamilton’s baskets from the field. That’s an indispensable type of player.
If you are a close follower of NbN (as I’m sure all of you are), you might have noticed my obsession with efficiency. I despise Kobe Bryant-esque ugly shots off the dribble. I believe there is no place for the long two-point jumper (even though that’s all I could ever hit in my playing days. Hence why I don’t play basketball anymore). If I were a coach I wouldn’t allow my players to shoot after putting it on the floor unless they were right underneath the hoop. I exaggerate, but only just. In short, Westman would be my type of player. He doesn’t shoot three pointers (only five attempts on the season) and he still racks up 13.3 points per game because all he takes are lay ups. He is crazy athletic. He’s a captain as a junior, a testament to his leadership ability. There are only a handful of guards that rebound better than him, and he gives up an inch or two to almost all of them. And, did I mention, he’s incredibly efficient. Give me Westman and a team of three-point shooting, defense-playing swingmen and I’m going all the way.
I hope you enjoyed these rankings, and I’m sure there will be plenty of disagreement, so please let me know where I erred. One interesting observation that should come as no surprise, the internal struggle for who to put at the top of my ranks was much harder than it would have been any of the last three years, when Joey Kizel ’14 and Aaron Toomey ’14 strung together three consecutive years on the NESCAC First Team. Before the season began we talked about how it could turn into the Year of the Big Man. I would argue that there has been a lot of great guard play this season, but there are no transcendent point guards like we’ve gotten used to seeing in recent history.
