First of all, I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas 2.0, known to sane people as the first day of NESCAC play. May NESCAC Claus bless your families with many gifts.
Although there are several great games to watch today and throughout the weekend, the one that carries the most weight in the league is the Middlebury-Bates match up in Lewiston.
At 9-0, the Panthers sit at the top of the league, and are one of five remaining unbeaten teams in the country. However, entering Tuesday’s road game with 6-2 Plattsburgh, the Panthers had yet to even play a team with a record over .500 (although Skidmore’s three one-point losses make their record a tad unfair.) This led to impressive team stats for Middlebury (they lead the league in points per game, assists per game, and opponents shooting percentage.) However, the low quality of competition had garnered Middlebury little respect, both in NESCAC and nationally as the Panthers remain unranked in the D3Hoops poll.
In Plattsburgh, however, the Panthers made a loud statement regarding the legitimacy of their hot start. In a 63-53 win, Middlebury showed the defensive prowess and toughness that characterized the great teams of the Ryan Sharry-Andrew Locke-Nolan Thompson era, holding Plattsburgh to 31 percent shooting, and withstanding several runs. As has been the case for much of the season, Dylan Sinnickson ’15 keyed the win with 13 points and 13 rebounds, but it was Jake Brown ’17 who won the game for Middlebury. He had a nice stat line, with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals, but it was his absurd ability to keep his intensity up on both ends for the entire game that led the Panthers to their biggest win thus far.
The game at Bates promises to take over from the Plattsburgh game as the Panther’s biggest test of the young season. Bates has made a leap this season to challenge the “Big Three” (Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst for the unitiated) for NESCAC supremacy, led by point guard Graham Safford ’15, all-around small forward Mike Boornazian ’16, and the impressive sophomore Delpeche twins. This game is ripe with matchups and storylines to watch that are key to Middlebury’s chances in the game.
The Battle of the Guards: In his recent (positively treasonous) NESCAC fantasy basketball league column, my esteemed colleague, worthy fantasy football adversary and unresponsive Snapchat friend Adam Lamont put Bates’ Safford as the “best all around guard in NESCAC.” And, from a fantasy perspective, that’s probably true. But his 4.3 turnovers per game scream that, in reality (where games are played, Adam,) Safford can be inconsistent. Watching what Jake Brown did to Plattsburgh was an experience I have never seen before. If he’d stolen the ball one more time from starting point guard Mikey Mitchell, there would have been a lawsuit coming his way. Brown took the Panthers’ biggest game of the year by the throat and led it around like a misbehaving dog, and that’s what I want from my point guard. This game should be a day of reckoning for the two best point guards in NESCAC, and the (possibly) two best teams that follow them.
The Supporting Cast: With Jake Brown and Graham Safford presumably locked onto each other like glue, and Sinnickson battling inside with the comparably athletic Delpeche brothers (by the way, if you haven’t seen Marcus Delpche ’17 ABSOLUTELY MURDER an Emory player with a dunk, look it up. Unbelievable) it is imperative that Hunter Merryman ’15 and Matt St. Amour ’17 snap out of their recent shooting slumps. The two combined to go 1-10 from three against Plattsburgh, and St Amour in particular has been struggling in the last few games. If they are hitting from outside, Bates’ athletic defense will be less able to clamp down on Brown and Sinnickson, opening up the inside of the floor for the easy baskets that Middlebury loves.
Keeping Cool: In a crowded home game at Bates, you don’t really feel like the game is taking place in the 21st century. Everything is constrained to fit the minuscule parameters of Alumni Gym. Everything each fan says is magnified in your ears, and the brick coloring gives the game something of a sepia filter. You half expect Dennis Hopper to stumble drunkenly onto the court and harass the referee. This will be unquestionably the toughest road test that the Panthers have faced, and one of the toughest of the year. Mental toughness, something that last year’s Middlebury team struggled with, will be vital to Middlebury earning this huge road win.
I’ll be one of those crowded folks in Alumni Gym tonight, cheering loudly and proudly for the Panthers. But I’ll also be keeping an eye on the rest of the NESCAC, because there’s more than one present under the annual NESCAC tree this year. And remember, it’s the moooooost, wonderful time, of the yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr.