Tag: Bryan Hurley

A New Number One: Power Rankings 1/30

Jaquann Starks '16 and Trinity are at the top of the rankings. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)
Jaquann Starks ’16 and Trinity are at the top of the rankings. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)

Like most power rankings this season, the position of each team will more than likely switch by the end of the weekend. After several years of consistency in the NESCAC, this year has throw history out the window. This weekend will we see the league finally settle down, or will the last two and a half weeks exhibit the same amount of turbulence that we’ve seen all season long? One things for certain, there is room for any team to gain ground.

1. Trinity (14-5, 4-1) Last Week: 2

Trinity is at the top, but they shouldn’t get too comfortable. Their next two opponents, Bowdoin and Colby, have been playing solid basketball and are hungry to break through against one of the top teams. With a 70-54 win against Amherst, Trinity is tied for the top record in the NESCAC, and they get the top spot because of the quality of competition they have played in conference thus far.

2. Middlebury (13-3, 2-2) Last Week: 1

Middlebury, who had appeared to be in a good spot last week lost to non-conference opponent Maine-Fort Kent 71-62. The production, other than seniors Dylan Sinnickson ’15 and Hunter Merryman ’15 (20 and 15 points respectively), was lacking. The Panthers will have a good test of their resilience on Friday when they face Williams. The Panthers are hungry for this one after last season when they let a big lead slip away both times they played. It’s only one game, but the once long season now has under three weeks left. Right now they need consistency from more than just their seniors.

3. Tufts (8-8, 3-1) Last Week: 6

Tufts rises despite losing their only conference game to Bates last weekend. The Jumbos have shown that they should be among the top this year. These past few weeks they’ve taken down previous number one ranked teams, such as Amherst, Middlebury, and Trinity, putting them in an excellent position in the conference. Where I am hesitant to ramp up Tufts’ stock beyond this comes from the fact that they hold an 8-8 record. Yes, they have proven they can beat the “best” (term used loosely given the inconsistency this year) in the league, but their slow start puts them in a difficult spot to make the playoffs if they are unable to win the NESCAC tournament.

4. Amherst (12-5, 2-3) Last Week: 2

Amherst has dropped since last week after their tough 54-70 loss to Trinity. Seeing as Trinity is ranked No. 1 this week, I’m not going to look too far into that one game. That being said, their 2-3 conference record speaks for itself. Given that, I think the Lord Jeffs will still be a force to be reckon with down the stretch. Their schedule, like Trinity’s includes Colby and Bowdoin in their next two games, two teams that will surely be ramped up to have the chance to take a shot at the revered Lord Jeffs in LeFrak gym. Given their past, I can’t see Amherst finishing the season poorly. Call it a visceral reaction, but I’ll stand by them remaining in the top 5.

5. Bowdoin (13-4, 4-1) Last Week: 5

As a fellow Polar Bear, I’ve been tough on Bowdoin all year as far as where they have ranked on my list. That will continue. Right now, after beating a tough Colby team on the road 68-65, due largely in part to the play of senior Bryan Hurley ’15 and junior Lucas Hausman ’16 (combined 47 points in the win), Bowdoin seems to be playing their best basketball, and at the right time. In the coming weeks, they’ll go against Trinity, Amherst, Bates, Middlebury, and Tufts to finish out their conference play. In one week, you and I both will know how serious Bowdoin is this year. Right now, they have the potential to go way up in rankings, but then again, that is the case with most teams this year.

6. Bates (12-4, 2-2) Last Week: 4

After losing two straight to Amherst and Trinity, Bates was able to bounce back and beat Tuft. Bates will for sure be a playoff team, and the formula for success has been clear- if Graham Safford ’15 and Mike Boornazian ’16 play as well as they’re capable of playing, Bates has enough depth in the Delpeche brothers and Billy Selmon ’15 to make a run. Still, they are ranked second to last in points per game scored with 67.2. The Bobcats have also gotten through the toughest part of their schedule. They should be able to gain ground on the rest of the league in the coming weeks.

7. Williams (11-7, 2-3) Last Week: 7

Williams is a team that sits on the fringe of the top eight, and similarly to Amherst, has a 2-3 record in the conference. What gives Amherst the edge is based on the fact that the Ephs have tough opponents these coming weeks in Middlebury, Bates, and Tufts. A loss to Hamilton last weekend hurts Williams, but they shouldn’t be too concerned with one game; Williams has all the pieces in place and are just looking to find their groove.

8. Colby (11-7, 3-2) Last Week: 8

Colby sits in an intriguing spot right now because they have not truly been tested yet. Yes, they split the series against Bowdoin (losing the conference matchup), but that is it. The three conference wins the the Mules have this year come against the three teams that are below them in this weeks power rankings, Wesleyan, Hamilton, and Conn. That means one thing- it’s going to be an uphill battle from here on out.

9. Wesleyan (13-5, 2-2) Last Week: 9

The Cardinals fall out of my top eight for one reason in particular- the next six games for Wesleyan all come against conference opponents. The way that the league has played out thus far, anything can happen, making it particularly difficult to rally off a wining record. I’m not saying they can’t do it, I just think things would look better for Wesleyan if there were one or two out of conference games in this final stretch in order to give them a breather.

10. Hamilton (12-6, 1-4) Last Week: 11

While Hamilton’s playoff hopes seem to still be distant, Continental fans had something to cheer about when Hamilton defeated Williams in a close 67-64 battle. Jack Donnelly ’16 and Kyle Pitman ’17 are top ten in the league in 3-pt percentage, giving Hamilton the ability to work outside in. Finishing out their season with five conference games, the Continentals hold some power in determining  end of the year rankings for the league.

11. Conn College (7-9, 0-4) Last Week: 10

The Camels have yet to get a win in conference play, and sit last in our rankings with an overall record of 7-9. This year Conn has ranked 10th or lower in both defense and offense- a stat makes it very difficult to muster up some wins. The seemingly leveled playing field of the NESCAC this year has hurt Conn. While previously low-ranked teams have been able to compete with the top, Conn was unable this year to make the jump into that next level of play.

Just Another Crazy Weekend: Stock Report 1/26

It was another wild weekend in NESCAC basketball, with all of the action going down on Saturday afternoon/evening. The amount of chaos so far in the conference is unquantifiable, but comparing the current NESCAC standings to our preseason composite power ranks gives you a good idea. Things might still shake out and end up a little bit closer to what we imagined at the beginning of the season, but right now the only teams we appeared to be really close on are Conn. College and Wesleyan, whom we ranked sixth but is sitting in a tie for fifth at the moment.

This weekend might have been the craziest yet. We had underdogs pulling off big wins at home in Clinton and Lewiston (that’s if we’re buying into Tufts. Are we ready to do that?), a classic CBB game with Bowdoin and Colby, and Middlebury losing to an United States College Athletic Association school (did anyone even know that the USCAA was a thing?). What do we make of all the madness? As always, some players’ stock rose while others fell.

Stock Up

1. Bryan Hurley ’15 and Lucas Hausman ’16

The two Bowdoin backcourt mates combined for 47 points, nine boards, seven assists and three steals to help the Polar Bears edge Colby by three points on Saturday, 68-65. With the crushing news that Keegan Pieri ’15 has probably played his last basketball game for Bowdoin due to his second concussion of the year (see below), this was a major statement game for the Polar Bears.

Boy, did Hurley and Hausman respond in a big way. We’ve talked quite a bit in this space about how Hurley hasn’t been quite the same player as he was pre-ACL injury, and Saturday was not a classic Hurley performance, but it was undoubtedly his best game of the season as he went 7-16 from the field, 4-9 from three and 5-6 from the line for 23 points. He’s now had four straight games shooting over 40 percent from the field and six straight with multiple made treys. Suffice to say he looks much more comfortable these days.

As for Hausman, he might have a case for Most Improved Player in the NESCAC this season, and he’s among the league leaders in scoring. With him and Hurley firing on all cylinders, Bowdoin might have the best offensive backcourt in the NESCAC. But it remains to be seen whether the duo can keep up this level of performance for the rest of the season.

2. Joseph Lin ’15

I guess it’s time to start believing in Lin, who’s averaging 19.6 PPG and 9.8 APG in conference games. Lin had his worst shooting night of the NESCAC season against Williams (4-12, 11 points), but he stilled handed out nine assists in 37 minutes. He is the key cog for Hamilton, and it must have been huge for the team’s confidence to knock off the Ephs for Hamilton’s first conference win of the season. Now I must acknowledge that the three minutes that Lin did not play just so happened to be the last three of the game on Saturday and he exited with Hamilton down by three, so others probably deserve more credit for the upset win in particular, but Lin has been spectacular overall in big games and I think we can expect that to continue for the senior.

3. Trinity Offense

Now let’s take this with a grain of salt. The Trinity offense is still no Middlebury or Williams, but maybe they’ve caught on to something – shoot more threes. The Bantams went 8-18 from deep in their victory over Amherst, and are shooting 37.7 percent from three in conference games but have taken the fewest number of attempts. Chucking up shots from long range doesn’t really fit with this team’s personality. They’d much rather be physical in all facets of the game, but maybe that’s what the Bantams need to do to get the offense rolling. Hart Gliedman ’15 is a perfect example of this. He is a defense-first guard, a tough defender who gets a lot of steals and only scores 4.3 points per game. But he is shooting 47.4 percent from deep on the season. He hasn’t been a great three-point shooter in the past so maybe that percentage is an aberration, but for all we know he spent his entire summer jacking up treys like Jimmer Fredette and this could be for real.

Stock Down

1. NCAA Dreams for Non-Champions

If any of the top half of the league can win out in the regular season, that team will have a very good shot at making the tournament with an at-large bid based on the wins they would have to earn from here on out. Bowdoin made it last year at 19-5 and 6-4 in conference. But with the parity in the NESCAC the chances of Bowdoin or Trinity ending up 9-1 or for Middlebury going 8-2 are slim. Williams just had a terrible loss against Hamilton and has two other bad losses against teams hovering around .500. With eight losses already, Tufts would be a long shot if they lost in the NESCAC tournament, and the same can be said for Colby with seven losses. Bates is 12-4 and all of those losses came against winning teams, but with the rumors swirling that Graham Safford ’15 is less than 100 percent right now the Bobcats will be hard-pressed to remain contenders. Safford hasn’t been shooting particularly well since 2015 began and was already rested for one game two weeks ago. What Bates does have in their favor though is that two of their losses came against out-of-region teams, so they won’t hurt the Bobcats as much when the selection committee convenes. The Middlebury loss to Maine-Fort Kent was not pretty, but Fort Kent isn’t a D-III school so the same logic applies. The Panthers should be rooting hard for Tufts to keep winning to boost their strength of schedule. Wesleyan still has an outside chance, but the loss to Curry will be crushing for them. Amherst has just five losses, but some of them came in dominating fashion, which leads one to believe that the Lord Jeffs have flaws that will prevent them from going on a run and remaining unbeaten from now until tournament time. The NESCAC might be a one-bid team this year, something that has been talked about quite a bit this season but is becoming ever more realistic.

2. Conn. College Camels

Not to kick a team while its down, but the blowout loss to Wesleyan probably ends the Camels’ chances of sneaking into the playoffs. There was a glimmer of hope after Conn. played Middlebury tough last weekend, but that glimmer has been extinguished. Conn. is a young team with a lot of work to do. They’ve let teams run away with games too often this season, losing by double figures five times this season. The Camels need to learn how to play a complete game and sustain runs from their opponents.

3. PG Tarik Smith ’17 (Tufts)

Smith has been featured in this section for three straight weeks now, but for the first time his stock has fallen. Since being removed from the starting lineup Smith had elevated his game in NESCAC play and turned into a leader for the Jumbos. But then he goes and has his worst game in over two weeks, 10 points on 3-9 shooting and six turnovers as Tufts fell for the first time in conference. I think what this says is that Tufts needs Smith to be a scorer off of the bench if they are going to beat the good teams in the NESCAC. Hopefully Smith can go back to the player he had been in the previous four games when he shot nearly 70 percent from the field and averaged 17 PPG and return to the Stock Up section next week.

On the Road Again: Weekend Preview 1/23

The NESCAC schedule means that this is the weekend when teams play their usual travel partner. Because they have played all the same teams in conference thus far, we should have a good idea on how each team matches up with their opponent.

A big theme of the weekend is road favorites trying to avoid losing to home teams. The combined conference records of home teams this weekend is 5-12 while away teams are a combined 13-6. And remember that those records come against the same teams. Colby is the only home team with a winning record at 3-1 and are also the only home team that can be considered a favorite going into tomorrow. Winning on the road is not easy, but most gyms in the NESCAC do not offer a significant advantage as overall teams are 9-11 on the road this season.

Three Players to Watch

1. Power Forward Rashid Epps ’16 (Wesleyan): A tough start for Wesleyan in conference is in part because of Epps not producing. The junior has seen his playing time squeezed somewhat and he even got dropped from the starting lineup against Middebury. Epps has never been the primary scorer for Wesleyan, but the emergence of Joseph Kuo ’17 has pushed him into the third or fourth role offensively. However, the Cardinals are not a particularly dynamic offensive team, and Epps is far and away their most efficient scorer. Some of that efficiency is because he scores a lot on second chance points, but even last year when he was more of a focal point on offense, he shot 55 percent from the field. He is shooting one less shot per game and has averaged only 5.0 shots per game over the past five games. Wesleyan cannot afford to lose at Conn College. Make no mistake, even though the Camels are 0-4 in conference, they are playing decently and will beat somebody soon. They need to avoid taking too many threes and get Epps involved early.

2. Point Guard Reid Berman ’17 (Amherst): Though Berman has still yet to start a game for the Jeffs, more often than not he, rather than Jayde Dawson ’18, ends up being on the court to finish games. Dawson continues to show flashes of excellence, but Coach Dave Hixon does not trust him as a point guard. After two early turnovers, Dawson went to the bench midway through the first half and never returned. Berman is pass-first almost to a fault, but he came up huge down the stretch for Amherst against Williams scoring seven points. I know seven points might not sound like much, but before Wednesday, Berman had scored eight points total since the Christmas break despite playing significant minutes in every game. Seven points is a major breakthrough for him. Berman is not going to shoot from the outside (one made three all season), but he showed he can get into the lane and be a threat to score. That is really all he needs to be since he has proven that he is an excellent passer. We don’t know whether Hixon will put Dawson back in the starting lineup or commit to Berman completely, but at this point it appears Berman is the primary point guard for Amherst.

3. Forward Dan Aronowitz ’17 (Williams): I got to watch Aronowitz in person last Friday when Williams visited Bowdoin, and he was the only reason the halftime score wasn’t 50-10 Bowdoin. And it wasn’t just his 13 points at half that stood out but the different ways he was able to affect the game on both ends. Even though webcasts around the NESCAC are now very good, it is hard to understand how a player really works unless you see them in person, especially if you are sitting courtside. The sophomore is undersized playing a lot of minutes at power forward, but he has held up on the defensive end. He is the second option right now on offense and is shooting 39.7 percent from three for the year. The injury to Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 could have CRUSHED Williams, but they are treading water right now without him. Because of improvements from Aronowitz and Ryan Kilcullen ’15 amongst others, Williams is becoming that team nobody wants to play.

Three Games to Watch

 3. Saturday 3:00 PM: Bowdoin (12-4, 3-1) at Colby (11-6, 3-1)

A matchup of teams 3-1 in conference and the CBB rivalry makes this a wonderful undercard for the weekend. However, both teams’ conference records are inflated a bit by having already played Hamilton and Conn College, objectively the two worst teams in the NESCAC. Bowdoin’s win over Williams was a very good one, but since the Ephs were without Rooke-Ley, it still carries a little asterisk. The winner of this game will need only a couple more wins before they can think about a home NESCAC tournament game while the loser falls back to the pack with the toughest conference opponents still ahead of them.

John Swords '15 and Chris Hudnut '16 will clash once again this weekend. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
John Swords ’15 and Chris Hudnut ’16 will clash once again this weekend. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

The tough news for Bowdoin is that Keegan Pieri ’15 suffered his second concussion of the season on Wednesday night and is out for the foreseeable future. Concussions are obviously not something to mess around with and we wish Keegan the best of luck dealing with them. On the court, he is a massive loss given he is the second leading scorer and rebounder on the Polar Bears. John Swords ’15 will need to step up and be an offensive threat in the middle, something that he has not been for long stretches this season. Coach Tim Gilbride could fill Pieri’s place in the starting lineup in a couple of different ways including going small with guard Jake Donnelly ’16. Liam Farley ’18 should see an uptick in minutes because of the injury as well.

In the first game between these two teams Colby outplayed Bowdoin in the second half and managed to run away with it at the end. Bowdoin was simply unable to buy a basket from the outside going 2-15 from three. Bryan Hurley ’15 scored only two points in the game, but he is looking much more comfortable of late and has made multiple three pointers in each of his past five games. Bowdoin will have to adjust quickly to playing without Pieri who was the most capable guy on the team at creating his own shot.

For Colby, they know Chris Hudnut ’16 and Luke Westman ’16 will produce so it comes down to their other guys. Ryan Jann ’16 is a smooth shooter who makes one shot a game that you have no idea how he did it. Sam Willson ’16 played one of his worst games of the season the first time around, but he has been fantastic in conference averaging 14.0 PPG. The Mules need to also play Bowdoin to a standstill on the boards in order to keep the Polar Bears from getting easy buckets. These are two teams very familiar with each other so expect a close game.

2. Saturday 3:00 PM: Trinity (13-5, 3-1) at Amherst (12-4, 2-2)

Disregard the fact that Trinity lost a mid-week game once again to an opponent they should have beat while Amherst pulled out a big win against Williams in overtime. This game is almost a tossup.

The talent on the Amherst roster is undeniable, but for the first time in a long time Dave Hixon is unsure on how all the pieces best fit together. Nine players are averaging more than 10 minutes for Amherst. The last time the roster was so unsettled was the 2009-2010 season when Amherst had 11 players average more than 10 minutes per game (injuries to key players help explain the high number) as the Jeffs struggled to a 14-11 record, including 3-6 in conference. Connor Green ’16 is getting close to putting his stamp on this team as a leader with a 30-point performance Wednesday. The Jeffs need him to become their go-to guy, someone they can rely on to get easy offense. If that happens all the talent behind him can fall into manageable roles: e.g. David George ’17 as shot-blocker and rebounder, Jeff Racy ’17 as sniper from three, and Johnny McCarthy ’18 as a Swiss Army knife.

At this point everyone knows that Trinity is extremely talented defensively and relatively inept offensively. They can thank their defense for their 3-1 start in the NESCAC. Trinity is yet to have a NESCAC opponent score more than 60 points against them in regulation. On the other end, the polite way of putting it is that the Bantams are balanced, but a more realistic outlook is that they simply lack players capable of creating and making their own shots beyond, occasionally, Jaquann Starks ’16. Guys like Alex Conaway ’15, Shay Ajayi ’16, and George Papadeas ’15 are all capable of having good games, but they just are not reliant enough. The Bantams will want to make this game ugly, and there is a good chance they will succeed in doing just that against an Amherst team that tends to play to its competition.

1. Saturday 3:00 PM: Tufts (8-7, 3-0) at Bates (11-4, 1-2)

The road was not kind to Bates last weekend as they fell to Trinity and Amherst. Now they return to the comfy confines of Alumni Gym where five of their final seven conference games are at home. In fact, Bates’ only conference road games remaining are at Colby and Bowdoin so the Bobcats will not leave the state of Maine for the rest of the regular season.

Meanwhile Tufts continues to look better and better as we get further into conference play. Their win Thursday over UMass-Boston 80-67 saw them overcome 16 turnovers and four of their five starters scoring five points or less. Of course, it helps when your fifth starter, Hunter Sabety ’17 goes 9-9 shooting for 24 points. Even though Ryan Spadaford ’16 and Thomas Lapham ’18 have started recent games, Vincent Pace ’18 and Tarik Smith ’17 are the guys who do most of the backcourt scoring. The Jumbos are now above .500 for the first time all season. A win at Bates would cement their place at the top of the league with a good chance at going 7-0 before they play Williams in February.

Defensively Bates should match up well with Tufts because the Delpeche brothers can slow down Sabety and Tom Palleschi ’16. The Bobcats have to find a more consistent rhythm on offense, as they are averaging a NESCAC low 56.3 PPG in conference. Graham Safford ’15 has seen his scoring take a dive, and over on the D3Boards there are unsubstantiated rumors that he is playing injured. Safford is still playing heavy minutes and his backups, Jerome Darling ’17 and Justin Zukowski ’18, have played very sparingly. Safford has to be at or near his best for Bates who should be playing in front of a large home crowd tomorrow.

Composite Power Rankings 1/9

Hunter Merryman '15 and Middlebury are the cream of the crop, for now. (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)
Hunter Merryman ’15 and Middlebury are the cream of the crop, for now. (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)

As NESCAC season swiftly approaches tonight, we decided to get some of our staff members involved in this week’s power rankings. Everyone should feel pretty comfortable about the top team, but after that there was a huge amount of disagreement through the middle of the ranks which, I believe, is a testament to the depth in the league this season. On the other hand, it is probably also a result of a lot of impressive records against mediocre competition. That being said, the NESCAC continues to be one of the best Division-III hoops leagues in the nation, and we don’t see that changing any time soon.

Team Average AD SM AL JM PL
Midd 1.4 2 2 1 1 1
Amherst 2.6 1 1 4 5 2
Bates 3.4 6 3 3 2 3
Williams 4.2 3 6 2 4 6
Trinity 5.2 5 4 7 6 4
Wesleyan 5.6 4 5 5 7 7
Bowdoin 6.8 9 8 6 3 8
Hamilton 7.4 7 7 9 9 5
Colby 8.6 8 10 8 8 9
Conn 10 10 9 11 10 10
Tufts 10.8 11 11 10 11 11

(Contributors to the rankings: AD = Adam Dulsky; SM = Sean Meekins; AL = Adam Lamont; PL = Pete Lindholm)

1. Middlebury (9-0)

Adam, Pete, and I agree that the Panthers appear to be the class of the ‘CAC this season. Has this team returned to the level that the program was at from 2008-2013 when it lost 18 games over the course of five seasons? Probably not. I think that if Ryan Sharry, Andrew Locke, Nolan Thompson and the rest of the 2010-11 squad walked into Pepin in their prime they would dispatch the current edition of the Panthers with relative ease. But this team is no pushover, and in what appears to be a slightly down year for the usual suspects in Amherst and Williams, Middlebury could just grab its third NESCAC title.

For me personally, this ranking was less about the 9-0 record than the fact that I’ve felt since the preseason that this was a championship-worthy roster, and with the promising early season play of a few youngsters and the recent return of Matt Daley ’16, this team is only getting stronger.

2. Amherst (8-2)

Amherst and Williams will always gain respect just based on the name, but this team looks pretty good on the floor in its own right. In watching Amherst back in early December, we had some concerns about their perimeter defense.

Amherst is still allowing too many points per game (eighth in the NESCAC with 67.2), but NESCAC Rookie of the Year candidate Johnny McCarthy ’18 is a defensive force, leading the NESCAC in steals per game to date, and David George ’17 is still fantastic at discouraging points at the rim, so it’s curious that the Lord Jeffs have allowed so many points. What they are great at, though, is scoring. When they match up with our number one team, Middlebury, it will be a must-watch just for the ability of everyone involved to put the ball in the hoop.

3. Bates (9-2)

I like Bates more than most at this point in the season. Am I just jumping on the hype train? Maybe. But it seems like senior leader Graham Safford ’15 has elevated his game both on the stat sheet and in terms of his intangibles, and has really become a Kizel/Toomey type of transcendent player. In terms of numbers, he has improved on his field goal and three point percentages while also racking up almost two more assists per game. I think Safford leads the Bobcats deep into the NESCAC tournament.

4. Williams (9-3)

I know Ephs’ fans are sick of hearing it, but imagine if they still had Duncan Robinson. That would be scary. Even without Robinson, Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 and Dan Wohl ’15 are just filling it up. Both are above 19.0 points per game. Rooke-Ley is like Ray Allen from the line right now, which you should read more about here. Wohl is not only one of the league’s best sharp shooters, but the 6’6″ guard/forward leads the league in defensive rebounds. The one thing this team lacks is depth, as six players chew up most of the minutes for first-year coach Kevin App. Perhaps to say that the team lacks depth is the wrong way to word it, because a lot of those bench guys could get big minutes elsewhere around the league, but it could cause a problem if one of the Ephs’ stars were to go down with an injury because his replacement would lack experience. Take Rooke-Ley for example, who was only able to play 10 minutes in Williams’ last game against Endicott because of a minor injury. Unfortunately, Rooke-Ley has a long injury history at Williams, so we have to hope that nothing more serious materializes for the senior.

5. Trinity (10-2)

With the Bantams it comes down to whether or not you believe that this uptick in scoring is for real, or if they will return to their anemic offensive ways once the competition stiffens up. I think they will regress some, but Jaquann Starks ’16 is a much better offensive player than he was last year, as is Shay Ajayi ’16, someone I thought could break out for the Bantams before the season began. I think this middle of the pack prediction is pretty accurate, and I could see them stealing a game in the NESCAC tournament on the road.

6. Wesleyan (10-2)

As we mentioned a few days ago, Wesleyan is off to an historic start to the season.

Guard Harry Rafferty ’17 has become less of a distributor and more of a scorer, leading the Cardinals in points per game. He and Jack Mackey ’16 make for a scary three-point duo. Rashid Epps ’16 has continued his maturation, averaging nearly a double-double so far this season, and Joseph Kuo ’17 is a force inside, turning away more than one shot per game. There’s a lot of experience on this roster, so even though this level of success is new to this Cardinals’ roster, they should be able to stay competitive throughout conference play.

7. Bowdoin (8-3)

I ranked Bowdoin much higher than the rest of the crowd. Even Lamont, a Polar Bear himself, had Bowdoin down a few notches more than I did. But this is a team with NCAA tournament experience, and I think the presence of John Swords ’15 gives them a chance to win any game, on top of the continued strong play of point guard Bryan Hurley ’15, who I think will continue to get better and more comfortable as he gets further away from the knee surgery that kept him out for most of last season.

8. Hamilton (10-2)

Hamilton fans aren’t going to like this one. The Continentals are 10-2 and we have them ranked eighth? Well the fact of the matter is that as much as we’ve talked about soft early season schedules for NESCAC teams this year, Hamilton might take the cake. Their best win came at home by just four points to 8-5 Lycoming. Joseph Lin ’15, Peter Kazickas ’15 and Ajani Santos ’16 have all taken huge steps forward this season, but there’s not much production coming after the starting five.

9. Colby (7-5)

It will hurt me if this team fails to make the playoffs, both because they are fun to watch and I have a few personal connections to the team. But they just don’t play any defense, which is key in conference play. Opponents are shooting 41.5 percent from the floor against the Mules, and Colby has the second-worst rebounding margin in the NESCAC. They really miss power forward Patrick Stewart ’16 and the defensive presence he helped bring besides Chris Hudnut ’16. If they can’t remedy these issues then they can say good bye to their chances of playing into late February.

10. Conn College (7-4)

Conn has actually bounced back well statistically from the graduation of Matt Vadas ’14, as the Camels are averaging 71.9 points per game, actually up from last year’s 69.3 points per game. But those points aren’t coming efficiently at all, as Conn has the league’s worst shooting percentage. But be patient Camels fans. There are five first years getting double digit minutes, the team’s best player, Zuri Pavlin ’17, is but a sophomore, and Bryan Gross ’15, currently getting under 10 minutes per game, is the only senior on the roster. So there will be better times ahead.

11. Tufts (4-7)

What can we say about the Jumbos this season? Despite so much potential before the year began, exactly what we feared might happen has come to fruition. Like in years past, Tufts just can’t put the pieces together. Last year it was injuries to Tom Palleschi ’17 and Ben Ferris ’15. This year it’s simply ineffectiveness. Guys that formerly were money from beyond the arc have completely lost the ability to hit threes, Ferris looks like a shell of his Rookie of the Year Award-winning self, Palleschi is still shaking off the rust and it appears that coach Bob Sheldon can’t find a lineup he likes because almost the entire roster is getting into most games. The lone bright spot is the continued production of Hunter Sabety ’17. With him, Palleschi and guards Tarik Smith ’17, Stephen Haladyna ’16 and Vinny Pace ’18 back for 2015-16, the story will be the same next season. Loads of potential, but when will it come together for Tufts?

Don’t Mess with the Bobcats: Stock Report 12/8

Alumni Gymnasium with the student section at the far end. (Courtesy of Bates Athletics
Alumni Gymnasium with the student section at the far end. (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

From the outside Alumni Gym does not look much. Once you get inside you realize that it actually is not big at all. That lack of size is, of course, the greatest strength of Bates’ home court. Only a few hundred people can fit into the gym which gives it a high school atmosphere. Classic old wooden stands extend back on both sides only eight rows deeps. On the far end of the gym behind one of the baskets enough space is available for 100 people to sit: a ready made fan section for Bates fanatics.

Thursday night I traveled to Bates along with nine friends to see our favorite team Bowdoin take on a surging Bates team. Last year a similar group traveled to Lewiston in February and watched Bowdoin dismantle a Bates team that was in the midst of a late season collapse. That game was during Bates’ winter break so most of the students were home for the game.

The atmosphere on Thursday night was completely different however. By the time the national anthem began, the student section was about three quarters full, and by the opening tip the gym was louder than most NESCAC gyms. Many other students littered the rest of the stands as well making empty seats a rare commodity. The first Bates basket brought a cascade of roars from under the basket that did not let up much causing some visible discomfort from the visiting Polar Bears.

After a back and forth first half, Bates busted open the game part way through the second. Bates was on offense going towards the student section in the second half, and the students had no problem letting Bowdoin hear it every time a Bates player made a basket. Two consecutive dunks put Bates up big and forced a Bowdoin timeout that could barely be heard over a rocking crowd.

Bates has been the most impressive team of the season thus far. While their 1-9 conference record still casts a shadow of doubt over them, that shadow keeps receding every game Bates plays. The NESCAC is far from Division 1 where students live and die by how their basketball team does, but Bates has staked their claim definitively as having the best home-court advantage in the NESCAC. One date to circle for certain on your calendars is January 9th when Bates opens up conference play against 7-0 Middelbury at 7 PM in Alumni Gym.

Stock Up

Guard Jaquann Starks ’16 (Trinity): So much NESCAC offensive success is based on the point guard’s play, and different teams require their point guards to approach the game distinctly. Starks is primarily asked to score in his role for the Bantams and leads the team with 15.1 points per game. His shooting percentages are 35.1/44.0/80.6 (in order of field goal/three point/free throw). Starks has struggled to shoot the ball well closer to the basket in large part because there is no spacing when he goes into the lane since he is the primary three point threat for Trinity. That lack of offensive weapons does not appear to be going away, but that does not mean Trinity is not a threat this season in the NESCAC. With Starks providing much of the offense recently, the Bantams have put together a four game winning streak since falling to 2-2.

Forward Marcus Delpeche ’17 (Bates): The Bobcats proved that they are for real not simply because they beat Colby and Bowdoin, but also how they did it. Last year Marcus played fewer than 17 minutes per game while serving as the backup for his brother Malcolm. This season Coach Jon Furbush has become comfortable with playing the two twins at the same time, and it has yielded great results thus far. Marcus is the third leading scorer for Bates with 10.7 points per game. Many of those points are off of offensive rebounds because opponents do not have power forwards capable of keeping him off of the boards. 49% of his rebounds have been offensive rebounds. Having Marcus and Malcolm playing big minutes together makes Bates capable of matching up against the likes of Amherst and Trinity in conference play.

Forward Hunter Merryman ’15 (Middlebury): If 2014 is “the year of the skilled forward” as Pete Lindholm asserts, then Merryman is the one most often forgotten about. After all, Merryman is not even the best forward on his team. Yet he still is having an All-NESCAC caliber season. He is averaging 17.1 points per game, most of which is because he is making an outrageous 56.4% of his three pointers. Logic tells us Merryman is unlikely to have morphed into an automatic shot maker, but is rather enjoying an extended hot streak that should end soon. Even when he slows down Merryman will continue to be a very good player, albeit not the second coming of Dirk Nowitzki.

Stock Down

Guard Bryan Hurley ’15 (Bowdoin): Last week was a terrible one for Bowdoin overall going 0-3 with the defeat assured well before the final buzzer sounded. A lot of things went wrong for the Polar Bears, but the sudden ineffectiveness of Hurley was one of the principle problems. The point guard averaged only 4.3 points per game in the three contests. Even more worryingly he  saw his assist:turnover ratio plummet. In Bowdoin’s first four games (all wins) he had a 3.5 assist:turnover ratio but managed only a 1.1 ratio in his last three games. Without Hurley making plays, Bowdoin’s offense fell stagnant for crucial parts of the second half, and their opponents were able to pull away. Hurley and the other members of the Bowdoin senior class have to return to form quickly in order to turn things around.

Amherst and Middlebury

The Jeffs and Panthers both remain undefeated, but they both have shown real weaknesses so far. For Amherst, the problem is putting all the pieces of their talented roster together into something that works as a basketball team. We have said it before, but the Jeffs simply do not look like your normal Division 3 team since they trot out two athletic 6’8″ players, two 6’5″ wings, and a 6’2″ point guard. That hasn’t kept them from having some close calls in games. Though the final score against Emerson indicated a blowout, the Jeffs held only a one point lead halfway through the second half. A huge steal from Johnny McCarthy ’18 off an inbounds pass helped spark a major run that put the game out of reach, but it took Amherst a while to put away an Emerson team that was overmatched in terms of height.

Meanwhile Middlebury escaped their first loss of the season by the skin of their teeth, coming back from seven points down in the final minute against Skidmore to win in regulation. The win would not have been possible without five missed free throws from Skidmore in the last minute. Middlebury for now lacks any type of inside presence because Matt Daley ’16 is still out of commission, and they still seem to fluctuate wildly in their level of play. Somewhat surprisingly, Joey Kizel’s ’14 absence has not been felt as much as the lack of center Jack Roberts ’14.

Both teams love to play at a high pace and thrive on their talent in the open court. However, when teams are able to slow down games then they run into trouble. The schedule of course works in the favor of both these teams as they will have a lot of practice time over winter break to help smooth out some of their issues before they jump into conference play.

Bowdoin Team Preview: Health is Everything for Polar Bears

Bowdoin Polar Bears

2013 Record: 19-6 (6-4 NESCAC), fourth in NESCAC, reached NESCAC quarterfinals and NCAA tournament first round.

Head Coach: Tim Gilbride, 30th season (414-296, .583)

Starters Returning: 2

F Keegan Pieri ’15

C John Swords ’15

Breakout Player: G Lucas Hausman ’16

Bowdoin’s top reserve from a year ago steps into a starting role that will require him to supply plenty of scoring from the shooting guard position. After only playing 17.2 minutes per game, the lanky junior should see upwards of 30 this year. His strength is getting to the rim, something Bowdoin has not had much of recently, and it is crucial that he again average over 80 percent on his foul shots. Hausman is the all-time leading scorer from his high school with 1750 points so he is no stranger to being a primary option. Yet he also has to be a creator for Bowdoin and improve on his assist/turnover ratio which was less than one last year.

Projected Starting Five:

Bryan Hurley '15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
Bryan Hurley ’15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

G Bryan Hurley ’15

Hurley is essentially a returning starter even though we can’t list him as one because he was injured for most of last year. He has now had more than a year and a half to recover from his knee injury and should be good to go, but his minutes might have to be managed over the course of the season. He averaged 9.4 points per game and 8.3 assists per game his sophomore year, and he will need to be the primary creator once again.

 

Lucas Hausman '16 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
Lucas Hausman ’16 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

G Lucas Hausman ’16

Already covered him in the breakout player section, but another thing to keep in mind is Hausman’s shooting ability. Though he was efficient from the free point line, he struggled from deep, only hitting 31 percent of his threes. Spacing was crucial for Bowdoin last year so it would hurt the Bowdoin offense if opponents can cheat off him just a step and clog up lanes.

 

 

Keegan Pieri '15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
Keegan Pieri ’15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

F Keegan Pieri ’15

Sometimes overshadowed last year because of how others played, Pieri was his usual consistent self last year, but this year will see him in a bigger role. The past two years Pieri was the primary power forward offering range out to the three point line. Because of the roster makeup of this team, he will now play at the small forward position primarily and shoot a lot more threes.

 

 

Neil Fuller '17 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
Neil Fuller ’17 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

F Neil Fuller ’17

The sophomore only played 12.1 minutes last year and will have to become a big two way player this year. He offers good size and can surprise you with his athleticism and playmaking abilities on both ends of the floor. He only shot 12 threes last year, but if Bowdoin wants to space the floor around Swords then he will have to get more comfortable shooting from deep.

 

 

John Swords '15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
John Swords ’15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

C John Swords ’15

He was a revelation last year, anchoring Bowdoin on both ends of the floor but especially on the defensive end where he played well enough to merit Defensive Player of the Year honors. Health will be a concern for him as well. He has been fighting through pain in practice in a couple of places in his lower half, never a good sign for a seven footer. If healthy, there is nobody who teams have to game plan more for in the NESCAC.

 

Everything Else:

Last year was a great season for Bowdoin that saw them compete in close game after close game. Fourteen of Bowdoin’s 25 games were decided by 10 points or less, and all of their losses were by six points or less with Bowdoin having a chance to tie or win the game in the final minute of all but one of those games.

The losses of Matt Mathias ’14, Andrew Madlinger ’14 and Grant White ’14 are big ones, but Hurley and Hausman are both very capable players. Jake Donnelly ’16 will be the third guard, and depending on matchups Coach Tim Gilbride could play three guards at once like he did for much of last year. Donnelly saw last year cut short because of injury and has played very little in his first two seasons.

Last year Bowdoin leaned heavily on their starting five, and the same will be true this year. Forward Matt Palecki ’16 will fight with Fuller for that power forward spot, but it is likely he comes of the bench more often than not in order to supply energy and rebounding. After Donnelly and Palecki the bench is somewhat of a question mark. Forward Jack Hewitt ’17 will get some minutes but there just is not a lot of space in the frontcourt. Guard Blake Gordon ’18 and small forward Liam Farley ’18 look like the two freshmen most likely to see playing time early.

Expect Bowdoin to be behind on defense but ahead on offense when compared to last year. White in particular was a player who allowed the Polar Bears flexibility in its lineups and defensive matchups as he could guard every position from point guard to power forward. Bowdoin wants to play man whenever possible, but expect them to go zone like they did last year for long stretches because Swords is an eraser in the middle. The zone makes it easier for him to stay out of foul trouble but leaves Bowdoin susceptible to teams that can move the ball well.

If last year is any indication, the difference between wins and losses will be trifling in many games. An injury that sidelines Hurley or Swords for a significant portion of the season would be almost impossible to overcome. If those two stay healthy then Bowdoin is fully capable of returning to the NCAA tournament.

Basketball Preseason All-NESCAC Teams

This year appears to be one of the most open races for All-NESCAC in recent years. Only John Swords ’15 (First Team) and Chris Hudnut ’16 (Second Team) return to the NESCAC after Matt Hart and Duncan Robinson transferred and the rest of the players graduated.

Each of us goes through our own individual First and Second Teams. We don’t want to ruin the surprise in order to make you watch the video, but we promise that some of the selections might raise a couple of eyebrows.