Tag: Sam Peek

What Happens Now?: Wesleyan Men’s Basketball Preview 2019-2020

Wesleyan University Cardinals

2018-2019 Record: 16-9 (6-4 NESCAC), lost in quarterfinals of NESCAC Tournament

2019-2020 Projected Record: 14-10 (3-7 NESCAC)

Key Losses: G Austin Hutcherson, G Jordan Bonner, F JR Bascom

Projected Starting Lineup:

G: Antone Walker ’21 (13.1 PPG, 3.3 REB/G, 2.2 AST/G)

Walker is going to be an important piece of the equation for the Cardinals this year as the loss of Austin Hutcherson ’21 leaves quite a large scoring void. Walker has been an effective member of the backcourt for three years now, but this season he’ll be asked to take a leap given that he’s one of the most experienced players on the roster. He’s also one of just two players on the team under 6’4”, so he’s almost always going to matched up with a bigger guard. This means that he’ll rely heavily on his lightning quickness and physicality in order to compete. If he continues to produce at the level he has been then he’ll see success, but Wesleyan won’t reach the same heights that they were able to last season. The Cardinals will go as Walker goes.

G: Sam Peek ’22 (3.8 PPG, 2.0 REB/G, 11.2 MPG)

Peek is in the classic position of having to go from being a marginal role player to a consistent starter because of the losses of a few key members of last year’s team. The good news for Cardinal fans is that he seems to be more than ready for this new challenge. Peek is already averaging over 12 points and 8 rebounds per game, while dishing out nearly 3 assists as well. He hasn’t shot the ball incredibly well – especially from 3-point range – but his 82.1% mark from the free throw line indicates that he’s got a good stroke; the shots just haven’t been falling. Peek also plays one of the most loaded positions league-wide, so his defensive abilities will immediately be put to the test. He seems to have things figured out pretty well so far, but we’ll keep an eye on this guy to see how things go come conference play. 

G: Preston Maccoux ’23 (DNP)

It’s always hard to know what to expect from a freshman, but Maccoux is almost exactly the same size as Sam Peek so I have to assume that he’ll play a similar role. He hasn’t had a huge impact so far, but cracking the starting lineup as a freshman tells you something and he has certainly held his own – particularly in the rebounding department. The Wisconsin native doesn’t appear to be a huge scoring threat, but if he can help the Cardinals spread the floor and open up opportunities for other guys then that will be exceedingly valuable for the rest of the offense. As I said for Peek, it’ll be important to focus on what Maccoux brings to the table defensively because he’ll be forced to defend some of the most talented players in the NESCAC at times. It’s shaping up to be a big year for the rookie.

G: Kevin McDonald ’20 (1.3 PPG, 52.4% FG, 5.2 MPG)

McDonald represents the third member of this starting lineup that falls within the 6’6”, 190lb range and will also play a similar role to Peek and Maccoux. The senior is a role player if there ever was one, really only appearing in the box score because he’s listed as a starter. I don’t want to beat a dead horse so I won’t say much about McDonald because of his similarities to the two prior guards, but being the only senior in this starting lineup should not go unnoticed. He’s also one of two team captains and the only senior on the team that plays significant minutes. This guy may not be the most lethal player on the team, but leadership goes a very long way. McDonald has played with some of the most talented players in recent Wesleyan memory and he knows what it takes to make it through the ebbs and flows of a NESCAC basketball season.

F: Jordan James ’21 (7.0 PPG, 4.6 REB/G, 64.1% FG)

Jordan James is the X-factor for this team. He is by far the most talented big man on the roster and he has the ability to change games in the post. James shoots a very high percentage from the floor and hauls in rebounds like it’s his job*. He has rightfully started shouldering more of the scoring load this season and (impressively) hasn’t seen much of a dip in his shooting percentage. One area of focus for him is his ability from the charity stripe, because the junior has barely broken 50% from the line over the course of his career. If he can improve his free-throw percentage then he will be nearly impossible to stop on the offensive end. His offensive efficiency combined with his defensive prowess make James one of the best big men in the NESCAC. If he can continue trending upward then it’ll put Wesleyan in an excellent position to make yet another postseason run.

*If anyone from the NCAA is reading this I would like to go on record and say that rebounding is not James’ job as that would be a violation of the association’s rules.

Everything Else:

Much like several other teams across the league, Wesleyan is tasked with replacing several of their key performers from last season. Losing star guard Austin Hutcherson ’21 (transfer to D1 Illinois) is an obvious hit, but it’s hard to understate the graduation of Jordan Bonner and JR Bascom as well. These were easily the three best players from the 2018-2019 squad and that’s never easy to replace. With that being said, I’ve always been a huge fan of Coach Reilly and have the utmost confidence in his ability to figure out the identity of his team and get the most out of his players. In fact, they’re already off to a 7-2 start and are doing a nice job developing some of their younger guys.

Freshman Gabe Millstein ’23 adds some depth to the Cardinal backcourt as a solid ball handler and an excellent three-point shooter. He provides a solid complement for Antone Walker ’21 in the backcourt and will hopefully ease the point guard burden a bit. Shackylle Dezonie ’22 is a large wing who can finish around the rim and will likely spend some time defending in the post despite being just 6’5”. He, too, will add another deep ball threat and forces opposing defenders to close out on the perimeter. Sophomore big man Joe DeLollo ’22 will also have to step up quite a bit this year since he’s really the only big that plays any real time besides Jordan James ’21. The southpaw’s soft touch around the rim and ability to step out and knock down a three from time to time will be huge for the Cardinals to bring off the bench. I see DeLollo having a breakout season in 2019-2020.

All told, this will be an interesting year in Middletown. Lots of player turnover means guys will be thrust into roles that they haven’t been in during their careers to this point. There isn’t a ton of depth on the roster, but they have a lot of talent in their current 8-man rotation and if the pieces fall into place they will be very difficult to stop. They haven’t really shown us much so far in the young season given that they’ve beaten everyone they should and took two blowout losses at the hands of Williams and Eastern Connecticut. This team will make the NESCAC Tournament and will be a very tough matchup for whomever they face, but they’ve got a long way to go. It appears as though they will get better and better as the season progresses, so you’d better hope that your team is playing them early in the year. Don’t let the Cardinals get hot.

Final Regular Season Power Rankings

March is Overrated, “February Frenzy” is Upon Us – Power Rankings 2/13

Chaos doesn’t even begin to describe this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. Heck, we didn’t even know that Midd was the #1 seed until last night! In these past two weeks, we’ve witnessed the unexpected: Williams tumbling out of the top three? Yup. Trinity catching fire late while Wesleyan sinks like a stone? Sure. Amherst blitzing past everyone in their path? Check. These two weeks have proven that any of the top eight teams in the postseason tournament have the ability to get hot and win the entire thing, which makes for an extremely entertaining set of games. It’s also an indicator that the teams we consider to be a part of the upper echelon of NESCAC basketball are nowhere near safe, even in their opening games. Without further ado, here’s my interpretation of the madness.

(5) 1. #11 Amherst (20-3, 7-2)

At this very moment, no team is hotter than the Mammoths. Winning six straight conference games until last night was no easy task, especially considering the volatile nature of the NESCAC this season. Their two most impressive wins of the season came last weekend; on Friday, the Mammoths traveled to Williamstown and secured a season-sweep of rival Williams, and if that wasn’t enough, they followed up that performance with a road win against Middlebury. Grant Robinson ‘21 (19.0 PPG last two games) and Fru Che ‘21 (15.0 PPG last two games) paced the Amherst attack, and bench players Garrett Day ‘21 and C.J. Bachmann ‘19 reach double figures in both contests. What’s more impressive is Amherst is a team that usually grinds down teams with its defense, but against the Panthers they proved they can outscore teams by dropping 97 points.  Even with their loss to Hamilton last night, I’d still consider Amherst as the front-runner for the NESCAC Championship.

(3) 2. #25 Middlebury (18-6, 7-3)

If the Panthers had defeated the Mammoths on Saturday, they would have clinched regular season crown; instead, they had to wait for Hamilton to knock off Amherst. A weekend split between Hamilton and Amherst is nothing to be ashamed of, however, and the Panthers’ win against the Continentals was massive in the sense that the result ensured they would earn a top two seed for the postseason tournament. Jack Farrell’s ‘21 18 points paced Middlebury against the Continentals, but it was sharpshooter Max Bosco ‘21 who sunk a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left to give the Panthers their seventh conference win. The Panther defense that had been brilliant in recent games was non-existent in their matchup with Amherst, as Middlebury allowed a season-high 97 points, including 56 in the second half. The Panthers will now turn their focus to their matchup against Tufts in the first round of the postseason tournament and will be expected to advance.

(4) 3. #10 Hamilton (20-6, 6-3)

The Continentals bounced back from their heartbreaking defeat against the Panthers with huge wins against Williams and against Hamilton. Those wins cemented their place as the two seed for the postseason tournament. Kena Gilmour ‘20 was sensational, registering 25 points, six rebounds and four assists, as three other players joined him with double figures in the scoring department. Hamilton also held the Ephs to just 7-23 from beyond the arc and forced 16 turnovers in the process. The Continentals have really picked up the quality of their play in recent games even with the one blemish against Middlebury, and they’ll be undoubtedly one of the favorites in the NESCAC tournament and possibly beyond.

(1) 4. #18 Williams (19-5, 6-4)

What on Earth is going on in Williamstown? No one would have predicted the former #2 team in the country to endure a three-game losing streak this late in the season and plummet to #18 in the national rankings. After defeating Colby, the Ephs and the rest of the NESCAC community were left stunned when Bowdoin’s Sam Grad ‘21 nailed a game-winning three in overtime. This past weekend, Williams lost to rival Amherst, and if that wasn’t bad enough, their second-leading scorer, James Heskett ‘19, tweaked his ankle and missed their regular season finale against Hamilton. Word on the street is he should be ready to go in their quarterfinal matchup, and he’ll be needed because Bobby Casey ‘19 cannot do it all by himself, despite averaging 21.0 PPG over their last three. The Ephs might want to focus their attention on the whole defensive thing: They’ve allowed opposing teams to shoot 52.2% in the past three games, including 44.7% from downtown.

(9) 5. Trinity (17-7, 6-4)

After getting absolutely pounded by Williams and Middlebury by a combined 71 points (ouch), Trinity was sitting at 2-4 in conference with just four games remaining. Their win against in-state rival Wesleyan completely re-energized this squad, and the Bantams rattled off three straight  conference wins against Conn, Tufts and Bates to soar up the standings into fifth place. Their most recent win against Tufts was the most impressive sans the upset against Wesleyan, as the Bantams dominated the Jumbos from start to finish en route to an emphatic 20 point victory. Four players reached double-digits, led by Donald Jorden Jr.’s ‘21 20 point, 10 rebound performance. Trinity now has plenty of momentum heading into their quarterfinal matchup, and the league’s fourth best defense will have to be ready to shut down a Williams team that hung 85 on them last time out.

(2) 6. Wesleyan (16-8, 6-4)

Even with the loss to Tufts, Wesleyan looked like it was in position to snag a top three seed. They had a very favorable remaining schedule and already boasted wins against Middlebury, Hamilton and Amherst. Then came the loss to Trinity, but hey, the Cardinals only shot 19% from deep and when you have an in-state rivalry game, anything can happen. Next up was a non-conference loss to Amherst; not a huge deal considering Amherst is a great squad and it was only a one point loss, but concerning because Austin Hutcherson ‘21 struggled to score for the third consecutive game. Stopping the bleeding after the Amherst loss was essential in order for the Cardinals to hold on to a top three seed; well, the Cardinals responded by going down 26 points – at halftime – to Colby, and despite a frantic comeback, the deficit was too large to overcome. Hutcherson had a horrific first half (5 points, 2-11 from the field) before finding his stroke in the final twenty minutes, and only one player (Sam Peek ‘22) contributed off the Cardinals’ bench. Hutcherson (37 points) and Wesleyan bounced back the following day by annihilating Bowdoin, but the damage from their recent defeats was done and Wesleyan fell in the standings to simply a middle-tier team. Don’t get me wrong: Wesleyan certainly has the capability to make a deep run in the postseason, but the shine from their blazing start has worn off and those three losses severely hampered their quest  an NCAA at-large selection. Winning the tournament might be the only way we see Hutcherson, Jordan Bonner ‘19, and company make it to the Big Dance.

(6) 7. Colby (17-7, 5-5)

If I’m being completely honest, I have no idea what to think of this team. Colby has some of the strongest wins in league play (@ Amherst, @ Hamilton, and this past Friday, @ Wesleyan). Against the Cardinals, Matt Hanna ‘21 (19 points) led the offensive assault as the Mules drained 18 three’s, and freshman sensation Noah Tyson ‘22 recorded a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) while knocking down four triples of his own. Their performance against Conn on Saturday, however, was much less exciting, as the Mules were unable to finish off the only winless NESCAC squad until the very waning minutes. Sam Jefferson ‘20 (20 points, carried an offense that hit only 39.7% of their shots, 21.1% from deep, and a head-scratching 58.3% from the charity stripe. As strong as some of their wins are, the Mules do own losses against both Bates and Bowdoin, so maybe it’s just an instance of Colby playing to the level of their competition? If so, it’s good news that this team will open up the NESCAC tournament against the #2 seed, Hamilton.

(7) 8. Tufts (11-13, 4-6)

On February 1st, The Jumbos sat one game ahead of Bowdoin for the eighth seed in the NESCAC standings with three games to play. One win in those three games would have ensured their participation in postseason ball. Well, the Jumbos proceeded to get whacked by Amherst, lose a close one to Hamilton, and get annihilated yet again, this time by Trinity. Luckily, the Jumbos own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Polar Bears, so despite their three-game losing streak, Tufts lives to see another day. In their most recent loss to Trinity, Eric Savage ‘20 led the Jumbos with 20 points and big man Luke Rogers ‘21 (14 points, 11 rebounds) added yet another double-double to the stat sheet, but the defense (or lack thereof) is a real cause of concern for Coach Sheldon and his team. Tufts is dead last in defensive PPG, FG% and 3PFG%. The boys in brown and blue have a lot of work to do this week in order to prepare for their first round matchup.

(10) 9. Bowdoin (15-9, 4-6)

The win against Conn gave the Polar Bears a real shot at snagging the seventh seed from Colby (due to their head-to-head victory over the Mules back in January), as long as they could beat a Wesleyan team in full nosedive mode. The Polar Bears trailed by nine at half, and were eventually run out of the gym as they saw their postseason hopes fade away in what was surely one of their worst performances of the season. They shot just 36.2%, and David Reynolds ‘20 and Jack Simonds ‘19 combined to shoot just 9-26 from the field. The defense was porous to say the least, allowing Austin Hutcherson to explode for 37 points as he and the Cardinals hit at a 54.5% clip on the day. What’s more, the Polar Bears committed 19 fouls, leading to 26 free throw attempts for Wesleyan. All in all, the poor performance will certainly leave a bitter taste for Polar Bear fans, who will have to wait until next season to see if their squad can make the postseason dance.

(8) 10. Bates (7-17, 3-7)

I really thought the Bobcats were going to make a late push for a playoff spot, but they ran out of gas and dropped their last three league games. Defending the long ball has been a weak spot for Bates all season, and it was evident in their losses against Hamilton and Trinity. Despite forcing 21 turnovers against the Continentals, the Bobcats allowed them to sink 16 triples, and the Bantams drained 13 of their own in what proved to be the difference in a tightly-contested contest. Center Nick Lynch ‘19 capped off his career with a 20-point performance against Trinity before fouling out with 1:12 left, and Jeff Spellman ‘20 came alive with 14 points in the second half, helping erase an 11 point deficit with under five minutes and claw within one point. With the season over for the ‘Cats, there’s plenty to look forward to as Spellman, Kody Greenhalgh ‘20, Tom Coyne ‘20 and Nick Gilpin ‘20 will all return for the 2019-2020 season; the biggest concern will be filling the role of Lynch (13.4 PPG, 7.3 REB/G).

(11) 11. Conn (7-17, 0-10)

The Camels had nothing to play for this weekend, but credit this team for fighting hard until the very last whistle of their 2018-2019 season. They could have easily folded against Bowdoin and Colby knowing that they were effectively eliminated from postseason ball, but they made the Maine schools earn their wins. Unfortunately, we’re not here to hand out participation trophies, and Conn’s valiant performances does not mask the fact that the Camels have not won a NESCAC game since February 10th, 2017 (a streak that has extended to 21 consecutive games). It does not help that Conn will graduate David Laboissiere ‘19, a prolific scorer who ended a fantastic career with combined 34 points over the two contests. On the bright side, the Camels only graduate three seniors, and forward Dan Draffan ‘21 (21.0 PPG last two games) and company will hope to erase the Camels’ woes on the hardwood next season.