Thursday, January 5, 2012

...ready or not, time for the Maine Event...

      Happy New Year! The Boys hung tough at Salem, and Joey and Jake exorcised any demons lurking from the absence of Nolan T., by drilling home the last 20 points in a game that called for big baskets. And they turned in a huge performance on 'O' surviving a shoot-out at RPI. None barked louder than 'TheBigDog' himself, who rang up 41 on the night on 19-23 from the floor (maybe a Midd record), and he had plenty of help from Lynch, Sinnickson, Bert Nasciemento, and others with DD efforts. Although our 'D' pride took a beating, the flip side is that The Boys debuted a high scoring ability that should be a cause for concern since we're about to raise the curtain on the 'Maine Event', the nescac season. 

      So far The Boys have figured out that if need be they not only can survive 'the road', but will adjust to not having major starters on the floor- Ryan Sharry early, and now Nolan T., out for an undetermined time. The Frosh have really stepped up. Particularly Dean B., Dylan, and 'Winston' Churchill. All have made significant contributions and big plays, on both ends. The upside looks so high, that it's a little scary. Time, and the crucible of hard fought nescac games, will tell us more. Think that this was touched on a few blogs back, but the nescac is the toughest league in the country (last 3 seasons), based on the members overall winning percentage vs.everybody else. And it won't be any different this time around. The Panther Express has so many new riders, that it's time to explain that every night will be a challenge- some bigger than others. It starts with Bates- who always plays tough at Pepin. They may be undermanned, but their recent efforts have been improved, so the need is to stay focused, get the ball inside to 'TheBigDog', and stay out of foul trouble at G., since Jake and Joey are going to get more minutes. The kids are still on break, so we'll have to rely on support from the townies who have been rooting in ever-growing decibels over the past few years. Tufts is up on Saturday, and I like that we're on the second half of their dance card -after they've had to deal with Williams, the night before. They are improved- gave (#4 -M.I.T.) a run for their money earlier, and remember that they lead us into the second half last year. From here it looks as if we're bigger and deeper inside, outside and everywhere. And B-to-B's on the road are always harder than they look. Both should be do-able this weekend, which will keep us among the last tall trees- only nine left as of this posting-standing.

      That doesn't mean that Wesleyan, Bowdoin, the LordJeffNation, Trinity, or the EphMen wouldn't love to play the PaulBunyan character on Midd's season. Don't worry- they'll all get their swings in, starting with a much improved group for Joe Reilly next weekend on the road. Left out of the axe wielders are: Colby-who may be the weakest; Hamilton- who has been a jekll-and-hyde team so far; and ConnCollege, who doesn't have enough size inside to compromise our 'bigs', but they do have the advantage of home-cookin'. Nolan T.'s absence is sizable, since realistically he is the best 'lockdown' G. in the east. How 'The Boys' adjust to that fact will define the nescac season. It gives G.controlled, up-tempo teams (Wes., Wms., Amherst) something to cheer about. But first things first, take care of business against Bates and Tufts, and Midd will hold their premier ranking into next week. Be well. Clubbo.

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