NESCAC

[dingdongdman]

Very interesting call by Thompson. Sounds like a risky move given the successful season they are coming off, I would imagine the offense that got you to a Nat Championship is worthy of being used for multiple seasons. Overhauling a sure thing for a gamble is a big move by the coach there. Hope he knows what he's doing if this proves to be true.

[Skullzrule]

While Thompson is certainly an excellent recruiter and has had great success at Amherst, I think this is a mistake. Thompson is overrated in his ability to develop talent (Daly would've made Minicus into the POY by now). To truly have a positionless offense, you not only need talented players but you need to instill them the proper coaching and principles to thrive when the coaches take a step back. Thompson consistently puts himself out there for D1 jobs and hasn't been able to land one. One has to wonder if it is because the D1 community recognizes that you can't only be a great recruiter.

[lilax]

While Thompson is certainly an excellent recruiter and has had great success at Amherst, I think this is a mistake. Thompson is overrated in his ability to develop talent (Daly would've made Minicus into the POY by now). To truly have a positionless offense, you not only need talented players but you need to instill them the proper coaching and principles to thrive when the coaches take a step back. Thompson consistently puts himself out there for D1 jobs and hasn't been able to land one. One has to wonder if it is because the D1 community recognizes that you can't only be a great recruiter.

It's hard to have Minicus be POY when his linemate was POY last year.

Amherst problem has never been offense, I think Thompson knows how to develop that. But they've been a mess team defensively and it shows when they play quality opponents.

[laxrules]

While Thompson is certainly an excellent recruiter and has had great success at Amherst, I think this is a mistake. Thompson is overrated in his ability to develop talent (Daly would've made Minicus into the POY by now). To truly have a positionless offense, you not only need talented players but you need to instill them the proper coaching and principles to thrive when the coaches take a step back. Thompson consistently puts himself out there for D1 jobs and hasn't been able to land one. One has to wonder if it is because the D1 community recognizes that you can't only be a great recruiter.

Thompson is a fine coach. He had the POY in 2019. He may very well have it again in 2020 in Minicus.
Also I am pretty sure that Minicus will still be in his "sweet spot". Too much overthinking on this forum at times. JT is a smart guy that will have a strong idea what his team needs to be successful. Tough audience on this forum!!

[SimpleLax]

Early Picks from NBN (Not sure why yet..., but going with it)

1. William
2. Amherst
3. Tufts
4. Middlebury
5. Wesleyan
6. Bates
7. Trinity
8. Bowdoin
9. Colby
10. Hamilton
11. CT. College

Hard to argue the list but could easily see a 3-4 slot change for many teams

1.Williams- definitely in paper the best team will we how they react with target on back
2. Amherst - think Tufts will be better. Lost too much on O and have had inconsistent goalie play. Easy to ignore when its 20-12 then when it’s 13-12.
3. Tufts- lost some key players but still seen pretty potent.
4. Middlebury- felt they underachieved last year and did not lose a lot. Interestingly, appear to want to our physical teams but faltered in physical games. Classic bully pysche. Could see them dominate or fall flat any given week.
5. Wesleyan- fear the lost a lot of O. But still have best goalie to help win the close ones. jacoby a great talent but struggled to create his own shot, will be interesting since feeders have graduated. Lean towards them taking a step back.
6.Bates-Stacked on O but graduated most of key stalwarts on D could struggle if D falters. Easily see them falling lower unless they get to AMHERST levels in O and win 20-14.
7. Trinity- Biggest enigma. 23 sophomores lus 25 freshman and Uber talent in Mara transfer from Holy Cross leaves them as most potential for inconsistency until they figure out the right lines.
8. Bowdoin- lots of injuries last year derailed a promising season but not sure if incoming provides a boost. This may be the top aspiration this year.
9. Colby- showed great improvement 2nd half of last season taking Tufts to brink, tipping Middlebury. Lost Goalie to graduation, if able to replace him as biggest upside here.
I0- Hamilton - had some moments last yea rebut think this is right preseason
11. Conn - hope the previous coach family situation is better than currently intimated. Good guy and wish all the best.

[isaacwright22]

Word out of Amherst is that Coach Thompson is leaning towards instituting a "positionless" offense this year. While there is something to be said about the concept, and the success Maryland has had with it at the D1 level, I am hesitant about its effectiveness given their personnel. Do you really think its smart to take a player like Minicus out of his sweet spot at attack and rotate him to the top of the box? Interested to see how this plays out for them this upcoming season and whether the reap the benefits of this new school approach or fall victim to it.

Where you getting this info from?

[Zonesurgeon]

Word out of Amherst is that Coach Thompson is leaning towards instituting a "positionless" offense this year. While there is something to be said about the concept, and the success Maryland has had with it at the D1 level, I am hesitant about its effectiveness given their personnel. Do you really think its smart to take a player like Minicus out of his sweet spot at attack and rotate him to the top of the box? Interested to see how this plays out for them this upcoming season and whether the reap the benefits of this new school approach or fall victim to it.

Where you getting this info from?

Neighbors son is a sophomore on the team. One of those word of mouth things so you never actually know, but I trust that it is actually true

[oldlaxjunkie]

With Captains practices most likely underway is anyone hearing about any injuries to any players that might significantly effect a team this season. Cant wait until Feb 15 to get this forum rolling. Good luck to all!

[Unknown Participant]

With Captains practices most likely underway is anyone hearing about any injuries to any players that might significantly effect a team this season. Cant wait until Feb 15 to get this forum rolling. Good luck to all!

Captain's practices (and weight lifting) have been going on for months ... almost from the day school started in September and I do not know of any injury at the school I follow; although some previously injured players that rested in the fall are back at it.

[Shock the World]

Any way too early predictions for All NESCAC? 8 more days till the start of the season...

[JBFortunato]

Any way too early predictions for All NESCAC? 8 more days till the start of the season...

...and not a single NESCAC roster up. Classic NESCAC, classic.

[FapTitan]

Any way too early predictions for All NESCAC? 8 more days till the start of the season...

With Zone's news of Amherst running a positionless offense, this is my list:

1. Williams
2. Tufts
3. Bates
4. Wesleyan
5. Middlebury
6. Amherst
7. Trinity
8. Bowdoin
9. Colby
10. Hamilton
11. CT. College

Positionless offenses dont work at the D3 level given not everyone is as capable of a dodger as they are at the D1 level.I do not think this was a good choice by Amhersts coach.

[dingdongdman]

I think there's going to be a rearranging this year and Tufts or Bates will finish on top. Amherst is a solid #4 now that I've heard confirmation of this "positionless" offense jazz. I have doubts that Williams will be able to replicate last seasons performance and now with a target on their back, they have much more pressure and focus from other teams, something they have not had lately.

1. Tufts
2. Bates
3. Williams
4. Amherst
5. Middlebury
6. Wesleyan
7. Trinity
8. Bowdoin
9. Colby
10. Hamilton
11. CT. College

[lilax]

...and not a single NESCAC roster up. Classic NESCAC, classic.

Most of that has to do with the fact that cuts have not been made.

Pretty hard to cut a kid if you don’t see him practice.

Most of the rosters are finalized the week before the first game.

Williams
Tufts
Amherst
Middlebury
Bates
Wesleyan
Colby
Trinity
Bowdoin
Hamilton
Conn

[pcowlax]

I think there's going to be a rearranging this year and Tufts or Bates will finish on top. Amherst is a solid #4 now that I've heard confirmation of this "positionless" offense jazz. I have doubts that Williams will be able to replicate last seasons performance and now with a target on their back, they have much more pressure and focus from other teams, something they have not had lately.

1. Tufts
2. Bates
3. Williams
4. Amherst
5. Middlebury
6. Wesleyan
7. Trinity
8. Bowdoin
9. Colby
10. Hamilton
11. CT. College

Whoa. Bates at #2 is a verrry bold call. 6 or 7, maybe. No way they are anywhere near the top 4. I’ll also believe Williams #1 when I see it though their whole team is back with a bunch a serious talent. This might be a less is more year for Amherst and they might be #1

[PicLax]

No rosters because tryouts haven’t taken place yet.
Hard to understand chatter on Amherst, or any other NESCAC, type of offense when coaches haven’t even been able to work with the teams yet.

Williams
Amherst
Tufts
Middlebury
Bates
Wesleyan
Colby
Trinity
Bowdoin
Hamilton
Conn

[JumboFan4]

Much of the Jumbos' success this year will rest on shoulders of those who are set to replace Murphy and Connelly. Do they replace Murphy by moving Trieber from midfield to attack, or do they keep him at mid and play some combination of Adam and Samuelson, and/or an underclassman? Not sure they have anyone with Connelly's power on the roster right now. Kurtz and Broekmate also leave sizeable shoes to fill. Interested to see who steps up.

[ah23]

Much of the Jumbos' success this year will rest on shoulders of those who are set to replace Murphy and Connelly. Do they replace Murphy by moving Trieber from midfield to attack, or do they keep him at mid and play some combination of Adam and Samuelson, and/or an underclassman? Not sure they have anyone with Connelly's power on the roster right now. Kurtz and Broekmate also leave sizeable shoes to fill. Interested to see who steps up.

Tufts' offense in general is going to be really interesting this year because of how important their graduating class was. A few thoughts:

Making predictions on February 10th is a losing game, but I would bet against anyone on the current roster being able to replace Connelly's outside shooting (unless Waldbaum spent all summer practicing his 16-yard stepdowns). Bryce Adam is a tough cover and would be an interesting option as a more ball-dominant distributor at attack. Wouldn't be too much of a shift to move Trieber around - he was an attackman two years ago before switching to middie last year...though I can't imagine many 2nd Team All-Americans are told to switch positions before their senior season. There is arguably enough talent at midfield to make the shift though - Shanks and Samuelson were both All-Americans of some kind last year (even if IMO that was more about the name on the front of the jersey than the back). If the underclassmen (eg. Kelleher or Bredahl) look like they can handle expanded roles at attack, they won't need to move people around. I suppose there's always the possibility that Tufts has a starter waiting in the wings who we don't know about because they spent last year hanging out on the sidelines (like Waldbaum), but we'll have to wait and see.

[ah23]

Oh and predictions:

I think Williams (!) is the NESCAC favorite. They return like 99.9% of their scoring (obviously estimating, but I don't think I'm very far off. It feels like they return everyone), and also bring back their important guys on defense. Amherst should be a top five team again. I feel like people are sleeping just a bit on the potential of either Middlebury (more likely) or Bates to boot Tufts out of the top three. Wes loses just about everyone on offense - I'm personally kind of excited to see the Cards test if a team can win 7-5 every week in the shot clock era.

1. Williams (return everybody - absolutely loaded)
2. Amherst (natty L hangover?)
3. Tufts (tons of production to replace. I flipped them and MIdd a bunch of times)
4. Midd (bring almost everyone back, went from limp noodle to dangerous in 2019)
5. Bates (will score a ton, think D regression is slightly overstated. If this is yet against the worst FO team in the league they will drop games they shouldn't)
6. Wesleyan (This prediction is either genius or very stupid. But: who on earth scores on this team? And yes, I mean that both ways)
7. Colby (replacing Layton will be hard, but they were trending up last year and bring back important contributors)
8. Bowdoin (bring lots of guys back, plus can't bet against the all-black jerseys #analysis)
9. Trinity (lost a lot, very young team. They'll run and gun their way to some interesting final scores at least. Almost put Conn above them)
10. Conn (they do bring some talent back, and I...like the interim hire?)
11. Hamilton (Hamilton)

[lilax]

Much of the Jumbos' success this year will rest on shoulders of those who are set to replace Murphy and Connelly. Do they replace Murphy by moving Trieber from midfield to attack, or do they keep him at mid and play some combination of Adam and Samuelson, and/or an underclassman? Not sure they have anyone with Connelly's power on the roster right now. Kurtz and Broekmate also leave sizeable shoes to fill. Interested to see who steps up.

Tufts' offense in general is going to be really interesting this year because of how important their graduating class was. A few thoughts:

Making predictions on February 10th is a losing game, but I would bet against anyone on the current roster being able to replace Connelly's outside shooting (unless Waldbaum spent all summer practicing his 16-yard stepdowns). Bryce Adam is a tough cover and would be an interesting option as a more ball-dominant distributor at attack. Wouldn't be too much of a shift to move Trieber around - he was an attackman two years ago before switching to middie last year...though I can't imagine many 2nd Team All-Americans are told to switch positions before their senior season. There is arguably enough talent at midfield to make the shift though - Shanks and Samuelson were both All-Americans of some kind last year (even if IMO that was more about the name on the front of the jersey than the back). If the underclassmen (eg. Kelleher or Bredahl) look like they can handle expanded roles at attack, they won't need to move people around. I suppose there's always the possibility that Tufts has a starter waiting in the wings who we don't know about because they spent last year hanging out on the sidelines (like Waldbaum), but we'll have to wait and see.

I think the 2 names that stick out to me at attack are Bredahl and Duke Alf. Both saw time at different points of the year, and produced. Bredahl was a ball carrying X attackman in high school. He was a Top 100 recruit at 1 point. You'd think this would be his time to shine (Like Murphy coming out of nowhere his sophomore year). Alf was very athletic and probably could also play Midfield. This is also where we'll see how D'Annolfo has been recruiting. He's done a great job up until this point. But the last of Daly's guys are juniors.

My questions with them are scoring depth. They graduated their most of their 2nd midfield line. I don't know who else they have that can step up.