Playing for stops has Middlebury men's basketball team on the go
Toolbox
By Tom Haley STAFF WRITER - Published: January 10, 2010
MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men's basketball players are peacock proud when it comes to their defensive play.
The Panthers are pretty good in all facets of the game. You must be to achieve a No. 7 national ranking.
But it is when they speak of the defense that the pride comes through.
"I think it's our defense," 6-foot-4 senior guard Tim Edwards said when asked what makes this team different from the two previous that earned so much success. "Everyone buys into it. We're very good on that side of the ball."
How good? What about leading the nation in field goal percentage defense? And leading the country in blocked shots? Or holding Haverford College to a measly 13 points in the first half in a 55-42 victory at the Equinox Classic in Pennsylvania?
"The freshmen also have the defensive mindset. It trickles down through the team," junior forward Ryan Wholey said.
This zeal for defense comes from some place and you can begin with coach Jeff Brown.
"It's the part of the game we talk the most about," he said.
Defense can take you places. Back on Dec. 30, it took the Panthers to history. When they defeated RPI 63-52, it hiked their record to 8-0, the best start in the history of the program. The 1917-'18 team went 7-0.
But they didn't stop after eclipsing a record that had stood for 92 years. They went out and beat Hamilton to stretch the mark to 9-0. They were 10-1 going into Saturday's game at Skidmore.
Last year, defense helped take the Panthers to the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship and a first-round home game in the NCAA Division III tournament.
It didn't have the ending the Panthers wanted. Bridgewater State came into Pepin Gym and advanced with a 78-76 victory.
This year the Panthers would like to get back to the NCAAs and make a bigger splash.
"I know it motivates me personally and it motivates others on the team," Edwards said of the loss to the Bears. "But we try not to talk about it."
"It definitely left a sour taste in our mouth because we knew we could have done more," Wholey said. "Now, we have higher expectations."
The Panthers' accomplishments are impressive so far this season, but the rigors of the NESCAC have not even begun. And these players know that's a whole new season, a succession of land mines to be negotiated in what just might be as tough a Division III conference as there is in the land. There are three NESCAC teams ranked in the top 11 with Middlebury at No. 7, Amherst at No. 9 and Williams at No. 11.
Brown will quickly tell you that it doesn't end there.
"I see the NESCAC as being wide open. It's not just the three ranked teams," Brown said.
"The conference is very good from top to bottom," Edwards said.
Williams and Amherst have been the NESCAC gold standard. Both have won a national championship recently, Williams in 2003 and the Lord Jeffs in 2007.
But last year it was the Panthers claiming the NESCAC crown.
"We are hoping to get the No. 1 seed again and get the NESCAC tournament at home," Edwards said.
"I look forward to playing Williams. They're kind of easy to hate," Wholey said.
"Williams and Amherst have been the cream of the NESCAC and now we are trying to establish ourselves."
Getting the top seed with the reward of hosting the NESCAC tourney is a significant factor as Williams and Amherst have passionate fans who can turn their gyms into pits for their players to feed off.
But now, thanks to a couple of very successful seasons, the same can be said for Middlebury.
"The atmosphere here is great. It's so much different now," Edwards said. "It has been fun to see it expand and the energy that the fans have.
"Last year we had two games sold out with 1,200 fans."
The fast start this season has been all the more impressive by the fact that 6-foot-10 shot blocker Andrew Locke and Edwards were not available to the team. Locke was in Europe and Edwards out with an injury through the first six games. Not only that, Ashton Coghlan and Kevin Kelleher, vital pieces of the success in recent seasons, have been lost indefinitely to injuries.
That enabled some freshmen, most notably guards Jake Wolfin and Nolan Thompson, to get a large role and they distinguished themselves. Thompson, along with junior Jamal Davis, earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team at the Equinox Classic.
"He certainly was a quick study," Brown said of Thompson. "He has added to our individual and team defense."
Brown said Thompson just sort of fell onto his team.
"We didn't have any contact with him until after he decided to come to Middlebury," Brown said. "He is one of those recruiting gifts you get once in a lifetime."
Wolfin ran the team in Edwards' absence and took to it immediately.
"He has a flair for the game," Brown said.
Then, there's 6-foot-8 Ryan Sharry by way of Boston College High School, a guy Wholey played with in a summer league with in Boston.
Sharry does everything.
"He reminds me of Larry Bird," Middlebury sports information director Brad Nadeau said.
Nadeau's hyperbole is used to underscore the many facets of Sharry's game. He leads the team in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.
Sharry, Wolfin and Wholey are averaging in double figures, but this story ends as it started: with defense.
The Panthers go through a shell drill each practice, stressing the fundamentals of sliding and staying low. It is what they believe in.
"This year the defense is a big part of our success. If we're having an off night offensively, we know the defense will be there," Edwards said.
"When I was in high school, I didn't really focus on my defense. That's a part of my game that is important now."
"It's a big emphasis for our team," Wholey said.
And if the Panthers are to outslug heavyweights Amherst and Williams, and the rest of the NESCAC, and take one more step in the NCAA tourney this year, you can be certain all the success will be spelled with 'D.'"
tom.haley@rutlandherald.com
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