Poor NESCAC form dooms Panthers Men amass abysmal 1-8 conference record, miss playoffs

Author: Jeff Klein

Thirteen games into the season, men's basketball owned a 10-3 record, a remarkable turnaround from last season. They had responded to a three-game losing streak in dominating fashion, posting three confidence-building wins, and seemed poised to make a serious run in the NESCAC playoffs. The situation seemed perfect. The table was set. And then conference play began.

Beginning with a heartbreaking one-point loss to Connecticut College in the opening game of NESCAC competition, the Panthers struggled mightily for the rest of the season. Their two-point setback at Bowdoin last Saturday officially eliminated them from postseason contention. A 78-64 loss at Colby the following day concluded a shockingly disappointing end to the season, in which the team ended conference play with an abysmal 1-8 record.

"We didn't perform," said guard/forward Ben Ehrlich '09 in regard to the team's late-season meltdown. "We didn't put together 40 minutes of good, smart basketball. We lacked composure and couldn't finish games."

The team's failure to finish games was never more evident than against Connecticut College. Middlebury led comfortably for much of that game, propelled by first-year point guard Ben Rudin's torrid shooting that gave him 28 points on the night. But the team, leading 67-56 with 3:16 left, collapsed down the stretch and was held scoreless the rest of the game. Two free throws by Conn. College's Jeff Young with five seconds left lifted his team to a 68-67 victory in front of a stunned Middlebury crowd. That first Panther loss in conference play proved pivotal, as the team began a freefall from which it never recovered.

While Ehrlich does acknowledge the talent of the teams that defeated Middlebury, he nonetheless believes that the Panthers' own play was primarily responsible for the team's late-season collapse. "We played some good teams and I give them credit," he said. "But we have the talent to beat every team on our schedule without exception. It's just frustrating seeing some of those teams get hyped up and be successful, when we, the team, controlled that [by playing poorly and allowing them to win]. We will learn from our mistakes."

Without a doubt, the team did show flashes of its talent during conference play. Yet the most glaring problem during the string of defeats - one that also plagued the team in its three non-conference losses - was the team's tendency to fall behind big early in games. Middlebury's explosive offense often enabled them to make runs in the second half to get back in games, yet the players had buried themselves too deep to win. In all but two of their conference losses, the Panthers trailed by double digits in the first half. In three of these games, against Trinity, Amherst and Bowdoin, Middlebury was able to cut the deficit to two, six and two, respectively, in the second half. This is a clear testament to the team's ability and resolve, yet the deficits simply proved too large to overcome.

The team ended the season at 12-12, which is a marked improvement over last year's 6-18 record. As such, the team views this season as a success to some extent. Next year, however, returning members are determined to avoid a collapse such as this year's and instead go deep into the playoffs. "We took some steps forward this year, we played a lot of good basketball," Ehrlich asserted. "Yet the taste [of missing the playoffs] is so bitter right now, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. A 7-0 start is not good enough. Missing the playoffs again is not an option; it can't happen."

And according to Ehrlich, there is a key reason for optimism other than just the desire of erasing this year's bad memories: talent. "The fact of the matter is there's a lot of optimism because we will return a ridiculously talented team with everyone a year older. We will not make the same mistakes next year. We're so close to being a great team, and we know we can and will get there." Having vastly improved from last year and with a nucleus of talented players returning, the team has little reason to feel otherwise.