What no predictions on the games tonight?

Just to be clear Clair is not my daughter.

I probably shouldn't have mentioned that my daughter was a member of the F4 Williams team (wouldn't want to damper the candor of the board members). That said Clair was definitely a very talented player but that wasn't her greatest strength. Her unselfish approach to the game allowed her teammates shine, a true team player. Too often coaches and causal spectators look for that one player as the "superstar" to carry the team. The reality is the it's extremely tough and rare for one player to carry an entire team to the promised land. Hoop is and will always be a team game with each player understanding their role and contribution team. That's probably why I admire Renner of Amherst. She has embraced her role as the distributor and is getting better at recognizing mismatches with each game.  My high school coach was a intense mentor and used to say, "I'd rather play a team with one superstar  then a team with five team players".

Enough of that, teams battling  for the third or fourth spot in the NESCAC. A lot of discussion has been around Conn College, Bowdoin, and Colby. I would like to add Middlebury to mix. They had a great win against a more athletic Skidmore team. Their stats aren't impressive but I like their help defense (defensive rotations) and are well coached.

Wow! Some great points. However I would have to STRONGLY disagree with NESCAC1 with the assessment of the final four team (I'm very biased because my daughter was on that team).  Every team at every level goes through droughts. Question is what's the root cause? Poor shot selection, inability to run the offense, or just bad luck on quality looks.  The Williams final four team played great defense (led D3 in block shots as a team), but they also played an inside out game. Utilizing their size in the post to force teams to double down created great passing lanes and space. That team could beat you inside and outside but it all started from the inside.  As far as last year, remember that Litman was out hurt most of the season and this year their working in a freshman point guard so they're going to have some short-comings. That said, if Williams can start establishing their inside game and take some pressure off of Cook, they'll be tough for anyone.

So far this year for the NESCAC I see Tufts heads and shoulders above everyone else. They have great inside game and  very good outside shooting, a well balanced attack. They also have the strongest non-league of schedule. For me it's still too early tell (too few games) what Amherst's key competitive strengths are. The guards are coming around nicely and they have some nice freshman size, but without seeing Megan play I can't put them up there with Tufts, yet.

I agree with your Williams observations, they seemed to run out of gas mid second half. My take is that it's more of a byproduct of the schedule. Seven games in fifteen  days will challenge anyone's conditioning and mental toughness. I would like to see Williams be more consistent and committed to their inside game.

On another note my friends in Norton tell me not to be surprised if Wheaton gives Tufts a good game tonight (of courses their biased but aren't we all).

Amherst has been playing very well lately, but I don't see them winning the NESCAC tournament this year without Robertson for several reasons. 1) Three pointers account for 36% of their shot attempts (this is probably higher since Megan's injury). The only NESCAC teams with a higher percentage threes shot attempts are Colby at 40% and Hamilton at 37% (not great company). Amherst's only two losses this season have come against teams (Williams and Tufts) that can pressure their shooters and force them to drive into the lane where their size and can either block or challenge shots. 2) Without a legitimate inside threat they'll have to shoot a better percentage than the 33% they've been averaging from behind the arc. Smart teams in the NCAA tournament will pressure their shooters and force them to drive. 3) One other observation, for the top teams 3 pointers only account for 30% to 20% of their field goal attempts (DePauw and Whitman respectively). Living off three pointers is a sure way to eventually go hungry.

I watched the Babson vs Williams game and from my observations, the Williams inside players were simply more athletic than the Babson BIG 3. As the pace of the game picked up the inside quickness and agility Williams became the big factor. Size wise (height) Williams matchup well the Babson Big 3.