Colby crushed by Western Connecticut last night, down 25-7 to start the game and never really got close.  Another absurd amount of turnovers with 26.  Colby can score when they hold on to the ball, they're shooting 61% from the field, but have 72 turnovers through three games.  The game was over so early, individual stats for Colby don't really matter.  While I didn't expect them to win this game as Western Conn should be a very solid team this season, it's discouraging that they weren't even in it. 

Lot of work to do for the Mules, they really just need to be solid with the ball.  They might be best served just running a lot of pick and rolls with Van Loenen and Russell, as any offense they seem to run at this point just ends in a turnover.  The defense wasn't pretty in this one either.  A turnover prone team that doesn't play a whole lot of defense is not going to win a lot of games.  Russell averaging 17 and 11, and Van Loenen averaging 13, 4 and 3.  Bealieu and Foreman have also been solid, but overall a very disheartening start to the season.

walzy31 ---

Google: Big Time Athlete Infusion at Amherst for one view of "substance". Perhaps you can shed some light on what is going on.

Welcome back Walzy!  While you are in the "neighborhood", could you get any insight as to why the Coach schedules a single game in Miami during the semester break?  Last year it was Stevenson, Md., this year Florida.  Oops, forget the request.  
What does your "eyes" tell you about L. Lewis' play in his short time on the floor?  Was he invited to join the team?  Hope he proves to be as valuable as the last football/basketball player in MBB......he was also a defensive back and a member of the 2007 team.
Before, I forget.....Have a enjoyable Thanksgiving to all the posters on this board.  Your diversity of views is refreshing to say the least.
Having to adjust my "eyes" to watching BB and primarily Div. 1 teams, I am reminded that in all levels of college BB, both women and men, the key to a solid, winning season is the guard play and defense.  One has only to look at the NESCAC teams, both past and present.  In the "Little Three" teams, Wang, S. Brown and C. Meeham are keys to their respective teams.  All are scorers, and go strong to the boards and are good foul shooters.
It is not surprising for Amherst to be evaluating their young guards so much, so early.  When Meeham went out last year, the team "collapsed", IMO.  
IMO, regardless of the opponents play during the early part of the season, it still allows the coaches to evaluate their players and team weakness.
Nescac 1, I do not believe that at this date, you can state that the conference is shallow this year.  Maybe we all are underestimating the caliber of the out of conference opponents?  
The result of the Williams vs. Wes. game tells me that Wes. is better than I thought.  Several seasons ago, Amherst went down to Wes. and lost.

Must correct a glaring error in my postings !   I have typed Meehan's name wrong....again and again.  I apologize to him.  His parents will be most annoyed at me when I get to watch Amherst live later in the season.

amh63, these aren't top-notch New England teams NESCAC teams are losing to, for the most part.  And part of my assessment is from looking at who teams lost and who they brought in. 

Tufts was terrible last year and lost the bulk of its scoring to graduation.  Conn lost virtually every key player from last year's team due to graduation or guys quitting the program, and is now relying primarily on frosh.  Bowdoin lost three key guys, one of whom was all-NESCAC, from a mediocre team, and while it has some solid additions, none look to be stars right away.  Colby's situation has been pretty well summarized by the Colby fan poster, another team that suffered HUGE losses to graduation.  Trinity was mediocre last year and several key guys are either hurt or left the program.  Trinity has NO depth in the post and really only one true inside player on the entire roster, and only two guys over 6'4.  Plus learning a new system with a new coach to boot.   That is half the conference right there.   I don't realistically see any of those teams challenging for any sort of post-season spot. 

Wesleyan should be better but already has two losses.  I do think Bates will be good, but a home loss to Southern Maine is a bit surprising as well ...

Quote from: amh63 on November 24, 2010, 11:49:54 AM
Welcome back Walzy!  While you are in the "neighborhood", could you get any insight as to why the Coach schedules a single game in Miami during the semester break?  Last year it was Stevenson, Md., this year Florida.  Oops, forget the request.  

What does your "eyes" tell you about L. Lewis' play in his short time on the floor?  Was he invited to join the team?  Hope he proves to be as valuable as the last football/basketball player in MBB......he was also a defensive back and a member of the 2007 team.

First request forgotten.

Regarding Landrus Lewis, he tried out for the team and made it...which is not surprising considering their young depth at PG (Toomey can play, Kalema can fill that roll but was a 2 in HS, and Noon needs to get back into basketball which takes time). While I don't think Lewis has the talent that the two-sport athlete who rhymes with Talerno did in 2007, he does remind me of 2008's Matt Goldsmith in the way he brings a great vibe to the team. He is certainly a culture fit (for the record, Goldsmith was a better player than him too).

Why are we talking about Amherst's fourth string point guard?

Quote from: Colby Hoops on November 24, 2010, 12:18:47 PM
Why are we talking about Amherst's fourth string point guard?

Valid question.

Walzy, thanks.  Nescac 1, I concede to your points and analyses.  To Jumpshot, who I believe knows the answer to his baiting question, I will provide a response at a later date.  To the Colby poster, several reasons for the attention to the newest player on the Amherst team.  First, the player is quick and STRONG.  I looking at both a possible point guard backup that can both distribute the ball and be a lockdown defensive guard.  The referenced past guard in the 2007 team was such a player.  He played a bench warmer for many years but had great leadership qualities.  He was most valuable during the latter part of the Championship 2007 season.  In the final 4 games, he provided rest time for Amherst's all-american point guard and defended dangerous  opponent guards.  Second, I am just curious about a late comer to a team that is both talented and deep on paper.
M. Goldsmith was also 6-7 inches taller Walzy.  To old to fuller understand "vibe" talent...interpret it to be leadership.

A good win for Williams, and the first leg of the Little 3. It is hard to emphasize enough how dominant Troy Whittington has become around the basket. He blocked or influenced well over a dozen shots last night, and his offense was nearly flawless. Wesleyan tried hard to deny him the ball and to double him when he got it, but with only modest success. Williams' defense is still at least a month away from really coming together, but the offense started to excel in the second half last night. The Ephs seem to have 3 consistent scoreds in Wang, Whittington and Klemm. Robertson chips in with a few points, solid assists and good defense.  They really only need one more player to step up, and they can be really good. Dodson has been hurt and I expect him to round into shape soon. Emerson is a little streaky, but he should be good for some big games. Rooke-Ley is the freshman that I expect will emerge first in the second half to be a solid contributor.

Quote from: jumpshot on November 24, 2010, 11:16:31 AM
walzy31 ---

Google: Big Time Athlete Infusion at Amherst for one view of "substance". Perhaps you can shed some light on what is going on.

http://www.ephblog.com/2010/10/20/big-time-athlete-infusion-at-amherst/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Ephblog+%28EphBlog%29#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed

I only find an "EphBlog" when I do your google search. I enjoyed reading the article and do not refute anything discussed surrounding Amherst (I am admittedly not an expert when it comes to the transfer admission process).

I'd like to make two points.
1) Williams and its quest for Director Cup dominance have nothing to fear. Wrestling, Skiing, Water Polo, Croquet, and Ping Pong will likely always give you the #1 ranking over Amherst and Middlebury. I have come to grips with this and the author of the blog should not be so worried.
2) Is obtaining good athletes via the transfer process a bad thing? I interpret that to mean that Amherst coaches have the advantage to see what a student-athlete has done both on the playing field and in the classroom. The coaches still have to factor in that transfer students count towards their usage of "TIPS" in the admissions process, but they are more likely to know what they are getting once they have seen that person perform. I think it makes perfect sense. There is also the possibility that one or more of these transfer students were on the coaches' recruiting radar before they chose to go to the New Haven or SD States of the world. That would lead me to believe that these kids were already qualified or "admittable," and that their dreams of playing Division One athletics fizzled once they realized it was like a full-time job. If you went to any of the schools listed in the Blog, wouldn't you rather play your sport for Amherst (or for that matter any NESCAC school)?

Walzy,
I agree with you, this is certainly a stupid issue, and I doubt very many fans actually care about it. Every institution does what they think is best regarding admissions and then we lace 'um up and play. The fun and interesting part are the games. 

Quote from: lefrakenstein on November 24, 2010, 04:44:48 AM
Quick question: For the people who have seen Toomey play in practice and over the summer, can he shoot? It's kind of worrisome that he has shot so poorly from behind the arc so far, especially since he is clearly not shy about throwing it up. Hopefully it's just a bad run?

Toomey's range looked legit and he seemed  to relish tossing daggers.

"..but we're talking 'bout practice."

Seems like almost every top-tier NESCAC squad has brought in strong players at the point (or in some cases combo guard spot) over the past two years ... Toomey at Amherst, Robertson and Rooke-Ley at Williams, Kizel and Wolfin at Midd, Brown and Beresford at Wesleyan, Brust and Matarazzo at Bates.  That group should have some really great battles over the next 3-4 years.  Big men, on the other hand, that is a different story -- obviously it takes big guys longer to develop, but still, none of the young bigs in the league have (yet) shown that they are future stars ...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

How has the Max Steiger progressed at Bowdoin?