MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Kind of quiet on the board.  Everyone from Williams ready for tonight?   Still recovering and pondering?  I would.
Anyway, some additional comments on the Amherst game.  Toomey led the scoring with 16 points in 18 minutes of action.
Conor Meehan provided the leadership needed and stayed in the longest of the "starters".  He ended up with a double double...15 pts, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.  Both Amherst point guards are playing well.
Ater the first half, someone stated that Amherst players off the bench outscored Skidmore....Holmes and Toomey and maybe Williamson.  Workman played well in the second half after getting two fouls early in the first half and was taken out.  Kassila had his time but did not effect the game much wrt points and rebounds.  Skidmore's smaller quicker players seemed to make him somewhat ineffective.  Waller again disappeared  in this game.   Williamson had a strong dunk from the right baseline in the second half.  Tim Prowitt brings alot of energy to the game.  Scored 7 points in only 8 minutes.  Tom Killian, the other first year guard to see time early in the game....is very fast and quick and aggressive, though his shots did not go in.
Since the travel team can only dress 15 players, it was interesting to see who was dressed and who was not.  Wonder if there will be a change with the dressed players tonight, because of match ups.

[Bucket]

After the first half, someone stated that Amherst players off the bench outscored Skidmore....Holmes and Toomey and maybe Williamson. 

That doesn't surprise me. Holmes, Toomey, and Williamson are all heads and shoulders better than any Skidmore starter.

[JustAFan]

I must admit that I'm a worried Williams fan heading into tonight's game.  The Ephs continue to be out of sync without Robertson at the point, and I couldn't agree more with earlier posts about Wang trying to do too much and not letting the game come to him.  You saw it last weekend against Middlebury and again last night. Too many penetrating drives to nowhere in the lane and too many turnovers.  I love the kid, and I'm sure he's doing everything he can as a senior to try to make sure the Ephs don't lose, but he's got to trust the offense, and his teammates more and take what the other team gives him.  On the positive side, Klemm appears to have regained his shotand he needs more touches.  With Robertson at 100% tonight's game vs. Becker is one that the Williams team of January would win fairly easily.  But with Robertson at half speed at best and the Ephs currently  in a bit of disarray offensively I'm fearful that this could be a toss-up unless a much more motivated and focused Williams team shows up at Chandler tonight.

Look for Amherst to have an easier than you would expect game tonight against a struggling WPI team.  Amherst is just too big at all positions for WPI to be able to stay with them even though WPI should have a big crowd at their gym tonight.

My best to Middlebury tonight.  I am going to be in the Salem VA area the weekend of the final 4 and I'm counting on them being there! Defense wins championships and they have it in spades, plus the requisite toughness that goes with good defense, and I'm counting on those skills to carry them thru the tournament.

[walzy31]

Saturday March 5th NCAA Spreads

Western Connecticut @ Middlebury
Middlebury -9.5
O/U: 111.5

Becker @ Williams
Williams -14.0
O/U: 143.5

Amherst @ WPI
Amherst -23.5
O/U: 145.0

[amh63]

Nice Walzy.....now you did it.  Last predictions/spreads, you had Amherst in the low teens over Skidmore and Amherst won by 40.  You had Williams in the 20's over Husson and it went into OT.   I'm not a young man anymore!  Oh well, at least you project a win. 

[eph partisan]

I am a worried Williams fan... I think the Ephs will pull it out, because I just can't see one of Coach's teams coming out flat three games in a row - never happened last year, or even with the OK team from the year before - and I have to believe that they're going to do their best to run the offense through Troy (as the team does when the 5 receives the ball at the top of the key and cutting and hand-offs commence) more tonight. And I doubt anyone on Becker can stop Troy. Though I felt that way about Husson. So we'll see.

Good luck to Midd and Amherst tonight. Can't see either of them struggling too much tonight. Then again, couldn't see the Ephs struggling yesterday.

[frank uible]

Just: For your possible further reference, Wang is a junior.

[eph partisan]

Ephs remember how to put the ball in the basket early in the game! Well, kind of. Not enough of Troy early, team started 0-4 from the field and Klemm started 0-3 from three before hitting two. Ephs now 4-10 from three, up 18-13. Hopefully we don't lapse into complacency...

[eph partisan]

Williams ends the half up 39-29. We asked for more Klemm and we go it - 4 for 10 from the field (4-9 from 3) for 12 points, along with 4 boards and an assist. Maker clearly told him to shoot every time he sees the basket. Meanwhile, Wang is forcing it much less - 3-8 from the field for 8 points, 2 TOs, neither of which were really his fault. Becker doing a great job swarming Troy (who has only 3 FG attempts!), but the Ephs are killing them from 3 as a result. He is also making his presence felt elsewhere - 5 boards, 3 assists, a hockey assist or two, and 3 blocks. Interestingly, Williams is doing well on the offensive glass - they have 8 second chance points on 5 offensive boards (3 of which are Troy's). Becker is rushing out to shooters after collapsing and getting caught because of it. Williams doing well in the passing lanes, but the defense really could be better. Becker missed several wide open shots.

Hoping they come out of the half strong and don't lose focus, as they have the last two games.

[eph partisan]

Also, Walzy, you gotta put the Williams color commentator, Khalid Bashir, on the watch list for next year's All Crazy team. He's only a junior, and he's a really good guy. That said, today, he has already mentioned how three eyes are better than one, referred to Husson as Scranton, called Jordan Mickens Nate Robertson, and how Hayden Rooke-Ley is similar to the professor from And1... And at the half time of the Midd game, you could hear his conversation with Lorenzo, the play-by-play guy... Anyway, I would advise scouting him at some point, at the very least.

(both posts edited for accuracy)

[Old Guy]

Midd up 12 at the half, 40-28, playing very well. Fast-paced game. Sharry has two threes, playing great. Wolfin too. Thompson has 0 pts but is working hard on Brooks who is so dangerous. Locke picked up two quick fouls, played sparingly. W.CT comes right at you.

[eph partisan]

Ephs having trouble with Becker's full-court press. Far too much trouble for a team with 4 good ball handlers. Up 11 with 7:15 to play.

[eph partisan]

Ephs walk away with a victory that was not as easy as the 84-63 scoreline will suggest.

Hayden Rooke-Ley was huge. 20 points on 5-8 shooting (4-6 from three), 4 boards, 2 assists. Wang was more under control, though he had trouble with the full court press (5 of his 6 turnovers were a result of some form of full-court pressure). The Ephs finally found their strokes from three, going 16-34 overall. Some really nice ball-movement at points, even though they were struggling with the press. Second half defense was much more encouraging. We'll have to execute even better against either VW or F&M.

Looks like Midd and Amherst cruise.

[nescac1]

That's more like it for the Ephs.   Yet another slow start, yet another game struggling with turnovers, but in every OTHER respect, the Ephs played great.  Becker is very quick and athletic and their pressure defense was tough, but just about every time the Ephs broke it, they made them pay.  Great to see the Ephs once again find their shooting touch with a tremendous 16-34 from three.  Ephs did a very solid job on the glass and after the first few minutes of soft defense, played great D the rest of the way.

MVP for the Ephs was frosh Rooke-Ley, who had a career day with 20 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and only one turnover.  Great to see him regain his shooting touch with 4-6 from three.  Kid can play, and I love the toughness he brings from the guard stop -- very physical player, and I am glad to see him getting more and more court time.

Troy had another very quiet night, as once again the D collapsed on him, but going forward, the Ephs need to find a way to get him more looks.  Yes, take what the D gives you, which today was open threes, but he is such a huge weapon that I'd like to see them force the issue a LITTLE bit more.  Despite foul trouble and limited touches, he found ways to contribute, with 8 boards, 4 assists, and 5 blocks, several of the monster variety.  

Wang other than the turnovers was very good.  Robertson looked like his old self out there and made a huge difference -- I just feel more relaxed as an Eph fan when the ball is in his hands, the Ephs need Wang's creativity and ability to create something out of nothing, but they just as badly need Robertson's steady hand.  Typically efficient game for Nate with 9 points, 4 assists, only 1 TO vs. the press, and 3-4 from the field.  Emerson, Epley, and Klemm all made nice contributions as well.  I like that Klemm has been aggressive on offense of late.

Overall, a relief to make the Sweet 16.  Now, the pressure if off a bit as Williams will be playing teams it is not expected to beat handily.  Of course, those teams will be better.  IF the ephs can play as well as they did today, but take care of the ball a bit better/ avoid the TO's that have plagued them the last three games, they should have a very good chance of advancing.  

Great to see three Sweet 16 teams from NESCAC, just a tremendous year for the top of the conference.  Huge break for Midd with RMC going out.  I'd be stunned if the Panthers failed to make the Final Four at this point.  Williams has by far the toughest path with VWC, and if they can get by them (which won't be easy, VWC is a better, deeper version of the teams that gave them trouble this weekend), most likely Amherst, who seems to really be playing well.   Ephs will have to really pick up their level of play, but today was a good step forward.  

[JustAFan]

Just back from the Amherst/WPI game and the Lord Jeffs put on an impressive shooting exhibition, hitting over 50% both from 3 and from the floor in general.  Barrise and Meehan in particular were on fire.  Both did good job penetrating and then dishing to the open man for a 3 and  they made WPI pay for its gambling defense.  Amherst was up by 20 at the half as they dismantled a team that has been in the top 20 for most of the season on its home court.  WPI cut it to 10 with about 13 minutes left by going to a helter skelter all court press and subbing in 5 new guys every 2 minutes, but Amherst kept its composure and continued to hit the open shot and quickly widened the gap back to 20 over the next 5 minutes and that was the game.  Kaasila totally shut down WPI's big man, Matt Carr, who was playing with a bum ankle and deserves credit for his gutty effort, but Kaasila was too strong and wide for Carr to maneuver offensively and that left WPI with no inside game since their other 2 bigs were giving up 4-5 inches to Amherst's front line.  Oh, and Waller quietly had a great all around game as well, going 6-11 from the field, 4-8 from 3, to go with 6 boards.  Toomey is going to be an unbelievable player when he's a junior, but I like him coming off the bench in tournament games since he's still prone to make too many freshman mistakes in these kind of games.  I really like the way Meehan and Barrise are playing right now in the Amherst backcourt and I'd stick with this combo as my starters.  Meehan was the best player on the court tonight and had the opportunity to show off all of his skills en route to a very impressive performance (10 assists, 6-9 from the field, 6 boards and 7-8 from the line). The Jeffs are really playing really well right now---I would not want to face them next weekend.