MBB: NESCAC

[eph partisan]

Wow. Great game. Congrats to Amherst on a great season. They're probably favorites to win the nescac next year.

Bullets on the game, from an Eph perspective:
-Williams got big games from the supporting cast tonight. Wang shoots 3-11, finishes with 15 because of FTs, Whittington scores 10 on 4-8 shooting; if I saw those lines at the beginning of the game, I would have been worried about the Ephs' offense. No need. Nate Robertson was the game's MVP, no questions asked. 22 points, 7-11 from the field, 7 boards, 3 assists, one DAGGER three. That guy has ice in his veins. Klemm also huge, finishing with 17 points and one very important 4-point play.
-What was really impressive was the Ephs' defense. Amherst shot 40 percent from the field and 27 percent from three. Williams really ran the Jeffs off the three point line and dared them to score inside. Credit goes in particular to Robertson, who was able to contain Toomey and did a better job on Meehan than anyone else, and Harlan Dodson, whose defense on Workman was absolutely necessary. 7 boards and a block for him in 28 minutes.
-Ephs will have to hope that Troy is OK - he struggled after hurting his hand, dunk courtesy of Robertson and ridiculous block aside.
-Team has to feel good going into next week. The three point shooting seems to be back in line, and the offense seems much more settled.

More thoughts to come, I am sure. Two NESCAC teams in the Final 4 (Congrats to Midd, whose defense seems unreal).

[nescac1]

Thanks for the shout-out to Dodson, Eph Partisan, forgot to mention his D and rebounding.  Workman usually kills the Ephs but Dodson shut him down pretty well today, really played great.  Also, 36 boards for the Ephs, 29 for the Jeffs.  Williams' improvement on the boards over the course of this season has been absolutely amazing.

Congrats to Meehan on finishing a great career.  He played tough but didn't get enough help today.  He will be a big loss for the Jeffs, but Toomey should be ready to step in, and Amherst's front-court will be really, really brutally tough next year, after a year of seasoning and with all those guys back.

Really, what was Amherst's achilles heel all year proved to be its undoing again today ... they have real trouble keeping quick guards from getting blow-byes.  While they contained Wang reasonably well, Robertson seemed to get to the basket at will. 

[amh63]

Congrats to Williams!  I thought that with a little over 2 minutes to go and Williams ahead by 1 and Amherst with the ball, Amherst would close it out in the end.  The foul shouts kept Williams in the game late in the game as the foul situation had Williams with only 5 and Amherst with 10.  However, Williams made a nice backdoor play for a Whittington dunk and a killer three put the game away.  Amherst need to foul to get back in the game but it was not to be. It seemed to me that Kaaila's success inside worked against Amherst in the last 2 minutes.  A miss by Kaasila gave Williams the ball that led to the dunk.  Two missed 3 -point plays by Amherst did not help.  Williams rebounded well and out rebounded Amherst.  In the last two minutes, Williams got the ball three times in one offensive sequence.  
I have replayed in my mind many of the plays that occurred in those last two minutes.  It is no good to second guess the shots taken or the choices made.  In the end, Williams outplayed Amherst.  I wish to thank Conor Meehan here for his great senior year.  His return to the final 4 was not to be.
On the floor at the end were two seniors; C. Meehan and Whittington.  Both great D3 players.  The other players all return next year and if it is so willed, there will be great battles again next year.

[nescac1]

A few more thoughts before logging off.  First, this feels a bit like 2003 all over again for the Ephs, first Wooster, and a MIAC team in the final four as well ... I just hope the results are similar! 

Second, gotta give a shout out to Coach Maker.  He is a D-1 coach coaching D-3 ball.  Pretty incredible to make the Final Four this year considering:

-- the Ephs lost three tremendous starters including a first team all-American, and 5/9 rotation guys overall, with only four rotation players returning (granted, three of those four are flat-out stars)

-- two of their top three bench players were frosh

-- they suffered a lot of untimely injury and illness all year, including all three stars being either sick or seriously banged up during the NCAA run, and both Troy and Nate battling through multiple tough injuries throughout the year. 

-- they had to come from way behind in two out of four NCAA games

-- they had to beat two top-ten caliber teams, both of whom played very well, to make it to Salem.

Of course the team is super-talented, but most of all, they are mentally tough, and that comes from Coach Maker -- he never panics, never overreacts, always sticks by his guys even when they get in foul trouble or are having an off game (or even couple of games) .... he has tremendous faith in his team, and the players reward that faith.  Two Final Fours in his first three years as a head coach pretty much says it all.  Williams is lucky to have him, and I just hope it is a few more years before, as will inevitably happen, D-1 comes calling ...

[nescac1]

Middlebury, in its last four games, all against very good offensive teams (Williams and the three tourney games), has surrendered 54, 53, 52, and 50 points.  That is simply insane, and trending towards historic levels of defensive excellence.   Are we looking at 49 points for St. Thomas???

Tyler Nicolai ate the West Region alive.  It will be interesting to see how Thompson can deal with him. 

[toad22]

I am very happy for the Ephs and their coach. What a great win tonight. Nate Robertson may be the most effective player I have seen at Williams in a long time. He is an understated, quiet assassin. The toughest twelve year old playing college basketball today!

I would be remiss if I didn't relate how much I admire Connor Meehan's play tonight, and over his career. The player I have feared most. He will be tough to replace.

[nescac1]

Wooster highlight video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt3rCXXmPRg

Note the Rubik's Cube on their fan shirts, as well as what appears to be a Rubik's Cube-solving half-time event. 

More on Wooster hoops and the Rubik's Cube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/woosteredu#p/u/5/w2KHqkwfFoE

One of the star players employs the term "algorithms" in the latter video. 

It is hard to out-dork a NESCAC school, but I'd say Wooster has succeeded.  Maybe Eph fans can challenge their fans to a cube-off.   

[Old Guy]

I take the bait every time. I figure we finally have met our match this year. Then we come out in the second half and turn it up a notch (many notches) and win another one. I should learn not to doubt these guys - they are a strong willed group, but I may be conditioned by history.

I watched St. Mary's against Buff State  and thought "we're in trouble." I remembered RIC and Bridgewater, and St. Mary's was better than either of them. Two good big guys - quick, agile 6'8"s, and waves of quick tough guards, including a resourcesful pg. They did not look like a NESCAC team. Rochester on the other hand did: smart. talented pg, good outside shooters, serviceable big guys.

The play at the beginning of this game justified my concern. Midd committed 13 first half turnovers as St. Mary's hounded us on defense. We were down 10 before we settled down and adjusted to their pressure.

Middlebury simply played great tonight. Others will look at the margin of victory and say we had an easy draw. I don't think so. St. Mary's was legit. Locke was immense, changed the game: I don't think MacAuley and Barum, St. Mary's (very good) big guys, had seen someone who could alter or block their shots the way the Panther big guys did. Locke had six blocks (the team had 11 for the night), but it seemed like he was a goalie at the rim, changing the whole mindset of the Seahawks. I bet they haven't scored 50 points in a game all year, not even close. (My wife tells me that the announcers on the on-line telecast called him the "Locke-Ness Monster")

Wolfin hit big shot after big shot in the second half. My favorite was a lefty hook on a drive. Kizell gives us an important dimension with his hard dashes to the hoop. The best basket of the night was a Kizell drive with a liitle blind flip to Locke for a jam. Thompson guarded their outstanding pg (Franz) with is usual impassive determination, played his customary 38 minutes (he gets a two minute blow in the first half) and added his 10 points at the other end. Of  course this group belongs in the discussion of best NESCAC guard tandems.

Sharry's minutes were reduced by foul trouble (ticky-tacky calls, but that's the usual partisan's complaint) but he still managed 10 boards and 11 points (on 5-9 shooting). He hit a huge three with the shot clock winding down as we gained momentum in the second half. Davis came in for Locke or Sharry and we missed not a beat on D: he did his Spiderman impression - he was everywhere on defense. He's been so valuable in the last month.

Coach Brown goes undiscussed:  I find the pretense of evaluating coaches problematic, but it strikes me that Jeff pushes all the right buttons. He often chooses not to play Sharry and Locke, especially together, for long stretches in the first half to keep them out of foul trouble. In the second half they they dominate at the basket. Maybe he just rolls the balls out, but I suspect not. He cut down his piece of the net last and the cheers from his team were sustained and enthusiastic.

Given Middlebury's basketball history, little can compare to this NESCAC crown - cutting down the nets in Williams' gym after knocking off the formidable Jeffs & Ephs on successive days is about as good as it can get. But last night's win, cutting down the nets in Rochester in virtually empty gym wasn't bad either (it's hard not to think what this tournament would have meant in Middlebury - those who went to Chandler yesterday can imagine. Here in Rochester, the school is on spring break).

On to VA!

[amh63]

Old Guy....I hope you go to Salem.  I remember my first well.  My wife even joined me on one of my trips down.
There is a nice write-up of the Amherst-Williams battle on the Amherst site...courtesy of Williams.  Thank you Williams' SID for the objective and classy words.  It pointed out that Meehan is tied for third in school records for assist.  I recall late in the game last night, Toomey missing a foul shot and was angry with himself....he showed it.  Though he made the second shot, it was a meaningless point at that point in the game.  His missed shot later proved to cost him the chance to tie the school record for most points in a season at 393.  Not bad for a FY player who comes of the bench to play point guard.  Ironically, Toomey did set a mark for free throw accuracy.
Wait, I can still go to Salem, if my wife allows, to cheer on the conference teams and to meet some of the posters on this board, to return my found Ephs' license plate holder.  I do recall meeting some Williams people in Salem attending the games when their team was missing.
If I do go, You can guess who I will be rooting for in a Midd. vs. Williams finals.

[JustAFan]

The game story on the Williams website has some pictures of last night's game, one of which shows Whittington cutting down the nets with a pair of scissors in his left hand and a bandage the size of a leg of lamb around his right hand.  Hopefully this is all precautionary and he'll be able to play next weekend with the aid of tape and a splint. If he needs a pin put in I hope they can put that off for a week.

I second Old Guy's praise of the Middlebury coach.  His game preparation and game adjustments have been first rate throughout the tournament.

I also thought Dodson stepped up this weekend with 2 solid games.  Given his size and hops I tend to expect him to dominate offensively but that's not his game, but on the other hand he quietly plays solid defense on the wing and rebounds pretty well and the Ephs needed both this weekend.  As for Robertson, I've loved his game all year long.  I don't think the offensive aggressiveness we're seeing is a new skill.  I think he's played in the shadow of Wang, who penetrates very well, and he's held back on doing the same thing himself to try to bring some balance to the backcourt.  But when Williams clears out the left side for him, or he does the pick and roll with Whittington at the top of the key it's a thing of beauty to watch.

Old Guy, how did Young Guy's team do?

[nescac1]

Looks like it was a wild scene in Chandler:

http://athletics.williams.edu/video/NCAA_Sectional_Finals_Williams_V._Amherst_03_12_2011.flv

Too bad the Midd fans were denied the same sort of experience ...

[jumpshot]

A sweet win for Williams over Amherst whose depth of aggressively recruited talent (and this particular competition) has been repeatedly hyped by amh63 and other Lord Jeff loyalists. From the day prominent Amherst alums tried to coax me into going there, I have sensed that Amherst ought to let go of its obsession with measuring its fine institution against Williams and simply be Amherst with its many strengths.

[Mr. Ypsi]

A sweet win for Williams over Amherst whose depth of aggressively recruited talent (and this particular competition) has been repeatedly hyped by amh63 and other Lord Jeff loyalists. From the day prominent Amherst alums tried to coax me into going there, I have sensed that Amherst ought to let go of its obsession with measuring its fine institution against Williams and simply be Amherst with its many strengths.

Williams/Amherst is never gonna match the Hope/Calvin rivalry if you keep talking like that!

[Major Hoople]

   Disappointed that Bucket has not given his courtside perspective of last night's game.  Can't say enough about Panthers two away wins to clinch the NESCAC championship or their two away wins to get to the Final Four. Could even earn them a number 1 ranking.

   Locke was more than just a presence last night.  He played a solid all around game without getting into foul trouble.Wolfin's NINE assists, plus 16 points were worthy of some comment from the Big Two loyalists, looked at in a vacuum or otherwise.  There is no team in the NESCAC, in my opinion, that plays better as a team than Middlebury, a tribute to Coach Brown and the players themselves

[jayhawk]

Enjoyed Amherst Williams game last night. Williams is extremely well coached with an efficient motion offense. The game was quite close after Amherst missed several inside shots as that was the initial goal of the Amherst squad. Kaasila is an efficient inside player who uses his body well but missed his inside shots over Whittington. Possible Whillington altered some shots but never Whittington or Locke could block his shoot. Ultimately Kaasila shot 50% off the floor.  However Waller was quite efficient and Williams could not match with him.
Meehan was excellent and so was David Waller. I think Waller is perhaps second best offensive player at Amherst after Meehan. Definitely more athleticism and better shooter than Workman. I think Williams did a fine job on Toomey. On the offensive side of the ball it appeared that Williams was trying to isolate Toomey at the end of the game.
Robertson in my mind has always been an excellent player who does what he has to do. He is an excellent ballhandler and passer with a good ability to drive the hoop.

Middlebury versus Williams is an exciting match-up. I think Middlebury has the best balance of any team in NESCAC with a very steady coach. If neither Locke nor Sharry get into foul trouble then they can play together which is a very difficult inside matchup. Williams has the more spectacular players with Whittington and Wang with excellent supporting cast.