MBB: NESCAC

[Old Guy]

Walzy:

If Midd gets by Curry on Thursday and takes on Salem State on Friday (in their gym), what's the call? Do the Vikings knock off both the Ephs and the Panthers in the early going?

[nescac1]

I feel pretty confident that Midd will handle Salem easily.  The Williams team that played that game is not remotely similar to what the team is now ... Robertson (arguably the key player on Williams) and Rooke-Ley both out, Wang, Klemm, and Emerson also coming off injuries and had barely practiced (Emerson did not start), the team hadn't really practiced at all as a unit, totally incohesive, and several guys played big minutes who are not (or barely) in the regular rotation.  Plus, Salem shot the lights out in that game, and they are generally only a fair-shooting team.  Salem has now lost two straight, including a twelve point home loss to Tufts -- I think Midd should be favored by about 20-25, accordingly (and I'd favor the Ephs by 20 as well, if they played Salem at full strength, after a month of practice together). 

[nescac1]

Solid win for Williams, beating a tough Ohio Northern squad after a long layoff.

On the plus side, good to see James Wang return to form in his shooting numbers, hopefully a sign that his health is improving.  Monster game from the Williams centers, combining to up 27-13-6 ... the Ephs won't lose many games with production like that at the five.  Also another strong game from frosh Daniel Wohl, playing the sixth man role and putting up his typically well-rounded effort (13-5-3). 

On the downside, usual sixth man Rooke-Ley did not play, hopefully this is not yet another setback in an injury-plagued year for the Eph backcourt.  Also, odd to see James Klemm with zero FG's on only two attempts, but I imagine that ONU defended the three which opened things up inside for Williams.  The Ephs did a great job on the boards, which is good to see vs. a midwest team, but seemingly struggled to defend the first top-notch big guy they've played this season, with ONU's Schnelle going 11-12 from the field.  Ephs also had a lot of turnovers, which is not shocking after a long layoff, but an area to work on. 

Overall, a great start to the second part of the season for Williams, and the third straight win over a very credible opponent.  Hopefully Williams can get into a groove over the next few weeks, with many games vs. easier opponents (although at Wesleyan will certainly be tough), leading up to a very tough stretch in late January. 

[magicman]

#1 Middlebury rolls over Curry 83-54 to improve to 9-0. 

[Bucket]

#1 Middlebury rolls over Curry 83-54 to improve to 9-0.

My only concern is that Nolan Thompson did not play. Unsure if it is an illness or injury situation. Hopefully nothing serious.

[nescac1]

Ephs pull out a narrow road win in Kentucky despite an off-shooting night.  One night after being on fire, Wang had a rough shooting effort. Klemm with four threes and another big game from the Eph centers.  Rooke Ley out once again.   Ephs dominate the boards. Hopefully the Ephs can return home and regain the offensive groove they had going prior to the break. 

[Hugenerd]

Ephs pull out a narrow road win in Kentucky despite an off-shooting night.  One night after being on fire, Wang had a rough shooting effort. Klemm with four threes and another big game from the Eph centers.  Rooke Ley out once again.   Ephs dominate the boards. Hopefully the Ephs can return home and regain the offensive groove they had going prior to the break.

Trailing by 1 with 13 seconds to go, looks like Williams got fortunate with Wang being fouled with 1 second to play on a 3-point attempt (he made all 3 FTs to give Williams the 2 point win).  Anyone see the game who can comment?

[nescac1]

HN, I am only a moderate nerd, but I think your math is a bit off there ... I did not see, but according to the game report, Williams was up one, the opposing team hit two free throws with two seconds left, then Williams ran an inbounds play and Wang got fouled in deep three point territory with .3 (!) seconds left, with Wang nailing all three shots for the clutch victory. I too will be curious to hear what happened, Thomas Moore was not in the bonus, so I am wondering if they tried to foul intentionally (which is the smart play in that situation) and Wang somehow managed to get a shot off during the foul attempt, or it was just a situation where there was an ill-advised play in an otherwise careful defensive effort (only the fourth foul called on TM the entire second half, and only ten for the game!). 

Kudos to Wang for hitting the big shots even on an off night.  Sounds like the Ephs may not have played their sharpest, but a win is a win, especially far from home ...

[Hugenerd]

Sorry, the '1' and '2' keys are next to eachother and I didnt proofread my post.

[jayhawk]

Amherst Basketball recruit on New England Basketball Recruiting Report: Jesse Pagiluca from Milton -2 guard
http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/2324/Magic-Duo-off-the-Board.php

[toad22]

Williams was lucky to win. The refs were awful for the entire game. Williams got exactly nothing all game. With two seconds to play a foul was called on williams that was hard to fathom. The Thomas More player hit the two shots to put them up by one. Williams ran a nice out of bounds play to get the ball to Wang. The refs then called a foul that almost never gets called, putting Wang at the line for three.

[amh63]

I'm back!  Nice to read all the news and views on the board.  I guess the discussion on the past Williams game infer that "luck" can arrive at the last second.  I have permission to attend the Amherst game tonight in Va......wife has the credit card to take out the "family" in town for the holidays while I'm gone.  Anyway, looking forward to seeing the Amherst players go against a team made up mainly of local MD/DC/VA players...in a region known to have talented players.
I believe that Midd. will prevail tonight at Salem State...for what that is worth.  Seems Coach Hixon offered me help last night with my BB posting on this board....like one of his assistants in BB 101 basics....or was it English 101?

[nescac1]

Mike Crotty sending a player Amherst's way?  I never thought I'd see the day.  Perhaps 2012 will indeed feature the world's end ...

The NERR site notes another player headed to Middlebury, Henry Pendergast, a 6'3 guard from Connecticut. 

Meanwhile, so far, Coach Maker seems to be maintaining his track record of enrolling not a single player from the Northeast quarter of the country.  Of course, there is a ton of competition in New England between Ivies, Patriot League, and NESCAC and NEWMAC schools for a very limited pool of potential impact players with top-notch academics, so if Maker can find guys from the Pacific NW, South, etc., that others might overlook (which seems to be the case based on his first three recruiting classes), it's hard to complain. 

Any updates on the injury status of Rooke-Ley for Williams or Nolan Thompson for Midd?

[toad22]

Just to finish my short game summary of the Williams/Thomas More game, Wang hit the 3 shots with .3 seconds on the clock. The Thomas More Players passes to a teammate about 65 feet from the basket who throws the ball off the back rim! The basket shouldn't,t have counted if it had gone in, but the refs were indicating  that it was good if it went in. This was about the third game in the 100 or more games that Williams with Maker as coach, has taken fewer foul shots than the opponent. Williams played poorly, so we were really lucky to get out with a win.

[frank uible]

My guess is that Wang has not yet recovered sufficiently from his summer surgery to allow him to play well on the second of consecutive game days.