MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Ephs down huge at the half to Wesleyan thanks to a big first half from Sha Brown and tons of turnovers from Williams.  Wesleyan outscores Williams by 19 (!) in the last seven minutes of the half ... the Ephs are really struggling right now.  And in very troubling news for the Ephs, just when they seem to be getting healthy, Nate Robertson left early in the game and has not returned, the guy can not catch a break this year, hopefully if an injury it is nothing serious, but Williams will face a very difficult road back to even have a chance in this one.   Without their floor leader, and with James Wang continuing to struggle, Williams is going to continue to have a tough time dealing with Wesleyan's perimeter strength. 

[magicman]

Amherst pulls away from Hamilton and wins it 85-68.

[nescac1]

Ephs get blown out by Wesleyan with an unfathomable 43 points of offense.  Pretty shocking what has happened to Williams this year, but this was a team built to have two penetrating, creating guards who could score with ease or else set up perimeter shooters, and with Wang unable to get to the hole and Robertson in and out of the line-up with three separate injuries, the entire offensive scheme has gone caput, and the Ephs are going to have to adjust on the fly.  It doesn't help that some of the guys who were previously red hot have really struggled to shoot the last four games, but a lot of that I'm sure is not getting open looks in rhythm without perimeter creators or any interior scoring threat other than Mayer.  It also doesn't help that the Ephs were terribly from the line tonight to boot.  Williams has a lot of talented young players who hopefully can help turn things around sooner rather than later, but it sure looks like an uphill battle for the Ephs to be a competitor in NESCAC this year.   

Meanwhile a big win for Wesleyan, their first little three win, I believe, in several years.  Right now it seems like Midd is a clear one, Amherst a clear two, and the rest of NESCAC will be a bit of a muddle that needs to be sorted out.  Hopefully Nate Robertson will be (again) back soon because without him, Williams is going to have a really tough time getting its offense back on track, he is critical for any sort of offensive flow.   

[Old Guy]

Wolfin took eight shots in tonight's game with CC, all threes. Hit seven of them, 21 points. He also had six assists. Sharry 7-10 from the floor (1-1 from three), 18 points, 11 boards. Thompson played 16 minutes. Kizell - 11 points, 6 assists. Big one tomorrow. Where CCSalive when we need him?

[frank uible]

nescac1" There is an old saying about chicken and feathers. It appears that Williams has become accustomed to chicken, but now it is time for feathers and the consequent work on humility.

[amh63]

Quick trip up 91 to arrive early for the games.  Cold and ice on the sidewalks.  Game was enjoyable and competative enough to keep my host interested.....stated that it has been several years since he has seen such a game.. up close.  Anyway, Amherst beats Hamilton by more than Walzy's spread.  It happened that Hamilton's captain and leading scorer/rebounder was out of the game due to flu-like symptons.  Hamilton needed him in the game.  The first half was close and Hamilton's guards shot well from outside.  In the second half, Amherst's height advantage took over.  The hustle rebounds that Hamilton picked up in the first half was no longer there and the Hamilton's shooters turned cold.....partly to increased defensive play by the bigger and taller Amherst players.  Hamilton got most of its points in the second half on foul shots, it seems.  Amherst did get a chance to play against a zone in the second half.  Amherst worked the ball around well and got the ball inside or shot outside with misses being followed up by the bigger Amherst front court.  My "host/driver" put it simply as....Hamilton is missing a center....they do not list a center in their lineup and they need an inside player.
Spent much time chatting with parents of the national champion team...in town to watch their sons play in Sat's game.  Andrew Olsen,twice national player of the year, was across the way among teammates watching the game and talking to coaches.  There will be a dinner to honor a retiring assist coach after the game....primary reason for the Alumni game...to honor one of their coaches.

[walzy31]

Friday January 13th NESCAC Spreads
Middlebury @ Conn College
Middlebury -16.5
O/U: 124.5

Hamilton @ Amherst
Amherst -15.0
O/U: 151.0

Colby @ Bates
Bates -1.0
O/U: 139.5

Bowdoin @ Tufts
Pick'em
O/U: 163.5

Williams @ Wesleyan
Williams -6.0
O/U: 147.0

Middlebury 72 @ Conn College 56
Middlebury -16.5 (Conn College Covers +0.5)
O/U: 124.5 (Over +3.5)

Hamilton 68 @ Amherst 85
Amherst -15.0 (Amherst Covers +2.0)
O/U: 151.0 (Over +2.0)

Colby 55 @ Bates 66
Bates -1.0 (Bates Covers +10)
O/U: 139.5 (Under +18.5)

Bowdoin 70 @ Tufts 82
Pick'em (Tufts Covers +12.0)
O/U: 163.5 (Under +11.5)

Williams 43 @ Wesleyan 66
Williams -6.0 (Wesleyan Covers +29.0)
O/U: 147.0 (Under +38.0)

I like the Middlebury and Amherst results

[walzy31]

Middlebury (+) and over (-)
Amherst (+) and under (-)
Bates (+) and under (+)
Tufts (+) and under (+)
Williams (-) and over (-)

6-4, up 1.6 units or +1 K

I like Midd to cover as the best bet here (would have been nail biter).  I also think Bates should handle Colby at home without too much trouble (nice pick). 

Midd (+) and over (-)
Amherst (+) and under (-)
Bates (+) and under (+)
Tufts (+) and under (+)
Williams (-) (tough one though, depends which Eph team shows up) and over (-) (I do like the over here, I think it will be a fast paced up and down game and I think the Ephs will regain their shooting stroke(...)).

Also 6-4, up 1.6 units (assuming the increased bets on Midd and Bates canceled out). +1 k

I love Tufts straight up. (+)

1-0 for a clean +1 k

[walzy31]

Saturday January 14th NESCAC Spreads

Colby @ Tufts
Tufts -16.5
O/U: 141.0

Williams @ Conn College
Williams -4.0
O/U: 114.5

Bowdoin @ Bates
Bowdoin -10.5
O/U: 127.0

Middlebury @ Wesleyan
Middlebury -5.0
O/U: 129.5

[Old Guy]

Bates ahead of Bowdoin 49-26 early in the second half!

[OchoLoko41]

Wesleyan followed up their big win over Williams by falling to Middlebury 65-62.  Both Brown and Callaghan are playing great basketball at the moment, and with the supposedly the real heavy hitters (Middlebury, Amherst, Williams) past them I see Wesleyan earning that top 3/4 spot in the league come playoff time, possibly even higher depending on how St Jean's reintroduction to the game goes and how far Williams falls in league play (its been a while since the Ephs have fallen to both Wes and Tufts in the same season)

While there's still some rough spots and things to work on, things look very bright for this Wesleyan team.  I will be accepting applications for the Wesleyan bandwagon

[Maine-Man]

Bates beats Bowdoin 81-60.  Great win for Bates and an embrassing lost by Bowdoin!!!  Looks like Bates is the best team in Maine, while Bowdoin will be fighting to get one of the last spots in the NESCAC tournament.

[Maine-Man]

BTW...  Any Bowdoin followers know why Justin Nowell who was a part of the Hanley/McConnell/Nowell core last year, is not starting and/or playing much for Bowdoin?  When he was in the game today he brought energy and monentum, which Bowdoin desperately needed.

[amh63]

Interesting things going on in the conference. Surprised by the scope of the win by Wes. over Williams and the win by Bates over the Polar Bears.  Went to the Williams game at Conn. College...primarily to see the play of particular Williams players.
Conn. was keeping up with Williams in the first half.  The second half was a different matter.  Williams outside shooters...Klem in particular, started to bomb away.  Wang was driving and getting fouled.  Williams taller front court was getting the boards and it became a blow out game.  Was talking to a Conn. parent as the game went on.  Talked about how Conn. was ahead of Amherst in the 2nd. half and how hard conference games are becoming as well as the lack of a front court player for Conn., etc.  He did point out that he didn't understand why Williams had most of their starters in the game with a 30 plus lead in the 2nd half...while Conn. was inserting bench players to get experience.
In any case, interesting games these days.  The Williams WBB team had just lost to Conn....so what was going on with the men's team seems to be impacting the women players....tough away games.
Surprised to see how close the Midd. vs. Wes. game was.   Amherst plays Wes. again on Tues.....at Middletown!

[walzy31]

It seems to me that Williams, Tufts, and Wesleyan are competing for the 3, 4, and 5 seeds. I don't think any one of those three teams stands out as the clear cut favorite.

Surprise early line:
Wesleyan a one point favorite vs. Amherst at home on Tuesday.
As with every spread I post where Amherst is a dog, I hope I my system is horribly wrong. Either way, glad the Jeffs already won the league game vs. the Cardinals.