MBB: NESCAC

[jayhawk]

In terms of first years, just a brief update on Amherst which has several excellent first years. We have not heard too much because Ray Barry, an excellent guard and probably a candidate for Walzy's all crazy team because of his aggressiveness and tenacity, has been sidelined with injuries. He is someone who would very likely would have been playing alot with loss of Connor Meehan and way present roster is shaped.  A second recruit who has an excellent high school career, is Joe Mussachia. There are several seniors and also fine juniors ahead of Je so tough for a freshman like Joe to get time. Joe has a bright future and will be a factor in the future. Gene Garay is a fine point guard who is also an excellent football player so he missed the preseason for basketball and behine in fitting in Finally a big man Alex Levine who may be a factor but has Kaasila and Holmes in front.
Tufts and Trinity has done a fine job of bringing several fine first year plays. Wohl looks good and so does Sinnickson - Sinnickson had a postgraduate year which is a help in the transition to college ball

[nescac1]

Of general NESCAC interest:

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7477790/trinity-men-squash-loses-first-time-253-matches

[magicman]

Williams defeats Skidmore 76-59. Ephs with a 12 point, 35-23 halftime lead see their advantage shrink to 4 at 43-39 with 13:15 left in the game. Williams goes on a 16-0 run to go up by 20 at 59-39 with 9:52 remaining and put the game away. Closest the Thoroughbreds got after that was 17. Epley with 19, Mayer and Robertson with 15 each. Emerson with 11. Ephs shot lights out tonight going 27x52 from the field 7x14, 3's, and 15x18 from the line.

[nescac1]

Really nice win for the Ephs tonight over a solid Skidmore team.  They looked for the first time in a LONG time like a typical Maker team, very, very crisp on offense, scoring most of their baskets off of polished-looking offensive sets.  Lots of screen and rolls and guys penetrating with ease, finding teammates for great looks, it sure seemed like there were more assists than credited in the box score.  The Ephs missed a few early gimmes, but once they got rolling, the offense looked great.  And the D was very solid as well, Skidmore had very few easy shots and almost nothing easy on the interior.  Skidmore made a run in the second half, getting within four thanks to some threes following sleepy defensive play, but at that point the Ephs kicked up the intensity and went on a 16 point run to put the game away.  If the Ephs play that the way they played in that 16 point run consistently, they can beat anyone, including Midd, the key is doing it for longer stretches. 

Player of the game was Epley who was in a great rhythm all night, 19 points, 8-12 shooting, did it from both inside and outside and showed off his multifaceted offensive talents plus was tough on the glass.  The Eph centers definitely overmatched the smaller Skidmore frontline, combining for 26-14-3.  Brian Emerson was outstanding on the glass on both ends of the floor, and he had the play of the game with a beautiful assist from about 22 feet out to a back-door cutting James Klemm.  Emerson and Mayer both finished nicely on a lot of great screen and roll situations.  Mayer continues to impress on offense, extremely crafty finisher, and is improving but a work in progress on D and on the glass.  Wang and Robertson both looked in total control of the offense, and Robertson in particular was able to break down his defenders with ease.  Great to see the Ephs start to play pretty basketball again, following on an ugly stretch over the last few weeks.  Hopefully they can keep the momentum going heading into the biggest week of the season. 

I think the current sophomore group of Rooke-Ley, Epley, and Mayer could end up being a special group, all three have all-NESCAC potential, but of course still have plenty to improve upon.  And Rooke-Ley has been so banged up that he hasn't really fully shown what he can do this year.   

Only negative: still a few too many careless turnovers, and Rooke-Ley (who was looking really fantastic in the first half, executing the screen and roll game with aplomb) rolled an ankle or something and did not play in the second half, and was limping on the sideline.  It would be nice for the Ephs to go two straight games without a guard getting hurt ... but frosh Wohl stepped in and played well, with a few nice assists, on the bright side.  Frosh Semin had a tough offensive game, but was a force on the boards, brings a lot of physicality out there.   

[amh63]

Magicman...Thanks for the quick recap of the Williams vs. Skidmore game.  Was seriously going to check in on it .....now that it is a Free broadcast.  Was going to give a shout out to Williams for seeing the light.   But that would be going a little far for me.  Do like their new Prez for making the change.  Good southern breeding/manners. Was busy and missed the game on-line.
Oh yes.....forgot to get back to you about your last post on Hamilton.  Enjoyed it much better than straight stats.  Enjoyed your slight partisian remarks and all....some insight and passion.  My comments wrt refs. was trying to be clever/witty...while agreeing with your comments.  Expect all post on this board to be a little partisian....otherwise it would be dull.

[ECSUalum]

from amh63
"Thanks for the quick recap of the Williams vs. Skidmore game.  Was seriously going to check in on it .....now that it is a Free broadcast"

Good for Williams College!!!

[magicman]

Magicman...Thanks for the quick recap of the Williams vs. Skidmore game.  Was seriously going to check in on it .....now that it is a Free broadcast.  Was going to give a shout out to Williams for seeing the light.   But that would be going a little far for me.  Do like their new Prez for making the change.  Good southern breeding/manners. Was busy and missed the game on-line.
Oh yes.....forgot to get back to you about your last post on Hamilton.  Enjoyed it much better than straight stats.  Enjoyed your slight partisian remarks and all....some insight and passion.  My comments wrt refs. was trying to be clever/witty...while agreeing with your comments.  Expect all post on this board to be a little partisian....otherwise it would be dull.

Was pleasantly surprised when I clicked on the video link and discovered that it was free. I almost didn't even check it out and was going to pull up the livestats as I knew Williams had always charged a fee to get the video feed. I'd like to think it was because enough people complained. Apparently someone there realized it wasn't a money maker and there wasn't much sense in charging a fee. Having a live video feed is also a great recruiting tool as interested high school players (and their parents) can get a feel for the school's atmosphere, talent, coaches and facilities, among other things. I never understood why a school would want to charge a fee (which most viewers won't pay) and deny themselves such a great opportunity to get the program's name out there. Trinity, Amherst, Hamilton, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Bates, Williams and Middlebury are the NESCAC schools with a live video feed. They are now all free with the exception of Middlebury. Hopefully, the powers that be, will bring that college in line with everyone else. And just for you, cause I know how tough it is for you you to say it----nice decision, smart choice, way to go, Williams!    

[frank uible]

Is it primarily a propaganda ploy by the colleges, or is it primarily the receipt of a free, non-essential service by a certain limited number at the expense of a mass of others?

[amh63]

Cannot answer your latest question Frank....as usual.....but who cares really.  It is another step towards in the right direction overall in the conference.  First no charges to football games, no charges to BB games and now better access to follow all broadcast sports at conference schools.  Now if there is a way to improve the "music" played at the BB games.  There was a time I was going to donate money to update the audio at Amherst's BB games on condition of eliminating the loud contemporary sounds during games.  Some improvement recently.
Actually, I think the free broadcasts helps in community outreach.  I notice that a number of fans at Amherst games...both WBB and MBB are outside the normal expected school "family"....parents, alumni, school staff, students.  There are senior citizens, young kids, local school players and other area people out to have a good fun time...that happens to be free.  On bad weather days, etc.  a webcast that is free also helps.  I know that Williams has a strong local/townie type following to their BB games.  In the last game, I attended live, I spoke to a semi retired Dean of Students who always attend home games and saw the coach and his team of HS players from South Deerfield in attendance.  Better yet, I met a local farmer and his wife that started to attend games when their son was an assistant MBB coach.  Their son moved on recently to a head coach job...but they still come to games in proper colors.
Another subject....awaiting the spreads for the weekend games....Walzy!  Do not play but such spreads adds to the "flavor" of the games to come.

[OchoLoko41]

While this isnt basketball related it should be noted that the Trinity Squash winning streak, 252 games ended yesterday in a loss against Yale.  To put this in perspective the Bantams winning streak was an 8th grader

[magicman]

While this isnt basketball related it should be noted that the Trinity Squash winning streak, 252 games ended yesterday in a loss against Yale.  To put this in perspective the Bantams winning streak was an 8th grader

I guessing you meant it started when you were in the 8th grade? And since it was a 14 year streak you must be 27 or 28?

[walzy31]

Friday January 20th NESCAC Spreads

Amherst @ Bowdoin
Amherst -8.0
O/U: 149.5

Middlebury @ Hamilton
Middlebury -21.5
O/U: 126.5

Bates @ Conn College
Bates -12.0
O/U: 119.0

Tufts @ Wesleyan
Wesleyan -3.5
O/U: 153.5

Trinity @ Colby
Trinity -13.0
O/U: 124.5

[7express]

Bowdoin over
Mid over
Conn College over
Wesleyan under
Colby over

[walzy31]

I welcome all action in the form of K points. All bets will be assumed as straight bets unless otherwise clarified to be a parlay.

If I could be at one non-Amherst game today, it would certainly be the Tufts/Wesleyan game...that's the game of the week as the winner should have a great chance at a top 4 seed.

[nescac1]

Agree that Tufts-Wesleyan is the game of the week, a battle between two ascendent teams both with a lot of guard talent. 

Good job with the spreads this week, having a very tough time.

I'll go with all dogs, because weird things are happening NESCAC play this year: Bowdoin under, Hamilton over, Conn over (I'll put triple bet on the over in that game), Tufts under, Colby (double bet on Colby to cover at home) over.