MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Interesting first half from Williamstown.  Mayer is playing, and good thing, too.  Williams was down 15-1 (!) early, way out of rhythm on offense (launching quick threes) and totally brain dead on defense, almost all of Bowdoin's early buckets were uncontested or barely contested, it seemed like.  Mayer came in and immediately gave Williams an immediate spark, he continues to be very difficult for anyone to guard, and also continues to play strangely limited minutes.  Rooke-Ley, who also probably warrants a few more minutes, was also on fire for Williams in the first half.  Semin played great all-around basketball in limited minutes off the bench, playing his usual physical style of defense and board work, and also adding in a three.  Robertson facilitated the offense nicely.  Williams did a great job on Hanley, as Epley and Semin, despite giving up several inches, used their physicality to body him up in the post and keep him relatively in check, although he did miss a few bunnies.  Williams needs to play stronger D on the rest of the Polar Bears, as they had a few too many easy looks, but after the first five minutes the D did really tighten up.  Bowdoin is just enormous up front but the Ephs did a good job not forcing shots against the big guys. 

Great to see James Wang have a big game in front of his family on senior weekend last night.  He is really struggling so far a bit today, I've noticed that on the second game of back-to-backs, he seems to have a particularly tough time, physically.  Maker for the first time in post game comments after the Colby game noted Wang's back surgery earlier this year, anyone who has had back issues knows how debilitating they can be and credit to him for toughing it out and fighting through what can't be an easy condition to play with, I missed the Colby game but based on the box score sounds like the home crowd was treated to a vintage performance. 

[nescac1]

Headed to OT in Williamstown.  Strange second half.  Williams seemed to be in total control, up in double digits and looking great when Hanley picked up his fourth foul.  Strangely, from that point on it was all Bowdoin.  Instead of forcing it to Hanley Bowdoin played beautiful team ball, really working together for lots of good looks, and seeming to knock down everything.  Swords gave a big spark with his bulk, causing problems in size, and Hurley was stellar at the point.  Bowdoin was up two when they called a T on Maker, putting Bowdoin up four, and then Nate Robertson took over for Williams.  Travel call on O'Connell (which Bowdoin seemed unhappy about, hard to see on the fuzzy feed) gave Williams a chance to win, and they went to their go-to play of Wang taking a deep contested three, which once again did not succeed.  Now in OT. 

[nescac1]

Two to go in OT, still tied.  O'Connell has killed the Ephs with 2-3 easy back door baskets, some total breakdowns on defense.  I am always impressed with Bowdoin's coaching, their offense really runs smoothly and creates a lot of good looks.  At the same time, Williams allowed Bowdoin to penetrate at will all game and if the Ephs lose it will be the perimeter defense that is to blame. 

[Card + Bear Fan]

looks like bears by 5

[Card + Bear Fan]

Bears AGAIN ruin senior day for Williams just like in '09.   Hanley was a beast.

[nescac1]

Bowdoin pulls it out.  Unbelievably poor play selection in OT, by Williams just no offensive sets whatsoever after the first minute of OT.  Williams had guys who had advantages over their defenders and Williams simply didn't go to them in OT.  Why Robertson was not continuing to drive, why Mayer wasn't getting more touches, I have no idea.  Another close loss for Williams, but I'm sorry, Maker needs to do a better job figuring out late game strategy.  That, plus the crucial technical foul, the coaching edge had to go to Bowdoin today.  Bowdoin earned the win, they played great, poised basketball, and did well to make a big run without their star.   Hanley was great in OT, which you'd expect from a star who was pretty fresh.  But he didn't beat Williams, it was allowing the Bears to shoot over 50 percent, and that was no accident, too many layups and wide-open short jumpers to count.  Williams needs to play smarter if they hope to turn things around.  Looking at the box score tells the story, guys who were shooting well needed more looks.

I think Walzy will finally get his wish of the Ephs falling out of the Top 25, and right now, they are not a Top 25 team.  They have Top 25 talent, but need to play with more poise in tight situations and actually run plays that are better than one guy dribbling the ball and launching a very difficult shot.   

[amh63]

Yep....Bowdoin wins by 5 in overtime....Hanley gets the last 4 on the foul line.  Wang made a run in overtime and Williams was up by at least 5, I believe.  I watched the overtime on-line and about a half of the game.  The Tufts webcast did not exist for the men's game.  Maybe they got mad when their ladies lost in the WBB game.  Anyway, the two games were running more or less at the same rate. I would check in on the Amherst score and they led by 5 or more in the second part of the second half after being down by 1 at the half.  Toomey and Workman both had two fouls in the first half and scored only 4 points between them.  Waller kept the Jeffs in the game in the first half with contributions from Williamson and Holmes.  Tufts was drawing fouls and had a rebound ends on the bigger Amherst team.  When the game ended, Amherst was winning the battle of the boards led by big Pete Kaasilla and Aaron and Workman were making their presence known.  Seems a good sign when particular players start to pick up when others are having a flat game for a period.  Should be interesting next weekend!  I forgot..Amherst won by 9 points....74-65.
Card + Bear.....I agree...He was a Polar Bear tonight.

[jayhawk]

NESCAC1 - gee I am sorry about Williams and I am being honest here.  Wang has had a tough year, he was such a rocket his first three years. Still excellent foundation of players. Next week Williams and Amherst will be a tough game. Williams may shine in the NESCAC tournament, they are very close in so many games that they have lost.

[walzy31]

Friday February 3rd AND Saturday February 4th NESCAC Spreads
(I am traveling. All karma wagers must be placed before the tip of Friday's games...you can't wait to see Friday's result and then bet on Saturday's games)

FRIDAY
Bowdoin @ Middlebury
Middlebury -18.0
O/U: 122.5

Colby @ Williams
Williams -26.5
O/U: 126.0

Trinity @ Tufts
Tufts -18.5
O/U: 128.5

Amherst @ Bates
Amherst -14.0
O/U: 151.5

Hamilton @ Conn College
Hamilton -3.0
O/U: 132.0


SATURDAY
Bowdoin @ Williams
Williams - 13.5
O/U: 134.5

Amherst @ Tufts
Amherst -5.0
O/U: 153.5

Trinity @ Bates
Bates -4.5
O/U: 133.5

Colby @ Middlebury
Middlebury -24.5
O/U:112.5

FRIDAY
Bowdoin 76 @ Middlebury 79
Middlebury -18.0 (Bowdoin Covers +15.0)
O/U: 122.5 (Over)

Colby 51 @ Williams 76
Williams -26.5 (Colby Covers +1.5)
O/U: 126.0 (Over +1.0)

Trinity 62 @ Tufts 64
Tufts -18.5 (Trinity Covers +16.5)
O/U: 128.5 (Under +2.5)

Amherst 67 @ Bates 54
Amherst -14.0 (Bates Covers +1.0)
O/U: 151.5 (Under)

Hamilton 63 @ Conn College 61
Hamilton -3.0 (Conn College Covers +1.0)
O/U: 132.0 (Under +8.0)

3 out of 5 games within a basket


SATURDAY
Bowdoin 89 @ Williams 84
Williams - 13.5 (Bowdoin Covers +18.5)
O/U: 134.5 (Over)

Amherst 74 @ Tufts 65
Amherst -5.0 (Amherst Covers +4.0)
O/U: 153.5 (Under +14.5)

Trinity 59 @ Bates 60
Bates -4.5 (Trinity Covers +3.5)
O/U: 133.5 (Under +14.5)

Colby 53 @ Middlebury 72
Middlebury -24.5 (Colby Covers +5.5)
O/U:112.5 (Over +12.5)

3 out of 4 games within 2 buckets

[walzy31]

Friday:
Middlebury and over
Colby and over
Tufts and over
Amherst and under
Conn College (this is gonna come back and bite me I think) and under
6-4

Saturday:
Williams and under
Tufts and under
Trinity and over
Middlebury and over
3-5

9-9 with some very close games losing a total of 0.9 units or 1K

Tonight:
Bowdoin and over
Colby and over
Trinity and under
Bates and under
8-0!

Saturday:
Williams and over
Amherst and under
Bates and under
Middlebury and over
5-3

Sunday:
Hamilton @ Wesleyan?
Posted below

13-3 up 9.7 units or 9K! Impressive. Will be paying you out the other 8 this week.


Sunday February 5th NESCAC Spread
Hamilton @ Wesleyan
Wesleyan -5.0
O/U: 133.5

[frank uible]

We once more are reminded that each of us is one serious but not absolutely unlikely injury away from disaster.

[amh63]

Frank U......you are getting serious again.  Just when I learned that you played rugby.  Did the South African team exist in '11?  Did the famous singer really play a little rugby?  The information one can obtain on this board is....there is no word for it.
Serious question now.....will you be at the Amherst game on the 10th of Feb.?

[frank uible]

No.

[Maine-Man]

Nice win by Bowdoin.  Had to laugh reading some of the posts, as you would think Bowdoin beat a great Williams team for the championship.  Keeping things in perspective Williams has lost to Tufts, Wesleyan, Middlebury and Amherst this year.  So they are definitively not as good as prior years.  Both teams have tough games this coming week, Williams/Amherst and Bowdoin/Wesleyan. With a lost either Williams or Bowdoin will end up as 6/7 seed in NESCAC.  Game last night was really between two mid-tier teams as opposed to two of the top teams in the league!

[amh63]

Maine-Man.....Harsh but fresh realistic viewpoint.  Now you got Williams mad.
Jayhawk....Nice description of Wang..rocket man.  The injury to Wang seems to have him "low on fuel" in back to back games...though he seemed to be himself briefly in OT.  Amherst will play Williams in the first of back to back on Friday.
Nescac1.....Question to you...Nate Robertson is the QB on the floor for Williams..right? but not the point guard?  Is it Wang?  In any case, if Nate is the general in OT, his play should reflect instructions from the coach...so the coach must be limiting his offensive options.  He did drive in overtime and got a foul on O'Connell of Bowdoin who in disgust seemed to throw the ball against the wall.
The Williams coach puts a great deal of responsibility on Nate.  Nate was the one who fouled Aaron of Amherst in Aaron's drive that led to the winning foul shots.  It seems that Wang's earlier coverage of Toomey was not effective.  Wang's defense this year appear to be limited....saving his energy/strength?
All above are random thoughts as I await the coming weekend games that will determine the tourney seedings, etc.