MBB: NESCAC

amh63 · January 12, 2013, 11:03:47 AM

Old Guy....Best Wishes and many more! Strange that you say that money is not a gift. Here I was reading the WSJ before posting after breakfast...saw the new Jag XRS-coupe....a very "elegant" car that your wife would look just right in...oh well...no gift rule.
Now for some BB comments as promised.
At half time last night, went and saw that all the "CAC" games were close. Reviewing the boxscores at the half and at the end of the games, it struck me that teams all shoot well from outside. The teams leading and winning had somebody or bodies hitting well from outside. The winning teams also won the 3-point shooting percentages. Seems the conference teams are looking outside for their offense and not so much inside last night....this season?
Matt Hart of Hamilton, a FY player led Hamilton last night with 19 points. I believe he leads the team in scoring for the season...he went 4-7 from long rang. He and Connor Green of Amherst, who went 5-9 from outside, are in the running for ROY, IMO. They are two more in a growing list of FY impact players.
In the Will. vs. Wes. game, the box shows that G. Thomas of Wes. finally stepped up, scoring and getting 14 rebounds. He had been missing in earlier games. Amherst meets Wes. at home on Tues....what a time for Thomas to come around.
Did anyone else notice that Bowdoin's very tall players seemed to be missing in action again?

Now to the last 31.1 seconds of last night's game. It is tied 77 all and Hamilton has the ball. Need to prevent a 3-point play by Hamilton...especially their hot outside shooters. Maybe time for Amherst to get a last shot if Hamilton scores. I'm a wreak watching.
About ten seconds of good perimeter defense, a inside pass/move? results in a STEAL by Killian of Amherst. Aaron Toomey handles the ball and Amherst spreads, leaving Aaron to go one on one with his defender on the right side of the front court. Hamilton has committed 10 fouls and any foul brings the top foul shooter on the team to the line....sound familiar?...Amherst is in the driver seat. Toomey takes his man to the left and drives to the basket, stops and with defenders coming, passes the ball to Big Pete who is down low on the right side and left un guarded. Big Pete makes the layup for his 21 points of the game. Time on the clock...2 seconds. Two timeouts are called before Hamilton makes a long pass in. One time out by Hamilton followed by one by Amherst after seeing the set-up for the pass. The passer is unguarded and Amherst intercepts the ball without fouling.
Last night, Amherst went to Big Pete and the inside game to win.

lumbercat · January 12, 2013, 12:11:50 PM

The Frosh at Middlebury is Matt Hart. As predicted he is now officially on everyones radar as he rides in from the west throws in 19 to pace the Buff n' Blue as they hang very tough with mighty Amherst.

As a side note Happy Birthday to Old Guy whose Basketball wisdom emanates from his early days as a gym rat at Bates Alumni Gym where he perfected that silky smooth jump shot. Bates Equipment Manager Jimmy Taylor serves as current witness to the fact that the "Old Guy" could really put em down.

Bucket · January 12, 2013, 12:15:10 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on January 12, 2013, 06:02:22 AM
Midd keeps rolling and it's looking more and more like they will be undefeated heading into their big showdown with Williams -- I don't see them losing to Wesleyan or Hamilton home, and then it's two non-conference patsies before the Ephs. The Ephs, on the other hand, have road trips to Hamilton and Amherst to get through before the Midd game.

Today's game has me greatly concerned. It's only a matter of time before this talented Wes squad puts it all together--looked like it was happening last night as they jumped out to an early 30-13 lead over the Ephs.

Midd's deep bench has gotten a lot thinner very quickly. Sinnickson, Brierly, Bulluck all out for the foreseeable future.

Not making excuses; just little margin for error today, in my view.

Saw the guys this morning at the alumni game; they seemed rested and ready. Should be a good one in Pepin.

amh63 · January 12, 2013, 01:01:33 PM

Lumbercat....thanks for the pointing out the mistake...made the correction...initially had Dean as the shooter in the first half. Good post but you got Hart's school wrong.

...but colors correct.

madzillagd · January 12, 2013, 02:54:57 PM

First half analysis of the Williams-Conn College matchup: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ephs jumped out early and unfortunately stuck it on cruise control 10 mins into the game allowing CC to get a bit more comfortable. Really shouldn't be this close at half but I expect the Ephs to get an earful at halftime and come out with a bit more intensity to start the 2nd half.

lumbercat · January 12, 2013, 03:21:51 PM

Amh63- thanks- brain cramp on my part, meant to say Hamilton as Hart's school--guess I got Middlebury on the brain.
Good luck to the Jeffs today.

nescac1 · January 12, 2013, 03:45:49 PM

Blow-out city in Williamstown, as the Ephs dominated Conn from the get-go. Really, a pretty big mismatch and Conn never had a chance. Ephs shoot the lights out from deep yet again, and after this weekend I expect will have one of the top five team three point percentages in the country (they are already in the top five in terms of overall shooting).

For Williams, about the only negative is that once they built a big lead, they, understandably, fell asleep on D a few times allowing Vadas to get wide-open threes, which he'll sink every time. Conn is just way too small and inexperienced for a team like Williams. They do, however, have a nice core for the future (if, for once, their young players actually stick with the team, rather than quitting after 1-2 years per typical fashion). Vadas is a great player and it's a shame he has to do it largely alone. I agree with the Midd fans who were so impressed by frosh Jared Shill, who actually reminds me a bit of Joey Kizell ... very crafty, tough player with a knack for finishing. Even though he had a tough game, Aaron McBurnie, Conn's frosh big man is a physical guy and is quick, and he'll be a very good player in future years. Outside of those three guys, however, Conn didn't really have a heck of a lot of talent, and they desparately need some size.

Williams was led, as usual, by Epley, who has developed from a very solid role player capable of occasional big games as a sophomore to the best offensive player in NESCAC as a junior. 27 points including 5 threes for Epley to go along with 3 assists and 3 boards. He has become very, very hard to stop. Mayer had a nice all-around game with 17 points, 4 boards, 2, assists, and 2 blocks. Nate Robertson was really taking it to the hole hard in the first half, which was great to see, and had a tremendous game finishing with 12 points (with only one FGA, he did his damage getting fouled going to the hole), 4 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Daniel Wohl continues his fine play on both ends and did a great job (as did the entire team) on the defensive glass, where the Ephs have struggled.

The bench featured a few nice performances as well. Ryan Kilcullen, who has fallen out of the rotation, showed a really smooth stroke nailing two threes. He would be playing big minutes on any other NESCAC team and i hope will earn more time for the Ephs, actually. Parker McClelland has a very nice game with seven points. Finally, congrats to Greg Payton, a top-notch football player who, to thunderous applause, earned his first points as an Eph, with five points (including a three) in only three minutes.

P'bearfan · January 12, 2013, 03:50:36 PM

Bowdoin beat Bates 61-60 in OT at home. Brian Hurley hit the go ahead jumper with 8 seconds left in OT to secure the win. Great job Polar Bears!

nescac1 · January 12, 2013, 04:01:54 PM

Just watched the OT Midd-Wesleyan. Midd proves once again that they are very lucky, or very clutch, or most likely, a combination. Wesleyan really had a good chance to win the game, but missed 2/3 free throws down the stretch, then a very questionable / ticky-tack call fighting for a rebound sent Nolan Thompson to the line, and to his credit, he nailed both. Wesleyan had the ball with an opportunity to win it, but Sha Brown got bumped on a switch by Merryman (very fortunate for Midd that was a non-call, I probably would not have called it, but it was certainly at least as much of a foul as the call that sent Thompson to the line), fell down, and had to heave a desperation shot at the buzzer.

Midd's veteran savvy and toughness will make it a very tough team to knock from the ranks of the unbeaten. Thompson, Kizell, and Wolfin are as tough and gritty as any group of guards you will see anywhere. Thompson is one of the best perimeter defenders I've seen in NESCAC play (maybe the best since Jaris Cole). But Midd does not seem to have the the strong interior play that it has featured over the past four years. And once again, the comparison of the results between Midd and Williams is illuminating: Williams beat Wesleyan and Conn by an average of 21, Midd beat the same two teams by an average of 9.

amh63 · January 12, 2013, 04:05:18 PM

Wild one at the Midd.-Wes. game in VT. Midd. player throws up a 40' plus shot that goes in at the half to give Midd a 40-39 point lead. Wes. comes back from being down by 13 to tie the game at the end of regulation....OT. S. Brown makes an unusual 3-point play from the foul line. Makes the first of two foul shots....misses the second and gets the rebound and makes a layup to tie the game with less than a second left. Let the Midd. posters tell the board how Midd. won the game, the hero, etc. with S. Brown with the ball and 9.5 seconds to go and Wes. down by a point. Wes. in control?

frank uible · January 12, 2013, 04:20:47 PM

Amherst and Williams need to get (if they are not already) used to the idea that they are not going to be so lucky as to have another team defeat Middlebury for them.

nescac1 · January 12, 2013, 04:25:42 PM

I think that's fair to say, Frank. Look at who Midd has left on its schedule, other than Williams and Amherst: home games vs. Hamilton, St. Joseph, Keene, Lyndon State, Trinity, road games vs. Bowdoin, Colby, St. Joseph. Not exactly a murder's row. But the four remaining Midd-Amherst-Williams match-ups (two Williams-Amherst, of course) should all be battles.

amh63 · January 12, 2013, 04:32:44 PM

Frank U....I hope that Amherst during the last weekend of the regular season to be in position to go to Williams and then go to Middlebury and win both games and get to again host the 'CAC' tourney....do not want or expect help from anyone else. Will make the anticipated wins sweeter. Oh oh...now I'm really in Coach Hixon's doghouse.

madzillagd · January 12, 2013, 05:22:24 PM

I'm all for letting players deciding the game but when you ride a guy to the floor I think you have to call the foul. Disappointing it ended that way. Sha didn't do anything wrong and he gets penalized for getting the mismatch he was looking for.

maineman · January 12, 2013, 05:34:32 PM

Quote from: madzillagd on January 12, 2013, 05:22:24 PM
I'm all for letting players deciding the game but when you ride a guy to the floor I think you have to call the foul. Disappointing it ended that way. Sha didn't do anything wrong and he gets penalized for getting the mismatch he was looking for.

It looked like a slip to me. I didn't see anyone get ridden down.