MBB: NESCAC

[middhoops]

Williams falls short.
Amherst wins after huge come back.

Uneasy start to the season for some of the top rated NESCAC teams.  Long, long way to go.
Williams lost their opener and came within a point of winning it all last year.

[amh63]

Amherst had a shaky start in their first game at Anna Maria.  Finally pulls it out with a 74-67 win.  It was AM by 3 at the half and with 12 and half minutes to go in the 2nd half, Amherst was down by 14...in deep trouble.  Could not handle the press it seems and had too many turnovers.....AM had 23 points off of turnovers.  Coach Hixon put in his best defensive players and Amherst chipped away with steals, blocks and rebounds.  Amherst had the lead in the last 5 minutes but it was nip and tuck against the quicker game Anna Maria team.
Amherst found its starting PG...Reid Berman.  He broke the press and scored inside on drives and on the foul line.  The outside shots came from Jeff Racy and freshman J. McCarthy.  Connor Green contributed well on the boards but his outside shot was off and missed several inside. 
Ben Pollack did not start but came in to steady the team and provide defense.  George had his two blocks in the second half.  Coach Hixon played nine players.  His transfers got minutes. 
The mix of players in the next few games will be interesting.  Amherst was playing with a target on their back.  Anna Maria played well against a taller team. 

[amh63]

Tufts remains a puzzle!  Looked at the stats....their two big men were in the game and other experienced players....yet they lost again.  Maybe their opponents are under rated?  Not looking good for the CAC at this time.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ok, so someone had to explain this Amherst boxscore to me.  They dominated the boards, the turnovers weren't too lopsided and they shot well.  AMC only took seven extra shots and Williams had way more FTs.  Why was this game so close?

[AmherstStudent05]

Amherst edges Anna Maria 74-67. 

Not too much I can add as I had lots of trouble with the webcast (and live stats).  Indeed, the most consistent webcast period I had was the first 8 minutes of the second half when Anna Maria opened up a 56-42 lead on my Jeffs, so what I did see wasn't pretty.  But then my webcast boots up again and it is 60-56 Amherst.  Go figure.

Amherst looked very, very sloppy in this one.  Anna Maria pressed, which gave us some trouble, and AM scored 23 points off of our 15 turnovers.  We also struggled to shoot the ball well for much of the game.  As expected, our offense is much different without Toomey and today it was pretty disjointed.  Especially when AM went on its big run in the second half, there seemed to be some confusion as to who would step up and control play for us (should it be Dawson? Green? George?).  I am sure this will all get figured out in due course.

Johnny McCarthy led the way for us with 17 points. And while he actually didn't shoot the ball all that great, he looked absolutely legit.  Confident, poised, smooth.  Just what the doctor ordered.  Only one game of course, but he certainly seems like a keeper.  George is still an athletic freak. Kind of like Williamson only about 5 inches taller.  Just need to keep him out of foul trouble.

As for our vaunted transfers, Dawson got the start, but it seemed like Berman took all of his minutes to close out the game.  He had some miscues with his teammates, but nothing I am worried about.  I expect him to find his stride as the season progresses.  Conklin only saw limited action behind Nabatoff, George and Pollack.

Reid Berman looked to be MUCH more assertive.  Very impressive showing.  I have no idea what spurred our big run in the second half, but I assume Berman must have been a big factor (Still, in a sign of a changing of the guard, our PGs went 0-1 from 3 tonight -- not the kind of line Amherst fans are used to seeing from our PG).  Jeff Racy also looked much improved and it seemed that he got Green's minutes for much of the second half (Green had 11 points in the first half but was shut out in the second).

I don't want to be uncharitable, but as much as I would love to say that our hosts were severely underestimated, I really am not sure that was the case.  They had some good moments and their #22 is a beast and they definitely flat out outplayed us for good stretches of the game, but I have to say that I am afraid that had much to do with poor/sloppy play on our end.

The good news is that we got the W, and, even more importantly, a valuable learning experience.  We will need as many of those as possible.  I expect lots of highs and lows over the next few weeks, but there is plenty to be optimistic/excited about.

This leads me to my final point of the evening.  The biggest positive I took away from this game was the legitimate depth we bring to the table.  Unlike last year when -- especially once Ben went down -- Hix was basically limited to our starting 5, our maestro now has lots of different combinations to play with depending on the matchup and hot hand.  So for instance, he can ride Racy and Berman in a close game.  He can go big or go small.  We had 30 bench points today -- something that would have never happened last season in a close game (we had one overtime game last season where no one on our bench even attempted a shot!).

[middhoops]

Sabety and Palleschi played together, 29 and 26 minutes, and they lost to Regis.
So much for the invincibility of the 'twin towers' early in the season.
Ben Ferris (a Vermonter) had a second poor shooting game for the Jumbos.
Hopefully a Tufts fan can shed some light on what went on tonight.

[JustAFan]

Tufts gets Sabety back, Jumbos point guard Tarik Smith finally plays like a point guard rather than a shooting guard and they still lose against another good (3-0 Regis) and underrated (Johnson and Wales is the real deal and better than Regis) opponent over whom they had a significant height advantage. On the positive side, Tarik Smith distributed the ball well (6 assists vs. only 1 in the opener) and took judicious shots compared to the opener, Haladyna bounced back from a tough opening game and the Jumbos successfully got the ball down low to their big men (who took almost 50% of their shots tonight).  On the other hand Palleschi still looks a step slow from his year away, the Jumbos only got the line 13 times and did not shoot it well when they got their (for the 2d game in a row), reflective of an inability to attack the rim on the dribble by their guards, and for the second game in a row they also shot terribly from 3 point land, with Ben Ferris mired in an especially tough slump to begin the year.  Too soon to give up on the Jumbos, but a lot of work to do to realize on their talent and potential. They are 10 deep, with solid depth up front, and freshman Vincent Pace is a ROY candidate and will be a fun player to watch develop, but like several other NESCAC teams with high expectations they are struggling to find roles and an identity and some go-to players to lead the team through the early part of the season.

[nescacobserver]

Scary moment for Amherst about midway in the second half when Green went down with what looked a knee injury.  Turned out to be severe cramping.  Hixon decided not to risk it and never put him back in the game.  Kudos to Racy and McCarthy for handling the wing in Green's absence.  Berman looked really good at point. 

[AmherstStudent05]

Thanks for the update, nescacobserver.  Obviously had been wondering why Racy was in for Green (when my webcast was working).  Hopefully Green returns to full health quickly.

[JustAFan]

I watched the Williams opener but was not able to catch tonight's game.  However,  a quick review of tonight's box score certainly underscores the fact that until Hayden Rooke-Ley gets untracked offensively the Ephs are in for a long year. They also need to get Ryan Kilcullen going offensively and they needs some folks to emerge from the bench and become important contributors--so far freshman Chris Galvin has been the only consistent contributor.  Not unsurprisingly, everyone appears to be trying a bit too hard, and trying to find their roles and get used to a new coach, and as a result very few guys are playing relaxed or well together. 

At this point in the season Williams is not the offensive powerhouse to which we have become accustomed, and until some additional contributors emerge from the bench the Ephs are going to need all 5 of their starters to have great games every game in order to compete in the league this year.  I am confident the Ephs will improve significantly as the season progresses, but at the same time this is going to be a 3-4 year rebuilding project in Williamstown.

[middhoops]

Thanks, Justafan.  Appreciate the analysis.

[amh63]

Several minor comments.  Switching a bit between the men's and women's opening games, there were frustrating receptions from both games.  Bad night for electronics.  However, one announcer mentioned the problem on their end.  Don't have to throw the computer out AmhStud05 yet .
I did see the collision that sent Conner to the floor.  Thought for a sec that it was Ben. After a minute or so Green got up.  He was walking back and forth behind the bench for awhile.  It was a physical game under the boards at times.
There was an alley oop pass to George for a throw down...but it was off.  The writeup of the game had Nabatoff with game high number of rebounds.  Interesting that he and George both started the game in the front court.
Amherst at times seemed lost in running plays...Anna Maria must be given credit for that.  Both teams played a tight man to man, but only one put on a press.
Dawson came down with the ball and looked over the defense and threw the ball to his left to nobody.  Yes, there were several teammates moving to that neighborhood.  Dawson was soon taken out.
Looking over the box for both the Williams and Tufts games, it is interesting to note that key experienced players did not have good games on the offensive side.  Overall, it could just be one of those nights.  Cold night...cold shooting night for upperclassmen.

[nescac1]

I think JustAFan makes some good points.  One thing to remember is that NESCAC teams often struggle out of the gates, in part due to the fact that they've had 50 percent as much practice time as everyone else in D3.  It's just hard to get your act together with only two weeks of practice, especially teams featuring a major transition either in coaching or personnel (or in Williams' case, both).  Tufts, in addition to missing Sabety for one game, graduated two guys who were its primary ball-handlers for the last three years ... Amherst also lost its two primary ball-handlers.  So it's not surprising if teams struggle a bit out of the gate, relatively to their ultimate upside potential. 

Reasons for optimism for Williams:
(1) Kilcullen, Rooke-Ley, and Greenman are not going to miss as many wide open threes as they have the first two games ... all are really good shooters, and as they feel more relaxed those shots will start falling,  Kilcullen, in particular, may be affected by the large mask he is wearing -- he missed some pretty easy looks last nigth that I think would normally fall. 
(2) The Ephs' best player, Daniel Wohl, has played really well when on the floor but had been hurt by a lot of ticky-tack fouls.  If he stays out of foul trouble, the team will be in much better shape.  Wohl is the only guy playing at a consistently high level right now.  I do expect a few other guys to join him soon, in particular Rooke-Ley and Greenman, who have each had some good moments and some not-so-good moments in the first two games. 
(3) The team is still figuring out how to push the pace without careless turnovers.  There was improvement already from game one to game two in this regard, but there were still too many unforced errors.  As the team starts to give away fewer possessions, there will be a lot more offensive rhythm.  They get in the most trouble when the other team goes on a run, and guys try to do much with the dribble, individually.  I think that is easily correctable over time. 
(4) Presumably, the three frosh earning playing time right now will get more comfortable over the course of the next few months.  Chris Galvin did play very well last night, so hopefully he can build on that. 
(5) Some more athleticism may be on the way with the three football guys joining the team, once they are healthy and have had time to practice.  I'd like to see Sime and/or Hayes in particular play as back-up fours to add a bit more muscle and athleticism on the floor. 

Reasons for long-term concern:

(1) Williams has no one who can score when guarded in the post -- literally no one.  They even have trouble scoring UNguarded in the post, at this point!  Mayer's back-to-the-basket acumen opened up so much for other guys the last two years, and the Ephs will struggle to find points when, like last night, the threes aren't falling without any sort of interior presence.  They need to create more looks closer to the basket off of screening, cutting, and off-the-ball movement so that big wing finishers like Aronowitz and Wohl get the ball close to the hoop.  Unfortunately, it takes time to develop that sort of chemistry.
(2)  The Ephs' defense, which looked good in the first half, totally fell apart in the second half last night, as Oneonta guards were just overpowering their Williams' counterparts with drive after drive into the heart of the defense.  The Ephs' have a very small group of perimeter players, for the most part, but they have to work extra hard to stay in front of their men on the perimeter, because once they penetrate the size deficit becomes really obvious.  There seemed to be a lack of collective focus for about a ten minute stretch, defensively, and that really hurt the team.  And except when Flynn is in the game, the Ephs have no big man who can provide any sort of obstacle at the rim, making perimeter defense all the more critical.
(3) Given these two losses, Williams has basically no margin for error if they hope to eventually earn an at-large NCAA berth .. probably can't lose more than one more non-conference game.  And some really tough ones, like WPI, Springfield, and Skidmore, are still on the horizon.  So, the Ephs will need to figure things out in a hurry!     

[hoya73]

Watched a lot of the Amherst game last night (or at least stared at my computer).  Also taking note of the Williams struggles.  Finally, one thing everyone can agree on--both teams miss a lot of last year's players!
Looked like the Jeffs were out of sync and that the new players in the rotation weren't fully ready for prime time yet.  The depth looks promising, however, and I doubt there will be a lot of games where neither of the transfers make significant contributions.
I would guess that the Jeffs will get a higher percentage of their points from twos this year--I think that Pbear will tell me that's not a good sign--but it's a new group and I am looking forward to their development.  Big game from Reid Berman.  Settled everyone down and steadied the ship.

[P'bearfan]

Thanks for all the posts and analyses of the Amherst and Williams games.  It's early so I'm sure both teams will be playing better as the season progresses (e.g. Connor Green is too good a shooter to go 1-5 from downtown very often).

However, there are a couple areas that should be concerning:

Amherst only shot 61% from the charity stripe.  That's not a surprise based on last year's stats and may hurt the LJ's in tight games. 

Also, Amherst only had 11 assists compared to 15 last season.  This stat may improve if Berman gets more minutes but that's also a concern.  Toomey only accounted for 42% of the teams assists.  Berman accounted for almost 55% with just 26 minutes on the floor.  Someone else needs to pass the ball / find the open man.

Williams collected 35 rebounds – the same as their average from last year – which surprised me – until I saw that SUNY Oneota didn't put anyone on the court who was taller than 6'-5".  Williams only collected 6 OReb which is where I think they are going to face particular challenges – especially in conference play.