MBB: NESCAC

nescac1 · December 29, 2014, 11:03:56 AM

Good question, Old Guy. Toad might remember someone, but I honestly can't recall the last guy to make a substantial impact for Williams who was not recruited. The talent level of the players in the better D3 programs is now so high that it will be very, very rare that these guys are completely overlooked coming out of high school. Now, if you define "non-recruited" as someone who could have been accepted based on academics alone but still made an impact, there are some of those guys, but that doesn't mean the coaches were not actively pursuing them and aware of their accomplishments on the court. I also exclude recruits who were primarily recruited for other sports but ended up being dual sport athletes. There are plenty of examples of those guys throughout NESCAC.

amh63 · December 29, 2014, 12:36:34 PM

Feast and famine situation today....so many interesting D3 games to watch. Good thing my daughter and grand daughter are visiting the museums downtown today...been busy hosting family.
Got some ED numbers for Amherst!!. Surprising what you can find on the social media these days

Anyway, on a twitter on a new social media link on the Amherst website, there is an congrats to the 172 EDs of the class of 2019. The last official enrollment number for Amherst is 1785.
Guess, I was in a daze...but then again, my wife has told me that I'm often "out of it at times".
To add to the recent points from Nescac1...there are a number of multi-sport Amherst students that could and did contribute to the MBB team. One, a member of the 2007 Title team that came to Amherst as a football recruit. Two members of the senior class and starters for the football team were on the BB team their freshmen year. One, Garay a first team CAC WR selection was quite an all-star BB player in HS. There is a first team CB...all CAC selection....that was a top PG in HS. Jamie Spears was the 85th rated player in New England at St. Marks in BB, but came to Amherst to play football. I'm told by reliable people that his younger brother....a WR for Trinity that was injured as a FY..is even a better BB talent than Jamie. Yes, there are "walk-on" talent playing other sports in the conference.
I often check out the Amherst website as it is constantly making changes wrt to info and format. Yes, the website is a marketing tool/face for the school and link to its alums and supporters. Looking over the websites of other conference members often reveal the direction the schools are heading, imho.

WPI89 · December 29, 2014, 03:46:48 PM

I did not know the Salem State games were not a holiday tourney? I just noticed that WPI/FDU-Florham Park is already set up tomorrow at 3? Williams/Salem St at 5.

Unless they are really good at predicting the outcomes of today's games - I am assuming this is more of a round robin thing?

Maybe they are just placeholders - anybody know for sure?

madzillagd · December 29, 2014, 05:02:30 PM

Williams typically plays Salem St their 2nd game of the year in their own round robin. They didn't do that this year which I assume was because they knew they were playing Salem at their place instead.

grabtherim · December 29, 2014, 05:02:47 PM

Bates with a very rough start, but for a 7 point run at the 10 minute mark, they would be down many more than the five they are at the half. Guard play has been their problem, too many turnovers and have not handled the Emory speed well. The zone Furbish has them in is not working, leaving an open man down low on too many trips. All of this said, Bates can win this one with a few "ifs" First: if the guards can figure a way to get the ball down low without turning it over, second: if they cut down on the other turnovers, third: if they stop getting beat down the floor as much as they did in the first 20 minutes, and finally Safford has the deal with the trap much better than he has.
After watching the beginning of the 2nd half it's much the same for Bates. Credit Emory for putting the pressure on and hitting their 3s, especially Foster.

pinseeking1 · December 29, 2014, 05:56:34 PM

I think the rust from a long layoff is showing for Bates. The number of turnovers was higher than the Bobcats have had all year. Overall, the shot selection for Bates has been poor, and Bobcats have been throwing up bad threes. Emory is a very strong team and deserves their ranking (#7).

Emory started off with poor long-range shooting, but came on strong in the second half. The Emory center, Alex Foster, is strong inside and out. Very good player. Bates was only able to gain ground when Foster was on the bench with foul trouble. Very disappointing performance for Bates. Let's see how they bounce back in the consolation game...

magicman · December 29, 2014, 06:13:08 PM

Bates falls to Emory 84-65.

Williams and WPI in a see saw affair currently tied at 47 with about 11 minutes to go.

nescac1 · December 29, 2014, 06:45:53 PM

Tough two point loss for the Ephs, as WPI's Karalis, who had a great game, hit a big three to win it with four seconds left. Williams took a one point lead but could have held for the last shot and chose not to. Very even game and a tough one to swallow for the Ephs. Williams hurt by some uncharacteristic misses from the three throw line. WPI played and shot the ball much better in the second half after struggling in the first half to score; Williams, meanwhile, had some mental errors on defense after playing basically a perfect defensive first half.

WPI89 · December 29, 2014, 06:46:53 PM

Watched the video. These teams split 5-5 if they play 10 times. Very happy Bartley let the boys decide without using his last time out after Williams took the lead.

nescac1 · December 30, 2014, 06:47:14 PM

Very nice bounce back win for Williams over a dangerous Salem State team that has some good wins under its belt (Trinity, Brandeis). Williams played about as well both nights, I thought, the difference was that Salem, while as good an offensive team (or maybe better) than WPI, is not as tough defensively, and Williams took care of the ball better; it seemed like the Ephs had VERY few turnovers today. Williams also shot the ball much better from the free throw line, at least until very late in the game when the outcome was already decided.

For Williams, Daniel Wohl was a massive force on both ends all weekend, and continues to play at an all-American level. He was the best guy on the court both games. Hayden Rooke-Ley gamely played through an apparent hand injury, had some sort of cast on his non-shooting hand it appeared, and still managed to have a solid day; he has not been lighting it up from deep or the line the way he was earlier in the year, but has been scoring off tough drives to the hoop. Williams will need a few more three point explosions from him in the weeks ahead, though. Ryan Kilcullen had an excellent game on both ends, rebounding and scoring efficiently. He has been looking to score more in the post as the season has gone along, and has looked good with his post moves of late. Beyond that, it was balanced contributions with lots of different guys making contributions, in particular Chris Galvin, who played a nice floor game and nailed a few open threes. Dan Aronowitz also hit some badly-needed outside shots in the first half.

Williams has some things to improve upon after this weekend, mainly, defending the three-ball. In each game, they fouled a three point shooter, which you never want to happen. There were also a lot of guys with wide open looks, often off of screens, in both games. Williams needs to either fight through screens harder or switch more aggressively on the perimeter, but good shooting teams like Salem are getting too many easy looks, and Williams has given up a lot of clean looks to the best shooter on each team the last two games. Williams also struggled a bit on the defensive glass against a quick and athletic Salem team. With several athletic, big teams coming up in the next few weeks, all five guys boxing out and going after the ball aggressively will need to be a point of emphasis ... Wohl and Kilcullen both did a great job on the glass but need a bit more help.

Tough, overall, to come away with a split as Williams played very well overall this weekend and had a great chance to beat WPI, who just made one more play. The schedule gets even tougher coming up as the Ephs go on the road vs. a very good Endicott team (6-2, only losses to Colby and in OT to Gordon), followed by a brutal five game NESCAC stretch: Trinity, Amherst, at Bowdoin, at Colby, at Amherst. I feel like the Ephs are playing a bit better than an 8-3 team, but they will need to pull out a few wins against teams as talented, or more talented, than they are in this next group of games to continue to build on the solid play of this week.

amh70 · December 30, 2014, 10:31:30 PM

Watched Amherst-Drew from Sao Paulo Brasil. It's 1:30 am here now.Two thoughts. 1. Jayde Dawson is not the answer at the point. 2. Michael Riopel and Jonny McCarthy are both outstanding freshman. I think we'll see a lot more of both of them in the future and more of Reid Berman at the point. He's not a scorer but an excellent playmaker.

pinseeking1 · December 30, 2014, 10:32:06 PM

Another tough loss to close out the Emory tournament as Bates loses to Birmingham-Southern by a score of 76-72. As with the previous day's loss to Emory, the Bobcats fell behind and had to spend most of their time trying to get back into the game. Mike Boornazian shot 60% on threes, but the rest of the team shot below 25%. Earlier in the season, the team had much more balance inside and out and all five players on the floor played with great rhythm.

The big men were conspicuously absent from contributing much in these two games. With the NESCAC games about to start soon, the Bobcats need to re-find the confidence and under-the-basket strength that got them to a 7-0 start.

hoya73 · December 31, 2014, 07:59:50 AM

Saw the Jeffs in person last night and I believe this was a character building win. It was a little strange--no refs for an hour and it seemed to sap the energy out of the joint. Then the refs showed (college level, we were told) and made a couple of crazy calls that put Coach Hixon in, how do I say this, a volatile mood. Drew is a solid team with two good guards and decent bigs. Jeffs still showing their youth and trying to fit the pieces together but the pieces seem to be there. Picked up the defensive intensity in a big second half run led by DG on offense and a couple timely threes by the young guys. Hung on down the stretch. Jeff fans are going to love J Mac and Rio over the next four years. Also looking forward to Ray Barry's return shortly (we hope) (Pollack and Conklin also out nursing injuries).

Something to build on.

NEPAFAN · December 31, 2014, 08:04:58 AM

Drew is a tough place to win. Watched a bit on the live stream..

JEFFFAN · December 31, 2014, 10:19:05 AM

I watched most of the Amherst game last night as well ... there are good players out there but they are young, unseasoned, and I think at least one year away from doing anything meaningful. George is starting to come into his own but he and Conor Green are the only two players who have seen decent time up until this year. The frosh guards are terrific - McCarthy with 37 minutes, Ripilo (sp?) with 26 minutes - but this team is too young to do any damage in 2015.