MBB: NESCAC

[thunder32]

nescac hoops,

thank you that cheered me up a little but on the olsen crotty thing that is my thought too.  If Olsen can carry his team to a championship than you can compare the two.

[Jumbos35]

Jumbos over MIT in 3 OT's!!!  MIT shoots 96% from the line...Looks like the defense was better, but the offense sputtered a bit.

[walzy31]

Amherst 91     (Predicted 95)
Springfield 52  (Predicted 54)

McLaughlin was my MVP with 19, 4 or 5 steals and a near dunk.

O'Shea, Wheeler, Walters, Jones and Hopkins crashed the boards well all game. It was good to see a lot of guys help out in a physical win.
Kevin Hopkins with 2 monster dunks.

Nescachoops,

You're right man. I was so distraught after those 3 losses (2, 3 and 4 seasons ago) that I cried for days before moving onto supporting men's hoops. Then I discovered d3hoops.com and created a "posting up" name with a hotmail address and hid behind it so that no one really knew who I was. I love living in the past. Goodluck breaking .500 this year up in Williamstown.

[thunder32]

I may be following in your footsteps I still have nightmares of that shot and there is no sign to the end of them.  But the question is should I find a soccer posting site where I can live through Tufts soccer or stick to basketball.

[JeffRookie2]

ouch nescac hoops, thats pretty harsh stuff. i didnt mean to offend anyone by bringing up the shot, i just had a friend visiting who transferred after freshman year and wanted to see it.

as for the 'near dunk' by mclaughlin, that was pretty funny. You could see him wide open on the break thinking 'hmm, i dont know if i should try for this' and adolphe was right behing him thinking, 'I KNOW i can do this. please give me the ball!!!' adolphe lives for any opportunity to dunk the ball. also mclaughlin was all alone on another fast break later in the game and settled for the layup--with Hixon nodding his approval afterwords.

[ballaholic4]

If anyone hits up the bates-bowdoin game, I'd like to here a report. 

I think it's gonna be a close one, I'd look for the Bradley/Ray matchup to be big.  Although I think Stockwell and Ray may be the best players on the floor, I think if bowdoin can distribute the ball they'll give the bobcats some trouble.  If not, it could be a long night for the bears. 

my score predictions depend on stockwell's scoring output:

Less than 5, Bowdoin 64 Bates 52
Less than 10, Bowdoin 62 Bates 55
10 to 15    Bates 67 Bowdoin 58
15 to 20    Bates 69 Bowdoin 53
20 +    Bates 71 Bowdoin 51

Needless to say, I think stockwell's the guy to watch tonight in the 'wick.

GO get 'em bears.

[eclinchy]

Stockwell's scored in double figures all six games this season, and 22 of 26 last year. His season low last year? Five, against Bowdoin -- and they STILL won.  There's a lot more to that team than Rob Stockwell.

Bates wins 61-60 tonight, Stockwell only scores 11.

[speedy]

Bates was very lucky in this one as Bowdoin led most of the way and Bates  only won because a Bowdoin guy fouled a Bates guy on a missed Bates foul shot. It was the resulting Bates foul shot that provided the Bates margin of victory. Either Bowdoin is a lot better than it is being given credit for on this board or Bates is overrated . .

[ballaholic4]

I just got the report from B-wick,

61-60 bates, in a game that sounded like it was close all the way.  Bowdoin actually went up 9 with 14:44 left.  If you go to www.bowdoin.edu/athletics and click on the link, they'll give you a write up.

too bad for the bears, sounded like a win they coulda had.  looks like hippert got hot, i think bowdoin's a team that could suprise a lot of people, they have a lot of weapons.  

Tonight Stockwell had 11, I was a little off on my prediction 67-58, but I got the winner right, and was off in the total number of points by 4.  

Part of my prediction was based on reports from past seasons.  In addition, last year at Bates in the playoffs, stockwell was nearly absent in the first half and the bears took a 9 point lead into halftime.  He came out and went to work in the second half and that's how Bates built up the lead.  

In the game where he had 5 (the first one), one more minute would have given that one to the bears.  it ended at 57-54, and Bowdoin was hot and on something like a 14-3 run to close out the game.

[Red1]

Nailbiter in Brunswick:

Bowdoin led for the entire game until right at the end.  This was definitely a game they could have won.  Both teams played excellent defense, and I think that Bowdoin's offense was better than Bates today.  Hippert especially was on fire today, and Bates was generally very cold until the last 5 minutes or so.  When I say cold, I don't mean that a lot of shots were rimming out, I mean a lot of shots weren't even touching the rim.  Also, Bates appeared to be suffering from mental lapses for a large portion of the second half making stupid mistakes, taking bad risks, and turning the ball over on account of them.  Bowdoin played a phemomenal game, but Bates may have been it's own worst enemy tonight with all the mental miscues and bad shooting (all of which completely vanished in the last 5 minutes).

This reminded me quite a bit of last years game except that this time it was Bates getting hot at the end and coming from behind, and this year they had just enough time to do it.

I don't think it's fair to call Bates overrated or Bowdoin underrated.  Although, if anything is true it's the latter.  I still think that Amherst, Bates, Trinity, and Tufts are clearly the top 4 (in no particular order), but Bowdoin is probably a not very distant 5.  Everyone has an off game from time to time  (and Bates was very off today), and on top of that this is a rivarly game, so we can throw the stats, rankings, expectations, etc. out the window.  I think that Bates is the better team.  They just played poorly tonight, and barely got away with it.

Cheers,
Red1

[ajsnc13]

Bowdoin blew a good chance to knock off Bates.  Both teams are going to be tough this year.  Hippert and Jackson played well.  Wholey and Stockwell (despite foul trouble) hit some big shots to propel Bates to the victory.  Bradley and Fligel, the top two scorers, struggled for the Polar Bears. Ray and Wilson did not play particularly well for the Bobcats.  Intense game.  Bowdoin is going to surprise some people this year. 

[nescac hoops]

hey walzy,
 the only reason i "hide" behind a hotmail account is b/c i am no supposed to give out my email at goldman, my primary and working email address, given that i am a young analyst and do not want and "innappropriate" or "unwanted" mail coming in that could get me in trouble - so you will have to excuse me. if you must know, i graduated from williams where i was an all-american tennis player - my team won one national championship and lost in the title match - kind of like the men's bball team. i never lost to amherst.
I read this site b/c i loved basketball and was a big supporter of the williams teams. the "shots" at you have only been jokes but when you take "low blow" shots to tufts when you know thunder32 is a frequent poster and open up wounds that don't need to be opened then i am going to say something about it - and point out that as an athlete who has lost in the past (and to williams multiple times), you should know how it feels. also, the rain saved you from a 4th loss this year but just my opinion. thunder offers good insight on tufts, just as formerbant does on trininty. while i believe you know a lot about amherst, your write-ups about the games are often about who dunked and how much williams sucks - not really all that insightful all the time. it's like your just interested in the "fluff" of the games - the same flopping, show-boating stuff that makes watching the world cup so painful. I appreciate real insight b/c i really miss getting to see these teams play. so when you knock somebody who gives me this insight, ill knock right back.
i'll be the first to say that williams is not great this year and not as good as amherst. as i said in a recent posts, i have been unable to see a game this year, however, have always thought that paulsen was overrated as a coach and would attribute a lot of their troubles to him - and his inability to get the recruits he needs, like a big man. i have heard that he has a good post frosh this year but he needed to recruit somebody like that last year who could be developed and primed for THIS year. however, as an optimistic fan, i hope that a healthy chris rose will make the ephs competitive in the league. while i will not say that they are in the top tier in the league with amherst, bates, trinity and tufts, they do have enough talent that they would be able to surprise a team who has overlooked them and play spoiler - almost like bowdoin did to bates.

[feces monkey]

it's like your just interested in the "fluff" of the games

Walzy the "fluffer." Perfect.

[mrmike88]

I'd love to hear more about the MIT-Tufts game from this week.  What was MIT able to do against the Jumbos?  This is the same MIT team that struggled MIGHTILY against Conn College, at least from what I was able to glean from the box score.  And what's the word from New London?  The results don't look too bad, so how is the team coming together this year?  Why does it look like Midd has taken a step backwards in non-conference play?  Is this true?  I'd love some info on what's going on around the league in what others seem to regard as the "second tier."  Who is dangerous and why?

[YoungSnukes]

"i graduated from williams where i was an all-american tennis player"

Is tennis a varsity sport?