MBB: NESCAC

[jumpshot]

Williams getting completely schooled by the city game of Albertus Magnus, down by 13 at the half while shooting 25% from the floor, 12% on 2 of 16 threes, and missing 8 free throws 4 of which were awarded on two of three AM technical fouls, including one AM player ejected on his second.
AM playing freely, while Ephs show little confidence and no swagger.  Many forced shots and careless passing. Appears to be a year of a work in progress ....

[Colby Hoops]

Colby tops Kean 106-102 behind a barrage of three pointers. A day after their best defensive effort of the season, Colby had a lot of trouble keeping Kean out of the paint. It was far from their best defensive game, but shooting 21-44 from deep will cover up a lot of mistakes. Colby led by 15 with 10 minutes to go, but were a bit sloppy and Kean hit several threes. Despite controlling the game for most of the afternoon, the Mules had to make free throws at the end to seal it.

Sam Jefferson put up 31 points on 10 shots, which is just ridiculous. He rarely forces a shot, plays totally within the offense and teams just haven't been able to slow him down. Matt Hanna was excellent once again, pouring in 30 pts on 7-12 from deep, including a stretch of three straight in the first half. Alex Dorion added six threes of his own, and Dean Weiner played a very nice all-around game with 10 pts, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks. Colby moved the ball really well with 25 assists.

Kean was better than I expected, and relentlessly attacked the paint. They weren't afraid to go up and down with Colby a bit, and they could have won this game if Colby shot a bit worse.

[nescac1]

Jumpshot said it, a really brutal game for Williams, maybe the worst in the App era or at least since his first few seasons.  Just really bad on both ends.  It did not help that suddenly the Ephs are really banged up.  Three guys (Feinberg, Arnold, and Taylor) in street clothes and Spivy injured early in the first half, I hope not seriously.   So the Ephs were down two starters and two capable big guys off the bench, which is not ideal.   

The Ephs' terrible shooting continues, 15 percent from 3, 59 percent from the line.  If Williams doesn't start making foul shots and open 3's soon, it's gonna be a looooonggggg year.  But the Ephs' D was just as bad today, biting on way too many pump fakes, careless fouls, missed assignments, etc. 

The LONE bright spot for the Ephs was that, despite struggles to make shots (like the entire team), the frosh class continued to show promise.  Alex Stoddard, despite a rough shooting game, finished with 15 points.  He seemed to have some bad luck with several half-way down, in-and-out 3's.  Glad he keeps shooting 'em, I think more will fall in future games.  Cole Prowitt-Smith finished with 14-7-2 and was the only guy on the team who could make a free throw.  Nate Karren had 8 rebounds in only 18 minutes. 

Very, very rough game for the starting five, with no one in double digits. 

[amh63]

It's a day to take a nap...took one and missed some Nescac games.
Looked at the Colby score...wow!  A while back, there was an type of basketball offense where no one played defense and every one ran up and down the floor.....named for a "Midwest school?".  Any poster recall the offense?
Saw the Ephs' score.  Guess it was one of those days.  Expect Williams to have better days ahead.
Ah! Believe the basketball system was named the Grinnell System...named after the Wisconsin D3 college.  The 3-pt shot offense these days do keep the "scoreboard buzzing". 

[jumpshot]

amh63, Grinnell College is in Iowa .... you really ought to venture out into the "field" west of the Potomac River ....

[SpringSt7]

A bad one for the Ephs who looked scared on the road against a good Albertus Magnus team that took it to them. Seems like there is a lot of fight in this team but they certainly need to start tuning in on the mental part of the game—simply way too many lapses on both sides of the ball to beat the team they played today.

[Colby Hoops]

Looked like a dominant second half for Middlebury today. That's the best they've looked all year. A classic Jack Farrell game, Eastman played well when they went small and Delorenzo shot it well in the first half to keep them in it. Most importantly, if they can defend like they did in the second half they are one of the best teams in the country.

Between Midd, Colby, Tufts and Hamilton there are going to be some extremely powerful offenses in league play. A lot of teams capable of putting up 100.

[Bucket]

Looked like a dominant second half for Middlebury today. That's the best they've looked all year. A classic Jack Farrell game, Eastman played well when they went small and Delorenzo shot it well in the first half to keep them in it. Most importantly, if they can defend like they did in the second half they are one of the best teams in the country.

Between Midd, Colby, Tufts and Hamilton there are going to be some extremely powerful offenses in league play. A lot of teams capable of putting up 100.

And without Matt Folger . . .

[Old Guy]

Looked like a dominant second half for Middlebury today. That's the best they've looked all year. A classic Jack Farrell game, Eastman played well when they went small and Delorenzo shot it well in the first half to keep them in it. Most importantly, if they can defend like they did in the second half they are one of the best teams in the country.

Between Midd, Colby, Tufts and Hamilton there are going to be some extremely powerful offenses in league play. A lot of teams capable of putting up 100.

And without Matt Folger . . .

And Sobel playing only 11 minutes. Impressive win. Down six at the half, having given up 50 points: I was already working on my rationales. Endicott looked good indeed. Middlebury just exploded in the second half, won the half by 26 points (54-28).

Jack Farrell had 31 points: he is so tough in the open court, just runs by people and is very creative at the hoop, scoring in traffic (31 pts/6 rebounds/4 assists). His backcourt mates, Bosco and Kornaker both had 14 points. That's a very dynamic backcourt.

Defensive specialist Will Ingrim and Griffin Kornaker made Keith Brown work for his 19 points, though giving up a few inches. He's a good player. The Gulls others who can score — McDevitt, their big guy at 6'6",with a nice outside shot, Arsenault and young Echevarria.

Tommy Eastman is crucial, so versatile. Middlebury is not big (nor was Endicott) and Eastman at 6'4" must play underneath on both offense and defense. Today, he had 14 points on 4-6 shooting 6-6 from the line — and 13 rebounds (in 22 minutes)! Senior Perry Delorenzo made a strong contribution, hit four 3s and made his usual strong effort on defense.

Two games this week — New England College at home Friday and Stevens (6-0) in NJ Sunday.

[amh63]

Jumpshot...thanks for the correction.  Never been to Iowa.
Maybe we should compare basketball buildings visited outside of DC. 
Gee..did have a escorted tour in New Orleans while the Superdome was under construction.  Saw a game in Bloomington, Indiana.  Saw a game in Stanford, Ca.  Been to CalTech, Pomona, Berkeley...but never got to a game.  Same case at Penn State and the Un. Of Mich. 
One of these days I may even get to a game in Vermont .  Even been to games in Willytown,
Have you ever attended a game at Williams?

[maineman]

Looked like a dominant second half for Middlebury today. That's the best they've looked all year. A classic Jack Farrell game, Eastman played well when they went small and Delorenzo shot it well in the first half to keep them in it. Most importantly, if they can defend like they did in the second half they are one of the best teams in the country.

Between Midd, Colby, Tufts and Hamilton there are going to be some extremely powerful offenses in league play. A lot of teams capable of putting up 100.

Old Guy, I was concerned about the amount of "charges" called.  I can't remember exactly who got the offensive fouls, but, early on, I thought that some of our key players like Sobel, Farrell and Kornacher, might be sitting for most of the game.  It didn't happen, but teams willing to "sacrifice their body" have a blueprint for how to put the Panthers in jeopardy.  In fact, did Sobel only play 11 minutes due to fouls or is he hurt?

And without Matt Folger . . .

And Sobel playing only 11 minutes. Impressive win. Down six at the half, having given up 50 points: I was already working on my rationales. Endicott looked good indeed. Middlebury just exploded in the second half, won the half by 26 points (54-28).

Jack Farrell had 31 points: he is so tough in the open court, just runs by people and is very creative at the hoop, scoring in traffic (31 pts/6 rebounds/4 assists). His backcourt mates, Bosco and Kornaker both had 14 points. That's a very dynamic backcourt.

Defensive specialist Will Ingrim and Griffin Kornaker made Keith Brown work for his 19 points, though giving up a few inches. He's a good player. The Gulls others who can score — McDevitt, their big guy at 6'6",with a nice outside shot, Arsenault and young Echevarria.

Tommy Eastman is crucial, so versatile. Middlebury is not big (nor was Endicott) and Eastman at 6'4" must play underneath on both offense and defense. Today, he had 14 points on 4-6 shooting 6-6 from the line — and 13 rebounds (in 22 minutes)! Senior Perry Delorenzo made a strong contribution, hit four 3s and made his usual strong effort on defense.

Two games this week — New England College at home Friday and Stevens (6-0) in NJ Sunday.

[booyakasha]

Jumpshot...thanks for the correction.  Never been to Iowa.
Maybe we should compare basketball buildings visited outside of DC. 
Gee..did have a escorted tour in New Orleans while the Superdome was under construction.  Saw a game in Bloomington, Indiana.  Saw a game in Stanford, Ca.  Been to CalTech, Pomona, Berkeley...but never got to a game.  Same case at Penn State and the Un. Of Mich. 
One of these days I may even get to a game in Vermont .  Even been to games in Willytown,
Have you ever attended a game at Williams?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nkbyAh9Hj0

[SpringSt7]

Williams vs. Fitchburg St. postponed tonight due to weather. Real chance the Ephs, who have Springfield on Saturday to close out the semester, head into Xmas break at 4-3.

[toad22]

Williams vs. Fitchburg St. postponed tonight due to weather. Real chance the Ephs, who have Springfield on Saturday to close out the semester, head into Xmas break at 4-3.

OMG! The sky is falling! On second thought the sky will not fall if Williams loses on Saturday. I doubt anybody out there thought the Ephs would seamlessly pick up where they left off last year. This is a nearly new team with lots of potential, but very little experience. Hopefully, Henry Feinberg, an experienced guy, will be back for Saturday, along with first year Brandon Arnold. That will help. The most serious problems so far have been on the road, so I'm hopefully that the Ephs will play well at home. I would guess that Spencer Spivy's sprained ankle will likely keep him out of the action. Springfield will be a good test for the young Ephs.

[NEhoops]

Simply put, Williams isn't shooting the ball at a high percentage.

FG% - 40.3 (9th)
3PT% - 24.4 (11th)
FT%   - 58.6 (11th - that has to be toward the bottom of the national rankings as well)

As Brad Stevens says, I don't lose sleep over missed shots as along as they're good shots. It's easy for me to assess the stats, but I don't have any insight into the types of shots that Williams is consistently taking.

Should be an exciting one tonight as Tufts heads to WPI - two contrasting styles. A win tonight for the Jumbos would most likely put them into the Top 25, and solidify their spot as a top five team in the region.