MBB: NESCAC

[SpringSt7]

Workman not only had a "decent run" in European basketball---he's currently in his 10th year as a pro, currently in the second division of the Israeli Basketball League.

[SpringSt7]

Ephs head into conference play with their 12th win of the year, 68-56 over Vassar. It was, for lack of a better word, a weird one in Chandler. Williams didn't play bad and they didn't seem flat, they just never got out of 2nd or 3rd gear. 7-15 from the free throw line, some careless fouls and stretches of scoreless play, but ultimately another win in which they held their opponents to less than 60 points, which they have now done 9 times, and another double digit win, which they have now done 11 times, although most of the game was contested in the 4-8 point lead range until the last minute or so.

For Williams, it was another excellent game for Cole Prowitt-Smith who shrugged off a slow first half to pour in 16 points on 6-9 shooting, most of which (all of which?) came in the second half. While still prone to some erratic decision making, he has played noticeably more under control and his efficiency is a blistering 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from 2. His backcourt mate Spencer Spivy continues to play like a senior, 11 points and 7 rebounds including an and-1 that put the game away. 4-5 from 2 as well, he has gotten so much stronger over the years and added an inside finishing to his game that few would've expected when he arrived as a senior. Playing 36 minutes in a nonconference game for Kevin App should tell anyone all they need to know about the value he brings the team.

The bad news for Eph fans is that it appeared Brandon Roughley hurt his foot and had to leave early, fingers crossed it is not the same one that he hurt over the summer. He has not yet returned to his full form yet but he is such a talented interior scorer and his size and skill really gives them a different dynamic. Hoping it's not too serious.

Friday the fun starts at Amherst. This will be the third time in four years that Williams heads into their first rivalry game with the Mammoths undefeated, but they are 0-2 in the previous two. This will be their best chance yet to flip that.

[Colby Hoops]

Hamilton falls to Ithaca on one of the wildest buzzer beaters you'll see: https://twitter.com/bombersports/status/1610046591548760065?s=46&t=rPokP58Upv8EkhX8BZKhlw

[ronk]

Agree 

[nescac1]

Good recap from SpringSt7 on the Williams-Vassar game.  I'd add that I think the bench had its best collective effort (in a competitive game) of the season.  Brandon Arnold brought an element of physicality to combat Vassar's burly front line (Zach Johnson is a very tough cover in the low post, and the Ephs continue to have issues with squat, burly post players of that ilk), with four points, three boards, two blocks, a steal, and excellent D overall in 13 minutes of court time. 

After a rough stretch of offensive play before the break, Evan Glatzer has been excellent over the past three games, driving aggressively, finishing well in the paint, and finding cutters effectively.  Regardless of his offensive contributions, his D continues to be stellar -- he has four blocks (I think all on jump shooters) and three steals against only three fouls over his past four games.  He is already in the pantheon of the best Eph defensive guards I've seen, right now I'd have him third after Jaris Cole and Jim Frew, with Conley, Schultz, Humphries, and Robertson also in that conversation.  Glatzer, like Jovan Jones last year, is very good at staying in front of guys and getting up into shooters' comfort zone without fouling.  Glatzer and Declan Porter (underappreciated as a defender, very sound) have accumulated a total of only 14 fouls in over 600 minutes of combined play, which is pretty incredible and a big reason why the Ephs are fourth in the nation in fewest fouls per game. 

Alex Lee and Hudson Hansen continued their strong frosh years with solid contributions of the bench v. Vassar as well.  Both are still very much learning how to find their points, but each are able to create their own offense off the bench, which will definitely be needed in league play when the starters don't have it cooking. 

Besides the missed free throws, one area of potential improvement for the Ephs is getting the big guys going closer to the rim.  Roughley (if he is physically OK, fingers crossed) and Nate have combined for only 11-14-16 points, respectively, over the past three games, and some of those points have come off 3's.   A lot of that is taking what the D is giving them -- they've combined for
5-10-9 assists over that same period!  They are doing a good job finding open cutters and shooters.  Still, both are so capable as low post scorers that hopefully they can get into the combined 20 plus ppg range a bit more often.  Declan and Cole can't shoot like they have been of late every game, so there are going to be games where the Ephs will need to force the issue on the interior.   

Great for league play to finally be here.  Williams on paper is probably a 15-20 point favorite over Amherst, but the history of the rivalry counsels against assuming anything, especially in Lefrak.  The margins in the last nine games between these two: 4, 6, 8, 3 (in OT), 2, 3, 5, 5, 1.  And 13 of the last 14 have been single-digit games.

The biggest league game of the first weekend is clearly Trinity-Colby.  Two one-loss teams who have played very questionable schedules.  The winner will probably start to sniff a national ranking (if they win on Saturday as well) and will have a great win for a Pool C argument down the line.  The big question for Trinity is whether Callahan-Gold will play, after missing the last two.  If he's out, at home, I think Colby is a clear favorite; Trinity just lacks the perimeter firepower without him.  If he's 100 percent, more like a toss-up. 

[Colby Hoops]

The biggest league game of the first weekend is clearly Trinity-Colby.  Two one-loss teams who have played very questionable schedules.  The winner will probably start to sniff a national ranking (if they win on Saturday as well) and will have a great win for a Pool C argument down the line.  The big question for Trinity is whether Callahan-Gold will play missing the last two.  If he's out, at home, I think Colby is a clear favorite.  If he's 100 percent, more like a toss-up.

Very interested to see Colby in league play. They continue to win, but not in overly convincing fashion. Max Poulton also missed Monday's game. so hopefully nothing major for him. I think the offense remains potent for Colby, particularly if Tyson can start making some threes.

The defense is a bigger question mark -- outside of Tyson there is a bit of a dearth of defensive talent and Colby allows the second highest opponent FG% in the league. That's going to need to be better if they are going to vie for an NCAA tournament bid. I'd say I haven't seen a ton that makes me feel confident the defense is in line for rapid improvement, which gives me some concern. Hard to win shootouts consistently.

I'd project league as follows:

• Williams -- extremely deep and talented -- legitimate chance to win national title. Only minor quibble is shot creation when offense gets bogged down -- Karren hasn't quite taken the step forward as a main guy that might be expected and Porter doesn't really create his own shot. CPS has been good, but can he be the guy when needed?
• Tufts -- impressive start to the year -- Thoerner is the real deal and overall just a great offensive team. Have them slightly ahead of Midd because of their depth.
• Midd -- Sobel is a monster and they are extremely well coached. If Stevens gets it going, watch out.
• Trinity -- Callahan-Gold needs to be healthy for them to be at their best, but they are really humming when he plays. They are always a very tough defensive team and the offense is there this year. Underrated players throughout their roster as well with Dorion, Redd, Otoo.
• Colby -- Hope I'm wrong and they are higher, but I do fear there is some downside below this spot if the defense doesn't improve
• Wesleyan -- they've been somewhat better of late. A little bit of a gut call, but I think they'll be solid.
• Conn -- maybe too low, as they've played good teams tough this year.
• Hamilton -- A solid team without really the next gear. Stockwell is underrated as a coach.
• Amherst -- I think they are too talented to be below the other teams and should pull a few upsets, but truly who knows.
• Bates -- not going to be very good. Baxter will shoot a lot.
• Bowdoin -- they play hard and are coached well, just don't have the players to be very good.

[names jaismith]

I think this is a pretty good guess, although Sobel has just been so good he can elevate Mid at least a notch if he maintains his level of play.  There's a chance for three NCAA bids, I think, if the top of the conference plays to form and there aren't too many upsets.  I'd keep an eye on Trinity, even though their non league schedule has been pathetic.  Also agree on Colby - very good offense but can they beat a good team when they aren't clicking on the offensive end.  I'd also expect an uptick from Wesleyan.  As for everyone else - - -let's just put them im a bucket and see wgho emnerges.

[SpringSt7]

Whole lot of teams left their shooting boots on the bus to open conference play. Trinity-Colby is the only game with any potential for both teams to hit the 30 point mark in the first half.

[nescac1]

Winning on the road in NESCAC ain't easy.  Williams-Amherst tied, and Midd, Tufts, and Wesleyan all down at the half in games those four teams were pretty sizable favorites in.  We shall see if the second halves plays truer to expectations.  Sobel with 16 of Midd's 22 first-half points! 

Williams can't be too happy with how it played in the first half -- fouled a three point shooter (though Amherst did the same), had trouble securing loose balls, missed two front ends of 1-and-1s, and had some good shooters missed wide open threes.  Credit to Amherst's D, Vance and Scherer have given Williams trouble inside, affecting or blocking a good number of shots where guys seemed to have clear paths to the rim.  Williams missing Roughley and the offense definitely needs one more guy to step up in his absence. 

[SpringSt7]

Williams drops its league opener 53-51 at Amherst. I can't remember the last time they had won three in a row against Amherst but they had a prime chance to do it tonight and it didn't happen.

At the risk of overreacting, if Brandon Roughley is out for an extended period of time, the dynamic of this season has drastically changed. I hope I'm wrong as I have seen plenty of Williams-Amherst games that are absolute rock fights due to just how familiar each team with one another but the Ephs looked concerningly one dimensional as a 3 point shooting team that struggled to put much pressure on the rim. With Roughley out and Karren continuing to struggle from the field, they are much easier to guard as shooters and that was exactly what happened tonight as everyone not named Declan Porter combined to shoot 1-12 from three (Porter was 4-10).

I hope that this was just a wonky Williams-Amherst game and not signs of things to come.

[jayhawk]

Amherst was missing 7'1" Charlie Randall their best shootng big man tonite

[SpringSt7]

Charlie Randall shoots 29.6% from three.

Unsurprisingly, Amherst played pretty well. Despite their youth, most of the rotation played against this same Williams team 3 times last year and it show. They defended very well and if not for some Declan Porter bombs could've held Williams to 40 points. They are big and physical.

They still have some ugly possessions sometimes when they can't make the two big lineup work but when Vance plays like that they are a much different team. Reynolds and Mitchell are blurs and a lot different than what the rest of the NESCAC brings. I don't know how often you are getting 12 points in 14 minutes from Chris Hammond but to their credit they found a way to get it done.

[nescac1]

I think Amherst is a certainly more talented than their record reflects and, yeah, Williams has some real reasons for concern after this one.  Williams is down two of its top six offensive players coming into the season (Roughley and Stoddard), quite possibly for the year, and while the defense continues to look great, the offense was brutal today and not for the first time (St. Lawrence, same deal).  Williams badly needs Nate Karren to get it going inside, for sure.  Also needs more from its bench than just two points, that is not gonna cut it and App might have to mix it up a bit as he figures out how to reconfigure the rotation.  They absolutely need some sort of offensive punch off the bench.  On the other hand, some days the shots just don't fall and Williams missed some very makeable shots, especially from 3, today. 

For Amherst, they did very little in the half court on first-chance points, lots of bricks, air-balls, shot-clock violations, or near shot-clock violations, but they absolutely killed Williams with key second chance points (12 to 2 edge but all of them seemed big, lots after Williams forced Amherst into a terrible shot on the first go-around).  Ryker Vance had 11-10-2 but it felt like 20-20-4.  He was all over the court on both ends of the floor and I can't understand why Amherst doesn't play him close to 30 minutes every game.  Frosh Chris Hammond also had a great day for Amherst.  CJ Mitchell hit a few key buckets as well. That was really it for Amherst but it was enough.   Key stat for Amherst was only 8 turnovers, 10 below their average.  When they take care of the ball they are so much better because their half-court defense is quite tough, lots of strong, athletic dudes.   

For Williams, pretty much everything that could go wrong, did.  Spencer Spivy had a great two-way game, 13-13 plus 3 steals, definitely the top player today for the Ephs.  And Porter hit his usual four triples.  But the other three starters struggled to hit anything, missing loads of pretty open 3's.  Hopefully just a very off night, but disappointing to come vs. Amherst, obviously. 

Tufts, Midd, Williams all upset by big underdogs on the road.  Nothing comes easy in league play, especially on the road. 

[jayhawk]

yes I know what Charlie Randall shoots, I did not need not anyone tell me waht they shoots
I am just saying Amherst is missing some of their players,
Randall can be good, he shots too many 3 pointers
I do not think Amherst is very good this year


A week ago teams were world beaters, now this person or that person missing for teams abd  it is a problem- that was my point


teams are what they are

[Old Guy]

I have a life, right? Nobody died. Midd lost 65-56 to Hamilton. They're a good club. Nothing was foreordained. My wife and kids still love me. I am not going to Amherst tomorrow. Can't risk it. Will watch at home (and be thankful for that).

Middlebury was running in quicksand in the first half, scored only 20 points, down ten. Better right away in the second half. 50-50 with 3 1/2 minutes to go. Sobel fouled out at the 3 minute mark. (In principle, I do not comment on refs' inadequacies — always sounds like sour grapes). Hamilton made their shots in the final minutes; Middlebury missed theirs. Simple.

Sobel had a good line: 20 points, 9 boards 2 blocks, but Hamilton's big guy Mogan was pretty effective, just 5 points (2-9) but 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. Singh was really good for Hamilton (22 points), took our guards into the paint and scored over them (also 3-3 from three).

I got no analysis. In these live-streamed games, my critical capacity evaporates. I am interested in the score and outcome only. I miss whole chunks of the game — I take walks. I turn the sound off. A total partisan, no objectivity.

On to Amherst! Carry on, boys!