MBB: NESCAC

[formerbant10]

RTIII with another big game.  26 and 12 in his first start of the year.

I'm confused, which one of Ballaholics boys wouldn't play for Amherst?

[La Verdad]

I want to be the first to warn all of you.

I have seen the future of NESCAC basketball, and the future is Gabe Gonzalez-Kreisberg

The present beware, the future beware, he's coming... he's coming... he's coming.

[walzy31]

GGK is a house. A Western Mass house.


From the D3Hoops.com front page:

"Top-ranked and undefeated, Amherst is basically a tournament lock. But conference mate Trinity (Conn.) isn't too far behind after the Bantams' 72-70 win against Clark. The Bantams are 19-3 with one regular season game left against Amherst before starting conference tournament play the following Saturday."

Interesting thoughts on Trinity. I think they need 20 wins to get in. 19-5 wouldnt necessarily do it, but tonight's win was huge. I also don't see them losing in the NESCAC quarters. And they will give Amherst a run.

[lemonjello]

GGK is a big dude (6'8" 270), but he had a nice mid-range touch.  He was the only guy on Wesleyan that the Jeffs couldn't stop.  He got some cheers from the Amherst side, although I'm not entirely sure if they were sincere, the seemed somewhat derisive.  He is from Amherst, and attended Amherst Regional High School, so he was playing at home, and probably saw some games at Lefrak when he was younger.  I wonder if he was recruited by the Jeffs, my gut is not, but I imagine Hixon would have seen him/heard about him.

[Hoaf]

I'm with walzy here. I think Trinity is capable of doing some damage in the NESCAC tourney. They have looked like a good team so far and could possibly do some damage to Amherst's impeccable record.

On whether or not Trinity or another team like Bates would make it into the tourney without a 20-win season, I think they definitely could. The NESCAC has one of the strongest records ever recorded in the division iii tourney since automatic bids have been put in place (Tied for 3rd Conference overall with a 26 - 13 .667 record). Also, i believe their regional records have been stellar as well, which actually has more pull than SOS.

[Agent_Zero]

im sorry, maybe i missed something but didnt trinity lose by almost 20 to tufts, who happens to be the only team to give amherst even a respectable game? and now people are just annointing trinity as going to the nescac finals even though they are gonna end up with the third seed (most likely)? yea, tufts has played to the level of competition most of the year but still, if amherst beats trinity, they will end up with the second seed and could finish the regular season with 16 wins, hardly something to scoff at.

[Old Guy]

I wish I had been able to catch the Bates-Middlebury game (though I would have gone home in despair) in order to see Stockwell and Ray, two terrific players worthy of every consideration for post-season honors.

The two best players in the gym this year at Middlebury in the games I have seen (all the home games other than Bates, Tufts) are Farrell and Rose.

In a discussion of NESCAC juniors, Andrew Harris deserves some inclusion - 13 points a game, beautiful three-point stroke (51/115). Evan Thompson is probably Midd's MVP going into the last NESCAC weekend. Sophomore Aaron Smith should be in the discussion of top players in the next two years.

I have to believe that the fact the Rudin, Smith, and Edwards are subpar physically had something to do with the Bates score - Saturday afternoon after a tough Friday night game. (I know, everyone is nicked this time of year and Bates had a tough game the night before at Wms.)  

The tourney should  be fascinating, with some big surprises, I suspect.

[formerbant10]

As far as Pool C bids go, right now Trinity is 2nd in line for a bid.  There's another poster, pabegg, who puts a really good list together and has the breakdown for where the top teams in each region stand.  Check it out on the Pool C board.

I heard GGK once put an opponent's wife's hand in a jar of acid........at a party

[Old Guy]

"im sorry, maybe i missed something but didnt trinity lose by almost 20 to tufts, who happens to be the only team to give amherst even a respectable game?"

Agent_Zero: Middlebury lost to Amherst by six - one point game with five miinutes to go (and beat Tufts by 11): that's "respectable," no?

[nescac hoops]

Wouldn't you want to run plays for your best scorer?

of course, but that wasn't the point i was getting at. if amherst has the ball with 10 seconds to go in a tie game i have no idea who they are trying to set up for the shot. if in the same situation, williams is clearly looking to rose or atleast going to use him as a major decoy. i just don't think that some players on really good teams get the number of looks or minutes that rose does simply b/c they are on a team with a more balanced attack. in terms of statistics, i think it's easier to look more impressive on paper if you are on a team like williams if you are the go-to guy. there are players on amherst that just simply don't get the looks/minutes to accumulate stats that some guys like farrell and rose have. again, not taking anything away from rose b/c he and shalvoy have pretty much carried the team to what will most likely be a 4th place finish but put him on amherst and he is still the same very good player but will most likely shoot 7 less shots and play 10 less minutes or so. the only stat that would probably be better would be his shooting percentage b/c his looks would be better and he wouldn't be forced to put up as many "desperation shots" - i've only seen him play against amherst this year but i counted atleast 7 times where he shot an off balance shot b/c the shot clock was running down. however, back to my original point - farrell is not a "worse" player if he is on amherst but he won't be their go-to guy. he could start but he wouldn't see nearly as many minutes or take nearly as many shots as he does now and thus, his numbers wouldn't be nearly as impressive.

when is geronimo's due date? i hope soon.

[walzy31]

With 10 seconds left and Amherst needing a bucket. Look for the alley oop at the buzzer.

Sure go ahead and laugh now, but when K Hop, Holsey, Fletch, Brandon, or Marcus throw down the toss from Olson, Timmy, Salerno, yadaboy or Gelini at the buzzer, then I'll be the one laughing. Laughing all the way to South Hadley.

[The Historian]

Listen, the idolization of Amherst's esteemed Junior class is deserved to some extent, without a doubt they are easily the best overall in NESCAC, but let's not get out of hand here: take Stone, Weitzen, Rose, Shalvoy, R. Taylor, R. Martin, you'd have to give them an edge at 4/6 spots (Hopkins and Olson being the exceptions).  As good and enormous as those guys for Amherst are, other than Hopkins none is really a go-to scorer: they have Baskauskas and Wheeler for that.

Against Amherst stats:

Stone - 18 points  (Hopkins 16, Walters 12, Olson 2)
Weitzen - 16 points (Olson 24, Jones 13, Walters 7, Hopkins 1)
Rose (first game) - 9 points (Hopkins 14, Jones 8, Olson 5, Fletcher 2)
Rose (second game) - 15 points (Hopkins 12, Jones 9, Olson 9, Walters 5)
Shalvoy (first game) - 2 points (Hopkins 14, Jones 8, Olson 5, Fletcher 2)
Shalvoy (second game) - 9 points (Hopkins 12, Jones 9, Olson 9, Walters 5)
R. Taylor and R. Martin - we'll see

1 - Olson
2 - Coulibaly
3 - Walters
4 - Goldsmith
5 - Hopkins
b - Jones

vs.

1 - Shalvoy
2 - Rose
3 - Weitzen
4 - Stone
5 - R. Martin
b - R. Taylor

At the very least, it would be a great game.  But I'm still taking Amherst by 20.

of course, but that wasn't the point i was getting at. if amherst has the ball with 10 seconds to go in a tie game i have no idea who they are trying to set up for the shot. if in the same situation, williams is clearly looking to rose or atleast going to use him as a major decoy. i just don't think that some players on really good teams get the number of looks or minutes that rose does simply b/c they are on a team with a more balanced attack. in terms of statistics, i think it's easier to look more impressive on paper if you are on a team like williams if you are the go-to guy. there are players on amherst that just simply don't get the looks/minutes to accumulate stats that some guys like farrell and rose have. again, not taking anything away from rose b/c he and shalvoy have pretty much carried the team to what will most likely be a 4th place finish but put him on amherst and he is still the same very good player but will most likely shoot 7 less shots and play 10 less minutes or so.

Let the record show, nescac hoops, I think this is a great point.  I agree.

PS.  ROY - Steve Wheeler .75 points per minute played.

[Agent_Zero]

Old Guy, not sure how you can use Middlebury beating Tufts by 11 as an example since tufts played without (arguably) their best player for 3/4 of the game...but i do stand corrected, losing by 6 is respectable, should have checked my stats first

historian, you are picking lil wheeler over pierce for ROY?

[frank uible]

walzy: After all that laughing you only aspire to getting to South Hadley?

[TUrighty14]

Trinity needs one more signature win to get in. If they get to NESCAC finals, I think they should go. I also think if Tufts wins out, then gets to finals, they deserve to go back as well. I just think if Tufts were to beat Trinity twice and Trin got a bid it would be very controversial. Trinity's overall record is much better, but if you look at their common NC opponents, their records are about the same.

Tufts vs. Springfield W         Trin vs. Springfield L
Tufts vs. Babson  L              Trin vs. Babson  W
Tufts vs. Clark  W                Trin vs. Clark  W
Tufts vs. Lasell W                Trin vs. Lasell W

Looking at who beat who in the NESCAC is pointless, because everyone is beating everyone this year in the league (sans Amherst). If Trinity can get by Tufts, I'd give them the nod obviously, but until they do so, I dont think they should assume anything.