MBB: NESCAC

Red1 · January 07, 2006, 05:16:02 PM

Bates 73-Colby 69 OT.

The game started a little slow but the intensity over the last 5 minutes of regulation, and throughout overtime make it all worth it. This was a phenominal game, so much so that I don't have the words to describe it, but you can listen to it yourselves at www.batescast.com in the archive. Bates is now broadcasting some men's and women's home basketball games. Bates finally exercised some demons tonight against a Colby team that has surprised the bobcats several times in recent years. Look for Bates to hang tough with the top teams in NESCAC this year.

Cheers,
Red1

nescac1 · January 07, 2006, 09:23:05 PM

Well, tough loss for Williams. But if you had told me that they would be in the game in the last three minutes, on the road for Amherst shooting 4 for 20 from 3, I would have been shocked. Newton played outstanding, he finally seems to be all the way back from injury and no one from Amherst could handle him one-on-one. Williams seemed to have a ton of three's rim out at inopportune times, hopefully those shots will go down at home. Shalvoy and Rose missed lots of shots they could have made. To be fair, a lot of that was due to Amherst's defense, which was outstanding. Coulibaly is great on d and shut Rose down when he was in the game (which was not often), and Amherst was outstanding at getting back on defense, not allowing Williams a single fast break opportunity, which is the Eph's forte. Williams' half-court offense was not so bad, they had some nice drives-and-dishes for lay-ups inside, moved the ball well except for one awful stretch towards the end of hte first half, and got a decent number of good looks, unfortunately they just could not nail anything. Frosh Snyder looked very good, he needs to get a quicker release on his shot but he is going to be a very strong player in a year or two. Williams played a very young line-up so they have a lot of hope for the future, with two frosh and four sophomores in the rotation.

As for Amherst, they are very impressive on defense, but their offense was only so-so. They could not throw the ball in the ocean for long stretches, I imagine it was just an off night, but they don't have anyone with the offensive abilities of a Schiel, other than Bedford. Bedford continues to kill the Ephs and he hit lots of big shots. Amherst's biggest advantage in their tremendous depth -- Hopkins, McLaughlin and Goldsmith all are very impressive players, and all are just huge for their positions, they were stellar. I would say Amherst is about even from last year, although a very different style of play -- not as reliant on the outside shot, but much more adept at getting good looks for their interior guys. Williams is definitely a much better team than they were at this time last year. They really played well during the come-back and have the potential to win some games against the other top teams in NESCAC, including a decent shot at home against Amherst. They just have to continue to work the ball inside, play as well on defense, and hope the outside shots fall a little better than they did today.

Congrats to the Eph women for beating Amherst for the umpteenth time in a row.

walzy31 · January 08, 2006, 03:11:51 PM

66-56 Amherst

Agree that Newton played well. Also agree that Snyder will grow into a good player. The defense for Amherst defintely let them withstand the stretches of the game where points were hard to come by (a 12-0 run by williams in the middle of the second half could have been a lot worse but took them 7 minutes). Wheeler, in addition to Coulibaly, also played great D on Rose who is a tough matchup in NESCAC.
Shalvoy has improved from last year but I still don't like his game. Corrigan played great D on him in his 11 minutes. Olson 8 Assists 1 TO is good to see when his shot isnt falling as much as it usually does.

Matt Goldsmith receives my award for nicest dunk.
Kevin Hopkins receives my award for quickest 4 consecutive fouls I have ever seen (15 seconds).

And yes, John Bedford can carry Amherst and I love it when he does.

AmherstKnowItAll was brilliant this weekend as usual. Williams always brings out the best in him.

nescacfan33 · January 09, 2006, 09:34:06 PM

Going to try to make it to Amherst-Wes tomorrow at LeFrak. Seen Wes a couple times this year, and Amherst once against Springfield. Last year Wes played at LeFrak and it was actually a hell of a game. Wes was up 3 with 10 minutes left, and the Jeffs had a nice run to win by 10. That WONT happen this year. Shouldnt be much of a game. But still some decent individual matchups.

Only thing I am really looking forward to is Bedford and Ashe matching up for some of the game and also seeing how many fast break dunks the Jeffs get.

I say Amherst by 20-25. Something like 80-56.

formerbant10 · January 10, 2006, 10:58:37 AM

I wouldn't count on Bedford and Ashe matching up too much. Neither of those players guard the top offensive player on the other team, they need their energy to contribute on the offensive end themselves. I wouldn't be surprised to see Wesleyan use Blake Curry on Bedford just to shake things up a little bit.

Then again, Wesleyan has had 8 different players start so I could be completely wrong.

Either way, Amherst comes away with it.

nescacfan33 · January 10, 2006, 11:36:08 AM

bant10,

You are right in terms of Bedford guarding Ashe. But then who will guard him you think? Olson/Casnocha? And I think in terms of Ashe, he actually does have to guard the best player on opposing teams a lot just because of his defensive ability/athleticism. But you are probably right, he has played close to 40 mins very often so he won't be able to handle Bedford and scoring for that amount of time. Though Amherst has too many big guys for Ashe to matchup with one of Amherst's forwards. Curry and Peletier are gonna have to go big, and that leaves Ashe with the fun of guarding of Bedford. At least I hope.

Big win for Bowdoin over Plymouth State. They had rocked a couple NESCAC teams this year.

rufus · January 10, 2006, 12:13:27 PM

nescacfan33 - Plymouth State did indeed handle a couple of NESCAC teams this year, namely Tufts and Middlebury. Taking nothing away from the Bowdoin win, it's important to mention that the Plymouth big "gun", Pope (averaging over 24 ppg) was not in the lineup.

rufus · January 10, 2006, 12:14:43 PM

Hey RED1 - thanks for letting me look at the stat sheet the other night!

walzy31 · January 10, 2006, 12:35:09 PM

i think amherst wins by 25-35 tonight (85-55). Ashe is a good player but has no help, and in games they can't win, expect mr. blake curry to do some crazy and entertaining stuff. O'Shea with a quick 13 points, Bedford with a game high 16, the other three starters adding 8-12.

formerbant10 · January 10, 2006, 12:37:39 PM

Nescacfan,

I'm not sure who will be guarding Ashe, it depends on who Wesleyan starts. If Wes starts the same 5 as last game, then Bedford and Ashe should be matched up as Olson will take the smaller Raymond. But it wouldn't shock me for Hixon to put a taller Casnocha on Ashe leaving Bedford on the shooter Shepherd. They won't get hurt on the boards by Wesleyan, so it's a possibility. Coulibaly will definitely have a turn on Ashe when he gets in the game, as will McLaughlin.

Amherst's depth will really show in this game as they can throw waves of defenders at Wesleyan's top player.

I'm not sure what Wes will do defensively, but Bedford will most likely have a smaller guard on him so watch for the Jeffs to feed him in the post. If Ashe does guard Bedford that most likely means Wheeler will have a much smaller Shepherd on him, and Amherst should then post up Wheeler.

Wesleyan is severely undersized, and Amherst has always been a team that looks to exploit matchups, I have no reason to believe that this game will be any different.

walzy31 · January 10, 2006, 11:20:46 PM

I nailed my prediction of the final score. Between 25-35 point win with my guess 85-55. Actual score:

Amherst 89
Wesleyan 54

Wheeler dominated as Formerbant anticipated. We were on fire from behind the three point line (13-24).

Blake Curry: 1-8 for 4 points, 2 turnovers no assists, one thrown wristband and many attempted but unsuccessful blocks in 24 minutes of work. Although he was under control tonight, he remains my favorite non amherst hoops player in the conference.

Sean Collins of Wesleyan (#42) also gets a special shout out. Down 33 with 9 minutes to go...Collins gets on the receiving end of a touchdown pass for an easy two points. But instead of taking the layup, he challenges himself and goes for the emphatic dunk to cut it to 31. The rim won the battle though. He was denied and Wes Tech got no points out of the possession.

Bedford/Ashe was a good matchup to watch. I personally enjoyed an exchange in the second half when Ashe went into psycho intense defender mode when bedford had the ball. Bedford dribbled around for 6 or 7 seconds, then took it to the hole and scored past Ashe's outstreched arms. Ashe immediately demanded the ball and took it up court. He dribbled around for about 10 seconds and then took it at Bedford. Ashe had a step and took a tough shot but bedford got a piece (Bedford 16 points, Ashe 9).

Legend getting 11 players double digit minutes.

formerbant10 · January 10, 2006, 11:27:16 PM

Tough win for the Jeffs, glad they squeaked it out.

Tyler Rhoten now just 73 points from 2,000.

With only 2 games this week, I doubt he'll crack it till the Conn. College game.....Wesleyan at the latest.

Anyone know who the last NESCAC player to score 2,000 was???

ephoops · January 10, 2006, 11:39:33 PM

Formerbant

Probably Nogelo from Williams. He scored his 2000th point in his last collegiate game, a win in the third place game at the Final Four in Salem. If I recall correctly, he scored 38 points in his last game.

Nogelo is probably the best player ever to play in NESCAC.

formerbant10 · January 11, 2006, 08:24:52 AM

I've only heard stories about him, but they've all convinced me he's the best to go through the NESCAC also.

nescac1 · January 11, 2006, 10:07:08 AM

He's certainly the best I've seen, although Hancock from Colby (before my time) was reputed to be pretty great as well. Nogelo scored 2000 while missing a decent chunk of two seasons to injuries, and he never forced anything -- all his points came in the flow of the game. He was a better passer than anything else, in fact. And he carried two teams with otherwise mediocre talent to final fours which says it all.

Coffin, Crotty, Harper, Colin Tabb, Rhoten, Kareen Tatum, Chris McMahan, M. Schantz, Jamal Wilson were all great all-american caliber players who could all stake a claim to second-best, but all definitely a notch below Nogelo ...

First week of official league action, finally. Best match-ups look to be Trinity at Amherst (although Amherst is a strong favorite after Trinity loses to another mediocre out-of-region opponent) and Bates on the road against its rivals.