MBB: NESCAC

[sac]

pat, your question to wheels after the championship game was ill timed...i think sac hit the nail right on the head. talking about williams at that time when it should have been solely about the jeffs winning.

I guess we'll stick to the other questions that were asked, like the moron in the front row who asked whether Amherst had hotel rooms for the night.

"Oh, I'm not a reporter,..........but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night."

[a big fan]

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to this, but your arguement that Rose's rather pedestrian 36.1% from behind the arc (as of today) makes up for his terrible overall % and free throw % is laughable. Maybe you are unfamiliar with penalty shots and the fact that 3-point shooters are rarely fouled? I like how your stats dont include points from foul shooting. Using your own criteria of points per shot, (including points from free throws) here is the ranking of every player in the nescac who has taken 100 shots or more this season:

JeffRookie,

I think your stat, which includes foul shots rewards the player who takes the most foul shots that are not counted as attempts.  Correct me if I am wrong, but if a player gets fouled on a shot, the player is not get credited for taking the shot unless he makes the basket.  Of course if the player wanted to pad your statistic he would be best served to miss the shot and have the opprtunity to score 2 points without having the shot go in his statistic.  A player who shot  5 times and was fouled each time,  made 1 of the baskets despite being fouled but made all 9 foul shots would have the statistical line : 1-1,  9-9 ,   11 points       Your stat: 11 points per shot

The player who shot 5 times but made all 5 baskets while he was fouled and made the following 5 foul shots would have the following statistical line:  5-5,  5-5,  15 points     Your stat:  3 points per shot

Which is better?   11 points/ shot  & 11 points scored or 3 points / shot and 15 points scored. (same number of times the player tried to score)

Your stat rewards those who score without taking a statistically recorded shot.  Those who miss the basket when they are fouled (as opposed to those who make the basket), those that get fouled in non-shooting situations after the 1 and 1 bonus is in effect ,  shooters of technical files.

I respect the thought process you gave to my post and time you spent doing the statistical analysis.  My statistic (without fouls) was more a reflection of shooting accuracy.  In my opinion your statistic is not as good a representation of  the accuracy of a shooter.  My point was that a 3 point shooter can miss more often and still be as effective as others who shoot less. 

Do you appreciate that your statistic including foul shots has some unintended distortions.  To eliminate some of the distortion I think you have to add the attempted shot which was rewarded with the opportunity to make foul shots but was not necessarily counted as a statistical shot.  Getting to the foul line is important in basketball but it does not necessarily mean a player can shoot well from the field.


Thanks for you reply

[golflax99]

hey walzy,

what are the lines looking like for this weekend?

[walzy31]

Preliminary LINES
Friday
Away        Line           Home         Score                    (Total)
Tufts         +1.5        Bowdoin      Bowdoin 78 - Tufts 76     (154)
Bates        -4.0        Colby            Bates 70 - Colby 66     (136)
Wesleyan   +12.5       Middlebury     Midd 84 - Wes 71    (155)
Conn        -4.5          Williams        Conn 65 - Williams 60  (125)

Saturday
Bates       +7.0       Bowdoin         Bowdoin 74 - Bates 67    (141)
Conn        +5.5      Middlebury        Midd 69 - Conn 63       (132)
Tufts        -7.5        Colby           Tufts 84 - Colby 77   (161)
Wesleyan   +3.0        Williams      Williams 70 - Wes 67   (137)
Trinity         +7.5       Amherst       Amh 85 - Trin 77     (162)

[Route9_Cassie]

Friar T, you are not alone.  I knew Fletcher was great since his first order at the diner.  It was just the way he emphasized the "CH" sound in challah toast.

And Pat, while I am sure Dan Wheeler gave you a very gracious and humble response.  I could spit in his coffee, tell him I did so, and probably still receive a tip out of the kindness of his heart.  Had you asked Tim or Dan O'Shea they most likely would have flipped the table over like I had forgotten to take their muffins off the grill.  (I'll never forget the time that happened.  Two wasted muffins not to mention forks and knives everywhere.)

Brandon Jones not player of the week?  I think I am going to go put something sad on the jukebox and drown my sorrows in a pink.

[eclinchy]

So according to Walzy, the season ends with...

Amherst 9-0
Midd 7-2
Bowdoin 7-2
Trin 6-3
Bates 5-4
Conn 4-5
Williams 3-6
Tufts 2-7
Colby 1-8
Wesleyan 1-8

...which would give us first-round matchups between Amherst-Tufts, Midd-Williams, Bowdoin-Conn, and Trin-Bates.

I could live with that.

[Friar T]

Friar T, you are not alone.  I knew Fletcher was great since his first order at the diner.  It was just the way he emphasized the "CH" sound in challah toast.

And Pat, while I am sure Dan Wheeler gave you a very gracious and humble response.  I could spit in his coffee, tell him I did so, and probably still receive a tip out of the kindness of his heart.  Had you asked Tim or Dan O'Shea they most likely would have flipped the table over like I had forgotten to take their muffins off the grill.  (I'll never forget the time that happened.  Two wasted muffins not to mention forks and knives everywhere.)

Brandon Jones not player of the week?  I think I am going to go put something sad on the jukebox and drown my sorrows in a pink.

Incredible post, and so very true. O'Shea would've turned green like The Hulk and his jersey would have exploded off his body.

Walzy you continue to amaze...

Interesting possible first-round matchup eclinchy... although I'm not thrilled about ANOTHER Jeff-Jumbo postseason matchup. Overtime is bad for my heart...

[eclinchy]

Overtime makes the world go round.

[La Verdad]

Congrats to Smith on getting player of the week.  I thought Fletcher had this one locked up; more points, more rebounds, higher shooting percentage, undefeated week...Maybe the level of competition midd faced this week was that much better?

[eclinchy]

Does the NESCAC ever give the same guy three POW awards in one season?

[formerbant10]

Does the NESCAC ever give the same guy three POW awards in one season?

Reggie Stovell 3 times in 04-05

Tyler Rhoten and Kanem Johnson 3 times each the year before.

[La Verdad]

Does the NESCAC ever give the same guy three POW awards in one season?

I guess when the stats are so similar they'd rather spread the love.  Smith was certainly deserving; it's a shame they couldn't pull off the win against Plattsburgh.

Is it absurd to throw Fletcher's name out there for defensive player of the year?  He's top 10 in blocks, steals, and rebounds and has been doing a good job guarding on the  perimeter and in the post.  I'm not sure I would call him dominant, but his versatility is very impressive.

Wouldn't want to be in charge of selecting any of the post season awards, there are tons of deserving players.  Stone and Pierce have both put up great numbers all  year, but do you give POY to guys on teams in the bottom half?  A big run by either player and their squad in the tournament could lock it up.  How about the all-nescac squad?  There are a ton of quality bigs in the league this year!  Stone, Pierce, Martin, Jones, Walters, Hopkins, Geoghegan, Smith, Weitzen, Pelletier, Fliegel...I'm probably forgetting somebody.  I used to think the nescac was all about guard play.

how about this for 1st team?
Olson Amherst
Wholey Bates
Walters Amherst
Pierce Tufts
Stone Con

2nd team
No clue!
Geoghegan, Martin, Smith, Jones, Baskauskas, Hopkins,Taylor, Choice, Cutrone, Hippert, Fliegel, Shalvoy, Rudin, Weitzen?

I can't imagine that Bowdoin won't be represented.  Do Williams and Tufts get 2 on given their disappointing seasons?  Amherst won't get 4, but I think 3 is a definite possibility.  I haven't seen the Trinity guys this year, so I'm not sure about them.  Martin and Smith can probably make a case for 1st team.  Had a tough time finding guards. 

tear it up...   

[eclinchy]

I'm guessing they'll be pretty conservative and stick to the seniors/preseason favorites for the most part.

My predictions:

Andrew Olson, Amherst
Charles Stone, Conn College
Jon Pierce, Tufts
Russ Martin, Trinity
Fletcher Walters, Amherst

Bryan Wholey, Bates
Aaron Smith, Middlebury
Chris Shalvoy, Williams
Andrew Hippert, Bowdoin
Adam Choice, Colby

POY: Andrew Olson, Amherst
ROY: Brian Ellis, Bates
DPOY: Brandon Jones, Amherst
COY: Dave Hixon, Amherst

[walzy31]

Verdad & Clinchy,

I think both of you are close. It will be those 12 guys that get the nod.

Olson and Walters will be 1st team.
Baskauskas will be 2nd team.
Amherst will get 3 players, not 4.

[PolarBear]

The info provided on this board is great.  I made it to Brunswick over the weekend and saw the Polar Bears for the first time this year, and had a solid knowledge of the team from your observations.

I came away impressed with the team.  They have talent, led by Hippert, but equally important, they were more physical than I recall other Bowdoin teams being.  Talent and toughness are two of the key ingredients needed to win consistently on the road in Nescac.  They're an easy team to root for.

I haven't had the benefit of seeing any of the higher seeds (Amherst sounds loaded), so I can't provide any meaningful insight as to how Bowdoin will stack up in the post season, but I expect they'll show up and at least compete in a hostile environment.

As for D4, apparently the president of Colby is pushing for it.  In the same way Amherst, Williams, and Wesleyan few themselves as a troika within Nescac, Bowdoin, Bates and Colby have similar ties, and lobbying is coming from Waterville on the subject.  Much would be lost with a D4, not just in hoops, but also in other sports, such as hockey at Bowdoin, which is an important part of the fabric of the Bowdoin experience. 

I'm sure you alums of other Nescac schools can share similar sentiments about the role competitive sports plays at your school.  D4 won't - just like intramurals don't -  stir the student body.