MBB: NESCAC

formerbant10 · February 06, 2009, 04:00:19 PM

Boo,

The actual distance travelled between Friday and Saturday games is not the point I was making. Playing in Maine is not easy. Playing on Saturdays on the road is not easy.
I said it was a good win, but not a great win. It was a much needed win after losing to Trinity at home the night before. That's more of what I was going for as opposed to the actual travel.

I do like your point about Colby's losses being early....any coach would agree with you there.

topoftheworld · February 06, 2009, 05:26:47 PM

Many non players don't realize how tough it is to play on the road in the nescac. you don't even get 24 hours to recover, and by the end of the season most players are icing or taking care of nagging injuries which means putting a bag of ice on wherever on their bodies and sitting with it on a bus. very different than having a training room and your own bed you can walk home to. The as formerbant says, it is very tough to win on a saturday on the road and not enough credit is given sometimes for that.

from talking to players, if a team has an emotional game on a friday (close loss, overtime game, or a blowout) it could be very hard to recover from that mentally for a game the next afternoon

Hugenerd · February 06, 2009, 08:12:20 PM

Amherst only leads Bates by 1 with about 12:30 left.

Hugenerd · February 06, 2009, 08:29:38 PM

Amherst and Bates tied with 4:53 left.

Hugenerd · February 06, 2009, 08:42:11 PM

Looks like Amherst will pull it out, up 6 with less than 30 to go and shooting FTs.

booyakasha · February 06, 2009, 08:56:31 PM

colby and williams tied with a minute and a half left

Old Guy · February 06, 2009, 10:41:18 PM

Middlebury by 12 over Bowdoin, 62-50. Tough game. Bowdoin plays a very aggressive man defense, strong in the frontcourt. They certainly weren't intimidated on the road. They were down early 18-9, but just played harder. They outrebounded us, 44-34, and outmuscled our big guys. The refs let a lot go underneath. Rough play. Our guards were terrific: Rudin had 25 points (7-16 from the floor, 9-12 from the line); Dudley scored 13 (three 3s); Edwards was at his disruptive best, all over the floor (6 pts, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals). Edwards was on Jackson most of the night and keep him under half his normal output (5 points tonight).

When Bates and Bowdoin play it must be a Battle Royal. Bowdoin has some strong, versatile players. It's easy to like frosh Will Hanley (14 points, 8 rebounds in 26 minutes), a slender 6'7", smooth. He shoots the three, goes to the hoop, rebounds. He'll unoubtedly be on the all-rookie team.

Old Guy · February 06, 2009, 10:50:15 PM

Nice piece in the local paper on Middlebury's Ben Rudin and Kyle Dudley, teammates since elementary school:

http://www.addisonindependent.com/print/1881

nescac1 · February 07, 2009, 06:02:54 AM

Huge win for Williams last night, finally pulling out a close one against a strong opponent ... Break out scoring game for Dodson. From the box score looks like the three point guards did a good job defending Cutrone, even managing to outscore him.

Now they have to take care of business against Bowdoin. Won't be an easy game as Bowdoin is physical with a big, strong center who will be a challenge for thinner Timmins and shorter Whittington, and the Ephs got killed off the glass by Colby last night. Without Big Joe, looks like the Ephs are going to play four and sometimes five perimeter guys at all times, so they will need a better collective effort on the boards, can't always shoot lights-out. Should have mismatches on the offensive end however. Win today I believe locks up or all but locks up a first round home game. Ephs should be pumped up on senior day against the team that really started the Ephs' late season slide last year.

Nice article on Williams senior Michael Kearney. This notes that Joe G. may be back for the NESCAC semis if the Ephs make it that far ...

http://www.thetranscript.com/sports/ci_11644560

frank uible · February 07, 2009, 12:44:00 PM

Encountered Coach Maker this morning at Pappa Charlie's. I said to him facetiously, "Coach, all you have to do now is win out". He countered (facetiously I believe), "Piece of cake".

eclinchy · February 07, 2009, 12:49:34 PM

Quote from: Old Guy on February 06, 2009, 10:50:15 PMNice piece in the local paper on Middlebury's Ben Rudin and Kyle Dudley, teammates since elementary school:

http://www.addisonindependent.com/print/1881

Nice!

Most D3 basketball articles in local papers are short, boring, unoriginal and contain factual errors in the first sentence. This was an interesting, in-depth look at a different side of those two guys that I didn't know about. Probably the best article of its kind I've ever seen. Thanks for posting.

speedy · February 07, 2009, 04:46:26 PM

A nice 76-71 road win over Williams by Bowdoin.

ephoops · February 07, 2009, 04:53:09 PM

Quote from: speedy on February 07, 2009, 04:46:26 PM
A nice 76-71 road win over Williams by Bowdoin.

Williams got killed on the boards again this afternoon by Bowdoin (34 - 25). Williams had only two offensive rebounds in the game.

With Joe G. out, rebounding has become a huge issue for the Ephs.

Ephs only shot 12-21 from the FT line -- very uncharacteristic given that they've been a good FT shooting team this year. Blake S. missed two big free throws with the Ephs down one with about a minute left in the game.

They'll have a loooong weekend next week if they can't shore up their work on the glass.

eclinchy · February 07, 2009, 04:55:25 PM

Tufts lost to Amherst while Bates and Conn both won.

This means Tufts is officially out and Bates is, barring a miracle, in. Conn, having taken the head-to-head over Wesleyan, is in excellent shape to lock up the 8 seed.

ephoops · February 07, 2009, 05:02:20 PM

Upon closer review of the box score...

Snyder played 40 minutes and had zero rebounds! Rubin had one in 28, Dodson had one in 23 minutes and Ethan T-S had one in 18 minutes.

Regarding Snyder, you would think that at least one missed shot would wind up in his hands during 40 minutes of play?!?!

With Joe G. out, these guys have to step it up significantly on the glass if the Ephs have any chance of contending the rest of the way...