MBB: NESCAC

ACsDad · November 23, 2009, 11:11:20 AM

Quote from: nescac hoops on November 23, 2009, 07:42:40 AM
Quote from: ACsDad on November 22, 2009, 10:00:45 AM
Adam Choice is just a natural scorer who looked like he was on a different level than everyone else on the court. 24 of his 26 points came in the 2nd half.

Huh, I wonder what the AC stands for in "ACs Dad"?

nescac hoops,

I assure you this is not Adam Choice's dad....I am a recent Colby basketball alum and the username is a running joke with some of my former teammates. Sorry for the confusion.

If you saw the game it would be even more evident to you that no partiality was necessary to make my assertion because Adam was literally getting defensive rebounds, dribbling down the court in a matter of about 4 dribbles for easy lay-ups on the other end.

BullShark09 · November 23, 2009, 11:51:26 AM

Quote from: lefrakenstein on November 23, 2009, 10:40:08 AM
Other notes from the weekend include Wesleyan's froshes looking scary good. Looks like the Little Three will be an actual three-team competition for the forseable future.

Also, awesome that Hixon got his 600th, but too bad that it was the same day as the other coach getting 700. Would have liked to have seen him on the front page. I guess I'll just have to wait another 4 years for 700.

A definite congatulations to Coach Hixon, I'm still hurting from how many of those wins have been against the Cardinals. (and he is on the front page? along with a picture of the whole team)

The Little Three is getting more and more interesting in most sports, as Wes has really improved its athletics in the past 5 years, led by Men's Lacrosse and Soccer. It'll be exciting if we can get Silloway Gym in Middletown as loud as Lefrak and Chandler can be and hopefully the Cards can help make it 5 or 6 years till Hixon reaches 700.

lefrakenstein · November 23, 2009, 11:58:42 AM

Quote from: BullShark09 on November 23, 2009, 11:51:26 AM
Quote from: lefrakenstein on November 23, 2009, 10:40:08 AM
Other notes from the weekend include Wesleyan's froshes looking scary good. Looks like the Little Three will be an actual three-team competition for the forseable future.

Also, awesome that Hixon got his 600th, but too bad that it was the same day as the other coach getting 700. Would have liked to have seen him on the front page. I guess I'll just have to wait another 4 years for 700.

A definite congatulations to Coach Hixon, I'm still hurting from how many of those wins have been against the Cardinals. (and he is on the front page? along with a picture of the whole team)

The Little Three is getting more and more interesting in most sports, as Wes has really improved its athletics in the past 5 years, led by Men's Lacrosse and Soccer. It'll be exciting if we can get Silloway Gym in Middletown as loud as Lefrak and Chandler can be and hopefully the Cards can help make it 5 or 6 years till Hixon reaches 700.

Good call... I didn't scroll down.

amh63 · November 23, 2009, 10:28:07 PM

The Amherst season is just starting. Regardless of the level of competition to date, the primary purpose is to see how the players blend, adjust to situations and follow the coach's directions. Encouraging point for me is that in both games the Amherst defense picked up in the second half of both games....when you look at the numbers; even with the wholesale insertion of subs. I believe the key to these early games is who wants to play defense. It looks like the team has the offense and the rebounding play.
The reason for Bennett in the post is his experience and his defensive play. He knows the coach's preferred plays and he rebounds well for his size. His time increased late in the season last year. Maybe, Holmes was hurt in the last NCAA game last year, but I observed Kurt in the game when time ran out in the lost.
Anyway, early observations indicate that Amherst has a deep team; Williamson is a scorer/player and may become the backup to Meehan when he learns the offense and defense.

BullShark09 · November 24, 2009, 10:00:07 AM

I look forward to the day when Wes has enough respect in the NESCAC that when a freshman averages 25.5 pts, 5 assists, 4 boards and 2.5 steals with 47% shooting and wins a Tournament MVP as Shasha did, he atleast gets NESCAC co-player of the week. I wonder who the last NESCAC freshman was to put up those kind of numbers in their first two college games.

Can't wait for the game tonight at Williams, even if the Cards get beat inside, the big indicator for the rest of the season will be how their guards play against the bigger and more experienced, but slower Eph backcourt. It'll definitely be a 'welcome to the CAC/Little Three' kinda night for the young guns.

walzy31 · November 24, 2009, 05:27:30 PM

Quote from: BullShark09 on November 24, 2009, 10:00:07 AM
I look forward to the day when Wes has enough respect in the NESCAC that when a freshman averages 25.5 pts, 5 assists, 4 boards and 2.5 steals with 47% shooting and wins a Tournament MVP as Shasha did, he atleast gets NESCAC co-player of the week. I wonder who the last NESCAC freshman was to put up those kind of numbers in their first two college games.

Can't wait for the game tonight at Williams, even if the Cards get beat inside, the big indicator for the rest of the season will be how their guards play against the bigger and more experienced, but slower Eph backcourt. It'll definitely be a 'welcome to the CAC/Little Three' kinda night for the young guns.

My guess would be Ty Rhoten or Keala Mills. I agree that Shasha's numbers are impressive.
If he puts up 20+ on less than 20 shots against the Eph's tonight then he will have my attention.

nescac1 · November 24, 2009, 08:30:16 PM

In case there were any doubts, Wesleyan's frosh backcourt is obviously for real, combining for 26-4-3 with 3 steals in the first half. Only a ridiculous half by Schultz (23 points on only 10 fga) and strong play from Whittington has given the Ephs a slim lead. Transfer Kevin Scura (former Eph) hits a big three for Wesleyan.

In other NESCAC action, Eastern Conn knocks off its second straight NESCAC squad at home, in OT, in both games (Bowdoin and Trinity). Wow.

BullShark09 · November 24, 2009, 08:35:23 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on November 24, 2009, 08:30:16 PM
In case there were any doubts, Wesleyan's frosh backcourt is obviously for real, combining for 26-4-3 with 3 steals in the first half. Only a ridiculous half by Schultz (23 points on only 10 fga) and strong play from Whittington has given the Ephs a slim lead. Transfer Kevin Scura (former Eph) hits a big three for Wesleyan.

In other NESCAC action, Eastern Conn knocks off its second straight NESCAC squad at home, in OT, in both games (Bowdoin and Trinity). Wow.

Damn I was typing up a summary as you posted. Good analysis.

Might as well still post since I wrote it.

Halftime up in Williamstown, Cards down 52-46. Bigs haven't had the huge impact i thought they would, beyond controlling the glass for Williams. Its been all Shultz with 23 in the first half. Geoghegan has been a non-factor, but Troy has 11 pts.

For Wes, the dynamic freshman duo is putting in work, with Shasha dropping 15 and Derick 11. Kaminer is having a solid game, with 7pts. I'm catching the livestats from a distance, so it's unknown as to who is getting worked by Shultz. No doubt there will be big defensive changes by Coach Reilly at the half to slow him down. The big difference right now for Wes has been their 17 pts off turnovers, looks like the quickness of the guards is getting to the Eph backcourt.

Looking forward to an exciting second half, I just wish Williams would spare some of their big endowment and not try to scam us out of $10 to listen to the audiocast.

BullShark09 · November 24, 2009, 09:00:53 PM

Quote from: walzy31 on November 24, 2009, 05:27:30 PM
My guess would be Ty Rhoten or Keala Mills. I agree that Shasha's numbers are impressive.
If he puts up 20+ on less than 20 shots against the Eph's tonight then he will have my attention.

22 pts on 8-15 shooting with 9 mins to go. Cards down 10 in an absolute shootout up at Chandler.

nescac1 · November 24, 2009, 09:28:14 PM

Ephs take control late (106 points? Insane).

Sha seems like a lock for ROY if he stays healthy, wow. But Wes needs to learn to play D, as you'd expect from a frosh-dominated team. Still, in a year or two ... damn. Not sure if anyone in NESCAC can stick with those Wes guards as NESCAC isn't exactly known for quick perimeter players. Amherst in particular gets killed by smaller, faster guards ... although they would, like Williams, just pound Wesleyan to death on the glass (40-20 or something like that here).

Wang, Whittington, Schultz, Dodson all put up monster stats. Dodson with break-out game. Schultz and Wang combine for more than 60!!! Troy: 19-13-3-3. Wang vs. Sha Brown is gonna be fun for the next three years ...

Schultz I believe is just a few points away from 1000 for his career; should go over in the next week.

By the way, what is up with Tufts. 0-3? Losing to Thomas? I figured they would be much improved with a senior-heavy line-up and only one guy graduating. If they are struggling right now, what happens next year when Pierce and Beyel are gone? Ouch ... this was the team that was one miracle shot from beating Amherst in the sweet 16 just a few years back ... hard to believe, now.

toad22 · November 24, 2009, 10:38:51 PM

One of the most entertaining games at Chandler in a long time. Wes will likely score 80 or more nearly all the time. They are up tempo from start to finish. They are, however, very small, with almost no effective defense visible. This year, they are likely to be lit up by a bunch of NESCAC teams. Wang was really challenged tonight and came up big. Tonight, Schultz was the player we always expect him to be. The X factors tonight for Williams were Troy and Harlan. I expect an even tougher game out of Wes when Williams visits Middletown in the league season. Sha was great, and the rest of the team can also play. They will worry every coach in the league.

JustAFan · November 25, 2009, 12:00:46 AM

Tufts let one get away tonight vs. a 4-0 Thomas team in the Jumbos home opener in the refurbished, and rearranged, Cousens gym. Pierce took just 9 shots and finished with only 11 points, but he did grab 10 rebounds. Tufts has yet to establish a consistent outside shooting threat this year. I agree with nescac1 that if the Jumbos don't get it done this year with 6 seniors on roster then it's going to get ugly before it gets better in Medford over the next 2-3 years. The only good news is that two freshmen have received significant minutes and performed well in each of the Jumbos games this season--forward Scott Anderson, who has been very steady, and guard Alex Goldfarb.

Interesting to see Williams shorten up the bench tonight, effectively only playing 7 players for meaningful minutes despite the uptempo nature of the game and the depth on the Ephs' roster. Credit Wesleyan for a great effort--Willliams shot 58% for the game and still had to fight tooth and nail to win! The Ephs advantage on the free throw line (24 of 29 vs. 11-17 for Wesleyan) proved to be the difference, although Geoghegan didn't get to the line once...how can that be? I'd love to see Harlan Dodson build on his great game tonight and put together a string of consistent efforts at tonight's level.

ACsDad · November 25, 2009, 10:05:58 AM

Colby moves to 2-0 after a 80-75 win over UMaine-Fort Kent last night. I didn't watch the game so I can't attest to the credentials of UMFK but Colby's Mike Russell apparently dominated with 20 points and 20 rebounds. Also, Choice finished with 22 points and 6 rebounds.

Next up for the Mules is UNE, a team that Colby struggled with last year but with a week to prepare for the home game, the Mules are in good shape.

Congrats to Adam Choice for pulling down his 500th rebound and reeling in another NESCAC Player of the Week honor.

Hugenerd · November 25, 2009, 10:30:39 AM

Quote from: JustAFan on November 25, 2009, 12:00:46 AM
Tufts let one get away tonight vs. a 4-0 Thomas team in the Jumbos home opener in the refurbished, and rearranged, Cousens gym. Pierce took just 9 shots and finished with only 11 points, but he did grab 10 rebounds. Tufts has yet to establish a consistent outside shooting threat this year. I agree with nescac1 that if the Jumbos don't get it done this year with 6 seniors on roster then it's going to get ugly before it gets better in Medford over the next 2-3 years. The only good news is that two freshmen have received significant minutes and performed well in each of the Jumbos games this season--forward Scott Anderson, who has been very steady, and guard Alex Goldfarb.

Interesting to see Williams shorten up the bench tonight, effectively only playing 7 players for meaningful minutes despite the uptempo nature of the game and the depth on the Ephs' roster. Credit Wesleyan for a great effort--Willliams shot 58% for the game and still had to fight tooth and nail to win! The Ephs advantage on the free throw line (24 of 29 vs. 11-17 for Wesleyan) proved to be the difference, although Geoghegan didn't get to the line once...how can that be? I'd love to see Harlan Dodson build on his great game tonight and put together a string of consistent efforts at tonight's level.

I was looking at the Tufts box scores, and I was wondering why Dave Beyel is taking 17 shots a game (much more than Pierce) while shooting barely over 33% from the field. Through 3 games, he has had shooting nights of 2-13 and 7-20 already. 23 of his 50 FGA are 3s and he is shooting just 21% from 3. Looks to me like Pierce has stopped forcing 3s like he did last season, but Beyel has picked up where he has left off. I know that last season Beyel had much better percentages, but he was shooting about 6 shots less per game, so maybe he should think about letting the game come to him. Last year he took 18% of the teams FGs (Pierce took 26%), while this year he is taking 32% of the teams FGs (Pierce is still taking 26%). Obviously when you are a senior, your role on the team may increase, but taking 14% more the teams shots while Pierece, their best player, is still at the same rate makes you wonder what is going on. Also, it is tough to win when the guys who are taking almost 60% of your teams shots are shooting 34% and 39% from the field, respectively. Maybe they just had 3 bad games, but that really jumped out to me on the box scores.

nescac1 · November 25, 2009, 11:07:24 AM

Huge nerd, I am guessing it has to do with the fact that (a) Tufts has three starters who can't get their own shot (one is a three point specialist, one is a pass-first PG, the other a defensive and rebounding minded center) and (b) any coach is gonna probably double Pierce whenever possible. So that leaves a lot of responsibility to Beyel.

Along with Tufts, the other team that has to be worried about the future is Brandeis ... a seven guy rotation with four seniors, including the top three players ... seemed for awhile like Meehan was building a powerhouse there, but lots of guys left the program and he brought in no frosh this year.

Williams' rotations seems pretty set up front with four solid post players / forwards sharing time, but right now, Robertson is the only perimeter guy getting consistent minutes off the bench. I figure someone else (Mickens or Klemm, most likely, maybe Wells if they want to go small) will eventually emerge as the last guy in the rotation to keep Wang, Schultz, etc. from wearing down.