MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Ephs were up 11 thanks to a Wang 3, Amherst came back and now it's 5. 

Amherst really overplaying all half getting tons of steals.  Meehan with an incredible all around game. 

[walzy31]

Williams 69-66 with 26 seconds left.

[walzy31]

Final
Williams 72
Amherst 69

Joe G inside and at the line was the difference in the second half. It was nice seeing Schultz and Wang as non-factors in the second half. I'm encouraged by the fight Amherst had. Great game overall. Tough free throw shooting for Amherst...probably 6-20 ish

[nescac1]

Weird, weird end to the game, but Ephs hold on to win by three.   Two straight pre-inbound off-ball fouls by Amherst, neither called intentional, which is just crazy.  Amherst hit two ridiculous threes from WAY outside, including one by Kaasila that was just barely over Whittington's reach, and they almost tied it with Meehan WIDE open from three, but he clanged it.  

For the Ephs, the plus side is, obviously, they won, despite subpar games from several usual big contributors, and without a great three point shooting effort.  The downside is, Amherst just shot BRUTALLY from the foul line, including three misses from Wheeler on a three-point foul, and Williams still barely won.  Kudos to Hixon for smart adjustments in second half -- really overplaying on the outside to limit Wang, which led to lots of steals as well, although it did create a lot of space for the Ephs bigs, and fortunately they capitalized.  Also smart to run much of the offense through Workman.  Ephs will have to figure out a plan for him before the next game.  MVP's for Williams three-way tie between Wang, Geoghegan, and Whittington.  Turning point in the game was clearly when Wheeler missed the three FTA's, and then, about a minute later, Whittington had the MONSTER dunk to get the crowd back into it.   For Amherst, Meehan and Workman.  Other than his outside shooting, Meehan just had a ridiculous game on both ends of the floor. 

Congrats to the Ephs for a holding on for a HUGE win despite not playing their best down the stretch.  Finally off the schneid at Chandler.   Bring on NESCAC play ...

[amh63]

Here goes my second try to post my thoughts on a stressful game.  So stressful that I forgot to hit the button to post.  Anyway, following the game on LS in between watching the swim meets on line at Amherst, reviewing the stats and play by play, my thoughts are as follows.
The stars for each team cancelled each other out...Wheeler/Meehan vs. Wang/Schutz.  The shooting average favored slightly the home team and the rebounding battle was even.  Amherst won the steals and blocks, with the turnovers slightly going to Amherst.  The big difference was the foul shooting by Amherst!
In the first half, Amherst was 4 for 11!  Williams was up by 7 points on foul shots alone.
The William Bigs had the better play over the Amherst Bigs in all phases.  William's Joe G. played a big part in the win, especially his foul shooting when Amherst had to foul in the last 40 seconds.
Though disappointed also, I too am encouraged by the play of Workman and Barrise.  If Hixon can get his young inside players to hit foul shots...really a mental thing...(I know Wheeler needs to quit disappearing at times in the game and start boarding) and get big Peter K. to pay with confidence again, Amherst will be ok .
The young team of Amherst is starting to play defense.   Amherst should be ready soon for a title run!

[Bluesky]

Big win for the Ephs today. The Ephs were able to control the game and then hold on at the end when Amherst staged a big rally at the end to make for an exciting and tense finish.

Any discussion of the Williams v Amherst game has to mention Rubin's huge 3 pointer with about one minute to go in the game and only about 5 seconds left on the shot clock. It was a clutch 3 point shot at a crucial time in the game and one that will be remembered for a long, long time by Eph fans.   

[Old Guy]

Sounds like a great Wms-Amherst game. The rematch will be wild.

On the undercard: Middlebury beats Skidmore in Saratoga by 13 (80-67), having a 29 point lead at one point (up 19 at the half). Sharry comes back with a 19 point, 13 rebound effort. Locke gets 6 blocks.

Colby-Sawyer goes to Boston to play 4-7 Regis and gets blown out, loses by 20.

[walzy31]

In all seriousness, I had to call BofA today and cancel my credit card due to four fraudulent charges. All four charges occurred right after I purchased the $15 live feed to the game today. Everyone who paid to watch the game online should check their statements. I am not saying that the Williams site was definitely the cause of the fraud, but it was the last purchase on my card before someone went wild.

[sumfun]

You should let Dick Quinn (Williams Sports Info Director) know about charges on card.  His email is listed on the Williams website under athletic staff.

[nescac1]

A few more Williams / NESCAC thoughts heading into the start of conference play:

-- Once again, HUGE win.  Agree with Blue Sky re: Rubin's three, that was a back-breaker and badly needed.  He also did a nice job finding the open man in the offense.  Amherst interior D struggled a bit last night, but in the second half, their perimeter D was incredible, giving very few open looks at three and really stopping Wang, Robertson and Schultz, all of whom are very adept at getting to the hoop.  Overplaying a bit led to more easy buckets inside, but that was a very smart coaching move by Hixon, as was coming out with Workman at the four.  The fact that Amherst seems to usually play much better in the second half is a testament in part to his coaching acumen.  I hope the Ephs are a bit more ready for the Workman lineup next time.  Ephs' offense is very efficient other than turnovers, which continue to be a problem.  If they can take care of the ball a LITTLE better they will be even tougher to slow down.   Ephs traditionally have a bit of a let down after Amherst, but with a week to prep for the first NESCAC games of the season, I don't think that will be the case next weekend. 

-- The Ephs biggest edge, and the area that Amherst and MIdd need to work on, is foul shooting, 77 percent vs. .64 / .63 is a big difference.  Even in Midd's win last night, their strengths and weaknesses were readily apparent -- fantastic defense, rebounding, and interior play, spotty foul and three point shooting.  If I were the Ephs, in fact, I would never have let first Wheeler, then Barrise, get open looks at three (even if both were very deep; those guys have serious range), one to cut it to one, one to tie at the end.  Instead I would have fouled Kaasila or Bennett or even Wheeler (who had to be psyched out after his 0-3) to go to the line for one-on-one.  I never get why teams don't do this more.  Especially on the final possession, which odds are better, a shooter hitting a deep three, or a guy making a free throw, missing a second free throw, getting an offensive rebound, and nailing another shot? 

-- Colby seems to have really tailed off after a hot start, needing OT to beat Bates, at Colby, with Bates playing without its star.  Speaking of which, is Chris Wilson badly injured?  Noticed he hasn't played for awhile.  Looking more and more like it will likely be a three team race, with Bowdoin and Colby as the potential spoilers.   

-- Still think the Ephs should go a bit more physical at times, especially against big teams like Middlebury and Amherst, playing Whittington and Geoghegan together for stretches, or maybe even giving a few minutes to other bulky guys like Cates and/or Emerson.  I realize Maker likes having four perimeter guys on the floor for offensive purposes, but the Ephs have more scorers than they really know what to do with, and even with one guy on the floor who is less of a scoring threat, I think the improvement in defense and rebounding would be worth it.  And Whittington and Big Joe are definitely two of the Ephs' best 4-5 guys (last night they were arguably the two best), so limiting them to 20 minutes each, when they could play together for an additional 5-10 minutes per game, seems odd, especially when Emerson is another capable five who could play in case of foul trouble.  Can't say enough about the big guys last night, three dunks (including two and-ones), each time when guarded by Amherst's sizable big men, really ignited the team and crowd. 

[amh63]

Several general comments in the post Amherst/Williams game.  Amherst plays Babson on Monday.  A poster on another board pointed out that when Babson is out rebounded, they lose.  In the MIT/Babson game, MIT blew Babson out when they started to dominate the boards.  The game will have video coverage.
Several side notes from reading the Wash. Post this weekend.  The U. of VA new BB coach is stickler for defense and foul shooting.  Even in his team's win on Sat., he wanted to know who missed the foul shot (the team went 19-20).  It was the best shooter.  The coach's policy has been to run laps when you miss foul shots.  Amherst should take note.
There was a long article on a walk-on who starts for UVA.  Will Sherrill is a 6'9" player who starts games.  No one recruited him out of high school.  A graduate of Andover with strong Yale connections...even Yale showed little interest.  Only Amherst showed interest, it was written.  His role under the new coach is much like Bennett at Amherst.

[Hugenerd]

Several general comments in the post Amherst/Williams game.  Amherst plays Babson on Monday.  A poster on another board pointed out that when Babson is out rebounded, they lose.  In the MIT/Babson game, MIT blew Babson out when they started to dominate the boards.  The game will have video coverage.

Free video coverage AND livestats.  They dont have an announcer, which is better than having a bad announcer (and you really dont need it with the livestats for updates and time and scores).

[tball]

Last Wednesday the Babson webcast v. Springfield had an announcer who was pretty good.

[dman]

Weird, weird end to the game, but Ephs hold on to win by three.   Two straight pre-inbound off-ball fouls by Amherst, neither called intentional, which is just crazy. 

  does anyone know the rules of bball regarding inbounds plays??  i always thought it was either a"t" or an intentional foul.  i'm not even sure the inbounder was holding the ball when those fouls were called....

also, how about the missed dunk for amherst at the end of the game.  that was a really huge play, too.....

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Weird, weird end to the game, but Ephs hold on to win by three.   Two straight pre-inbound off-ball fouls by Amherst, neither called intentional, which is just crazy. 

  does anyone know the rules of bball regarding inbounds plays??  i always thought it was either a"t" or an intentional foul.  i'm not even sure the inbounder was holding the ball when those fouls were called....

The refs have leeway to judge whether its intentional or not.  You see a lot of fouls called when the PG is fighting to get open and receive the pass.