MBB: NESCAC

[walzy31]

Final:
Amherst 87
Wesleyan 71

Wheeler shoots 7-9 from the floor and 6-7 from three (hitting his first 6).
Good to have Meehan back.
Big Pete had a nice emergence and Waller played the best game I've seen him play this season.

Notes on Wesleyan:
-Interesting seeing how much Iso they played on offense. I get the "give Shasha the ball and go" strategy, but the supporting cast isn't quite good enough to compliment that offense.
-Shasha is awesome and lightening quick. My new favorite non-Amherst player in the 'CAC.
-Joe Reilly started hacking Amherst with 2:50 left in the game, and continued it until 8 seconds left in the game...

[walzy31]

NESCAC Spreads - 1/15/2010

Wesleyan +11.5 @ Amherst
Over/Under: 149.0

Conn College +1.5 @ Trinity
Over/Under: 136.0

Tufts + 15.5 @ Williams
Over/Under: 164.5

Bates +16.0 @ Middlebury
Over/Under: 144.5

All Home teams are favorites.

Amherst 87 - Wesleyan 71
Wesleyan +11.5 @ Amherst (Amherst Covers +5.5)
Over/Under: 149.0 (Over +10.0)

Trinity 64 - Conn College 59
Conn College +1.5 @ Trinity (Trinity Covers +3.5)
Over/Under: 136.0 (Under +13.0)

Williams 91 - Tufts 55
Tufts + 15.5 @ Williams (Williams Covers +20.5)
Over/Under: 164.5 (Under +18.5)

Middlebury 71 - Bates 62
Bates +16.0 @ Middlebury (Bates Covers +7.0)
Over/Under: 144.5 (Under +11.5)

Saturday's spreads will be posted tomorrow.

[walzy31]

Why did Wesleyan continue fouling Amherst toward the end of the game?

Over/Under: 149.0 (Over +10.0)

Reilly clearly had money on the Over.

[Old Guy]

Good, well-played, hard-fought game at Middlebury - a nine point win over Bates 71-62.

Locke was terrific, his best game by far as a Panther: 25 points (10-11 shooting), 9 rebounds, 7 blocks. He was dominant, finished everything.

Midd was up 7 at the half, both teams playing a very tough man-to-man defense. Middlebury had to play well to win: Bates didn't give an inch. Bates took a one point lead at the 14 minute mark in the second half - but Midd pulled away to a 14 point lead with 4 minutes left.

Edwards is an unusual point guard - 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks,  2 steals, 8 points (2-4 from three). As one Midd fan said in an understatement, "he won't short you on effort." He's the heart of the team. 

Ellis was very good for Bates - 22 points, 8 boards. He works hard. Their senior pg and co-capt Chris Wilson is no longer in school.  A frosh Mark Brust played well at both ends of the floor at the point.

Wolfin makes a couple of bad decisions with the ball - and then hits 3 big threes down the stretch. He's got a shooter's short memory. Ice water.

We'll see what Bates has left for th Ephs tomorrow. They played hard tonight.

[nescac1]

Did anyone see the Tufts / Williams game?  I noticed in one of the game photos, Whittington and Geoghegan were on the floor together -- that is, so far as I know, the first time that has happened this year.  I hope it is not the last.  I realize both are natural fives, but if there is some way to get two of the four-five most productive guys on the roster more than 20 minutes each of game time without totally disrupting Maker's system, I think he has to try to do it.  Both played limited minutes due to the blow out, but I'd love to see what they could each do with 25-30 minutes in a meaningful game, as opposed to around 20 each.  (Or maybe 30 for Big Joe and 20 for Whittington, as the latter picks up a lot of fouls and expends a ton of energy on both ends of the floor).  Even with the foul trouble concern, but with Emerson, the Ephs have a quality third option at the five if need-be.  Either would be a match-up nightmare for most 4's in the conference. 

I see Amherst got both of its injured point guards back, that is huge for them.  Another sub-60 percent foul shooting performance by Amherst, if they don't figure that out soon, it will definitely cost them at least 1-2 more close games over the course of the season.  Amherst changed its rotation a bit with Holmes starting (how can he not? one of their top three players).  Surprised Williamson isn't getting more PT after his break-out game against Babson, but I guess he is behind Wheeler, Meehan, and Workman at the swing positions.  And yeah, those saying bench Wheeler were out of their scull.  That guy is terrifying to a defense whenever he has a clean look at three.  Without him Amherst has no one they can really rely upon from outside, other than maybe Barrise. 

If Tufts is in this much trouble now, what is going to happen once Pierce, Beyel and Cook graduate?  Scary ...

[walzy31]

Good thoughts Nescac1

NESCAC Spreads - 1/16/2010

Bates +19.0 @ Williams
Over/Under: 148.0

Wesleyan +6.5 @ Trinity
Over/Under: 144.5

Conn College +8.0 @ Amherst
Over/Under: 128.0

Colby +4 @ Bowdoin
Over/Under: 137.5

Tufts +21.5 @ Middlebury
Over/Under: 147.5

All home teams favored...again.

[muletrain]

I agree with old guy about bates. They play hard despite their lack of talent. They played Colby really close coming back from 11 down late to force OT. I actually think that a lot of people have understated how good Bates is this year. I think they will surprise some people.

In regards to Colby, I think that they are starting to get back to where they were earlier in the season. Although the Bates game was not perfect, Colby showed very good resolve and Choice was unstoppable. Hopefully they can continue that in the league opener today. It looks like Bowdoin has been up and down of late so hopefully the mules catch them on a bad day.

[walzy31]

Halftime:
Amherst 47
Conn College 37

A much higher scoring half than anticipated. Good for Amherst and bad for Conn. Wheeler still hot from deep (8-10 in his last 3 halves). Porter and Bernier are good players. If Amherst can shut off the back door uncontested lay ups then they should be able to run away with this one and hit the Over for Coach Reilly.

[walzy31]

Final
Amherst 89
Conn College 82

Amherst shot 65.2% from the floor, 55.6% from deep, and 92.3% from the line (24-26).
Waller is back.
Meehan had a monster Fantasy day.

[nescac1]

Williams wins 92-62.  Very impressive weekend for Williams with two blow-outs against overmatched opponents.  Now comes the tough part: 7 of the last 9 on the road, including at Midd and Amherst, and the only two home games left are tough ones too, vs. Bowdoin and Colby.  This stretch will definitely test the Ephs' mental toughness and physical stamina.  Five straight on the road coming up ...

Only negative for Williams tonight was an uncharacteristically poor performance from the foul line (50 percent).  Otherwise, they were clicking on all cylinders on both ends of the floor.  Rubin had 18 I believe on only seven FGA's.  Just when Bates was showing a bit of life in the second half, his four point play basically closed the door.  Schultz dominated on both ends, even moreso than the box score will reflect, as he had a ton of scrappy hustle plays in addition to lots of scoring and steals.  Big weekend overall for him.  Wang and Whittington also had big days.  I like what Wang has done of late, dialing it back a bit, not always playing at full speed, and getting his teammates involved.  When he needs to, he can still take over individually, but the team looks better when he is serving as more of a distributor.   Ephs moved the ball beautifully today, they shot very well (15-25 from three), but almost every three they hit (and even the ones they missed) was wide open as the result of good movement.

I really liked the five minutes or so of when Whittington and Joe G. played together.  That lineup is very intimidating defensively and on the boards, and seemed to work better than I expected on offense as well.  Whittington blocked at least 3-4 shots, several monster blocks, and Bates looked afraid inside whenever he was in the game.  When they were in together, Bates just couldn't content with them inside on offense or defense.    I think the Ephs will play that way more and more, especially against the teams with big front-lines like Bowdoin, Midd and Amherst

Ellis is very solid for Bates, tough player, aggressive, nice touch, good finisher.  No one else really stood out individually for the Bobcats, they are gritty but lack speed and size.  Wilson was a huge loss for them as now Ellis is really the only guy who is going to worry a defense.  

Schultz' average for the two games this weekend: 25-3-2.5, shooting 67 percent, with 4.5 steals per game in only 26 mpg. 

Seems like Amherst (at least temporarily) cured their FTA woes ...

Seems little doubt at this point that, barring injuries, Williams, Midd and Amherst are the top three, Bowdoin and Colby in the middle, and everyone else will be fighting for the last three playoff spots.  Wish Wash U. and St. Thomas losing, the Ephs should squeeze into the top five this week, their highest ranking (I believe) since 2004.  

[walzy31]

NESCAC Spreads - 1/16/2010

Bates +19.0 @ Williams
Over/Under: 148.0

Wesleyan +6.5 @ Trinity
Over/Under: 144.5

Conn College +8.0 @ Amherst
Over/Under: 128.0

Colby +4 @ Bowdoin
Over/Under: 137.5

Tufts +21.5 @ Middlebury
Over/Under: 147.5

Williams 92 - Bates 62
Bates +19.0 @ Williams (Williams Covers +11.0)
Over/Under: 148.0 (Over +6.0)

Trinity 74 - Wesleyan 70
Wesleyan +6.5 @ Trinity (Wesleyan Covers +2.5)
Over/Under: 144.5 (Under +0.5)

Amherst 89 - Conn College 82
Conn College +8.0 @ Amherst (Conn College Covers +1.0)
Over/Under: 128.0 (Over by a lot)

Colby 53 - Bowdoin 51
Colby +4 @ Bowdoin (Colby Covers +6.0)
Over/Under: 137.5 (Under by a lot)

Middlebury 66 - Tufts 53
Tufts +21.5 @ Middlebury (Tufts Covers +8.5)
Over/Under: 147.5 (Under by a lot)

Five good spreads, two good totals and three jacked up totals. Williams was the only team to go 2-0 ATS this weekend.

[ephoops]

Very nice start for the Ephs in the 'CAC.

This next stretch of road games will be key...  It should tell us whether the Ephs are primed for a deep run in the NCAA's...

With Wash U. and St. Thomas losing, the Ephs should squeeze into the top five this week, their highest ranking (I believe) since 2004.  

Actually, Williams was ranked as high as 4th in Paulsen's last season (07 - 08) when the team started 12-0.

[muletrain]

Great game yesterday down in Brunswick. Colby was able to get a gritty win despite an off day from Choice. The game was really low scoring due to the fact that the refs didnt call much of anything on either side. Choice alone could have been to the line another 5 times if the refs had called a normal game.

Refs aside it was really exciting to see the mules dig down deep and deliver in the NESCAC opener. It looks like spots 3-5 in the league could be there for the taking for Colby, Bowdoin, and Amherst. This win gives Colby the early upper hand. If they can win 1 of 3 against Amherst, Williams, and Midd it looks like they could be the 3 seed.

I know this is just one win but it looks like Colby is going to be in the contender conversation for the whole season despite what others may hope for on this board.

[Old Guy]

Some observations after the Midd-Tufts game yesterday:

Nice to win the first two but nuthin' was easy. Midd was ahead by ten at the half but Tufts never went away. Neither team shot well (Midd 4-23, Tufts 2-17 from three). Pierce played 35 minutes and played hard (ten rebounds) but wasn't the same player we saw last year - his two three pt attempts clanged, he didn't finish well underneath (though some of that is undoubtedly the presence of Locke (6 blocks, 13 for the weekend, and countless altered or not taken) and two by sSharry (2 last night; 2 Sat.). He looks bigger, wider. I don't know what to make of the big Tufts rebounding advantage - 57-40.

The weekend comparative scores, from a Middlebury perspective, were scary. We got two hard fought wins at home by 9 (Bates) and 13 (Tufts, but Midd's biggest lead was 14), and Williams destroyed these same two teams. The Ephs are flying; they seem to be separating themselves somewhat from the league.

We go on the CT trip next weekend - and that Amherst-CtCollege score (89-82 at Amherst) is anything but reassuring. The CT teams may be in the bottom half but they're dangerous, certainly not to be taken for granted in their own gyms. Where's CCSalive?

Sharry came back after a subpar game Friday night with a 16 pt. 9 rebound effort, which has become the expectation. The balance of this year's team is fun - Wolfin (3 threes) had 15, Thempson his usual 10 (5 rebounds, 3 assists, no turnovers), and Wholey 10. Wholey is an important piece of the offensive puzzle, and will have a breakout game offensively, soon I hope.

[Old Guy]

Where's "eclinchy," on Tufts?