MBB: NESCAC

[Old Guy]

Sharry's off to a pretty good start: 14.6 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, per game (27 minutes). Only one close game so far. January will be fun.

[nescac1]

I always hesitate to take TOO much from comparative scores, but impressive 46 point win by Williams today (without Nate Robertson) over a St. Joseph's (VT) team that lost to Middlebury by only 12.  Wang, Whittington, and Klemm once again provide the offensive fireworks: all three are insanely efficient scorers (although they are bound to cool down at least a LITTLE as the competition improves).  Nice to see frosh Taylor Epley and Hayden Rooke-Ley contribute more and more with each subsequent game; both seem to finding the range after a few games adjusting.  Williams is much younger than last year, so they really need the frosh to continue to step up and assume bigger roles.  Good production for frosh center Mayer as well, who is a nice luxury to have behind Whittington and Emerson at the five. 

Thanks for the PER explanation, lefrankenstein.  Wow that is convoluted, I am impressed you had the energy to figure that out. 

[Colby Hoops]

Colby took down U Maine Farmington 57-47 last night behind 22 and 19 from Russell.  Also congrats to him for scoring his 1000th point during the game.  He also has almost 700 rebounds in his career.

Colby played its best defensive game of the year, and got almost every loose ball and rebound.  Donovan and Beaulieu were solid, while Fischer chipped in with 9 and 4 coming off the bench.

I caught the second half of the game on webcast and it easily could have been a blowout win for Colby if they could have held on to the ball.  30 turnovers with four players having at least 6.  If they cut that in half it would have been at least a 20 point win. 

Still, it was a solid win for the Mules, particularly when UMF gave Amherst trouble, granted that was the season-opener.  I'm hopeful that with some increased ball security this team could surprise a few people.

[amh63]

Amherst is playing tonight and it is at 6 PM!.....on the Amherst free webcast.   Early dinner tonight.
Old Guy...Have been checking the numbers on the Midd team.  Sharry's numbers are really scarry to date.  I just hide my head in the sand wrt to his play. If he continues this level of play throughout the season, IMO, he should be POY!

[amh63]

Amherst scored over 100 points again blowing out Westfield St  Everyone dressed played.  The only noteworthy points are:
 Amherst shot foul shots well!
 Defense was again strong.  Amherst was up by over 35 at the half.
 Westfield had some big men up front and quick  small guards....to small.  Amherst dominated the boards still.
 Toomey came off the bench and scored 23 points in 15 minutes.  He went 10-12 with 3-3 from the 3-point line.  He had 3 rebounds, 2 assist and 5 steals.
 Meehan had 17 points in less than 20 minutes with 2-3 from the 3-point area.  He has developed a good outside shot this year.
 Holmes had 14 points and 5 boards in 15 minutes.....coming off the bench.
 Amherst shot around 70% in the first half and around 60% near the end of the game.
 
  Elms will be the game on Sat. at 3:00PM in the Pioneer Valley Classics at Amherst.  Elms plays Springfield in the night cap.
  The Amherst game will be on the Web.

[Hugenerd]

Nice post, lefrakenstein, plus one.  What is the PER formula again?  I forget how that is calculated.  I'd be curious to see how that plays out for this season's teams / players, as the year progresses.  I imagine Whittington is once again at the top of the league (and maybe at the top, nationally) as his numbers have grown even faster than his playing time, and he is now averaging 17-10-3, plus 3 blocks, and still shooting 70 percent, in only 25 mpg, as opposed to 11-6-1.5, plus 2.5 blocks, in 18 mpg. 

Brian Ellis is also having a huge year so far, as is James Wang, so I imagine both are near the top once again. 

Dont forget Klemm, he has been huge for you guys.  Over 4 3s a game, 15 ppg, and 50% from 3.  His 3s late against Wesleyan (he had 8 points in the last 3.5 minutes, including the 3 that put them ahead for good) essentially won that game (which I am sure you are aware of).

Wow, this board is getting very technical/number crunching.  Hugenerd will be proud.

Proud indeed.

[lefrakenstein]

Amherst was very impressive today, obviously offensively, but also on defense. Out of the gate the starters were holding Westfield to about 25% from the field. The number went up after the game was well in hand, but very encouraging on the whole.

I got to see my first webcast of the year. Like the Amherst announcers a lot. Keep it up.

I'm glad the PER numbers are popular. Since only Amherst, Williams, Midd and Colby supporters tend to frequent this board, here are the full breakdowns for those teams last year:

Amherst

Amherst   Holmes  26.09
Amherst   Prowitt  25.08
Amherst   Meehan 24.98
Amherst   Kaasila  17.65
Amherst   Barrise  16.06
Amherst   Waller    15.69
Amherst   Williamson   13.35
Amherst   Workman   12.15
Amherst   Wheeler   11.09
Amherst   Noon   10.32
Amherst   Carcieri   5.92
Amherst   Bennett   5.71
Amherst   Johnson   2.12

Williams   Whittington  41.06
Williams   Schultz   32.75
Williams   Emerson   29.26
Williams   Wang   26.08
Williams   Klemm   22.75
Williams   Geoghegan   19.66
Williams   Robertson   17.67
Williams   Dodson   16.14
Williams   Rubin   16.03
Williams   Moorstein   15.69
Williams   Hardy   12.84
Williams   McClelland   12.38
Williams   Wells   8.77
Williams   Cates   6.55
Williams   DiVietri   6.25
Williams   Timmins-S   2.89
Williams   Hicks   0.00
Williams   Mickens   -12.89

Midd   Sharry   30.34
Midd Locke   24.58
Midd Davis   19.74
Midd   Wolfin   18.89
Midd   Wholey   18.65
Midd   Lynch   18.44
Midd   Edwards   17.35
Midd   Thompson   14.97
Midd   Greven   13.74
Midd   Hicks   1.98
Midd   Plumley   0.00
Midd   Alvarez   -1.35
Midd   Butler   -15.69
Midd   Gayle   -15.70
Midd   Caputo   -23.29

Colby   Fischer   35.47
Colby   Choice   24.70
Colby   Russell   24.21
Colby   Risma   22.02
Colby   Swanson   15.92
Colby   Haylon   12.85
Colby   Van Loenen   11.69
Colby   Sherman   11.04
Colby   Beaulieu   10.44
Colby   Cheever   8.26
Colby   David   6.68
Colby   Woodward   4.14
Colby   Concannon   3.00
Colby   Foreman   -0.57
Colby   Donovan   -6.68
Colby   Gildersleeve   -16.16
Colby   Atlas   -30.96

Again, only league playing time counted towards these. Players with high PERs here like Fischer, Emerson and Prowitt that didn't turn up on earlier lists played less than 100 minutes. Let me know if anyone wants any other teams, or if anyone is interested in seeing the whole spreadsheet, PM me and I can email it to you.

[walzy31]

I didn't calculate it, but I think Toomey had a PER of 83 tonight. Watch out NESCAC.

[lefrakenstein]

Amherst is really shooting pretty well from behind the arc right now as well. Workman has been lights out, shooting over 50%, Waller is shooting at 40% and even Meehan has picked up his stroke a little bit. Holmes can surprise opponents if they leave him open. If only Barrise could get back to anything close to his freshman form, Amherst might resemble a team that can really shoot. You know he has the ability, as a fan you just have to hope he finds his groove before the competition improves.

[amh63]

Ah the wonders of webcast!  Nice writeup of the game on the Amherst site.  Better still, there is a photo of Toomey for those who wonder about all the hype.  
I was in error in my last post.  Toomey did his damage in 16 minutes vice my posted 15 minutes.  What was impressive to me wrt to Toomey, is, despite his slender built, he drives into the defense and plays at times inside.  Last night he got a number of baskets driving to the baskets for layups.  He plays defense well...his five steals led to more layouts.  I will describe one of his scoring drives to indicate his athletic abilities.   He drove to the basket and went up but his shot was either blocked or stripped.  Toomey caught the ball as it was faling and shot the ball into the basket.  The announcers noted that he was charged with a missed shot and a made shot....during the play.  The announcers even brought up the two time first team all-american, A. Olsen, after seeing Toomey last night.....but wisely refrained from making further comparison, other than a remarkable play.
I had forgotten that A. Olsen, the point guard that was player of the year in Div3 in 2007 was a good defensive guard.
Though the competition was not strong last night, the hustle and floor burn by many Amherst players,,,,,Meehan especially...seem to indicate that the players are wiling to play hard and value the possessions this year.
Again, the Amherst vs. Elms game will be on the Amherst Webcast starting at 3:00PM.

Where are the other NESCAC posters from Trinity, Wes. CC, etc. these days?

[lefrakenstein]

I had forgotten that A. Olsen, the point guard that was player of the year in Div3 in 2007 was a good defensive guard.

Wow, the legend of A. Olson grows well after his departure.  Olson was very good at pretty much every facet of the game...except defense.  good thing the team had lock-down on the ball defenders Tim McLaughlin and Mike Salerno, not to mention the wrecking crew of tall athletic help defenders they had behind him.

[amh63]

 so in a game.  Knowing he had big defenders behind him may have left the wrong impression of his abilities.   But again, I will defer to younger more nimble minds.   I was there when he made the shot to beat Tufts in the last second.  I was there when he had a triple double in the 2008 semi-final game in Salem.....pts, assists, and rebounds....he did what he had to do to win games.

[amh63]

Messed up in an earlier post.  I was responding to Lefrank..... remarks about A. Olsen's defensive abilities.   I cut off the first half of post while correcting my poor english/spelling, etc.
I deferred to a younger mind...a bit.  I believe A. Olsen's abilities was not needed as much during games, knowing he had good defenders to help him.  He was a competitor and did what he had to do in a game to win.

[walzy31]

I saw a Dos Equis commercial where the bearded man said that Olson is the Most Interesting Man in the World. As much as I love Andrew as an athlete and a person, let's focus on this season and the battle between Amherst and Middlebury trying to upend Williams at the top.

I'll start posting Amherst spreads (and all NESCAC league game spreads) after the NCAA Football Bowls are announced tomorrow night. Still locked in.

[walzy31]

Amherst is really shooting pretty well from behind the arc right now as well. Workman has been lights out, shooting over 50%, Waller is shooting at 40% and even Meehan has picked up his stroke a little bit. Holmes can surprise opponents if they leave him open. If only Barrise could get back to anything close to his freshman form, Amherst might resemble a team that can really shoot. You know he has the ability, as a fan you just have to hope he finds his groove before the competition improves.

Right on queue: Barrise drops 27 today on 7-9 3pt.