MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Comment of the year from the Salem State announcer, and I believe this is close to a direct quote: "the Vikings need to get their **** going on if they want to sail to victory, but they have an anchor holding them down, and that anchor is a big purple cow."

Williams playing much better in the second half, and in total control with five to play.  Klemm continues to light it up and is somewhere north of 30 points.  Wang as expected turned it on in the second half and was his usual dominant self.  Emerson and Robertson also provided strong contributions on both ends.

Although, with five minutes left, he only has six points, and he missed a few open shots, I see why Toad is impressed with Mayer.  He made a few extremely impressive, smooth-looking drives, blowing by opposing players, he is indeed highly skilled for a 6'9 player.  As he gains more strength and experience he will definitely pose a big match-up problem for opposing centers.  Of course, while it was reassuring for the future to see Emerson and Mayer play well, the Ephs will need Whittington back against tougher teams (in particular Amherst in 10 days). 

[Old Guy]

Middlebury over Rensselaer this afternoon 77-60. The Engineers broke early, went up 11-5 and 18-16 before Middlebury went on a big run, sparked by the D, to go up at the half by 18, 47-29.  Rensselaer is game, but small, pressed fullcourt most of the half. Sharry was huge in the run. Thompson hit three 3s.

Panthers went out to a 25 point lead in the second half. The subs played the last seven minutes. Sharry had 18 points (7-12) with 13 boards (nine offensive) in 23 minutes (no one had more than Thompson's 25 minutes). Wolfin had 12 assists!

Plattsburgh, there, will be a real test on Tuesday; Colby Sawyer in NH on Thursday. C-S was one of Midd's two regular season losses last year.

Bucket did a great job at courtside as the P.A. announcer.

[nescac1]

It sounds like Williams played its worst game of the year today.  Maker's comments at the end sum it up pretty well, ouch:

http://athletics.williams.edu/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/201101028x3ntf

Even without Whittington, no way that Williams should ever be outscored in a half by a Westfield team that Amherst beat by 50.  Williams was ice, ice cold in the second half.  Still, better to teach from a victory than a loss, and I imagine Williams will come out a bit stronger vs. Elms in the last pre-Amherst tune up. 

In the only bright spots, Wang and Robertson continued their strong perimeter play of late (Robertson has hit 4 in row from three after starting the year 2-13, so it seems like he is all the way back from his shooting elbow injury), and Epley continues to come on -- he is developing into a reliable option at the four, which remains Williams' biggest question mark.  If Dodson can get his three point stroke back to where it was the last few years, that would really help out as well.  The Emerson / Mayer combo had much less success in their second game trying to replace Troy -- I would guess the Ephs will look to get both more involved in the offense tomorrow.  Still, without a 100 percent healthy Whittington, the road game against Amherst could be a struggle.  Hopefully he will be able to practice and then play at full strength by next Saturday, as Williams is just a very different team without him. 

A few other NESCAC notes -- Tufts is only one win away from equaling last year's season total, despite losing the bulk of its offensive production.  Tufts seems to be playing much better as a team, and is both more balanced and more defense-oriented, than the past few seasons.  They seem to have a nice group of new players making big contributions. 

Colby continues to struggle.  Mike Russell has a strange season stat line, shooting 57 percent from the field but 39 (!) percent from the line, including an incredible 2-13 in today's narrow loss.  Tough to win a close game when your go-to interior player, and leader (by far) in FTA attempts, has a foul shooting issue.  He shot a passable .59 percent at the line last year, and .60 percent the prior year, indicating that it is probably a mental block of some sort. 

I was surprised to see Bates lose two games this weekend, despite being back to full health.  At this point, the only NESCAC teams with a realistic chance at a Pool C bid are Amherst, Midd, and Williams.  Those three appear to be far ahead of everyone else in the league, and accordingly all should post gaudy records and be a good bet for post season play, especially with some of the other traditional regional contenders (WPI, MIT, RIC) racking up early losses and/or looking vulnerable. 

[magicman]

nescac 1,
Any idea what Whittington's injury is? We've got that game in our pick em league this week and I like Williams, but sure do want the big guy on the floor for this one.

[nescac1]

Another ugly win for Williams without Whittington, but hey, a win's a win.  The Ephs played very well in the first half but not so well in the second.  It was a REALLY choppy game with tons of questionable foul calls, interrupting any flow whatsoever.  Both coaches picked up technicals, and I don't think I ever remember seeing Maker get T'd up before. 

The announcers said Whittington will likely not play against Amherst but didn't give any more details about how much total time he is expected to miss.   Hopefully he will back relatively soon as the Ephs, again, are a totally different team on both ends without him.  Emerson and Maker played fairly well in his stead (this experience will serve them well next year and they are certainly capable players, albeit inexperienced), combining for 19 and 13, but they just don't command the defensive attention Troy does, and on defense, the Ephs suddenly are much easier to score against inside.  Williams will definitely have a tough time beating Amherst on the road without him, but they have the talent to do so if they play more like they did in the first half and in the Salem State game and if the perimeter players are on from outside. 

In bright spots for Williams, Dodson broke out of his slump with three threes, and they had outstanding balance, with eight guys between 8 and 13 points.  Taylor Epley played very well  overall and continues to improve each game. 

On the down side, Williams really didn't move the ball particularly well in the second half, lots of forced shots and way too many careless turnovers, never could get into a flow after a lot of pretty basketball in the first half.  They did have several deep shots rim out but sometimes those are the breaks.  They have a lot to work on in the next four days and have to hope Troy will be back soon. 

[magicman]

nescac1
Thanks for the info on Whittington.


On another topic. For anyone who is interested, #22 Plattsburgh hosts #6 Middlebury on Tuesday night at 8 PM and the D3hoops scoreboard doesn't show any links for live stats, but according to Plattsburgh State's website they are available. Here is a link:

http://www.sidearmstats.com/plattsburgh/mbball/index.htm 

[eph partisan]

From what I understand, it was Maker's first technical ever as a coach.

Last night was the only game I will get to see in person this year, and it was not the best one I could have attended, to say the least. The team is completely different without Troy in there, but it struck me that the Ephs weren't just missing an All-American big man - it seemed at times as though they were playing without the precision and urgency which allowed them to simply run all over opponents of Elms' caliber last year. Wang had trouble with Elms' quick and little guards, particularly in the second half, but at least three of his six  turnovers were caused by a lack of attentiveness by his teammates. The cuts weren't as sharp as they could have been, the ball movement was a touch slow, everyone's hands could have been better (particularly on the boards), and the defensive rotations could have been much better.

All that said, many of the Ephs' problems looked like growing pains, which you would hope would be gone by this point in the season, but the group is so inexperienced that it isn't surprising. The Ephs had nine guys play 12 minutes or more, and six of those weren't in the rotation last year. I don't think I would count Klemm in the 'inexperienced' group at point - he is going to develop into an exceptional scorer, and every shot he takes looks like it's going in. However, I think Maker is looking to get Epley, Rooke-Ley, Mickens, Emerson, and Mayer (yes, they had to play the minutes they did due to Troy's injury, but I am not sure that changes the equation) into a place that they can comfortably contribute in the NESCAC and beyond. Eventually, Maker is going to cut his rotation, and he needs these guys to know the ropes so that he has the best set of options to pick from down the stretch.

I would imagine that Mickens and Mayer will eventually fall out of the rotation into spot duty, much like Ethan Timmins-Schiffman last year, but only time will tell. Dodson may see less time, too, though if he has rediscovered his shooting stroke for good, please ignore that comment.

As an aside, the three freshmen are going to be very, very good. Watching them develop will be fun. It will be interesting to see which of them, if any, becomes the Ephs' go-to guy in a few years.

[Old Guy]

Middlebury comes through in a big test tonight at #21 Plattsburgh, 88-82 (the women's and men's scores are reversed on the NESCAC scoreboard). This was a 3 point game with under six minutes left, before Middlebury blew it open to go ahead by 17 (82-65) with 1:53 left. Plattsburgh then went 17-6 in the last couple minutes. Scary.  In many ways, a decisive win . Score was tied at the half, 37 all.

Very balanced attack for Midd: Thompson 9 points; Locke 11; Wolfin 12; Sharry 14 (13 rebounds); Kizell 9. Wholey was huge, with 24 big points (5-9 from three, 9-15 overall). He's a key at the three. Both Wolfin and Kizell had ten assists - that's 22 assists for Wolfin in two games. Middlebury won the battle of the boards, 44-35.

That's a good win.

[grabtherim]

Big road win with Wholey leading the way. Nice team effort, not as close as score indicates after big 2nd half run.  Coach Brown might have gone to the bench a bit early.  Midd in nice shape at guard with the Jersey Boys, Jake and Joey dropping 20 dimes between them tonight.  If this team gets consistent outside shooting to compliment the surging Wholey, Thompson maybe, they could do some damage with Sharry and Locke cleaning up the trash inside.   

[magicman]

I went to the Middlebury-Plattsburgh State game and this is a copy of a  post I put on the SUNYAC board:

Just returned from watching #22 Plattsburgh State take on #6 Middlebury at Memorial Hall. The boys from Vermont were just too tough tonight and managed to outshoot and out-rebound the Cards on their home floor to come away with an 88-82 win in the marquee matchup of Division 3 Hoops tonight. I don't know if anybody is going to out-rebound the Panthers this year with the front line they put on the floor. Maybe Williams or Amherst might but there's not many D3 teams with a starting five of 6'10", 6'8",  6'4", 6'3," and 6'2".

Middlebury came out of the blocks in a hurry and quickly grabbed a 9-2 advantage after the first few minutes of play. Plattsburgh came back with a 12-0 run that featured back to back old fashioned 3 point plays by Steve Thomas and Chris Ruiz. That gave the Cards a 14-9 lead which would match their biggest lead of the night. Seven more lead changes and a tie would follow until the Panthers went up 37-33 on an alley-oop dunk by Andrew Locke on a nice feed from Jake Wolfin with a minute to play in the half. Thomas then drove to the hoop for a layup and as the Panthers were trying to position themselves for the final shot of the period, Carl Munnerlyn stole the ball and Thomas hit a jump shot at the buzzer to send the teams into the break tied at 37.

The teams continued to trade baskets through the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half with Middlebury gaining a slight advantage in that they maintained a 1 or 2 possession lead. The turning point of the game came with about 7 minutes left to play and it was an old nemesis of the Cardinals, foul shooting, which was partly responsible. Plattsburgh had made 6 of 7 free throws in the 1st half but they were down 59-55 when they made three trips to the line for 2 shot fouls over the next 1:56. They missed 5 straight free throws before making 1 and that would have kept the game a 1 or 2 possession contest. Instead the Panthers scored after each of the Cards free throw trips, and quickly had the first double digit lead by either team at 70-59. The Cardinals continued to fall further behind and then with 1:53 remaining, Cardinal Guard Josh Bruno, who had 14 minutes of playing time at that point, re-entered the game. Bruno had taken 3 shots earlier in the game, all from behind the arc and made all 3. He promptly proceeds to hit another triple with 1:43 left, then steals the ball, makes a layup is fouled and hits the free throw at the 1:21 mark for another 3 point play. With 33 seconds left he nails another 3 pointer, is fouled and makes the free throw to complete the 4 point play. With 21 seconds left he is fouled again and makes both foul shots(Damn only 2 pts). The Cards get another steal and Bruno, this time from about 3 feet behind the line nails another 3 pointer with 16 seconds left on the clock, to complete a run of 15 pts in ONE MINUTE AND 37 SECONDS. Josh ended up playing 16 minutes in the game and he tied Ryan Wholey of the Panthers for the game's scoring honors with 24. Bruno was a perfect 7x7 from the field and 6x6 from 3 point land. Strangely enough when the Cards missed those 5 free throws in a row, he missed 2 of them( both spun out) but did make his next 4 attempts. Bruno's heroics did bring the Cardinals back from a double digit deficit and made the final score of 88-82 a bit more respectable. Even Panther coach Jeff Brown got a touch nervous as he watched a 16 pt lead dwindle to 5, forcing him to call a time out with just a few seconds left. It seems to me that 15 points scored by an individual in 97 seconds (and it's not by a player that is on a winning team and is repeatedly being fouled so most of his points are coming as free throws) should be some kind of record. It's probably not, but it sure was fun to watch.

In addition to Bruno's 24 pts, the Cardinals had 3 other players in double figures. Carl Munnerlyn had 16 pts (6x12 fg, 4x9 3's,), Steve Thomas had 14 pts (5x10 fg, 0x1 3's 4x5 ft) plus Errol Daniyan managed a double-double with 12 pts (5x13 fg, 2x3 ft) and 10 rebounds. The Cardinals shot 29x67 (43.3%) from the field, 11x11 (50%) from beyond the arc and 13x19 (68.4%) from the foul line. The Panthers won the rebound battle 44 to 35 and both teams committed only 12 turnovers apiece. Strange statistic of the night: Middlebury leads the nation in blocked shots but tonight they only had 3, while  the Cardinals had 4, ( 3 by Daniyan) against the Panthers.

Middlebury also had 4 players in double figures. Ryan Wholey scored 24 pts (9x15 fg, 5x9 3's, 1x3 ft) along with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Ryan Sharry and Jake Wolfin both managed double-doubles. Sharry had 14 pts (5x12 fg, 1x2 3's, 3x7 ft) along with 13 rebounds, while Wolfin had 12 pts (4x10 fg, 2x6 3's, 2x2 ft) and 10 assists. Andrew Locke had 11 pts (5x7 fg, 1x2 ft), 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Joey Kizel just missed a double-double with 10 assists and a perfect 9 points (2x2 fg, 1x1 3's, 4x4 ft). Panthers shot 31x63 (49.2%) from the field, 10x23 (43.5%) from 3 point land and 16x28 from the foul line.

Plattsburgh now 6-2, in the midst of a 4 games in 5 days stretch, is right back at it Wednesday night taking on another solid D3 team as the Blazers from Elms College will pay a visit to Memorial Hall at 6 PM.

Middlebury improves to 8-0 and returns to action on Thursday evening as they travel to Colby-Sawyer  for a 7 PM matchup. 
                 

   
 

[Old Guy]

Thanks for the great description of the Midd-Plattsburgh game, Magicman. I didn't go to the game, in the interest of domestic tranquility, but I hope to go to Colby-Sawyer tomorrow. I would have have been a wreck in the last minute as Bruno was doing his extraordinary thing (it would have reminded me of the Panther loss to Brdigewater State two years ago in the NCAA second round game at Middlebury). It would appear Bruno might deserve a bit more floor time in the future.

[amh63]

The Amherst MBB game with Wes. is at 6 PM in LeFrak.  It is on the web free, though the announcers need to stay focused.
It should be interesting since the team has not really played in awhile.  This game and the game with Williams on Sat. do not count for conference standings... but will matter with the next meetings with Wes. and Williams away.
The writeup wrt to the Johnson &Wales game in North Miami is on the Amherst site.  The boxscore finally arrived after a week.  It is interesting that S. Noon and P. Kaasila  were not listed.  The good news was that J. Holmes went 7 for 7 from the field.
Looking forward to see if anyone can stop S. Brown.

[magicman]

Thanks for the great description of the Midd-Plattsburgh game, Magicman. I didn't go to the game, in the interest of domestic tranquility, but I hope to go to Colby-Sawyer tomorrow. I would have have been a wreck in the last minute as Bruno was doing his extraordinary thing (it would have reminded me of the Panther loss to Brdigewater State two years ago in the NCAA second round game at Middlebury). It would appear Bruno might deserve a bit more floor time in the future.

And that's exactly what Plattsburgh State coach Tom Curle said in today's newspaper. His quote was: "He's going to get more minutes if he can continue to do that throughout the game. I'm more impressed with the ones he hit in the first half than the ones he hit in the end." Bruno had a similar outing about a year ago where he scored about a dozen points in a very short time by knocking down a bunch of threes, but then hurt his ankle just before the Middlebury game last year and missed the rest of the season.

Your Panthers impressed me last year when I traveled over to Pepin Gym to see the game between Plattsburgh and Middlebury, and they've only gotten better this year. It could be a magical season for the Panthers and maybe erase some of the disappointment of their last 2 NCAA tournaments with those early round upsets. It's possible that our teams could meet again down the road if they both experience some tournament success. I hope that if it does occur it's in at least a 3rd round game either here or at Middlebury and not some place 400 miles away, so that we both may attend the game . I talked to Coach Brown after the game last night and told him those sharpshooters he has reminded me of him when he was firing em up for UVM and when he used to come over to Plattsburgh to play in our annual PBA Semi-Pro Tournament every year, after he graduated.  Good luck with your Panthers. I'm rooting for them as well, as they are my pick in the Undefeated Survivor pool on the Multi-Regional Board.

[jumpshot]

Anyone know why David Waller didn't play for Amherst tonight?

[walzy31]

Anyone know why David Waller didn't play for Amherst tonight?

Precautionary day off was the word from the gym tonight. Everybody is hype for the showdown Saturday afternoon!