MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

As incredible as it sounds, I actually have two ... not to mention my traitor cousin who chose Amherst and graduated in 2010.   Fortunately, thanks to football, I have done fairly well on the betting front over the years, as a result ...

[walzy31]

NESCAC Championship Weekend Spreads

Trinity @ Williams
Williams -14.0
O/U: 144.0

Amherst Vs. Middlebury (@ Williams)
Amherst -5.0
O/U: 135.0

Proposition Bets
Who Will Win the 2011 NESCAC Championship?
Williams -110
Middlebury +240
Amherst +220
Trinity +900

How Many Will Wang Explode for in the Weekend?
0-9   +1000
10-19 +440
20-29 +300
30-34 +240
35-39 +210
40-44 +160
45-49 +100
50-59 +140
60+   +700

"The All-Crazy Bet" - Who scores more points on Saturday Only?
Andrew Locke -110
Pete Kaasila -110
Chris Applegate +200
Harlan Dodson +450

Number of Made Free Throws for 6'8" Williams starter Harlan Dodson on the Weekend:
Over: 2.5 -115
Under: 2.5 -115

Most Assists in Entire Weekend:
Wang/Robertson -200
Meehan/Toomey +100
Wolfin/Kizel -110
Sutton/Fels +550

[amh63]

Great inputs Walzy!.....need a little time to take all the info in.  It will focus posters on the games ahead vice further "bonding" posts.
For those lucky posters that will be at the festivities this weekend...be careful.  Early weather reports for the area of Western Mass. etc. are not good.

[O-Boards10]

Article in the Boston Globe West featuring Bowdoin recruit, John Swords.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2011/02/20/towering_presences_shooting_for_the_stars/

I won't say he'll be the best center in the league as a freshman, but then again with no Locke or Whittington next year, what other centers besides Kaasila are there to talk about? Emerson from Williams perhaps but no one else that I can see.

[nescac1]

I haven't seen Swords play, obviously, but if he is a 7 footer with the skills to be a huge impact guy from the get go, it seems hard to imagine he would be playing D-III.  Now, he is obviously an unusual case, as someone who came to the game late and has been improving by leaps and bounds, but still, dominating against 6'4 17 and 18 year olds is a far cry from dominating against experienced and talented 6'8-6'9 21 and 22 year olds, and I haven't read anywhere about any D-1 interest, which kind of raises an eyebrow.  Remember Eric Gingold, a jacked, 7'3 monster who played for Williams back in the 90's (the tallest Jew ever to play college hoops!) who basically never got off the bench in four years. 

Bowdoin has the luxury of a returning 6'10 starting center who I imagine will continue to improve, so they can afford to bring Swords around slowly.  He has the potential to eventually be a special talent at the D-3 level from what I've read, but I'd bet against him making a huge impact as a frosh, when he is probably a long shot to even start.  Still, if he keeps improving at the current rate, it could be scary for the rest of NESCAC. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Final Regional Rankings are out before Selection Sunday: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/category/ncaa-stuff/regional-rankings/

[amh63]

"Final" regional rankings for the NE is scary/crazy.  Becker is ranked over WPI and Amherst.  I looked at Becker's schedule and wins.  Becker has equal wins away as at home...they play 12 away games and 12 home games.  Scores against Elms, Anna Maria, etc.....common wins with Amherst.....are all close, whereas Amherst won the games quite handily.   Bottom line, it is the SOS factor of high value for away games.  You can beat a weak team and get more "points" than a win over a tougher team.  I don't think the win spread matters.
 Another example of the the NCAA weakness with respect to Div3...lack of understanding and knowledge concerning Div 3 sports.  Too much attention to money concerns and money generating Divisions and sports.

[nescac1]

A few NESCAC recruiting notes:

This article mentions two Wesleyan commits, Bryan Galvin and Chris Tugman (at one of whom I think has not been previously mentioned here), as well as previously-mentioned future Polar Bear Bryan Hurley:

http://www.nba-draft.com/Blog200.html

This article mentions a big man, Jon Schmidt, who is looking at Middlebury and Williams, as well as Ivies:

http://www.explorebaltimorecounty.com/sports/111198/quaker-star-surpasses-milestone/

[Old Guy]

Here's the piece on Andrew Locke, beginning to end.

http://www.middlebury.edu/athletics/sports/mensbasketball/archive/2010-2011/news/node/272385

Big storm here today, looks like it will be over tomorrow. See you in Williamstown!

[Major Hoople]

How about an "on the ground" weather update for the Williamstown area for today and tomorrow.

[toad22]

Williamstown weather report: Snow till around 10PM Friday night and then blustery and cold thru Saturday. The roads are OK right now, and I expect they will only get better going forward. Things should be fine for tomorrow's games.

[Major Hoople]

Thanks, Toad.

[nescac1]

Gritty win by Williams.  The big story for the Ephs is that Nate Robertson suffered an ankle injury in the first half ... hopefully just a sprain and nothing more serious, but the Ephs are not the same team without him out there, definitely looked discombobulated on offense at times.  Trinity played very gritty and very physical defense, as evidenced by the huge number of fouls (all deserved) called against them.  The injury to Robertson really came on what looked (although I defer to those there) like a needless play, as he was fouled, then hammered again after the foul. 

Williams could not BUY a three point bucket all game, especially in the second half in which they had zero.  It's pretty incredible that, without one of their top three players for much of the game, shooting 4-20 from 3, the Ephs still managed to beat a quality team by double digits.  And really, it was all because of (a) good team defense and (b) Whittington, who was an absolute monster.  At one point, he scored 9 straight, including a steal and breakaway dunk, to move the game from a 3 point game to a 12 point game.  Finished with a crazy line of 31 points, 8 boards, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 10-10 from the field.  He simply could not be stopped.  Emerson, Dodson, Wang, and Rooke-Ley all had some key plays as well. 

Otherwise, the Ephs have a LOT of room to improve, and will have to if they hope to win tomorrow.  Hopefully, Robertson will be able to play, but if not, the Ephs will need much better perimeter shooting from Epley, Wang, Klemm, and Rooke-Ley, who combined to go 1-14 from 3!  Klemm continues to really have a rough time of it, but given that he is the Ephs' third leading scoring and top perimeter threat, he just has to be aggressive and keep shooting until he breaks out of his slump. 

[jumpshot]

A memorable win for Middlebury today ---and one of the worst losses in recent memory by Amherst who completely drifted away from any concept of team play the second half.

[nescac1]

Wow, amazing win by Middlebury.  Midd looked a bit flat in the first half, and Amherst basically did whatever they wanted on offense, I've never seen Midd (in recent years) play such soft D.  The second half, you could see Midd was totally fired up and played their more usual style of defense from the outset, just played with a lot of passion and desire.  Midd just played like they would not lose, and Amherst lost a bit of composure.  Other than continued struggles from the free throw line, Midd played a nearly flawless half of hoops. 

Kizel was absolutely tremendous on both ends, dominating fellow frosh Toomey (what happened to him the last few weeks of the season??).  Amherst did not play smart or patient on offense, continually taking the ball into Locke, who got swat after swat.  Not the way to play vs. Midd.  Locke and Sharry were beasts inside, I have no idea how Williams will deal with their size, but I think you will see a lot of Emerson and Whittington on the floor together tomorrow.  Really hope Robertson can play, because without him the Ephs' backcourt advantage is totally negated.   

As crazy as it seems, Amherst may have to sweat out the tourney selection now that Becker and Western Conn have lost (although they are ranked ahead of Western Conn, so should be OK there).  If WPI loses and there are a lot of conf. tourney upsets, there is a slight possibility Amherst is shut out, although I'd still be shocked.  They will likely get a road game in the first round though, no matter what ...