MBB: NESCAC

[JustAFan]

Early Decision I commits:  Bates gets a point guard and a 6-6 forward while Wesleyan gets a point guard.  Details at http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/647/More-Commitments.php

[nescac1]

Nice 30 point win for the Ephs over a not-horrific Nichols team (they lost to Conn by only 2).  The Ephs will have a real challenge at Salem State -- Salem has one of the best big men in the region, and the Ephs are still without their injured starting PF and C ... one of these years the Ephs may actually catch a break and NOT have half of their big men injured for the first third of the season ...

I wonder if the Ephs' recruiting is pushed back to regular decision because Maker got a late start, or if they just recruited out of region guys?  I have heard nothing at all about any Eph recruits ...

[walzy31]

Walzy is pretty excited to finally catch an Amherst game (albeit against Caltech). I'll report back with my thoughts but am sure that Friday's Pomona game will be more telling.

Amherst -47.5 @ Caltech

Last 2008 prediction:
Elms goes 24-0 in the regular season and rises way way way too high in the D3hoops.com top 25 rankings (Top 5).

[Old Guy]

I caught Middlebury-RPI last night, a 16 point win for the Panthers in a ragged contest. Two teams coming back after two weeks off. Good first half - Middlebury up by four, 34-30. Middlebury couldn't stop RPI's Sam Simmons in the paint, 19 points, 9 rebounds in the half. In the second half, Middlebury doubled Simmons and the Engineers shot atrociously (4-29 for the half; 0-15 from three for the game). Middlebury's front court is impressive: Smith, Locke, Sharry, sophomore Jamal Davis. Locke looks more and more comfortable out there. Outside shooting, thought to be a strength, still not coming around (3-17 from three). Fourth year at the point, Rudin is still terrific bringing the ball up against pressure.

Middlebury (8-2 against decent competition; just three home games) vs Hamilton, at Hamilton, on Saturday: a real test.

[walzy31]

Walzy is pretty excited to finally catch an Amherst game (albeit against Caltech). I'll report back with my thoughts but am sure that Friday's Pomona game will be more telling.

Amherst -47.5 @ Caltech

Amherst 106 Caltech 56  ...still got it.
It was great to see Amherst in action on the West Coast and I am glad they made me look like I still know how to cap games. Amherst's competition lived up to the stereotype of being the worst college basketball team in the country. Amherst was up 25 about 10 minutes into the game. For anyone that hasn't seen Caltech play ever, they really are that bad. Wesleyan the past two seasons would beat them by 25-30. The final score was pretty solid but I wasn't impressed with the level of play by Amherst. It's also hard to get up for a game against a team who hasn't won a conference game in 15 years or a conference title since 1954 (the lone little banner in the gym which looks so sad that they should either take it down or make it ten times bigger as a joke). Last Caltch comment (more of an instruction than a suggestion): You have to change your pregame warm-up drills! No one who is older than 4th graders gets in two lines facing each other near half court with two ball handlers dribbling at each other and then crossing over to the other hand when they reach the other dribbler. No one.

Friday was a different opponent and a different Amherst team.
Amherst 74 Pomona 52
Amherst looked like a top 5 team in the country. They shot the crap out of the ball and played tough defense for 40 minutes. It was a performance that other NE teams should cross their fingers and hope that they don't come across face-to-face (I wonder what Babson is thinking after all the coaches and players stayed to watch the Amherst fire storm). Pomona was up 11-8 four or five minutes into the game before Amherst went on a torrid 23-0. During the run, Wheeler/Baskauskas/Meehan combined to not miss a shot the big man Jeff Holmes added a FT. When Amherst is that dialed in, they don't lose, however, I personally thought Pomona hung with Amherst the best when they dropped back into their 2-3 zone.

11-16 3pt FGA (68.8%) in a half is ridiculous.
Impressive performances were turned in by:
-Baskauskas (minus the first three minutes of the second half - still finished with 20 and 9 including a 38 footer and a two handed jam on some kid)
-Wheeler (an efficient night of taking what was given to him minus a miss from the hash mark that had Hixon fuming. Had 2 rebounds tonight and should get 4+ per game)
-Holsey (strong defense and rebounding. Going to need him healthy all season)
-Wong (the best game I have seen GWong play. 11 pts, a few great passes, a couple boards and played with a lot of heart all in 13 minutes)
-Meehan (Used his size well on offense and controlled the tempo for Amherst all game. I was especially impressed with the way he was able to break the press and then transition into half court sets and not continue the hectic energy that goes along with breaking the press)

-Waller is going to be a stud in the future for Amherst and the key silent assassin for Amherst this season. Certainly not the #1 weapon on offense, but then you forget about him and he blows by you for a dunk or pulls a three in your face. I'm extremely excited to watch his career develop and see what he does the next 3 months. He has to be considered to be a ROY front runner. He also missed a dunk on a breakaway against Caltech (always worth a call out).
-Barrise impressed me more in the Caltech game than in the Pomona game. He was quiet tonight.
-Holmes is raw but has potential.
-Zaitz, Prowitt and Johnson are the young freshman that in a Hixon system are impossible to know much about unless you catch some practices or intra-squad scrimmages. Good young size hopefully.

Players who were quiet in Pasadena this week but will be key role players for the Jeffs this season are Kurt Bennett and Marcus Bradley. There are going to be a lot of games where these two are going to get 10-25 minutes per game combined and will be influential in the teams success.

Good to see Carcieri healthy. He is the best on ball defender on the team without question.

Cumulative 30-59 50.8%
I'll go out on a limb and predict that this percentage increases after the Cal Tech game on 12/31...

After both the Caltech and Pomona games, the class of 2009 upped their 3pt fg totals on the season to 42-80 52.5%

See you in Salem again for the Amherst Invitational hosted by the ODAC and City of Salem, VA.
(it's all anyone on this team knows...)

Also, Coach Hixon is hammering down on 600 wins and I predict he will reach that this season (586-225 career record). Wasn't it just four seasons ago he won his 500th and eight seasons ago he won his 400th?

It was 75 degrees on New Year's Eve, but it is still a tough trade off not getting to see Amherst hoops play that often.

Philosophical Question of the Day: If an assistant coach isn't on the bench for a game because he is scouting/recruiting, does the result of said game count towards the assistant coaches' win/loss record?

-Walzy

[Old Guy]

Nice win for Middlebury at Hamilton, 73-49. Rudin was 4-15; Smith 1-2.  Middlebury is deep. Dudley broke out with 6-7 from three (team was 11-23).

Two strong games in a row (RPI, Hamilton) for Tim Edwards - 10 points (4-7); 11 rebounds, 7 assists. He plays the off-guard, picks up the other team's best player, and brings the all up when Rudin is out. He's a long 6'3", very versatile, junior. 

Midd outrebounded Hamilton, 47-26. Locke had 10 points (4-8), 9 rebounds, 2 blocks in 19 minutes. Sharry had 9 points (4-6).

[T990]

walzy31 wrote:  Amherst's competition lived up to the stereotype of being the worst college basketball team in the country.

You have to wonder why a top D3 power would be scheduling a game against CalTech.

walzy31 wrote:   Last Caltch comment (more of an instruction than a suggestion): You have to change your pregame warm-up drills! No one who is older than 4th graders gets in two lines facing each other near half court with two ball handlers dribbling at each other and then crossing over to the other hand when they reach the other dribbler. No one.

Well, it is my understanding that most if not all of the CalTech players did not play varsity basketball in high school.  Maybe this is the level of basketball development that they are currently at.

Like the NCAA says in their ad, the CalTech players will be going pro in something other than sports.   

[Pat Coleman]

Agreed on Caltech -- sometimes the fundamentals are worth working on, Walzy.

[nescac1]

NESCAC really continues to struggle like never before.  Amherst is still looking strong and until they lose has to be considered the favorite, although they have played a very weak schedule and don't seem to be as dominant as in recent years.  Middlebury and Williams should both be league contenders now that they have their big men healthy (the five losses they have combined for came w/out Smith and Geoghegan respectively, and most of those losses were against very solid opponents).  Outside of those three, hard to imagine any NESCAC team even sniffing the post season this year without a miraculous NESCAC tourney run.  Bowdoin has come down to earth as expected after their early stretch of almost entirely home games.  Wesleyan is awful, Trinity's results are mystifying -- seem to be playing below their talent level, perhaps the coaching change and all the personnel turnover was just too much all at once.  The rest of the conference looks closely bunched in mediocrity: Conn too small, Colby too reliant on just a few key guys, Bates inconsistent, and Tufts a one or on some nights a two man gang. 

Rest of new england isn't much better -- outside of Elms, is any other team in the region a credible national contender?  Brandeis, RIC, and some other pre-season faves have really performed below expectations. 

[walzy31]

walzy31 wrote:  Amherst's competition lived up to the stereotype of being the worst college basketball team in the country.

You have to wonder why a top D3 power would be scheduling a game against CalTech.

walzy31 wrote:   Last Caltch comment (more of an instruction than a suggestion): You have to change your pregame warm-up drills! No one who is older than 4th graders gets in two lines facing each other near half court with two ball handlers dribbling at each other and then crossing over to the other hand when they reach the other dribbler. No one.

Well, it is my understanding that most if not all of the CalTech players did not play varsity basketball in high school.  Maybe this is the level of basketball development that they are currently at.

Like the NCAA says in their ad, the CalTech players will be going pro in something other than sports.   

T990,

First of all, thank you for putting my quotes in purple...purple is the best.

Second, Amherst didn't call up Caltech and ask them if they wanted a game. Amherst signed up for the Holiday Classic which had 6 or 8 teams (Amherst, Babson, Pomona, Caltech, Whittier, Occidental etc.). Pomona was the lone guarenteed game, and Amherst was also guarenteed they wouldn't get Babson for the second game (Amherst plays them in a week). The rest was left up to chance. I am sure that if you asked Hixon or any of the 20 guys on the Amherst roster if they would have preferred to play Occidental or Caltech that you would get a unanimous response to Oxy. In fact, I bet if you asked them if they would have preferred to play Caltech or the IM champion from Trinity or Tufts, they would have voted the IM route.

Third, good point about Caltech needing to work on dribbling and crossovers. They also should mix in some bounce passing, rebounding, and shooting to their practice routine.

[Bluesky]

Glad to see Williams finally getting healthy going into the meat of their schedule. The addition of Geoghegan adds another dimension to this team and certainly will help them as he works himself into great shape. I think this team is underrated, perhaps due to their 3 losses which may have been wins with a healthy squad. This is a team that will get better.

I am concerned, however, that Snyder and Schultz appear to be taking too many shots. They appear to take good shots but in doing so, they are passing up great shots for others players who are open. When those shots are not falling, as in recent games, Williams struggles.

Also, the point guard position still remains unsettled.

[Hugenerd]

walzy31 wrote:  Amherst's competition lived up to the stereotype of being the worst college basketball team in the country.

You have to wonder why a top D3 power would be scheduling a game against CalTech.

walzy31 wrote:   Last Caltch comment (more of an instruction than a suggestion): You have to change your pregame warm-up drills! No one who is older than 4th graders gets in two lines facing each other near half court with two ball handlers dribbling at each other and then crossing over to the other hand when they reach the other dribbler. No one.

Well, it is my understanding that most if not all of the CalTech players did not play varsity basketball in high school.  Maybe this is the level of basketball development that they are currently at.

Like the NCAA says in their ad, the CalTech players will be going pro in something other than sports.   

walzy31 wrote:  Amherst's competition lived up to the stereotype of being the worst college basketball team in the country.

You have to wonder why a top D3 power would be scheduling a game against CalTech.

walzy31 wrote:   Last Caltch comment (more of an instruction than a suggestion): You have to change your pregame warm-up drills! No one who is older than 4th graders gets in two lines facing each other near half court with two ball handlers dribbling at each other and then crossing over to the other hand when they reach the other dribbler. No one.

Well, it is my understanding that most if not all of the CalTech players did not play varsity basketball in high school.  Maybe this is the level of basketball development that they are currently at.

Like the NCAA says in their ad, the CalTech players will be going pro in something other than sports.   

T990,

First of all, thank you for putting my quotes in purple...purple is the best.

Second, Amherst didn't call up Caltech and ask them if they wanted a game. Amherst signed up for the Holiday Classic which had 6 or 8 teams (Amherst, Babson, Pomona, Caltech, Whittier, Occidental etc.). Pomona was the lone guarenteed game, and Amherst was also guarenteed they wouldn't get Babson for the second game (Amherst plays them in a week). The rest was left up to chance. I am sure that if you asked Hixon or any of the 20 guys on the Amherst roster if they would have preferred to play Occidental or Caltech that you would get a unanimous response to Oxy. In fact, I bet if you asked them if they would have preferred to play Caltech or the IM champion from Trinity or Tufts, they would have voted the IM route.

Third, good point about Caltech needing to work on dribbling and crossovers. They also should mix in some bounce passing, rebounding, and shooting to their practice routine.

It is true that many of the players on Caltech did not even play high school basketball, but it is definitely not true that ALL of them didnt play in high school.  They have two or three decent players.  You have to take into account at how difficult it is to get players to want to come to Caltech and then actually get them accepted.  You might think it is just as hard at MIT, but it is actually even harder, because MIT has undergrad classes of about 1000-1200 while Caltech has only 250-300 students per year.   This isnt something that a new coach (like Coach Eslinger, in his first year) can change overnight.  Its not like they have lots of talent and they have just underperformed for a quarter century.  The problem is that they dont have the talent to compete with many teams regardless of who the coach is: Phil Jackson could come by and implement the triangle offense and they still wouldnt win any games.  It is going to take some time for Coach Eslinger to recruit and work with admissions to get him some real players there.

[walzy31]

It is true that many of the players on Caltech did not even play high school basketball, but it is definitely not true that ALL of them didnt play in high school.  They have two or three decent players.  You have to take into account at how difficult it is to get players to want to come to Caltech and then actually get them expected.  You might think it is just as hard at MIT, but it is actually even harder, because MIT has undergrad classes of about 1000-1200 while Caltech has only 250-300 students per year.   This isnt something that a new coach (like Coach Eslinger, in his first year) can change overnight.  Its not like they have lots of talent and they have just underperformed for a quarter century.  The problem is that they dont have the talent to compete with many teams regardless of who the coach is: Phil Jackson could come by and implement the triangle offense and they still wouldnt win any games.  It is going to take some time for Coach Eslinger to recruit and work with admissions to get him some real players there.

Agree completely.

[ephoops]

Glad to see Williams finally getting healthy going into the meat of their schedule. The addition of Geoghegan adds another dimension to this team and certainly will help them as he works himself into great shape. I think this team is underrated, perhaps due to their 3 losses which may have been wins with a healthy squad. This is a team that will get better.

I am concerned, however, that Snyder and Schultz appear to be taking too many shots. They appear to take good shots but in doing so, they are passing up great shots for others players who are open. When those shots are not falling, as in recent games, Williams struggles.

Also, the point guard position still remains unsettled.

Ephs game with Springfield should be a good test heading into the Amherst game on Saturday.

Also, it looks like the broadcast of the  Amherst game on Saturday will be available over the Internet.

To watch the broadcast on Saturday at 4:00 pm go here:

http://interface.audiovideoweb.com/lvlnk/ld/il83winlive3214

The women's game will be broadcast via the same link above at 2:00 pm.

[nescac1]

Holy cow.  Wesleyan beats Amherst.  Down goes Frazier!  Upset of the decade in NESCAC basketball.  Incredible.  I guess Senator Frost will soon be regaling us with a bunch of I told you so's.   When was the last time Wes beat Amherst?  Jeremy Kaminer has the game of his life for Wes, who held Baskauskas to 5-17, 1-7 from 3.  Looking forward to Walzy's breakdown of the NBA potential of the various Amherst players much like following wins over the likes of CalTech. 

Ephs with a solid 15 point road win over Springfield despite the fact that they shot miserably from 3.  Big Joe was the difference, he provides the inside punch the Ephs desperately need.  Big game for Snyder.  Schultz 0 for his last 13 from 3.  He will have to heat up to his early season levels, and the Ephs will need someone from Rubin/Dodson/Timmins to pitch in in a big way and help the big 3, if they want to beat what is sure to be an insanely fired up Amherst team, who will be desperate not to lose two straight little 3 games for the first time in who knows how long.