MBB: NESCAC

[lefrakenstein]

Huge upset for Amherst. Once again the trend continues... when the Jeffs play committed defense they are an awfully tough squad to beat. Great way for the class of '09 to close out their careers in Lefrak.

[ephoops]

I saw the Williams Trinity game this afternoon.

Here are some random observations:

• The Ephs were sloppy with the ball this afternoon -- too many turnovers.


• The Ephs played man the entire game.  A zone would have helped.  Trin doesn't shoot it well from outside.  Also, some of the man matchups put the Ephs at a disadvantage on the perimeter.  I won't mention a name, but one of the Ephs forwards had a very difficult time guarding his man on the perimeter.  Trin exploited the mismatch repeatedly.


• Can someone please tell me why Maker doesn't give Troy W. more minutes???  He was by far the Ephs best rebounder on the interior and he's an extremely quick leaper inside.  He had a couple of blocks inside today where he literally exploded off his feet to block a shot.  I also thought he was effective on the interior offensively when he was given the ball down low.


• Rebounding was an issue when Whittington was out of the game in the second half -- Trin had a number of offensive rebounds.


• Wang is quick and brings good energy to the team when he's on the floor.  He can be a bit careless with the ball at times -- but he's only a freshman and he will get better.


• Trin played well.  They have some good athletes.  I can see them playing Amherst tough next week.  I don't think they'll win at Lefrak but it should be a close game.


• It looks like NESCAC may only get one bid if Midd wins out.

[ephoops]

Question:

Does the Amherst Jeffcast archive the basketball games??  If so, can someone provide a link.

[Old Guy]

Just got home from AmHerst. Lots of time in the car to chew over the game. Wife's birthday today, Valentine's Day, I figured I had no shot - and she said at 11:00 a.m., "beautiful day for a drive - let's go to Amherst." Nice lady.

Really good game, fiercely contested. Two good teams. I think the Jeffs said, "not here, on Senior Day." They played very hard. "Huge upset"? I don't see it that way. I was proud of the Panthers. They played with a lot of heart. I'll take an Amherst/Trinity road split. Midd had the ball, down three, with 30 seconds to play, couldn't convert. I sat with a friend from Amherst who's seen all their home games, and he said this was as well as he's seen the Jeffs play this year. Exciting game.

Bauskaskas (38 minutes) and Rudin (36), both at the top of their game. That was fun. Bauskaskas was feeling it today - one of his threes was from about 25'. Wong shot well (he's big! I thought he was a guard) and played tough defense. Holsey was a horse underneath. Midd only shot 35% from the floor, 58% from the line.

I was glad to get to see Amherst this year, see who they have and who's coming along. Their young players are good: Meehan, Waller, Barise. Meehan doesn't have much of an outside shot, but he surely goes hard to the hoop, and shoots foul shots well.

Maybe these teams will see each other again. The tourney will be fun. Anybody want to play Trinity? I look forward to Walzy's handicapping.

A tangential issue: LaFrak's nice, but it must be hard for visiting teams to adjust to the shooting background (or lack thereof) at the hoop by the front door - there's 50-100 feet of nothing but gym there. Disorienting. Must be hard for shooters to gauge depth.

When Locke got whistled for a goal tend on a shot at the rim, a Midd basketball alum teammate of mine said, "now that's a Middlebury record."

I'll take 8-1 in the league, 21-3 overall. Unprecedented. Wonderful. When Amherst fans chanted "Overrated, overrated, " in the last minute, I took it as a compliment. The Panthers have come a long way.

[frank uible]

eclinchy: Actually in 2004 Williams defeated Amherst three times - in the NCAA Final Four, in the NESCAC Final and during the regular season. I'm not sure whether any or all of those wins involved reasonable human shooting by Williams.

[sumfun]

Actually the lack of background in the Amherst gym is only on Williams game weekends as they put those extra bleachers there for additional seating.  Don't know if they will leave it that way for NESCAC first round as both men and women host next weekend or if they will take out bleachers and pull the curtain.

[ac08]

If both teams are playing at home, they will almost certainly have extra seating available.

...and the Amherst backdrop disadvantage is balanced by their loving rims.

[Old Guy]

"Loving rims" benefit both teams equally. A gym quirk benefits the team that practrices there and becomes adjusted to it.

[ac08]

I understand. I'm not saying Amherst doesn't an advantage shooting in the gym they practice in, I just think that opponents probably don't see much change in how they usually shoot because whatever problems they may have with depth perception are neutralized by shooter friendly rims....

Any predictions for first round match ups?

[Old Guy]

Re: shooting backgrounds: when I played, the way I shot, I was always looking for an excuse (I was a pitcher in baseball too and the mound and rubber on opposition diamonds were always responsible for my bases on balls).

I've seen all of the top seven NESCAC teams except Trinity. I think the tourney could be wild. On any given night . . . .  Middlebury beat everyone but Amherst, losing in a tight game on the Saturday afternoon after a double-overtime affair the night before, but . . . Bates took us to overtime in our gym; Williams lost by five in our gym when Geoghegan went down in the first half of the first half; Colby lost by five in our gym with Choice in foul trouble the whole game; the win vs Trinity was razor thin; Bowdoin was tough and licked Williams on Saturday after losing to us, Amherst - nuf ced. Are we overrated? No, we won all those games, and our non-league schedule is pretty good, but it's not like we dominated people. I realize good teams win close games (credit Jeff Brown too, who gets too few mentions here); the heart, character, and leadership of this Panther team is extraordinary.

I'm really glad we're playing at home.

[toad22]

Having now watched all the teams in the league at least once, I think the standings accurately reflect the relative strength of the teams. There are no great teams this year, but Middlebury is very, very good. Certainly any of the top 5 teams could win, but Midd is the clear favorite. Rudin gets my vote for POY. I'm just glad he's a senior. As for my Ephs, they have a chance in the playoffs, but need to take care of business against Bates and then put two good games together on consecutive days. The Amherst game was a joy to watch and the next day our play against Trinity was painful to watch. Trinity switched to a zone late in the first half and completely took us out of our offense. I really have no excuse for losing that game. If we had showed a little more composure and a greater sense of urgency it could have been a win. Instead, Trinity took the game with determined, focused play. They deserved the win.

[CCsalive]

Old Guy- I feel diss'd as in disrespected.

This is an 8 team tourney and unless you're looking for bad karma you might want to worry about the Camels. I'll put it this way...forget the home game. Be glad you've locked up a Pool C because you're going down you under-hand-free-throw-tossin Rick Barry wannabee.

[Bucket]

I know Old Guy. Old Guy is a friend of mine. And Old Guy is no Rick Barry wannabee. He's more of a Jeff Ruland type. 

[BankShotCharlie]

I know Old Guy. Old Guy is a friend of mine. And Old Guy is no Rick Barry wannabee. He's more of a Jeff Ruland type. 

Ahhh Jeff Ruland...  The bad boys tried to welcome him back from his luggage cart injury, but things just didn't quite work out.

http://www.allcoachnetwork.com/ruland/images/bottom-main.JPG

[CCsalive]

BankShot, Thank you for the epic Ruland picture. I saw him a few years ago when he was coaching Iona. He was watching a high school game at the White Plains County Center and his wife was gorgeous. So, in the end, he's an overachiever baby!!!!

Now, back to WWIII, Panthers v Camels, the clash continues:

I'm torn between the self-appointed sentiment coming from the Midd fans (albeit necessary since no one else has thrown them a single congratulatory bone) and the admonition on the part of Amherst fans (sorry if poor usage of admonish) that Midd is the clear cut favorite. I wrote weeks ago that the NESCAC tourney was still Amherst's to lose. I'd like to know if, after the Jeff's defeat of Midd, if anyone agrees with me (why Williams fans would not jump on this bandwagon with me, I do not know)? Amherst has ruled Northeast D-III hoops for years...anything less than an NCAA bid MUST be considered a disappointment. They went 7-2 in the league...this is not rebuilding! And, do not tell me that for Amherst this IS rebuilding. The Jeffs made a hell of a run, but it was a run, not a dynasty. Is the 'Herst going to win another NCAA title, ever? Williams has taken their lumps (and even upset Amherst in the NESCAC final during a season of "lump-taking"), is Amherst taking there's now? At 7-2, I would say, "No." One year removed from greatness, and re-stocked with new faces, I'd be out to prove something. Are they? Have they fallen from grace or are they still legit? It's one or the other. You're going dancing or your not. It's your conference, or its not. At 7-2, with a win over Midd, I'd be thinking its my conference, I'd be saying its my conference, I would not be granting little measly middlebury, with a lower case 'm', favorite status, home court or not.

I've praised midd, I like midd, but their not the favorite. Are they going to the NCAA no matter what? Yes. Best season in the league? Yes. NESCAC home court? Yes. POY? Yes. COY? Yes.
NESCAC Tourney Favorite? Hell F#ckin. No!
Hey Amherst...FYI- three straight Final Fours, Natl Title, you're 7-2 and you beat Middlebury and you're going to tell me they're the favorites? Guess what, you don't get to hide.