MBB: NESCAC

[magicman]

walzy,
Amherst may very well double the spread as they rolling over Vassar 57-26 with 16:48 to go.

Also Williams over Hamilton 96-61. Liberty League takes a beating tonight.

[walzy31]

Amherst -24.0 Vs. Vassar
Over/Under: 134.0

Amherst -19.5 Vs. Vassar
Over/Under: 128.0

Final
Amherst 88
Vassar 55

That was an ugly and much needed easy win for the Jeffs. Props to Alex Kantor and Ian Rothkopf doing the play-by-play. It's nice to see guys like Ron Buelow getting some air wave love.

[amh63]

It was ugly but interesting Walzy.  Every Amherst player dressed scored.....all 14.  Missing were Meehan, Noon and the shorter of the Texas twins.  The first year center R. Bryant had good numbers in the second half and showed smooth offensive moves inside.  He is really long.  Vasser is not a good team and had a short bench tonight.

[nescac1]

Most impressive performance of the season last night for Williams.  Ran a not-atrocious Hamilton team (lost by 15 on the road to Midd, a few decent wins) out of its gym, winning by 35.  Most impressive is the 40-20 rebounding margin, an area the Ephs have struggled with in recent games.  Ephs will need to play like this again (especially on the boards) to topple Midd on the road.  A few interesting notes for Williams:

-- early in the year, they relied too much on two guys, but the scoring has become more balanced; four straight games with the same four guys in double figures (Rubin, Whittington, Schultz, Wang), providing a nice balance of inside, outside, and mid-range games. 
-- Wang had his best line of the season, 16-7-6, only one T.O., did not miss a shot from field or line.  His numbers from the field are crazy for a PG: .58, .56, .81.   Even so, I think the Ephs play best in games like this, where his assist totals are close in number to his FGA, which gets everyone else in the flow. 
-- nice bounce-back game for Joe G, who after a tough weekend rebounded with 8-7, and also did not miss a shot
-- Robertson continues to develop into a steadying presence in the backcourt, with 19 assists against only 1 turnover (!) in his last six games.  Very mature for a frosh; does not try to do too much.  Eventually the Ephs will need him to be more aggressive, but as this team is constituted, that is the type of contribution they need from him. 
-- Whittington shooting 73 percent over his last five games.  Fair to say that he continues to warrant more attempts.  The sledding, of course, gets a lot tougher on Saturday against Midd's big guys.  Two interesting angles there -- the two top shot blocker in the league, Whittington v. Locke, who get it done in very different ways but are both intimidating, along with Whittington v. Davis, who were rivals in high school and the top players in the NYC prep league their senior years. 
-- Rubin continues to be hot; after a relatively slow start to the year, in 2010 he is shooting 28/54 from three in nine games, about 52 percent.  One of a group of crazy-good outside shooters in NESCAC this year (11 guys, all of whom are high-volume shooters on pace for over 70 three point attempts, shooting over 43 percent ... compare to last year, when seven guys finished at that level, and only three attempted more than 71 threes all year)

In other NESCAC news, Bowdoin and Tufts seemed to have pulled a switchero ... two straight solid wins for a Tufts team that had seemed hopeless (including the win over Bowdoin), while Bowdoin has after a strong start lost 4/5. 

Nice to see Carcieri get a start and make a difference for Amherst.  Seems like he's had tough luck over the years (I recall him being a fairly high-profile recruit), but credit to him for being persistent until he got a chance.  With the other point guards banged up it seems, Amherst will need him in the rest of conference play. 

Overall, Midd, Amherst, Colby and Williams continue to separate from the rest of the league.  Saturday should be fun. 

[toad22]

Mike Maker is quoted as saying that last night's game at Hamilton was the best his team has played in the 2 years he has coached them. I can't disagree. In a Tuesday night road game, at a place that is hard to win at, the Ephs were exceptional. Wang was his usual high energy, but not out of control. Robertson played a great game. He is going to be a star in future years. Whittington is becoming a scoring machine, and Geohegan is pulling himself out of his mini-slump. He is, without doubt the best D3 rebounder I have seen this year, so the center position is always a threat. Rubin had another strong game. He was strong at both ends of the court, and shot the 3 ball he way he has for the last few weeks. Schultz is playing as well as he always does, but with the emergence of other players, he has been shooting less. This dominant road win was very important for the Ephs. The few road games, before Hamilton, were all tough, grind it out affairs. Hamilton is the first time they have played near the top of their game on the road. They need to be playing well to have a chance of victory at Midd on Saturday.   

[Bucket]

Whether or not Sharry plays--and is not gimpy--will be a huge factor in Saturday's Midd-Williams game, if you ask me.

[walzy31]

The going gets tougher for Amherst this weekend as it looks like Meehan and Noon's injuries are more serious than first expected. The team has played three games without Meehan and one game without both of them, so hopefully the guys that do play in Maine step up and carry the squad. More plays like the one in the youtube video below by Carcieri would certainly help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEZ0T_DEKEU

[Bucket]

Wow, my alma mater (Washington & Lee), knocks of Randolph-Macon, on the road, no less.

I know this is an ODAC comment, but in light of Williams's lone loss coming at the hands of RMC I thought it germane.

[toooldtoplay]

That loss is now not looking as strong as it did earlier.

[nescac1]

I still think the RMC loss is a fine one for Williams and not really diminished -- RMC was, it seems, playing a bit better at that time (they had just beaten Wooster, another very strong team, two weeks earlier), and that was the second game of a road trip for Williams after a long hiatus.  And the Ephs nearly won the game (and really should have), still.  To me, nearly losing to an average New Paltz team (Ephs lucky to escape with a W there from the sound of it) was more concerning than a close loss earlier in the season to an RMC squad that was on a major roll at the time, but the Ephs have bounced back nicely with three double-digit road wins, including the domination of Hamilton.  Of course, it's all academic and what matters is how the Ephs fare in the big conference games upcoming, starting with Saturday's showdown.  Midd has beaten the Ephs three straight times (one of those one of the worst Williams losses of the decade, ending their season in 2008) so Williams will have to bring its A game.  

Lots of interesting subplots in the Williams-Midd game.  The league's top offense vs. the the league's top defense.  The two top shot blockers in the conference going head-to-head.  Defensive player of the year vs. one of the top offensive players in NESCAC in Wang.  Midd's physicality vs. Ephs' shooting and quickness.  And so on ... certainly agree that Sharry playing or not playing will make a big difference, of course -- he is a tough match-up for the Ephs and might force them to play two bigs more than they would otherwise like to. 

Tough break for Amherst.  Bowdoin seems to be struggling so I still think Amherst will handle them, but day two of the always-brutal Maine road trip, against a solid Colby squad, down two point guards?  That will be a MAJOR challenge.  Not shocked Noon got hurt, it is certainly not easy on the body to go straight from soccer to basketball (two physically demanding sports that are demanding in different ways), especially for a frosh, and especially for a guy who was a star and depended on to carry the load in soccer.

[frank uible]

If we all sit quietly and keep our eyes open, our ears clear and our mouths closed, this matter will clarify itself a great deal in a few short weeks.

[nescac1]

Yes, and in the long run, we're all dead.  Doesn't mean we can't speculate, pontificate, and debate in the short run ...

[nescac1]

The url won't link directly to it, but you can get a summary, on one page, of where all the NESCAC teams and leading players rank nationally in every stat category at the NCAA site.  Click on Williams on this page, then click on NESCAC, to see everything on one page.

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/ncaa-m-baskbl-div3-team-scoring-margin.html

Of particular note for Saturday's game, Williams leads the country in three point percentage and scoring differential and is near the top in terms of FG percent, threes made in total, and scoring.  Middlebury, meanwhile, leads the country in FG percentage defense and blocks and is near the top in scoring differential and a few other categories.  I note that if he had five more field goal attempts (too few to qualify) Whittington would be second nationally in FG percentage.  

[fpc85]

Wow, my alma mater (Washington & Lee), knocks of Randolph-Macon, on the road, no less.

I know this is an ODAC comment, but in light of Williams's lone loss coming at the hands of RMC I thought it germane.

I also think the head coach is an Amherst alum and former player and coach

[walzy31]

NESCAC Spreads - 1/29/2010

Bates +3.0 @ Conn College
Over/Under: 145.5

Trinity +10.0 @ Colby
Over/Under: 120.0

Amherst -6.0 @ Bowdoin
Over/Under: 124.0

Tufts Pk'em @ Wesleyan
Over/Under: 149.5

Williams -5.5 @ Middlebury
Over/Under: 151.5

The Williams/Middlebury game is the Friday Night College Game Day game.