MBB: NESCAC

[ephoops]

Very impressive win for the Ephs.

A balanced effort all around.  It's great when the entire team gets a chance to play at home in  a NESCAC game.

As for Colby, it's tough to take a 6 hour bus ride, sit through the women's game that went to OT and then play a game.  Surprisingly, the first 10 minutes or so were close until Williams blitzed them in the last 10 minutes.  I also believe that Williams had a 17-0 run in the 2nd half that buried the Mules.

This may be  a special season for the Ephs...

[Old Guy]

Muletrain: Williams is good, better than you thought? Welcome to the club.

Reassuring win for the Panthers, who played well, mostly. Bowdoin broke out front 14-6 but Middlebury came charging back, playing a really good first half, running the floor, moving the ball. Locke got involved early, Phillips was tentative underneath, Edwards did a good job on Hanley, despite giving away 3-4 inches. Midd up at the half by 13 (38-25).

Middlebury exploded at the beginning of the second half - Davis dunking, Wolfin hitting threes. Panthers up 26 (53-27) with three minutes gone in the second half. Game still lasts 40 minutes though: Middlebury lost some defensive intensity, O'Connell hit some deep threes, Phillips dealt underneath, Bowdoin was down only by 10 with 6 minutes to go, and that's about the w  ay it stayed till the end. A good win against a legit team.

Edwards was huge: 12 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, shut off Hanley. He deserves some post-season consideration. Jamal Davis had his second straight outstanding game, at both ends.

Sharry played 18 minutes, had 6 points. You have to like Middlebury's balance: Wolfin 14 (4 threes), Davis 12, Edwards 12, Locke 10, Edwards 9, Wholey 9. 

The Williams-Colby game tonight is reassuring too for a Middlebury fan. I had moments this week when I worried maybe Williams wasn't that good, and maybe it's that we're not as good as our record. We sure didn't look great at home against the Ephs.  I'm an anxious fan, so I feel better tonight. Williams is the real deal, eh, Muletrain?

[frank uible]

Williams will become the real deal when it wins it all, not before.

[nescac1]

I'd say a team can be for real without winning it all Frank.  Williams 2004 was for real despite losing in the championship, for example. Last year's Midd team was for real despite a rough day in the NCAA's.  As was last year's Wheaton team despite not making the final four.  

Midd looked a LOT better to me than Colby despite fairly similar margins of victory.  The Ephs were up 32 against Colby and it would have been worse if starters hadn't come out with nine minutes to go.  Meanwhile, the margin against Midd was bolstered by a lot of late fouling, that game was close for 3/4 of the game.  Against Colby, the main thing slowing Williams down were the net problems, getting their fast-paced offense out of synch early (hopefully resolved before the Bowdoin game).  Once they got into a groove and picked up the pace of the offense, there was simply nothing Colby could do to stop them.  Now, the Ephs' play much better at home, and Colby did, as ephhoops said, have a very long road trip, but I mean the Ephs were scoring with ease, and actually missed a number of wide open looks.  I felt like they had to work MUCH harder for their points against Midd, and hit a lot more high-degree-of-difficulty shots.  In terms of defense, Colby's guards are nothing like Midd's guards, much slower and less aggressive, backing way off at times.  And Midd has the shot blockers to allow its guards to take risks; Colby does not.  I felt like every pass against Midd there was a guy deflecting the ball or coming close.  Colby didn't do anything like that.  Midd doesn't have any single offensive option like Choice, but have many more guys who can hurt you on that end.  And that was all without Sharry.  Unless Choice just absolutely goes off, I'd be very surprised if Colby beats Midd, at Midd, although of course anything is possible (even Bates beating Amherst by nearly 30 with only 4 from Brian Ellis, somehow!).  [And Old Guy, had you seen Robertson in the first half last night instead of vs. Midd, you would have had a very different assessment ... part of that was the level of defenders guarding him, but you could also see his whole attitude change once Wang left with three fouls, the lightbulb visibly clicked and it was, OK, time for me to make plays, and he took over the game for about a three minute stretch].  

I should note that the Eph defense is MUCH improved from early in the season.  They really clamped down on Colby, who again outside of some impressive drives by Choice, got very few easy looks.  Colby hurt themselves from the foul line, but most of their outside shots were from deep and contested.   Almost all of Colby's non-Choice points were off put-backs inside.  And whenever Whittington was in, although he didn't get any blocks, Colby looked scared inside.  Even Choice, at one point, was two feet from the basket and passed it out b/c of Whittington's presence!  

I do think Bowdoin will be a much tougher match-up for the Ephs.  Bowdoin has beaten Williams three out of four and two straight.  They are so big, tall and physical inside, and they have a steady veteran backcourt (even if not terribly dynamic) , and are always so organized and tough.  Not a great team from the perimeter but when their guards are hitting they are tough to defend.  Definitely better than their record.  The Ephs definitely should not take anything for granted before this game. 

[frank uible]

It all depends on what one's definition of "real deal" is. I for one choose to refrain from giving out praise promiscuously. Williams men's basketball was the real deal in 2003, almost but not quite in 2004. This year's edition ain't yet even close to the achievements of the 2004 one, not to speak of the 2003 one - and one more loss by the current one forecloses them from the possibility. The smart money would give large odds that the current edition will incur at least one more loss.

[met_fan]

It all depends on what one's definition of "real deal" is. I for one choose to refrain from giving out praise promiscuously. Williams men's basketball was the real deal in 2003, almost but not quite in 2004. This year's edition ain't yet even close to the achievements of the 2004 one, not to speak of the 2003 one - and one more loss by the current one forecloses them from the possibility. The smart money would give large odds that the current edition will incur at least one more loss.

They may or may not be the "real deal," but the logic of saying one more loss precludes them from being legit makes little sense to me.

[walzy31]

2/6/2010 NESCAC Spreads

Amherst -6.0 @ Tufts
Over/Under: 132.0

Colby +6.0 @ Middlebury
Over/Under: 140.0

Conn College Pick'em @ Wesleyan
Over/Under: 157.5

Trinity +11.5 @ Bates
Over/Under: 129.5

Bowdoin +16.0 @ Williams
Over/Under: 142.0

[ephoops]

It all depends on what one's definition of "real deal" is. I for one choose to refrain from giving out praise promiscuously. Williams men's basketball was the real deal in 2003, almost but not quite in 2004. This year's edition ain't yet even close to the achievements of the 2004 one, not to speak of the 2003 one - and one more loss by the current one forecloses them from the possibility. The smart money would give large odds that the current edition will incur at least one more loss.

Among the many inane comments you've posted on this thread over the years, the one above may top the list...

[frank uible]

We aim to please.

[Bucket]

Old Guy, a Traditionalist through-and-through, leaves one particular highlight out of his Midd-Bowdoin recap.

Off a long Bowdoin miss, a Midd player (can't remember who) outlets to a streaking Jake Wolfin, who is trailed by Jamal Dvis and a Colby defender. Davis was close enough to Wolfin racing up the floor, that I fleetingly thought that it was too bad the pass hadn't gone to Davis as it would have led to a monster slam.

Wolfin must have been thinking the same thing.

He catches the pass in stride, takes a dribble or two hard to the hoop---and lays the ball softly off the glass.

Davis elevates--with the Colby defender on his back and in the air with him--catches the ball one-handed above his head and throws it down. Hard. Pepin exploded.

After the game, Old Guy says to me with a smile: "I would have preferred that Wolfin had just laid it in. What if Davis had missed the dunk?"

[mainehoops]

Nescac1,

I agree it could have been much worse for Colby.  But Colby also missed a ton of open shots that normally drop.  No excuses though, Colby got worked.  I'd rather they lay a stinker like that to a top dog like Williams than play their worst game against a Conn or a Tufts.  Like I said, this is not the 16-2 team that I've seen throughout this season.  Now is the true test for this Colby team.  It is a tough pill to swallow having to sit through a 6 hour bus ride after THAT game.  A win today would be impressive in so many ways.

[muletrain]

Nescac1,

I dont know who you wouldnt think looked much  better than Colby based on last nights performance. Pretty sure Tufts could have beaten us. It is hard to win games when you cant score. The most surprising thing about this game is that Colby didnt get killed by the big three. In fact, I thought they did alright against them considering the final outcome. Also, the matchups before this game didnt scare me either. Largely that was validated too. It was just astounding to watch this team fall apart so fast. If these scoring woes persist, and the defensive effort follows it will be hard to beat anyone legit. Tonight might be a rebound game though. I was more worried about the midd matchups coming in, but am hoping that colby can grind out a win

[walzy31]

Halftime scores:

Amherst up 43-38 @ Tufts
Midd up 37-18 @ Colby
Trinity up 35-34 @ Bates
Williams up 47-31 Vs. Bowdoin

Conn/Wesleyan apparently started late as the score is 8-6 Wes with 15 mins left in first half.

[nescac1]

Schultz and Bowdoin's Sellew putting on a long range shooting display in first half.  Schultz in particular, 18 points on 4-4 from three.  Highlight of the first half though came from the game announcer's comment that "James Wang is no stranger to penetration."  Fantastic. 

I am starting to feel sad for the Colby posters ... they have definitely livened up the board, but the team seems to be getting a bit exposed against the better competition ... Midd and Williams are clearly the class of NESCAC this year. 

[walzy31]

2/6/2010 NESCAC Spreads

Amherst -6.0 @ Tufts
Over/Under: 132.0

Colby +6.0 @ Middlebury
Over/Under: 140.0

Conn College Pick'em @ Wesleyan
Over/Under: 157.5

Trinity +11.5 @ Bates
Over/Under: 129.5

Bowdoin +16.0 @ Williams
Over/Under: 142.0

Tufts 69 - Amherst 68
Amherst -6.0 @ Tufts (Tufts Covers +7.0)
Over/Under: 132.0 (Over +5.0)

Middlebury 72 - Colby 57
Colby +6.0 @ Middlebury (Middlebury Covers +9.0)
Over/Under: 140.0 (Under +11.0)

Wesleyan 79 - Conn College 70
Conn College Pick'em @ Wesleyan (Wesleyan Covers +9.0)
Over/Under: 157.5 (Under +8.5)

Bates 70 - Trinity 63
Trinity +11.5 @ Bates (Trinity Covers +4.5)
Over/Under: 129.5 (Over +3.5)

Williams 97 - Bowdoin 54
Bowdoin +16.0 @ Williams (Williams Covers +27.0)
Over/Under: 142.0 (Over +9.0)