MBB: NESCAC

[mito72]

nescac1
It simply may be that Amherst present situation is the product of some incredible recruiting and development success in recent years. The 2007 class (Wheeler, O'Shea, McLaughlin, Salerno) were all overachievers who logged disproportionate starting  minutes ahead of one of the best classes, 2008 (Olson, Walters, Hopkins, Jones, Goldstein) in NESCAC history, in winning a national championship. The 2009 class (Baskauskas, Holsey, Wong, Bradley, Kaplan) also contributed valuable minutes in the back to back championship final seasons. This left very little room in the 2010 and 2011 classes to be recruited and developed. Successful NESCAC teams tend to be cerebral, experienced and oriented to a system. Wheeler and Meehan are the only upperclassman playing meaningful minutes and neither has been asked previously to lead the team. For these past two seasons first year players have been playing a huge role, reflecting the tremendous ability of Amherst to identify, recruit  and develop talent when there is space and opportunity to do so. Combine overriding youth with a schedule that puts you on the road for 15 games and home for 7 (without a loss) compared with 13 home games for Williams and 12 for Middlebury, one may have had to await this weekend (with a healthier Meehan?) to assess how far the balance of power in the league has tilted. Although Williams and Middlebury both clearly fill the bill in meeting the criteria as superior NESCAC teams.

[frank uible]

Amherst will be back - maybe not this year but soon.

[Hugenerd]

I am amazed that it is mathematically possible, at this point in the season (2 games left), for Amherst to finish tied for last in the league.  With their remaining two games being against Williams and Midd, there is a very high probability that Amherst will finish 3-6, and if Tufts and Wesleyan each win one of their last two and Conn College wins their last two (not very probable), that would put possibly 5 or 6 teams tied for last (Trinity will likely finish 3-6, barring a huge upset, and Bowdoin could also be 3-6 if they lose their last 2).  Wow.

[booyakasha]

Did Frank just post up on the NESCAC board without the use of sarcasm? What planet am I on?

[O-Boards10]

Plain and simple Russell is averaging just about a double-double (14.7ppg and  9.9rpg). That's worthy of first team status no matter what option you are. It's a feat that no one has accomplishment in the past 3 years.

Whittington may look great for 17 minutes a game, but that doesn't mean he will look great for 25-30 min a game for a whole season. If and when he can perform at a high level while playing the majority of ball games he will receive his just dessert.

Russell is absolutely essential to the Mules, without him they would suffer and I do not think anyone can argue this. With Geohegan healthy, Whittington is a luxury. Not to take anything away from; he's very good at what he does.

[nescac1]

Guilford losing big, so Williams playing for number one this weekend ... as if there wasn't enough pressure trying to beat their rival on the road, sweep an always-tough NESCAC road weekend, and secure the top seed in NESCAC tourney ... they key though is, if they stumble at Amherst, to recover quickly the next day, because the top seen in NESCAC is by far the most important aspect of the weekend.  

Two final thoughts from me on Russell.  First, if Choice is clearly the player of the year, and Russell clearly a first teamer, why did Colby get dominated twice by Midd and Williams, and why did they need overtime (twice) to beat Bates, among numerous other narrow escapes?  Unless Colby folks claim their supporting cast is just atrocious, which hasn't been the claim all season.  SOMETHING has to give if Colby truly has the first and fourth or fifth best players in the conference, and team performance tells the story in addition to stats.  

Also, Whittington and Russell played just a week ago.  Here were the results:

Whittington, 15 minutes, 4-5 from the field, 4-6 from the line, 12 points, 7 boards, 3 steals, one assist, 0 TO's.
Russell, 22 minutes,  6 points, 9 boards, 3-7, 0-2, 1 TO, no steals, blocks or assists.  (I realize Russell banged his head, but he played 22 minutes in the biggest game of the year and did little beyond boarding in that time period). 

I am not denigrated Russell -- I think he deserves second team all NESCAC, which would place him ahead of at least a few VERY good frontcourt players with basically equal stats.  Really, as I said, if you look at numbers, Whittington, Russell, Hanley, Phillips, Beyel, Sharry are all fairly close .... you can't say Russell's stats are really better overall than any of those guys, just because he excels at one facet.  Pierce has marginally better stats than the rest of the bunch, and given the amount of attention he receives from defenders, I think deserves a first-team nod over the rest of the group.  But if not Pierce, I'd take a healthy Sharry or Whittington, then probably Russell next. 

[toad22]

It will be interesting to see how Walzy handicaps the machups this weekend. It seems to me that Amherst is really dangerous. If Meehan plays (which I assume he will), they have a chance at the double upset. This assumes that the team mentality is one of anger and not of discouragement. I am sure that they will be up for Williams on Friday. The Middlebury game on Saturday will be tougher. Williams needs to rebound the ball better than they did last time if they want to win the game. Trinity could also redeem a bad season with a good weekend. Since I haven't seen them play, I don't know what to expect. In other games, I have a notion that Tufts may give Bates a tough time --- they also need redemption. I don't expect any upsets in the remaining games.

My one comment on about Mike Russell is that he is the kind of player you want to root for. He is an undersized big guy with the heart of a lion.

[amh63]

Been digging out in the D.C. area and have missed the fun a bit.  Saw the stats of the first half of the Brandeis game.  Saw that Meehan was not playing.  Interesting rotation at the end of the first half.  Amherst was down by 8 after Brandeis had scored the last 2 points of the half.  The lineup for Amherst at the end of the first half had Wheeler teamed with 4 freshman!  Noon was the point guard (he had 6 assist for the game) with Workman, Williamson and the big man Kasilla.  Amherst had been out rebounded big time in the first half.  Was Hixon sending a message to his other starters?
In any case, will miss seeing the team live this weekend.  Weather conditions have limited my travel options.  Still expect Amherst to come together for the seniors this weekend.  Go Jeffs!

[frank uible]

NESCAC is to reality as alpha centauri is to earth.

[booyakasha]

Ha that's more like it Frank.

[frank uible]

We aim to please.

[Bucket]

I stated it earlier in the week: I love Mike Russell's game. To me, he's the heart and soul of the Colby Mules. As a former high school coach, I can say with confidence that he's the guy that EVERY coach wants on their team.

Also, as a former high school coach who either coached or coached against plenty of talent in the DC area (Marcus Gineyard, UNC; Roger Mason Jr, San Antonio Spurs; and one Adam Harper, Amherst), I know talent when I see it. And Troy Whittington is all that and more. I can only surmise that the folks who argue otherwise, or who say inane things like "what would he do playing 25 minutes" have never seen him play.

He doesn't play 25-30 minutes a game because Williams doesn't need him to. And I'm willing to give my friend Mike Maker the benefit of the doubt—they're only on the threshold of being ranked number 1 in the country, after all. They're only whipping teams by a 20+ point margin, after all. So, should they play Whittington 30 minutes a game and be beating teams by 50? And it's hard to improve on being on the threshold of the top spot in the country, isn't it?

And all this without saying that Maker has a system. Who's to say that Whittington's individual stats might be more gaudy, but the team--and Makes's system--wouldn't be clicking the way it is if he approached his line-up differently. Basketball is a team game--part art, part science--that is about far more than trotting out the folks with the best numbers. This would be a different conversation if Williams wasn't playing like the best team in the country.

But anyone who doubts Whittington's ability because he plays 15-17 minutes a game or thinks that his numbers would drop if he was "forced" to play 30 is just delusional.

And please keep in mind--I say/write all this as a rabid Middlebury partisan.

[muletrain]

Two final thoughts from me on Russell.  First, if Choice is clearly the player of the year, and Russell clearly a first teamer, why did Colby get dominated twice by Midd and Williams, and why did they need overtime (twice) to beat Bates, among numerous other narrow escapes?  Unless Colby folks claim their supporting cast is just atrocious, which hasn't been the claim all season.  SOMETHING has to give if Colby truly has the first and fourth or fifth best players in the conference, and team performance tells the story in addition to stats. 

Also, Whittington and Russell played just a week ago.  Here were the results:

Whittington, 15 minutes, 4-5 from the field, 4-6 from the line, 12 points, 7 boards, 3 steals, one assist, 0 TO's.
Russell, 22 minutes,  6 points, 9 boards, 3-7, 0-2, 1 TO, no steals, blocks or assists.  (I realize Russell banged his head, but he played 22 minutes in the biggest game of the year and did little beyond boarding in that time period).

A couple of things. First, I don't think many people on this board would not choose Whittington over Russell if they were to start a college team tomorrow. That is not what we are talking about. What WE ARE talking about is who merits a first team all league selection. Russell has put up better numbers than Whittington. This is fact. He is also significantly more important to his team. If Whittington got hurt at the beginning of the Nescac season what would be their league record? 8-0? 7-1 maybe.....If Russell gets hurt for Colby we are fighting with a whole host of other teams for the 6-8 spots in the league tourney.

Next, anyone who has watched more than just the Williams and Midd game knows that Colby played particularly poorly. The mules are not as talented as those two squads, but have proven themselves to be the best of the rest. Choice is the best player for the same reason as Russell is a first teamer; without him Colby is in big trouble.

Lastly, this whole time I have maintained that Colby's supporting cast is better than advertised. Does this make them as deep as Williams or Midd...NO. Although this is true they have been more than capable and lead this team to the brink of a NCAA tournament birth. Lets not let one bad weekend against 2 top 10 teams get in the way of a whole seasons worth of work.

[amh63]

MuleT....Love your passion and fight for your BB team.  Colby will just have to do well this weekend and in the conference tournament.  If they can finish strong, I believe there will be at least 3 NESCAC picked for the NCAA.   Oh yes, in your recent write-up, I believe you meant "berth" vice "birth".  I too make mistakes when I am typing quickly and with passion.  I had to point this out since it brought a smile to me.

[toad22]

If Colby can win both games this weekend and the quarter final game next, I think they are probably in to the NCAAs. The worst thing for Colby would be for somebody other than Midd, Williams or Colby to win the NESCAC. It is unlikely that the Mules (when did they stop being the White Mules?) can push past Williams or Midd for an at large bid.