MBB: NESCAC

jumpshot · February 21, 2010, 10:01:47 AM

What are the root causes for Amherst's disappointing season? Some statistics versus the other NESCAC teams stand out, including: Offense ---8th in assists at 9 per game; last in turnover margin at -3, 8th in three pointers made per game at 5, 9th in free throw percentage at 64%; Defense ---- 8th in points allowed at 74, etc. When Meehan went down Amherst was 12-3, then lost 8 of 9 (9 of 15 after the first Williams game). Only two players averaging low double figures (Wheeler and Holmes). The Amherst roster shows 10 players at least 6' 6". What went on?

Bucket · February 21, 2010, 11:16:42 AM

Yes, Old Guy, you would have had an extremely difficult time on Saturday, a sentiment I remarked to your son post-game.

Trinity coaching strategy was brilliant, taking the air out of the ball, indeed. They took the shot clock under ten, most times under 5, virtually every possession, and for a while there--what seemed like an eternity--they were coming up with a big bucket to beat the shot clock every time. Maybe it was the gym, but Fels was channeling Ben Rudin. Clutch bucket after bucket, usually while spinning through the lane, going behind his back and then dropping a teardrop over the Panther trees. The Bantams were also bombing from outside, a couple of clutch shots--again to beat the shot clock--from NBA range with a hand in the face.

Still, the Panthers played really good D. Aside from Fels' penetration, the paint was a no-man's-land for the Bantams. Locke and Co swatted 10 shots and intimidated a half dozen more.

Stats don't lie. The Panthers didn't shoot well, not at all. Aside from Edwards and Sharry, perimeter shooting from the rest of the squad was as cold as it could be. Still, Wolfin drained a clutch three with about 2 minutes to go--the kid has ice water in his veins--and Midd was mostly solid from the line.

The Bantams played their guts out. So did Midd. It was an extremely physical game--Edwards, especially, must be extremely sore today. I'm just thrilled that the guys in blue and white came out ahead.

On we go to Williamstown.

dman · February 21, 2010, 12:33:36 PM

sounds like trinity could be coming together, although a bit too late, after a tough early season. with the new ad in hartford, the coaching situation should be solidified before the start of next season.....
raise your hand if you can recall the last time you saw a violation on the opening tap... i saw two in two weeks.....same ref blows the whistle on the jump, exactly two weeks apart, calls big joe for some sort of violation and awards the ball to the other team. the second one about three seconds after i turn to my friend and point to the ref and say "he really sucks, remember his call at the beginning of the last game".... at that point, you know he has an agenda.........
wes may finally qualify for the ncaas with this crew, but now i know why reilly doesn't wear a suit. after seeing them in the second week of the season and yesterday, i couldn't believe the difference. the coach really has their attention and works the sidelines very hard. at times there were 5 frosh playing, although it could be hard to recruit into this group as well. greg st. jean certainly earned his all-crazy nomination in my opinion. he is the kind of player, fans from other teams will love to hate. along with his aggressive (read:dirty) defense were a self-inflicted bloody nose and various flops. he's a throwback and kind of reminds me of a few trinity players, circa '93, who probably played with his current coach......

muletrain · February 21, 2010, 04:36:33 PM

Quote from: walzy31 on February 13, 2010, 08:47:59 PM
Also, Colby is not winning next weekend...

HAAAAAAAAAATERS come out and PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY. Colby just blasted Amherst WITH Meehan and Choice shooting 2-12. To illustrate how much of a crush this was, Colby outscored Amherst 63-29 if you eliminate the first 2 minutes of both halves. Looks like the mighty have fallen.....Amherst was terribly coached. The last 10 minutes of the game they stood around waiting for Meehan to go 1v1. Wheeler seems to completely vanish when face guarded. They need to feed the ball to Kaasila more. He is a beast.

Also, looks like unless the selection committee are a bunch of Bowdoin grads, the Mules will be dancing. What an accomplishment for a team with "nobody other than Choice". Looks like this team is head and shoulders above the mushy middle known as the Bates, Bowdoin, Amherst, and Trinity.

nescac1 · February 21, 2010, 05:51:59 PM

Brandeis loses today, which is HUGE for Colby. I THINK Colby will now likely edge out Brandeis if it comes down to those two for the last Pool C ... Colby if they fail to win NESCAC will have five regional losses (three of which would be to Williams and Midd), and Brandeis now has six, with one game left to play ... unless there are quite a few upsets in conference tourneys, I think Colby is likely in ... we shall see. Colby should be cheering for MIT, certainly, in the NEWMAC tourney ...

jesseowenssmoked · February 21, 2010, 06:29:20 PM

Props to Colby on a huge win.

More importantly, I'd just like to say that although the brains and the muscle are gone, three members of the paradigm return next year. Watch out for the looks, the wildcard, and the useless chick (recently back from injury). If adequate replacements can be found they will be scary.

nescac1 · February 21, 2010, 06:56:38 PM

the COLBY system ... Create intimacy ... Offer support ... Leave suddenly ... Bring flowers ... Yank attention

booyakasha · February 21, 2010, 08:04:45 PM

can anybody make any sense of the last two posts?

nescac1 · February 22, 2010, 06:24:08 AM

jesseowenssmoked made an It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia reference, and I responded in kind.

amh63 · February 22, 2010, 12:24:05 PM

Let the boys play. It is good to have winning tams this time of the year. Agreed that the recent posts are elusive and in general strange.
Too early for me provide my opinion of what happened to Amherst the 2nd half of the year, other than the improvement of the NESCAC competition. Still to emotional to be objective. Have been watching/reading about local Div.1 BB games. When I figure out what happened to UNC, UCONN and the inconsistencies of Georgetown play this year, maybe I will console myself with the collapse of Amherst men's team and the end of their decade long NCAA run. Rest assure the fault is not with coach Hixon as it is not with the coaches at UNC, UConn and Georgetown.

FISHERMAN · February 22, 2010, 01:53:19 PM

Quote from: amh63 on February 22, 2010, 12:24:05 PM
Let the boys play. It is good to have winning tams this time of the year. Agreed that the recent posts are elusive and in general strange.
Too early for me provide my opinion of what happened to Amherst the 2nd half of the year, other than the improvement of the NESCAC competition. Still to emotional to be objective. Have been watching/reading about local Div.1 BB games. When I figure out what happened to UNC, UCONN and the inconsistencies of Georgetown play this year, maybe I will console myself with the collapse of Amherst men's team and the end of their decade long NCAA run. Rest assure the fault is not with coach Hixon as it is not with the coaches at UNC, UConn and Georgetown.

Although I am a fan of his, Coach Hixon's incompetent use of Kaasila this season was unforgivable.

toad22 · February 22, 2010, 02:48:14 PM

Getting back to NESCAC gyms, I really love Bates' gym. It is a throwback to the oldtime gyms of the 40's, 50's and 60's. It is what we used to call a "snakepit". Very hard for an opposing team to play in ... the heat, tight quarters, homer refs and all those drunk fans. Friday and Saturday night games at places like Bates and Williams used to feature packed gyms and many, many drunk, disorderly fans. It made away games really tough (but interesting). The newer gyms are more sedate (and less intimidating).

I have heard several informed basketball people opine that Amherst's problems may be more about a relative lack of talent right now than anything else. Maybe we have overestimated just how deep the talent pool is at Amherst. With the exception of Meehan, who was hurt much of the year, who else performed particularly well this year? I don't doubt Hixon's talent as a coach, so what else could it be? If it is because of youth, wouldn't the team have gotten better as these young players got some seasoning? I have no way of really judging the situation, but drawing from Williams' experience after 2004, it is fair to say that the talent was overestimated for the next year or two. We were living on our reputation. Maybe Amherst was living on its reputation this year.

muletrain · February 22, 2010, 05:23:22 PM

In order to contain my excitement about Colby v. Midd this weekend I decided to stray away from my usual Colby fanaticism and think about who would make the All-NESCAC ISL alum squad. This is what I have thus far.

Starters:

PG: Sal Abdo- Trinity via St. Marks
SG: Dean Lampe- Conn via Brooks
SF: Adam Choice- Colby via St. Georges
PF: Scott Anderson- Tufts via Middlesex
C: Big New Hampshire (aka Pete Kaasila)- Amherst via St. Marks

Backups:

PG: Derrek Beresford- Wesleyan via Nobles
SG: Gil Haylon- Colby via Nobles
SF: Gil Haylon (if you shoot this well you get to be a backup at both wing positions)
PF:

?
C:

?

Not sure on the backup bigs but who needs a backup with Kaasila bashing heads. Anyways, this is a good start and not bad for a league of small high schools. NESCAC schools would be smart to continue this pipeline because the ISL boasts elite academic schools stocked with D3 Players who have played with and against elite division 1 talent during high school.

Old Guy · February 22, 2010, 05:58:26 PM

"I have heard several informed basketball people opine that Amherst's problems may be more about a relative lack of talent right now than anything else."

Given Coach Hixon's track record and reputation, it's unlikely that mutiny, the most common explanation, is the reason - that is, tuning out the coach.

My guess - confidence. Doubt is contagious. Add some bad luck (injuries) and you can have an epidemic.

The ascendance of Middlebury in the hoop world in the last five years, I think, has as much to do with strength of character and leadership as better talent (though that certainly is a factor). Middlebury wins tough games on the road. Aaron Smith, Mike Walsh, Andrew Harris, Ben Rudin, Tim Edwards, others - strong kids committed to hoops and one another, and they take care of business off-court.

(The above paragraph has no implied comparative reference to Amherst's situation this year: I don't know any Jeff players or coaches, have no sources on the "inside," saw one Jeff game this year, a webcast. I'm speaking only in the abstract.)

FISHERMAN · February 22, 2010, 07:47:01 PM

Quote from: muletrain on February 22, 2010, 05:23:22 PM
In order to contain my excitement about Colby v. Midd this weekend I decided to stray away from my usual Colby fanaticism and think about who would make the All-NESCAC ISL alum squad. This is what I have thus far.

Starters:

PG: Sal Abdo- Trinity via St. Marks
SG: Dean Lampe- Conn via Brooks
SF: Adam Choice- Colby via St. Georges
PF: Scott Anderson- Tufts via Middlesex
C: Big New Hampshire (aka Pete Kaasila)- Amherst via St. Marks

Backups:

PG: Derrek Beresford- Wesleyan via Nobles
SG: Gil Haylon- Colby via Nobles
SF: Gil Haylon (if you shoot this well you get to be a backup at both wing positions)
PF: ?
C: ?

Not sure on the backup bigs but who needs a backup with Kaasila bashing heads. Anyways, this is a good start and not bad for a league of small high schools. NESCAC schools would be smart to continue this pipeline because the ISL boasts elite academic schools stocked with D3 Players who have played with and against elite division 1 talent during high school.

Solid group. I'd put this group against any other NESCAC high school league alum team. Great wings (Choice, Lampe and Haylon) and a superstar center in Big New Hampshire. Questionable point guards. Abdo is a subpar, turnover machine and the backup went to Nobles.