MBB: NESCAC

[frank uible]

Webcasts? What happened to the 3 Rs?

[Pat Coleman]

Frank -- I know this was a long time ago for you, but the three R's are actually what you're supposed to learn in grade school.

I don't mind a pay-per-view broadcast, but $15 is highway robbery.

[nescac1]

Listen, I'd rather the Williams athletic department charge nothing (or at least less) for all webcasts as well, believe me.  And I would love to see the video feed quality improved / become sharper / clearer, especially for a paid service.

But in their defense, budget times are tight everywhere.  Lots of schools don't even have live stats like Williams does, and many more have no webcasts available at all, free or paid, so at least the option is available (and again, is free for NESCAC / NCAA tourney games).  Williams, although a very wealthy school, has an athletic budget that is spread thinner than any other D-3 school ... remember, this is a school with only 2000 students that fields more varsity teams than just about anyone (if not anyone) in all of D-3, including some very expensive sports like football, skiing, crew, etc.  And Williams has an enormous percentage of its students, more than, again, virtually any school, particpating in club, varsity, or JV programs (around 50 percent). 

I'd rather have Williams have pay-per-view webcasts than, say, cut the wrestling team or ski program, or institute roster limits on the cross country team or eliminate the JV soccer or basketball program.  Williams spends its athletic dollars first and foremost on opportunties for students, which is at it should be, and it offers more of them (and certainly more of them per capita) than any college in the country.  I hope eventually in flusher times the webcasts are better and cheaper, or even free, but I can fully understand while that would basically be the last priority for the athletic budget. 

[Pat Coleman]

Lots of schools don't even have live stats like Williams does,

This number is smaller and smaller all the time. The cost to provide live stats is basically nil after a one-time layout of the fee for the live stat crew plug-in.

and many more have no webcasts available at all, free or paid, so at least the option is available (and again, is free for NESCAC / NCAA tourney games). 

True. Although I wouldn't pat Williams on the back for making NCAA Tournament games free. That's an NCAA rule.

[Colby Hoops]

It just seems a  bit ridiculous that Williams finds it necessary to charge $15 when every other NESCAC school provides the same service for free.  Every Nescac school also has live stats.  It seems to me that Williams hasn't realized that providing webcasts has become the standard for many schools.  They believe they are providing a unique service. Its absurd that you could by the NBA League Pass package for a full year for less than it would cost to buy the Williams webcast for every home game.

[amh63]

nescac1....I really admire your loyalty to your school in such dire economic times that all schools have felt.
Anyway, several comments directed to you before I stir the pot on the topic of the day.
There is a nice article in today's Wash. Post...sports section...that talks about Dan Rubin, the FY player that is now starting for Boston College as a walk on.  Of course his brother Alex and Williams were mentioned.  Also, it may be of interest to other posters since it tells about how coaches find and evaluate players.....Patriot, Ivy and NESCAC  quality student-players.  You may have the story linked to this board....I cannot figure how...since I attended a "step-child" school of Williams.
Oh yes, nescac1, do you know any alumni in the D.C. area that may have "lost" a Williams College car plate holder?  I found one several months ago in a parking lot, while going to a local Trader Joe's store.  It has been in my car trunk since.  I have not mentioned it to my kids...for they would all hold it against me for having a Williams item....and kid me about it to no end. (All my three kids attended Amherst).  It looks like it is worth a Williams webcast!
Frank U.... I appreciate your  terse and witty comments.  However, I believe that along with the satire aspect of your posts...there lies some truth/reason behind them.  Still, Williams with an endowment of over 1.5 Billion as of 2010 and an enrollment of 2100 at least....can figure a way to better webcasts...so that us "poor folks" can share.

[quicksilver]

I believe that Middlebury also charges for its video webcasts. Very short-sighted on the part of both Williams and Middlebury as it must shrink the audience for their webcasts to a very small number.

[mariner75]

Jumbocast does a great job....been doing it since I started watching in 2002 and it's quality is usually pretty decent and always has been free.

[Major Hoople]

   Just watched Panthers destroy a very weak Colby team...for free.

[nescac1]

Nice road win for the Ephs despite an off night shooting from deep (especially for James Wang).   In the first half, I thought Williams really played poorly, rushed the offense, forced lots of deep 25 foot threes with lots of time left on the clock, and were flummoxed by the Polar Bear 1-3-1 D, but Williams calmed down and played much better in the second half, taking really good shots, just missing quite a few of them.  I think they missed something like 11-12 threes in the middle of the second half, most of them pretty open, until Klemm finally got on track, hitting two straight to ice the game.  They also got the ball more effectively into Whittington as the game progressed, they were just way too impatient on offense early, I think Troy has only 3 points at halftime.  

For Williams, Troy's spring looked all the way back, with four dunks, two of them absolutely massive, including one off a pretty alley-oop from Wang.  He also had four blocks, his first multi-block game in awhile, which is a great sign.  

The rest of the Eph starters didn't play all that great, by their high standards.  Wang was way off from outside, but drove effectively.  The Williams bench, however, was fantastic -- Rooke-Ley (another strong rebounding game, plus hit a few key threes), Epley (he has a pretty Schultz-esque mid-range game, lots of potential), and Emerson (who has really come on in the second half of the season) all had some great stretches of play.  The Ephs also had by far their best offensive rebounding game of the year (at least against a quality team with size) -- given how cold they were from outside for much of the game, if they hadn't gotten so many second chance points (unusual for Williams), things could have been really tight.  The Eph D was, as usual, very tough.

For Bowdoin, Hanley O'Connell and Nowell all made some plays, but no one else had a prayer of creating anything.  Bowdoin is as always really well coached, their 1-3-1 took awhile to figure out, but they just don't have enough depth / firepower.  Next year, though, could be their year -- great Junior class.  

On another note, my vote for all-crazy announcers goes to the Bowdoin duo, who seem to be auditioning at times for a morning radio show.  I loved the constantly changing pronunciations of Rooke-Ley, Whittington, and Ephs.  But most of all, these moments were enough to earn all-crazy:

-- claiming that Will Hanley, who leads Bowdoin in virtually ever statistical category, was their "secret weapon"
-- claiming that incoming big man John Swords would likely be the best center in NESCAC next year
-- picking on Rooke-Ley for having a hyphenated last name, but then concluding that it wasn't his fault
-- a nice Wang / Australian accent imitation  

I am sure I am forgetting a few ... good stuff, overall.  

[amh63]

Only saw the first 15 minutes of the game...had to go out to dinner with family before hitting the road on Sat.  Knew Amherst was out of sorts....could have been the tough Tufts defense.  First play...Waller scoops up a loose ball off the jump ball.....goes to the basket for a two hand dunk and hits the back iron.  Turnover.  Amherst commits 5 early turnovers trying to do too much...with Tufts only having one turnover.   Workman was not dressed.  Announcers did not know the specifics....except that it was a precautionary move.  Could have used Workman's defense as Tufts hits the outside shots and Barrise keeps loosing his man on the perimeter.  Coach Nixon is quite mad and calls two time outs early in the game.
The writeup of the game states that Amherst led by 2 at the half (better than down by 5 when I left for dinner).  It appears that after being tied at 48  early in the second half.....Amherst went on a long run and blew the game open.  Amherst 96-Tufts 77.
Again 5 players were in double figures led by Meehan with 23.

[walzy31]

Friday February 4th NESCAC Lines
All Tip-Offs Scheduled for 6pm

Tufts @ Amherst Amherst 96 - Tufts 77
Amherst -17.0 (Amherst Covers +2.0)
O/U: 151.5 (Over +22.5)

Williams @ Bowdoin Williams 85 - Bowdoin 66
Williams -21.5 (Bowdoin Covers +2.5)
O/U: 146.0 (Over +5.0)

Middlebury @ Colby Middlebury 73 - Colby 52
Middlebury -15.5 (Middlebury Covers +5.5)
O/U: 135.0 (Under +10.0)

Bates @ Trinity Trinity 76 - Bates 66
Bates -3.0 (Trinity Covers +13.0)
O/U: 143.5 (Under +1.5)

Nescac1, thanks for the Bowdoin commentator feedback.

[walzy31]

Saturday February 5th NESCAC Lines
All Tip-Offs Scheduled for 2pm

Williams @ Colby
Williams -30.5
O/U: 135.0

Bates @ Amherst
Amherst -23.5
O/U: 145.5

Middlebury @ Bowdoin
Middlebury -14.5
O/U: 141.5

Tufts @ Trinity
Trinity -5.5
O/U: 149.0

Wesleyan @ Conn College
Wesleyan -4.0
O/U: 139.5

[lefrakenstein]

Just from looking at the box score of the Amherst-Tufts game, one stat that immediately jumps out is the 11 first half offensive rebounds for the Jumbos. Largely because of their dominance on the boards, the Jumbos were able to take 15 more shots than Amherst in the first frame, and kept the game close despite shooting just 38.5% compared to Amherst's 54.2%.

In the second half the Jeffs turned up the intensity on the boards and ended up narrowly winning the rebounding battle.

Hope Workman is back soon, he brings so much to the table. Great defender, shooter, rebounds well.

[lefrakenstein]

A trinity win against Tufts tomorrow combined with a Conn win tomorrow against Wesleyan would earn the Bantams the 4th seed, assuming none of the big-3 fall to non-big 3 teams.