MBB: NESCAC

[deiscanton]

Amh63--

You weren't the only one who had trouble viewing the JeffCast yesterday.   I followed Amherst's live stats feed to back up the reception as well, as I thought that the trouble was with my computer's DSL not being able to process the streaming rate of the JeffCast.

(Still, I had my chance to see Amherst at Emmanuel in December, so I should not complain too much..., and I was able to see Williams at Tufts this year as well.)

[nescac1]

Amherst folks, is Workman expected to play this weekend?  Not having him would be really rough going into Midd / Williams, he is in my view their top defender as well as the third most important offensive player. 

Sounds like an absolutely brutal loss for Bowdoin last night, double OT, and missed free throws that could have clinched / tied the game in each of the three periods.  Heartbreaker ...

http://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2010-11/contrib/20110209oks4d9

Interesting to see Anthony Fortes resurface at Bridgewater by the way, he was the top recruit at, I believe, RIC, and then left the program. 

[sumfun]

There were problems all weekend with live stats and Jeffcast.  When you see the piles of snow on each side of LeFrak, one wonders if wireless is being hampered by these piles.  Jeffcast and live stats when at Amherst much less reliable then from Tufts, Wesleyan, and Bowdoin to name a few.  Have only paid Williams "fee" once and was less than impressed with quality of the image.  Huge weekend for Middlebury, Williams and Amherst.  Can't wait for the action to begin.

[amh63]

It is cold here in Winter Park.....will be in South Miami to find warmer weather and follow the team,
Anyway, some random comments:
 On the Nixon post.....David Eisenhower of Amherst did marry Julie Nixon a while back.
 On the last Amherst game...With Workman out, the team's offensive options are reduced as well as a lost of a very good defender.  In the line up changes, I think Coach Hixon is trying to get his team comfortable in their offensive sets with different player combinations.  In the games ahead, it is becoming more of finding the best matchups....on offense and defense.
 Tim Prowitt is really playing well in his recent time on the floor.  He plays with intensity on both sides of the game.

[Pat Coleman]

Newest men's regional rankings are up. Pass it on:

http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2011/02/09/ncaas-2011-regional-rankings-week-2/

[Old Guy]

I suspect there's never been another season when three NESCAC teams at this point have a combined 60-2 record. That's pretty good.

Expectations are high here in Pantherville: Amherst Friday, Trinity Saturday afternoon.

[nescac1]

Should be a great weekend.  In addition to hosting rights for NESCAC on the line, Williams has a 31 game home winning streak going, which is still only half-way to the Ephs' NCAA D-3 record!

If Amherst can pull off the very difficult back-to-back against Midd/Williams, they would finish with the first undefeated NESCAC regular season that I can recall ... perhaps the old timers here can pipe in, when was the last time that happened?  I am pretty certain it hasn't happened in the last 20 years. 

And I imagine if Middlebury wins these next two games, they would have the best regular season record in THEIR history.   And Trinity gets the chance to play spoiler and build some confidence / momentum heading into the NESCAC tourney. 

[toad22]

I hope everyone is as excited about this weekend as I am. Every NESCAC team has a lot riding on the outcome of the games. Having had the opportunity of seeing every team play this year, it is my belief that there is a great pool of talent out there. My Ephs face Trinity Friday night and Amherst Saturday afternoon. I saw Trinity play earlier and it is clear that Williams must focus completely on the Bantams, or the consequences might be very unpleasant. Trinity is a very good defensive team, Sutton being a particularly good defender. The team is senior dominated and very confident. I hope the Ephs can beat them without beating up our key players too much, but I'm not as sure as I can be about our ability to do that. Having traveled over the mountain to watch Amherst play Brandeis, I have rediscovered just how talented the Jeffs are. They started out beautifully, aided by Brandeis' inability to make anything, for most of the first half. Then things fell apart and they had to scramble to regain the initiative. The Jeffs did that, mostly due to the two best players on the team, in my opinion, Meehan and Toomey. Toomey is clearly a D1 player -- how in the name of all that is decent and good did he ever end up at Amherst? This is very distressing to an Eph. I know he played a sub-par game by his standards, but his talent is obvious. This weekend is going to be a blast.

[walzy31]

Glad to have Conor and Aaron in the back court to run the offense and connect with Barrise, Waller, Williamson, Workman, Holmes and Kaasila.

Nice article that I found on the D3hoops front page about Bowdoin's Will Hanley:
http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2011/02/08/sports/doc4d514f32c543f570503860.txt
Seems like a great kid in addition to being a talent on the court.

[walzy31]

February 11th NESCAC Lines
All Games Tip Off At 6pm

Bowdoin @ Conn College
Bowdoin -7.5
O/U: 143.5

Amherst @ Middlebury
Amherst -3.5
O/U: 135.5

Trinity @ Williams
Williams -19.5
O/U: 158.5

Colby @ Wesleyan
Wesleyan -2.0
O/U: 144.0

[lefrakenstein]

Should be a great weekend.  In addition to hosting rights for NESCAC on the line, Williams has a 31 game home winning streak going, which is still only half-way to the Ephs' NCAA D-3 record!

If Amherst can pull off the very difficult back-to-back against Midd/Williams, they would finish with the first undefeated NESCAC regular season that I can recall ... perhaps the old timers here can pipe in, when was the last time that happened?  I am pretty certain it hasn't happened in the last 20 years.  

And I imagine if Middlebury wins these next two games, they would have the best regular season record in THEIR history.   And Trinity gets the chance to play spoiler and build some confidence / momentum heading into the NESCAC tourney.  

The '05 Amherst team went undefeated in the NESCAC and went on to win the NESCAC tourny.

The '08 Amherst team was undefeated in the NESCAC regular season, but lost to Bowdoin by 1 point in the semis of the tournament.

The '04 Williams team went undefeated in the league and in the tourny. They did, however, lose to Amherst in the non-con game.

Can't comment on anything before this millennium.

[jayhawk]

Willie Workman is an extremely talented solid player who will be missed if he can not play. However with the injuries that Amherst has had Allen Wlliamson has stepped in. Lat year on offense last year Allen would drive to the hoop and unfortunately often wouid get called for a charging foul. This year is different. He has demonstrated a knockdown 17 foot jumpshot that appears is unblockable. This has allowed him to force the defense to cover him outsiide which opens a driving lane for him.  Allen is strong, athletic (think Whittington with a jumpshot and the ability to dribble) coupled with smart play and good defense.

[nescac1]

Lefrankenstein, I didn't phrase that right -- heck, last year's Williams team was undefeated in NESCAC conference play.  I meant, I can't recall any NESCAC team finishing the entire regular season (including non-conference games) undefeated. 

[daoustian]

Toomey is clearly a D1 player -- how in the name of all that is decent and good did he ever end up at Amherst?

This topic has been covered previously, but there's some about it here: http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/05/03/article/recruiting_odyssey_ends_for_2_local_stars  "The 6-foot-2 guard received more than a half dozen offers to be an invited walk-on at Division I programs, including Wake Forest, UNC-Wilmington and Vermont, but he never broke through the recruiting ceilings most two-time All-State selections would."

Always good for the NESCAC to have one fall through the cracks every so often.   

As for Amherst recruits, seems to be another one who hasn't shown up on this board to date: http://www.liherald.com/stories/Oceanside-High-School-star-athletes-commit-to-colleges,30641?content_source=&category_id=5&search_filter=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=&town_id=

"Gene Garay, second from right, will attend Amherst College, where he was awarded a full scholarship for football and basketball."

Leaving aside the ridiculousness of there being a signing day in the absence of letters of intent/D3/NESCAC scholarships (unless this guy got in early decision and just wanted to have something with his teammates to feel cool), looks like a 5'10 PG -- reasonably quick, but small even for D3.  4-year starter, all county as a junior, may have a spot as a role player.  There's a pretty funny highlight video of him posted at http://sailorsbasketball.blogspot.com/ halfway down the page - the footage itself is fine, but the background music really makes it special, especially if you know anything about Oceanside, Long Island where he's from (not a very "hardcore" place).

[nescac1]

What other NESCAC players do folks think could succeed (aka, say, start) at a low-level D-1 program (Patriot League, Ivy league, etc.)?

I'd say Wang, Toomey, Whittington without question, recruiters definitely whiffed on all three.  Meehan, now that his shot is straightened out, as well.  Sharry has D-1 size and skills, had he been this big / talented as a H.S. senior I bet he goes D-1.  Hanley if he improves his perimeter shooting.  Workman if he keeps improving.  Maybe Robertson due to his pure point guard skills and size, although he would need to bulk up a bit.   Sha Brown has, without a doubt, D-1 skills, but may be a bit too small.   I think that is probably about it.  Maybe Locke, but he would get pushed around at a higher level, and he couldn't intimidate by sheer virtue of his size.  Ellis and Russell are simply too undersized for their positions to play at a higher level.