MBB: NESCAC

frank uible · February 12, 2011, 06:29:10 PM

In my view chest pounding and other forms of trash talking are "bush" - especially so in the extreme rinky-dink of d3.

amh63 · February 12, 2011, 07:01:29 PM

Frank U. ....is your post basically to generate a response? Players do various things to get pumped up and to gain advantages over opponents. The fact that Workman may use his "trash talk" on Williams players.....can be considered a form of respect, in my viewpoint. Against other schools, there is little trash talking, I believe, by Workman. See...I took the bait.
I am looking forward to a rematch in the tournament. The games telecast will be free?
I believe that the tournament game matchups will lead to close games. Amherst had a scare with Bates just recently. Trinity and Tufts will be a toss-up. Conn has been playing well.....though I will favor Midd. Bowdoin's play recently has been uneven.....and they can give Williams a scare.

nescac1 · February 12, 2011, 07:07:25 PM

I'd be pretty surprised, actually, if any of the four first round road teams kept it within double digits. Bowdoin is a tough draw as an eighth seed, but Williams handled them with ease up in Maine. I don't think Amherst will have as much trouble with Bates the second time around. Trinity seems to be playing very well of late. Middlebury would worry me just due to sheer exhaustion, a brutal weekend followed by two more games this week (although Green Mountain can hardly be considered a "game"), but Conn is the least experienced team in the tourney and will be no match for Midd inside.

NESCAC tourney game broadcasts will, I believe, be free at Williams.

Courtesy of Williams Sports Info:

Some video that gives a flavor of the scene today:

http://athletics.williams.edu/video/02_12_2011_M_BKBALL_Williams_74_Amherst_70.flv

Boston Globe on the rivalry:

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2011/02/12/this_matchup_rivals_big_boys/

So Walzy, when is all-crazy announced? Other than perennial member Dodson, I'm not sure that the Ephs have any nominees this year ...

frank uible · February 12, 2011, 07:19:20 PM

Williams works its wonders in mysterious ways with respect to webcast pricing and otherwise.

walzy31 · February 12, 2011, 07:22:40 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on February 12, 2011, 07:07:25 PM
So Walzy, when is all-crazy announced? Other than perennial member Dodson, I'm not sure that the Ephs have any nominees this year ...

All-Crazy will be posted on the 20th. I can't give away the members yet, but it is coming along quite well.

Wang was TOUGH tonight. I think they mis-stated him in the first half. In my head, I had him at 9-10 fg, 4-4 3pt, 2-2 ft and 24 points, but the box score has him at 9-13 fg, 4-7 3pt, 2-2 ft. I would bet that my stats for him being are more correct than the official box. Absolutely on fire.

Workman certainly played great in both games this weekend. I would also commend Kaasila and Holmes for their jobs done on Locke/Sharry, Whittington (and Russell & Hanley two weeks before). All four of those guys got numbers (and they are all getting some sort of All-Conference accolades) against us, but Pete and Jeff did consistently well on both ends of the court.

walzy31 · February 12, 2011, 07:25:28 PM

Quote from: mainehoops on February 12, 2011, 02:11:40 PM
Colby a 16 pt dog at Conn. Wow. Can I bet the moneyline there? Colby will win this game

GREAT call. That ML would have paid close to +1000.

mainehoops · February 12, 2011, 08:06:33 PM

Thanks Walzy. Whitmore is a proud man. Even though they were eliminated from playoffs, I knew he would have the Mules ready to play. 1300 pts and 900 rebounds for Russell. Quite an accomplishment

Old Guy · February 13, 2011, 12:36:04 AM

Midd 57, Trinity 56: People will say that Middlebury was tired and suffered a letdown after the Amherst battle, but I think the credit goes to the Bantams. They had a great plan and executed it, playing very tough, physical D: they're not tall, but they're square and strong and fast and game. They were on fire from the arc in the second half, hitting 7-9 from three (and one miss was a desperation heave as the shot clock expired), McDougall and Dean in particular.

Midd was ahead by three at the half, could have been more, and the game was going according to script - Middlebury would put them away in the second half. But Trinity deviated from the script and decided not to take a fall. Trinity was up three with three minutes to go. Locke was out of the game as we needed another perimeter defender (Davis). Midd played great defense, forcing two shot clock violations near the end but Trinity wouldn't go away. With 2.3 seconds left, Fels was fouled going to the hoop, missed the first shot and hit the second by mistake. McDougall was outstanding for the Bantams. Frosh Dean went 3-3 from three in the second half.

For Middlebury, Wolfin had no points, but seven assists. Locke went 4-13 from the line, but had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Sharry was huge again, with 17 points (6-10, 4-4 foul shots), five rebounds (four offensive) and four blocks. Kizell rebounded nicely after last night with 16 points (6-6 from the line).

Re: working the officials, Cosgrove is Maker times ten. He is as "active" (intense, grouchy) as any coach I've seen in the gym since Paulson.

I think Sharry this weekend reinforced the idea that he should be in the discussion for POY, along with Williams' all-americans, and Meehan.

nescac1 · February 13, 2011, 10:25:46 AM

Another great Williams-Amherst feature:

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/02/10/021311-sports-amherst-1-3/

amh63 · February 13, 2011, 11:20:48 AM

Indeed!....nescac 1.....thanks.
An interesting side note on outside news reporting. Sat morning NPR was doing a feature on an Amherst's woman swimmer. The radio interview with the write-up is found on the Amherst website...athletic page. Picture shown has her family and her. Sure enough...her younger brother is at Williams!....and the article mentioned Williams. I guess one has to mention Williams to get national attention in the news,,,,satire here.

nescac1 · February 14, 2011, 07:08:44 AM

You can hear Coach Hixon starting at the 56 minute on Hoopsville (link below). He noted that he thinks Midd, Williams and Amherst are all as good as any of the teams he has seen in Salem in the past. Hixon also noted that the team hasn't been healthy all year (including the flu vs. Brandeis), and finally seems to be getting healthy now. Hixon, as you might imagine, was looking forward to another shot at Williams and Midd, with more prep time. He said they will not make up the game vs. RIC. He also noted that he had two very strong ED recruits (one of them must be previously talked-about Mussachia), and that he is really high on his current first year class (one guy he said had one of the best weeks of practice he has ever seen, yet has barely played), he just doesn't like to play frosh.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/12682877

Speaking of NESCAC coaches, former Eph coach Dave Paulsen continues to have a strong year in the Patriot League with a young Bucknell team (starting three sophomores and only one senior), currently 8-1 in the league:

http://www.patriotleague.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021211aac.html

Bucket · February 14, 2011, 10:24:15 AM

Quote from: nescac1 on February 14, 2011, 07:08:44 AM

Hixon, as you might imagine, was looking forward to another shot at Williams and Midd, with more prep time.

I would like to think that this quote will go up in the Bates locker room.

Old Guy · February 14, 2011, 10:45:06 AM

Hamilton tonight, here, in a rescheduled game. Coach Brown is presented with an interesting dilemma - how seriously to take this game, on the eve of tourney play. Hamilton is pretty good, but the game has no NESCAC value and the team is coming off two tough games this past weekend. It would be too bad to lose an ace player to injury sustained tonight. On the other hand, it's nice having this lofty national ranking, a new experience for the Panthers. I suspect we'll play our best players for much of the game, but make sure our bench gets more of a chance (minutes) to contribute than it did against the Jeffs and Bantams. The players of course would like to keep it going.

I think what the weekend proved was what many suspected - that the three top teams are really good and pretty even: Amherst beats Williams at home; Williams beats Middlebury at home; Middlebury beats Amherst at home; and Williams beats Amherst at home. All are close games, terrific competition.

Bates vs Amherst at Amherst and Trinity vs Middlebury at Middlebury means that you still have to play the games - be careful not look past the quarterfinals in the NESCAC tourney.

The other games last weekend, at least on Saturday, were terrific: two games decided by a point, and the other games by, 4,4, and 6. I would love to hear some of the details and analysis.

Bucket · February 14, 2011, 11:49:12 AM

I'd have to think that Middlebury is playing for more than just "keeping it going" against Hamilton.

True, there are no NESCAC implications, and, yes, it would be horrible to lose someone to injury, but there are also very real seeding implications. I'd hate to see the Panthers lose any potential tournament home games due to a Hamilton loss.

Ultimately, I agree with Old Guy: Starters and top subs will get a lot of run, but I suspect we'll see a deeper bench, tonight, too.

grabtherim · February 14, 2011, 12:12:01 PM

Not sure how the NCAA D3 selections work. Given that the NESCAC has had 3 teams pretty much in the top ten all season, and their only losses are to each other, can we safely expect all 3 to come out of the league to the dance assuming they all make it to the semis at Williams?