MBB: NESCAC

[Hugenerd]

Wow, amazing win by Middlebury.  Midd looked a bit flat in the first half, and Amherst basically did whatever they wanted on offense, I've never seen Midd (in recent years) play such soft D.  The second half, you could see Midd was totally fired up and played their more usual style of defense from the outset, just played with a lot of passion and desire.  Midd just played like they would not lose, and Amherst lost a bit of composure.  Other than continued struggles from the free throw line, Midd played a nearly flawless half of hoops. 

Kizel was absolutely tremendous on both ends, dominating fellow frosh Toomey (what happened to him the last few weeks of the season??).  Amherst did not play smart or patient on offense, continually taking the ball into Locke, who got swat after swat.  Not the way to play vs. Midd.  Locke and Sharry were beasts inside, I have no idea how Williams will deal with their size, but I think you will see a lot of Emerson and Whittington on the floor together tomorrow.  Really hope Robertson can play, because without him the Ephs' backcourt advantage is totally negated.   

As crazy as it seems, Amherst may have to sweat out the tourney selection now that Becker and Western Conn have lost (although they are ranked ahead of Western Conn, so should be OK there).  If WPI loses and there are a lot of conf. tourney upsets, there is a slight possibility Amherst is shut out, although I'd still be shocked.  They will likely get a road game in the first round though, no matter what ...

WPI may be short handed in tomorrows NEWMAC final also.  Matt Carr, who has led them in the middle all year, went down with an ankle injury today.  After the game, Bartley said he was doubtful. On top of that, backup Fernando Perez also did not play today.  MIT would have a big advantage inside if both those guys were out.

[ephoops]

As crazy as it seems, Amherst may have to sweat out the tourney selection now that Becker and Western Conn have lost (although they are ranked ahead of Western Conn, so should be OK there).  If WPI loses and there are a lot of conf. tourney upsets, there is a slight possibility Amherst is shut out, although I'd still be shocked.  They will likely get a road game in the first round though, no matter what ...

I listened to Hixon's interview on Hoopsville a couple of weeks ago.  He was lobbying to be sent out of the Northeast region in the NCAA's...  With the upsets in the other conferences in the Northeast, he may get his wish...

If Williams, Midd and Amherst are all in the same bracket, it would be a shame.  If they are split up, I can see two NESCAC teams making it to Salem...

[toad22]

I can't remember a better comeback in Chandler gym. Middlebury was awful in the first half, Amherst was unstoppable. The second half was a complete reversal. Amherst was awful, Middlebury was relentless on defense and the boards. Locke was a monster under the basket, swatting any and all shots from those who dared come near the basket. The pressure of Midd's defense seemed to melt Amherst. It took a long time for Midd to catch up, but for the last 8 minutes of the game it seemed the the contest of wills shifted from Amherst to Middlebury. This was a brilliant, gutty performance by Middlebury. I watched the game, not really caring who won, but in the end I had to root for Middlebury. The excitement of that comeback was overwhelming. I'm hoping that Williams can rise to match the aggressiveness of Middlebury in the finals. I expect another classic.

[Old Guy]

What Toad said.

Middlebury was behind for over 38 minutes. I texted my wife at the half, "we're getting our butts kicked," and that wasn't the half of it. O ye of little faith. Locke didn't play for the first eight minutes of the game - he hadn't practiced for a week and a half (flu this week on top of the knee sprain) - and played in short bursts after that in the first half. Locke airballed his first free throw, nicked the rim on the second. Bleak. Sharry picked up two quick fouls. A nightmare half.

Amherst beat back the first Midd run early in the second half. Middlebury tied it with just 1:49 left. I can't say what happened - I was a wreck, only that it did.  Sharry and Locke on the floor together were the difference down the stretch (Sharry - 15 and 13; Locke seven and nine with seven blocks). Fierce. Locke played a total of 22 minutes. Thompson only scored six points with seven rebounds - and played 38 invaluable minutes guarding Meehan (who played 40). Kizell is tough.

Trinity had a chance with Williams in the first game. They shot the lights out against us in our one point win over them last week. They didn't today. It seemed like they were down three points the whole game but couldn't make a shot to pull even. It also seemed that Whittington could score on them at will; every time he was passed he ball on the low block he scored (10-10 from the floor). He's pretty good. Wang had a rare poor shooting game. Trinity did a good job on him, not going for fakes, helping in the lane.

Should be fun tomorrow.

[7express]

Western Conn have lost (although they are ranked ahead of Western Conn, so should be OK there)
-----------------------------------

I wouldn't worry about Amherst too much, their in over West Conn, Becker & WPI (should they lose).  As a Western student I'm nervous for them, this team has been awful in February.

[eph partisan]

Becker lost as well: http://d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2010-11/contrib/201102266dinus

Maybe Elms is a better team than they were in January, when they lost to Williams by 17 (and it wasn't that close - only game of the year I got to see in person)... but if Becker gets in over Amherst, something is SERIOUSLY wrong... I'd like to think that they are definitely in, 7express, but who knows....

It also seemed that Whittington could score on them at will; every time he was passed he ball on the low block he scored (10-10 from the floor). He's pretty good. Wang had a rare poor shooting game. Trinity did a good job on him, not going for fakes, helping in the lane.

Should be fun tomorrow.

Midd must be excited to get another shot at Williams - but with Sharry, this time. Williams has a pretty serious home winning-streak on the line, with 34 straight wins in Chandler. No way that Whittington scores at will against this bunch. He's gonna have to do some work today to get his points. Wang can't shoot that badly again if the Ephs are gonna win. On the webcast, looked like he missed a few that he normally wouldn't.

Today is going to be a defensive struggle, I would think. What's the line, Walzy?

[frank uible]

One factor in forecasting the members of the playoff field is the NCAA's proclivity, ceteris paribus or almost so, to spread opportunities around.

[nescac1]

The expected defensive dogfight in Williamstown.  No Robertson for the Ephs which has definitely hurt.  Middlebury up five, the Ephs matched the Panthers inside, but Middlebury is shooting well (4-7 from 3), and the Ephs, for a second straight game, are not (3-13, with Dodson and Rooke-Ley a combined 0-6), and that has been the difference so far.  Wang and Whittington have been strong for Williams, but the Ephs need someone else to step up in a big way in the second half to come from behind.  Nolan Thompson absolutely on fire for Middlebury. 

[7express]

We've got a game at Williams, 57-54 Mid, 44 seconds left.

[7express]

Mid 63-54 winner at Williams.

[nescac1]

Congrats to Midd for winning the NESCAC title.  Very even game, Williams down six at the half and the whole second half the lead went from 2 to 9, but Williams just could not get over the hump, a few tough bounces, a few missed shots in key situations, and Midd was just a little too tough.  Midd with a well deserved NESCAC championship with two very gritty wins, led by just tremendous defense.

It was good to see James Klemm find his shooting stroke for the Ephs, but Midd really clamped down on him and wouldn't give him a clean look once he found his groove.  Thompson was outstanding, as always, on Wang, and Whittington didn't get enough touches, but that was largely by defensive design.  Ephs didn't hit quite enough threes to keep the defense on Wang and Whittington honest.  Williams I thought did play well, especially on defense, considering how much losing Robertson effects both their offense and defense.  Hopefully he will be recovered in time for the NCAA tourney because they need him for a deep run.  Each team has now won one without a key player vs. the other, I would love to see them play in the tourney (hopefully DEEP in the tourney) in a full-strength rubber-match.  

I really hope these two teams are places in different quarters of the bracket, as they could well enter the NCAA tourney number 1 and 2 in the nation ...

[amh63]

Frank U......showing off your education again.  It is good to exercise the mind.
Contrats to Midd. for winning a conference title again and proving Old Guy correct.  Sharry is the MVP in the conference.  Locke is a most valuable player indeed as shown in the win over Amherst.  However, Sharry's numbers in both games are great in low scoring games.  I believe that the first Midd. vs. Will. game suffered with Sharry being out.
Now that the conference top three teams have played enough games against each other for now....here hoping they all look forward to going deep into the NCAA.   If the brackets are set up right, I too believe that two of the three will meet in the Final Four.  It has happened before!

[JustAFan]

Hats off to Middlebury for 2 tough wins over top 10 teams.  They showed they have what it takes to get to Salem if they can continue to play well and have a little luck along the way as well.  In my mind the leadership, toughness and consistent game to game effort and performance they get from Locke, Sharry and Wolfin make them a belt-buckle notch above Williams and Amherst and very deserving NESCAC champs.

I thought Williams really was out of sync offensively today without Robertson at the point.  I was surprised that Coach Maker stayed with Wang at the point.  The kid is clearly a scorer, not a distributor, and belongs at the 2.  He tried very hard to be unselfish and run the offense but on too many occasions forced things after spells of not having an opportunity to shoot the ball, and he wasn't able to be as offensive minded as Williams needs him to be.  I'm surprised that he's the best choice at the point when Robertson is not playing.

On the positive side for the Ephs, let's hope today represents the start of Klemm getting his stroke back. It's a shame the Eph offense didn't find more ways to get him involved once he started to get it going in the 2d half.  And I thought both Epley and Rooke-Ley played well and were able to get to the hoop against the Middlebury front line. But when I compare this year's Williams team against some of the great teams from the past what I don't see is the presence of a couple of great (and consistent) outside shooters who can get on a tear and either put the dagger in the opponents or shoot the Ephs back into the game.  The potential is there with Wang, Klemm and Dodson, but to go deep in the tournament Williams is going to need more than one of them to be on fire.

[toad22]

A nice win for Middlebury. After they got an early lead, they were able to control the tempo to a nice slow speed that they play well at, and Williams does not. Williams didn't shoot it well enough to get a lead in the game and speed things up. With all that, I take away some positives, namely that we rebounded well and we defended well. Two aspects of the game that we will need to do well in the NCAAs. Middlebury should get a bye and host till the final 4. I hope Williams becomes the #1 seed in an adjoining region. It has been a great season for both teams, and I hope we can play again in Salem. As for Amherst, they will likely stay in region, so I would expect Midd/Amh will meet in the elite 8 game. Obviously, I don't really know how the committee will look at things, but that seems fair to me.

[ephoops]

...Middlebury should get a bye and host till the final 4. I hope Williams becomes the #1 seed in an adjoining region. It has been a great season for both teams, and I hope we can play again in Salem. As for Amherst, they will likely stay in region, so I would expect Midd/Amh will meet in the elite 8 game. Obviously, I don't really know how the committee will look at things, but that seems fair to me.

The most recent examples for D3 power conferences with multiple teams in the tournament occured last year with the WIAC and ODAC.  W-WW and W-SP were put in different regions on the opposite sides of the tornament bracket -- thus if both advanced, they would not have played each other until the Final in Salem.

The ODAC had four teams in last year's tournament.  Guilford and E. Mennonite were in one region and Va. Wes. and R Macon in another region.  The teams were put in the top and bottom of their respective regional bracket, so they would not play each other until a regional final.  The respective regions were on opposite sides of the tournament bracket so they would not play each other until the Finals in Salem (similar to the WIAC above).

Conversely, I believe that Carthage, Ill Wes and Wheaton from the CCIW were all in the same bracket last year.

Let's hope the NESCAC gets similar treatment to the WIAC and ODAC this year...