MBB: NESCAC

[Old Guy]

You're right, Trixiep. I guess I just wanted to use the word "penultimate" in my post. We also play Skidmore, over there, on 12/9. Brain cramp. I'm glad I was mistaken: I find the three weeks of exams and the holiday break a long stretch without hoop.

Johnson & Wales should be fun. Thomas has 34,35,44 in three games, two close losses to Richard Stockton and Western CT. He takes a lot of shots and gets to the line.

[nescac1]

Good to see Robertson and Rooke-Ley back for the Ephs.  Just as Williams finally looked close to full strength, Emerson got hurt in the first minute of last night's game, hopefully he will be back soon.  Impressive return for the two returning guards (albeit against a less-than-stellar team), combining to go 14-8-4 and perfect from the field and the line, in limited time. 

Frosh Daniel Wohl, who has been playing well for Williams, had a break out game (18 pts in only 16 minutes, plus a block and two steals).  He is putting big numbers up in multiple categories in limited minutes, and it will be interesting to see what he can do once the schedule gets tougher.  Hopefully Williams can take the next few games to figure out its rotation with guys returning, leading into a big game vs. Keene State, who has looked very strong and deep in the early-going, in another week or so.  Williams could have a very strong second unit this year, the way Wohl, Mickens, and Mayer have been playing, and if Rooke-Ley can play the way he did late last season (or hopefully better as a soph).   

Williams' biggest question may be rebounding (Ephs gave up 18 offensive boards to MCLA, which won't cut it against a better opponent), as they don't have a single dominant guy in that department like they have had at center in recent years, but they have lots of guys (particularly at the guard spots) who rebound very well for their size / position, so they should be OK so long as they make that a point of emphasis collectively.  Will be tough no matter what against a big, athletic team like Amherst or Midd. 

OchoLoko, saying Williams can't rely on the three ball is sort of like saying Midd can't rely on defense -- it's not ALL they do well, but they do it so well, that two years ago with a similar team (big-time emphasis on the three ball), they made the national title game.  Williams is not going to have a dominant post player this year, but what they will have is at least four and usually five guys on the floor that can nail the three (some, like Wang and Klemm, at a nationally-elite level), which will open driving lanes for Robertson/Wang and back-door cuts for everyone else.  The Maker offense is all about creating space for open threes and then when those are hotly contested, having guys go to the basket, you have to pick your poison.  In all events, Williams' bigs pretty much controlled the interior vs. Wesleyan it seemed like, and Wes will need more out of Thomas (who seems to have a big issue with foul trouble), Callaghan, and their back-ups to compete against Amherst, Midd and Williams in conference games.  Williams will of course need to find other ways to gut out wins when the shots aren't falling, just as Midd can't rely ENTIRELY on its elite defense, but if you are holding your breath waiting for the Eph shooters to crash down back to earth, now that the team is finally healthy, it's unlikely to happen more than a few times per year.  Because guys like Epley, Emerson, Mayer, Wohl, and Rooke-Ley have all shown that they can be deadly. 

[Old Guy]

Nice piece on h.s. teammates Daniel Wohl and Hunter Merryman, now at Midd. (I apologize if this has been posted before).

http://www.insidesocal.com/paspreps/2011/04/basektball-poly-duo-will-be-fr.html

[amh63]

Glad to hear from the "gang" as the conference teams go through their evaluation period against out-of conference teams primarily.  Amherst will return to the floor at Lasell on Tuesday. Amherst is in midst of its "travel" period with 7 of its next 9 games away.  Appears Coach Hixon wants to ensure that Amherst gets a decent SOS factor this year.  Does a win away count more than a home court win....independent of the opponent?  This issue was discussed here before.....just want to know if the NCAA or who ever controls the evaluation/selection of the post season teams have the same factors this season.
Going over the scores of the early season, one finds some interesting results.  MIT, strong in the NEWMAC conference, got crushed by Harvard.  Harvard goes and beats FSU from the ACC!  Swarthmore plays Columbia tonight.  The other night, WPI, a team that I watched for half of a game...on-line...and considered a solid team, crushes Salem State.  To hard to make judgements this part of the season.  Will try to focus on the conference teams in general and Amherst in particular.  Too much data will short-circuit my "brain cells" to steal a term from Periot...or was it Grey cells?

[walzy31]

Tuesday November 29th Spread

Amherst @ Lasell
Amherst -14.0
O/U: 155.5

[Hugenerd]

MIT, strong in the NEWMAC conference, got crushed by Harvard.  Harvard goes and beats FSU from the ACC!

Harvard is loaded this year, or as loaded as an Ivy team can get nowadays. They are on the cusp of breaking into the AP and USA Today Top 25 (27 in both polls this week), and they beat Utah by a wider margin than they beat MIT. That game also didn't count for D3 purposes, it is officially an exhibition for MIT.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

MIT, strong in the NEWMAC conference, got crushed by Harvard.  Harvard goes and beats FSU from the ACC!

Harvard is loaded this year, or as loaded as an Ivy team can get nowadays. They are on the cusp of breaking into the AP and USA Today Top 25 (27 in both polls this week), and they beat Utah by a wider margin than they beat MIT. That game also didn't count for D3 purposes, it is officially an exhibition for MIT.

They're also on the cusp of signing three top 100 recruits for next year.

[amh63]

The latest D3hoops poll of the top 25 is out.  Midd. moves up to 2 , followed by Amherst at 3.  Williams drops to 7th.  They should quickly rise again.  The target on the back gets larger this time of the year, it seems.  MIT moves up into the top 10.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The latest D3hoops poll of the top 25 is out.  Midd. moves up to 2 , followed by Amherst at 3.  Williams drops to 7th.  They should quickly rise again.  The target on the back gets larger this time of the year, it seems.  MIT moves up into the top 10.

Given the results thus far, I don't know why Midd stayed above Amherst, who really seems to be on top of their game.

[nescac1]

Middlebury, which beat Amherst twice last season, defeated a top-25 caliber team on the road, plus a second team that is highly-regarded, and has remained undefeated despite playing without its all-American forward.  Amherst, playing at full strength, has beaten up on a bunch of lesser teams.  I think Midd deserves to be ranked higher, although Amherst is certainly playing well.  Amherst's starting five looks as strong as any in the nation, but I think there are questions about the second unit that still need to be answered.  Amherst plays four potentially tough road games over the next two weeks, if it emerges from that stretch unscathed, it will have as good a claim to the top spot as anyone ... as for Midd, assuming Sharry returns, I'd be surprised if they stumble until at least mid-January, more likely late January or February. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Middlebury, which beat Amherst twice last season, defeated a top-25 caliber team on the road, plus a second team that is highly-regarded, and has remained undefeated despite playing without its all-American forward. 

I guess I missed Sharry being out somewhere along the line.  That makes sense now.

[LaPaz]

Amherst and the under

[walzy31]

Amherst and the under

La Paz,
Nice job getting your bet in early. Sometimes that is rewarded.

LINE CHANGE: Tuesday November 29th Spread

Amherst @ Lasell
Amherst -19.0
O/U: 155.5

[nescac1]

Was able to see the game, and it was not pretty, but at least it's a win.  I doubt Maker will be happy with the team's effort in this one, regardless of the outcome.  Williams should have won this game far more easily vs. an overmatched RPI team.  The RPI press was scrappy and gave the Eph fits, which I guess is not a shock given how little time the team has played together this year, but still, many of the TO's were just simply careless, and a team with so many stellar ballhandlers should do better, the Ephs simply have to play smarter.  13 TO's in the first half were particularly egregious.  Williams also did not bring its A game on defense until very late in the game (they were down 11 at one point in the second half before they turned it on).   RPI to its credit was scorching from deep for a few stretches, but Williams gave up way, way too many barely contested deep shots, the team really needs to tighten up the perimeter defense.   

On the plus side, Daniel Wohl continues to light it up.  He had some very athletic finishes (including two nice dunks) and is a really heady player.  The only blemish to another monster stat line (17-8-3 plus a block and a steal) was five TO's, but most of those at least came from trying to be very aggressive.  He is this year's Aaron Toomey in terms of impact and ability (definitely at that level), and has to be the early favorite for NESCAC FPOY, I had no idea he was that good.

Nate Robertson also played really well.  As always, really good things happen when the ball is in his hands, and he should really be handling the ball a much higher percentage of the time.  His typically efficient stat line of 10-4-3, only 3 shot attempts, and crucially, no TO's in a game when the rest of the team struggled to hold onto the ball.  Williams is at its best when he is penetrating and either finishing inside or involving teammates, but in all events, he was the calm among the storm on the court for Williams, somehow manages to play quickly while remaining totally composed and under control. 

James Klemm also had a big game, as he hit his open looks, unlike the rest of the team, which was ice cold from deep, and did a great job on the boards.  Wang is clearly not all the way back to his top form, lacks some of his pre-injury explosiveness, hopefully that will return over the next month or so.  A few other guys had their moments, but really, it was Wohl, Klemm and Robertson who saved the day.  For the rest of the team, this will be a game to build from. 

[Hugenerd]

Was able to see the game, and it was not pretty, but at least it's a win.  I doubt Maker will be happy with the team's effort in this one, regardless of the outcome.  Williams should have won this game far more easily vs. an overmatched RPI team.  The RPI press was scrappy and gave the Eph fits, which I guess is not a shock given how little time the team has played together this year, but still, many of the TO's were just simply careless, and a team with so many stellar ballhandlers should do better, the Ephs simply have to play smarter.  13 TO's in the first half were particularly egregious.  Williams also did not bring its A game on defense until very late in the game (they were down 11 at one point in the second half before they turned it on).   RPI to its credit was scorching from deep for a few stretches, but Williams gave up way, way too many barely contested deep shots, the team really needs to tighten up the perimeter defense.   

On the plus side, Daniel Wohl continues to light it up.  He had some very athletic finishes (including two nice dunks) and is a really heady player.  The only blemish to another monster stat line (17-8-3 plus a block and a steal) was five TO's, but most of those at least came from trying to be very aggressive.  He is this year's Aaron Toomey in terms of impact and ability (definitely at that level), and has to be the early favorite for NESCAC FPOY, I had no idea he was that good.

Nate Robertson also played really well.  As always, really good things happen when the ball is in his hands, and he should really be handling the ball a much higher percentage of the time.  His typically efficient stat line of 10-4-3, only 3 shot attempts, and crucially, no TO's in a game when the rest of the team struggled to hold onto the ball.  Williams is at its best when he is penetrating and either finishing inside or involving teammates, but in all events, he was the calm among the storm on the court for Williams, somehow manages to play quickly while remaining totally composed and under control. 

James Klemm also had a big game, as he hit his open looks, unlike the rest of the team, which was ice cold from deep, and did a great job on the boards.  Wang is clearly not all the way back to his top form, lacks some of his pre-injury explosiveness, hopefully that will return over the next month or so.  A few other guys had their moments, but really, it was Wohl, Klemm and Robertson who saved the day.  For the rest of the team, this will be a game to build from.

I only mean this as a point of comparison, and I know Williams has been battling injuries, but MIT beat RPI by 29 ten days ago.

Interesting matchup this Friday, as Amherst travels to 5-0 Springfield, who beat ORV Keene State tonight. Springfield also plays Williams next week.