MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Thanks Walzy, I should probably just quit while I am ahead ...

A few interesting results in Little East action last night, Eastern Conn loses to Keene State (who has oddly been playing much better since its leading scorer left the team, Ewing theory in action?), and RIC loses to Western Conn.   The Eastern Conn-Wesleyan, Keene-Middlebury, and RIC-Amherst games next week are all huge in terms of regional rankings / potential at-large bid implications, as all six teams could really improve their prospects with a win against a top-tier regional opponent.  Right now, I'd say that the teams from New England in NCAA contention (other than an auto bid) would include that group of six, WPI, MIT, Tufts, Williams, and that is probably about it.  Between the inter-conference showdowns, a big Eastern Conn - RIC game this weekend, and the Williams vs. Midd and Amherst games this week, the regional picture should be a lot clearer by one week from now. 

[WPI89]

N1 - I would say that is the right list of teams in contention for an at large bid at this point (with WPI playing their way back in by beating MIT last weekend) with the possible addition of Albertus Magnus.  Seen them twice live this year - not sure if that conference has ever gotten 2 teams in and still might be tough based on regional rankings but if they run the table (maybe thump Trinity) and then slip up in their conf championship, you never know.  Put it this way - they can score with anybody and would be a very "live" first round opponent for any of the top NE contenders.

[nescac1]

Good catch WPI, I wasn't aware of AM's record.  At 15-1, and with a win already over Western Conn, I imagine that if they run the table but lose in their conference tourney, they'd be a virtual lock for an at-large bid.  Even if they lose again in the regular season and finish with three losses, despite a very weak conference schedule, they'd have a solid shot.  I do note that they have the toughest part of their schedule remaining: six road games left, including Trinity and 4 of the top 6 in GNAC, so there is a good chance they will get knocked off a few times, mooting the issue. 

Middlebury, MIT, and Albertus Magnus are, barring more losses, all teams that the rest of New England (and indeed, the country) will be rooting for to win conference tourneys ...

[pjunito]

neascac1 and WPI89 you guys make great points. I enjoy reading your updates as well. Living in Connecticut, I don't have the opportunity to see a lot of teams in the other conference. I do, however, see a lot of GNAC games, at Albertus Magnus. The conference is very weak compared to the othe regional conferences. Albertus, has a very talented team. I think they will begin moving up the regional rankings if they continue to win. 

However, this is about the time of year that teams begin to hit their strides and make great runs into the conference tournaments. It will be interesting (and fun) to see which teams begin to turn it on. This is a big week for many teams in the region. Albertus has its toughest road game on Thursday night. I can give everyone in update on how they did on Friday.

Keep posting!

[Bucket]

Midd pulled away from an athletic (quick and long) Plattsburgh State last night for a 73-54 win. Interesting results for Plattsburgh this year, close losses to solid teams like Rochester and Oswego, followed by blow-out losses to equally solid teams like Buffalo State. Saw both in evidence last night, with the Cardinals within 7 points in the second half only to be down by 25 a handful of minutes later.

For the Panthers, Ryan Sharry was, well Ryan Sharry: 20 points, 13 boards, 4 blocks. And he really had to work on the defensive end, guarding a face-the-basket forward with a super-quick first step. Nolan Thompson had his best offensive performance since returning to the line-up after missing a handful of games around the break. He had 14 points (6-10, all jump shots) and 8 boards (7 offensive) and played his usual stellar defensive. Jake Wolfin put on a clinic, feeding Panther after Panther and finishing with 12 assists.   

Here's hoping the team stays away from that nasty rotovirus tearing through campus and that whatever nicks and bruises attained during a physical game are inconsequential come Saturday.

[nescac1]

Great video feed from Williamstown.  Amherst up 8 at the half.  The half was more or less evenly played, and both teams look pretty good, but Williams missed 3-4 wide open threes that they really needed to hit, and Amherst got some help from the refs on some really cryptic calls, including a bogus flagrant offensive foul on Epley which gave Amherst momentum, and a strange reversal of what looked like a correct call out on the baseline.  Also, Workman traveled several times, uncalled.  Although he could complain as well, it looked like he drew an uncalled foul to end the half.   Wang and Robertson did a good job penetrating for Williams, but the Ephs had a few too many turnovers and, again, absolutely have to start hitting some threes if they want to mount a comeback.  Toomey and Kaasila gave Williams a lot of trouble inside, too many good looks in the lane and Williams will need to find a way to slow them down.  Ephs need to get Mayer more touches / shots inside.  Amherst playing very aggressive perimeter D and the Ephs need to adjust strategy a bit to get the ball inside.   

[formerbant10]

The bogus flagrant offensive was the elbow swing.  Any time a player swings his elbows, not a body rotation (think a pivot) and makes contact to the head, it's a flagrant.  The officials are 1 for 2 so far with this call tonight.

[nescac1]

Ugly, gritty game in Williamstown.  Tough loss for the Ephs, big win for Amherst.  I don't understand why Williams didn't use its last time out to get a better look with four seconds left, really strange.  No rhythm at all for either team as fouls (many legit, some really ticky-tack, but they were calling it tight the entire way) were called nearly every time down the floor on both ends, it seems like, and both teams shot horribly all game.  Great comeback for Williams, coming back from down 14 to tie the game, but ultimately they just gave up too big a cushion, and allowed Amherst too many FTA's down the stretch, all of which the Jeffs nailed (including the winning free throws by Toomey).  The difference was clearly at the line ... Amherst 18-23, Williams 17-26, and there was the ball game.   For Amherst, Waller and Kaasila were both huge and gave Williams fits inside, for Williams, Robertson, Klemm, and Mayer all played very well. 

Williams definitely has the edge in quickness, getting into the lane with regularity, but Amherst had a big edge in strength and size inside, with guys getting great position for either easy makes or offensive rebounds.  Not sure how Williams can deal with Midd's size inside, if they have any hope of winning that game, they will need to be on fire from deep, no easy feat vs. the Panthers.  Fortunately for Williams they get another shot vs. Amherst in the NESCAC game, but they will need to take much better advantage of opportunities to win on the road vs. the Jeffs. 

[amh63]

I thought for awhile in the last 40 seconds or so that the BB gods would continue the Chandler curse!, In the two games last year, Williams had halftime leads and Amherst made comebacks but lost.  I knew that the 8 point halftime lead would not hold up.....still when Klemm made his 3 and cut Amherst lead to 1.....I was suffering.  Yes, it came down to defense, and foul calls and foul shots made.  Toomey was great on the line in the 2nd half....but missed three foul shots in the first half....a 92% shooter.
So it came down to foul shooting.  Like Amherst's one point lost in Middletown....the team that makes the foul shots WINS games. Now if only the game up in Midd. is FREE.

[lefrakenstein]

Ugly game from Williamstown. Both teams did a great job of shutting down the perimeter. Two very good three point shooting teams were held to 19 and 20% from behind the arc. One of the biggest plays of the second half was when Waller slipped coming around screen and Epley (i think) knocked down a three. someone slipping seemed like your only chance of getting open tonight. Amherst's guards/perimeter players were totally shut down: Workman 2-12, Toomey: 3-14, Barrise 1-7, Kalema 0-5. Waller, Kaasila and Holmes had big games down low to keep Amherst in it.

I had an issue with how the game was coached from the Amherst perspective. With Amherst getting shut down in the half court in the second half, how can you not be more aggressive in transition? Granted Williams is fast, but it seemed like a least a great opportunity to pick up a few fouls given how tightly the game was being called. Maybe it's my being over-nostalgic, but when I before I graduated in '08 it seemed like the Amherst teams were all lot more comfortable taking off after an opponent miss and looking to score in transition. Granted, I don't get to watch a ton of games live now, but it definitely didn't seem like the team did a lot of that with Meehan, and I would say from the webcasts I've caught this year that it doesnt seem to happen a lot with Toomey. It's a shame, he's clearly really fast...

Loved the passion by the Williams commentators. Every point the Jeffs scored was ill-gotten, probably the result of a "weak ticky-tack" foul. This is why student commentators are so much better, they actually care.

[JustAFan]

I agree with your take on the game, nescac1.  Very poor officiating for a college game, but it was inconsistent both ways. Nevertheless, I think the Ephs were really hurt when Emerson got called for 2 phantom fouls in the last 5 minutes since Williams would have benefitted by him remaining on the court.

I agree with your puzzlement with the Williams coaching decisions made with 4 seconds to go.  Amherst gave the Ephs a gift by calling a timeout and allowing Williams to set up a play assuming a made free throw, yet Williams ran a terrible play that relied exclusively on Wang being able to dribble the length of the court.

I was only able to catch the second half and was disappointed in the Ephs offensive sets and lack of patience to run their plays thru the second and third options.  Very uncharacteristic of a Williams team. Same for the Ephs poor outside shooting--that has been Williams calling card in recent years but far too many outside shots were rushed and the shooters weren't squared up.

What mystifies me the most is Williams asking Wang to run the point most of the second half rather than letting Robertson do so.  Even on fast breaks the big guys were looking to make the outlet to Wang while Robertson ran away from the ball and took upcourt on the wing.  There were a bunch of crucial possessions in the last 8 minutes when Robertson never even touched the ball.  No offense to Wang, but Williams is a totally different team when Robertson is in charge and the Ephs should be looking to have the ball in his hands as much as possible on each offensive possession since he makes everyone else so much better.  Amherst does a great job maximizing Toomey's touches, and it makes sure that the ball is in his hands on every possesion to start its offense. I am puzzled why Williams puts the ball in Wang's hands instead.  When you have a special point guard like Robertson, you've got to maximize his touches, and I thought Williams did a poor job tonight utilizing the guy who is perhaps their most important offensive weapon (not because he scores a lot but because he makes sure they run their offensive sets and stay patient and ultimately find the open man).  Until this improves, along with much better outside shooting, Williams will not realize its potential this season.  Having said that, I give the Ephs a lot of credit for never giving up tonight and battling back from a big deficit, but right now they seem to lack both confidence in and an offensive rhythm and they are not physically tough enough up front to contend with the bigger and more powerful front lines of teams like Amherst.

Last observation:  I'm curious why the minutes of freshman Daniel Wohl have declined--he impressed my early in the season.  He adds some size and skill to the backcourt that could help re-energize the team at this juncture.  Then again, playing time is earned in practice and that's not something that fans get to see!

[toad22]

A gutty, great win for Williams. Never has Williams played with more energy and guts than they did tonight. I will never agree that Williams lost that game. The game was flat out stolen by a series of wrong calls and non-calls in the last 2-3 minutes. From Williams' perspective, the worst officiating I have ever seen (at home) in my 44 years of watching and patricipating in Eph bball. I thought both teams played hard, with such intensity, in fact, that the shooting stats are very subpar. It was a great game, but Williams won the game.

[walzy31]

Wednesday 1/25/12 Spread

Amherst 67 @ Williams 65
Amherst -3.0 (Williams Covers +1.0)
O/U: 141.0 (Under +9.0)

nescac1 loses an immaterial 0.1 units with the split. toad22 has some other issues to work through but I think he'll be fine.

if either team shoots a sub-par 30% from 3pt, then that team wins by a half dozen. unfortunately, both teams were ice cold from deep (as previously noted...20%) and the game was pretty ugly. Amherst will take the W for regional rankings and NCAA berth hopes (as well as bragging rights). the feb 10th game at Amherst should be a very different game.

As an Amherst fan, I do love seeing Toomey/Workman combine for an abysmal 5-26 fg (2-15 3pt) and the Jeffs still leave Chandler with a W.

[with age came?]

Interesting to read quotes about Sullivan from Hamilton.  Always thought in a halfcourt set he was a beast in the Liberty League where Hamilton came from but I wasn't sure if that would translate to a league the caliber of the NESCAC.  It would be quite a feather in his cap if he made the All League team.  Haven't seen a live Hamilton game yet this season.  Any ideas on one that I should should go to where the Continentals have a chance at a hard fought victory?

[7express]

Good catch WPI, I wasn't aware of AM's record.  At 15-1, and with a win already over Western Conn, I imagine that if they run the table but lose in their conference tourney, they'd be a virtual lock for an at-large bid.  Even if they lose again in the regular season and finish with three losses, despite a very weak conference schedule, they'd have a solid shot.  I do note that they have the toughest part of their schedule remaining: six road games left, including Trinity and 4 of the top 6 in GNAC, so there is a good chance they will get knocked off a few times, mooting the issue. 

Middlebury, MIT, and Albertus Magnus are, barring more losses, all teams that the rest of New England (and indeed, the country) will be rooting for to win conference tourneys ...

I think whoever wins the LEC regular season title is in good shape as well no matter if it's RIC/West Conn/Keene/Eastern. So whichever of that quartet comes out on top (I think it's either gonna be Western or Keene), that's another team you should add on the list of rooting to win the conference tournament.  Regardless I think the LEC is a 2+ bid league.  Those top 4 still play each other once, and barring someone going 0-3, and losing 1 other conference game, all 4 of them have credentials to get into the tournament this year