MBB: NESCAC

[OchoLoko41]

Caught the Wes Conn game.  Nice to see that Wesleyan could step up without both Brown and St Jean.  Callaghan had one of the best games of his career, getting the majority of his points deep in the paint with some nice physical play... does that make him a goon?

Without Brown and the St Genius in the game plenty of minutes were available and it was real nice to see some people take advantage of them.  Zach Lynch played his heart out with some nice defense on Vadas, who until the final minute was a virtual non factor.

Finally got a good look at Chris Tugman, aka the Great White North. This kid could really turn into something given some seasoning.  While he isnt the immediate impact freshman we've gotten used to from Reilly Wes squads, with this team he doesnt have to be.  Pretty polished post game and with time and opportunity he's only going to get better.

[7express]

Big matchups in the NESCAC vs. Little East challenge this week:

Eastern @ Wesleyan
RIC @ Amherst
Middlebury @ Keene

Will say a lot about thhose 6 teams after Wednesday.  Hopefully Mid doesn't overlook Keene.  Keene has been absolutely dominate the last couple weeks, and only has 1 loss since they dismissed their leading scorer (Ewing theory perhaps??)  Also, Spaulding gymnasium (Keene's home court) is one of the toughest places to play in the LEC.  Students absolutely fill that place, and you know the students and the Keene Owls are both looking forward to knocking off #1.  Take it from someone who's seen Keene, and has been to Spaulding gymnasium when it's been packed, IF Mid doesn't come ready to play they will lose, because they'll have their hands full. 
Amherst should beat RIC at home, but like Keene/Mid will probably be closer then Amherst thinks.
East Conn Wesleyan is a toss up, I'd give Wesleyan the slight edge at home.

[Old Guy]

Midd's webcast does still cost - hopefully that will change in the future, but you do get a professional broadcast. The two announcers are adults, basketball vets, college players, local high school coaches. If you to pay, at least you get a professional presentation.

Just a great game. You can be sure no one at Middlebury was buying Walzy's spread. Two good teams, playing well. Bucket gave you the back and forth. Epley (26 points on 5-8 from three) and Mayer (23 points - 13-15 from the line, 13 rebounds) for Williams were outstanding. Wang in the second half was the Wang of old, I thought, getting to the basket and dishing. His 40 footer at the buzzer was back rim. My son was right on the same angle as the shot and was sure it was in. Some courageous play on both sides. Both teams spent at the end.

Biggest crowd ever at the Midd gym. No admission charge so nobody was turned away, unlike tourney games which sell out. Three to four deep standing. Good thing the fire marshall didn't show up. Very noisy. Great atmosphere. I stood next To "Toad" at the end of the game (I roam).

It was alumni hoop weekend with a reception after the game for alumni, players, and parents and friends of Panther hoop, about 25 alums in all including two players from the 1950s when Middlebury had some truly great players and teams. Great opportunity to show present players there is a generational basketball history at Midd.

Great hoops. Big win for the Panthers.

[toad22]

It was a great game at Pepin gym. I have never seen more fans, and were they ever into it. Middlebury was as tough as I expected. The are not as intimidating as last year, but they seem to be much better offensively. Sharry is a beast. The two guards are very, very tough. They don't beat themselves. They could go a long way in the NCAAs again. It was a close loss (again) for the Ephs. Their backs are now up against the wall. On the bright side, Mayer and Epley (sophmores) played really well. Breakout games for both of them. If the Eph guards can play only modestly better, Williams could be very dangerous down the stretch. The NESCACs could be quite unpredictible this year. The best team seems to me to be Midd, but there are a number of capable teams.

[frank uible]

As with Cubs fans, Williams fans are now waiting until next year.

[Ashley Parker Angel]

OchoLoko, any word as to why Sha Brown and St. Jean didn't play?

[OchoLoko41]

OchoLoko, any word as to why Sha Brown and St. Jean didn't play?

From what i can tell minor bang up injuries.  While an injury to St Jean or Brown can clearly never be exaggerated i believe they'll be back for eastern conn

[Old Guy]

Wish we had a Bates poster. The Bobcats are interesting team. The Tufts-Bates game in Medford yesterday sounded like a good one. Mark Brust (29 points) has really emerged in the second half of the season, deserving some All-NESCAC consideration.

To refer to Sharry as a "goon" or "beast," however defined, will amuse those who know him and appreciate his low-key, laid-back personality.

[lefrakenstein]

Huge final stretch for Amherst with 5 tough games in the next two weeks. RIC can't be overlooked, then Tufts and Bates on the road this weekend, then the final NESCAC weekend with Williams and Midd in LeFrak. The Jeffs will have a much better idea of what this year's squad is really capable of by the time that stretch is over.

[amh63]

Thanks people on your posts of yesterday's key games.  It seems that the posted 1200 watchers of the game was exceeded.  For someone who did NOT watch on-line...too cheap and dislike of live stats....they were of the type that gave me a true sense of the games.
Old Guy....it seems that you and your son saw the last shot by Wang from an angle that was seen on the videos' I referred to on the Williams game.  It seems that yesterday's game played out much like the one in Williamstown.  A strong rush by Williams in the second half after a close first half.  Overcoming a double digit deficit and having a chance to win by a long shot.  It was 4.5 seconds in the game with Amherst and 7 seconds in the Midd. game.  What do you think the last play was going to be by Williams.   I believe it was the same game plan.
Went to watch on TV some Div. 1 games.  As I reviewed the incoming scores of games played....I apologize to all about my remark about low scoring games and breakfast meals.  An analyst had a good point about all the close games and scores. I will paraphrase his appropriate remarks.  All conference teams are in mid-season form.  The teams are well scouted and teams know a great deal about each other.  Given the importance of seedings etc...what can one expect....tough defense and low scores in general.  Exception is the Amherst-Trinity game.  Thirty points is the lowest score ever.
Williams team does have guys stepping up.  Midd. was correct to prevent Robertson and Klemm from hurting them and to hold Wang down.  Those guys hurt Amherst over the years...especially last year in the three games with Williams.  so what happens...other guys start scoring, etc.
My advice to Amherst is to stop Midd.'s guards and let Sharry get what he always gets and hope to win.

[Old Guy]

My advice to Amherst is to stop Midd.'s guards and let Sharry get what he always gets and hope to win  amh63

Sharry only takes 12.5 shots a game (68.7%). He has a very nice shot (9-21 from three), but gets a lot of points on the offensive glass. Hard to stop. The offense doesn't focus on him. Lots of balance on offense this year for the Panthers. Bucket's right: foul trouble stops him. This year, he has learned not to contest everything on the defensive end (he loves to block shots). 

[Bucket]

Game highlights of Midd-Williams:

http://www.wcax.com/story/16624923/middlebury-hangs-on-to-top-williams-and-set-wins-record

[walzy31]

I think Amherst is probably focused more on their next four games than their regular-season finale.
Bucket, thanks for the link and congrats on the win! Nolan Thompson terrifies me.

[LarryBasketball33]

I echo everything that Nescac1 said. (FYI: I do the PA for the home games, not the webcasts, though glad to hear that they do a good job.) Just a great, well-played game in Pepin. The gym was absolutely electric--standing-room-only and very loud--and this with hockey going on next door. Oh, how things have changed.

It was a game of inches--I thought for sure that Wang's three at the buzzer was going to drop. Even with Midd jumping out to a 14-point lead early in the second half, I felt it was going to go down to the end. Williams has so many capable shooters, they can get back in the game in a hurry. Tonight it was Epley, knocking down three after three, each one seeming deeper than the last.

Big moment w/ 8 to play. Midd leading by seven, Sharry gets whistled for a foul on Epley, shooting from deep. It's Ryan's fourth foul, sending him to the bench and Epley hits all three to cut the lead to 4.

Midd stretches to 9, then it's back to three. And it's like this til the end, lead never bigger than 5, though Midd never gives it up either. Stunningly, Kizell (who played brilliantly and is normally automatic from the line) misses the front end of a 1-and-1 w/ 7 seconds left to set the stage for Wang's game-winning attempt. It rims out.

Williams didn't seem to have an answer for Sharry. Well, that's not true. The answer was to get him in foul trouble and keep him off the court, and that worked, limiting his minutes in the first half and a stretch in the second. He still finished with 19 (7-10 from the field) in just 23 minutes. There was no answer for Lynch on the blocks, either. He was near perfect from the field (7-8) and had 15 pts.

Kizell had 15 and 5 assists and played hard-nosed D the entire game. Wolfin, as nescac1 pointed out, was on fire--16 (on 4-6 from deep) and 7 assists. The biggest play he made might have been w/ under a minute to play, Midd holding on to a 2 point lead. With the shot clock winding down, Wolfin drives and pulls up for a shot at the elbow. As he goes up, Robertson (I think) smacks the ball out of his hand, yet Wolfin has the presence of mind to bat the loose ball right to Lynch on the blocks, who lays it in. Clutch play.

Thompson plays 39 minutes, basically in the jersey of Wang or Robertson all game.

Was really impressed with Mayer, and I agree with earlier assessments. He has such a nice game around the basket and the future really looks bright for him. Epley was a beast. And Wang and Robertson are so dangerous with the ball in their hands. I understand that Klemm has struggled this year, but every time he pulls up for three, I hold my breath, convinced it's going in.

Great win for the Panthers. The ride continues.

This is not sour grapes, as I have been happy to see Middlebury win the last couple of games versus Williams, but am I the only one who notices the absolute artform of Mike Maker working referees to his advantage?  In a lifetime of watching coaches in every sport, he is the absolute king of this, and the results he gets warrant him continuing to do so.  Understand if he was my coach, I would love what he does, but since he is not, I admire it while getting frustrated watching it occur game after game.  Maker is on the refs up and down the sideline the entire game, but never in a way which shows them up nor am I guessing ever with bad language as I have not seen him T'd up.  That being said, he plants the seeds of his discontent from the opening tap until the final horn.  Since he is not showing the refs ups, they seem to be almost deferential to him versus shutting him down at some point.  Do his antics help his team? Of course they do, or he would stop doing it.  On Saturday there were 3-4 times where he almost turned the officials around to get in their grills.  A good official would have told him enough was enough, but that never happened.  The refs in the Midd/Williams game gave Maker free and continuing reign to drone on over and over and then over again.  The end result:  in a one point tightly contested game Williams had 24 foul shots to 11 for Middlebury, and that figure is even more glaring when you realize how many late foul shots Midd took.  With a few minutes to go, Williams had 4 team fouls to 10 for Middlebury.  To lengthen the game, Maker had to force the issue by having his team intentionally foul Midd.  He is lucky the refs made those calls after all the prep work he had done on them all game.  Enough is enough.  Make is a great coach, but this act has grown tired.  No one can do anything about this but the refs.  That being said, I understand that from Maker's standpoint, if you get results with no consequences, why stop?   

[nescac1]

Larry, if you think that Maker is a master at ref manipulation to his team's advantage, you obviously weren't watching the Williams-Amherst game, especially during the last few minutes when several totally phantom calls went against Williams (then again, Coach Hixon long ago mastered the look of utter incredulity any time a foul is called on an Amherst player, so perhaps he is Maker's equal in this regard). 

I will say that, at least judging from the video (quality wasn't the greatest), Williams seemed to get the benefit of several close calls in the post going its way in the Midd game.  At the same time, to at least some degree, more foul calls were warranted on Midd, they were (as usual) playing very, very aggressive man-to-man D with no room for their man to breathe, and Williams was able to drive into the teeth of the defense repeatedly, helping them draw many fouls.  Midd guys got cleaner looks at the basket because Williams guys weren't bodying them up so tight, but if you take more risks on defense, it figures that you will get more fouls called against you, and Midd is ALWAYS super aggressive and physical on D (especially on the perimeter), so you'd expect a foul disparity when they play an offensive team which has perimeter ball-handlers with the talent to exploit that. 

I'm sure Williams is still smarting from the two close losses this week, hopefully they will use as motivation that one more stop (or in the Amherst game, a few more free throw makes) could have turned the tide in either game, and bring the intense energy they seem to play with once they are down by ten for close to 40 minutes each game going forward.  Because of the early conference losses, the Ephs can't afford any more slip-ups in NESCAC play if they hope to earn a first-round home game in the conference tourney.