MBB: NESCAC

[Old Guy]

Tie game at the six minute mark, Midd played well from then on and prevailed 79-71. Exciting game, well-played. Kizel (20), Lynch (22), and Merryman(15), led the way. Merryman's three 3s in the second half were crucial. Lynch was Lynch, so dependable. Kizel was terrific and needed to be.

[Panthernation]

Kizel also had 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 5 steals. Finally looked healthy.

[OchoLoko41]

Haven't posted in a while but this is to important to miss...

Lets all take notice of Rashid Epps and his Rodmanesque 15 rebounds (10 of them offensive!) in a paltry 16 minutes against Mitchell College.  Are you kidding me! kids and animal.

This performance clearly establishes Rashid as a bright spot for a Cardinal lineup that clearly missed their center Glen Thomas, who should be returning soon.

[frank uible]

For whom does Epps play?

[pick and roll]

Noticed Midd's Merryman pretty good shooting percentage at 63% - then saw shooting 63% from 3 point range 14 - 22 - pretty amazing!

[Old Guy]

Merryman's 6'6" - beautiful stroke. He's a factor. He was a teammate of Wms' Wohl. California boys, it will be fun to see their impact in the league. Hunter has to help on the other end too and on the glass where we need him.

I looked at the the Jeffs-Springfield box score and saw all those minutes for the top five. In our two epic games last year (Midd-Amherst, both decided on the last possession, in Amherst's favor at Lafrak, alas), Williamson was instant-energy off the bench and had some spectacular plays. He may not be a consistent presence but he sure is a weapon in the arsenal.  Not surprised at Kalema's emergence. He was terrific against us. I figured in the preseason that Amherst would be deeper than it appears they are. Williamson is important then. He can change games.

I watched the Ephs vs Stevens too - frustrating when the on-line transmission cut out. I thought Wms had the game in hand. Stevens was relentless, I guess, played 40 tough minutes. I find it difficult to believe the Ephs don't have talented players from 8-15 on their bench. That has always been their hallmark: their second team could make the NESCAC playoffs year after year. They had kids who never took off their warm-ups who could have starred on other NESCAC teams. Not true anymore?

[madzillagd]

I find it difficult to believe the Ephs don't have talented players from 8-15 on their bench. That has always been their hallmark: their second team could make the NESCAC playoffs year after year. They had kids who never took off their warm-ups who could have starred on other NESCAC teams. Not true anymore?

I think this is still TBD.  Ephs have 14 on the roster this year, one over from football was hurt, one frosh was hurt, so to start the year only 12 guys were really ready to go.  That being said, the starters have played a lot of minutes with only Weinheimer getting major minutes from the bench.  (Lowest starter is Klemm at 136, Weinheimer has 132).  As it's been mentioned in game recaps, the starters have struggled to fire all on cylinders from game to game so far during the season.  A half here, 10 mins there, but with the exception of the RPI game which was just a track meet they haven't been able to maintain a steady flow for an entire contest it seems.  They are still adjusting to their roles I think and Maker seems to be giving them the minutes to settle in. 

As for the 8-14 on the bench, I don't think we really know yet.  If we are saying Weinheimer, Parker & McCreary are 5-7, I think there are a couple guys in the 8-14 that are underclassmen that can be key contributors to the squad so we'll see if Maker gives them that opportunity to prove themselves.  From my understanding, he likes to give the upperclassmen the first priority so I guess opportunities will depend on their performance.  Ephs are going back to back on Tues/Wed with a road game Tuesday and trapping Castleton team on Wednesday, maybe Maker will open up the lineup a little bit over those two games to guard against fatigue.   

[nescac1]

Old Guy, Williams has not had a lot of top-tier talent past the top 7 since, I'd say, the 2003 national title team, which was indeed really, really deep (guys like Tim Folan, Tucker Kain, Jaris Cole, Andrew Newton on the bench).  Which is not surprising when the coach gets 2, at most 3, serious recruits per year ... all it takes is for one to transfer, get injured, quit hoops, or fail to meet expectations, and suddenly you are looking at 1, at most 2, major contributors per class.   Even the 2004 and 2010 national finalist teams were basically each only seven deep .... 2010 had an awesome top seven with Whittington and Robertson coming in off the bench, but no one else was at all a factor.  I really don't think that, in the last decade, Williams has had anyone beyond the top 7, and surely not beyond the top 8, who would be starting, let alone starring, on many NESCAC teams.  This year's team depth was really hurt by losing Rooke-Ley for the year ... he would have been the sixth man, but without him, and with a very small recruiting class which has yet to play any meaningful minutes, the Ephs are at this point really, really reliant on the top six guys.  I do think some other guys on the roster will eventually be major contributors (Kilcullen in particular seems to have a lot of talent), but as of now, only six guys are really producing a lot on a game-to-game basis, and they were missing one of them vs. Stevens. 

I've gotta say, I'm surprised by NESCAC's league-wide early-season struggles.  NESCAC teams can at times start slow with so little practice, then Thanksgiving and finals, I do think many of these squads will find their groove in January.  Still, I don't think any NESCAC teams are, right now, legitimate top-ten teams.  Amherst seems to not have a lot beyond it's top seven guys, and a few of those top seven are pretty inconsistent from game to game, Amherst looks to be quite overrated right now.  Williams I think will be OK but has had a few halfs where they have been pretty out of synch; still, Stevens is not a terrible loss, especially without Wohl who has been big on both ends.  Only Midd remains undefeated, but they haven't exactly been blowing teams out, and they haven't played any really stiff competition yet.  Midd seems like easily the deepest team in NESCAC, but lacks a superstar like Sharry to carry them.  The bottom six teams in the league we knew were mostly in a rebuilding year, but I'm stunned that Wesleyan and Tufts have both struggled (for Tufts, at least, it is partly a product of playing an absolutely brutal early schedule, but like everyone else, I'm surprised by Wesleyan's regression this year). 

[amh63]

Something to think about as "us posters" ponder the early season results.  Yes, it can be due to injuries to potential starters, slow and at times painful development of team chemistry with new starters/new roles.  I can be/am the worst type critic at times.  I believe the "struggles" that the "CAC" teams have had are due to our perceptions of the teams' opponents.  These are teams that appear each year early in the season.  Often they are opponents that allow "CAC" coaches to assess their players...in the past.  We often forget that these "traditional" opponents are also building stronger programs.  Talented players also goes elsewhere.  In brief, we often under rate the teams in NE outside the conference except for a few.  Painful as it maybe, even as we realize that the conference teams are not as strong as we think, the fact maybe that the teams in the NEWMAC, LEC, GNAC, etc. are getting stronger overall.

[ECSUalum]

Something to think about as "us posters" ponder the early season results.  Yes, it can be due to injuries to potential starters, slow and at times painful development of team chemistry with new starters/new roles.  I can be/am the worst type critic at times.  I believe the "struggles" that the "CAC" teams have had are due to our perceptions of the teams' opponents.  These are teams that appear each year early in the season.  Often they are opponents that allow "CAC" coaches to assess their players...in the past.  We often forget that these "traditional" opponents are also building stronger programs.  Talented players also goes elsewhere.  In brief, we often under rate the teams in NE outside the conference except for a few.  Painful as it maybe, even as we realize that the conference teams are not as strong as we think, the fact maybe that the teams in the NEWMAC, LEC, GNAC, etc. are getting stronger overall.

Well stated!!!

[Charles]

Something to think about as "us posters" ponder the early season results.  Yes, it can be due to injuries to potential starters, slow and at times painful development of team chemistry with new starters/new roles.  I can be/am the worst type critic at times.  I believe the "struggles" that the "CAC" teams have had are due to our perceptions of the teams' opponents.  These are teams that appear each year early in the season.  Often they are opponents that allow "CAC" coaches to assess their players...in the past.  We often forget that these "traditional" opponents are also building stronger programs.  Talented players also goes elsewhere.  In brief, we often under rate the teams in NE outside the conference except for a few.  Painful as it maybe, even as we realize that the conference teams are not as strong as we think, the fact maybe that the teams in the NEWMAC, LEC, GNAC, etc. are getting stronger overall.

Well stated!!!

and that NESCAC schools are starting to cost close to $60,000!

[frank uible]

Non-sequitur?

[pick and roll]

Always liked the Player Efficiency Rating (PER) stat for comparing players - would think Mayer and Toomey are right up there but the guard Vadas Conn College might surprise.  Need one of those MIT guys to figure it out for me.

[walzy31]

12/4/12 Spread - 6pm Tip

Amherst -24.5 @ Emmanuel
OU: 154.5

[7express]

Emmanuel and under.