MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

True enough, amh63.  Not sure, if Williams beats Wesley, whether I'd root for a game in Williamstown or, more selfishly, vs. Catholic!  Wesley seems to be led by a solid duo up front, a 6'8, 260 lb. center and a 6'4, 260 lb. PF.  The forward averages over 20 per game.  Epley and Mayer will have their hands full on the inside. 

A bit more on Curry for the Midd fans.  They have the awesomely-named Lambros Papalambros at the point.  Sedale Jones averages over 22 per game.  He averaged over 33 per game early in the year in three games vs. Williams, Amherst and Wesleyan.  He (along with the entire team, maybe now playing defense?) seems to have slowed down the scoring pace a bit in recent weeks, but he is absolutely legit. 

[WPI89]

Seeing a lot of 7 pm games announced next Saturday - does anybody know if the plan is to play games throughout the day or have them all tip at 7 eastern?  So far I have only seen 7:00 pm or TBA.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Seeing a lot of 7 pm games announced next Saturday - does anybody know if the plan is to play games throughout the day or have them all tip at 7 eastern?  So far I have only seen 7:00 pm or TBA.

My guess would be that all games are at 7 pm local time.  That's how it is done in the football playoffs - all games with the same starting time, but local time.  (Not that NESCAC guys would know anything about football playoffs! )

[grabtherim]

Amherst Coach David Hixon on Hoopville today at 4 PM

D-Mac - after you get the stock answers on the tournament,  "We're just happy to be here"  Every team at this point is good"  "We will not take anyone lightly"  "This is a special group of guys"  etc etc. , maybe you can ask Coach Hixon about the end of the game at Midd.  As long as Walzy and others saw fit to yell "Box Out" when Jensen and all others went to the line on Saturday, it seems proper and fair to raise the issue with the coach, especially after the video has the crowd booing him loudly and letting him have it right after it occured.  Journalism 101.  I know your show isnt 60 Minutes, and you are not Mike Wallace, but it is a probing and reasonable line to ask about unless the worry is that he will not come on again if you do. 

[walzy31]

Amherst Coach David Hixon on Hoopville today at 4 PM

D-Mac - after you get the stock answers on the tournament,  "We're just happy to be here"  Every team at this point is good"  "We will not take anyone lightly"  "This is a special group of guys"  etc etc. , maybe you can ask Coach Hixon about the end of the game at Midd.  As long as Walzy and others saw fit to yell "Box Out" when Jensen and all others went to the line on Saturday, it seems proper and fair to raise the issue with the coach, especially after the video has the crowd booing him loudly and letting him have it right after it occured.  Journalism 101.  I know your show isnt 60 Minutes, and you are not Mike Wallace, but it is a probing and reasonable line to ask about unless the worry is that he will not come on again if you do.

Dave,

That was the triple over-time game in which Amherst was up 14 at the half, beat Middlebury for a third consecutive time, and was part of a second-straight 10-0 NESCAC regular season and 3-0 NESCAC post season. Amherst beat the National Player of the Year in Thompson in that game, and none of it would have happened if it weren't for the play grabtherim is talking about. Get over yourself. I fought my side of the fight on Saturday and am over it. You're not?

[Bucket]

A bit more on Curry for the Midd fans.  They have the awesomely-named Lambros Papalambros at the point.  Sedale Jones averages over 22 per game.  He averaged over 33 per game early in the year in three games vs. Williams, Amherst and Wesleyan.  He (along with the entire team, maybe now playing defense?) seems to have slowed down the scoring pace a bit in recent weeks, but he is absolutely legit.

Well, Lambros Papalambros may turn out to be the best name I will ever announce for a hoops game. I will have fun with that one.

[grabtherim]

Amherst Coach David Hixon on Hoopville today at 4 PM

D-Mac - after you get the stock answers on the tournament,  "We're just happy to be here"  Every team at this point is good"  "We will not take anyone lightly"  "This is a special group of guys"  etc etc. , maybe you can ask Coach Hixon about the end of the game at Midd.  As long as Walzy and others saw fit to yell "Box Out" when Jensen and all others went to the line on Saturday, it seems proper and fair to raise the issue with the coach, especially after the video has the crowd booing him loudly and letting him have it right after it occured.  Journalism 101.  I know your show isnt 60 Minutes, and you are not Mike Wallace, but it is a probing and reasonable line to ask about unless the worry is that he will not come on again if you do.

Dave,

That was the triple over-time game in which Amherst was up 14 at the half, beat Middlebury for a third consecutive time, and was part of a second-straight 10-0 NESCAC regular season and 3-0 NESCAC post season. Amherst beat the National Player of the Year in Thompson in that game, and none of it would have happened if it weren't for the play grabtherim is talking about. Get over yourself. I fought my side of the fight on Saturday and am over it. You're not?

Let's be clear, as an "adult" you saw fit to yell at a 20 year old, proudly acknowledged it was you to anyone who would listen and promised to keep doing it at half time, so now you say you are "over it"? Your tongue in cheek comment on Thompson while witty has nothing to do with the issue of you acting your shoe size versus your age and now declaring yourself above the situation as you are "over it".   

[middhoops]

Enough already?  There are games ahead.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

With the CCC board being virtually dead this year, I forgot that others might want to know more about Curry.

It's a tough matchup for Curry to draw Middlebury.  I think CC deserved an easier opponent, but the matchup is particularly tough.  Curry plays aggressively and as fast as they can, which often leads to turnovers.  I they've only got one guy on the team with a positive a/to ratio.

They played Amherst, Williams, MIT, and WPI early in the season, losing all four, but hanging tough in most of them.  Amherst was more than prepared to run with Curry and it was ultimately no contest (but it was close for three quarters).

Sedale Jones is a dominant scorer.  He dropped 41 on Amherst and 34 on Williams.  Mitchell Kates shut him down effectively, which is why the Middlebury matchup is so bad.  Curry is not designed to play well against a strong defensive team.  They rely on opponent mistakes on both sides of the ball, which Midd is not likely to give them.  As for the scoring pace, it's simply opponents' tactics.  You have to slow Curry down to beat them (unless you're Amherst), the conference teams know that and work hard to make it happen.

Jones has seemed to step up his intensity since the post-season started, which could make things interesting, but I don't see them withstanding the intensity and discipline of Middlebury enough to make trouble.  Curry just hasn't put together an entire game at their peak this season - and they'll need that kind of performance to win.

AJ Stephens isn't tall, but he's big and athletic inside.  Papalambros is actually better than his stats, but is willing to defer to Jones most of the time.

Middlebury has the size and defensive ability to dictate pace, but they can't get ahead of themselves.  Curry has one of the deeper, more complete teams to come out of the CCC in a long while.  If they're on, they can be tough.

I could see a blowout or a close game depending on how well Midd sticks to the game plan, but I'd put Curry's odds at 30 or 40-1.

[grabtherim]

Enough already?  There are games ahead.

Sorry, I feel terrible. I forgot about the upcoming game.  I have no problem with calling out a hypocrite today while still appreciating a game to be played on Saturday night.   

[nescac1]

I sincerely hope that this will be the final word on Boxoutgate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjoMQJf5vKI

[walzy31]

Amherst Coach David Hixon on Hoopville today at 4 PM

D-Mac - after you get the stock answers on the tournament,  "We're just happy to be here"  Every team at this point is good"  "We will not take anyone lightly"  "This is a special group of guys"  etc etc. , maybe you can ask Coach Hixon about the end of the game at Midd.  As long as Walzy and others saw fit to yell "Box Out" when Jensen and all others went to the line on Saturday, it seems proper and fair to raise the issue with the coach, especially after the video has the crowd booing him loudly and letting him have it right after it occured.  Journalism 101.  I know your show isnt 60 Minutes, and you are not Mike Wallace, but it is a probing and reasonable line to ask about unless the worry is that he will not come on again if you do.

Dave,

That was the triple over-time game in which Amherst was up 14 at the half, beat Middlebury for a third consecutive time, and was part of a second-straight 10-0 NESCAC regular season and 3-0 NESCAC post season. Amherst beat the National Player of the Year in Thompson in that game, and none of it would have happened if it weren't for the play grabtherim is talking about. Get over yourself. I fought my side of the fight on Saturday and am over it. You're not?

Let's be clear, as an "adult" you saw fit to yell at a 20 year old, proudly acknowledged it was you to anyone who would listen and promised to keep doing it at half time, so now you say you are "over it"? Your tongue in cheek comment on Thompson while witty has nothing to do with the issue of you acting your shoe size versus your age and now declaring yourself above the situation as you are "over it".   

I yelled box out on 8 of Midd's 9 FT attempts (something that the posters that induced my behavior said was an acceptable action for a fan to do). FYI Middlebury shot 50% on FTs when I shouted and 0% when I didn't.

Enough already?  There are games ahead.

Sorry, I feel terrible. I forgot about the upcoming game.  I have no problem with calling out a hypocrite today while still appreciating a game to be played on Saturday night.   

Forgot about the Thompson you are referencing until you made it clear what you were talking about. To shed light on it for the rest of the board, after Epley hit a three in the corner (his ONLY three of the game), I yelled something a lot less audible and notable that was "Thompson, where were you at on that play? Isn't Epley your mark?"

Now c'mon. The six fans around me may have heard that. Nolan didn't. It's no different than Kizel stripping Toomey and a Midd fan yelling "ohhh gotcha Toomey! NESCAC player of the week THAT!" followed by an "overrated" chant.

Yelling box out in retaliation to the comments on this forum was the first time in eight years I have actively and intentionally been a jerk (certainly agree I acted below my age while still falling within "acceptable fan behavior"). It was to defend someone who couldn't defend himself. I would do it for anyone of the people in the world I respect. I threw my punch back and the fight is now water under the bridge. (PantherNation and Old Guy heard my halftime analogy to this situation...which they didn't necessarily see as analogous but still chuckled at).

My rhetorically asking of Nolan Thompson how one of the premier 3pt shooters in the conference hit his only three of the game is hardly immature or even noteworthy. Hah, I wish I had written down the opposing fans "cheers" I heard through the years as a NESCAC athlete...and then there are the other 90% I didn't hear.

On the topic of fans, I would vote the fan showing in the Lefrak in the following order (in order of loudest to quietest):
1) Middlebury
2) Tie - Amherst / Williams
4) Tufts

[walzy31]

I sincerely hope that this will be the final word on Boxoutgate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjoMQJf5vKI

Hah, sorry Nescac1. Had to direct quote my other egregious action from the game on Saturday.

[Charles]

With the CCC board being virtually dead this year, I forgot that others might want to know more about Curry.

It's a tough matchup for Curry to draw Middlebury.  I think CC deserved an easier opponent, but the matchup is particularly tough.  Curry plays aggressively and as fast as they can, which often leads to turnovers.  I they've only got one guy on the team with a positive a/to ratio.

They played Amherst, Williams, MIT, and WPI early in the season, losing all four, but hanging tough in most of them.  Amherst was more than prepared to run with Curry and it was ultimately no contest (but it was close for three quarters).

Sedale Jones is a dominant scorer.  He dropped 41 on Amherst and 34 on Williams.  Mitchell Kates shut him down effectively, which is why the Middlebury matchup is so bad.  Curry is not designed to play well against a strong defensive team.  They rely on opponent mistakes on both sides of the ball, which Midd is not likely to give them.  As for the scoring pace, it's simply opponents' tactics.  You have to slow Curry down to beat them (unless you're Amherst), the conference teams know that and work hard to make it happen.

Jones has seemed to step up his intensity since the post-season started, which could make things interesting, but I don't see them withstanding the intensity and discipline of Middlebury enough to make trouble.  Curry just hasn't put together an entire game at their peak this season - and they'll need that kind of performance to win.

AJ Stephens isn't tall, but he's big and athletic inside.  Papalambros is actually better than his stats, but is willing to defer to Jones most of the time.

Middlebury has the size and defensive ability to dictate pace, but they can't get ahead of themselves.  Curry has one of the deeper, more complete teams to come out of the CCC in a long while.  If they're on, they can be tough.

I could see a blowout or a close game depending on how well Midd sticks to the game plan, but I'd put Curry's odds at 30 or 40-1.

Totally a cake draw for Middlebury. In fact the entire lower section bracket is a cake walk for Middlebury. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Are you guys really fighting over yelling during FTs?  Seriously?