MBB: NESCAC

[jayhawk]

Thanks for the analysis NESCAC1
Previously I had suggested  that Killian was more aggressive and more of a force. Killian is actually very athletic with Amherst sometimes running lob passes for dunks, his jumping ability surprises people. Going forward he needs to stay out of foul trouble

Pollack is very stronger and has very good hands. In his last high school game two years he shattered his ankle and had surgery. It is possible that he was still recovering last year. this year he appears to be more active and more confident- had nice shot from fouling last night as well. Connor Green is a very clever player (sometimes he makes a silly mistake on defense) who seems to understand angles and how to score. In high school. Agree David George will need to meld his physical talents with his game but his body  and play will mature with time.

As far as Williams they have an excellent team and I feared that they might win against Amherst easily.  I have always really liked Taylor Epley's game, he is very tough. Robinson is an excellent player who will continue to grow. My thought yesterday was that they missed Nate Robertson, who was sometimes under appreciated glue guy who kept offense on track. He had a real knack for making pick and roll plays result in easy in baskets for a rolling Mayer.

[P'bearfan]

P'bear Fan -- Any news on Bryan Hurley's possible return? I thought that I saw him in uniform on the Bowdoin bench for both the Conn College and Weskeyan games.

Hurley was actually in the shooting line during warm ups before the Wesleyan game.  He's been practicing (non-contact) for a few weeks now.  My understanding is that he hopes to get cleared for contact practice in a couple of weeks.  They'll need to see how it goes.  Don't want to speculate on any kind of timing.  Great kid and player but don't want him to jeopardize injury by pushing too hard too fast.

[amh63]

Jayhawk.....you hit the nail on the head again.....with pointing out a possible missing element in Williams offense this season to date.....in mentioning Nate Robertson and how he ran the offense and made Mayer an offensive machine.  I have been nursing a thought for awhile after watching the Williams games on line.  Last night, I felt that Williams needs a good true PG....a distributor.  The Ephs have too many outside scorers to my liking.  . Last year, Nate would also go inside to score and rebound and play good defense.  Did see Williams FY PG in the game for a bit last night.
Nescac 1....thanks for noting the shift of the foul calls by the refs by the halves.  I noticed Coach Hixon was "jawing" with one ref in the 2nd half  more than I have seen him do in a long while.  Had noticed that Coach Maker was very animated with the refs in the first half.  There was one play that had the Amherst fans upset.  Kalema drove to the basket and was battling or something....he fell to the floor and remained there and seemed in pain.  Meanwhile the game was at the other in.  Aaron grabbed a Williams player and pointed down the floor.  He wanted the refs to noticed Kalema still lying on the floor...to stop the game action.  The ref who had drawn the attention of Hixon called the foul on Toomey and also indicated an intentional foul.  To our relief, Kalema recovered after the trainer went out...the foul on Toomey remained but the refs was talked out of the intentional call by the Amherst coaches, etc.  I also 2nd your good analyses NESCAC1.

[Panthernation]

PN contributor Joe MacDonald previews Tufts (4pm today), providing a comprehensive look at the emerging conference power: http://sites.middlebury.edu/panthernation/2014/01/12/tufts/

[AncientSonOfHixon]

great coverage of Amh/Will by the regulars here, as always, but since I finally got to see the fellas play in person, I'll add:

1.  I never get tired of watching Maker's offense, even though Amherst defensed it better yesterday than in any game I remember. When it's flowing, it's a thing to envy--all motion and sharing, with shots either at the rim or outside the arc, and with defenders constantly forced to recover to their man in ways that give the ball handler a huge advantage. (Robinson took advantage of that once or twice yesterday, exploding past a recovering defender, and you could see how dangerous he'll be when he fully gets the knack.)

2.  Like AmStud05 and others, I wondered about Mayer, who was nowhere near last year's level, despite his highly useful stats. Still getting healthy after whatever shelved him earlier this year? Still rebuilding game conditioning? Nevertheless, at one point he did drop The Full McHale (or would it be The Full Olajuwan?) for an easy bucket, and it was gorgeous. Strange for an Amherst fan to say, I know, but I hope he can come all the way back even though it will mean bad things for the Jeffs. Have any of you guys seen NESCAC post footwork as good as Mayer's when he's at his best?

3.  Connor Green hasn't gotten the props I expected to see here, even counting the kudos from middhoops. Whatever else he is, he was the best pure scorer on the floor yesterday--and that's in a game that had three preseason all-Americans if I'm counting right. We saw the full package: the quick-trigger 3s from well beyond the line, a couple midrange turnarounds and lane floaters, some very strong takes to the rim and even some in-traffic followups. Last year he consistently demonstrated the first of those things, but the other dimensions are new. Dude's an offensive load, and Amherst desperately needs him to be.

4.  Pollack! Nescac1 and jayhawk have nailed this, but I gotta second the motion. Pollack was a revelation yesterday, as well as in what I could see of the Hamilton game online. Not flashy, but a smart, strong, unusually mature player on both ends--especially for a soph. He's a bigger difference maker for Amherst than I thought.

5.  And then, well, KILLIAN! All the posters have been on top of this, but Killian's career game (can he keep it up? Somewhat?) triggers an observation that I bet everybody on this board would enthusiastically underwrite: One of the greatest pleasures of being a NESCAC  fan as opposed to D1 is how you get to watch kids--and teams--grow over four full years almost in front of your eyes.
     Killian's been getting big minutes for a couple seasons now, and I feel like I remember amh63 reporting that Hixon loved him in practice even before he could find him any time and being almost frustrated by it. (Amh63, is that right? Or was that observ about someone else? Sorry if misremembering.) But in the past he was a subordinate, understandably, on championship-caliber teams topped by seniors. Now is his time, and watching him step up, after all that patience and work and learning and seasoning, is just a joy. Last year it was Allen Williamson who came into his own about halfway through January and became, imho, the most important key to Amherst's ultimate success. Every good team in the NESCAC has a guy or two like this, making all the difference. And if a team doesn't have such a "grower" making the leap, it'll underachieve. (Is this part of the issue for Middlebury so far? To judge by what you guys have been posting, seems like maybe it is.)
     Of course, one of the reasons it's so interesting to watch this growth is that it often doesn't happen, and for some pretty cool reasons. For plenty of NESCAC kids, as its easy to understand, basketball can become less important as other opportunities expand and ideas about life evolve. Hence: no more full-time summer leagues, less overall training time, just flat-out less psychic investment. All of which makes it even more notable when you see a 4th-year rising to a new level. Anyway, watching Killian, it sure was fun to see it happening yesterday.

[AncientSonOfHixon]

Finally, for those following other potential contenders for top team / player in the country, check out Aaron Walton-Moss's insane stat line from last night: 33-18-4, 15-25 from the field, 3 steals, 2 blocks, only 1 TO in 31 minutes.  His stat line for the year is positively Lebron-esque: 26-11-6, shooting 62/43/80, plus 2 combined blocks/steals per game. 

...and btw: Thanks, nescac1, for this update. Walton-Moss was the scariest player Amherst saw last year. He's Charles Barkley but at guard with the ball constantly in his hands and looking physically like he's competing against high schoolers. Honestly, it's hard to imagine how Walton-Moss isn't the best D3 player in the country by something of a landslide, no?

[grabtherim]

Amh, remember my earlier comments on Sabety.  He is the real deal, and had a monster 1st half, 8/8, fantastic inside.  Midd made a few adjustments to deny him in the 2nd half and the Jumbo braintrust never tried to get him the ball off a screen or two.  He took one shot in the 2nd half, and then the best Sheldon could come up with for the Jumbo offense was to play off the agressiveness of Ferris.  He kept them in the game for a while, but without Sabety scoring (or even getting shots), Midd cruised late.  Panthers outscored the Jumbos 25-5 over the last ten minutes.   Ferris coming off his injury looked fresher than expected.  He will only get better in the games to come.  Good win for Midd, but still a long way to go to reach consistency that matches their talent.   

[quicksilver]

P'bear Fan -- Any news on Bryan Hurley's possible return? I thought that I saw him in uniform on the Bowdoin bench for both the Conn College and Weskeyan games.

Hurley was actually in the shooting line during warm ups before the Wesleyan game.  He's been practicing (non-contact) for a few weeks now.  My understanding is that he hopes to get cleared for contact practice in a couple of weeks.  They'll need to see how it goes.  Don't want to speculate on any kind of timing.  Great kid and player but don't want him to jeopardize injury by pushing too hard too fast.

Thanks -- agreed on the importance of caution. It sounds like we might see Hurley in February but that is not certain . .

[Old Guy]

A miracle in West Africa: I caught the video of the whole Midd-Tufts game. Thank you, Bruce Bosley, the ace NSN host. Very discouraged at the half - Midd defense, not tough (no pun - Tufts). Sabety had his way. Easy shots for the Jumbos. 11 offensive rebounds.

Today's MVP - Matt Daley (Matt Daley!), for preventing the entry pass to Sabety in the 2nd half. Crucial. Also, to Jake Brown for upping the defensive intensity in the backcourt. St. Amour - ice water. Ben Ferris, the other VTer, from Tufts - don't leave him open: 20 points.

Joey Kizel had 17 points (4-8 fg, 1-2 from 3, 8-9 ft, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals). He is the same player he was last year when so many kudos and honors came his way. The two reasons it doesn't seem so this year? 1. Nolan Thompson, 2. Jake Wolfin. Joey has so many more responsibilities this year. Brings the ball up, scores, distributes. Nowhere to hide. Don't overlook him. Tough kid.

Big win for the Panthers, no kidding, heading to CT next week against two hungry teams who haven't had much luck against them and may be seeing blood in the water.

[middhoops]

Tufts at Middlebury: a tale of two halves.
In the first half Middlebury was soft.  Hunter Sabety scored at will.
Second half Middlebury was tough, maybe even feisty.
If THAT Matt Daley shows up regularly, Midd can be a real problem.  Sinnickson has 38 pts in his first two games back.  The addition of those two guys playing healthy is beginning, just beginning, to bear fruit.
Ben Ferris is one very smart player.  He drew a ton of fouls, hit open shots, took the ball at big guys....generally led his team very well.  Sabety is a physical beast.  The refs let a lot of contact occur under the rim in the 2nd half, at both ends of the court.  Daley did a spectacular job of denying the entry pass to Tufts big guy after the break. Really impressive.
Not sure how Tufts let a 64-60 lead turn into a 80-66 defeat.  They are a better team than that.

[Vandy74]

Francois Clemmons returned to sing the National Anthem.  Nolan Thompson and Jake Wolfin were in the building (Old Guy) and .....so was Young Guy who I had a chance to chat with briefly at halftime.  After an inconsistent first twenty minutes the second half was what Middlebury basketball fans have come to expect these past 6-7 seasons.  The offense was firing on all cylinders and the defense flat out shut down the opposition.  A fine showing of what this now finally healthy Panther team is capable.  There is a long way to go but this team can get there.

[middhoops]

Ancient Son: Yes.  Walton-Moss is in a league of his own.  Completely dominant.  Funny how the POY usually plays for the team that plays for the championship.  Not sure Cabrini can get there, but Aaron Walton-Moss is unguardable by anyone in D3 I've seen.
My bet would lean toward Tillema only because his team may be stronger.  However, I don't bet anymore.  Damn that magicman.....

[magicman]

middhoops,

It was only 2 games that I picked. I'm often wrong as well. I wouldn't stop betting if I was you.

[Old Guy]

Have any of you guys seen NESCAC post footwork as good as Mayer's when he's at his best? AncientSonOfHixon

Peter Lynch '13 was the best at Middlebury that I've seen. Give him Mayer's three more inches and it might be close.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ancient Son: Yes.  Walton-Moss is in a league of his own.  Completely dominant.  Funny how the POY usually plays for the team that plays for the championship.  Not sure Cabrini can get there, but Aaron Walton-Moss is unguardable by anyone in D3 I've seen.
My bet would lean toward Tillema only because his team may be stronger.  However, I don't bet anymore.  Damn that magicman.....

I've watched a lot of Cabrini games over the past couple years.  At his best Walton-Moss is among the best players in d3, but I get the impression he's not giving his best all the time.  They don't always need him to win and he plays like it.  Obviously in the big games, when it counts and everyone's watching he shows up, but I'd have a hard time giving POY to him unless he just totally unleashed it during the tournament.

He's not yet a better player than former teammate Cory Lemons was and it will be hard for him to improve upon that legacy in my mind.

I haven't seen a ton of Tillema yet (and I'm not sure I've seen him at all 100% healthy), but he'd be my early favorite.