MBB: NESCAC

[middhoops]

What a game at Wesleyan.  As a Middlebury partisan, what I took from this game was just how badly the Panthers missed Matt Daley.  Jack Roberts fouling out was tough.  Lack of inside scoring was plainly evident. 
This was a game where refs' calls down the stretch actually made a difference.  The late call on Galvin, sending St. Amour to the line was deadly for Wesleyan.  Kind of a strange call to get at home.
Midd wins in double OT.  Kizel steps up late.
Big kudos to Wesleyan.  Their big guys were in foul trouble early.  They hit a ton of big shots, played great D, fought down to the end of the game and two OTs.  Really tough home loss.

[P'bearfan]

Tough loss for the Polar Bears at Williams.  They made a great rally after being down by 14 or so early to mid on the second half.  They were within 2 with about 35 seconds to go (going from memory here).  Great job considering how many guys were in foul trouble (Madlinger fouled about; Swords and Fuller each had 4).  While any loss stings, playing the Ephs so tight on the road really says something about them. 

Williams is an impressive team with a lot of weapons.  Mayer looked very strong and was a real handful.  Duncan Robinson is just a pure shooter.

Here's hoping the P'bears can regroup and start a new winning streak against Hamilton tomorrow.

[Bucket]

The late call on Galvin, sending St. Amour to the line was deadly for Wesleyan.  Kind of a strange call to get at home.

Nothing strange about it, just a huge blunder by the young man. He wrapped his arms around St. Amour, intentionally fouling him w/ 9 seconds left, thinking Wes was still down when the game was actually tied. He then put his hands to his head when everyone yelled to him that the game was tied. I feel bad for the kid. Not quite Freddie Brown of Georgetown, but a tough mistake, nonetheless.

[middhoops]

The late call on Galvin, sending St. Amour to the line was deadly for Wesleyan.  Kind of a strange call to get at home.

Nothing strange about it, just a huge blunder by the young man. He wrapped his arms around St. Amour, intentionally fouling him w/ 9 seconds left, thinking Wes was still down when the game was actually tied. He then put his hands to his head when everyone yelled to him that the game was tied. I feel bad for the kid. Not quite Freddie Brown of Georgetown, but a tough mistake, nonetheless.

My mistake.

[quicksilver]

P'bear Fan -- Bowdoin was actually within 1 in the last minute or so . .

[toad22]

I don't know why, but year after year, Bowdoin plays Williams very tough. If Bowdoin would play everybody else as tough, they would be a frequent NCAA participant. Williams made a bunch of mistakes, offensive and defensive, late in the game that, along with nice shooting from Madlinger,  made this game very close. The positives that I take away from the game are that Mike Mayer is getting closer to playing the way he is capable, and that Duncan Robinson is beginning to take shots when they show for him. There is a lot more work to be done before this team is as good as I think it can be, but this win tonight was a very big positive. Also, I will be shocked if Bowdoin doesn't get a home game in the first round of the NESCACs.

[magicman]

You know how, on this board, we have titles based on the volume of our posts?  I think I'm a starter and amh63 is an All-American.  magicman needs a whole separate designation.  "Research Guru"?  "Most Informed Poster"?  or  "Fearless Defender of the YACs"?
I don't bet any more, but if someone offered a wager that magicman couldn't name the starting five for Fredonia State in 2003-2004, I sure wouldn't take it.

Nah -  I don't doubt he could name the starters, but he'd have no clue on which year they started!  After all, he's even (months) older than I am!

My ears are burning. Must be Ypsi's around.

The starting five for Fredonia in 2003-04 were:

Point guard          Jason Campbell, a 6'1" senior

Shooting guard     Chris Donohue a 6'1" soph

Guard/Forward    Tim Anderson  a 6'3' soph

Forward              Devin Watkins a 6'3" soph

Center               Nate Sanzo      a 6'8" soph

They were a young team and finished 10-15 (6-10) and missed the playoffs. Unfortunately the Blue Devils' youth didn't translate into a strong program while any of these guys were around. 2003-04 was the 1st year of 5 straight losing seasons.
 

[AmherstStudent05]

It appears as though Connor Green is out today for Amherst against Bates.  Not sure what the situation is.  Joseph Mussachia is taking Connor's spot in the starting lineup.  Can't wait for the game.

[P'bearfan]

Does anyone know the secret to viewing webcasts from Hamilton?!

Clicked on a link but got nothing

[lemonjello]

Fun game in Lewiston so far, 29-29 at the half.  The Jeffs are clearly missing Connor Green's offense, but Bates deserves a ton of credit with their aggressive, swarming D and tough rebounding (frequently doubling Toomey).  Toomey and Killian have been carrying the Jeffs offensively so far, and Safford and Matarazzo have been doing the same for the Bobcats.  Safford and Matarazzo giving the Amherst defense a tough time with their quickness, and Malcolm Delpeche, though not much of a factor offensively, has been an intimidating interior presence on the defensive end (3 blocks in the half).  Boornazian has been pretty quiet so far, but if he gets going that could be trouble.

The Jeffs are fortunate to be tied given their poor outside shooting thus far (3-12 from 3).  The Bobcats are playing with a ton of energy, diving for loose balls and generally outhustling the Jeffs.  Their aggressiveness may also be hurting them a bit, as they've turned it over 9 times.  I'd like to see Amherst work it inside to Pollack/George and try to get some open looks on the perimeter if Bates double-teams them.  The second half should be a fun one to watch, Bates doesn't seem ready to go away anytime soon.

[magicman]

Does anyone know the secret to viewing webcasts from Hamilton?!

Clicked on a link but got nothing

I just clicked on this link and the video is coming in fine.   Hope it works for you.
:

http://www.ezstream.com/play/index.cfm?fuseaction=embstay&id=3F258988C7&dsplvl=brd&org=EZ

[madzillagd]

Well I'm really glad Robinson is carrying the load while Epley, Rooke-Ley and Wohl struggle from the field.

Robinson's line:  9-9 FG, 3-3 3 pt fg%, 6-6 Ft for 27 pts.

The best thing about this game I think is the freshmen came off the bench and played well.  Be interesting to see if they get the first looks off the bench next game, a lot more potential for scoring I think if they continue to get minutes. 

[nescac1]

Missed the Bowdoin game but was able to see the Colby game.  Nice to pick up wins vs. two good opponents but Williams is going to have to play a HECK of a lot better offensively to hang with Amherst on Wednesday.  The big, big plus for Williams was Duncan Robinson, who played, literally, a perfect game statistically and really the box score did not lie -- he was incredible -- 27 points, 5 boards, 3 blocks, 2 steals, perfect from the field, three, and the line, I mean, wow, what a weekend he had.   If any frosh has ever had a better game in NESCAC play, I'd love to hear about it.  What a talent.  Without him, seems safe to say the Ephs would have had an 0-2 weekend.  He is playing at a different level and, not to be a broken record, but he needs more shots!

Also positive was Michael Mayer, who looks closer and closer to the Mayer of old, although he did struggle with Hudnut at times.  Still, good to see Mayer post two strong games against two of the better centers around.  Interesting to see frosh Greenman and Aronowitz get a lot of time for Williams.  Both played well for the most part.  Aronowitz did a great job breaking down the defense and finding open men.  He also plays solid defense.  Greenman's quickness was an asset although he still has trouble finishing over bigger guys inside, a skill he is going to have to work on .  But without a doubt he adds a spark and with the two of them playing more the bench unit has been more effective.

On the downside for Williams, both Wohl and Epley have really been struggling of late.  Both are great players and just can't get the shots to drop right now.  I am confident that both will find their groove soon, but soon better be "next game" for Williams to beat Amherst, because you know the Jeffs are going to be all over Duncan Robinson after his insanely efficiently weekend.  Hayden Rooke-Ley is also a concern as he seemed to suffer a minor injury but did not return late in the game, and he has also had a tough time hitting shots at his usual efficiency level of late.  Williams collectively needs to shoot it much better from both three and the foul line to beat Amherst, because scoring in the 60s may have been enough this weekend, but they will need to score in the 80s to beat the Jeffs.

For Colby, Chris Hudnut was a beast today.  Great player.  Shane Rogers was also a huge spark in what I can only assume was a career game for him off the bench.  Colby is going to be very, very dangerous next year, but right now are still one perimeter creator, and a bit of experience, short.  But they play hard and play well as a team. 

[AmherstStudent05]

Williams beats Colby 69-62.  Duncan Robinson had the following stat line: 27 points on 9-9 shooting from the field (3-3 from beyond the arc), 6-6 from the charity stripe, five rebounds, two steals, three blocks, and no turnovers.  But, I ask myself (Amherst partisan that I am) why didn't he have any assists?  Seriously though, that is an absolutely insane stat line.  Does anyone know the last time a freshman was named First-Team All-NESCAC?  If he keeps this pace up, he will have definitely earned that honor.

Amherst beat Bates 82-71.  It was a very tight game until the Jeffs pulled away about mid way through the second half.  Connor Gach was on fire today, scoring 12 points on 4-5 shooting from 3.  In fact, he was so dialed in that Toomey actually passed up a wide open 3 in favor of Gach (who drilled his).  Pretty sure I have never seen that before.

Gach's development continues to be a great story.  Lightly used for three and a half years, he has finally earned his spot in Hixon's rotation.  Bench scoring from the backcourt is just what we needed too.  You can't expect Toomey, Green, Killian, and Kalema to stay healthy all year (though we pray for it), and so on a day like today when Green was out, we needed Gach to step up, and he did.

Special shout out to David Kalema who I thought was the key player of the game.  He had 20 points and hit a couple of 3s early in the 2nd half that really kept Bates at bay.  Toomey had a wormanlike effort with 19 points on decent shooting.  Strangely, he only went to the free throw line 2 all game, and that came in the final minute of play.  Not sure how many times that has happened since he has been a starter.  The refs were letting things go both ways.  I don't know how the players do it -- the style of basketball can change a lot depending on how a crew is calling the game.

Kudos to the Bates announcers who I thought did an outstanding job.  Bates fans to be sure, they were nonetheless able to provide objective commentary.

Not sure what the issue is with Green, but hopefully it is only a minor thing.  We will definitely need him for Williams on Wednesday.

[lemonjello]

82-71 Jeffs is the final in Lewiston. I had a longer post that disappeared into the ether, so here are some quick thoughts:

It was a game of 2 halves.  Bates kept it tight in the 1st half with their aggressive defense and Amherst's struggles from outside, but Amherst pulled away in the 2nd half as they began to hit from distance with regularity. 

Connor Gach emerged as a weapon off the bench by going 4-5 from 3, including 3 in a 2nd-half run that extended Amherst's lead to 16.  If Connor Green misses any significant time, the Jeffs may lean on their other Connor to replace his outside shooting.

David Kalema was also a big factor for the Jeffs in the 2nd half, effective both from 3 and by using his quickness to drie into the lane

Despite a subpar shooting day from distance (3-10) and only shooting 2 free throws, Aaron Toomey continues to contribute in all facets of the game.  He pulled down 7 boards and dished out 6 assists, including a beautiful alley-oop pass to Tom Killian on a designed play.

For Bates, Matarazzo was a terror on offense all game, and his quickness (along with Safford) was very difficult for Amherst to stop.  Defensively, Delpeche looked like the real deal, reminiscent of George in his ability to dominate the lane with his physical presence despite only being a freshman.  They hung tough with a better team for a while, and even when Amherst pulled ahead by 16 midway through the 2nd half, they responded with an 8-0 (or something like that) run to get back in it.  Sleep on this team in conference play at your peril, the Bobcats have enough weapons and energy to cause problems for a number of teams.