MBB: NESCAC

[AmherstStudent05]

I guess I wasn't quick enough off the draw.  Madzilla and nescac1 both already covered Duncan Robinson's outstanding effort today.  Obviously it wasn't that subtle.

[amh63]

Amherst wins in Maine by 11.  Let others go into the details.  Amherst's long ball shots start to click, with Conner Gach hitting three 3's from the same spot uncontested.  Killian took one but missed from the spot.  Toomey took one from the spot and made it...all wide open shots.  Bates could not figure it out.  Amherst couldn't figure out why all the fouls were going against them in the 2nd half....even the announcers mentioned it a little.  Still, Amherst was up by 15 and made some sloppy plays when Bates turned on the press in the last few minutes of the game.  George and Pollack rotated in and out.  Berman came in for awhile.  Mussachia and Gach rotated and both contributed all around.  Saw Conner Green on the bench not dressed.  In the Tufts game, he rebounded,  but was not making his shots.  Hope it is nothing serious.
Announcers surprised that the gym was so quiet in the second half.  People came to see the game and Amherst.  Amherst in the second half scored easily inside and outside.  Bates scrapped and played hard...but in the end, the fans knew that the Bobcats would not win.
The Amherst WBB team scored more points than their male counterpart...that was the kind of game it was.

[madzillagd]

why didn't he have any assists? 

Not 100% sure but I believe that requires somebody else on the team actually making a shot.  Thus, he had none. 

[Old Guy]

  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.

What's the deal with Bates? They hang in with Amherst, put 71 points on the board. The night before they get handled easily, from the opening tip by Trinity, in their own little gym, scoring 59. Is Trinity a lot better than we think? Was Bates looking ahead to the Jeffs? If Safford has a bad game are the Bobcats unable to compete? Read the recap of Friday's game. It was never a contest, seems like.

[Old Guy]

Trinity beats Bates and Tufts by double digits on successive nights on the road. Should we be talking about the Bantams?

Williams has all they can handle at home with Colby and Bowdoin. Has Amherst separated itself from the rest of the league?

[Vandy74]

What's the deal with Bates? They hang in with Amherst, put 71 points on the board. The night before they get handled easily, from the opening tip by Trinity, in their own little gym, scoring 59. Is Trinity a lot better than we think? Was Bates looking ahead to the Jeffs? If Safford has a bad game are the Bobcats unable to compete? Read the recap of Friday's game. It was never a contest, seems like.

Isn't that how young teams play?  And Bates is a young team.  A good young team of which there are several in the conference this season.  If my quick research is accurate they only have 3 seniors averaging about 13 ppg and Matarazzo has only been back for the last 5 of them.  Bates might find their consistency in time for the NESCAC tourney.  If not they will certainly be trouble for everyone next year. 

[amh63]

Have I missed some earlier posts on this year's conference schedule? or what?  But what is the story behind Middlebury not having the back to back games.  Understand a little wrt to going to Hamilton from VT et al.....but waiting to Sunday to play Conn after playing Wesleyan on Friday!  Amherst goes to Bates after a game at Tufts.  Last weekend, there was also a Fri and Sunday combo.  Nice for the Panthers....is there a religious angle here? seriously....no real compliant here...just wondering how to get in on the action for Amherst.  Truly!
Noticed the same thing as Old Guy with the play of Trinity.  Being overlooked?  Saw the box for Tufts of the Trinity game. 
Was the hot play of players against Amherst become flat against Trinity (Sabety is the exception...a block machine).  Or was it the defense of Trinity.
Amherst has been warned as the Trinity game is a road game.  Just realize that the next game for Amherst is in Willy Town.  Hope Green and Toomey have their A game...hope Green will be back.

[jayhawk]

Connor Green looked fine during game and after game he looked
My guess is he may have flu but not sure
Impressed with Sabety apparently to finish the rim. He did not make any moves out side of layups and dunks. Made several nice blocks. Foul shooting could use some work.
Both Tufts and Bates were not easy games. Connor Gach who was all state and a sharpshooter in high school continues to develop confidence in his 3 pt shooting.
At Bates, junior Joe Musscahia played significant minutes about 18 and was Amherst leading score.  With season ongoing more players developing.
Reid Berman also got some minutes.
Amherst has a talented six or 8 players

Amherst needs to continue to work on cutting down on unforced errors.

while getting better handle on NESCAC teams, still early
Bowdoin and Trinity appear to biggest surprises so fat

[Bucket]

Have I missed some earlier posts on this year's conference schedule? or what?  But what is the story behind Middlebury not having the back to back games.  Understand a little wrt to going to Hamilton from VT et al.....but waiting to Sunday to play Conn after playing Wesleyan on Friday!  Amherst goes to Bates after a game at Tufts.  Last weekend, there was also a Fri and Sunday combo.  Nice for the Panthers....is there a religious angle here? seriously....no real compliant here...just wondering how to get in on the action for Amherst.  Truly!
Noticed the same thing as Old Guy with the play of Trinity.  Being overlooked?  Saw the box for Tufts of the Trinity game. 
Was the hot play of players against Amherst become flat against Trinity (Sabety is the exception...a block machine).  Or was it the defense of Trinity.
Amherst has been warned as the Trinity game is a road game.  Just realize that the next game for Amherst is in Willy Town.  Hope Green and Toomey have their A game...hope Green will be back.

Middlebury is the team w/out a travel partner this year. (Hamilton was the team last year). And the team w/out a travel partner plays Friday/Sunday because its opponents play only 1 game during the weekend. The conference determined it'd be unfair for the solo team, this year being Middlebury, play a second consecutive game on a Saturday when its opponent had the night off on Friday.

Not quite the advantage you make it out to be.
And not too hard to understand.

[toad22]

I know I'm way late to the party regarding Duncan Robinson, but I believe his shooting line so far this year is 58%, 51%, 91%, 15.6 PPG. I have been to all of Williams' games this year, and 80%+ of all Williams' games in the last 20 years, and I can honestly say that I have never seen a player with the scoring ability of Robinson. What a talent.He is a show, and he is so unselfish. He only cares about winning. It is cool to watch.

[frank uible]

How does Robinson's scoring ability stack up against Sheehy and Nogelo?

[middhoops]

I defer to nescac1 here, but let's remember that Robinson is a fy on a team that has highly established players, especially scorers like Mayer and Epley.  He is NOT the first option.
He will be for the next 3 years, however.

[nescac1]

Frank I never saw Sheehy play but I'd say Robinson is clearly a better scorer than Nogelo was as a first year.  Nogelo was stronger and had more of a post game (although if memory serves Nogelo developed his post play more later in his career as he played more inside).  Robinson is a better shooter (which is quite a statement as Nogelo could light it up from day one) quicker off the dribble, and taller / longer.  To me besides his great deep shot Robinson's most impressive skill is his ability to convert with apparent ease very very difficult shots over defenders at the end of aggressive drives.  He's made a few shots like that which are simply not plays you see guys make at this level, tremendous body control.  Robinson is a good passer with good court vision but not yet in Nogelo's class in that regard.  Nogelo was more of a Larry Bird type guy (at a D3 level of course) whereas Duncan is more like a Durant.  I think Duncan is a more explosive overall player than Nogelo at the same stage but Nogelo made astronomical improvements over time so there is no guarantee Duncan reaches that level.  He is far from Nogelo as a senior right now.  But I wouldn't bet against it. 

All five Eph starters have had at at least a few really really strong games this season. They've yet to have all five doing that at once and I'm not quite sure why.  The decision-making and patience could have collectively better vs Colby.  At least four of the starters (not two or three like this past week of games) will need to be locked in to beat an elite team. Starting on Wednesday, I hope!

[toad22]

Robinson is only a freshman, so at the beginning he was clearly not the first option. Now, he is certainly is a top option. I know that opposing coaches are trying to find ways of locking him down as their first priority. He isn't taking anybody by surprise. At this point, it's crazy to suggest he's a player of the quality of Nogelo or Sheehy. His scoring potential is at that level, but those guys did so much more.

[amh63]

Bucket....Thanks for the COMPLETE answer.  Yes, I'm not too bright and short sighted at times.  Saw Conn College play games during the week.....just shrugged it off that the Camels were doing their own thing so to speak...following their own road.  In my mind, never have accepted them completely as part of the conference,  Small minded of me?, Yes...also have made several wives of frat classmates MAD at me   Still it would be nice to have such schools schedule a Friday game, an OC opponent.
In any case, allows me to check in on the Panther vs Camel contest today.  Have no coins on the football games
Madz.....you do have a dry sense of humor at times.  Like it!