MBB: NESCAC

[Bucket]

Mike Maker's teams play hard. Always have. Always will. They do not play dirty. To suggest otherwise is laughable.

To suggest that a team should not play hard, fight until the final buzzer is ludicrous. Williams—and Eph fans—have nothing to apologize for.

[hoya73]

Bucket and Others:  Generally agree with the points on Maker.  He is an excellent coach and his teams work hard.  Nothing dirty about that.  Having seen both recent games, though, it is a little curious that he is calling time-outs down 14 with 20 seconds left.  I am certain that between the two games, he called 5 time-outs inside the last minute down double digits.  Teaching moments for sure, but as you all know in most of these games, the team ahead dribbles out the last 25 seconds.  And did anyone notice that as Aaron was double-teamed  as the buzzer went off, one of the Ephs turned an ankle and limped off the court?  At some point the game is over.

Again, absolutely nothing dirty, but perhaps overdone.

[madzillagd]

Wasn't able to catch the first match up of these two teams but I did get to see last night's contest unfortunately.  I'm very surprised to read the comments about the end of the game.  At no time watching the end did I think that Williams was playing too rough etc.  I could understand if people were annoyed that the inevitable was being delayed, but roughness didn't see to be a factor at all.  Every portion of a game is a learning opportunity and I'm one of those that thinks it's a great way to practice something you don't do very often which is to press a team down the stretch.  Who knows if you are going to be trailing St Thomas in an Elite Eight game and need to implement a press, it's nice that your team has actually done it before even if it doesn't impact the outcome of the game.  Makes far more sense to me than standing around watching the clock run out. 

As for the toughness of the team, I think the bottom line is Maker recruits a lot of high skill players and often those high skill players lack a little bit in the toughness department.  Being a Sacramento Kings season ticket holder, I watched for 10+ years the exact same thing happen under Geoff Petrie.  They ran a lot of Princeton offense based systems and the players you need to make that work need to be able to pass/dribble/shoot at every position.  That doesn't usually call for tough-minded players necessarily because the goal isn't to out muscle the other team, the goal is to execute better than the other team.  I think Williams lacks a bit of toughness and when they don't execute very well, they don't have anything to fall back on in those games or for the portions of the games when that happens. 

My take on watching these two teams the past two years is this:  one team seems to come into these games playing to win, the other team comes into these games playing to not lose.  I give a lot of credit to Hixon because as I've watched 4 out of the 5 contests, each time it appears to me that Amherst plays very loose and fires away.  Williams has stretches where they play that way, but at some point they tend to tighten up. It's almost as if they become aware of how big the game is and they start to try not to make mistakes, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because things start to go wrong when they play that way.  I think Amherst knows they just need to keep scoring and force Williams to try and keep up with them and Williams continues to fall short because they have stretches were they just can't buy a bucket.  I'd love for these two teams to meet up on a playground somewhere and just let it fly, forget about game plans and just see who can make the most shots in an hour of playing. 

[amh63]

Feeling more positive today....finally got my WSJ delivered today.  Do not like to read books/papers, etc. in the digital world format...though I enjoy the last 4 pages of discussions/posts dealing with Amherst and Williams  Was going to post earlier after reading the earlier posts of the game last night.  Was going to leave that game behind as posted earlier.  However, the Amherst website linked a 2 part video produced by an AT&T TV unit on the Amherst vs Williams annual football battle.  Check it out and one can get the reason that the annual BB games end up filling the gyms with fans....rivarlry games, good BB games watched by knowledable fans and filled with passion and emotion.  I decided to talk about the game some more. Heck, it is a Lord Jeff vs Ephs game....time to take off the gloves a little and respond to some of the comments I have read, clarify my post a little and add something , I hope, on the play of the teams.
First, since I missed over 90% of the game due to a power outage, I want to THANK all the posters that discussed the highlights of the game good and bad plays, etc..  Maybe I will look for the NSN archive of the game video?
Clarification of the comments I made wrt to the rough aggressive play in the last few minutes.  The problem I had was that I believe it was NOT a POSITIVE learning experience for the Ephs players.  Why?, because I believe that the refs "swallowed their whistle" as someone posted.  That is not experience under game condition.  Eager players hoping to impress the coach may injure an Amherst player when they do not hear a whistle.  I may have been a little sensitive on the subject of an injury.  Meg Robertson, Amherst's All American center/forward went down three minutes into the Tufts game.  Without her....yes she was the one using the crutches at the earlier WBB game, Amherst's team lost a hard fought game to Williams.  Having said that, I believe we all do not want to see a player like Aaron get hurt in the last 40-50 seconds of a game.  In an unnecessary, non realistic game situation for what true end?  Now the harsh part of my post.....suggest posters read the Williams writeup of the game.  My bias take of Coach Maker's comments.  He was happy to see his players compete to the end of the game and get the score to a RESPECTABLE level.  Nice!
Game experience...heck he did that in the first game with all the last minute time outs.  Letting his players learn how to press a team..ok..do it in practice Coach.  Not when you see that the game conditions are not realistic.  Play to the end?  In a football game, the situation calls for the winning side to have the QB take a knee...like dribble the ball out..avoid injuries all around.
Now to the game and what I believe is the difference between the teams at this point...other than a previous posted suggestion for Williams to find a true PG.  Defense!
I believe as in football, a championship level BB team has to know how to play defense...team defense and individual defensive effort.  No surprise here, I believe, wrt to the Amherst team.  Other posters have pointed this key point out.
I refer posters to the Amherst produced video.........the preview of the game now being discussed.  Coach Hixon states that Williams has had great offensive teams..the most efficient teams in the country the past few years.  He also states that Amherst's success to date is trying ways to stop Williams with defensive schemes that others have not dared to try.  You do not play or start for Amherst until you learn how to play team defense...Amherst team defense.
Again, going to the Williams' write ups after both games.  Coach Maker states that he thinks that a zone defense worked better against Amherst.  Last comment.  Coach Maker in trying to compliment Amherst on the win....basically states, IMO, that Amherst's players are hard to defend against....that Toomey, Kalema and Killian have played together a long time and that Green is a scorer.  Nice!  The Senior captains play well together and Williams can not match up with Amherst.  Enough said on that matter.
Not really....NESCAC1...thanks for the nice words and honest opinions about the game and the Amherst players in your post.  Straight shooter!  A little advice...you posted before the game about the low scoring of the
Williams team.....that in order to beat Amherst, the Williams team needs to score in the 80's.  True enough.  Team offensive play is often inconsistent due to injuries, illness, etc.  Team defense can be more reliable and is needed in times when team offense is not up to par.  Some people call that player toughness...in a positive way.

[magicman]

Paragraphs.... amh63....paragraphs. It's the word of the day. . 

[madzillagd]

amh63 - I was unaware that Coach Hixon was not allowed to sub in one of the 10 players on the bench for Toomey or anyone else he needed to protect in the end of the game.   

[middhoops]

Not a particular interesting game for Midd against local St. Joe's.  Freshman guard Bryan Jones has sat the bench most of the year but is beginning to show he belongs on the floor when it counts.  Like Jake Brown, Jones has a high revving motor.  Not quite the defensive force but a better shooter.  With St. Amour, Brown and Jones, the Panthers' back court is looking good for a while. 
Matt Daley continues to look good in coat and tie.  All Middlebury fans hope he'll be healthy when Williams visits next Friday.  Heavy underdogs or no, expect a full and raucous Pepin Gym for the Ephs.

[amh63]

Forgot....Magicman....thanks.  I often get carried away at times and need to be reminded.

[Vandy74]

Not a particular interesting game for Midd against local St. Joe's.  Freshman guard Bryan Jones has sat the bench most of the year but is beginning to show he belongs on the floor when it counts.  Like Jake Brown, Jones has a high revving motor.  Not quite the defensive force but a better shooter.  With St. Amour, Brown and Jones, the Panthers' back court is looking good for a while. 
Matt Daley continues to look good in coat and tie.  All Middlebury fans hope he'll be healthy when Williams visits next Friday.  Heavy underdogs or no, expect a full and raucous Pepin Gym for the Ephs.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that Cuz.  If Middlebury had chalked up two back-to-back uninspired 12 victories, a la Lyndon St., in these last two games I think the interest would be high indeed, and expressed in a very negative way.  Following two squeakers against Wesleyan and Conn. Coll. that I've heard a few people call lucky, although I call them gutsy, totally dominating the two in-state opponents is very interesting.  So is the way it was done.  The scoring largely came from Sinnickson and Merryman and the assists from Kizel.  Remember early season concern that Joey had never learned to share?  He has nothing to prove to anyone.  He's performed in the clutch often enough.  The more potentially hot shooting hands for Williams and others to worry about the merrier, I say.  And then there is St. Amour.  Not the consistent shooter quite yet but he has shown up a few times.  I'm pretty impressed with just about every other part of his game and that is what had some people worried.  Vermont high school product, you know.  All in all tonight's game along with Tuesday's show a Panther squad that can play together rather well.  The trick now will be to keep the rust from forming during the week with no games scheduled before Williams. 

And yes, Middhoops, Bryan Jones does look like another piece to the puzzle, something we agreed on off-board previously.

Since this is a slow news day I'd like to mention a few other players who performed tonight.  With Middlebury ahead 100-65 at about the 4:30 mark, they took the floor and won their part of the game 15-9.  Albert Nascimento, I think I saw him in a video recently, 3-4, 7 points along with an assist and a steal.  Dean Brierley 3-3, 7 points.  Luis Alvarez, 3 boards and all-around great hustle.  Liam Naughton, you know, the other freshman, another good shooter, 3-4 from the stripe and a blocked shot.  Chris Churchill brought the Middlebury bench and the crowd to it's feet with a resounding dunk.

Those last four and a half minutes represent the game situation in which 95% (or possibly 100) of my playing time came in.  I think in two seasons of JV ball I might have scored 6-7 points.  Great game guys.

[Old Guy]

To suggest that a team should not play hard, fight until the final buzzer is ludicrous. Bucket

"ludicrous"? Got to disagree with my friend, Bucket. To be down double digits with only a few seconds left and not acknowledge the obvious (by calling time-out, applying intense defensive pressure) is superfluous and inappropriate. Game's over, Coach, even though there are seconds on the clock.

I realize there's room for disagreement here. Greg Schiano, (former) coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would disagree, for example. He was trying to make a statement to and about his team. I didn't see the Ephs-Jeffs game, so can't weigh in on the degree to which the Williams defensive intensity in the final minutes crossed a line, but I do suspect Coach Maker was also making a statement: it's not unlikely these two teams will meet again in the post-season and the Ephs, by irrationally not accepting the inevitable outcome, were saying in effect to the Jeffs, "Seeya in the playoffs, Boys, and don't think you've got our number." I think it may have been smart, under the circumstances.

Should Coach Hixon have taken out Toomey (the Eli Manning of the Schiano example) when the outcome was decided, and thus avoided potential injury. I don't know, feel less strongly about that. It wasn't that one-sided, and to take him out for the final seconds to a big cheer from Jeff partisans in the Ephs gym might have appeared provocative. With Toomey dribbling out the clock - I probably would have let him, if only so we wouldn't look like the Washington Generals chasing Marques Haynes (period reference).

One of the intended consequences of the three-point shot (and the shot clock) is to give trailing teams a chance to catch up; it also means that coaches are reluctant to remove their better players prematurely, thus increasing the chances for injury. Clearly, starters stay in the game way longer than they used to.

[madzillagd]

With 3:35 left in the game Amherst was up 78-61.  From that point forward Amherst fouled Williams 2 times; Williams fouled Amherst 2 times. 

[Bucket]

Observations on a blow-out

What to make of Middlebury's 41-point win over St. Joe's of Vermont?

Ok, St. Joe's is not a very good team. But they're not that bad, either. I mean, they stayed within 16 of Williams (80-64) and 8 of the world-beating (I'm winking at you, nescac1) juggernaut Southern Vermont.

They are quick, high energy, bulky/strong. But they can't shoot a lick. Looking at past games, I think their 4-26, 15 percent, effort from three was par for the course for them.

On the other hand, Middlebury was collectively unconscious from long-range—15-26, 58 percent; and a whopping 64 percent in the second half. It was contagious; it seemed everyone was getting in on the 3 action. This obviously opened things up and Midd got a lot of easy buckets, too. 32 assists on 39 made baskets. Unreal. But that's what happens when you catch, shoot, and drain threes and/or cut backdoor and take a feed for an easy dunk or layup.

Other random observations:

*It was a blast watching Joey Kizel when he doesn't feel the pressure to get the big bucket. He had 10 assists in the first half (!) and finished with a career-high 12.

*Bryan Jones: 10 pts, 7 assists in 13 minutes. And these were not "garbage time" minutes. The freshman—who hadn't seen the floor for most of the season—has jumped into the rotation and is certainly making the most of the opportunity. He had a huge three and a couple of big boards in the comeback win over Conn, and his confidence is growing with each minute on the court.

*Middlebury is a different team with Dylan Sinnickson on the floor. He's averaging 20 and 5 in conference play. If this continues, he has to be in contention for all-conference honors, don't you think?

*Some very nice post moves and flashing to spaces without the ball from Jake Nidenberg. Fun to see.

Panthers have a week off until Williams. Hope some of that shooting magic carries over.

[amh63]

Vandy....nice to see the Panthers seem to be finding"their groove" offensively.  Was going to check in on several conference teams' games last night but things came up.  Tufts and your team blew out the opponents.  Saw the Score 115-75, Panthers....WoW.  Thought that Amherst better scout Middlebury sooner than later.  Then remember that Middlebury sometimes plays an in-state team that has a run and gun style and does not play much defense.  Was last night the night when everyone scores?
Your post reminded me to mention some things that caught my interest.

In the first Williams games ..in LeFrak..I arrived sometime early in the 2nd half of the WBB game.  Saw a Williams MBB player leaning and watching the game.  When I turned to go pass the student section stands, I saw Coach Maker chatting and shaking hands with one of Coach Hixon's younger assistants.
Would of loved to know what they were chatting about.  Thought that the Amherst coach, a player on the '07 title team, maybe notifying Maker that he would be scouting teams in Chandler soon.
Coach Hixon relies on his assistants scouting reports; has praised their efforts in the Babson video during the post game celebration of his 700th win.

AmherstStudent05...like your comments wrt to Mussachia.  Agreed that he may never be an outside shooter.  He will be a  "scorer", rebounder and defender.  His game is more like Williamson with a mid-range shot and around the basket.  Still, like Williamson, he may yet develop  a 3- pt shot.  Hard worker.  During homecoming, I went by the gym area....during the unofficial practice periods.  Saw Mussachia working on his mid-range shot.  Was using a basketball machine like Baseball hitters use in a batting cage.  The machine catches the basketball as it drops and then "shoots/passes" the ball back to the player ready for another shot.  Guess the device can be adjusted in all manners.  I could have used that machine...if only I had some hops

Have started to notice the colors and styles of shoes a number of the prominent players in the CAC.  Hunter Merryman's bright gold pair....Lin's bright, glowing light blue pair and even the differences among team starters.  Noticed one Ephs' pair as he slipped and fell in from of me.  I sit in the lower rows in LeFrak. A stylish old school white Nike with a purple badge.  Sort of strange in a way, but I am a shoe man myself....prefer Real Old Celtic high top brands.   Maybe too much info here.

[middhoops]

amh63, I'm trying to picture you in green canvas high-tops. 

[amh63]

Middhoops.....me too.  How about purple?  Actually, presently have a pair of low cut leather black Converse slip-ons..no shoe strings.  My sons both "rag" me about those rare pair...since their Converse are canvas only.  My other working pair are. A purple/white suede low cut Vans.  I try to wear them when walking on gym floors...respect the floor surface...therefore "working shoes" so to speak.  Like an Asian tradition, my kids and wife prefer one wear slippers in the house..respect the wood floors.  Been known to get into the car still wearing slippers on...a little sad admission here.