MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Great win for Williams.  It was the Taylor Epley show today.  With Robinson out and Mayer struggling for most of the game (he finally got on track in the last five minutes) he showed that he can carry the team.  Much like in the Middlebury game, when he most needed to come up big, he did, and then some -- and he was absolutely in the zone, with 28 points on only 12 shot attempts!  Now that is offensive efficiency.  That mid-season slump seems to be a distant memory as he just looks like a totally different guy, very confident with no hesitation, the same guy who was hitting over 50 percent of his threes in the first semester. 

Mike Greenman was also huge for Williams.  I have a feeling that he is going to be the starting point guard for the next three plus years.  He keeps getting better and had a HECK of a weekend, with combined totals of 28 points, 11-12 from the floor, 6-7 from three, 6 boards, 3 assists, 5 steals, and most importantly ZERO turnovers. He just knows how to play the position and has a beautiful outside shot.  Most impressive was hitting a leaning layup over 6'9 Joseph Kuo!  He has emerged as the best frosh PG in NESCAC in a very talented group of guys, and I think the Ephs have found the heir apparent to Nate Robertson. 

For Williams, in terms of areas of improvement,, they need to get a bit tougher inside and do a better job putting bodies on offensive rebounders. They also need to recognize the hot hand and rotate quicker to those guys in the zone.  But those are nitpicky things that can be corrected -- hard to complain about a 17 point road win missing two key players, including arguably the top guy on the team.  The Ephs are definitely peaking at the right time.  Now they just need to get fully healthy for the post-season.  Go Midd tomorrow!

Wesleyan has a really, really nice group of frosh and sophomores.  In two years, they could be very interesting.  Joseph Kuo gave Mayer more trouble than some of the other more hyped frosh centers in NESCAC, and Rashid Epps dominated the interior all day with his energy.  Wesleyan really harassed Mayer into a lot of difficult looks.  BJ Davis and Jack Mackey can both really shoot it, and Joe Edmonds has a smooth all-around game.  For some reason Harry Rafferty played little and when he did was very quiet, perhaps he was under the weather.  The problem for Wesleyan is that it receives very little contributions from the upperclassmen, and as you'd expect from young players, they are guilty of the occasional defensive lapse.  But that six man core, as it grows together, could be a major factor in NESCAC in a couple of years, and Wesleyan plays much better as a team than it did the last few seasons. 

[Bucket]

With only Middlebury and Amherst left to play, the 3-8 seeds have been determined. If Amherst wins tomorrow they will be the 1 seed, if they lose, Williams will be the 1 and host the NESCAC semifinals and finals, assuming they win their opening round matchup. Here's how the 3-7 seeds look.

3) Middlebury
4) Bowdoin
5) Trinity
6) Hamilton
7) Colby
8) Wesleyan

And, for what it's worth, 9) Tufts; 10) Conn. College; 11) Bates

Hate to ding you, guys, but you made a mistake. Colby wasn't the only team to get a win against the top four--the Tufts win over Bowdoin is a top-four win. So Wes is the only team w/out such a win, they are eliminated, and Tufts gets the 7th seed over Colby due to head-to-head.

3-8 is set, tomorrow's game will decide 1-2.

[Panthernation]

Now that Williams has beaten Wesleyan the three are tied with 4 wins, each going 1-1 vs. the other two.
Tiebreaker is wins vs. top 4. Colby beat Amherst, and now Tufts has beaten Bowdoin. Wesleyan is out.
Tufts beat Colby, so Tufts is #7 and Colby is #8.

Overlooked that very important detail. Corrected standings as follows:

3) Middlebury
4) Bowdoin
5) Trinity
6) Hamilton
7) Tufts
8) Colby

[nescac1]

There will be some interesting first round match-ups based on what has been established already -- Bowdoin-Trinity, two physical, tough defensive teams, should be another ugly low-scoring affair.  I am pretty stunned that Bowdoin lost to Tufts, didn't see that coming (especially with Ferris out), and now Bowdoin probably does need at least one win and possibly two to squeeze into the tourney.  The last time Midd and Hamilton played it was very fun, that is definitely no cakewalk for the Panthers in the first round.  Will be great to see another Hart-Kizel battle.  I'm sure Amherst will be happy (if they win tomorrow) for a chance to avenge that loss to Colby -- I'm guessing the Jeffs will have a little extra motivation for that game.  But first they have to get by Midd, and I have a feeling tomorrow's game will be a barn-burner. 

[Old Guy]

Too much like algebra for me - if A equals B then C must be ? Like in high school, I depended on others. Nice final run for the Panthers, victories over Colby, Bowdoin, Trinity, not a sure thing in that group, with the Jeffs tomorrow (note the absence of boasting or foolish prognosticating). I hope we play well. I think the Panthers can stay with the Jeffs; more to the point, I suspect they do too.

Followed the Tufts-Bowdoin game tonight. Seems to me that the big guy, Swords, has to be first team All-NESCAC: his numbers tonight against Sabety, the prodigy:  21 points (9-14), 13 boards, 3 blocks. He's had a great year, leading his team to an 19-4 season, so far. I love his game, so without embellishment: "I'm a big guy, I do big guy things." His teammates have had nice seasons - Malinger, Mathias, Pieri, White, Hausman, but he's the man: he's the reason for their status in NESCAC, regionally, and nationally. You will never be bad with great guards; it's hard to be great without great big men.

Sabety was fine - 10 points , 8 rebounds, 4 blocks.

So the All NESCAC first team has six guys - Toomey, Hart, Kizel, Robinson, Mayer, and a sixth guy, Swords.

Of course, this begs the question, not Vadas? After 39 against Williams, and another 20 tonight? Pretty good weekend's work. Two more losses for the Camels, however. Okay after those guys, seven, le deluge: lots of nice players, beginning with Hudnut, who's had a remarkably consistent sophomore year.

[maineman]

Don't they usually play the quarter final games around 2PM on Saturday?

[7express]

Don't they usually play the quarter final games around 2PM on Saturday?

Unless there's a double header with the women.  It looks like Amherst & Bowdoin are going to be hosting both men's and women's quarter games, so games @ Bowdoin & Amherst will start at either 3 or 4, while games at Williams & Mid will probably start at 2.

[30 for 30]

Hamilton update. Conts were hoping for a weekend road sweep and a possible 4th place finish and first round home game. Came out flat at Wesleyan Friday. Gallant comeback at the end fell short with misses on two late chances to win or tie the game. Today's play was much more like the previous two weeks. Hart led the way for sure but there were many contributions throughout the rotation. Better D and over all rebounding has been the recent formula along with different guys each night supporting Hart's steady offense. Hart closed the regular season stuffing the stat sheet with 29, 6, 5 and 2 As usual he was scoring from all angles. So it looks like the Conts are on to Middlebury. Have to say that Midd may be their best matchup within the top 4. Won in a close game at home on 2/2 in a very fun game. The rematch should be entertaining as well. Conts feeling good about their season. An even record in conference, a playoff berth and lots of positive energy within the program. We are rooting for Hart to hold on to the scoring title. We believe he has also earned a first team All NESCAC spot with his very consistent play throughout the season in conference and out.

[frank uible]

Does William's giving up 90 points to a 9-14 Conn College team speak well for Williams' chances of going deep into the NCAA playoffs?

[Panthernation]

Amherst preview: http://sites.middlebury.edu/panthernation/2014/02/16/back-to-lefrak-2/

[nescac1]

Frank, I know you like to play the cynic, but I'd say Williams, based on their play over the past few weeks, has a very good chance of going deep into the NCAA playoffs (of course, anything can happen, heck, the last two times they went deep in the tourney they very nearly lost in the first round, on each occasion -- Husson and Wesley).  It would help, of course, if they can get all their guys healthy and in sync in the very near future. 

Conn has some talent -- they only lost by 12 at Amherst and very nearly beat Midd.  And Matt Vadas, who can definitely play, was absolutely in the zone, I mean, just unconscious for much of the game.  And yet, Williams still won the game, going away, on the road.  The Ephs will have trouble totally shutting down a very good offensive team, even when they are playing better on defense than they did vs. Conn (which they are very capable of, and in fact which they've done in every other recent game).  But I don't see any team in the country who can slow the Ephs' offense down if Robinson, Mayer, and Epley are all playing at even their average level of play right now.  This is not the best defensive and far from the best rebounding Williams team I've seen.  But is is easily the most talented offensively, now that Robinson has come into his own, Mayer is playing like he is capable of, and Epley is back in form.  That right there is three of the better offensive players in the country.  Greenman, Rooke-Ley (whenever he returns), and Wohl are all guys who would be offensive stars for many other teams, and the Ephs have the luxury of having them in supporting roles.  That is a tremendous top six, and the seventh guy is a back-up center who shoots 50 percent from three, another nice luxury. 

I think the preseason expectations were so (justifiably) high for Williams that when they struggled to beat some teams they should have put away and then really struggled vs. Amherst, a lot of folks (myself included, admittedly) thought that perhaps we had overrated the potential of the team.  But the fact is that the Ephs had an amazing year when you consider the number of injuries they've had to overcome, including their all-American center missing five games and not really getting into playing shape for another few weeks, Wohl struggling with a very limiting injury early in the year, losing their starting point guard for nine games (and counting), and also having Robinson and Epley each miss some time in recent weeks.  All five starters have dealt with injury issues (some more severe than others), and Williams hasn't really had its full lineup, fully healthy and in sync, for any single game this year.  And yet, Williams is 21-3 -- few teams in D3 have better records -- and other than the first half vs. Middlebury, Williams has looked generally fairly dominant over its last eight games, five of which were on the road, and some of which were against pretty solid competition.  Over those eight games, they have give up more than 70 points exactly ONCE -- and again, that was largely a product of a player who was just absolutely in the zone, hitting a lot of really tough shots, plus teammates who were also shooting the ball very well. 

In short, no reason whatsoever for concern based on one outlier, and an outlier they still won fairly handily.  Williams' defense, while still not elite, has improved immensely since early in the season, and ultimately, to beat Williams on almost any night, teams are going to have to score a LOT of points, which takes some pressure off the D.  If there is one area I'd like to see Williams clean up a bit heading into the postseason it is defensive rebounding, which is often a problem when relying on zone defense. 

[jumpshot]

Hope the Midd players all made bed check last night ....be alert for
Hixsongate part 2

[amh63]

Panthernation.....enjoyed the writeup!  Quite fair and objective.  +K to the blog.

Am even up and awaiting the games in LeFrak.  Hope the student announcers stay focused on the game and less on themselves.  Guess it depends on who shows up.  The baseball players that announced the first half of the last game knew basketball.  Interesting comment made by one on Tom Killian.  Mentioned that the senior Captain over the holidays  was seen working out in his HS gym on his game.  Tom has stepped up this season with his all around game...the result of hard work.  He illustrates that many of the top players' contribution to this season are the results of hard work.  I sometimes watch the starters before the game working out when I can.  I see Aaron taking foul shots and 3-point shots.  Kalema, Green and others also take shots from favorite spots.  Working their trade is the expression that comes to mind.

Expect a competative game...as PN mentioned....it always is.  Looking forward to see if I can recognize some Panther fans/groupies in the stands....assuming they do not get lost or sit other than where they should sit

Last comment for now....The Conference Championship event up in Willy Town....women swimming.  After Day 2, it is Williams first, Middlebury 2nd and Amherst 3rd.  Amherst is the defending champs.   Why doesn't this surprise me?

[frank uible]

If henceforth in 2014 any good team (and all the teams in the NCAA playoffs are at least good) should score as many as a paltry 75 points in a game vs. Williams, then in Williamstown it will be time to consider pitchers and catchers.

[nescac1]

Frank, I guarantee that some team will score more than 75 points vs. Williams again this year. Likely more than one.  If Williams keeps scoring 90, that won't bother me a bit.