MBB: NESCAC

[JustAFan]

I am surprised that there is not more discussion of the blown call in the Bowdoin game mentioned earlier by P'Bearfan---Swords bunny bankshot at the end of the 3d OT that to my eyes on the computer was interfered with. The no-call was the game breaker for Bowdoin. What did those at the game think?

Yesterday's performance by Tufts guard Firempong reminds me that he is one of the more underrated players in the league.  He's a terrific defensive player who can penetrate at will and who has improved his outside shot significantly since he was a freshman and yet he's unselfish to boot, perhaps too much so, and as a result doesn't get the recognition he deserves.  He controlled the tempo of yesterday's game like a musical conductor.

Sabety needs to improve his hands.  There were 3-4 occasions yesterday where the Tufts guards penetrated and dished the ball to him and he fumbled it.  Granted, some of the passes were difficult, but he will be even more of a monster if he can improve this aspect of his game.  The key for the Jumbos next year will be whether they can get some leadership in the backcourt to replace Cohen and Firempong. They are hoping that Tarik Smith is the answer; I am not convinced, but I said the same thing about Firempong after his first 2 years in the program.

Finally, I fear that Coach Maker's assessment about his team's difficulty with athletic and/or physical teams is right on the money.  Amherst has certainly proven that.  Williams is a finesse team that counts on their offensive skills to beat opponents--that's not a criticism because those are exactly the type of players that Coach Maker needs to recruit to fit into his offensive system--but with the exception of Taylor Epley this year the Ephs don't seem to have players whocan combine these offensive skills with some physical toughness on the defensive end (although I think Duncan Robinson will develop those skills by the time he's a junior).  Looking beyond the league tournament, Williams is going to run into a lot of the teams that concern Coach Maker, from Albertus Magus in their backyard to Cabrini, Randolph Macon and others further down the road.  I actually worry more about the big, physical teams than I do about the athletic teams that like to run and push the tempo. It will be interesting to see how far the Ephs offensive skills can take them and compensate for their defensive and rebounding deficiencies.

[madzillagd]

One thing to think about with the Ephs is that they've played exactly 1 game with the rotation that they likely will play during the tournament, and that came in the 25th game of the year.  I'm one of those that thinks that consistency breeds better performances.  When players are comfortable in their role and familiar with the guys they are usually on the floor with they start to improve on both ends of the floor.  The more minutes this group can now get on the floor together the better they will be in the upcoming weeks. 

[AmherstStudent05]

Too late for me to post on Amherst's win over Colby.  Anything that was interesting has been covered already.  I was very glad the schedule worked out as it did so we could have our revenge.  Colby is a very promising team and all of their contributors return (and many of them are still underclassmen), so the rest of the NESCAC should be warned accordingly!

With the win, Amherst has now recorded at least one win over every school in the NESCAC for each of the past three years.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

I got to catch the tail end of the Williams Tufts game when the Amherst game went to the half.  To my mind, a key play was when Williams had the ball with about two minutes to play down 4.  Williams missed a shot (I think it was DR, but can't remember), and Haladyna appeared to corral the defensive rebound pinned to his own end line.  Haladyna tried to call timeout, but the ref ruled him out of bounds (want to see the replay on that -- it happened very fast, but if he was out of bounds, it wasn't by much).  Williams got the ball back in scored, cutting the deficit to 2.  However, I went to the play by play to refresh my memory on this critical sequence but I could find no recording of it at all.  Maybe I am just making it up?

JustAFan, Rooke-Ley is a VERY physical presence on D (or at least he was prior to his injury).  Agree though that he may be the exception that proves the rule in that regard.  As for the Swords shot, I only saw the webcast.  To me it looked like the Bantam player swiped the bottom of the net as the shot was rolling around the rim.  I confess I don't know the rules on this.  To be honest, it didn't look from my (admittedly poor) vantage point that it affected the shot, but it was certainly unusual.

As for all conference picks, I am now projecting Toomey to win PoY (I know I am way late on this call but better safe than sorry).  Hart didn't distinguish himself yesterday but he is still probably in the driver's seat for the last First Team spot (BEHIND Kizel).  I am sure the coaches would rather reward an upperclassmen, but I don't think you can keep Sabety from the second team.  He really seems to be a true difference maker.  Not to beat a dead horse, but what a tremendous group of freshmen we have.  (Hats off in particular to Greenman.  With Mayer, Epley, Wohl, and DR on the court it can be tough to take big shots in crunch time, but he was absolutely fearless. There must be something about the nickname "Greeny" that makes basketball players lose all fear.)

I would love to get a Bantam some NESCAC love.  A 5th seed and a Semifinal appearance is definitely worthy of it.  They are just so balanced that I think it would be a stretch to include any of them -- though Starks may have the best case.  Certainly, if he beats Amherst, Cosgrove should be a no-brainer for CoY. He may be a contender either way.

Looking forward to the games this weekend.  Not sure yet if I will be able to go, but I am definitely going to try.  I know it isn't what Coach Brown wanted, but few things are better than NESCAC Championship weekend in LeFrak!

[AmherstStudent05]

One other point.  It is pretty clear to me that this whole "hand-checking" emphasis that was all the rage at the beginning of the year has virtually gone away in NESCAC basketball. I saw some physical D across all games yesterday and it seemed to be called the exact same way last year's NESCAC Quarterfinals were called.  That is totally fine by me.  I just wonder how things will be called come NCAA Tournament time.  I hope our guys aren't in for a rude awakening when they play before other sets of officials.

[toad22]

I missed all the action this week, as I was away, and couldn't even see the games on the tube. So, on to next week! The matchups for next weekend should produce exciting games. I suggest that Amherst not take Trinity lightly. They are an improving team, that can often win by slowing games down, playing physical defense, and pounding the boards. No team in the NESCAC rebounds the ball as hard as Trinity does. Amherst has been very inconsistent in their shooting this year, so I'm sure that Trinity figures that if they can own the boards they have a reasonable chance. Amherst has Aaron Toomey, so I guess they should be favored.

The Williams-Middlebury game seems to me to be a coin toss. I like Williams' chances because I feel that they have more potential offensive weapons than Middlebury does. That could be important in a game where one or two hot hands could be the difference. I hope Williams can control the tempo, as I feel that they play better up-tempo than playing deliberately. Middlebury has Joey Kizel, a force I have learned never to underestimate. Sinnickson and Merryman are both nice shooting threats, and all-around good players. That, combined with the size of Midd's big guys, give their fans plenty of reason to be hopeful.

This Saturday is my favorite day of basketball, every year Williams participates.     

[nescac1]

Weirdest stat of the year in NESCAC: Amherst's Connor Gach has played in 24 games, playing approximately approximately 210 minutes.  Of his 39 shot attempts (20 of which he has made), ZERO have been from two point range.  You'd think he would at least have stepped on the line once or something! 

[P'bearfan]

I am surprised that there is not more discussion of the blown call in the Bowdoin game mentioned earlier by P'Bearfan---Swords bunny bankshot at the end of the 3d OT that to my eyes on the computer was interfered with. The no-call was the game breaker for Bowdoin. What did those at the game think?

Thanks for mentioning this...thought I was going crazy for while.  Miserable shooting is what really hurt Bowdoin but it's a crime when a team battles back - lead by their bench and PG who's 8 months off an ACL tear - and the game is influenced by such a blown non call.

Spoke to someone who as at the game and everyone seemed to have the same view....it should have been goaltending.

[P'bearfan]

On another note, while waiting for next week, Walzy mentioning it on Hoopsville reminded me that the NBA comparisons from a few years ago were fun.  Thoughts on this year's crop of potential all-NESCAC guys?  (The comparisons are to the style employed by NBA players at their peak.  Disclaimer: this is obviously in no way is a comparison of talent, but rather of style of play).  Hopefully, no one ends up leaving the boards over these comparisons this go-around (and for the record, I thought that the Wang / Jeremy Lin comparison was a very fair one). 

Ones that I came up with fairly easily:

Aaron Toomey -- Stephen Curry
Duncan Robinson -- Kevin Durant
Matt Hart -- Jeff Hornacek
John Swords -- Roy Hibbert
Tom Killian -- Shawn Marion
Dylan Sinnickson -- Vince Carter
Hunter Sabety -- Dwight Howard

Tougher:

Michael Mayer --   (such an unusual style of play)
Joey Kizel -- Deron Williams (has to be someone better, but another guy with an unorthodox game)
Andrew Madlinger -- Kyle Korver
Chris Hudnut -- Kevin Love

Good stuff....a few more for Bowdoin:

-Matt Palecki....Charles Barkely
-Bryan Hurley....Steve Nash
-Lucas Hausman....James Harden
-Keegan Pieri....Ray Allen (not the same range but a really smooth, beautiful shot)
-Neil Fuller....Dan Majerle (remember his Nike ad?)

[lefrakenstein]

Dylan Sinnickson actually reminds me a lot of Fletcher Walters.

If I had to pick an NBA equivalent for those two... maybe Ryan Anderson, but with better defense.

Other Amherst guys...

Kalema - Aaron Brooks (I'm a rockets fan, so I have a lot of love for AB0)
Killian - Kawhi Leonard
George - Anthony Davis
Green - Vernon Maxwell (another old rockets favorite)

[maineman]

I would also think that Bowdoin should be a big fan of Williams as well.  As I have said before, I believe that Middlebury is a better team than Bowdoin.  However, I can see the argument on the other side -- and, of course, the regional rankings are what they are.  But, should Middlebury beat Willams (and fall in the Championship game), I don't see how they could possibly be placed behind Bowdoin.  Again, I can't speak as to Midd's Pool C chances generally since, as I have said, I really don't follow other regions at all (and, truth be told, I agree with the general consensus that for Midd it is really AQ or bust).  Still, if Midd beats Williams, I think it would be most unfair to put in the Polar Bears in over the Panthers.

What will Bowdoin do?   Keep practicing just in case they get a Pool C bid?  What have other top teams done that lose in the Quarterfinals? 

[nescac1]

Speaking of Bryan Hurley, not enough has been said about his courageous performance.  Just gutty, gutty play from him.  A few weeks ago it looked like he could barely move.  He is clearly not all the way back (or even close to it, really, on a few occasions you could see that his mind wanted to make plays that his body couldn't quite accommodate) but he sparked the huge Bowdoin comeback, showed a bit of his old quickness and a lot of his old savvy, and hit that enormous three to send the game to a second (or maybe the third) OT.  I look forward to seeing him return to an elite playmaker next year after an entire offseason to rehab his knee.  Bowdoin loses a lot from this team (and the season may not be over yet, despite the last two losses), but Hurley, Swords, Palecki, Pieri, and Hausman will be a very nice starting five next year.  I like the Hurley/Nash comparison, by the way. 

Sinnickson and Walters are an interesting comparison.  Both fantastic athletes, from what I remember, Walters was a taller/longer player and more of a defensive menace, but not quite as good a shooter as Sinnickson.  I think both are more athletic wing players, while Anderson is a not-particularly-athletic (for the NBA) stretch five who is an absolute lights-out shooter. 

[madzillagd]

While I appreciate the mention of local Sacramento guy Ryan Anderson, I think you are selling Sinnickson's athleticism way short to compare the two of them.  Anderson is a stretch 4 that shoots great as a big man but isn't going to blow anybody away with his athleticism. 

How about we give him a D3 shoutout and compare him to Devean George.  Both streaky shooters from deep that shoot jump shots (definitely not set shots as some deep shooters do), but both could attack the rim and finish. 

[Bucket]

I would also think that Bowdoin should be a big fan of Williams as well.  As I have said before, I believe that Middlebury is a better team than Bowdoin.  However, I can see the argument on the other side -- and, of course, the regional rankings are what they are.  But, should Middlebury beat Willams (and fall in the Championship game), I don't see how they could possibly be placed behind Bowdoin.  Again, I can't speak as to Midd's Pool C chances generally since, as I have said, I really don't follow other regions at all (and, truth be told, I agree with the general consensus that for Midd it is really AQ or bust).  Still, if Midd beats Williams, I think it would be most unfair to put in the Polar Bears in over the Panthers.

What will Bowdoin do?   Keep practicing just in case they get a Pool C bid?  What have other top teams done that lose in the Quarterfinals?

I've never seen a team lose in the quarters and make the tournament.

[amh63]

You guys  are too much NBA fans for me. . Have not been a follower for over a decade. The only ones I have met are/ were neighbors of my wife's sister in Florida.
AmStudent05...I do recall the play though I did not see the "time out" gesture.

Checked on the times of the games from last season when Amherst hosted the semis.  Amherst played the first game with a start time of 1pm.  The 2nd game was scheduled for 3pm....the one that had Williams and Middlebury.  Amherst won over Colby in the first in a blow out...Aaron had a personal best day from outside.

That brings me to some observations of the games with Colby this year.  The first game, Aaron tried to carry the team with his offense in the 2nd half in the lost.   In the game in LeFrak, I believe Colby wanted no repeat by Aaron and played him very tough and physical.  Coach Hixon was making his feelings known to the refs on the matter.   Meanwhile, the Colby coach was very active with the refs.  It was that type of game.  The announcer pointed out when both coaches took off their jackets after some encounter/call.  Yes, these games get coaches involved.  Heck, the Colby coach complained when the Amherst players took too long coming out from a time out.  Maybe Coach Hixon lost a vote for COY  .
Conner Green was very active...scored a team high 23.  Most of his points came by going inside.  GingerB will be happy.  Green even hit some outside shots.   Glad he is back scoring and contributing again...repeat,  his 3 blocks impressed me.  He had a flush down that did not count...he knew it but wanted to let the Colby players know he was ready to play with energy, IMO.  Oh yes, George did a good job in replacement for Pollack.  Geirge did not show up much in the first game in Maine.  This game beside his 4 credited blocks, his two hand dunks...George had 15 rebounds!

[Bucket]

Saturday's games are at 2 and 4.

Amherst-Trinity play first.