MBB: NESCAC

grabtherim · November 23, 2014, 08:46:24 AM

Old Guy: saw most of the Midd win. While you can only play who they put in front of you, Midd's starting 5 would have had a more competative game vs their bench. That said, they worked well sharing the ball and running the ball up the court both of which will be the path to wins against better teams. Dont know anything about Clark but I bet the Midd coaches do. Lets see what happens.

amh63 · November 23, 2014, 11:25:56 AM

Long day of watching MBB but very little CAC games. Some comments.
First, with respect to Amherst's win over an outmanned Mt.Ida team...not much there other than the large number of players that contributed.....the continued long range shooting of the young big guards. Amherst fans will have to adjust to not seeing points from outside from the PGs as in the past. It will be more pass first and get the ball to the scorers now approach, I believe. Surprised a bit by the rebounding efforts of the freshmen. The three players not getting PT are nursing injuries. Believe Ben Pollack's PT is due to seeing how other players are meshing. When he is in, he does seem to be in the 4 slot...even has him at the high post..see assists...an offensive option?
Team is still a work in progress...young players are playing defense well,
Did see the WPI versus U. Of Chicago game that was won by WPI in OT. Both teams, early favorites in their conferences, played a very entertaining game. Both teams need improved play from their PGs and are not big or strong in their front courts. WPI's seven footer, a jr., did not get into the game. Did get to chat a bit with the coaches of both teams afterwards. Chicago coach did know of Reid Berman of Amherst..from New Trier. Seemed to me that he had his eye on Amherst's PG. Responded " that's the connection" when I mentioned that Berman's grandfather is an Amherst grad.
Second game between Cabrini and SUNY-Purchase was more of a playground game and I left soon after the half. Did find out that one of the WPI coaches lived in the Amherst "suburbs" and knew what is going on at Amherst. Do wish WPI and Amherst would play a regular season sometime!.
Lastly..is that correct English?...did watch a bit of the WES. Vs Williams game. Last minute of OT. Had to take my wife out when I got back. Agree with Old Guy...WES will be a tough game to play.
What's up with fees at Bowdoin? Heck they got 20 percent return frow their Billion dollar Endownment this year! How we get spoiled these days

P'bearfan · November 23, 2014, 11:29:56 AM

QuoteWhat's up with fees at Bowdoin? Heck they got 20 percent return frow their Billion dollar Endownment this year! How we get spoiled these days

I'm not a fan of paying to watch web casts of DIII games either. However, the game was played at St Joe's and it was their webcast that required a fee. As far as I know, the Bowdoin webcasts will continue to be free.

GoWesYoungMan · November 23, 2014, 12:02:02 PM

Fun night at Wes. Best crowd in a while. Hope the students saw a product that will bring them back. The Cards are improved, but still have work to do. They are playing with more poise, confidence and trust. Two areas where Wes was superior -- rebounding and depth. They will need to exploit both better in the NESCAC (though against some teams these advantages may not be so clear). Wes shot 33 treys and occasionally it felt like we were pressing in this area to get that big play. The 45% 3 point shooting in previous games also might have tempted the team. Playing to the post might more might have forced the Ephs into foul trouble. Williams had trouble under the boards including the last possession in regulation when Kilkullen fouled Kuo, which was a clear foul from my view (not my bias but my seat).
In commenting on Williams I should admit that my impression is based only on the games I see vs Wes and an occasional review of their team stats. When Williams came to Wes last Feb Duncan Robinson was injured and did not play. Mayer did and was excellent. My impression is that as good (great) as Robinson is they may miss Mayer more. Wohl, Greenman and Rooke-Lee are excellent NESCAC players (I'd love to have any of them as Cards). They accounted for 67 of the 85 points, outscoring the Wes top three 67-36. Very impressive. What's not impressive is outside of the top three Wes outscored Williams 39-15. Aronowitz did not have his best game but I suspect he will most likely emerge as the fourth option. Until then, if any of the top three have an injury, foul trouble or just a bad night then the Ephs are vulnerable. I won't be surprised to see this depth issue remedied by January but for now it should be a concern. The night also reminded me of how good Williams was last year with this core plus Robinson, Mayer and Epley.
Biggest takeaway: its going to be a fun NESCAC season.

nescac1 · November 23, 2014, 12:08:26 PM

GoWes, spot-on analysis of both Wesleyan and Williams. I'm not eager to play Wes again, especially if they concentrate more on feeding the post. Kuo has immense potential. Williams needs the supporting cast to continue to grow. Fortunately several are frosh, and it always takes time to adjust to college play.

polbear73 · November 23, 2014, 12:11:46 PM

Bowdoin web casts are free.

amh63 · November 23, 2014, 01:12:18 PM

P'Bear and other Bowdoin fans....my apologies for my ignorant post...as to the origin of the webcast.
Funny that I did have some troubles with other webcasts of some games that I wanted check on.
Do want to congrat WES on their webcasts..in house produced?.

Bucket · November 23, 2014, 02:40:30 PM

Good luck following Midd-Clark...live stats are a mess. Half the players are assigned to the wrong team, thus a wildly inaccurate score.

I believe Midd is up by about 10 at the half. At least that's what I can glean from ashaky webcast.

I guess I could tally individual player totals from the live stats, but that requires more ambition than I have right now.

Bucket · November 23, 2014, 02:44:29 PM

And now it appears they are correcting it...

middhoops · November 23, 2014, 02:49:22 PM

Dylan Sinnickson has a double double in the 1st half with 19 and 11. Sinnickson is SO fast to the ball that Clark has found no way to deal with him.
The senior had 20 points in 20 minutes in Saturday's game against Medgar Evers.

middhoops · November 23, 2014, 03:46:58 PM

Midd beats Clark but it was a game of two very different halves. The Panthers were not clicking as a team in the first half but Sinnickson's 19 and 11 kept Midd up, comfortably.
In the 2nd half, nothing was going in for Middlebury. With a minute to go, Clark actually hot a one point lead before clutch play by Sinnickson, Brown, Merryman and Daly sparked a poignant 6-0 finish.
Thus far, it's fair to say Midd is a Saturday team. Sunday, not so much.
Their next game is, of course, next Sunday.

Bucket · November 23, 2014, 03:55:09 PM

Quote from: middhoops on November 23, 2014, 03:46:58 PM
Midd beats Clark but it was a game of two very different halves. The Panthers were not clicking as a team in the first half but Sinnickson's 19 and 11 kept Midd up, comfortably.
In the 2nd half, nothing was going in for Middlebury. With a minute to go, Clark actually hot a one point lead before clutch play by Sinnickson, Brown, Merryman and Daly sparked a poignant 6-0 finish.
Thus far, it's fair to say Midd is a Saturday team. Sunday, not so much.
Their next game is, of course, next Sunday.

26 and 16 for Sinnickson. Merryman 16 and 8. Both Tarantino and Jack Daly on the floor in crunch time. The youngsters getting quality floor minutes early in the season. Another solid game for the under-sized Huff, forced to cover much bigger players with Daley and Nidenberg in street clothes. Jake Brown w/ 6 assists and the go-ahead jumper w/:30 to play.

One can say we're not a Sunday team, but I'd argue that the experience winning the two nail biters are more beneficial to success down the road than the Saturday routs. 4-0. I'll take it.

AmherstStudent05 · November 23, 2014, 04:35:55 PM

Very good observation about Huff, Bucket. He has held up very nicely on D these past few games (though he did get burned in a critical spot late in today's game overplaying Mercier). I would have thought that Coach Brown was putting him in a rather unfair position asking Connor to effectively man the 5 position for long stretches of play given how much size he is giving up (and the fact that this is not his natural position), but shows what I know. I don't know how he is pulling it off, but kudos to him. (I have long believed that Connor is the most fundamentally sound player in the Conference!)

Not sure if he can fill this role for an entire season -- or if he will even need to -- but so far so good.

middhoops · November 23, 2014, 04:41:01 PM

Connor Huff has adapted quickly and well to being an undersized post player.
Being able to play Tarantino with a lead today was important. The freshman needs more playing time to overcome his jitters. Huff is a steady presence as the youngster develops.
Dylan Sinnickson's rebound numbers so far this year may be indicative of things to come. He is skying for boards, at an elevation where no one else competes, especially at the offensive end.

grabtherim · November 23, 2014, 08:53:34 PM

Nice start to the season for Midd. Good mix of old and emerging players. The Panthers will have to be better with protecting the ball against better teams and with late game shot selection especially when they have a lead. Several trips late in the 2nd half with the lead already shrinking ended with 3 balls early in the shot clock. That cannot happen against strong comp. The Panthers are a work in progress with depth. Like what I see so far.