MBB: NESCAC

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin defeats UMPI 78-57.

Nice game by Bowdoin.  They came out strong in the 2nd half and built on their first half lead.  UMPI hung in there but couldn't sustain a run.  A few too many turnovers for the P'bears mid-way through the second stanze but overall a nice win.

One concern is that Keegan Pieri didn't play in the second half.  Not sure what happened but hope it's nothing serious.

[MENESCACFAN]

Saw second half of Bowdoin game.  Very sting looking team.  Sets up a pretty epic rivalry game with Colby on Saturday.   Smaller driving distance and interest in how good Tufts are mean I will be in Lewiston rooting for Bates.

Predictions for Bowdoin v Colby from anyone who has seen both in action?

[lemonjello]

86-76 Jeffs in OT in LeFrak, it was all Connor Green in the extra period.  I don't have time for more detailed thoughts at the moment, but I'm sure some other viewers will chime in.

[Vandy74]

5 days of radio silence from Amh63 during basketball season?  Hope he's OK.

Agreed.

[AmherstStudent05]

Huge win for Amherst!

First, I want to give a shout out to the Amherst NYC alumni group for hosting a little viewing party at a bar in midtown.  Got to watch the game with TheHerst2and4 and other members of Lord Jeff nation.

Obviously, any win over Williams is sweet.  This one was particularly gratifying because it (a) nipped Williams's mini run against us in the bud, (b) preserved our 7-game winning streak over Williams in LeFrak, c) kept us alive for the Little Three title, and (d), and probably most importantly, kept alive any hopes of a Pool C bid we may have this year (it is still somewhat early, but hard to see how we could have been competitive with another loss to Williams).

As has been mentioned, Connor Green was absolutely the star of the evening, going for 30 and 11. And this was a classic Greeny performance.  Lots of shots, many of them head-scratchers, yet many of the head scratchers go in.  We have said it before and I will say it again, that kid is absolutely fearless.  Tonight, that fearlessness led us to victory.  George had another solid evening with 16 points and 5 blocks even though he did miss a few point blank shots.  Special shout out to Rio who came up huge for us in place of J-Mac who battled foul trouble all game.  Reid Berman shouldered the pg responsibilities and had a couple of huge buckets.  He also took three three pointers.  Not sure he has ever done that in a single game before.  If he can work on that aspect of his game over the offseason we might really have something.

Great that Amherst could pull it out despite missing a bunch of point blank shots, making some careless fouls, and having a few huge lapses on D (none more so than at the end of regulation when, up 3, we left Aronowitz WIDE open for the game-tying shot.

Hate to say it, but have to give full credit to Williams as well.  In a midweek game at LeFrak they very nearly got the W without their second best player.  And boy did they miss HRL.  Once again, we had no answers for Wohl (whose only kryptonite appears to be free throw shots in OT).  He is just such a difficult cover as he can drive, post up, and shoot the 3.  He is a Mr. Everything. Reminds me a fair amount of Willy Workman (though I would still take Willy).  Anyway, still early yet but he has to be the frontrunner for PoY.  Aronowitz also had a huge game for Williams.  The key stat in my mind though was the fact that Williams got just 4 points from their bench (compared with 28 for Amherst).  Again, missing HRL obviously hurts.  Wonder if we will get the chance to play Williams with Rooke-Ley later this season.  I sure hope so.  It will be a challenge, but I think Hix & crew are more than up for it.

[pinseeking1]

Saw second half of Bowdoin game.  Very sting looking team.  Sets up a pretty epic rivalry game with Colby on Saturday.   Smaller driving distance and interest in how good Tufts are mean I will be in Lewiston rooting for Bates.

Predictions for Bowdoin v Colby from anyone who has seen both in action?

I think I'd have to give Colby the edge. They've got a good combination of inside and outside game right now. Bowdoin, on the other hand, has seemed to me to be a little more inconsistent, though they have a lot of talent.

Bates and Tufts should be a great game. Tufts is looking very strong now, but will probably find a hostile environment in that small Bates gym...

[Old Guy]

Bates won the non-conference games against Bowdoin and Colby - they will be hard-pressed to do it again. Three good teams - I think I'd probably favor the team who's playing at home. Should be great battles. Could be won up from in some interesting big men tussles: Swords-Hudnut-Delpeches. If Safford is playing hurt, as was reported here, that could be a decisive factor - the ball is in his hands most of the time. Hudnut is in the running for POY at this stage, along with Wohl, Sinnickson, and Green. Too early for this discussion.

I'm impressed that Williams played Amherst even in LeFrak without Rooke-Ley. He may indeed be their "second best player," but he's not very far behind, and his replacement played 31 minutes and contributed but five points, three rebounds, one assist. Numbers aren't everything and Teal may be a great defender (McCarthy and Dawson certainly were subpar). NESCAC1, or someone else, scouting report on Teal? It's hard not to see a significant drop-off from RL to Teal on a team not blessed with great depth.

Green and George are a terrific one-two punch. Is this the game where Berman captured the pg position, with nine assists (and five rebounds) and only two turnovers in 36 minutes? Good crowd in Lefrak for this classic? Winterim at Amherst can be a little sleepy, no?

[MENESCACFAN]

"If Safford is playing hurt, as was reported here, that could be a decisive factor - the ball is in his hands most of the time."

Couldn't agree more OG.  I will be watching him closely Saturday.  He is the best player I have seen at Bates for a while, and they will really struggle without him.  His replacement (Darling) v UMPI looked levels below.

[mutility]

Miye Oni, Viewpoint (Calabasas, Calif.): Division III Williams College in Massachusetts may have landed the steal of the 2015 class in One. The athletic 6-6 wing piled up 26 points and six rebounds in a 66-46 Viewpoint win over Mission Viejo.

[nescac1]

I missed the game, sounds like another Williams-Amherst classic, albeit a heart-breaker for the Ephs.  No moral victories in Amherst games, but if you look at the talent differential when Hayden isn't out there, I'm surprised the Ephs could stick with Amherst on the road.  And Williams definitely misses Hayden -- SO much of the burden on both ends is on Wohl right now, and while Aronowitz is developing into a really solid player, right now he's, ideally, more of a third-option on a really good team, rather than a second-option.   I would NOT have wanted to be the doctor who told Hayden he had to miss his, potentially, last Amherst game -- kid is a competitor, and I'm sure if he could have been, he would have been out there.   But probably in the scheme of things more important to get him totally healthy for the rest of the NESCAC games, and to help reduce the risk of re-injury.  Right now, the Ephs are just one scorer short; with Hayden, Aronowitz can pick and choose his spots to assert himself, and Greenman can be more of a distributor and open spot-up shooter, which is when he is at his best. 

Williams is also playing a very short rotation, with very limited bench minutes and production, without Hayden (even with him, the bench is a bit thin, although Galvin in particular contributes a lot more than his numbers suggest).  And obviously, at this stage in his career, Teal is a big downgrade -- just about any first-year would be.  Teal is improving gradually over the course of the season -- he can already defend and rebound very well for the position, and he certainly has the offensive tool set, but he doesn't yet look comfortable enough in terms of where and when to find his shot.  The threes are gradually starting to drop at a better rate, he kind of reminds me a bit of a less-productive version of St. Amour as a frosh, as a guy who makes some solid contributions, has the potential to be a very good shooter, but needs time to adjust to the dramatically increased size and speed of defenders from the high school to college level, which leads to some struggles at times getting the ball to drop into the hole.  My hope is that he can break-out as a sophomore, much like St. Amour has (which, by the way, is incredible coming off that injury).  I think eventually he will be at worst a very solid starter, and I'm hoping his bench contributions improve as a result of this starting stint.  And obviously, next year, ready or not, he will need to be a substantial contributor for the Ephs. 

I'm a bit surprised that Lewis Hayes hasn't received a chance to play even a few minutes as an energy guy -- his athleticism, at least compared to the rest of the roster, jumped off the screen vs. Bowdoin, and I think the team could benefit from another banger inside, I'd rather see him generally playing the 4 when Wohl sits than the incredibly small lineup the Ephs have been using.   

Speaking of next year, good to hear about Oni.  The Ephs are going to have a badly-needed BIG crop of frosh next year, and they will be needed to play right away.  The guard rotation should be in pretty good shape, with Greenman, Teal, Thoreson and Galvin all back, and much more experienced -- playing without Hayden should serve long-term dividends for that group, all of whom need to become bigger offensive contributors next season.  Aronowitz will be an excellent 3-man next season and could be a borderline all-NESCAC type.  The Ephs will cobble together a decent enough center-by-committee rotation with Flynn, Sime and Hayes all back and all with some actual playing experience.  But other than Aronowitz, the Ephs have no one on the current roster who can give them anything remotely resembling Wohl's massive contributions at forward (obviously, Duncan Robinson's departure left an incaculable hole at forward for this year and the next two), and for the first time in many, many years, no clear-cut all-American candidates.  As a result, they will need at least two frosh to play, and hopefully play  effectively, immediately at the 3/4 slots, perhaps even three.  And at least one, possibly two, incoming frosh will need to develop into big-time stars over time.  Hopefully Oni can be one of them, and certainly, there will be other candidates as other names come to light ... it will be a massive transition year for Williams, no matter what, so I really hope that a healthy Eph team can start making a big run now and make a good showing in this year's NESCAC tourney.  Not just the players, but also Coach App, will have a few years to grow together to rebuild Williams into a national powerhouse, but realistically, the earliest that could possibly occur is the 2016-17 season.   

[Bucket]

"If Safford is playing hurt, as was reported here, that could be a decisive factor - the ball is in his hands most of the time."

Couldn't agree more OG.  I will be watching him closely Saturday.  He is the best player I have seen at Bates for a while, and they will really struggle without him.  His replacement (Darling) v UMPI looked levels below.

Maybe the best guard Bates has had in a while, but as fine a player as Graham Safford is, he pales in comparison to Brian Ellis.

[nescac1]

Yeah, second Bucket.  Ellis could flat-out ball.  The best guard I've seen at Bates was Zak Ray, although he hasn't been around for awhile. 

[MENESCACFAN]

I remember Ellis well, certainly a huge physical presence.  Not sure "pales in comparison" is accurate though and seems an overstatement.  If he was better, it is certainly not drastic.

[MENESCACFAN]

nescac1 never did see Zak Ray play, what year was he?

[booyakasha]

Ellis stats during his sr year campaign, enought to earn him 2nd team all nescac:

http://athletics.bates.edu/sports/mbkb/2010-11/teams/bates?view=lineup

Safford's sr year thus far:

http://nescac.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/teams/bates?sort=ptspg&tmpl=teaminfo-network-monospace-template

Make of it what you will, but "pales in comparison" doesn't come to my mind when I look at the numbers. Also need to take any Bucket comment on Safford or Bates with a grain of salt because he clearly has some sort of axe to grind.

For what it is worth, this is coming from someone who hates Bates with the fire of 1000 suns (I also have a general distaste for Bowdoin too). I was going to jump back into the convo that was kicking around after the Bates/Midd game, thought better of it, but Bucket just can't seem to let it go.

I particularly didn't understand the complaints about the jawing/trash talking. Part of the game at this level, and if you don't appreciate the passion with which Safford plays the game then you are missing out. I've noticed one of the better Midd players get heated/chippy during intense games a few times. I won't call him out by name, but the actions weren't drastically different than Safford's, just maybe a little more subtle. Don't get me wrong either, I absolutely love it, and loved dishing it out and playing against it. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Finally, the prior complaints about Bates not willing to reschedule from the Midd contingent are beyond ridiculuous.