MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Looking at the box score, a few follow-ups on my earlier post.

I see why they were guarding Berman at the 3 point line -- he hit two threes (albeit only his 4th and 5th treys of the season).  If he can hit the outside shot, he becomes a very, very difficult cover.  I also see why Dawson was out of the game -- 3-18 from the field, no assists, no foul shot attempts, in 18 minutes.  18 shots and no assists in 18 minutes is not exactly the line you want from your starting point guard, unless his name rhymes with Blurry.  It's a tough dilemma for Hixon -- Dawson is clearly the more talented overall player and has the ability to take over games at times.  He's also generally more of a threat from deep so helps with spacing.  But Berman makes MUCH better decisions and is far better at getting other guys involved.  And when those other guys include Racy, Green, and George, all of whom need plenty of touches in good scoring position to really get into a rhythm, I'd personally give up Dawson's scoring ability for Berman's pass-first mentality and let Dawson come in and go wild vs. second units. 

[Bucket]

The Colby win was won on the foul line.  Colby's big center was the key in the first half and contributed in the second half.  Racy did not seem to want to take the three in the late minutes of the game.  Give the credit to Colby's defense here. 
JMac has not played well for awhile...no lift even in his drive in the game today.  Green sat down in the first half and in the second half.  He did hustle and rebounded hard. 
Yes the whistles impacted the game and the smaller referee mentioned earlier seemed to drive Hixon crazy....and others on the bench. 
It was a physical game...both sides participated.  I felt that the random whistles when three or more players battled for the ball caused Amherst players to be less aggressive.
Yes the call on Green as he fell on the floor and made a three is just one of those calls that begged for replay video . Yes, I am a dreamer.  It will not do any good if the CAC and D3 doesn't improve the quality of the people in the zebra stripped shirts.  Take that back in part. I heard that a zebra stripe is unique...each one is different.  Guess, I'm digressing a bit . 
Amherst has tough games ahead....need to get the top seed position so that the Tourny is in LeFrak.
For the Tourny....does anyone know how the refs for the games are selected?  Out of the region?...maybe.

NESCAC tourney games are reffed by the same regional refs that officiated the regular season; it's not until the NCAA games that you'll see crews with a lot of DI experience.

[nescacobserver]

Totally agree with you Nescac.  Dawson can be spectacular at times but can also be detrimental.  In games like today when your point guard is taking 18 shots, all the other players just tend to stand around and watch.  There's no flow to the offense.  Berman at least gets everyone involved and moving.  Just don't see Hixon starting Berman, though.  He's going to ride with Dawson for the rest of the season.

[toad22]

The only serious weakness I have seen in Amherst's play this year is a lack of cohesion, particularly on offense. The pg play seems mostly responsible. The talent level is very high, but the team still does not play particularly well together. This is a carryover from last year. If they can get that figured out, they are a top 10 team. If not, good, but not great.

Excited about the Williams-Middlebury game tomorrow. Midd is playing great right now, so the Ephs need to put together a complete game. They are improving with every week, so I expect an exciting game.

[JEFFFAN]

Kudos to Colby for a well deserved win. They did exactly what you need to do against Amherst - cover the perimeter and make Amherst do what it does very poorly - take it inside. Amherst basically plays like Villanova - four guards and one big man - as their only real forward is Conklin. George has no inside game so if the defense can stop the three game the Jeff's are in trouble.   Colby did that extremely well today.

This team is overrated because they don't have a good, true point guard. They have a number of shooting guards and quasi-small forwards but neither Berman nor Dawson plays well enough getting the ball to others. Why, for instance, is Dawson taking 18 shots as the one guard?  Silly. And when the long ball doesn't go, the "emperor has no clothes" with no inside offense.

And I take back what I said about Green. He plays harder than anyone out there. He tried going inside today but Colby's big men did a great job on him. But he is gritty and a mucker. 

[AmherstStudent05]

I actually think Dawson has been one of our best players the past few weeks.  And I can't fully blame him for what happened today.  Nobody really played well for us all game -- it is a wonder we even had a chance to win at the end.  So Dawson forced some things and they weren't falling.  It's no big mystery or anything when that happens -- you just take him out and put Berman in instead.  Exactly as Hixon did.

For better or for worse we are a team that lives by the three and dies by the three.  When you go 9-34 from 3 -- not to mention 9-17 from the charity stripe -- you are going to struggle.  To me the bigger issue has been the play of George and McCarthy.  Heading into the season I -- and I think others -- expected both of those guys to contend for All NESCAC spots.  For whatever reasons it hasn't happened.  However, they are both plenty talented and there is still a lot of season left to go.

[jayhawk]

Interesting comments about Amherst. I think Nescac1 made a prescient remark about Riopel. Riopel was extremely young when he came to Amherst and played point guard in high school. Last year Riopel had a serious episode early in the year when an opposing player undercut him and he flipped and fell hard. Last year was working on confidence. Riopel is a very talented dribbler and he can penetrate off the dribble - high percentage shots in close would be welcome . Riopel is extremely athletic and can hit the 3 and in general seems to be playing with confidence and improving each game. Seems like a really good kid. Hope he continues to grow. His potential and reliability seems to be growing

[nescacobserver]

Amherst really needs David George to start playing better.  When he came into this league I thought he would end up being a dominant player.  He has the kind of size and athleticism you don't see in the Nescac too often.  It's not that the Amherst perimeter players don't get him the ball on the post.  They look for him down low, but he just needs to learn a few power moves where can just take it strong to the rim.  He tends to shy away from taking it right into the chest of his defender. But he is only a Junior and still has room for  improvement.  Amherst needs him to play well against the other bigs in the league such as Hudnut, Palleschi, Kuo, Delpeches, etc.

[jayhawk]

David George is getting bigger sometimes seems to hold ball before making move he will learn to catch and quickly make a pivot or go right up
I seen he seen him make nice moves in games

[nescac1]

Very competitive and generally well-played game in Middlebury, Williams up by five at the half.  Williams has shot the ball beautifully from deep, and Aronowitz and Scadlock both had big halves for the Ephs.  Middlebury has killed Williams in transition and off the boards, it seems like more than half of Midd's points have been off shots before the defense has been set or second-chance points.  Midd has to be happy to be in the game given how hot Williams has been from deep.

Ephs big guys in serious foul trouble so they've played all four centers. Unfortunately those four centers have combined for only one rebounds.  They have to match Midd's aggression on the interior and snatch some of those contested boards.  Jake Porath answered the bell in his first meaningful action of the year with a three pointer and a block.  Frustrating end of the half for Williams as Midd got essentially two free points with .8 seconds left off a foul called on the inbounds pass play.   

Lots of frosh from both teams have been very impressive, in particular, Scadlock and Baines.  Bright future for both these teams. 

[jumpshot]

Anyone else notice how Midd puts a player who raises and waves his arms and hands next to the opponent's foul shooter just prior to his releasing the ball? Also nice try by Midd to put another player on the foul line instead of a poorer foul shooter....Come on, guys.

[Bucket]

Anyone else notice how Midd puts a player who raises and waves his arms and hands next to the opponent's foul shooter just prior to his releasing the ball? Also nice try by Midd to put another player on the foul line instead of a poorer foul shooter....Come on, guys.

That's not what happened. There was a discrepancy with the officials who had been fouled--one official said St. Amour, the cutter. Then second official said it was the ball handler, Daley. They then discussed and said it should be Daley.

[nescac1]

Big win for Midd, tough loss for Williams.  The key state for the game was 18 turnovers by Williams vs. 8 for Midd.  Midd's aggressive guard play forced a lot of those turnovers, but Williams also had several unforced errors, especially late in the game with critical lazy passes on back-to-back possession.  All throughout the second half the Ephs could not get into any sort of rhythm due to all the turnovers. 

For Williams, the forwards were outstanding: Aronowitz, Scadlock, and Heskett combined to have a great game.  Cole Teal continues his hot outside shooting and was big in the second half for the Ephs.  The Eph point guards each had their worst individual game of the season, combining to go 0-10 with 6 turnovers.  They are young and were up against the best perimeter-defending backcourt in the league, but still, rough rough day -- chalk this one up as a learning experience.  Williams was also hurt by Ed Flynn picking up four very, very quick fouls, and Matt Daley exploited the backups inside by basically planting himself in the lane where no one had a prayer to move him out. 

Matt St. Amour was on fire from deep for Midd in the second half, otherwise, again, it was a lot of points off turnovers and second-chance points.  Jack Daly also had a big game for Midd penetrating and creating a lot for his teammates. 

[jumpshot]

Panthers earn a good win by outworking the Ephs who commit 18 turnovers, including many unforced. St. Amour hits several big threes in the closing minutes. Continue to find the ball handling skills so weak in a program that has featured mostly excellent passing teams for three decades usually running fast paced offensive schemes.

[middhoops]

Midd requires a lot of players to get it done.
But, they get it done.
Great home win against a youthful Ephs squad with some scary talent.