MBB: NESCAC

[nescac1]

Amherst now up by 21.  Williams cannot buy a shot from anywhere -- 3's, free throws, layups, nothing is going tonight for the Ephs, just one of those nights, and the Ephs can't guard Amherst at all -- if Green and Racy were on it would be much, much worse as they've missed plenty of wide-open looks they will usually nail.   

[nescac1]

Amherst pulls away, 71-50, it was a 20 point lead throughout the half.  Pretty ugly shooting performance all around except by Jayde Dawson and Johnny McCarthy, who were both on fire: combining for 6-10 from three, many of them from very deep.  The rest of Amherst: 3-19 from deep.  All of Williams: a hideous 4-24. 

The Ephs simply could not buy a shot in the second half: missing two front-end of one-and-ones, bricking shots left and right, playing brutally.  A combination of very good perimeter defense and absolutely atrocious shooting for Williams on the occasions when they did get open looks.  Aronowitz, Casey and Teal, the Ephs' three best shooters, were all way off -- missing many shots they certainly are capable of hitting, even if some of them were difficult attempts.  Meanwhile Amherst was able to generate wide open looks all day, and honestly, the score differential could have been much worse but for a cold day from Amherst as well.  Ugly, ugly performance by the Ephs, who have a week and a half to figure out what has gone so egregiously wrong in their last three halves of basketball and to try to salvage a few conference wins in the huge match-ups coming up.


I am more optimistic than Jumpshot: I really do believe this team is going to be good next year.  Right now, just too much reliance on too many inexperienced players who need to grow physically and build cohesion as a team.  I've seen Eph teams like this before, and it reminds me of other teams that were underclassmen dominated and a year away.  But clearly, the Ephs aren't playing well enough to beat the better teams on the schedule, not close, right now. 

[JEFFFAN]

Two observations from Purple Reign vs Ephs tonite:

(1)  those must have been some hellacious practices over the past few days, because it was the best defensive effort I have seen the Jeffs give this year;

(2)  Hixon dramatically shortened the bench tonight.   A little statistical analysis required, but it was clear that the starters were in for a whole lot more of the game than in the past.   Not sure of Hixon's history of when/if he shortens the bench, but tonite it was evident.

Pretty ferocious dunk by the Amherst frosh at the end ...

[AmherstStudent05]

Amherst takes care of business in Williamstown with a very convincing 71-50 win over the Ephs.

After the Colby loss I said I wanted to see more out of George and McCarthy, and boy did they both deliver in a big way tonight.  They scored our first 9 points of the game and both brought tremendous energy on both ends of the court.  Needless to say, we are a different team when those two are rolling.

All that being said, our MVP tonight had to be Jayde.  After an ugly game against Colby, Jayde returned to the fine form he has displayed for most of 2016.  He hit several huge threes en route to his game-high 17 points and while the stat sheet has him down for only 2 assists, he definitely did a much better job tonight keeping to offense humming.

One other thought.  For the most part it seemed like tonight's officials took a "let em play" attitude.  Amherst hasn't seen much of that these past few weeks but it really suits our aggressive style of play. 

Also, congrats to the Jeffs (or whatever) on securing at least a share of the Little III crown.  Now do I have to root for Williams when they play Wesleyan later in the year? Tough call.

Anyway, great win for Amherst.  Hopefully we can keep that level of play up against a tough Bantam squad.   

[amh63]

Well, it is good to see a solid win without getting strong offense shooting from Racy and Green.  Racy guarding Williams top scorers, giving JMac some rest and saving energy.  Green getting it done on defense and rebounding well.
Sad to hear the announcers....generally very good...complain about Amherst FY center block a shot.  Said something about letting a Williams senior score or something. There was a foul called on Amherst just before.
Heck, Big Joe Schneider just got into the game and wanted to show he could play against Williams' young guns.  Amherst just put in 3 other freshmen for a minute and another bench warmer that made a 3 pointer?  Big Joe did slam down a dunk from a good pass and got fouled by someone.  He was called for a T.....either for hanging on the rim or staring down the fouler afterwards.  Coach Hixon took him out after he made his foul shot.   Boy, there will be some battles in the years ahead between the Amherst and Williams young front court players.

[polbear73]

Two observations from Purple Reign vs Ephs tonite:

(1)  those must have been some hellacious practices over the past few days, because it was the best defensive effort I have seen the Jeffs give this year;

(2)  Hixon dramatically shortened the bench tonight.   A little statistical analysis required, but it was clear that the starters were in for a whole lot more of the game than in the past.   Not sure of Hixon's history of when/if he shortens the bench, but tonite it was evident.

Pretty ferocious dunk by the Amherst frosh at the end ...

Thought it was Purple Frost, JEFFAN. 

[John Gleich]

Just a question, if the Lord Jeff was never an official mascot, how can the school actually get rid of it?  Couldn't someone just buy the costume and show up at every game?

I asked a similar question a while ago:

Big news ----the amherst board will consider retention or dismissal of the lord jeff mascot at their meeting in Washington, D.C. on January 21, 2016. The moose could be on the loose ....

Please pardon my ignorance... but isn't the Lord Jeff mascot an unofficial mascot? I didn't think that it was official... and as such, how does one get rid of an unofficial mascot? Make it official first?

The one response that I got was that it was an internal Amherst discussion.

But I've definitely heard more about it from those apart from Amherst.


It was even mentioned at the beginning (first 3 mins) of the Slate Gist podcast - link -

Williams and Tufts get a mention as well.

[nescac1]

This tweet mentions an Amherst recruit, Jack Deutsch, who I don't think has been previously mentioned here:

https://twitter.com/RisingStars_Inc/status/683050406469963776

[madzillagd]

Not to be overlooked is this little fun fact.  At the 10:13 mark last night, with Williams playing their rival Amherst at home, with the score 24-11 at the time, Taysean Scott checked into the game playing until the 7:43 mark.  Doesn't sound significant until you realize Mr. Scott has been on the Williams roster for 43 games prior to last night - he has racked up 42 DNPs in those 43 games with his only time on the court being 5 mins played a few weeks ago in the Johnson St blowout.  Folks may have noticed the whole bench cheering him on.  Must have been a fun moment for him. 

[amh63]

Boy oh boy...lots of questions/ comments wrt to the play of CAC teams recently...and to the unofficial mascot that seemed to gone viral in the press.
First, a comment from my class secretary who lives in Vancover, Canada about Amherst.....It is too bad that Amherst is so well known that it gets so much press on negative internal issues.
To those posters that raised the question of how does one remove an unofficial mascot...even one that is a hundred years old.  Good question but Amherst did it at a pricey cost, IMO.  Now it would be ironic if the committee to decide a new mascot name and if it should be an official one comes up with one that has JEFF in it.
I saw somewhere that the Purple Frost may have originated from a pic of an evening winter scene that had a purple glow....Frost also referring to Robert Frost.
Second, on a recent telecast of yet another close Div1 battle an announcer quoted some past BB personality/ coach that.....the team you coached yesterday is not the team you coached in today's game and will not be the team you will coach in tommorow's game.  Paraphrasing here so no quotation marks.
In response to the posts of my fellow Amherst fans, I decided to compare the results of the two Amherst wins over Williams in the month of Jan.  The following I found interesting.
In the first game in LeFrak, Williams players Flynn scored 16 points in 25 min; Scadlock scored in double figures in 31 minutes; Casey had 13 points in 25 min on the floor, while both Aronowitz and Teal had over 30 minutes of play and only scored 6 and 8 points respectively.  Williams got 42 points in the paint area.
In the game at Williams last night, Flynn in 25 min. had 6 points; Scadlock in 31 min.had 5 points; Casey in 23 minutes had 5 points.  Amherst scored more points than Williams in the paint...26 to 24.
Though both Aronowitz and Teal had about the same time on the floor and both scored more points...Amherst won by more points and put in more players into the game....yes, for a short time but they got their first taste of a Williams game.
Several other observations I wish to share.  Both head coaches chatting by the scorer's table before the game.  The Amherst Bench standing for the most part in the second half...cheering/ clapping.  Three Amherst players had 9 rebounds apiece in the game...more than any individual Williams player..
Green was guarding Scadlock much of the time.  Tough assignment...but out scored him and out rebounded the taller younger player while almost shutting him down.
In summary...one could speculate where the emphasis was in practice...defense and on particular players.

[jayhawk]

Waiting for NESCAC1 to mention this Amherst recruit

from a summer camp at Columbia  note where Williams recruit Karpowicz played

Stephan Clapp (2016) 6'4" Delbarton HS (NJ) Selected to the camp's All-Star team, and definitely one of the top 5 players we saw at the first session. He has the 3-point range, hits buckets from just about anywhere on the court, and has  an accurate free-throw shot. A guy any college coach would be lucky to have as a part of his squad.

[AmherstStudent05]

Waiting for NESCAC1 to mention this Amherst recruit

from a summer camp at Columbia  note where Williams recruit Karpowicz played

Stephan Clapp (2016) 6'4" Delbarton HS (NJ) Selected to the camp's All-Star team, and definitely one of the top 5 players we saw at the first session. He has the 3-point range, hits buckets from just about anywhere on the court, and has  an accurate free-throw shot. A guy any college coach would be lucky to have as a part of his squad.

Thanks for this news, Jayhawk.  Delbarton has been particularly good to both Amherst Football and Basketball over the years.  Here's hoping that continues! 

[amh63]

Good to have a Jersey Player again
Guess the HC of TCNJ let this talented player from his alma mater..HS..get away to play for his Alma Mater...College.

[P'bearfan]

...It is too bad that Amherst is so well known that it gets so much press on negative internal issues.

Really?!  Seriously?!   This is what makes the rest of us collectively roll our eyes.  It reminds me of Old Guy's story about the Amherst alum who corrected him at a party by saying "by the way, the H is silent".  Jeeesh

[toad22]

The best suggestion seen at the game last night for a new Amherst nickname: "The Plague". I can see it now!