MBB: NESCAC

[jumpshot]

After playing an excellent first half and gaining a 20-point lead, the EPHs lose focus and intensity in defeating a game, hot-shooting Colby team by only 6.

[nescac1]

In one of the lower-profile games, the Ephs pick up their first conference win vs. Colby.  Williams had a 20 point lead and kind of fell asleep, and Colby came back to cut it to single digits very late in the game.  Credit to Colby -- despite being young, small, and not terribly athletic, they play hard, send waves of guys at you in a match-up pressing zone, hit threes, and don't quit.  Schlager and Stewart were both absolutely on fire in the second half, hitting some deep 3's.  Realistically, though, they are two years away from being a factor.  Still, the future is brighter than the present for the Mules, and it's not inconceivable that they could pull an upset in league play. 

After playing great in the first half, Williams was not good in the second half.  They were saved by Mike Greenman's best game of the season -- 13 points and 3 assists, 3-5 from deep, in only 17 minutes.  Matt Karpowicz was also ENORMOUS, with 16 points in 8 minutes, 7-7 from the field, 2-2 from the line, he is just a relentless finisher once he gets the ball close to the rim, hard to contain down there.  In his last two games, Karpowicz in only 16 minutes of play has 26 points on 11-13 from the field and 4-4 from the line.  I'd say he has earned a bit more PT! 

Kyle Scadlock contributed with 4 blocks and a steal on defense, including a few highlight reel swats. 

The Ephs aren't where they want to be yet.  They will play a great half and then a poor half.  The same issues -- missing too many easy 3's, giving up transition baskets, and very casual passing leading to turnovers --- continue to plague them.  They also need more of a killer instinct when they get a big lead.  They will have to play better tomorrow to beat Bowdoin.  Still, any road win in NESCAC is nothing to sneeze at this year!

[jumpshot]

The plague is eradicated by Wesleyan by 14 points with a point guard taking one-third of all shots, almost twice as many as the next two teammates, while shooting 30% from the floor. Meanwhile, Tufts makes the plays at both ends in the final minutes to down Mid by 6 at Tufts.

[Bucket]

Middlebury held a 1-point lead with a minute to play against Tufts, but then the Panthers didn't score again and Tufts scored on every possession to close out the game at home, 91-85.

The key sequence involved Tom Palleschi, who had been quiet most of the night. Trailing by 1, the big fella hit a turnaround jumper over Eric McCord to give the Jumbos the lead; then, on the other end of the floor, he blocked a Jack Daly look from point-blank range, with the Jumbos getting the rebound. Tufts then made 5-6 free throws, while Midd turned it over and missed a couple of threes.

It was a game of runs—the clock just happened to expire while the Jumbos were on an upswing. There were 11 ties and 12 lead changes, and I'd guess that most of those were in the second half. Tufts led by 11 at the break, but Midd stormed back in the second, claiming the lead. And from there it was back and forth until the end.

Matt St. Amour posted a game-leading 23, but foul trouble limited his effectiveness and floor time during the game's final 10 minutes. I'd have to check, but I think he had 21 with about 10:00 to play. Eric McCord posts the best game of his young career—coming off the bench to score 22, while grabbing 8 boards. All against one of the better big men in the league.11 pts and 7 assists for Jake Brown; Jack Daly with 10 boards.

Tufts again with their insane balanced scoring: 11-10-16-12-15 for the starters; Everett Dayton the leader. Vincent Pace really rounding into form; it seems like only minutes are keeping him from breaking out. He had 15, most of which came in the first half.

Hard fought game played by two of the league's best, the performance definitely living up to its billing.

[JEFFFAN]

"Don't worry about Amherst, they have too much talent ..." - "Don't worry about -Amherst, they have Hixon" ... blah, blah, blah.  What a bunch of you know what.  Their PG is 20 for 54 from the field during their three losses with - ready for this - a grand total of 7 assists and 9 turnovers. They basically don't have a point guard. Which means that the good threes in McCarthy, Racy, and Ripol, never see the ball. Hickson structures his teams for the good three point shooters to get open threes after dishes from the PG.   See Toomey, see Olsen. This team will slowly fade away unless Hixon finds a way to get his PG to see and use the court. Assuming that is what he is trying to coach.

What a serious disappointment they are to date.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

"Don't worry about Amherst, they have too much talent ..." - "Don't worry about -Amherst, they have Hixon" ... blah, blah, blah.  What a bunch of you know what.  Their PG is 20 for 54 from the field during their three losses with - ready for this - a grand total of 7 assists and 9 turnovers. They basically don't have a point guard. Which means that the good threes in McCarthy, Racy, and Ripol, never see the ball. Hickson structures his teams for the good three point shooters to get open threes after dishes from the PG.   See Toomey, see Olsen. This team will slowly fade away unless Hixon finds a way to get his PG to see and use the court. Assuming that is what he is trying to coach.

What a serious disappointment they are to date.

We should step back for a second and just appreciate the juggernaut that is Amherst when a fan can make that (probably true) last statement.  Pretty impressive.

I don't know that I see it as a huge issue.  I mean, it's identified.  No one is clueless as to what happens when they lose.  It's not as though they haven't had some really great PG performances, too.  The question will be how consistently they can share the ball down the stretch.

I know Amherst is used to having no problems at all, but as problems go, this isn't a terrible one to have in mid-January.

[PolarBear16]

"Don't worry about Amherst, they have too much talent ..." - "Don't worry about -Amherst, they have Hixon" ... blah, blah, blah.  What a bunch of you know what.  Their PG is 20 for 54 from the field during their three losses with - ready for this - a grand total of 7 assists and 9 turnovers. They basically don't have a point guard. Which means that the good threes in McCarthy, Racy, and Ripol, never see the ball. Hickson structures his teams for the good three point shooters to get open threes after dishes from the PG.   See Toomey, see Olsen. This team will slowly fade away unless Hixon finds a way to get his PG to see and use the court. Assuming that is what he is trying to coach.

What a serious disappointment they are to date.

I did not watch the Amherst game. I haven't seen them play since the Babson game really. Yet, to put all of their struggles on the shoulders of one player (Jayde Dawson, we can say his name since it's obvious that is who we are talking about) seems wrong. Johnny McCarthy and Michael Riopel had identical 2-11 shooting lines. Kevin O'Brien soundly outplayed both of them and looks to be appearing from a long slump. Joseph Kuo matched the entire scoring output of the Amherst frontcourt by himself. Did Jayde Dawson single-handedly torpedo the Amherst defense in the 2nd half so that they gave up 50 points? Blame can be easily assigned to lots of Amherst players. 

[nescac1]

Conn with a huge comeback to take the lead late only to be thwarted by a McCarthy special -- the umpteenth clutch game-tying three of his career.  Headed to OT in CT. 

[JEFFFAN]

Conn with a huge comeback to take the lead late only to be thwarted by a McCarthy special -- the umpteenth clutch game-tying three of his career.  Headed to OT in CT.

Not anymore.  The better team - Conn College - was victorious in overtime.   Jeffs really chasing their tails right now.   Neither George nor Dawson played the last five minutes or in overtime, the latter after trying a quick three and then incurring a charging foul on two separate trips down court.   Defensively they were not very good in overtime without George as CC really took it to them inside.  Kudos to CC to take it to an Amherst team that is shaken right now.

Am I officially allowed to say that my Jeffs are struggling mightily now?

[jumpshot]

Well, as indicated previously as a real possibility, the plague suffers a devastating upset, losing to Conn by 7 in overtime. Excellent guard play and rebounding by Conn results in high percentage shots and few turnovers at the end. The plague appeared listless and disjointed once again .... Perhaps simply worn out with the whole star/transfer/pressure expectations culture .... did not appear to have same level of passion or joy as in some prior years.

Still a long way to go ...and much can still happen.

[Bucket]

Nice bounce back game for Middlebury, never trailing at Bates and earning the 79-71 victory.

The Panthers led by double digits for most of the second half and did their damage on the boards. Middlebury outrebounded the bigger Bobcats, 45-31, including an eye-popping 16 offensive rebounds (to Bates's 5), leading to 21 second-chance points.

Jake Brown with a game-high 24 and 6 assists. Nick Tarantino with a very impressive double-double: 11 points, 13 boards. St. Amour a "quiet" 14. McCord, fresh off his career night at Tufts, with 11 and 6 off the bench.

For Bates, Malcolm Delpeche as advertised: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks. A little surprised that Bates didn't try and get more touches for Malcolm and his brother Marcus (9 and 7).

[NEhoops]

Impressive second day win for MID on the road. Their guard trio is top notch and if their bigs can defend/rebound like they did today, they'll continue to be a tough out.

The game came down to rebounding/second chance points. Bucket, to your point, I think the Bobcats wanted to get it inside, but credit has to go to the Panthers game plan.

Tufts is in control of the league and MID gets an important tie breaker as they take sole possession of second place.

[lumbercat]

Bucket-

Very accurate account of today's game at Alumni. The final score is deceiving, Midd in control all the way.

Middlebury very impressive on D. Bates did try to get the ball to the Delpeches but Middlebury denied it. They doubled and collapsed and took the twins out of the game. A great defensive effort by the Snow Panthers and their offense speaks for itself.

Panthers are the favorite in the NESCAC at this point without question. Bates will continue to grind and they will learn from the game today.

I'll say no more.

[jumpshot]

It is clear to those of us who played college basketball (and beyond) that there has been a steady erosion of fundamental "small skills" and attention to detail in today's intercollegiate competitors, perhaps most evident in NESCAC and throughout Division III. Specifically, as you watch this season's games of ll the teams, notice the common failures in the following: on offense:passing and catching resulting in unforced turnovers, void in mid-range game, inconsistent finishing at the rim, average foul shooting, absence of post play footwork, etc. On defense: poor footwork, stance, and weight distribution; lack of straight-up hand in shooter's face, failure to box out, mild rebounding, leaving one's feet on simple "up fakes", etc.

So what's left except --- whoever makes the most three-point shots stands a good chance of winning.

If you watch a lot of Division 1 play, players do not get a lot of playing time without possessing these "small skills".

While NESCAC has many merits for student/athletes ---some fans will choose to allocate more time to seeing well-drilled, cohesive Division I teams for simply for quality of play. 

Talk among yourselves ....

[JEFFFAN]

It is clear to those of us who played college basketball (and beyond) that there has been a steady erosion of fundamental "small skills" and attention to detail in today's intercollegiate competitors, perhaps most evident in NESCAC and throughout Division III. Specifically, as you watch this season's games of ll the teams, notice the common failures in the following: on offense:passing and catching resulting in unforced turnovers, void in mid-range game, inconsistent finishing at the rim, average foul shooting, absence of post play footwork, etc. On defense: poor footwork, stance, and weight distribution; lack of straight-up hand in shooter's face, failure to box out, mild rebounding, leaving one's feet on simple "up fakes", etc.

So what's left except --- whoever makes the most three-point shots stands a good chance of winning.

If you watch a lot of Division 1 play, players do not get a lot of playing time without possessing these "small skills".

While NESCAC has many merits for student/athletes ---some fans will choose to allocate more time to seeing well-drilled, cohesive Division I teams for simply for quality of play. 

Talk among yourselves ....

Really good point.   I remember a friend telling me 25 years ago that D3 basketball was "good players shooting threes" and he is so correct.   What surprises me is the lack of movement on the part of all five players on offense.   It is so often the guard driving and then dishing to 2-3 guys standing outside the three point line or the traditional dump it inside for the five footer.   I went to a very good Ivy League game last night - I understand, not the highest level of D1 hoops - and the ball movement by Yale was outstanding.    All five players moving to get open.   I have not witnessed very much of that at even the highest of D3 teams.