MBB: NESCAC

MiddWatcher · January 31, 2020, 09:22:03 PM

Trinity 82 - 76. Earned it. Padmore and others really defended Midd guards well. Tremendous effort by Eastman in defeat.

lumbercat · January 31, 2020, 10:29:44 PM

Quote from: Colby Hoops on January 31, 2020, 08:51:22 PM
Dominant second half for the Mules. Just torched Bates off the dribble and pushing the pace for layups. The threat of the three pointer opened up lanes and it was a layup parade in the second half.

Will King finished with 17/8/12, Jefferson poured in 26 on 13 shots, Matt Hanna added 20 on 11 shots and Noah Tyson had 17 and 8. Really impressive second half from Hanna in particular, getting to the bucket and extending the lead early in the half.

Huge game tomorrow at Tufts. Winner of that one in the driver's seat for the #1 seed.

Big win for Trinity over Midd, and Amherst with an impressive defensive performance without Robinson or Sellew.

Colbyhoops-

Cant disagree with anything you have stated. After a string of Bobcat domination in the last few years, a very profound tip of the Bates hat to the Mules.

If you go out to defend the 3 they backdoor and pick and roll you to death. Thats a very good basketball team. Good luck to the White Mules.

In the Bobcat re match with the Mules I think/hope you will see coach Furbush stick with his bigs longer than he did tonight. I'd rather lose to threes than guys driving uncontested down the lane.

GameBall14 · February 01, 2020, 02:27:35 PM

Attended the Midd-Trin game last night, first half was up and down with both teams having stretches of good play. Trin was definitely trying to defend to the three point line and did a very effective job throughout the game. (5-26) Padmore was a tough match up for the Panthers especially in the first half. Eastman led the Panthers in second half and really kept them in the game while Donovan hit some huge shots down the stretch as Seretta, playing with a facemask, came up with some big offensive rebounds and put backs to lead the Bants. Just love the contrast in coaching styles.

amh63 · February 01, 2020, 03:05:25 PM

Some comments wrt the Amherst vs Wesleyan in LeFrak...in the game that counts in the conference.
For the second consecutive game, Sellew and Robinson were not dressed to play but were on the bench supporting teammates.
G. Day started at point guard and torched the Cardinals for 29 points in what ended in a "blow out". Quite different from the loss in Middletown in both play and points. Very encouraging in the front court players and overall defensive play. Amherst used three replacements for starter Sellew.
Seems more players have the ability to make the 3-point shot and the go ahead to take the shot.
The regular season is quickly coming to an end and the juggling for Nescac tourney position is becoming clearer.

middhoops · February 01, 2020, 03:47:55 PM

Holding an 8 point lead, Tufts holds Colby to 25 in the first half. Rogers is giving Colby fits.
Bowdoin up 13 at the half at Bates.

Colby Hoops · February 01, 2020, 03:51:17 PM

Quote from: middhoops on February 01, 2020, 03:47:55 PM
Holding an 8 point lead, Tufts holds Colby to 25 in the first half. Rogers is giving Colby fits.
Bowdoin up 13 at the half at Bates.

Rogers is a mountain down low, but bigger problem for the Mules is the Tufts defense. Sam Jefferson has 0 shots in the first half, just being face guarded all across the floor. As a result, the Mules haven't been able to get as many good looks as usual and missing the ones they do get -- just 3-16 from three.

Would take another half like that defensively, but the Mules need to rebound better (25-13 on the glass) and obviously shoot better.

nescac1 · February 01, 2020, 04:44:39 PM

Trinity takes down Williams without much difficulty. Padmore was monster at both ends for the Bantams, finishing with 15-5-5 and a bunch of blocks / steals / general harassment of the Eph guards. He has to be the defensive POY in NESCAC this year. Donald Jorden played Karp to a draw in the battle of two of the best big guys in New England. Colin Donovan was stellar for the Bants, finishing with an 18-7-4, including some dagger very deep 3's. As his statistical progression shows, he has to be as improved as anyone in the league over the last few seasons, when you see where he was a frosh vs. where he is now. Clearly works really hard on his game.

For the Ephs, same old story, generally solid D, some nice ball movement and finishes in the paint, but lots of turnovers (17) and lots of missed 3's (5-24). Trinity's physical, aggressive defense was partially responsible, but man the Ephs missed a slew of wide open ones, too. The Ephs really can't beat anyone when Spivy, Babek, Stoddard, and Cole combine to go 2-18 from deep, once the open shots were missing, the whole offense sort of got out of rhythm and things went south fast. Karp finished with a solid 15-12, but not one of his dominating games. CPS had 13, but most of that came very late in the game when things were a bit more wide open. Feinberg hit a couple of 3's, and he's really the only guy on Williams who has been making open outside shots of late. It's really strange after years of watching nationally-elite shooters like Schultz, Wang, Rubin, Klemm, Teal, Epley, Rooke-Ley, Casey, Heskett, and of course one year of Duncan Robinson, to watch an Eph team that can't ever get going from 3, but this Eph squad just can't make enough from deep to score a lot of points against a strong defense. The upperclassmen don't really have a three point specialist among them, and the underclassmen are still too up-and-down from outside from game-to-game, and aren't shooting it with enough poise or confidence, yet.

Colby Hoops · February 01, 2020, 05:03:58 PM

Well, tough to win'em all!

Tufts with a really good defensive performance in Medford today, locking down Sam Jefferson and the Mules and holding them to a season low 67 points. Other than Alex Dorion (who was absolutely en fuego for a stretch to give Colby the lead in the second half) Colby just couldn't get it going offensively. I would've liked to see Will King shoot the three even more -- when Rogers and Oppenheim laid off of him, he got a little hesitant after missing a couple. Have to make them pay for doing that.

Tufts was impressive, very deep and talented. Savage is one of the best players in the conference and Rogers is a beast down low (I think he might take exception to your top 2 big guys in New England Nescac1!). This was the first team to really dominate Colby on the glass this year. And the Jumbos defense really forced Colby into a 1 on 1 game -- season low in assists for the Mules.

I'd love to see a rematch of that game in the Nescac tournament -- I have a hard time thinking Sam Jefferson would be held to 3 points again...

Big weekend next weekend against Hamilton and Amherst for Colby. Still have a chance at the #1 seed as Tufts has tough games against a resurgent Trinity and at Midd on the horizon.

nescac1 · February 01, 2020, 05:26:08 PM

Two of the best, Colby Hoops! I certainly include Rogers in that equation. Incredibly soft hands and great post moves. FTAs the only issue with his game ... I wonder if teams will try hack-a-Luke down the stretch of close games.

Colby Hoops · February 01, 2020, 05:41:03 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on February 01, 2020, 05:26:08 PM
Two of the best, Colby Hoops! I certainly include Rogers in that equation. Incredibly soft hands and great post moves. FTAs the only issue with his game ... I wonder if teams will try hack-a-Luke down the stretch of close games.

My bad, read to quickly and thought you said "the two best." Yeah he airballed one and banked one in today, it wasn't pretty from the stripe. But, he had better touch and footwork down low than he did last year, he's a handful.

granddaddyhoops · February 01, 2020, 11:02:01 PM

Congrats to Midd Junior Jack Farrell for reaching 1000 points today with a win at Conn College !

Cards Fan · February 02, 2020, 04:28:33 AM

Hamilton could REALLY make things interesting by putting 4 teams at 2 wins with a win today. A loss will push Wesleyan to 9th place today, making this one a must have for the Cards. It's scary to play a team that has proven to have talent in the past in a do or die spot.

JEFFFAN · February 03, 2020, 10:03:16 AM

Excited after the Jeff beat-down of the Cardinals on Friday until I saw that Hamilton did the same thing on Saturday to Wesleyan. Regardless, it looked like the Jeff defense really stepped up Friday without Sellew and Robinson. Still a difficult team to figure out but hopefully Sellew and Robinson get back to give them a chance at a NESCAC tournament run.

nescac1 · February 03, 2020, 10:24:25 AM

I'd say the all-league picture is starting to come into focus.

First team will I expect be five of these six: Jefferson, Karp, Farrell, Rogers, Gilmour, Reynolds ... hard to know who to keep out from that crew, all have had great seasons so far. Depends on how things go from here.

Second team will be one from that group, and four from this group: Savage (a lock), Padmore, Donovan, Dorion, Hannah, Eastman, Jordan, Day and Spellman

Even though he had a quiet game vs. Tufts, I'd still say Jefferson is the leading candidate for POY.

Padmore has to be DPOY. I can't even think of any other candidates, really.

King just about has ROY locked up, despite strong rookie seasons from Sarr, Prowitt-Smith, and Baxter.

COY has to be Strahorn, unless Tufts runs the table including winning the conference tourney.

amh63 · February 03, 2020, 01:39:47 PM

Spent some time watching the SUPERBALL......quit when Kansas City's QB threw is 2nd interception midway in the 4th quarter. Woke up and read that the Chiefs won by three TDs'! What's my point? Seems to me that in the Nescac that the battle for berth's in the conference is most important ...as well as the position of the berths. Number of teams including Amherst are gearing up for a "run". Amherst's younger players are getting more floor time....working in different combos...through out the game. Believe Amherst can win the remaining regular season home games....Sellew should be returning as well as Robinson, etc.
Nice interview on Hooptime marathon with Dave Hixon......seems he chats with Toomey frequently. Hixon hangs around the gym when not traveling the country. His title is Associate AD as well as HC...on sabbatical.