MBB: NESCAC

[jumpshot]

Williams down by 10 at the half to Yeshiva in Williamstown, as EPHS 2/10 on three-pointers, 7 turnovers leading to 13 Yeshiva points, failing to defend 3 pointers --including one on an out of bounds play with 2 seconds left in the half --- the paint, the baseline, committing 8 fouls while shooting only 2 themselves, poor passing, etc.

Could become clear a year from now as a season of learning the importance of fundamentals, particularly when 3-pointers are made by appointment only ....

[nescac1]

Jumpshot, to be fair to Williams the three at the end of the first half was an incredible shot by an elite player, and was perfectly defended.

Williams played much better in the second half but dug themselves too much of a hole early.  Karp was strong as always and Babek was on fire, his best game as an Eph.  But Yeshiva was money from three, and other than Babek, no one could buy a shot from outside.  Same old story for the Ephs, whose main outside threats are mostly mired in deep funks right now - just can't make the open three ball and, against very good teams, can't defend it well enough to compensate. 

Yeshiva is a lot like Colby.  Even less athletic, slightly bigger but not by much.  The Ephs killed them in the paint at times.  But they play five guys who can shoot, use the back-door beautifully, and play really well as a unit.  They move constantly without the ball and play great as a unit.  Clinical, impressive team to watch.   

[Colby Hoops]

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.

I'd have Eric Savage as a no doubt first teamer at this point. He's 6th in ppg, 10th in rpg and 11th in apg and with very good shooting percentages. And all of those numbers are better in conference play. He's a really great all-around player. Honestly, I'm not sure Kena Gilmour should be a first teamer at this point. He's a great player and is being forced to do a lot for a young team, but his shooting numbers aren't great to this point.

[ronk]

That was a brutal call on that miraculous shot.   Not a chance someone can catch and shoot it in less than .5 seconds.   Look at the tape - the clock doesn't start when he grabs it.   Awful call.

I work a D-III scorers table.  The rule book specifically says .3 must be on the clock for a catch and a score off an inbounds.
Remember clock is stopped in the last minute after a made FT. 
So Clock doesn't start until the ball is touched in bounds.
He turned & shot in one motion, once the ball leaves his hand, it doesn't matter if time expires while the ball is in the air. 
You also have to figure in .1 - .2 seconds reaction time for the clock operator to see that ball is touched, see the ref's signal and turn on the clock. Clock operator watches the ref's signal. 
Clock is accurate to tenths of a second.


Hope this helps.

I may send this to the Elizabethtown clock operator who in Saturday's game started the clock on a Scranton inbounds pass for a couple of secs w/o anyone touching the ball. Evidently, not looking for the ref's signal to start the clock. Thankfully, the lead official saw that it happened and whistled to restart the clock and play.

[amh63]

Interesting discussion on the Williams vs Yeshiva outcome here.  Wanted to catch a bit of it but missed watching the game.  Aware that Yeshiva does not play at certain times due to religious reasons...had a good friend from Yeshiva, etc.  Not aware of how well the team played.  Awhile back, Maryland, College Park, had a top recruit/player that eventually transferred to Yeshiva.  Thought about the religious restriction when I saw the date of the game...and my old friend and my visit to Yeshiva.  Got a haircut during my visit and the barber asked if he could use a straight razor wrt a shave.  Had to spruce up for a meal with my friend's parents later in the day...father was a rabbi...orthordox.
Thanks Ephs' supporters for your writeups.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

That was a brutal call on that miraculous shot.   Not a chance someone can catch and shoot it in less than .5 seconds.   Look at the tape - the clock doesn't start when he grabs it.   Awful call.

I work a D-III scorers table.  The rule book specifically says .3 must be on the clock for a catch and a score off an inbounds.
Remember clock is stopped in the last minute after a made FT. 
So Clock doesn't start until the ball is touched in bounds.
He turned & shot in one motion, once the ball leaves his hand, it doesn't matter if time expires while the ball is in the air. 
You also have to figure in .1 - .2 seconds reaction time for the clock operator to see that ball is touched, see the ref's signal and turn on the clock. Clock operator watches the ref's signal. 
Clock is accurate to tenths of a second.


Hope this helps.

I may send this to the Elizabethtown clock operator who in Saturday's game started the clock on a Scranton inbounds pass for a couple of secs w/o anyone touching the ball. Evidently, not looking for the ref's signal to start the clock. Thankfully, the lead official saw that it happened and whistled to restart the clock and play.

We can all be thankful that by the time it gets to the last couple rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the refs start the clock themselves, like they do in D1, so we don't have to worry about it when things really matter.

[middhoops]

Wrong board, I know.  But check out the box score of the Springfield/Coast Guard game.  Jake Ross put up 55 points and 21 boards.  Oh, and threw in 5 steals to boot.
He had a slight advantage by playing 43 minutes.
Yikes.

[amh63]

Middhoops....two games tonight caught my attention....one was the Springfield vs Coast Guard game and the Babson vs MIT game...the battle of the "beavers mascot"
Saw a bit of both.  The Springfield game was close in the forth quarter when I left it.  The game as you noted went to 2 OT.  Did not expect that the Coast Guard team would challenge ranked Springfield. 
Babson won over MIT in another close game.
It appears that as the regular season comes to a close there are more close games....battles for the post season spots in New England.

[middhoops]

amh63, the NEWMAC has been great fun to watch this season. 
Your reference to the "Beaver Mascots" confused me briefly.  I was pretty sure your other alma mater was known as the Engineers.  Poor reading on my part.  I went to look at their mascot.  Duh, on my part.
So, when Amherst plays MIT...?  MIT wins the degree count but I'm guessing you're always an LJ at heart.

[SpringSt7]

Springfield and Babson are both 17-3, while WPI is 16-4. All 3 will play each other again, but I say that to point out that there is a realistic chance that all three teams finish the regular season with 20+ wins. If 3 teams get in from the NEWMAC, I don't think there is any chance the NESCAC gets more than 3.

[amh63]

Middhoops...your point wrt MIT being called the engineers is very common and it can be confusing when MIT plays WPI who are also called the engineers.  When Amherst played WPI in the past, I had interesting discussions  with posters from MIT and WPI on the "mascot". etc.  It is noted that there are many departments...referred to as Courses...at MIT that are famous/renown that are NOT engineering depts....like Economics.  Having.....the official "Class" ring has the Beaver mascot on the face.  When I meet Vandy74 and you in a game, I will relate to you a few MIT beaver ring stories...including the proper way to wear it.
Yes, I am a Lord Jeff.  My three children, all Amherst Alums, prefer the LJ label when they attend reunions, football games and basketball games.

[Colby Hoops]

Springfield and Babson are both 17-3, while WPI is 16-4. All 3 will play each other again, but I say that to point out that there is a realistic chance that all three teams finish the regular season with 20+ wins. If 3 teams get in from the NEWMAC, I don't think there is any chance the NESCAC gets more than 3.

Tufts, Colby, Midd are the obvious three. Amherst might have a shot if they win out and make a run in the conference tournament. But, a couple of losses for any of the top 3 and they are squarely on the bubble.

[Colby Hoops]

Impressive win for Colby over Hamilton in a close one, 78-74. The big news is that Sam Jefferson missed the last 14 minutes of the game with an injury after a really hard fall. He came back to the bench, so hopefully not too serious. But with Jefferson out and Matt Hanna in foul trouble for basically the entire game, Colby hung in there to overcome a ridiculous Kena Gilmour performance. Gilmour finished with 39 and was just unguardable for stretches. Colby kept getting 5 or 6 point leads in the second half, but Gilmour would bring the Conts right back. Colby switches everything on defense, forcing teams to create 1 on 1, and Gilmour certainly took advantage.

Matt Hanna was awesome. Scored 20 points in just 20 minutes because of foul trouble on 6-7 shooting, including some really difficult contested shots down the stretch. Dean Weiner also had his best game of the season with 14 pts, 6 boards and 3 blocks. Wallace Tucker also made his return for the Mules, great news as he works himself back into game shape.

For Hamilton, Gilmour didn't get much help. Eric Anderson was solid, but the rest of the Conts had trouble finding the basket, especially from deep.

Looks like everyone is back healthy for Amherst, so tomorrow is going to be a really tough one, especially if Jefferson can't play. But that's a good win for Colby given Jefferson's injury and Hanna's foul trouble.

[middhoops]

Kena Gilmour was a beast last night.
Remind me, please, but I can't remember the last time I saw a NESCAC player carry a team on his back to that extent.
Colby was playing him tough.  Late in the game he looked almost spent but kept coming up with big plays.  His mental toughness was equal to his physical talents.
Not taking anything away from Sam Jefferson, but he looked a whole lot like an POY in that amazing effort.
Kudos to Colby.  They're the most fun team I've watched this season.  Do they practice 26' shots for an hour a day? 

[amh63]

Dropped in online at a number of games.  Last night I switched between the Amherst battles with Bowdoin.  For the record, Amherst won both....the WBB game was between the 3rd ranked Polar Bears and the top ten ranked Amherst....cannot keep up with the rankings these days.
Yes, glad to see both Robinson and Sellew played welli in the Amherst win.  My peeks into the game in Maine....missed the previous announcer with his "Bang" shouts after a Bowdoin basket...was while both former starters were on the bench.  Read today that Robinson was a non starter....G. Day, the point guard,  continued his Scoring spree, but saw he had a head band in the second half. An injury protection?
Today, I will focus on the Colby men's game......expecting a defensive focus by Amherst to slow down the Colby scoring machine.  Will start with the Women's game in LeFrak as Amherst's three seniors will be honored...Senior Day Game!