MBB: NESCAC

[lumbercat]

Williams loses and the Eph supporters go south....panic sets in.

[stlawus]

Lol no kidding.  Ranked in the top 3 and the world comes to an end because of a single loss to a tough rival.  Were they expecting an undefeated season?  It's one loss, just forget about it and move on to the next one.  Don't think anyone expects the Ephs to slide.

[Greek Tragedy]

Looks like Williams, Tufts and Middlebury are fighting for their Pool C lives here on out. 

[PowerForward1992]

Last night really showed how deep this league is! 3 teams, who've literally only lost to top 10 teams in the country, lose to relative middle of the pack teams! What a night of basketball

Williams has gotta find some penetration to get the offense going in the halfcourt. Tufts really got dominated inside by Conn too. Very interesting.

[TheHerst2and4]

Just here for the jumpshot vs amh63 discourse...

Good win for the boys. That aforementioned recruited length paid off on the boards. Hopefully this will spark a run

[SpringSt7]

Definitely not going to apologize to anyone for overreacting to losing to Amherst. That's the beauty of having a rivalry.

[amh63]

I wrote a discourse wrt last night's Williams vs Amherst game....in response to Old Guys' thoughtful post.  However, I seemed to have losted it.
Here goes again...
OLD GUY, enjoyed your post and thoughts.  Will like to hear another post after the Amherst vs Middlebury game later today...at Amherst.
Watched the Amherst vs Williams game at Amherst yesterday.  Surprised to see how young the Amherst players were in the first half and how long they were on floor.  Their energy kept the game close, in my opinion.  Should be an interesting game today when Middlebury arrives in LeFrak.  Saw a lot of my fellow Amherst supporters in the stands....ones that I sat among at Salem, Va., Williams, Trinity, Wes., in days past.  Interesting to see the new Amherst Prez and group of "older" persons enter LeFrak during halftime.  They sat on the Amherst student side.  Maybe, the older persons were members of the Board of Trustees....in town.  Maybe to discuss the Amherst Campaign direction.  Amherst is about to reach its goal for 625 million early in '63.  The new Amherst Prez is in the same class as my older son at Amherst.  All three of my children...wife's too...are Amherst grads.

[nescac1]

Gutty road win by Williams coming off the very disappointing performance vs. Amherst.  This was a much more characteristic game for the Ephs with balanced contributions from a wide range of players.  Already affected by injury, Williams lost Cole Prowitt Smith to what looked like an ankle injury in the first half.  Hopefully he is OK.  Lots of guys stepped up in this one.  After a tough introduction to NESCAC play vs. Amherst, frosh Lee and Hansen had MUCH better games today.  Hansen finished with an impressive 13-5-5.  He had some beautiful post moves and finishes and he and Nate Karren worked together beautifully in the paint.  Of their combined ten assists, many of them seemed to be to one another.  Certainly it was easier sledding today than against a huge and VERY physical Amherst frontcourt, which poses more of a match-up problem for that duo who play more of a finesse style. 

Also stepping up in a major way in Cole's absence were Alex Lee and Evan Glatzer in the backcourt.  Glatzer had 8-5-3 with only one turnover and was a catalyst of the offense, looking more aggressively to create with Cole out of action.  Alex Lee added nine key points off the bench and was also more aggressive looking for his shot.  Spencer Spivy had a great game as well and was the Ephs' best overall player this entire weekend.  But the biggest news for the Ephs was that Nate Karren, hopefully, found his mojo again.  After a rough first half in which he was held scoreless, he had 14 huge second half points.  Most of those points came off of quick, in-rhythm shot attempts when guys were setting him up within the flow of the offense, and the Ephs need to keep that going moving forward.  Hopefully Lee, Glatzer and Hansen build on this game -- all three need to continue to be aggressive and look to score a bit, it can't all be the veterans carrying the burden. 

For Hamilton, Tej Singh was awesome in the second half, seemingly could not miss off the dribble, what a fun player to watch.  Very quick off the bounce.  Hank Morgan also looked very smooth as an offensive threat.  Conor Rood used his size well in the mid-range game.  Eric Anderson had an uncharacteristically off day from 3, as he missed a few open ones. 

A cryptic set of results from the Amherst-Williams-Midd-Hamilton quartet.  On any given night ...

[JEFFFAN]

I am glad that I did not strain any muscles jumping onto a badwagon after last night' win over the Ephs, as nice as that was.   Today was a harsh reality check on the state of the Lord Jeff program right now.   A few thoughts:

* Sobel is so good - as good as the NESCAC has seen in a long, long time.   Very impressive;
* What is up with Amherst offenses this year?   The football's team offensive production was the worst in 40+ years and this team's performance will mirror that of their gridiron brethren;
* Ryker is a nice player and Hammond has potential so some room for optimism on the inside game.  They got a bunch of good looks;
* Having said that, they got dominated by Middlebury on the defensive boards - Midd was just so good going up for their misses.  That might have been the difference in the game;
* Either that or the beyond mediocre play by the Amherst guards.   Just nothing there, folks, to suggest Amherst can win a bunch in a division (D3) built on shooting guards.

I guess we should be happy coming out of the weekend 1-1 and we will hope that youth develops.

[Bucket]

What an ugly, strange game in LaFrak.

Middlebury shoots 29 percent from the floor and a woeful 2-15 from three—and never trails, beating Amherst on their home floor, 53-46.

Middlebury had an eye popping 13-board advantage on the offensive glass (19-6), seven of them coming from David Brennan. The sophomore had 18 (!) total rebounds, and at 6' 6" he did so while giving up several inches to the mammoth (heh) Amherst front court.

Sobel was Sobel: 19 points, 7 boards, 3 block. 3 assists. He was defended well by a rotation of big-bodied Amherst players, but when he backs his defender down, it seems he's impossible to stop.

Frosh pg Evan Flaks continues to impress coming off the bench. He was the only other Panther in double figures w/ 11.

I was impressed by Will Sherrer. He took it right at Sobel all game, at times matching the Midd big bucket for bucket, while also getting Sobel in foul trouble.

After one weekend of play, it seems like most every conference game is going to be a battle, and I wouldn't be surprised if the team that finishes atop the standings at the end of the season has at least 3 conference losses.

[SpringSt7]

I would be pretty surprised if there was a better rebounding duo in the country than Sobel and Brennan. Right now they're getting you 21.9 combined a night. Brennan gets 4 offensive boards a game and Sobel gets 3.5. Good luck with that

[Old Guy]

What an ugly, strange game in LaFrak.

Middlebury shoots 29 percent from the floor and a woeful 2-15 from three—and never trails, beating Amherst on their home floor, 53-46.

Middlebury had an eye popping 13-board advantage on the offensive glass (19-6), seven of them coming from David Brennan. The sophomore had 18 (!) total rebounds, and at 6' 6" he did so while giving up several inches to the mammoth (heh) Amherst front court.

Sobel was Sobel: 19 points, 7 boards, 3 block. 3 assists. He was defended well by a rotation of big-bodied Amherst players, but when he backs his defender down, it seems he's impossible to stop.

Frosh pg Evan Flaks continues to impress coming off the bench. He was the only other Panther in double figures w/ 11.

I was impressed by Will Sherrer. He took it right at Sobel all game, at times matching the Midd big bucket for bucket, while also getting Sobel in foul trouble.

After one weekend of play, it seems like most every conference game is going to be a battle, and I wouldn't be surprised if the team that finishes atop the standings at the end of the season has at least 3 conference losses.

What he said.

Brennan is relentless. Ball's on the floor, he's on the floor. Never gives up or in. 3 points/18 boards. He gets the premier etoile. He could not get his shot off against the Amherst front wall. Even the wings are 6'7". Teams that go 2-15 from three (like Midd today) are not going to win often. They're certainly not going to get much in the paint with those 6'10" rim protectors. Sherrer has a little righty and lefty hook and hit a soft 15 footer when Sobel backed off. Could be a great player down the road. A little backcourt help and Amherst is really going to be something. Giovanni Tam is a colt, raw now, likely not so soon. He will be fun to watch develop. Based on this admittedly very small sample, I would think Amherst followers would have optimism: if not now, soon enough.

Midd has stretches in the second half when they had three frosh on the floor at once (Flaks, McKersie, Witherington) when Sobel and Stevens both had four fouls, and maintained the 6-10 point lead. That's big. Flaks is dynamic, not afraid to hoist it, 5'9" on tiptoes.

We have a six days to breathe, then host Colby-Bowdoin next weekend. As NESCAC 1 said, it's hard to win on the road, and Midd has played 11 of its 13 games in the other guy's gym. It'll be fun to see the boys in person. Midd women had a nice weekend: dropped Hamilton 64-56 last night and upset Amherst today, 48-46.

[nescac1]

Last year's ROY race in NESCAC was loaded, and two guys had rookie seasons that would have won ROY nearly any year, Stevens and Nicky Johnson.  And if you look at the NESCAC statistical leaderboard this year, it's replete with sophomores ... besides those guys, Declan Porter, Hank Morgan, Teja Singh, Jamir Primer, James McGowan, Ryker Vance, Will Dorian, James McGowan, Canin Reynolds, Will Scherer, Brandon Roughley (unfortunately struggling with injuries this year), David Brennan, and on and on ... truly an incredible class last year. 

This year, a different story ... the ROY race seems really wide open.  An early ranking:

1. Max Poulton, Colby ... still leading the pack as he is the rookie with the most points and boards, but no longer blowing away the field.  And maybe coaches hesitate to tag a third Colby rookie in four years, especially if the team doesn't bounce back from a tough opening weekend, as other guys start to emerge. 

2. Henry Vetter, Trinity ... 39 points (on 37 shot attempts!) in his first two league games.  With Callahan-Gold out (for who knows how long, no info on that) he seems to be Trinity's main man on the perimeter.  Certainly, he's not afraid to launch it and three point percentage is good on a high volume of attempts.  As long as Trinity keeps winning and he puts up stats, he will be a leading ROY contender

3. Hudson Hansen, Williams ... his stats are fairly modest overall, but he has been very efficient as a scorer and has shown flashes of immense talent - plus, he is going to be playing big minutes going forward with Williams a bit depleted by injury.  I think he's the best bet for ROY when all is said and done, seems to have the most unrealized upside at least.

4. Chris Hammond, Amherst ... also modest stats overall but he has been playing more and producing well in big moments.  Nice combo of outside shooting touch, passing, and ability to get into the lane and finish, and isn't built like a typical first-year at all.  Seems like he will be one of Amherst's go-to guys on offense going forward.

5. Evan Flaks, Midd -- playing more and scoring well for Midd.  He is quick and dynamic, although his size will be a limitation against certain match-ups.  But probably not quite a big enough role to be ROY absent moving into the starting lineup. 

After that, it gets pretty dicey, with a lot of guys who would have to make a massive leap in the second half of the season.  So, really, a pretty underwhelming rookie class to date, especially relative to last year's historically productive group. 

[nescac1]

Two very impressive individual weeks vying for the first POTW for league play:

David Murray averages 21.5-10.5 on 59 percent shooting in a 2-0 week for Conn
Nicky Johnson averages 24.5-7-3 on stellar shooting from the field, foul line, and three point line, plus 2 spg, in a 2-0 week for Wesleyan

[SpringSt7]

Really impressive start to league play for Conn, says a lot about the job Sweeney has done that no one bats an eye when they start out 2-0. This is a team that went 5 years without winning a NESCAC game.

The most impressive part to me is that they built it back up incrementally with solid recruiting class after solid recruiting class, but without any absolute stars or a steal they were able to attract with promises of immediate playing time and a lot of shots. Just a deep and solid team that is well coached and is developing as a group. This year is probably still gravy---and looking at their schedule it will still be tough for them to get to 5 or so wins---but next year they could firmly be on Pool C watch.