MBB: NESCAC

[nescacfan33]

Heard Ashe didn't play, wonder if he is okay? Any Wes fans know the deal? Saw in the box score he put up 18 pts, 8 ass, 7 boards, 3/3 steals and blocks in Wes' saturday game. Almost the first triple double in a long time. Disappointing because Wes goes nowhere without Ashe, and this didn't give us a great look at the Williams-Wes matchup I think. And with him coming back so late from Wes' amazing soccer run I think it will be a very long november and december for the cardinals...he must have some rust in bball as well... i think he is one of the better all around guards and athletes in the league, but it wont be enough this year for that young Wes team to do anything...i think they have a shot at beating middlebury and getting one or two other league wins and getting the eight seed, if they are lucky.....I think the Ephs have a chance to really surprise some teams this year with the way they like to run and play hard nosed D....

Ephoops, must have been an UGLY night in Middletown. Was Ashe on the bench? And do they have any size to match up with the NESCAC? How did Nick Pelletier look?

Go Trinity!!!!

[senatorfrost]

 The last few years people seem determined to make Amherst into a Superpower, though Former Bant would seem to have a much more accurate perspective.  More than seven deep? Not from what I have seen so far. Endicott is hardly Trinity and probably not Williams and Amherst had to really struggle.
There are a couple Sophs and Juniors who could come around but so far they haven't. When I say 'come around' I don't mean racking up 9 points and 8 rebounds in a rout versus some Weakster. What I mean by 'coming around' is to have those kind of stats in a key game versus a Trinity or a Bates or the Ephs, while also playing good defense and not turning the ball over and participating in the flow, so to speak.
  If the Endicott game is any indication then there will be a number of teams that Amherst will have to truly worry about.
   I did not see the game but I was very impressed with the Trinity Babson score. I also took note that perhaps Pat Martin may be out of his shooting slump.

[ephoops]

Nescac33 - I didn't see Ashe on the bench.  I don't think he was in the building for the game.  Wes didn't have anyone who was effective on the inside against the Ephs.  Pelletier had a couple of strong moves to the hoop in the second half --  but it was too little and too late to help Wes.  I was very underwhelmed by Wes' performance against the Ephs.

[formerbant10]

Glad to see the Bants back on track....but still way too many turnovers.  That's going to really hurt them in some league games if they keep turning it over 20 times. 
Kino Clarke is on a tear, scoring 99 points in his first four games...simply amazing shooting over 50% from the 3 and overall. 

SenatorFrost.....I like the way you define 'coming around'  it really is a huge difference playing against Endicott than it is against Trinity or Williams or any NESCAC league game.  Amherst has the talent to do it, bu those kids haven't needed to play yet, so let's wait and see if they can.  Same thing with the young guys at Trinity...so far they're doing well, but we'll see what happens in January and February.

With all these new Pool C bids, does anyone have an idea how many the Northeast could possibly get in???  Can Springfield turn it around and still get an at large bid.  How many more can Trinity lose w/o jeopardizing their chances???

[walzy31]

Senator Frost,

You are right about the Amherst Endicott game (although it was only really the first half that was poor...Amherst won the second half 46-32...Amherst scored a dismal 22 points in the first half which I predict will be their season low for any half). Unfortunately for the rest of NESCAC, that is why Amherst plays Fitchburg and Endicott the first two games instead of Williams and Trinity. The team needs a game or two (or a half) to find their rhythm. For the third ranked team in the country that is not too long of a 'coming together period'.

As for sophomores and juniors coming around. Having a bench player come into a "key game" and score 9, grab 8 boards, play good D and not turn the ball over is a lot to ask. I think when a team tries to find their best four or five off the bench, they look for a group of interchangable guys who can score, rebound, play D and protect the ball, but knowing that they are not going to be at AS HIGH of a level as the 5 starters for that team. (There are very rare instances where that is incorrect, like Amherst 2 years ago with bedford coming off the bench.) But if you look at the Amherst game against Endicott, McLaughlin came in and scored 10, 1 rebound, 1 steal and no turnovers and Goldsmith got 9 rebounds in 15 minutes. Those numbers are not jaw dropping, but they are what Amherst is looking for to give starters a breather and continue to play good hoop.

If a player comes off the bench and has 12pts, 8 reb, 2 assists, a steal and no turnovers in 15 minutes, he is like a 6th starter. 6 starters would be quite a commodity. Look at teams like Wesleyan, they don't even have 5 starters.

I think Friday's game against Springfield (Derek Yvonne) will be a good test for Amherst despite SC's record. A thing that should be noted that won't show up in the box score will be defense on Yvonne by bench players of Amherst.

[formerbant10]

A bench player coming in and scoring 9 points and getting 8 boards is a lot to ask...I think that is Senator's point.  He's not sure if the young guys on Amherst are up to that level yet.  I would say those numbers from McLaughlin are pretty solid though.  I wouldn't worry about the Endicott game either, or most of the games in Nov. and Dec.  the games that matter the most are in February, and the Trinity game in January.  The Jeffs will be just fine.

[JeffRookie2]

I am not too concerned about the Endicott game; even the best teams can look a little tight against inferior competition, especially at the beginning of the year. (anybody see that Duke-Drexel game?) I'm excited to see Wheeler step into the role of a scorer and also play big on the boards. Last year we got killed on the boards in a lot of big games (Rochester), and I think that starting O'Shea/Hopkins Wheeler, Casnocha as the front three with Bedford playing the two will help solve that problem. I was impressed with how well the Jeffs were able to put the clamps down on Marinkovic, the impressive Serbian interior player for Endicott. He didn't score in the second half. I was disappointed that Coulibaly didn't contribute more, only scoring one point. I think we are seeing some large similarities between Trinity and Amherst, with last year's sixth man (Clarke, Wheeler), stepping up into a bigger role in the offense while the Div. I transfers (Martin, Coulibaly) take a few games to get into the groove with a new squad.

Senator- I think anytime a team runs the conference schedule and postseason tournament they deserve to be considered the prohibitive favorites. Sure Amherst struggled against Endicott, but until a team from the NESCAC succeeds in beating them, Amherst is still the class of the NESCAC. I think the Jeffs eventually will be seven deep with solid players with Coulibaly and either O'Shea or Hopkins coming off the bench. Those are all guys can contribute significantly when they come into a game, even against a Trinity or a Williams.

Looking forward to Friday's game against Derek Yvonne and Springfield. Listen in on WAMH 89.3 FM if you are in the Pioneer Valley or go to the webcast at http://www.amherst.edu/~wamh/.

[formerbant10]

Hate to be a stickler, but it's Derek Yvon, not Yvonne.  And it should be a very good game.  I wouldn't be surprised if Coulibaly is used more to slow Yvon down.  Springfield runs the flex pretty much exclusively for Yvon and he comes off picks very well....this could be where Hixon uses Coulibaly and rests Bedford on defense.

JeffRookie, agreed on the class of the NESCAC until they are beaten.  If Williams gets hot against Amherst, watch out. 

[broke_ya_ankles]

so how did trinity get votes for the top 25 with a loss to eastern conn???

[formerbant10]

With 3 other tough wins I guess.  There aren't too many undefeated teams anymore, so teams with 1 loss will get looked at for the top 25.

[ChesterGreen]

I was at the Williams game and as bad as some stretches looked, I don't think the Wes Cardinals will finish at the bottom of the Nescac.  They are playing in a different system and unlike most teams that have pretty consistent team identities and game plans from previous years this really is not the case with Wes.  Once players better define their roles and what they can contribute consistently they will be fine, not at the top 1 or 2 of the Nescac but will definitely be the cause of some real scares come conference play.  Jimmy Sheppard for the Cards is a player who can shoot lights out from the outside but for now is a reserve but is still managing to be second in scoring despite relative few minutes and shot opportunities.  Pelletier given some time will emerge as one of the premier big men in the Nescac and Blake Curry is a great defender and can cause real problems for a lot of top Nescac scorers (barring any ill advised shot selection keeping him off the floor).  I would really be surprised not to hear about the Cards at the center of some upsets come January....

[formerbant10]

There have been some similar posts about Bowdoin earlier this year.  And many replied that they have to win a few games before anyone starts blowing smoke up their @ss.  They are no longer the Wesleyan team with Leo Jones, Kanem Johnson and Keala Mills and it shows.  While they may not be at the bottom of the pack, that really depends on what Middlebury and Conn do this year.  It'll be tough for those 3 teams to get above the rest of the conference.  Especially when Wes and Conn are travel partners...most teams look forward to that weekend as opposed to facing Amherst and Trinity in the same weekend.
They're very small without Kelly this year, and will go as far as Ashe can take them.  I did hear that Pelletier has improved and will be very good, and you can always count on Curry to fire up some ill advised shots.

[walzy31]

I used to get excited to watch Wesleyan play because I knew Kanem was good for 2 dunks a game and 20 and 10. And Mills was good for at least 18 shots and some pretty nice moves. But now all I look forward to with Wesleyan is #44. Blake Curry is my favorite non Jeff in nescac.

Last year Curry subbed into a game where Wes possessed the ball out of bounds right at half court. They passed him the ball about a yard over half and a yard from the side line.... and he takes one dribble and shoots an airball from the corner of the half.  I still smile when I think about that shot. His coach took him out on the next dead ball and that was all he saw of the court that day.

[ChesterGreen]

Blake Curry is a high energy player he can be a difference maker in a good way for many close games.  Coming in getting a key block, steal, rebound, or hitting a big shot that gets the crowd going, swinging momentum.  Its really only in blowouts, games that are already out of hand where he gets on a bit of wild streak.  I have never heard of him coming into a close game and act in a way that hurts the team but then again I could be bias.  I think its his energy that makes him a crowd favorite for most in the Nescac.  At the end of the day he's a competitor.  Its extremely evident watching him on the football field.   

[formerbant10]

Walzy....your story isn't quite accurate.  I'm pretty sure that Curry jacked up another 3 in the 2nd half of that Amherst game....but the turnaround from 37 feet was a great one. I get the same smile thinking about that shot.

Chester, had you seen the playoff game against Trinity last year, you would've seen Curry take a few poorly timed shots when Wes was starting to make a run which did not help their team's cause.  I admire his energy, and many coaches worry about him in their game plan....but I don't think it's because he's gonna take over the game, but rather just to make sure their own players don't get involved with him.