MBB: NESCAC

[littlejeff08]

I think Olsen's a bit over-rated...any good point guard could be averaging 7 assists a game on a team like amherst with so many scoring options...olsen's a defensive liability and struggles against bigger, stronger point gaurds (see rochester game last year)...amherst played much better when corrigan came in against tufts...corrigan should be getting more time, especially against teams with bigger guards....

[mrmike88]

I disagree with you guys - Olson had a solid game against Conn, and played well against Bates, although Ray outshined him.  Going back to the end of the regular season, I thought he had a tremendous final weekend against Bates and Tufts.  I think one of the reasons we haven't seen him carry the team on his back is because he hasn't had to.  He's a pass-first PG, so when other guys are clicking, he doesn't need to pile the points on.  I'll give you that he struggled against Tufts in the championship, but I wouldn't bury him for one bad game and a quiet stretch in terms of scoring.  I still love the guy and expect him to bounce back in the tourney.

I have mixed feelings about the 7 APG number.  WIth so many scorers, it does seem odd that he's below that mark, but at the same time (to the outside observer's perspective) the offense demands that all five players on the court be able to pass and handle the ball, so it isn't always AO who is dishing it out to the man who eventually takes the shot.

[bed]

In terms of the Hamilton-Amherst matchup (if it happens......which I would be shocked if it didn't).............shocked b/c Hamilton is at home against an inferior opponent.  I just think Plattsburgh is outmanned---they don't have the horses to compete with Hamilton.

I give Hamilton a shot b/c of their depth and they have a balanced attack, where any one of five or six players can really put up big numbers.  However, I think Amherst having the game at home is a huge advantage for the Jeffs.

The NESCAC is a far superior league to the Liberty League, but I think if Hamilton was in the NESCAC this season, they'd probably be one of the top 3 or 4 teams.

Regardless, if Hamilton wins its first round matchup, should be a great game on Saturday.

[JeffRookie2]

One thing to clear up on this board- its OLSON. with 2 Os. I dont know, I guess Olson was solid against Conn., I disagree with you about Bates, other than two spectacular plays he looked off his game all night, and in general he just hasnt looked willing to step up and lead the team in difficult situations.

[formerbant10]

CC and the gang,

Just getting home from Hartford now, long weekend for the Bants.

Here's my take on Amherst.  Not as great an offensive team as last year.  I thought Goldsmith did a very good job down low, but O'Shea didn't really play and neither did any of the other big guys.  That was a close game the whole way, so it was interesting to see Amherst play a much tighter rotation.  Coulibaly played about 12 seconds.  McLaughlin played a lot in the first half, mostly due to the huge cut above Casnocha's eye, but he played well when he was in.  They didn't strike me to be as deep as everyone thinks they are.

The other thing that worries me about them was their lack of a guy being able to create a shot for himself at the end of the shot clock/game.  Casnocha's 3 game off a drive and dish from Olson after they spent 32 seconds looking for a better shot.  But to their credit, Casnocha hit the big shot when they needed it.  That's what champions do. 

Tufts on the other hand has Weitzen, Black, Shepherd and O'Keefe (I didn't see that coming) who can all take their man off the dribble and score.  I think Tufts will do some damage in the first 2 rounds out at Cortland.

Amherst's experience was the biggest difference in the game and will help them through the NCAAs.  Wheeler stepped up and hit some big shots, and Bedford is the best player without the ball in New England.  Great movement and has the ability to finish in the paint among bigger guys.

I don't think that Corrigan was necessarily the difference in the Tufts game.  In the first 10 minutes, the Jeffs couldn't do anything right and I think it was just a good job by Tufts.  They started to miss a few shots at the end of the half and Amherst got even with them.

Jeffrook,

I think its safe to assume that if Clay was at the same level as Tyler, he'd have been playing a lot more this season.  I hear that he has some great days and some bad days, just like all freshmen, but I haven't seen enough of him to really know how good he is or can be.

[nescac1]

First, good luck to Tufts and Amherst.  I'd place the odds at 4:3 that there will be the fourth Nescac rep in the final four in the last four years, given the way their bracket stacks up.  Of course, NESCAC has been helped by the regional pairings the last few years, but no denying that that is nonetheless an impressive performance for the league. 

Second, there is an article on his brother in this week's SI that quotes former Jeff player Jackson Collins.  For more on the Collins brothers:

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/vtbasketball/wb/xp-19218

Finally, as an eph fan the end to the season was very disappointing.  The good news is, Williams has a great sophomore class that should carry them for the next two years as they continue to mature.  Shalvoy improved tremendously and is a very steady floor general, Rose should be a first-team all leaguer next year, and I think Weisbrot has the size and athletic ability to be a solid defender and rebounded as a starter next year.  Hanifan could be a solid glue guy / defensive specialist.  The bad news, the rest of the league also has loaded sophomore classes: Amherst, Tufts, and Conn College in particular, and to a lesser extent Bowdoin and Bates.  I think Amherst and Bates will clearly be the class of the league next year barring an amazing impact frosh or sophomore elsewhere, and that Tufts (who loses most of its interior presence but will be able to score on anyone again), Trinity (depending on whether Taylor and Hasiuk return), Conn, Williams and Colby (with easily the best player in the league) will all fight it out in the next tier. 

Ephs should have a very good starting five with Snyder, who should blossom into the number two scorer, Nelson, Rose, Weisbrot and Shalvoy all having a lot of experience and motivation from the tough end to the season.  The real question for the Ephs next year will be the frontcourt, where they have only ONE player above 6'5 returning from a team that struggled to score and defend on the interior even this year.  Hopefully Paulsen will be able to pull something out of his hat in recruiting and land 1-2 big guys who can contribute as frosh, but that is pretty unusual in NESCAC (or any Div III conference for that matter -- 6'7 guys who can play usually end up in Div I).  Otherwise the Ephs will, once again, live and die by the jump shot. 

[wal 11]

Williams has a 6'7'' player from Delaware coming. Guys this kid is a steal. He will get bigger and has post up and perimeter skills. He will play as a freshman. He is a great player but a better teamate. He was on all of the Ivy's lists and just was comfortable at Williams.

[pbyron]

I'm interested to see this kid. williams should be loaded. the guys on the court now are national champion recruits. i think paulsen is a good game coach but a horrible judge of athletic skill. they don't match up athletically until you get mid to lower level teams in th e league

[pbyron]

Does anybody really doubt that aaaaaamherst deserved the crown ?

[pbyron]

pbyron does not exist.....we apologize. i was messing with an amherst guy,and i'm an eph. sorry i offended

[CCsalive]

Good stuff formerbant-extended weekend with the old pals huh? I agree with lots of your points in regard to Amherst...creating their own shot late in a possession could be a problem, but you know my opinion-insert Coulibaly.

There's no need to critique Olson. He's exactly what Amherst needs...most of the time. I've said it before, he is not Steve Nash. Corrigan is getting minutes because they need him...there's nothing wrong with that. At some point, Olson will look, on the floor, like a pip-squeak sophomore...this IS a liability; again, he's not Steve Nash...8 minutes a half from Corrigan is a nice luxury.

As for Tufts--formerbant, it is amazing that the one guy you left out is Martin, their first team player. One could argue that Tufts is the only Nescac team that sports 5 scorers in their starting line-up. Note, if Goldsmith started in front of O'Shea you could say the same of Amherst.

I heard about the Williams kid from Delaware...they're loaded with glue guys and Rose will break every three point record and Shalvoy will play Stockton-like and the Ephs will be a bitch to guard...

...

[formerbant10]

CC,

Extended weekend with another Bant, but most of the players were not on campus after their loss.

I didn't see enough of Coulibaly to really get a good read on him as far as creating a shot for himself.  His shot did look smoother in warmups, but we all know that doesn't mean jack when it gets down to crunch time.

You're right about Martin being able to create for himself....but he needs someone to deliver the ball to him.  The other guys I was mentioning all can handle the ball and break their man down off the dribble.  In the two games I've seen Tufts play, when they needed a bucket they didn't look to Martin (which is a little surprising).  If he gets the ball 10 ft and in, he's going to score or at the very least get to the line. For the most part I like isolating Weitzen against any other big guy and if he does miss, Martin will have great position to clean up (2 tip ins against Trin @ Trin).

I like both teams a lot.  With a lot of new teams in the tourney, Amherst has the experience to go far.  And Tufts can flat out score....plus they did a great job limiting Amherst to 1 shot a possession in the first half.

Congrats again to both teams making the tourney, I hope the represent the conference as well as they should.

[GoJumbosOrGoHome]

Any thoughts on ROY? With Black being out all last season, would he qualify? Maybe Karis from Conn, i didn't see any other frosh who really stood out for me.

[formerbant10]

Interesting point about Black....I don't know the answer to that one.  But I think Rudin from Midd gets it anyway.  But I really like the way Jeremey "Jason Preistley" Black plays.  He's going to be a tough player the next 2/3 years depending on how long he wants to stay in college.

[CCsalive]

Karis started every game for Conn, played tons of minutes, and shot for a high percentage...especially from behind the arc.

Ben Rudin for Midd had the best numbers and I saw him explode vs. Conn in the league opener at Midd with Conn pulling out the close win.

Whether Conn gets back-to-back ROY or not, they've had two great classes in a row(Stone, Young and Mosely and this year Karis, Will Lyons, and Ulyses Veras all contributed to the upstart Camels). That said, the strength of the soph class league-wide has already been pointed out and I'm not sure that all of that talent was as glaring this time last year. In particular, I'm thinking of Tufts and the Amherst bench.