MBB: NESCAC

[eclinchy]

I think Brandeis is worse off against Amherst without Deluca than Amherst would be without Olson in this game. The Judges definitely need an inside presence against the Jeffs big man rotation.

Ummm...

Have you seen Hollins play?  He's kinda good.

[JustAFan]

Nice win by Tufts tonight over Keene State, 81-67.  Jon Pierce had 25 points and 11 rebounds for Tufts, his second 25 point outing in the last 3 games.

[nescac hoops]

I think Brandeis is worse off against Amherst without Deluca than Amherst would be without Olson in this game. The Judges definitely need an inside presence against the Jeffs big man rotation.

Ummm...

Have you seen Hollins play?  He's kinda good.

ummm, i have not seen hollins but i am aware of who he is and his stats. i still think brandeis needs more than one big man to tame Amherst's inside game.

[JustAFan]

Connecticut College suffered its first loss of the year tonight 61-60 to host Wheaton, which improves to 5-1. ConnColl had the ball down by 1 with 31 seconds left but couldn't convert. Wheaton's only loss is to an undefeated Emerson team, and they've also beaten a solid Bridgewater State team.

[eclinchy]

Nice win by Tufts tonight over Keene State, 81-67.  Jon Pierce had 25 points and 11 rebounds for Tufts, his second 25 point outing in the last 3 games.

Plus 6 blocks.

Also congrats to Jeremy Black on his first career 20-point game.  Big win for the Jumbos... KSC had looked really strong up until tonight, a 14-point win is a big statement.

[ILive4This]

I agree that Brandeis would be better off having Deluca in this weekend's game, I don't think anyone would disagree with not having their pre-season AA out of a game. However I think Hollins has picked up the slack better than Amherst's back up PG could do on a purely point for point basis. The key for Brandeis to win this game is getting at least average nights from the guards, including those rotated off the bench. assuming this includes 4-5 guys they are going to need to average 10 pts between them something they really have not done. This is especially important for the 2 guards who have combined on multiple occasions this season for under 10 points from this position. Back to the point, Brandeis had an answer for the loss of DeLuca, I do not think Amherst would have as successful answer without Olson.

[fpc85]

Olson will play.

[nescac hoops]

However I think Hollins has picked up the slack better than Amherst's back up PG could do on a purely point for point basis.
Back to the point, Brandeis had an answer for the loss of DeLuca, I do not think Amherst would have as successful answer without Olson.

Amherst has a legitimate 4 big man rotation, although Goldsmith is certainly the the least threat of the four. There top two scorers are big men. Hopkins (13.8 ppg) and Jones (13.6ppg) - the bad news, Jones isn't even a starter. This rotation is not a one man job (i.e. Hollins) to stop. Brandeis will need others besides him to do the job. I suggest Brandeis put a ton of pressure and a wave of new bodies on Olson and guard him the whole way down the court (not sure if Brandeis already does this already). Make him work and try to exploit any reprecussions of his injury. At the very least, force Amherst to give him a breather and put in a point guard with little game time experience.

[fpc85]

However I think Hollins has picked up the slack better than Amherst's back up PG could do on a purely point for point basis.
Back to the point, Brandeis had an answer for the loss of DeLuca, I do not think Amherst would have as successful answer without Olson.

Amherst has a legitimate 4 big man rotation, although Goldsmith is certainly the the least threat of the four. There top two scorers are big men. Hopkins (13.8 ppg) and Jones (13.6ppg) - the bad news, Jones isn't even a starter. This rotation is not a one man job (i.e. Hollins) to stop. Brandeis will need others besides him to do the job. I suggest Brandeis put a ton of pressure and a wave of new bodies on Olson and guard him the whole way down the court (not sure if Brandeis already does this already). Make him work and try to exploit any repercussions of his injury. At the very least, force Amherst to give him a breather and put in a point guard with little game time experience.

I have seen all of the guards on Amherst. They all can play and will do very well when enter the game. Amherst may still be the deepest team in the nation. Goldie (or is it Goldy?) is improving each game and will only get better as we continue with the season. It is going to be a great event and I hope the Jeffs play well.
Can the Jeffs win with a "B" game performance is Brandeis brings their "A" game? I think so..but I may not be the most objective person when it comes to Amherst.

[frank uible]

Of course you mean the "deepest team in DIII basketball".

[fpc85]

but of course.

[mrmike88]

I'm sure I've said this before, but keep in mind that two years ago Goldsmith was the one big from the Class of 2008 getting significant minutes, while the other guys were still largely on the bench.  He can certainly be a big "threat," and he does a lot of the little things well.  After missing practically a whole year, I'm sure he's getting back into the rhythm of live game action...

[nescac hoops]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds

walzy, we (meaning you), should look into doing something like this when the nescac games start.

[JeffRookie2]

Jeffs barely hold on to win 66-60. They played a terrible first half and were down by 8 at the break. The worst part was that Amherst got beat up down low by a much smaller MIT team. They got outrebounded, they couldn't post up Jones or Hopkins and they got beaten to every loose ball. I hope this was just a function of looking ahead to Brandeis, but even in the second half when Amherst started playing better, MIT was way more physical than Amherst under the boards. The player of the game for Amherst was undeniably Brian Baskauskas, who hit a couple of huge threes to ignite the Jeffs in the second half and also played lock down defense on Bartalotta in the second.

Unfortunately for MIT, during an inbounds pass with 4 seconds to play and down by two, Bartalotta went down hard with an ankle injury. It was away from the ball and I didnt see exactly how it happened, but it looked bad, as he could barely walk off the court. I hope he's ok, he really competed well.

[eclinchy]

Tufts rolls over Babson, 88-71.  Eight points for Black, 15 for Weitzen, and... 36 for Jon Pierce.  That is not a typo.