MBB: NESCAC

[nescac hoops]

Baller10, how do you feel about Asterisks?

I'm not sure if this is some kind of inside joke. I can't really tell from baller10's post either. But I have to say, even though you can never truly measure a player's worth to his team, I think  Olson at 65% (?)  and Deluca at 0% is at the very least a wash, but I think a disadvantage to Brandeis.

[eclinchy]

Obviously it's a disadvantage to Brandeis.  Olson's good and all, but this is 100% of an All-American we're talking about.  Let's all just step back for a second and stop worshipping the short kid in the purple, hmmm?

[hoopjunkie]

You go eclinchy !! Right now i take the Jumbos Jeremy Black over the Steve nash wanabee .

[nescac hoops]

I Baskauskas needs to get a lot more touches as he is simply their best overall scorer. 

I hate to seem negative about a guy like Coulibaly and all he has been through off the court, but why is he starting over Baskaukas?

                      FG%   3pt. %  reb/game   pts./game
Coulibaly       .462    .357       2.0             6.6
Baskauskas  .619    .611        4.9            9.6

[nescac1]

Coulibaly and Baskauskas both are starters.  Although the Jeffs have tons of forwards off the bench (Wheeler at the 3, Jones at 4/5, Goldsmith at 3/4/5), Hixon doesn't seem to love his options at guard, primarily relying on a frosh, Meehan, which is uncharacteristic for him in recent years.  So not really surprising that Coulibaly is starting.   I am surprised Bradley doesn't get any minutes at the 2, he had pretty stellar shooting percentages for his career, even if those number did come in garbage time. 

Other than Baskauskas, Wheeler, and Meehan, it will be interesting to see who logs serious minutes for Amherst in the years to come ... is Bennett as good as advertised?  Any more info (name, school) on the supposed star recruit from Florida?     

[nescac hoops]

Points well taken, but with an endowment and alumni base as strong as Williams', why not play a few out-of-region contests? Surely, a win at Wash.U., or U of C would traditionally bode better for Williams than a win at Lasell....

Maybe not?!?!? Lasell is quite talented and athletic. Amherst won a close one against Lasell tonight and per Mr. Kantor's writeup, I was able to gather that for the second straight game the Jeffs had the fortune of not having to play against the other team's leading scorer....

"The fourth-ranked Amherst College men's basketball team looked to rebound from its first loss of the season in non-conference action at Lasell College this evening. The Lasers were without their leading scorer, Jamie Crawford, due to an injury, putting the team in an early hole against the defending national champions without his 28 points-per-game. The teams were notched at halftime, 31-31, but Amherst pulled away for the 73-66 victory."

I also gathered some other essential information from the game....

(beginning of paragraph) "With 9:42 left, senior Brandon Jones (Hopatcong, NJ) made one of two from the charity stripe to leave Amherst trailing 19-17. Coming out of timeout, Olson grabbed a loose ball on the defensive end, and assisted to Jones in transition." (end of paragraph)

[BooBallsCasRay]

Baller10,
I see what you are saying. Amherst relies heavily on Olson to bring the ball up, and when someone is in his jock for 40 minutes the entire length of the court, they could use someone to relieve the pressure. I don't think they have the vocal leaders they've had in the past. They don't have a Russel Lee or a John Casnocha that will speak up when things go wrong. Those two seemed to be of a similar mold. I must say in the games I watched last year Baskauskas (sp?) had the best basketball skills on the court. If he became more aggressive, more confident he would probably be the best player in the league.

Impressive week from Wholey getting it going with all aspects of the game.
Bates offense for the past couple of years has relied heavily on 2-3 guys to get it done (ie gerrity/furbush, ray/stockwell) this team its seems like those guys are gonna be wilson and wholey, we'll see how they match up once NESCAC play starts up and some of the big boys start posting up

Sportscenter quoted Don Nelson as saying the win from the Warriors against the Spurs should be marked with an asterisk because it was played without Tim Duncan.
Baller10, how do you feel about Asterisks?

that is a great point about russell lee and casnocha..it seemed like Lee took Casnocha under his wing for a few years both on and off the court and I think this led to Casnocha being a decent leader when he was a senior

[eclinchy]

You go eclinchy !! Right now i take the Jumbos Jeremy Black over the Steve nash wanabee .

Umm... I've always been as big a Jeremy Black fan as anyone, but... no.

Let's not get carried away.

[mrmike88]

In previous years Bradley has gotten burned pretty severely on the defensive end.  Granted, I haven't seen a minute of Amherst basketball this year, so I have no basis on which to judge his lack of playing time this year, but I know that probably played a factor last year, at least.

It's too bad too, because he has a sweet stroke from long range.

[CCsalive]

I've been quiet thus far since I am yet to see the Camels play, however, closing the first semester with a win at Springfield is a nice capstone to 2007. I watched CC get thumped at Springfield two seasons ago, but this is a defferent Camel squad.

The 7-1 Camels are going to be tough to beat in NESCAC play. This team has now been running the Princeton O for three seasons, and who better to run this through than Charles Stone? Conn held Springfield under 40 points. By my math, that is less than a point per minute.

Watch out for the Camels...they're tough to guard...Stone is first team, maybe Young on the 2nd team? Have you seen sophomore tri-captain Shavar Bernier? Dean Lampe for ROY?

[eclinchy]

Dean Lampe for ROY?

Nice try, sir.

[hoopjunkie]

ccsalive - This is the exact same camels from the last few years  .I will give your Charles Stone is as good as any big man in the league . Very good all around game . Young is very streaky & I think once the Camels get into league play their lack of depth will hurt them . I think the Springfield win was a solid win . However , they also have traditional played a weak non-league schedule .

[CCsalive]

Conn's schedule has not been super tough, but this is NOT the same team. Two seasons ago CC was ready to bust into the upper half of the league. They were a Chris Rose buzzer beater away from the #7 seed, and they were winning in the second half in away games at Tufts and Bates. Last season, the team struggled internally with Jeff Young missing the first semester.

This year's squad is much improved. Jahkeen Washington was a great ball-handler and defender, but his size and poor shooting were a liability.
In the right game, controlled tempo, etc. Conn can punish opponents (ask Bates who CC whipped by 30 for their lone conference win last year).
Looking at this year's NESCAC stats (non-conference obviously) and I know stats can be interpreted in lots of ways...CC is #1 in scoring defense, #4 in FG %, #1 in 3-Pt%, #1 in 3pt% Defense...in a slow game...these stats are equalizers.

Stone is more than just a top big-man. He is tied for second in the league in assists.

[formerbant10]

Two seasons ago CC was ready to bust into the upper half of the league. They were a Chris Rose buzzer beater away from the #7 seed

By my math, 7 out of 10 is not the upper half....

But it does seem that they are improving.  This may have to be their year, who fills Stone's shoes after?

[eclinchy]

Not just Stone... Young and Mosley are seniors too.  This has to be a huge year for them.

Given how strong all three of those seniors have looked so far, I don't think a winning season is out of reach.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the Camels at 5-4 in the league this year.