MBB: NESCAC

[hoopjunkie]

I saw about 20 Tufts games this year & i totally agree with you , Weitzen was the heart & soul of that team . The real problem was there was no chemistry based on some selfish team members .
They did pull it together against Williams for 1 game , but they could & should have had 4-5 league wins . But hey after this weekend they will be joined on the fishing trip by 4 more schools.

I do like Bowdin , Middlebury & Amherst to advance . 

[ILive4This]

I actually like all of the first round match ups in the NESCAC, even the Amherst game, but honestly I think the Jeffs/Mules game at LeFrak will be a pretty one-sided affair. As for the other games, I think they are all very interesting matchups, especially a Bowdoin/Bates rematch of a pretty decent Maine rivalry.

[Friar T]

but the refs screwed Stone in the first 8 minutes calling two quick love taps-one in the front court when a 'herst player had rebounded the ball and 8 players had already run down the floor and Stone and the 'herst player got their legs tangled-a good ref has to call a travel and let the star player stay in the game

Holy Sour Grapes Batman!

[NY Hoopster]

Congratulations to Adam Choice being named Nescac player of the week.

ILive4This;

I don't know why you think Colby -Amherst will be so one-sided. In their last matchup, Colby lost by 6 points-They led Amherst by 1 with about 8 minutes to go. Amherst only had a 4 rebound advantage, despite their height. And at the risk of being sacrilegous, I think a lot of people in the gym thought that Colby's guards outplayed Amherst's guards.

Colby's largest losses this year have been one 10pt game v. Conn.and an 11pt loss vs Bowdoin. There have been no blowouts, and no big man has had a particularly astonishing game against them, despite their lack of size. Colby also matched up well with Trinity, and as one poster has already stated, may actually have won that game but for a time keeping glitch on the last shot.

If you evaluate what has happened, instead of what people expected to happen, you might be a little more open minded about what could happen in the Amherst game-just ask Waltzy- he was wrong on the spreads against Colby on its Amherst/Trinity weekend by about a combined 25 pts.

My question to the Amherst posters on the board, is what do you expect Hixon to differently, if anything, this time out? What do you expect him to do to shut down Colby's scorers?

[eclinchy]

Only  bright stars on this team were Dave Beyel & Jake Weitzen . Beyel a sophmore should have been starting from day 1 of the season . As it was he really started developing & should be be a force next year.

Interesting question though... what does Beyel develop into?

Originally I saw him as the next Brian Kumf... a 6'4" forward who's physically capable of playing like he's a lot bigger, grabbing rebounds and playing tough D in the post.  Beyel has instead developed into more of a perimeter guy, and his outside shot has really improved -- he was 7 for 33 on threes last year, and 25 for 56 this season (44.6% was a team high).

I like Beyel more and more every time I see him... I'm just not sure what direction he's moving in.  I feel like the Jumbos need at least one more good post player to step up, especially without Weitzen next year.

[lefrakenstein]

NY Hoopster--

I have to say that I don't think the scond meeting of the Jeffs and the Mules will be as close as the first for the following reasons--

If you look at the weekends where the Jeffs took on two NESCAC teams, they almost always trounced the team that was expected to give them difficulties and had a rough time against the squad that was perceived as being easier. In the Colby game Amherst got up by double figures in the first half, clearly relaxed their guard, found themselves trailing by 1, and rallied to close it out. (They also did this against Bates, MIT, Lasell, Elms and other week teams). Then they blew Bowdoin out of the water. I think Colby will suffer because the Jeffs will not take them lightly and will have nowhere else to direct their focus. I think you can expect amherst's defense intensity to be higher than we saw in the first meeting, and if the Mules shoot below 40%, it could be ugly.

I feel that in addition to maintaining the offensive output that they had in the last match-up, the Mules will have to find some way to prevent the Jeffs from shooting around 50%. Not many teams have been able to do this successfully so far this season. (props to Trinity last weekend) In the last game, the Mules came out in a 2-3 zone trying to collapse on Amherst's interior presence, but the Jeffs were able to shoot out of that with a fair degree of ease. They then switched to man-to-man, and Amherst was able to punish down low. The choice between zone (to control the bigs) and man-to-man (to prevent shooters from getting space) has haunted teams all year long against Amherst. The rise of Conor Meehan and Fletcher Walters as secondary ballhandlers over the course of the year has greatly decreased the effectiveness of the pressure-the-ball strategy that Brandeis used to great effect earlier in the season, and I think that the Jeffs current win streak is correlated highly correlated with this development.

The one way I think Colby can win, is if both Gaudet and Choice have monster games. Gaudet was on fire last time, scoring 24 on 7-11 shooting and 5-7 from beyond the arc. Choice was a non-factor, shooting 5-16 for 15 points. If Choice can be a factor offensively and not just on the boards, Colby could pull one out. I just dont think the Jeffs will let it happen.

[lefrakenstein]

(They also did this against Bates, MIT, Lasell, Elms and other week teams).

Sorry, I clearly meant weak, not week. Embarrassing.

Pat, what is the rational, if you dont mind my asking, behind preventing new posters from editing their posts? Wouldn't the site be better on the whole if everyone could correct their typos?

[lefrakenstein]

(They also did this against Bates, MIT, Lasell, Elms and other week teams).

Pat, what is the rational, if you dont mind my asking, behind preventing new posters from editing their posts? Wouldn't the site be better on the whole if everyone could correct their typos?

rationale, my bad again.

[La Verdad]

My question to the Amherst posters on the board, is what do you expect Hixon to differently, if anything, this time out? What do you expect him to do to shut down Colby's scorers?

Nothing. 

You should be asking how Colby intends to stop the Amherst scorers.  Are they going to play that 2-3 zone and give amherst all the open threes they can shoot?  Are they going to play man and have to deal with the Amherst post players?  I'd put my money on a zone, I'm not sure Colby has anyone that can defend in the post.

[hoopjunkie]

I don`t  think Colby has any shot at all to come with in 15 points of Amherst . I am not an Amherst fan , however I know my hoops . Amherst could beat a bulk of D1 schools , that is how good  & deep they are . Its not that anyone other then Olson is so good , it is that they wear you down with size & depth . I am a big fan of Brian B , but it is hard to gauge how he would do if he would be relied on the bulk of scoring at another school , & where the defenses would gear up to stop him .

Eclinchy - I think Beyel will be a different player then Kump. Where Brian was a great rebounder & slasher , Beyel is more of a jump shooter & good defender on the outside . He does`nt really handle the ball well enough to create his own shot .
Weitzen will really  be missed in so many ways that don`t show up in the box scores as well as being a top 7 or 8 leading scorer in Tufts history . Amazing !!

[jamiejohn]

Your right that Amherst could beat some lower d1 teams, i wonder how they would do in the ivy or patriot league. i bet that could be a middle of the pack team.

[hoopjunkie]

I don`t really know some of the lower division 1 schools , but the Ivy league is not so bad . I dont think Amherst has the speed or strengh of Penn or Cornell . Maybe the weaker Iveies .

[NY Hoopster]

LeFrankenstein;

Thanks for the intelligent analysis of Colby v Amherst. Enjoyed reading the post.

LaVerdad;

I apologize for not responding the last time we posted. I have asked myself the question about how to stop the Amherst scorers, and of course, only a fool would say there is a way to do so against such a talented crew.
What I would not do is play zone. Colby tried that and it didn't work because Amherst shoots too well from out yonder. The only thing that Colby can do is play a 2 guards with 3 big men at all times(instead of their preferred 3 guard offense), and play the most intense help defense of their lives. If they collapse fast enough on the big men, the can hopefully tie up the ball and get some turnovers before the bigs can pass back out to the perimeter, or, score over them.

On the offensive end, it will help if Colby's slashers go to the hoop often enough to perhaps get Amherst's bigs in foul trouble. Of course, the depth of the Amherst bench makes that strategy problematic. Last time out, Mike Russell was injured and played limited minutes. He has great moves around the basket and can cause some havoc and also draw fouls down low. Anyway, those are my armchair quarterback (or point guard ) thoughts about possible ways to defeat the most talented team in the league. No one said it was going to be easy.

[mrmike88]

I'd like some clarification on the all-conference team:

When the coaches are voting, is there any sort of weight given to the conference games over the non-conference games?  I only ask because Choice's in-conference stats are MUCH closer to Pierce's than their overall stats.  If you take conference games more highly than the rest of the schedule, and you assume that Pierce is a definite all-conference player, I don't see why Choice wouldn't be second team.

I enjoy playing devil's advocate.  I can't make any actual argument for who deserves to be on what team because I haven't seen a single NESCAC game yet this year...

[nescac1]

Boston Globe article on Mike Walsh of Midd:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/21/switch_to_forward_is_right_for_walsh/

kinda random considering 4-5 guys on the team score more than him ...