WBB: NESCAC

ronk · January 26, 2017, 03:35:32 PM

Quote from: NE Jeffs Fan on January 26, 2017, 03:11:28 PM
I knew all that....students not back yet...teams split (which I, too, dislike)....I was wondering if any Eph fan out there could give us some insight into recruiting the past year or so, and what they see or hear about coming along. Some teams do rebuild. Amherst, like Kentucky men's bball, UConn women's bball, Clemson football....just reload. Seem to come up each year with freshmen that can make a difference that play well with the seasoned juniors and seniors. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to answer. Having watch NESCAC bball for over 15 years, I find it kind of sad as I always looked forward to both games each year.

Lauren Vostal was on my prospect list 2 years ago; thought she would be a significant contributor by now. Emily Peckham was on my watch list but suffered an injury during her AAU season and missed her senior season; might still be recovering. Meredith Mesaris(on the coaching staff) was an All-American but has used up her eligibility @ Scranton.

2 from my 2017 list are going to Tufts and Middlebury next year. Haven't heard of any going to Williams yet, but I don't usually look closely at prospects north of Connecticut, which is most of Williams' roster or recruiting region.

Maine 1 · January 28, 2017, 11:35:00 AM

As I said last week -this is a very weak NESCAC relative to past years. Tufts
and Amherst are significantly better than everyone else (maybe Bowdoin can compete, but Amherst beat them easily). We need to see if Middlebury is for real.
I also think splitting the men and women up is a mistake. Back when my daughter was playing (at least the first two years) men and women played together. It was much better for the women if they played the early game, as the gym would fill up near the end and you had some good crowds that came to watch the double-header.

Maine 1 · January 29, 2017, 07:35:26 AM

Unfortunately, yesterday's games showed just how week the overall NESCAC is. The top three teams (Tufts, Amherst, Bowdoin) won their games by a combined 110 points ( Tufts plus 29, Bowdoin plus 41, Amherst plus 41). And Middlebury showed that they are likely a pretender in losing to Hamilton. It wasn't long ago when the NESCAC was sending four and five very strong teams into the NCAA tournament. I believe a lot of this is coaching as much as talent, and the ability to recruit. A number of the other schools have had multiple coaching changes. It would be good to see the other teams step up and become more competitive.

amh63 · January 30, 2017, 10:10:46 AM

Maine1...I responded to your post! Unfortunately it was posted on the Nescac football board. Vandy74 pointed out my error. To inept to transfer it here and lazy too.

jumpshot · January 30, 2017, 09:15:32 PM

Williams women score 91 points in tonight's win ----while committing 25 turnovers!

The Ephs have really struggled in recent years with an inordinate number of turnovers, many unforced.

7express · February 03, 2017, 02:23:03 AM

I've got Amherst over Tufts this weekend by 7....55-48. Defensive battle as both of these games usually are, I just think Amherst can score more on Tufts than the Jumbos (outside of North) can score on Amherst.

ronk · February 03, 2017, 08:46:30 AM

Baptiste(Tufts) will be the swing factor in the game - if she avoids foul trouble or not will be a 10-point factor. Will go with Tufts because of home court and style with a grind-it-out defensive game. Amherst does play excellent defense but their offense will be constrained more so than vice-versa.

amh63 · February 03, 2017, 02:02:38 PM

Remember posters....last year's TWO battles between Tufts and Amherst ended up 1-point wins. Amherst lost at home and won at Tufts for the conference title! Almost all the starters for both teams return. Amherst played without an injured SR. Front court player in the Ttle game. Amherst has added fine front court players to battle the play of key Tufts bigs. In the end, it will be defense and the guard play. Amherst, imo, has the better guards...all starters returning...and more and better depth

amh63 · February 03, 2017, 10:16:29 PM

Amherst blew out a game but weak Bates team in Maine. The game was over after the first period. None of Amherst starters played more than 17 minutes....the bench actually beat Bates statistically. Only one Amherst player was held out. An often injured FY.
Tufts also won easily at Trinity. Guess they will return to Medford to await Amherst who will remain in Maine, I would think.
Big game on Sat. For the honor of hosting the Tourny.

amh63 · February 04, 2017, 05:01:55 PM

For the third straight game between Amherst and Tufts...second straight at Tufts, A 1 PT win!
Amherst takes the one point lead...behind most of the game...with under 30 sec. Tufts gets the ball... the clock...25.6sec. Tufts tries to score but with about a sec to go, Amherst gets the ball and it was a win for Amherst!
Both 7express and ronk have good points. Ronk's wild card player was the top scorer for Tufts but fouled out with over two nineties to go. 7's point with respect to offense was correct...it was on the foul line. A very low scoring game...with a lot of uncalled fouls underneath and TOs by both teams.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 04, 2017, 09:30:22 PM

I thought Tufts looked the better team throughout. The foul trouble is indeed a big achilles heel for the Jumbos. Great defense on both sides, but if Tufts could've shot better than 1-7 in the fourth quarter, the result would've been different. I imagine we'll see one, if not two more matchups before the year is out.

amh63 · February 04, 2017, 10:24:42 PM

Really Ryan!....based on what factors. Tufts was playing at home before a crowd of 2000...must be record home crowd for WBB. Amherst travels down from Maine. Tufts jumps to a 7-0 lead and ends the first quarter by 18-8. 2nd quarter Tufts was almost blanketed scoring only 3 points as Amherst settles down and jack up the defense. A comment of " If Tufts shot better than 1-7 in the 4th quarter" does't do it for me...really. Also the foul issue with Tufts players. Even the announcers questioned some of the TOs/ fouls called by the refs on Amherst...yet Tufts bigs were skirting around from fouling out...one did. From my bias view, North made some fouls that were given to others nearby. Check the replays on the matter.
Both teams had players that can shoot better than they did in the game...give the credit to defensive effort by both sides. In the end, I believe Amherst had a deeper team with players off the bench contributing. Check out Nagle in the last five minutes with blocks, hustle, deflections, etc. Announcers seemed impressed.
Like me, your eyes will see what you want to see, my friend. Want the facts!

Maine 1 · February 04, 2017, 10:44:53 PM

Finally good to see a competitive NESCAC game. Overall, I did not think either team played well. Part of that may have been really good defense, but also some poor shooting. I did think that Tufts missed a lot of open looks. Start of the game looked like Tufts would run away with the game. It looked to me that the two palming calls on Baptista through her off her game (you never see that called). There were a lot of fouls called, but both teams were forcing a lot of contact all over the court. I do think if Baptista does not foul out, Tufts probably wins, but she does have a history of getting into foul trouble. Given how good a player she is, she has to learn how to stay out of foul trouble. The player that really made a difference for Amherst was Nagle. I thought she totally shut down North (North was a none factor) and got some really big rebounds. Both teams shot poorly. The difference was free throws--which in a game which was as physical and grabby as this game was, I am not sure you can justify a team having 50% more free throws. I thought the game was too tightly called--but that is hard to tell on the video. I believe both teams can play much better than what they played today.
As far as the announcers, I understand this is D3 webcast, but they were about the worst I have ever heard.
Unless Bowdoin knocks one of these teams off, we will see Amherst and Tufts again at Amherst in the NESCAC final

gordonmann · February 05, 2017, 01:08:50 AM

It's very rare to see the top two teams play each other during the regular season. How rare? By my count it's only the fourth time it has happened since 1999-2000.

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2017/02/wrapup-024-women

amh63 · February 05, 2017, 09:45:37 AM

Maine1....nice post. Missed the palming calls. Amherst's PG Renner was called for traveling several times...also unusual on her. Yes there was also a lot of "grabbing" going om. Have not seen that term much in WBB. It was a physical game with bodies on he floor...too much moisture in a packed house?
The announcers were trying to be objective but were getting players mixed up, especially the Doswell "twins"., on the Amherst side.
Yes Nagle has the size to counter North down Low. One Amherst starter, a D1 transfer was frustrated by the fouls called on her early...checking North. Has the height but not the strength/bulk of North.
Tufts is unique in the conference in that it runs its own broadcast production. Love replays are great.
In my experience, there are full game videos available on utube later. Everyone can see a big game they missed and I can observe action that I missed....did leave the game to check on the MBB scores.