WBB: NESCAC

[BBstudent]

Sarah Leyman has to be the epitome of the student athlete. I don't think anyone who watched Amherst women's basketball over the last three plus years can cite a single play, much less a half or a game, when Sarah did not give at least 100% effort. There may have been times when she couldn't hit the side of a barn or when you would question a pass or a shot but her work ethic and desire have been undeniable. She is the "Rudy" of the team, always working as hard as possible irrespective of the results, simply because that is how it should be done, out of respect for the game and herself.
I am sure that everyone who played against her hated every minute of it, because I know I sure would have.
(and all that good citizen stuff and pre-med workload and great GPA at an academically pretty decent  college is just fluff to a basketball fan)

[amh63]

BBstudent,,,,,welcome aboard on this "board".    I guess you are an Amherst supporter.  Your post is a little confusing to me.  Sarah is indeed a hard grind it out type player.  She is also the captain and provides the leadership on and off the floor that is vital to team success.  Leadership in part by setting the example.
Somehow, your post seemed to diminish her BB talents, IMO.  Sarah has the talent.  One only has to look at her numbers in last year's semi-final game against Wash. U.
Anyway, keep on posting. 

[NH NESCAC Fan]

Wow.  Amherst was fortunate to escape tonight with a W.  I watched the first half online before leaving my office, and the ladies clearly did not have it tonight.  They seemed tired and slow.  Passes weren't crisp, ball handling was erratic, shooting was off.  It is a long season, and nights like this will happen  Get some rest and move on.

[amh63]

Write-up states that Amherst got a scare tonight in the away game.  The seniors led the way to a win and the more experienced players provided the support when the outside shots did not fall, etc.  ESU was a team that Williams beat by 18 in Boston and a team that will play Bowdoin in a few days.  I note this because Bowdoin climbed into the national ratings after its win over Colby.
Anyway, the next game with Eastern Conn. State at home will be most interesting on Thurs.  It will pit two ranked teams and two undefeated teams.  ESU is now 7-0 and has blown out a number of teams.  They do have 3 six footers on the team.  Amherst needs its rest after three games in 4 days.

[BBstudent]

Wow.  Amherst was fortunate to escape tonight with a W.  I watched the first half online before leaving my office,   and the ladies clearly did not have it tonight.  They seemed tired and slow.  Passes weren't crisp, ball handling was erratic, shooting was off.

Clearly Amherst's three point shooting was off (a loss of 9-12 points) but court side to my old and near-sighted eyes the Amherst players did not look tired or slow. The Emmanuel coach was at Sunday's Amherst game scouting and I think he did some things that other coaches haven't done against Amherst, which kept them in the game (and no, I would not like to discuss what I think those tactics were as the season is very young). In addition, Emmanuel always does some things well, such as sending a player long as soon as the ball is shot and in the first half Emmanuel must have scored 8 or more points catching Amherst with no one back. While I am sure that GP warned the team to expect that before the game, the change was made at halftime so in the second half there were no easy baskets given up because of that type of defensive lapse.
I think more then anything else this game shows what a very good coach (Andy) can do against a deeper and more talented team, even one that may be having an off night shooting (Amherst usually shoots 34% from 3-point line instead of 17%)

[sumfun]

First real test, and it was on the road.  Team a bit nicked up, but nothing like last year.  A win is a win, and good teams have to learn how to win when their best stuff isn't falling and they miss some easy ones right below the basket.  I have no doubt that Gromacki will make the proper adjustments and help Amherst learn from this game.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

I'll defer to your in attendance review BB.  As I said, I was watching on the computer...not the best of pictures.  But I will say that compared to opening night (the only game I've made in person) they definitely did not look like the same team.  In fact I clicked it on shortly after it started, and I had difficulty telling if I was even watching the right game...based on the level of play that I was expecting versus what I was seeing.

By the time I got home the second half was about halfway over, and it did appear that they had made adjustments, and were moving the ball much better.  But still, I am sure they will be happy for a break here shortly.

[BBstudent]

Don't defer too quickly as I am extremely poor at judging relative speed, that is, whether a player is actually fast/quick, or only looks that way because of the competition.
The real reason I doubt they were tired is that virtually every player, prior to last night, was playing in every game for between ten and seventeen minutes, with Jaci averaging eighteen and a couple at nine minutes.
While that reduced playing time "hurts" a player's individual stats, for example for the last two years Amherst has been under-represented if you look at the NESCAC individual leaders list, it has the benefit of keeping the team healthy and at least physically fresh.
In that respect, one might even ask that instead of points, rebound, etc., per game the stats instead be per minute played, because right now Amherst players are getting their points, rebounds, assists, etc. in about half the minutes compared to other schools.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

Yes, it certainly has been interesting to review the box scores after each game and see that in at least one case not one player had 20 minutes...and they were still blowing teams out.

[amh63]

Wasn't able to see the webcast last night and appreciate all the activity on the board wrt game.  Sure would like to get posters to discuss other teams and games.  I made reference to Bowdoin in my last post, partly because the Emmanuel team will be the common opponent of all the conference ranked teams.  Amherst, Williams and Bowdoin will soon all have  have played Emmanuel in the early season on the same floor.  I am aware that to make comparative game analyses can be most misleading.  However, with scant info sources elsewhere...what can you do?
Several points that interested me about last nights game.
1. J. Renner was not listed.  Sunday's game with R. Stockton was a rough and tumble game. A nicked player?
2. The starting lineup had M. Voigt in place of S. Finucane....though Shannon had more playing time.  Guess the coach is still working/evaluating combinations.  Marcia V., conference rookie of the year, IMO, seemed to be pressing a bit when she enters the games.  Her outside shots were not going in and she was not playing up to her ability on defense.  Was her starting a reward for her first steller game to date on Sunday?
3. C. Stedman is having a hard time so far this season "getting her game"  back.  It is good that Jaci D. is playing at her soph. year level, if not better, when she made All-America.  
4.  I see that the players having high turnover numbers had the lowest playing time among the "starters".

[amh63]

Amherst was giving a tough game tonight for most of the first half and even for a large part of the second half.  Amherst led ESU by 15 at the half due to a burst of scoring in the last minute.  In the second half, Amherst extended the lead to around 20 and it stayed that way for most of the second half.  Amherst's depth prevailed, aided by good defense.  ESU's turnovers was its downfall.  
Amherst's outside shoots started to fall in and ESU could not catch up.   ESU mixed up the defense early and seemed to confuse Amherst.  Late in the second half, ESU's full court trapping reduced the lead to 16, but Amherst adjusted and won going away.
Several points of possible interest.
Stedman did not dress.   Renner was dressed but was held out for a long period in the first half. Her injured knee was tested in the game and she played well.
The ESU fans were vocal and bothered the announcers.  Good for them!  
I wondered if ESU's president came up for the game.  She is married to an Amherst grad.  He is presently some bigwig for all of Mass.' colleges.  On the other hand,  BB was not his thing in college and probably would not meet his wife to watch a WBB game.  If he did show up, he can get on my case......since he is a classmate.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

I watched the Amherst game online again last night.  I don't know if it was the quality of the feed or what, but the quality of the play last night seemed much, much better than against Emmanuel the other night.  It's nice to see them cutting down on the turnovers as well.

[Maine 1]

just thought I would remind everyone on this board that I believe there are a few other teams in this league besides Amherst.  (Williams, Bowdoin, Colby, et al)

[sumfun]

Couldn't agree more Maine1.  So let's hear what others think.  Williams is winning, but they are doing it with a 7 player rotation.  Can they be successful with the length of the season, especially against Amherst since we've seen the balanced scoring coming off Gromacki's bench?  Can Colby's new coach find the passion to help those girls remain competitive?  Can Colleen Hart carry Tufts who seems to be lacking depth, especially under the basket.  Will Bowdoin rise to its former strength or even play the spoiler role?  Start chatting....

[amh63]

Maine 1.......welcome aboard and please feel free to chat about teams in the conference you like/support/watch...etc.
I hope they include the Maine teams.  Bowdoin and Colby were/are ranked teams and have talented players.  I am aware of Williams' talented team and curious about Wes., Tufts, etc.  I even look at other conference websites to check on writeups, etc.  However, I do not feel  it is my place to discuss conference teams that I do not know or have not watched live or on the web.
I encourage you if you know supporters of other conference teams , to have them post.
Oh yes, I apologize to Eastern Conn. State University for posting ESU vice ECSU.  I have been in and through the town they are situated many times.  My wife is a UConn graduate and I taught briefly at UConn, nearby.  As I posted earlier, my wife and I have met the Pres. of ECSU and even dined with her.