WBB: NESCAC

[feces monkey]

Playing in their own barn, it's tough not to put money on Bates at 3-1. However, I'll take even money and bet the Polar Bears for three units. I'll also put another two units each on Wesleyan and Bates to cover in the semis (especially with Bates getting 3.5 at home). And just because I like the payout, I'll put one unit on Wesleyan to win it all.

[Red1]

Bates 71 - Williams 55 

A slightly bigger margin then I predicted.  Williams is the fastest team I've seen this year by far, and also the most physical.  It was the second one that hurt them because Bates spent too much time on the charity stripe.  Also, Williams missed the first shot of their 1-1 tries more times then I can count.  Colleen Hession surprised me.  She was taking 3s from 5 feet behind the arc.  Her pecentage was very low, and it's no wonder.  She needs to step in and take better shots.  Those long 3s didn't cut it and Bates rebounded just about all of them.  Those shots hurt her team. 

Maggie Miller definitely put on a shooting display this afternoon, but the player who impressed me the most was Ellen Wilk.  If the rest of the team played with intensity that she played with for the whole game (like she did) it could have been a very different outcome.  I'm not saying that Williams didn't work hard, but Ellen worked much harder then everyone else (on either team), and really made a lot of plays on both sides of the court.

Normally the best player on the winning team gets game mvp honors, but I'm going to make an exception.  Meg Coffin played an excellent game, and certainly put up solid numbers as usual, but I think Ellen Wilk was the best player out there today.  She did all the little, but very important, things that don't show up in the stats and kept Williams alive for as long as they were.  Without her on the court slowing the guards down and keeping Bates from setting their offense I think Bates just blows Williams away  Ellen Wilk gets game MVP.  (This is my opinion, it is not official).

Bowdon 61 - Wesleyan 46.

Wesleyan had a couple of good runs to keep it close, but in general their performance was rather lackluster.  Too often Bowdoin would knock the ball away and the Wesleyan players would stand their and watch expecting their teamates to get it, but no one went after it right away.  Bowdoin was able to grab way too many loose balls because of this. 

The other difference in the game was foul shooting.  Weslyan's foul shooting was downright awful.  They easily missed more fould shots then the difference in the score.  Every once in a while they'd have a good burst, draw some fouls, and get to the line.  Generally, a good strategy, but then they'd consistently miss both free throws and Bowdoin would take the momentum.

Eileen Flaherty absoulutely owned Wesleyan.  She owned their whole team regardless of who was guarding her.  This was a no-brainer.  Eileen Flaherty was the MVP of semi-final #2.  (This is not official)

Looking forward to the 4th consecutive Bates/Bowdoin Nescac championship game.  Let's go Bobcats!

Cheers,
Red1

[feces monkey]

Good recap, Red.

In terms of NCAA berths, I still think Williams is in rather comfortably, and Bates getting to the finals after what they did in the conference during the regular season should get them even if they don't win the tourney (I'm not savvy enough with the QOWI and all that stuff to break it down with the actual determing factors). Bowdoin is in, regardless of Sunday.

My instinct is Wesleyan won't make it, but who knows (especially after last year -- when I wrote them off, as well). I imagine they'll go up against some of the other UAA teams (NYU, Rochester) for an at-large, and they actually match-up pretty well there. It would be nice, but four from one conference, even if it's the best, might be too many. We'll see.

Tomorrow's game will be big for Bowdoin because if they win, they'll almost certainly get a home seed for the first weekend (assuming they don't get tossed out of region like they did last year). With UMF, Bowdoin, USM and Bates in, the state will be well represented.

[D3Cast]

Just a reminder that the NESCAC final is on www.d3cast.com (audio and video) at 1 p.m. EST (change from the original noon start time, I think because Bates is coming back from break today, but I'd selfishly like to think it's to give more people a chance to watch both the men's and women's webcasts today  ).

Hope you enjoyed yesterday's webcasts, and we'll do our best today to give you a great experience.

-steve

[Snowman]

WELL LOOKS LIKE THE PARTY IS OVER FOR BATES........

SEE YA NEXT YEAR.......NEITHER TEAM LOOKED TO IMPRESSIVE SO FAR ..........

[Snowman]

Think the BATES SUPERSTAR (?) center could hit a free throw

[Red1]

While free throw shooting may not be Meg's strength she has been consistently putting up the best overall numbers in the NESCAC, and she has a back injury to boot.  Having a Williams center foul her hard from behind yesterday certainly didn't help that.

Bowdoin 68-Bates 58.  Bates' home win streak ends at 23.  I've never seen a team shoot as hot as Bowdoin did in the second half today.  They couldn't miss, and the offense they poured on was just too much for the Bobcats today.  The officials let the game get completely out of control in the last minute. Sarah Barton was shoved into the scorers table, and some free throws had a slim chance of hope, but no call.  Then with 10sec. left and the game not mattering Eileen Flaherty was knocked to the floor.  Again, no call.  It was extremely lucky that no one was injured, and it would have been on the officials if someone had.

That said, Bates' season is probably not over yet, although Snowman would clearly like it to be.  They are one of the top contenders for a class C bid at this point.  An event that Snowman clearly fears, and he should.

On a last note Dr. Fagar says hi to everyone.  He's not posting this year, but I did meet him at the game today.  He wants everyone to know that he hasn't forgotten about the posting up board.

Cheers,
Red1

[Snowman]

RED...stop crying.....Bates in or out they are not beating any good teams....they haven't thus far this year save one upset that was just corrected.....

Enough all of you NESCAC people love to bitch and moan so and so is hurt so and so has been hplaying with an injury and now "she's been playing with a bad back all year"...ENOUGH.....every team in the country has key people playing hurt.......it is not a factor you play with what you have and thats it.....its championship time...stop making excuses

[Red1]

Snowman,

Bates also beat Williams twice, and knocked Trinity (TX) out of the top 25.  That's 4 top 25 wins (yes Williams is in the top 25).  I don't see where 4 wins against top 25 teams would mean anything.

I don't see where crying comes in.  Bowdoin was the better team on the floor today, and I never said otherwise.  Coffin's put up the best numbers all year no matter how you look at, injurty or not, give her the props she's earned.

This is the NESCAC board, if you don't like the way we operate then GO AWAY and stop whining at us.

[Snowman]

Red, you elitist crybaby, face, Bates just isn't that good, neither is Bowdoin for that matter, but you guys ALWAY use the "injury" excuse....SUCK IT UP....you act like you teams are the only oonles with hurt players......Also, Wiliam's doesn't make it out of the 1st weekend they also are not that good....IT SURE HELPS WHEN YOUR LEAGUE MINIPLULATES THE SYSTEM BY ONLY PLAYING EACH TEAM IN THE CONFERENCE ONCE.....and don't even try to tell me that it is not a QOWI advantage....everyone know it is

[Red1]

Right, I'm an elitist crybaby, and that's why snowman feels the need to whine, snivel, and bully the nescac.  Am I missing something?  People say that bullying is a sign of insecurity with oneself.  Snowman, is there something you'd like to talk about?

I don't know what injury excuse snowman refers to.  I never said Bates lost because Coffin was injured.  In fact, I credited Bowdoin with being the better team today flat out.  I only said she put up the best numbers in the conference throughout the year, and I think she deserves mad props for that.  There's no excuse needed for being the best.  It appears that snowman has trouble admitting mistakes.  Instead of accepting that his statement that bates plays "no one" was incorrect he decided that a personal attack based on more incorrect information was the best way to deal with that.  I think this is unnecessary and inappropriate for this board.

I'm now completely done with this conversation.  I'll return when someone has a constructive topic to discuss in a civil manner (the normal way of the nescac board).

Cheers,
Red1

[Snowman]

RED

Lets revisit the conf. manipulating the system to boost QOWI numbers......

[bearsonocow]

Snowman,

Both Red and I apologize that you didn't get into a NESCAC school and that you have to work for a graduate of one.  It could be worse, you could be working for an Ivy League Grad like me.

But let's not add any trash to this board, let's focus on the numbers: Coffin leads the league in rebounding and is #2 in scoring, #2 in field goal percentage, # 3 in steals and #4 in blocked shots, not bad out of 8 categories.  She's likely to be first team and in contention for player of the year.  [ stats from this weekends NESCAC program]

Hey, even Labron James missed 7 consecutive free-throws just this past Friday night. [sportscenter is my source]

And when it comes to the NESCAC, let's not let QOWI numbers muddy the facts:
Bowdoin Women - a NESCAC school - made it to the final four 2 years ago.
Amherst Men have made it to the final four in the last two years.
And Williams Men won the National Championship in 2003, the first New England School to do so and then made it to the Championship game in 2004.

You should do your homework before you start trashing the league.

[feces monkey]

It's true that most teams have players competing with injuries. Southern Maine, however, is unique in that it loses players for fudging work-study hours, trying to bilk the federal government out of grant money. Injuries just don't have the cachet as being a common criminal.

Unfortunately, this will no doubt be the first in a long line of nitwits and whiners if/when the NESCAC gets four teams in, as is projected. Just another example of the strength and vision of having a single-round robin tournament.

Looks like Loonin and Byrne had big second halves for the Polar Bears. Man, six-straight. Pretty impressive, especially at Alumni. Hats off to Bates for making a strong second half run into the tourney. I was worried there for a while...

[Red1]

This just posted on the front page.  The Nescac did, in fact, get four schools into the  tournament.  Bowdoin (obviously), Bates, Williams, and to my pleasant surprise, Wesleyan (CT).

Just thougt everyone would want to know.

Cheers,
Red1