MBB: NESCAC

Started by cameltime, April 27, 2005, 02:38:16 PM

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amh63

Electric game in LeFrak...one that had its "waves" of solid leads by both teams , only to lose them to their opponents.  Amherst took a double digit lead in the first half and Williams took a double digit one in the second half...both team leads were 11, I believe. 
Coach Hixon was with his dad in NH and Aaron Toomey was the HC for the game...his parents were in the stands.  A moment of silence before the game for Coach Hixon's mom.
It was a defensive game by Both teams...a low scoring one for both teams that can score big time.
The announcer would cite the stats in the second half....both teams shot the same percentage.  Amherst won the backboard battle , but only by 3.  Williams won the block shots...had 10!  Turnovers were about the same, etc., etc.
Oh yes, Amherst won the game by one pt.
It is interesting that the game against Wesleyan was won by a last second shot....2 pts.  In a low 60's matchup game.  Amherst won by a pt. In a low 60's game.

P'bearfan

Nice win for the Polar Bears last night as they defeat St Joseph's 93-80.  Bowdoin had some nice offensive balance with Zavier Rucker leading the way with 23 points followed by David Reynolds (20), Jack Simond (13); Drew Gagnon (11); Sam Grad (10).  Hopefully Bowdoin can keep that offensive balance going.   Also  it was good to see that Drew Gagnon was back on the floor.  This was only his 4th game this year.  He's a great guy and his athleticism can add a real spark to the lineup.  Hope he continues to see the floor more.

nescac1

Williams has played five games in 2019 -- two vs. very poor defensive teams, and three vs. one good and two great defensive teams (Bates, Wesleyan and Amherst), none of whom are elite offensive teams.  Williams has pretty much owned the paint in all three of those games, but has nonetheless struggled to score because of rough outside shooting - 33 percent from 3 vs. Wesleyan, 30 vs. Bates, and 27 vs. Amherst.   Not a great trend line.  The Ephs nevertheless won two of those games, and missed winning the third by about an inch on the last shot, because of their defense.   After years in which Williams won games by simply outshooting teams, this year's team is very, very different in its relative strengths and weaknesses. 

Part of the issue is that Heskett is in an outside shooting slump the last few games after being scorching hot in the preceeding games ... I am confident that he will snap out of it, he's simply too good a scorer.  So long as Casey and Heskett are both on, Williams remains extremely difficult to beat.  But they can't both always be on.   And right now the Ephs just don't have enough floor spacing outside of Casey and Heskett.  That to me is the achilles heel of this team -- the defense is incredibly stout, the rebounding is solid, and interior play on offense is very difficult for teams to deal with.  But teams are daring guys to shoot rather than allow Williams easy baskets inside, and Williams is not hitting quite enough of the often very open shots available to them to punish them.  Something that Williams is going to have to figure out, one way or another, as the season moves along ... whether via guys just simply making more shots, or some tweaks to the rotation.   

Congrats by the way to Toomey, hard to have a more auspicious head coaching debut, and condolences to Coach Hixon. 

amh63

#25983
Yes Middhoops, my friend, there was only one game in D3 to watch last night.  I briefly switched to the WBB match up in Willytown during halftime....the Ephs were battling Amherst hard....close game and the stats showed a double digit win at the end.
Some other observation bits and pieces, so to speak, of the game.  There is a twitter interview with Toomey after the game on the Amherst Athletic website.  Toomey told his team that they would make a comeback....like they did in the Wes game....a 2 point loss....better than last season in Middletown.
I was surprised that shorter guards like Day were guarding Casey who did not seem to take advantage of his height.  Like others have pointed out, Amherst has depth with good outside shooters.  Find the hot outside shooter....though Mobley for the 2nd straight game was not dressed to play.
Good crowd at the game....most of the Williams' crowd seemed to be "older folks", as were the Amherst's crowd..though could not see the Amherst student section on line.
Amherst travels to Hamilton this weekend, another tough highly ranked conf. team.  Should be another battle in the Nescac and yes Middhoops, another must see game for me. :)

JEFFFAN

Nice win for Amherst - always good to beat the despised rival, especially when the "home refs" didnt seem to help out much!   Its a very young team that Amherst puts out there, so I dont have grand aspirations for this season.   Love what they are doing so far, however, and nice to see them playing up to their talent level.   Williams still the class of the league as best I can tell.


middhoops

amh63, while I suspect you may temporarily abandon THE game for a women's game or other pursuit; I will be glued to the Amherst/Hamilton game. 
The difference between you and me, I think, is that you have a life whereas I'm  obsessed throughout D3 basketball season.  Count me as really lucky, though.  My significant other loves basketball as much as I do.
My cuz will vouch that I have a life once the season is over.

JEFFFAN


Not sure about AMH63, but I will believe in Amherst over the longer term if they somehow come out of Hamilton with a win.  Long ride, middle of winter, terrific opponent.   That one will tell me where they are.

jayhawk

For those of you whom want to catch the Amherst Hamilton Basketball game on Saturday, the game time has been moved up because of the likely snowstorm. The gametime has moved from 3 PM to 1 PM

middhoops


Colby Hoops

Quote from: jayhawk on January 18, 2019, 06:34:24 AM
For those of you whom want to catch the Amherst Hamilton Basketball game on Saturday, the game time has been moved up because of the likely snowstorm. The gametime has moved from 3 PM to 1 PM

Looks like the Williams-Midd game has also been moved to 1 pm. Works well for me as I was having a tough time deciding between going to the Williams-Midd game or watching the Colby-Bowdoin game online -- and now I can do both!

amh63

#25990
Thanks Jayhawk....though I became aware of the change earlier.  A routine of mine is to check on to the Amherst website.  Today, there is a pic on the website....one I never saw before...with the announcement.  I have quite a few pics of the campus from the College...all three of my kids are alums too :)..as I was my Class Agent for a number of years. Anyway, the schedule change will help me in catching a few other games...yes, the WBB...maybe...Middhoops.  The qualification here is due to a visit this weekend by my younger son and his wife from Patterson, NY.  They are here to help me "downsize" a bit....take a number of large items to the dump/or charity sites.  Yes, do some heavy lifting.  Son bringing a larger SUV. 
I believe the Amherst MBB team will make the trip to the Clinton NY area after lunch...practice on Sat. and be rested/ready for the 1PM game.  Only question is whether Coach Hixon will be at the game.  Hamilton teams will be all around Amherst this weekend...including their WBB team.
  Remember I was up at Amherst for a tournament.  Stayed in a local hotel.  Rode up and down the elevators with members of the Williams MBB team...even chatted with a few coaches during breakfast.  Mention this info to point out that opponents with shorter travel trips will stay locally before scheduled games.
Oh yes, my younger son and wife have attended games with me up at Amherst.  He was a good BB player in HS, but only played intramural type games while in college...stands a little over 6'2" and very athletic.  Older son rowed crew and played Rugby before academic loads took priority.  Both graduated with honors and are members of Sigma Xi.

quicksilver

#25991
Jonathan Farmer, a former Bowdoin basketball player and captain, was one of the 4 American soldiers killed in Syria the other day by a suicide bomber. I wasn't paying attention to Bowdoin basketball during that period so don't remember him but still very close to home. He was just 37 years old and leaves behind a wife and 4 young children.  Here is the statement by Bowdoin President Clayton Rose. What a heart-breaking story . .

amh63

quicksilver....heartbreaking story in a troubling time around the world.  Thanks.
Interesting connection between Amherst and Williams occurred before and after the game.  The story and connection via the Amherst twitter on the Athletic website. 
Brief summary....there is a FY point guard on the Williams MBB from NC.  Same HS as Amherst's assist. Coach Toomey.  Aaron's HS coach tweeted both of them after the game and Toomey conversed with the Ephs' FY player before and after the game.  Their former high school coach summarized the situation....paraphrasing a bit "..there is seven fine years of PG play for me on the floor".

nescac1

Oh my god.  Such awful news, quicksilver.  Condolences to his family and the extended Bowdoin hoops community. 

Old Guy

Quote from: Vandy74 on January 16, 2019, 02:23:27 AM
Middlebury's hard fought 103-92 decision over a good Albertus Magnus squad tonight marks the 400th victory in the head coaching career of Jeff Brown.   His record at Middlebury presently stands at 370-201 (.667).  To put this in it's proper perspective, when he arrived here twenty-one and a half seasons back the Panther basketball program had a record of 568-906 (.385).  I'm sure Old Guy, Middhoops, Middfan along with Panther fans and ex players in general agree that "Thank-you" hardly seems adequate.  This has been the kind of ride we never expected to enjoy.  Congratulations to a good coach and a good man, and thank-you. 8-)

Amen, brother.