MBB: NESCAC

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

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nescac1

#25005
Tremendous effort by both Williams and Hamilton and the Ephs had juuuust a little bit more.  Pretty much from the tip, the game featured Williams pulling out to a 10 point lead, which Hamilton would very quickly erase.  It went back and forth like that all night and even at the end when it seemed like Williams had the game salted away, Hamilton had an opportunity to tie but couldn't get a shot off at the buzzer.

For Williams, this was a very different sort of game than we've seen in quite some time.  James Heskett was very good but not at his very, very best.  And Bobby Casey had an off game.  But Williams got tremendous contributions from up and down the roster, the Ephs' most balanced effort in quite some time.  Leading the way and earning the game ball was Mike Greenman who was simply unreal.  On January 20, it sure looked like his career was over suffering a tough injury vs. Middlebury.  And despite not playing for five weeks, he was massive tonight -- 14 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 3-4 from deep including a four point play, and clutch free throws to help Williams put the game away.  What an unreal performance, certainly his best and biggest game of the season.

Lots of other guys really stood out.  Heskett had 19 points, nearly all from outside.  The last time Hamilton played Williams, he killed them inside; this time he killed them from deep.  You can't take everything away from him, he is just too versatile.  Tomorrow will be the unstoppable force vs. the immovable object as Wesleyan will surely put surefire DPOY Sears on Heskett, who is the best offensive weapon in the league.  Should be a great match-up between two of the very best in the country at what they do.  Cole Teal continues his fine play in the NESCAC tourney, he was really big tonight hitting two clutch 3's and finishing with 12-8-3.  A great sign to see him have his first over .500 3 point shooting game in a looong time.  When his shot was way off, he diversified his game.  If he can just get going from 3 as well, suddenly, he is a true weapon on offense, as he has been sneaky good at finishing in the lane over the past month   Sophomores Feinberg and Karp both gave the team an offensive spark off the bench as well in limited minutes.  Both should be relatively fresh tomorrow and I think may need to see more court time vs. a big, physical Wesleyan squad.

Finally, Bobby Casey -- he had a rough game, Hamilton after getting torched by him the last time these teams played clearly made him the centerpiece of their defensive plan, he couldn't get open for ANY sort of clear look and he was also just a little bit off all night, nothing seemed to fall for him.  So what does he do?  Make the decisive three pointer, to put the Ephs up five, from wayyy downtown just before the shot clock expired with about 20 seconds left on the clock.  He's been doing it all year ... even when he is ice cold or struggling, the guy just has a knack for making clutch, high-degree of difficulty shots in impossible situations ... perhaps the heir to Johnny McCarthy on that front. 

For Hamilton, Kena Gilmour and Peter Hoffmann were both spectacular all game long, especially Hoffmann.  Not known for his outside shot, Hoffmann was on fire from outside and had 3-4 highlight reel, ridiculously acrobatic finishes inside.  He played a lot as an undersized 5 and was a match-up nightmare for the Eph bigs.  He also held his own on the defensive end despite a HUGE size disadvantage.  Gilmour showed why he is a first-team all-league guy and likely future all-American ... he has an impossibly tough combination of very quick first step, explosive finishing, and great range on his shot.  Those two guys combined for 40-14-6 plus 5 steals and two blocks.  Wow.  Hoffmann injured himself with about a minute left in the game.  I very much hope it's not serious as it would stink for him to miss the NCAA tourney after working so hard to get his team there over the past three years.  That he had to come out of the game on a free throw shot is not a great sign, unfortunately.  Andrew Groll also was great for the Conts tonight with 12-8 plus 2 blocks off the bench.  He has an old school post game, very tough.  Grassey had a tough night for Hamilton and really Hoffmann and Gilmour as spectacular as they were didn't get quite enough help. 

Tomorrow should be really interesting.  Both teams are gonna be exhausted -- I'd say Wesleyan had the more intense, brutally physical game to recover from (although Hamilton-Williams was still plenty intense) but the Ephs have a ridiculously short turnaround from 9:30 to 2:30.  Both teams are gonna need some big bench minutes.  They've split two games this year, both going to overtime, and also split two games last year.  Unless one team or the other just has no gas left in the tank, I expect another low-scoring, toss-up sort of game between two teams who both know EXACTLY what the other wants to do on offense.  Should be fun, and go Ephs!

A few other notes.  Watching online on a small screen, no way to see what happened in that Wesleyan-Amherst last second scrum, but curious if other folks had the same take as Jayhawk. 

I think Amherst is very likely out of the NCAA tourney, Wesleyan and Williams should both get home pods with the winner of tomorrow's game hosting, possibly, all the way to Salem if they keep winning.  The northeast rankings will probably end up something like: Williams/Wesleyan winner, Eastern Conn, Williams/Wesleyan loser, Hamilton, Middlebury, MIT (if they win tomorrow), Springfield/Amherst.  I think Springfield, Amherst, Keene and Salem are probably all unlikely to make it as Pool C teams, just too many upsets in other league tourneys for any of them to squeeze in.  But it's not unthinkable, certainly. 

Maxpreps

After watching the Bowdoin- Amherst game last weekend, nobody from Amherst should complain about the officiating. Last weekend, was borderline ridiculous . I believe it was 8-1 fouls near end of the game and Bowdoin was clearly hammered on many different possesions late in the game. Great season by all the Nescac teams.  The best two teams play for the Championship tomorrow. Hope to a See Nescac team in Final Four again. ( or two)  🙂

Cards Fan

Quote from: nescac1 on February 24, 2018, 10:09:07 PM
Tremendous effort by both Williams and Hamilton and the Ephs had juuuust a little bit more.  Pretty much from the tip, the game featured Williams pulling out to a 10 point lead, which Hamilton would very quickly erase.  It went back and forth like that all night and even at the end when it seemed like Williams had the game salted away, Hamilton had an opportunity to tie but couldn't get a shot off at the buzzer.

For Williams, this was a very different sort of game than we've seen in quite some time.  James Heskett was very good but not at his very, very best.  And Bobby Casey had an off game.  But Williams got tremendous contributions from up and down the roster, the Ephs' most balanced effort in quite some time.  Leading the way and earning the game ball was Mike Greenman who was simply unreal.  On January 20, it sure looked like his career was over suffering a tough injury vs. Middlebury.  And despite not playing for five weeks, he was massive tonight -- 14 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 3-4 from deep including a four point play, and clutch free throws to help Williams put the game away.  What an unreal performance, certainly his best and biggest game of the season.

Lots of other guys really stood out.  Heskett had 19 points, nearly all from outside.  The last time Hamilton played Williams, he killed them inside; this time he killed them from deep.  You can't take everything away from him, he is just too versatile.  Tomorrow will be the unstoppable force vs. the immovable object as Wesleyan will surely put surefire DPOY Sears on Heskett, who is the best offensive weapon in the league.  Should be a great match-up between two of the very best in the country at what they do.  Cole Teal continues his fine play in the NESCAC tourney, he was really big tonight hitting two clutch 3's and finishing with 12-8-3.  A great sign to see him have his first over .500 3 point shooting game in a looong time.  When his shot was way off, he diversified his game.  If he can just get going from 3 as well, suddenly, he is a true weapon on offense, as he has been sneaky good at finishing in the lane over the past month   Sophomores Feinberg and Karp both gave the team an offensive spark off the bench as well in limited minutes.  Both should be relatively fresh tomorrow and I think may need to see more court time vs. a big, physical Wesleyan squad.

Finally, Bobby Casey -- he had a rough game, Hamilton after getting torched by him the last time these teams played clearly made him the centerpiece of their defensive plan, he couldn't get open for ANY sort of clear look and he was also just a little bit off all night, nothing seemed to fall for him.  So what does he do?  Make the decisive three pointer, to put the Ephs up five, from wayyy downtown just before the shot clock expired with about 20 seconds left on the clock.  He's been doing it all year ... even when he is ice cold or struggling, the guy just has a knack for making clutch, high-degree of difficulty shots in impossible situations ... perhaps the heir to Johnny McCarthy on that front. 

For Hamilton, Kena Gilmour and Peter Hoffmann were both spectacular all game long, especially Hoffmann.  Not known for his outside shot, Hoffmann was on fire from outside and had 3-4 highlight reel, ridiculously acrobatic finishes inside.  He played a lot as an undersized 5 and was a match-up nightmare for the Eph bigs.  He also held his own on the defensive end despite a HUGE size disadvantage.  Gilmour showed why he is a first-team all-league guy and likely future all-American ... he has an impossibly tough combination of very quick first step, explosive finishing, and great range on his shot.  Those two guys combined for 40-14-6 plus 5 steals and two blocks.  Wow.  Hoffmann injured himself with about a minute left in the game.  I very much hope it's not serious as it would stink for him to miss the NCAA tourney after working so hard to get his team there over the past three years.  That he had to come out of the game on a free throw shot is not a great sign, unfortunately.  Andrew Groll also was great for the Conts tonight with 12-8 plus 2 blocks off the bench.  He has an old school post game, very tough.  Grassey had a tough night for Hamilton and really Hoffmann and Gilmour as spectacular as they were didn't get quite enough help. 

Tomorrow should be really interesting.  Both teams are gonna be exhausted -- I'd say Wesleyan had the more intense, brutally physical game to recover from (although Hamilton-Williams was still plenty intense) but the Ephs have a ridiculously short turnaround from 9:30 to 2:30.  Both teams are gonna need some big bench minutes.  They've split two games this year, both going to overtime, and also split two games last year.  Unless one team or the other just has no gas left in the tank, I expect another low-scoring, toss-up sort of game between two teams who both know EXACTLY what the other wants to do on offense.  Should be fun, and go Ephs!

A few other notes.  Watching online on a small screen, no way to see what happened in that Wesleyan-Amherst last second scrum, but curious if other folks had the same take as Jayhawk. 

I think Amherst is very likely out of the NCAA tourney, Wesleyan and Williams should both get home pods with the winner of tomorrow's game hosting, possibly, all the way to Salem if they keep winning.  The northeast rankings will probably end up something like: Williams/Wesleyan winner, Eastern Conn, Williams/Wesleyan loser, Hamilton, Middlebury, MIT (if they win tomorrow), Springfield/Amherst.  I think Springfield, Amherst, Keene and Salem are probably all unlikely to make it as Pool C teams, just too many upsets in other league tourneys for any of them to squeeze in.  But it's not unthinkable, certainly.

Only a little bit biased here, but..

No. Just no. It was a basketball play. It was a borderline foul, which the refs had avoided calling all game for either side. There's no way Schneider has a concussion. Earlier that game, 6 foot tall Antone Walker brought him to the ground, so it really wasn't all that unbelievable that Jordan Sears could.

toad22

I had a great view of the last play in the Amherst/Wesleyan game. What I saw was that Sears made a great play on the rebound, I thought that Schneider clearly fouled Sears, then Sears turned to try to free himself from Schneider's smothering presence, hit Schneider right in the chops with an elbow, turned the other way, and clocked him again with annother elbow. The elbows were clearly unintentional, and Sears' elbows were really not extended very far, but boy he really thumped Schneider's chin, twice. My assumption is that the refs, when they didn't call Schneider for the initial foul, felt like they needed to just let the play happen. I thought it was bad officiating.

AllStar


nescac1

It's two good story lines in today's NESCAC championship and I think the winner will produce coach of the year, deservedly. 

Wesleyan lost two key seniors from last year's team, which had a disappointing end to the season.  Then, Salim Green, who I think was headed for a big year, did not return.  Nor did valuable bench scorer Andrew Gardiner.  If you look at the contributions Wesleyan is getting this year, Bonner, O'Brien (who has missed a big chunk of the second semester), and Krill were really the only guys who were major contributors last season.  Jordan Sears has gone from a seventh man to likely DPOY in the league.  JR Bascom has really improved moving into a starting role down low.  And of course three frosh have played big roles for the Cards, especially Austin Hutcherson, who has played a key role wherever he's been needed, both at the point on the wing.  Plus a few sophomores who saw no meaningful time last year have grown into solid role players. 

Williams took a different path, as much bigger things were expected to start the season, despite the graduation of Dan Aronowitz.  But then Kyle Scadlock went down and Mike Greenman was lost for much of the second semester, and his back-up Chris Galvin missed a few games as well.  Williams has since then been carried by last year's sixth and seventh men, both of whom had to shift from role players to stars. 

Both squads are on major rolls and are very deserving of NESCAC titles.  Alas, only one can win! 

In my view all but three league awards are decided heading into today. COY, I noted above.  ROY and DPOY are locked down by Wesleyan players.

First team is Heskett/Casey/Gilmour/Pace/Daly.  If Williams wins the title I think Heskett is POY, if not, Daly probably holds on by a thread.  Second team, I think McCarthy, Riopel, Gendron, and Krill have all earned spots.  For the fifth spot, it's a toss-up between Hoffmann, Grassey, Bonner, and O'Brien.  Of that group, Grassey has been the most consistent, Bonner the best scorer, Hoffmann is I think the most talented player and after an up-and-down year has come on late with two huge NESCAC tourney games, and O'Brien is the most impactful in the minutes he did play, but arguably missed too much time.  O'Brien and Bonner have one more chance to make their cases today. 

jayhawk

Give me a break
You swing an elbow and hit Schneider in the chin and deck him and Schneider gets knocked down without faking
Both teams played rough  and in general the refs allowed that for both teams so that is fine so I am not sure you call a foul when the ball is being pressured then
You do not let a flagrant foul go uncalled.
Intentional or not intentional
That is  a dangerous play


nescac1


nescac1

Great view of Krill's game-winner.  I'd say about 26-28 feet out:

https://twitter.com/wes_athletics/status/967558206242414592

Cards Fan

Quote from: jayhawk on February 25, 2018, 08:26:02 AM
Give me a break
You swing an elbow and hit Schneider in the chin and deck him and Schneider gets knocked down without faking
Both teams played rough  and in general the refs allowed that for both teams so that is fine so I am not sure you call a foul when the ball is being pressured then
You do not let a flagrant foul go uncalled.
Intentional or not intentional
That is  a dangerous play
Being upset about a no-call is fine. However, you are making it seem as if this was the worst call ever. That play will never be considered a flagrant. Ever. Be realistic.

Bucket

Quote from: nescac1 on February 25, 2018, 09:17:49 AM
Great view of Krill's game-winner.  I'd say about 26-28 feet out:

https://twitter.com/wes_athletics/status/967558206242414592

Insane. Both for Krill and then the near-miraculous shot from McCarthy.

And notice Hixon going after the official and giving him an earful post-buzzer. Assuming it was about the Sears-Schneider play.

amh63

Bucket....it was...the announcer made a point of it!
Watched a bunch of games of basketball, from pro to high school over many, many decades.  Seems to me, in D3, the referees really need to be upgraded.  I posted earlier with a question of how they are selected for Tourny/critical games.  In D3, the play has become rougher...is it because the refs let it go?  Too many games in the conference are being influenced,IMO.  We tend to label it "home court". Advantage.   Checking random scores after many close games in D3, and fouls disparity often brings a frown.  Games are often determined by looking at the foul shots made stats.
Nescac need a better grade of refs before some serious injury happens. 

toad22

Quote from: amh63 on February 25, 2018, 10:45:43 AM
Bucket....it was...the announcer made a point of it!
Watched a bunch of games of basketball, from pro to high school over many, many decades.  Seems to me, in D3, the referees really need to be upgraded.  I posted earlier with a question of how they are selected for Tourny/critical games.  In D3, the play has become rougher...is it because the refs let it go?  Too many games in the conference are being influenced,IMO.  We tend to label it "home court". Advantage.   Checking random scores after many close games in D3, and fouls disparity often brings a frown.  Games are often determined by looking at the foul shots made stats.
Nescac need a better grade of refs before some serious injury happens.

I don't know how the referees are ever going to get better. My numbers might be old, but the last time I checked, a ref in a NESCAC game gets $175. A ref in the MAAC (D1) gets $1750. A ref in the Big 10 gets $5000, I believe. Were does a good ref go? In most situations, the referees that we get are "good enough". I wish we had better, but who will pay what it takes to get them?

jumpshot

amH63:

The referee likely saved Hixson from himself by departing for the locker room. The sky is not falling regarding referees. As one NESCAC coach once said, "If the D3 officials assigned to NESCAC were any better, they would be in Storrs or at UMass games."

Since you've watched so many games, you must know there is a limited pool of officials, particularly in Western Mass, and many of them a recognizable familiar faces with the lord jeffs, Springfield, etc.

amh63

Sad, if it is just Money.  The conference is made up of schools with big bucks.  For the conference tourney, as they do when schools host post season sites....there is a fee to attend.  The basketball games held in LeFrak had ticket fees for the extra expenses.  The Nescac org can have the schools pay a "tax" to get the "better" ref crews.  We are talking "student" athletes here that have bright future elsewhere.  A major injury to the head may bring serious problems in many forms to the Nescac.  The conference schools provide a first class education to their students.  Provide first class coaches as well.  How about first class refs to basketball games.  The aim is to reduce the rough play that may lead to series injuries on the floor.  Sad, if it is just Money.