MBB: NESCAC

[jumpshot]

Williams trails amherst 26-5 after 10 minutes. Six turnovers, four on the first several possessions, passing without a purpose, not defending the three, too predictable patterns, etc. Next season starts tonight ....

[SpringSt7]

Williams trailed 26-5 with 9:49 left in the half and heads into the locker room down by 2, 32-30. Noticeable uptick in intensity and shot making as well, Amherst just came out guns blazing and the Ephs were shocked. Yates really kept them in it - 14 pts, 6 rebounds, 3 assists - give him a ton of credit.

Lot of hoops remaining but says a lot about what that program and their coach are about

[jumpshot]

Ephs repeat performance outscored 20-7 in first ten minutes of second half ....

[SpringSt7]

Seems almost impossible to say but Williams has lost 5 games in a row

[jumpshot]

Ephs score 10 points in last nine minutes of second half, including 0 for 13 on threes ....signing off until November 2026 ....

[Bucket]

Just connected the dots that Shane Regan, an all-American last year at Wesleyan, is playing at Chicago and they are currently ranked #2 in the country per the latest D3 Hoops poll. Are there any other former NESCAC players that are thriving in other conferences? Who are the players that have transferred into the NESCAC that are making an impact this year?

Regarding the Williams program - Maker taking the job at Marist was a huge blow. He is arguably the best recruiter/offensive mind in the last 20+ years. 

Yes, but he was not long for Williams either way. He was already seeing the lack of institutional support. The bigger NESCAC what-if/screw-up was at Amherst, with the admin selecting Spears over Maker. Imagine the Lord Mammoths now if they had made the correct hire!

I've got no skin in this, but the logic seems inconsistent.  Maker was seeing a lack of support at Williams, but his radar wasn't tracking anything like that going on at Amherst?  Why would he want to throw his hat in the ring? Isn't the support at Amherst (from what I've read) far less than what it was for most of Hixon's tenure?

That was not at as apparent when he interviewed following Hixon's retirement. Also, he had been fired by Marist and had not landed his next gig yet when he interviewed (and was a finalist) for the Amherst job.

[D3BBALL]

Picks for this week, last week 7-3 overall 12-8.

Only 5 games this weekend.

Willams 73 at Middlebury 80
Trinity 72 at Wesleyan 59
Tufts 72 at Conn 78
Hamilton 56 at Amherst 68
Colby 71 at Bowdoin 77

[SpringSt7]

Weird to just be sitting here on January 22nd and Bates is a basically a lock to make the NCAA tournament. Just not something we're used to it. Also Colby really let the rope slip last weekend with the second loss to them. Does anyone have any updates on Montiel?

[NEhoops]

It seems like Trinity and Tufts are locks, but after that there is still a lot of games to be played.

The grouping of Amh/Bat/Bow/Col/Con/Wes is going to be very competitive - one, two or three of those teams could get a bid. Con beating Tuf (not predicting that) would be a huge boost for them. The loser of the Bow/Col game will be in tough spot.

With Ham/Mid/Wil on the outside looking in unless they make a miracle run in the NESCAC tournament. 

[Stickthe3]

Weird to just be sitting here on January 22nd and Bates is a basically a lock to make the NCAA tournament. Just not something we're used to it. Also Colby really let the rope slip last weekend with the second loss to them. Does anyone have any updates on Montiel?

I don't have any intel and I could be wrong, but it looked like he was wearing a boot on his right foot while on the bench at the Bates game on Sunday.  It was hard to tell from the stream, so take that for what you will. Maybe someone could confirm or correct me on this.

[Stickthe3]

Picks for the weekend below.  This week's slate is a little trickier than the first two, as I see Williams vs Middlebury and Colby vs Bowdoin as toss-ups. Based on the first two weeks, I'd say Amherst is better than I thought going into the season, and Williams is much worse than I anticipated.  Still a lot of ball left to play though.

8-2 last week, 14-6 on the year

Williams 58 at Middlebury 63
Trinity 75 at Wesleyan 62
Tufts 80 at Conn College 70
Hamilton 53 at Amherst 67
Colby 74 at Bowdoin 68

[D3BBALL]

Weird to just be sitting here on January 22nd and Bates is a basically a lock to make the NCAA tournament. Just not something we're used to it. Also Colby really let the rope slip last weekend with the second loss to them. Does anyone have any updates on Montiel?

I don't have any intel and I could be wrong, but it looked like he was wearing a boot on his right foot while on the bench at the Bates game on Sunday.  It was hard to tell from the stream, so take that for what you will. Maybe someone could confirm or correct me on this.

Injuries going to start hurting more teams. Bates couple of nice wins without Pouye, does anyone know when he will be back? O'Leary playing like a all conference player the last few games. Colby on the road and then U Maine Farmington on the road both without Pouye. Another tough one against St joes Maine on the road. Does St Joes have their injured players back?