MBB: NESCAC

nescac1 · February 15, 2020, 05:25:14 PM

What a weekend of post play in Williamstown this weekend. There was Omar Sarr, who is just a force of nature athletically and could be truly dominant in two years (if he sticks around - and I hope he does - but give him a redshirt year to add strength and polish and he could DEFINITELY help a D1 program inside). And then there was Luke Rogers and Matt Karpowicz, who both have a combination of footwork, moves, and inside touch that you just don't see anymore. Rogers has improved so much, he's really worked on his physique and is now much better on defense and has a lot more endurance. And man, he can score in just a myriad of ways inside. Free throw shooting seems like his only weakness (but it's a significant one). And then Nate Karren, who is really coming on fast for the Ephs: he also has a great touch with the hook shot, which is unblockable. Karren's D and rebounding are very strong, especially for a frosh. He will be very good, especially if the outside shot finally starts to fall (and I think it will next year). Old school post play is such a lost art in hoops at all levels, and so great to see it thriving in NESCAC.

The Ephs are certainly playing high-level defense, moving the ball very well, and scoring inside at a tremendous rate. The Ephs still cannot hit a 3 to save their lives, today it got to the point where they looked desperate NOT to shoot it. They were bricking and air-balling some wide-open ones when they did. Still, an encouraging sign to be able to beat a very good team despite making only two (!) perimeter shots the entire game. I don't recall any long 2's, even. Williams is playing 10 guys (and that is with two guys on the bench with injuries) and all are making contributions at different times. Kind of doing it with smoke and mirrors, without any sort of perimeter offense. Tonight, besides the center duo playing Rogers to a standstill (not easy), Jovan Jones carried the team early in the first half, Cole Prowitt-Smith was tremendous down the stretch, and Ryan Moon once again provided a boost with his inspired, aggressive style of play on both ends. The way he fights for boards at 5'10 is fun to see. Great weekend for him, he's come really far as a player over the course of this season. Overall, great to see the Ephs head into the post-season with momentum. Winning in Lefrak against a fired up Amherst team will NOT be easy, but hey, anything can happen for ANY team in NESCAC from here on out!

lumbercat · February 15, 2020, 05:40:23 PM

I f Bowdoin wins tomorrow wouldn't they get the 7 seed? Bates and Bowdoin would have 4 wins but Bowdoin has win over Bates.

amh63 · February 15, 2020, 05:51:28 PM

I'm confused

!
Yes, it is a strange season....heading into the Nescac Tournament. There is that Old Saying that begins....On a given night.....
I tried to figure out the standings heading into the Conn game in LeFrak, but too many parameters still in play. Conn was leading Amherst by 2 on the scoreboard at the end of the first half. At the start of the 2nd half the Conn lead was 4. Seems the refs/scorer had a discussion and got Conn received 2 more points.
Yes it has been a strange MBB season. I like the WBB....three top 10 teams entering the tournament season...Nescac/NCAA.
Had to add a couple of things....a spelling correction and another "strange" thing. Amherst website writeup had a statement that there was a "3" point halftime score difference.! Oh well...new sports writer at Amherst appears to me to be in over his head .

Sticks11 · February 15, 2020, 05:54:23 PM

Yes, if Bowdoin wins tomorrow, I believe they would be the 7 seed since they beat both Bates and Hamilton.

old_hooper · February 15, 2020, 06:02:42 PM

Lumbercat and Sticks, you would be right... my bad.

Colby Hoops · February 15, 2020, 06:24:50 PM

Either way, it will be a fun rivalry game in the 2-7 matchup. I'm hoping for a Bowdoin win -- they've been a pretty bad team for much of the year in the non-conference slate, including a loss on Wednesday to a bad Anna Maria team. Still, beating a team three times in one season is tough and that will be the case with either Bates or Bowdoin.

Wild end to that Bates-Midd game. Omar Sarr is so impactful when he stays out of foul trouble -- staying out of foul trouble is a major issue though. And cool for seniors Nick Gilpin and Jeff Spellman to end their regular season Nescac careers with such strong games in a big win.

Attended Tufts-Williams. Williams is such a good defensive team. If they can ever make a few from the outside they'd be really good. They really just can't score. Rogers outplayed Karp for the first 30 minutes of the game, and then Karp really dominated down the stretch. Impressive play from him. Don't usually comment on officiating, but there were a lot of very suspect calls in that game (both ways).

Also, credit to Conn College. They didn't get a win, but they played some competitive basketball this last weekend. They play hard and have some decent young talent. I do think they're headed in the right direction long term.

nescac1 · February 15, 2020, 06:28:30 PM

Colby Hoops, are you a Williamstown local??

Agree re the officiating. Didn't favor either team, I agree, but yeah, some really odd calls. I think that contributed to things getting just a bit chippy at times out there ...

Colby Hoops · February 15, 2020, 06:59:29 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on February 15, 2020, 06:28:30 PM
Colby Hoops, are you a Williamstown local??

Yup, moved to Billsville from Boston about 3 years ago. Root for the Ephs in any non-Colby games. Didn't get to as many games in person this year, the 7 month old has to go to bed too early for the weeknight games!

nescac1 · February 15, 2020, 07:29:57 PM

Nice! You did seem to make a lot of games in Chandler for a non-Eph ... And congrats ... it does get (a little) easier

!

amh63 · February 16, 2020, 06:32:33 AM

Aware it is COLD in NEngland. Seems the Amherst's baseball team is off to Florida. Will be going South shortly myself. Recall that a member of the MBB team also plays baseball. Very unusual dual sport combo.

JEFFFAN · February 16, 2020, 01:18:04 PM

Does this game matter to Wesleyan?

Cards Fan · February 16, 2020, 01:38:02 PM

Quote from: JEFFFAN on February 16, 2020, 01:18:04 PM

Does this game matter to Wesleyan?

No. They are mathematically eliminated, just playing spoiler.

SpringSt7 · February 16, 2020, 02:37:20 PM

Wesleyan comes back from 12 down to beat Bowdoin---meaning Hamilton will be the final team in to the NESCAC tournament. Cruel reward for Tufts---Kena Gilmour coming to your gym for the NESCAC quarterfinals.

Colby Hoops · February 16, 2020, 02:53:53 PM

Quote from: SpringSt7 on February 16, 2020, 02:37:20 PM
Wesleyan comes back from 12 down to beat Bowdoin---meaning Hamilton will be the final team in to the NESCAC tournament. Cruel reward for Tufts---Kena Gilmour coming to your gym for the NESCAC quarterfinals.

I think Hamilton has a real shot against Tufts. They're coming off a very dominant win over a good Trinity team, and they shot really poorly in their road loss at Tufts earlier this year.

Some really great matchups in this first round. Think the tournament is wide open. Only team I can't really see winning the whole thing is Bates, but I could certainly see them beating Colby (especially if Jefferson is still out).

SpringSt7 · February 16, 2020, 03:33:51 PM

Now that conference play has wrapped up, my best attempt at picking awards:

POY: Jefferson (needs to come back for the tournament, otherwise the door is open)

COY: Strahorn

ROY: King (side note: it was quietly a stacked season for the freshmen class---Omar Sarr would have been my second pick, and his teammate Stephon Baxter was also very impressive. Ben McPherron (12.7) and Cole Prowitt-Smith (12.1) both averaged the most points amongst any freshmen in the NESCAC since Jack Simonds in 2015-16 and really weren't even in consideration. Not to mention Hamilton's Eric Anderson (second on the team in scoring) and Nkosi Cooper before he went down to injury, as well as the rest of the much discussed Eph freshman class. The league should be in good hands going forward.)

DPOY: Padmore

First Team: Jefferson, Savage, Farrell, Karpowicz, Gilmour

Second Team: Reynolds, Rogers, Day, Donovan, Spellman

Players that deserve some sort of recognition but might not get any: Dorion, Eastman, Hanna, James, Bosco, etc.

I can't remember a year in recent memory that shaped up like this in terms of individual recognition: so many players with great numbers like Tommy Eastman, for example, who contributed greatly to winning teams and deserve credit, but how do you then justify leaving off a guy like Jeff Spellman or Colin Donovan whose teams made the NESCAC tournament, or in Donovan's case, comfortably made the NESCAC tournament and look like real threats.

In a perfect world, David Reynolds and Luke Rogers would both make the first team but I can't justify putting a guy on first-team whose team won 8 games and missed the NESCAC tournament, and I don't think Tufts had quite a good enough season to warrant two guys on the first-team when there are so many other deserving players.